Joshua "Josh" FoleyElixir

After Joshua Foley’s mutant powers manifest, he studies at Xavier’s Institute, and in learning how to use his powers, he eventually joins the New X-Men and X-Force teams. He becomes Elixir, an Omega-level mutant with the ability to heal or cause harm. Though he continually faces an internal struggle with his abilities, which can give life or take it away.  

Golden Boy

Born in Flushing, Queens, New York to parents Howard and Grace Foley, Joshua “Josh” Foley is often referred to as the “golden boy” growing up. Josh grows up well-liked and well-adjusted in a loving home, with parents devoted to raising their child in a typical family setting. Unaware that he was a mutant, Josh is convinced by his friend Duncan to join Donald Pierce’s anti-mutant Reavers. During a battle with the New Mutants, young protégés of the heroic X-Men, Duncan is wounded. Josh’s powers manifest, and he inadvertently heals Duncan.

When Pierce wounds mutant Laurie Collins, AKA Wallflower, Foley sets aside his fears and heals her. As a result, one of the original New Mutants, Danielle Moonstar, AKA Dani Moonstar, offers Josh enrollment in Xavier’s Institute. Josh refuses until his family and friends shun him for being a mutant. Reluctantly accepting Moonstar’s invitation, Foley starts attending the Institute.

Omega-Level Healer

An omega-class mutant, Elixir has a flexible, metallic golden skin with a dark mercury-like substance flowing all over his body. Through physical contact, while concentrating, he can manipulate organic material, such as flesh, blood, and bone, on a genetic level. This biokinesis allows him to heal wounds, regrow tissues that have been damaged or completely removed, heal physiological disturbances that disrupt normal brain function, repair traumatic brain injury, and heal injuries at a subconscious level. After healing massive injuries, Elixir is prone to losing consciousness.

Elixir can use his powers offensively by reversing his energy, causing numerous effects, including cellular damage, cerebral hemorrhage, or even cardiac arrest. He has a high school education with knowledge equivalent to a Ph.D. in biochemistry. As such, he is an expert on mutations and evolutionary biology, with extensive knowledge of genetics, biochemistry, and other various scientific fields.

Relatives and Found Family

Josh is raised by his parents Howard and Grace Foley and has two older brothers. He has a drama-free upbringing until his healing powers manifest, and his family disowns him for being a mutant.

Before his powers manifest, Josh joins up with the Super Villain cyborg Donald Pierce and his Reavers, an anti-mutant organization. Once they realize he’s a mutant, they ostracize him. He joins the mutants at Xavier’s Institute and rooms with David Alleyne, AKA Prodigy, but has difficulty fitting in with the “muties” as he calls them. Although Josh and David’s relationship has a rocky start, the two soon become good friends. After his parents receive an update from Josh telling them how he’s fairing at school, they name the school Josh’s legal guardian. Later, his faculty advisor Dani Moonstar becomes his legal guardian.

After taking the codename Elixir, he joins the New Mutants Training Squad, the New X-Men, followed by the X-Force.

Killer Dark Side

When Reverend William Stryker attacks Xavier’s Institute, Josh kills him and as such becomes a darker version of himself, literally and figuratively. Whenever he comes up against fierce foes after that, such as Belasco, Kevin Ford, AKA Wither, and Gauntlet, his black form manifests and either completely covers him or crawls over his body as if spilled ink.

Elixir faces another battle to the death with Wither and they fight over their mutual friend and love interest Wallflower who previously perished. Elixir shifts from gold to his black form and kills Wither.

From Gold to Black

Unable to overcome their anti-mutant bigotry, Josh’s parents signed over custody to the school and Danielle Moonstar became Foley’s legal guardian. He grew smitten with Rahne Sinclair, AKA Wolfsbane, who rejoined the Institute despite having lost her powers. During an intense kiss, Josh inadvertently “healed” Rahne by restoring her powers, causing her to lose control and savagely attack Foley. Near death, Josh was awakened long enough to heal himself, but the healing unexpectedly turned his skin gold. As “Elixir,” Josh joined the New Mutants. Josh and Rahne soon developed a secret romance, but she ended it after becoming a teacher, and Josh became involved with Wallflower. Attracted to Wallflower, a jealous Wither, exposed Josh’s relationship with Rahne, and Wallflower quickly broke up with Josh.

