The Five

Universally revered on Krakoa as sacred, The Five are a group of mutants who combine their powers to become a mutant resurrection machine and restore their species' population.

No More Dead Mutants

Living through numerous lifetimes where mutantkind experiences a tragic and brutal end, Moira MacTaggert manages to work on a plan to prevent all that along with Professor Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, and Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto. This plan leads to the sovereign island nation of Krakoa and the formation of the Five, a group that can bring dead mutants back to life with DNA samples from Nathaniel Essex, AKA Mister Sinister and mental back-ups recorded by Professor X with Cerebro. A series of Resurrection Protocols are set in place by the Quiet Council of Krakoa and must be met before a mutant can be brought back to life, though the exact nature of the protocols remains secret. 

Resurrection Incorporated 

The Five include mutants Fabio Medina, AKA Egg, Kevin MacTaggert, AKA Proteus, Josh Foley, AKA Elixir, Eva Bell, AKA Tempus, and Hope Summers, each of whom possess their own unique abilities. Under the direction of Professor X, these beings develop a way to bring mutants back from the dead at the Hatchery in Arbor Magna on Krakoa. 

Fabio creates golden eggs made up of biological material. Proteus uses his reality-warping powers to alter the eggs just enough to make them viable for gestating life. When a sample of a mutant's DNA—taken from Mister Sinister's collection—is injected into the egg, the life-giver Elixir nudges the process in the right direction by starting cellular growth. The embryo is then sped up to the appropriate age by time-bender Tempus. The group then joins hands so that Hope can unify their abilities to fully create the mutant's husk, or body. Once the husk exits the egg, Professor X uses a Cerebro cradle, or helmet, to access the back-up copies he possesses of every mutant’s mind on Earth to restore their consciousness and memories, getting them back to what they were before dying.

The mutant resurrection process takes around 48 hours. There’s a 12-hour gestational period to allow the DNA samples to take in an egg, and anywhere from 30-42 hours to mature the egg to its desired maturation. To avoid duplicating mutants, someone believed to be dead cannot be resurrected until their death is confirmed or they have been undetectable by Cerebro for one month.

Given the astonishing number of mutants who have been killed over the years, the Five are continuously working to bring back their fallen brethren. The more they work together, the more closely bound they become as if an inseparable family unit. It also seems that they become more powerful and efficient at their tasks the more they perform them. The Five also seem to be getting better at the process, making some resurrected mutants stronger than their intended peak physical form, like Everett Thomas, AKA Synch. 

The Hope of a People

Given their incredibly important place in Krakoan society and the fact that they have brought hundreds of thousands of their brethren back to life, the Five are greatly revered by those inhabiting Krakoa. Some even see them as religious figures to be revered and honored for the work they do.

On the other hand, they are considered an incredibly dangerous force by the enemies of mutantkind, including Homines Verendi and Xeno, among many others. 

The deep connection formed by working so closely to resurrect so many of their siblings has made The Five an incredibly close-knit group that spends most of its time with one another in The Pod section of the Sextant that they call home.

Five to Keep Them Alive

For years, Professor X and Moira MacTaggert worked in secret to build towards the foundation of Krakoa, an advanced nation-state for mutants in an effort to ensure their people will survive long into the future. Over the years, a chilling number of mutants have been murdered, including the 16.5 million on Genosha. Another million found themselves stripped of their powers by an insane Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch. Xavier saw these numbers and said, "No more," intending to do everything he could to not only increase the general mutant population, but also bring back those who had been lost. Thus, the seed for the Five was planted. 

It remains a mystery exactly how Xavier came to understand the full extent of Egg, Elixir, Hope, Tempus and Proteus' powers, but he approached them somewhat early on in the process of establishing Krakoa. They set up shop in the Hatchery in Arbor Magna, creating as many eggs and potential husks as they could. Initially, they managed to bring back about 200 mutants a day, but the more they worked together, the more efficient they became. In addition to that, instead of becoming fatigued by the increased pace and production, they feel a kind of satisfaction that spurs them on even further. A deep connection has formed between the Five and they are rarely seen apart either out in the world of Krakoa or in their Pod home in the Sextant. 

The Quiet Council of Krakoa—Krakoa’s ruling body—developed a series of Resurrection Protocols. Though the exact list is unclear, one of the main tenants includes finding absolute proof that a mutant is actually dead, not wanting to make a mistake and having two of the same being running around. They have also deemed clones like Madelyne Pryor to be unfit for resurrection as are alternate reality versions of existing mutants. Also, while there is an order to who gets resurrected and when, certain individuals have been known to jump the line like when Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, Jean Grey, James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler, Monet St. Croix, AKA M, Warren Worthington III, AKA Angel, Paige Guthrie, AKA Husk, and Raven Darkhölme, AKA Mystique, died in their efforts to destroy the Mother Mold. Members of the Quiet Council and X-Force also take priority when it comes to resurrection. The Five also began bringing members of similar groups back around the same time to help with the mental strain that comes from being dead. Though not publicly stated, precognitive mutants have been banned from both the island and resurrection in an effort to keep Moira MacTaggert's true mission a secret. 

