Kevin Sydney

When the mystical Darkhold was recreated, Changeling's spirit used the opportunity to possess Meggan. Angry that he used his remaining time helping the X-Men instead of seeking a cure for himself, Changeling sought revenge against Professor X.^[10] However, Merlyn later admits that the encounter was merely fantasy, having orchestrated the event to prepare Excalibur.^[11]

Changeling is later raised from the dead as a zombie by

His mother died of lung cancer and Morph tried in every way to cheer up his emotionally distraught father (often acting in a childish way whenever his father wanted him to act serious), who, unable to let his suffering go, chose to enroll his son in a boarding school; luckily, that school happened to be the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Promoted to the X-Men, Morph's sense of humor initially grated upon the much more serious team but eventually his humor and humility won them over. He was instrumental in many of the team's victories and was chosen to be part of a pilot program with the Avengers, along with the Beast, as a public representative of mutant-kind.

Morph would return to the X-Men because, in his own words, "he missed his freaky mutant brothers and sisters." On a subsequent mission, Morph and the rest of the X-Men were facing off against a threat known only as Stonehenge when Morph became unhinged from time.

The Exiles

After becoming unhinged from time, the mysterious

The Exiles battled on, fixing reality after reality and struggling to keep it together. Following one of these missions the team was kidnapped by Mojo, the insane evil dictator of the Mojoverse. Mojo considered Morph the best entertainer he had ever seen and brought him back to entertain the masses. If he didn't, Mojo would kill his fellow Exile, Nocturne. Eventually, Nocturne was able to escape and set Morph free. Mojo went crazy and threatened to kill Morph's friends. An enraged Morph was on the verge of killing Mojo when the Timebroker stopped them. The Timebroker revealed Mojo had disrupted time but he was a necessary evil and could not be killed.^[15]

Weapon X

Morph continued to be the heart of the team until a mission in which Mimic was taken over by a Brood egg. During the battle, he killed Sunfire. Mimic was eventually cured but Morph was enraged. He was devastated by Sunfire's death and told Mimic he should have killed himself rather than let something like this happen. Morph stormed off and threatened to leave the team. Magik, an unlikely ally, followed and tried to calm him. The two connected and despite her past attitude during missions, Morph realized Illyana was just a scared girl trying to get home. He remained angry with Mimic but helped his team fight against the rogue reality-hopping team, Weapon X.^[16]

Before the battle began, Magik attempted to switch sides, believing her team was weaker. Hyperion, the self-appointed leader of Weapon X, snapped her neck and Morph was driven into a rage. He attacked Hyperion, who attempted to blast Morph with his eyebeams, but Mimic saved him. During the brawl with Weapon X, Morph fought against an evil Ms. Marvel. Their battle caused a building to fall in on them, killing Ms. Marvel but Morph was able to survive.^{[volume & issue needed]}

The Exiles were triumphant and the Timebroker told Morph he could finally go home. His mission was fulfilled. Morph considered the offer but asked if he could stay with his team. He realized they needed him and he could not leave them behind. The Timebroker agreed; Morph asked him not to tell the rest of the Exiles of his decision. Morph and Mimic reconciled since he realized that Sunfire's death was not Mimic's fault and that the Brood was controlling him. The team moved on.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Proteus

Morph helped the team take down

During a confrontation where Proteus reawakened, he found himself lacking in power to defeat the adversary. About to be crushed, Proteus shouted aloud his desire to stay alive. In a vision, he saw a figure, almost identical to his own true, energy form, telling him to take its hand, and he would survive. Upon doing so, Proteus found himself full of even greater power, using it to defeat his god-like enemy. Afterward, it was revealed that this being was the personality and soul of the true Morph, having been in limbo, gaining strength within Proteus and his own body, who had before only been able to speak a few sentences through Proteus' control. Revealing to Proteus that he had the ability to eject him from his body, Morph gave Proteus the chance to work together and share his body and their powers, in order to do more good, something which Morph had discovered Proteus desired deep within him. Proteus accepted, and the two now work together harmoniously, better than either could be alone.[18]

However, soon after, when the New Exiles became immersed within the Crystal Palace, Proteus was absorbed in Morph's place, freeing Morph once and for all.^[19]

Powers and abilities

Kevin Sydney is a mutant metamorph with the ability to alter his physical appearance and voice at will to resemble that of any person he chooses. His power could also transform the appearance of his costume as well, which was made of unstable molecules. Morph's mutation to shape-shift has also made it so that his body is a

Changeling is the character's codename in the contiguous Marvel Universe, Earth-616. However, the character's reinvention as Morph in the X-Men animated series raised his profile such that alternate versions of the character, now also named Morph, began to appear in stories set in other universes.