Following “M-Day,” Emma Frost selected core students, including Elixir, as the New X-Men. After Wither accidentally hurt Wallflower, Josh tried to heal her repeatedly, but could not; during this time the two grew closer again. When longtime anti-mutant activist Reverend William Stryker blew up a departing busload of depowered Xavier students, Elixir desperately tried to save Mark Sheppard, AKA DJ, but his injuries were too great. As DJ died, Elixir felt a part of himself slip into darkness. When Stryker’s Purifiers killed Wallflower before Elixir’s eyes, it drove him over the edge. Elixir unleashed his inner darkness, causing massive cellular deterioration in Stryker, apparently killing him. Doing so turned Elixir’s body an onyx color. After healing Laura Kinney, AKA X-23, who had nearly died battling Nimrod, Josh’s body color changed back to gold but a black inkblot remained, moving across his body. He then asked his instructor Hank McCoy, AKA Beast, to help him learn everything he could about human anatomy, biology, and physiology. Later while Beast slept, Elixir had the Stepford Cuckoos telepathically download all his medical knowledge into Josh’s brain, allowing him to utilize his powers to their maximum potential. 

When Matthew Risman, a follower of Stryker’s anti-mutant extremism and now the Purifiers leader, resurrected the mutant-hating cyborg, Bastion, X-Force killed Risman. Elixir was brought in to cure Wolfsbane from an overdose of heroine given to her by the Purifiers. Elixir healed her but she attacked him and Warren Worthington III, AKA Angel. After Elixir tried to heal Angel’s wings, which Wolfsbane had torn off, Angel’s dormant Apocalypse DNA reactivated, thus restoring his bio-metallic Archangel wings. Josh asked X-23 to help wipe his memories with the X-Force, afraid of his knowledge of their efforts to contain Bastion but more afraid that he’d be inspired to kill again. X-23 brought in the Stepford Cuckoos though they did not wipe Josh’s memories since they were all interrupted by a news broadcast of the previously thought dead, Graydon Creed. Elixir then joined the team to capture Telford Porter, AKA Vanisher, who had stolen a stockpile of the Legacy Virus. Elixir gave him a brain tumor, though reluctantly, to ensure he cooperated with them. Elixir then helped X-23 after she became infected by the Legacy Virus.

Cyclops transported the team to the future to bring Nathan Summers, AKA Cable, and the first born child since “M-Day” back through time, but once they got there, Elixir experienced hysterics over an inability to save his friends from an encounter with the Leper Queen. Elixir then had a confrontation with Stryfe where he gave him cancer. Stryfe then telepathically forced Elixir to heal him, and Elixir traveled back to the present and immediately used his powers to save his friends Noriko “Nori” Ashida, AKA Surge, and Julian Keller, AKA Hellion. All of that combined activity put Elixir into a coma. 

Elixir was later revived by the Asgardian Goddess of Death, Hela, by request of one of the Wolf Gods of Asgard, Hrimhari. Hrimhari desired to save his child who Wolfsbane carried in her womb. Elixir transferred some of the baby’s Asgardian power to fortify Wolfbane’s body and help her carry to term. Elixir then reunited with X-Force and they battled Selene Gallio, AKA Selene, and her Inner Circle. Elixir came up against Wither and in fighting over what happened with Laurie, resulting in Elixir turning to his onyx form and Wither to dust. Elixir left X-Force after that and stayed in Genosha but soon discovered his healing powers depleted.

After the X-Man James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, died, Elixir found himself captured alongside Daken, Lady Deathstrike, Mystique, Sabretooth, and X-23. Siphon attacked the group and despite Elixir attempting to kill him, his powers failed him. Elixir then joined a group of mutants living on the ruins of Utopia. The X-Men soon discovered him there and they invited him and the group to the New Charles Xavier School, which they accepted.

Elixir struggled with who he wanted to be and joined a church to find himself. Though Gauntlet and his Dark Riders started hunting down healers. The Dark Riders found Elixir and killed his friends at the churt. In an attempt to resurrect them, Elixir was shot down, though he resurrected himself and tortured Gauntlet’s Dark Riders by killing them and bringing them back to life. Magneto’s X-Men intervened and rushed him to a medical center where mutants suffer from an M-Pox outbreak. Elixir healed the mutants but it ravaged him, the medical personnel and the X-Men. The X-Men stopped him and he spent time at Shen Xorn’s retreat where he tried to learn how to control his powers.

Later, Elixir joined Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, against Bastion, Emma Frost, Alex Summers, AKA Havok, and Sinister Claudine Renko, AKA Miss Sinister, who spread a virus known as Mothervine that increased growth in mutants globally. Elixir reversed Mothervine’s effects zone by zone and neutralized the Mothervine serum. Magneto then restarted his Brotherhood of Mutants and Elixir joined.

Elixir later joined Emma Frost’s new Hellfire Club. As mutants faced a vaccine that erased the X-Gene from future generations, Beast shot Elixir’s teammate Vanisher with his cure serum. Elixir tried to heal Vanisher but failed.

When Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, and his allies started the nation-state of Krakoa, Elixir joined The Five, a group of mutants that combined their powers to resurrect others. They created cloned bodies for deceased mutants and X-Men, some who died at the hands of Nimrod, and restored their memories. Elixir and The Five are treated as sacred.