When Jean-Paul Beaubier, AKA Northstar told the Five he had felt his sister Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, AKA Aurora die, they informed him they needed proof before moving forward. He and Lorna Dane, AKA Polaris, formed a new version of X-Factor that went out and proved exactly that. From there, the Five recommended that this new group become an official body that would investigate such claims so as not to lead to unnecessary resurrections. The Quiet Council agreed and the two groups began working closely together.

In addition to bringing back mutants like Johnny Allerdyce, AKA Pyro, Synch, Angelo Espinosa, AKA Skin, En Sabah Nur, AKA Apocalypse, David Alleyne, AKA Prodigy, Shinobi Shaw and even Professor X who were killed, the Five also play a part in a ritual called Crucible wherein a mutant de-powered by Scarlet Witch can die and be brought back with their powers. However, the mutant in question can not simply kill themselves. Instead, they must prove themselves dedicated to the idea of Krakoa by facing Apocalypse himself in battle. If he deems the subject worthy, they will be killed and brought back by the Five as Melody Guthrie, AKA Aero, was. 

Resurrection Complications 

While the Five's resurrection process has grown and evolved, there have been problems along the way like the multiple failed resurrections of Kitty Pryde. Even Xavier could not figure out why, though. After a great many efforts, they finally decided that Pryde could not be brought back for some reason. However, both Emma Frost and Nightcrawler asked for them to try once more. That's when Emma realized that Kitty never broke through barriers before, but phased through. She reached in and pulled the husk out and Pryde was returned to active duty. The Five learned from this experience and added it to the many variables involved in their mission. 

During a battle on Otherworld, a nexus of all realities, Santo Vaccaro, AKA Rockslide, was killed and Julio Esteban Richter, AKA Rictor, was gravely injured. In the wake of these tragedies, Xavier asked that the Five speed up the usual process to bring them back after Rictor died on Krakoa. Julio came back fine, but when Xavier attempted to input Santo's mind into the husk a feedback loop knocked him unconscious and temporarily fried all of the Cerebros. This also severed the connection between the Five. The resulting version of Rockslide also proved totally different than the one they knew. Concerned that the eggs had been corrupted by an unknown force, Elixir destroyed all of the ones in the Hatchery.

With such a huge question looming, all resurrections were put on hold. Upon further investigation, the Five confirmed that resurrecting someone who died on Otherworld could alter the Cerebro back-up of that mutant because of that place's connection to all potential realities. As such, anyone dying there could not be brought back because the Cerebro file and all of its back-ups would be totally rewritten to reflect the new being cobbled together from the multiverse, not the original. 

During Omniversal Majestrix Saturnyne's X of Swords tournament there were concerns about what would happen if anyone should perish on Arakko. Tomi Shishido, AKA Gorgon, was killed during the X of Swords tournament and was brought back by the Five, but was said to be acting a bit out of sorts. Hellions Nanny, Peter, AKA Orphan-Maker and Kyle Gibney, AKA Wild Child, died there as well. All three were eventually brought back, but found to be more focused and honed in their respective personalities and powers. 

X-Forcing the Issue

When the Five received a request from Hank McCoy, AKA Beast, for them to do a very specific resurrection of Arkady Rossovich, AKA Omega Red, the group had a number of questions. First, they consulted the Quiet Council to get the okay, and then wondered if they could heal their mutant brother instead of implanting him with Carbonadium Synthesizer, built by Forge, and with no memory of his death or rebirth. As the head of X-Force, Krakoa's information gathering and secret ops division, Beast wanted to use this newly minted Red as an unknowing secret agent inside Vlad Dracula, AKA Dracula's Vampire Nation. Even with their reservations noted, the Five were told by Xavier to follow any requests like this passed to them by Beast and X-Force. 

The Five continued to face many questions while some mutants were brought to the island in case one of them might fall, like Synch and Calvin Rankin, AKA Mimic. There have also been questions raised about inputting mental files into a different body or even the combination of different powers during the process. The Five faced a similar type of issue when the clone Gabby Kinney, AKA Scout, turned up dead and her teammates, the New Mutants, sought to restore her. Fearful that the Five wouldn’t resurrect a clone, the New Mutants took matters into their own hands and took control of Tempus. Tempus defended the Five, and subsequently with the mutant resurrection team behind her, wrote a letter to the Quiet Council requesting to update the status of personhood so that it was inclusive of clones who were more than simply genetic duplicates. The Five were then allowed to resurrect Gabby and later other clones as well, such as Madelyn Pryor.

When the Scarlet Witch had been killed, the Five attempted to resurrect her but Wanda beat them to it and resurrected herself with her own powers. The Five were later tasked by Xavier (actually the shape-shifting Mystique) to resurrect the precognitive Irene Adler, AKA Destiny, Mystique’s wife. Xavier/Mystique taught Hope how to put a soul back into their shell, giving the Five his Cerebro cradle and thus the ability to control resurrections themselves.

After chatting with psionic zealot and Quiet Council member Bennet du Paris, AKA Exodus, Hope interrupted a vote for Magneto’s open seat on the council—a seat the psychic vampire Selene was attempting to secure. Hope nominated herself to represent the Five, arguing that Krakoa depended on the resurrectionist group. She left with a warning: should they go in another direction, the people of Krakoa would look down upon them. With Exodus’ support, the council voted and Hope was given the open seat.