Age of Apocalypse

In the "Age of Apocalypse", Morph was, like his "regular Marvel Universe" counterpart Changeling, an early recruit of the X-Men. Unlike Changeling, Kevin Sydney of AoA never died while impersonating Professor X, because in the Age of Apocalypse Xavier died before the X-Men were ever founded.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In the AoA timeline, Morph often agitated his teammates with his off-the-wall sense of humor and inappropriate timing; he describes himself as wanting to die with a smile on his face when his time comes.^[20] Despite his happy-go-lucky attitude, Morph has displayed signs of a softer, more empathetic side several times. For example, he morphed into Sabretooth in an effort to comfort Blink while she doubted her abilities, and he later gave Rogue the strength to endure against the horseman Holocaust by acting as her son.^{[volume & issue needed]} Shortly after the defeat of Apocalypse, he accompanied fellow X-Men Iceman, Wildchild and Exodus on an unspecified mission, during which they disappeared.^{[volume & issue needed]} Their fate has yet to be revealed, except for Wildchild, who has since joined a new team of Exiles.^{[volume & issue needed]}

The Lost Generation

A Morph is also seen as a member of

In the

In other media

• Kevin Sydney / Morph appears in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Ron Rubin.^[23] This version is a member of the X-Men and close friend of Wolverine. During production of the series, Sydney was originally going to appear under their original codename Changeling but was changed to their codename Morph due to trademark issues with DC Comics' character Beast Boy, who also went by Changeling.^[24]
  • Morph appears in X-Men '97, voiced by J. P. Karliak.^[25] As of this series, they have taken on a featureless default form, identify as non-binary, and have rejoined the X-Men once more.^[26]
• The Exiles incarnation of Morph appears in Marvel Heroes, voiced by Tom Kenny.^[27]

References

1. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0
   .
2. ^ Lewald, Eric (2017). Previously On X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series. Jacobs Brown Press.
3. ^ The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004 #1
4. ^ The X-Men #37-39
5. ISBN 978-1465455505
   .
6. ^ As revealed subsequently in The X-Men #65 (Feb. 1970)
7. ^ The X-Men #40
8. ^ The X-Men #41-42 (Feb.–March 1968)
9. ^ The X-Men #65
10. ^ Excalibur: The Possession (July 1991)
11. ^ Excalibur #50
12. ^ The Sensational She-Hulk #34-35 (1991–1992)
13. ^ Exiles #1-98
14. ^ Exiles #37
15. ^ Exiles #18-19
16. ^ Exiles #28-30
17. ^ Exiles #91
18. ^ New Exiles Annual #1
19. ^ Exiles vol. 2 #6
20. ^ Astonishing X-Men 03 (1995)
21. ^ "Marvel: The Lost Generation". lostgenerationhandbook.com. Archived from the original on 2006-01-04. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
22. ^ Exiles #69
23. ^ "Ron Rubin (visual voices guide) - Behind The Voice Actors". Retrieved 31 March 2024.
24. ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (August 9, 2020). "Marvel Lawyers Made X-Men: The Animated Series Change a Character's Name Because of DC Comics". comicbook.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
25. ^ Romano, Nick. "'X-Men '97' exclusive look reveals legacy costumes, Theo James casting". EW.com. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
26. ^ Whitbrook, James (February 16, 2024). "X-Men '97's Take on Morph Is Already Making Bigots Mad". Gizmodo. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
27. ^ "Morph Voices (X-Men) - Behind The Voice Actors". Retrieved 31 March 2024.

External links

• Changeling at Marvel.com
• Kevin Sydney at Marvel Wolo
• UncannyXmen.net Character Profile on Changeling