Graydon Creed

Graydon Creed is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He was the son of the mutant supervillains Mystique and Sabretooth, although he was not a mutant himself and was in fact a staunch foe of mutant civil rights throughout his life. He first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #298.

Posing as German spy Leni Zauber, Mystique seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed while he was in Germany on a mission. Mystique later gave birth to a normal human child - Graydon - whom she gave up for adoption, although she kept an eye on him.

When Graydon learned of his heritage, that he was the son of two evil mutants who had abandoned him as an inconvenience, he grew resentful of all mutants, and that resentment coloured his outlook for the rest of his life.

In his adult years, Graydon formed a group called the Friends of Humanity, dedicated to opposing mutant civil rights by committing acts of terrorism against peaceful mutants and mutant sympathizers, and using the acts of violence mutants such as Magneto to rally support for their cause. He was also a member of the Upstarts, a group of well-connected murderous youths who were being manipulated by the telepathic Gamesmaster for his own amusement.

At a rally for Graydon's hopeful presidential candidacy, an assassin shot and killed him (X-Factor #130). Several years later, the miniseries X-Men Forever revealed that Mystique had fired the shot, having sworn to kill Graydon for his part in the Friends of Humanity's brutal attack on Trevor Chase, the grandson of her lover Destiny.

X-Men: The Animated Series

Graydon Creed's deep resentment towards mutants comes from his parents. His father is the homicidal mutant called Sabretooth and his mother is the shapeshifter Mystique. Graydon wound up in the care of his father Sabretooth who bullied and beat him constantly. Many years later Graydon founded the F.O.H. (the Friends of Humanity) and anti-mutant hate group that did everything in its power to villify mutants. After the Beast's pardon by the President, Graydon's resentment grew even more and the F.O.H. began targeting the X-Men.

Graydon Creed began looking for new ways to extermiate mutantkind. He hired a brilliant scientist to create a virus that would wipe out every mutant on Earth though would be relatively harmless to ordinarly humans. Unbeknownst to Creed, this scientist was actually Apocalypse in disguise. Graydon dispatches one of his followers to infect a number of known mutants and begins making public announcements about the dangerous plague carrying mutants. While giving a speech about the plague's effects, Graydon attempts to infect Beast with the virus though is stopped by Bishop. During the stuggle Graydon accidentally infects himself and retreats back to the lab for medical aid. The X-Men follow him, attack the base and the scientist reveals himself to be Apocalypse. The X-Man Beast helps him get clear of the battle. The X-Men destroy the virus and Graydon returns to the Friends of Humanity headquarters.

When Beast began dating his former patient Carly, a human, Graydon Creed was furious. He had Carly kidnapped and began interrogating her. Meanwhile Beast begins searching for the missing Carly and Wolverine infiltrates the F.O.H. pretending to have been beaten by some lousy mutants. Graydon gladly accepts him into the fold. Moments later an enraged Beast breaks into the F.O.H. and Wolverine reveals himself and rescues Carly. Before they leave the X-Men outside setup a holoprojector displaying Xavier's profile on the mutant Sabretooth, real name: Graydon Creed Snr. Discovering that another one of his trusted men was a mutant and seeing Sabretooth's face again - Graydon Creed becomes unstable and begins screaming wildly. Realising that their leader was the son of a mutant the F.O.H. leave him behind for the authoroties.

Graydon spends the next few months in an institution curled up in a ball babbling like a baby. Meantime the F.O.H. does not disband but grows larger and more organised and eventually sets up a council and High Command. The members begin wearing cloaks and hoods much like that of the KKK. Fully recovered though still with a strong hatred towards mutants, Graydon returns to the F.O.H. to resume his old role as their leader. The council rules that to lead the F.O.H. once more he has to prove himself. They tell Graydon that Sabretooth is not the only mutant in his family. They hand him a file with information on Mystique his mother, Rogue his foster sister and the demonic Nightcrawler, his own brother. Close to madness he agrees to kill all of the mutants, in return the F.O.H. would let him return to the fold. Creed kidnaps his mother Mystique and forces her to send a letter to Nightcrawler saying she was in danger. Fearing for his mothers life Nightcrawler seeks the help of the X-Men Rogue and Wolverine. They locate the F.O.H.'s dam-base and walk straight into a trap. Graydon attempts to gas all of the mutants to death. They manage to break free and defeat Creed. Mystique slips away though is thought to have been killed when the dam burst open. Creed is washed away as the dam breaks down. He later wakes up aboard a helicopter bound. Three of the council members inform him that he failed for the last time and as a result has been expelled from the order indefinitely. They push him from the chopper and he parachutes "safely" in front of the waiting Sabretooth's rural home.

Creed is based on Frank Collin.