The Hellions were the names of several groups of fictional characters in the Marvel Comics universe. These groups were foes of various teams of younger mutant heroes in the X-Men franchise.

The original Hellions

The original, and most notable, group of Hellions were students of the White Queen and trainees of the Hellfire Club. They were longtime rivals of the New Mutants, and once held their own against the X-Men. They were killed by the time traveler Trevor Fitzroy and a number of Sentinels. The White Queen's guilt over their deaths led to her eventual reform. The only surviving members of the Hellions were Thunderbird II (now called Warpath), Firestar and Empath , and Tarot (who died but was later resurrected through unknown means).

Temporary groups of new Hellions

The second group of Hellions were organized by the parasite Emplate to attack Generation X. This group appeared only once. One member, Vincente, had been a member of the Age of Apocalypse timeline's version of Generation X; another, Bulwark, appeared alongside Emplate in later stories only to be captured and killed by Weapon X.

The third group of Hellions were organized to battle X-Force. Their leader was King Bedlam, the brother of X-Force member Bedlam . Members included Tarot, Magma and Feral , and a human infused with techno-organic matter extracted from the alien Warlock; Bedlam also briefly joined them.

The Xavier Institute's Hellions Squad

A new group of Hellions debuted in New Mutants (vol. 2) #10 (and were formally named as such in New X-Men: Academy X #2). This group is a squad of students in Xavier's school under the White Queen's leadership. Membership consists of:

• Hellion (Julian Keller) - telekenesis (leader)
• Mercury (Cessily Kincaid) - solid humanoid mercury form and can turn into and move around as liquid mercury
• Rockslide (Santo Vaccarro) - durable granite outer layer; uses body parts as reattachable projectiles
• Tag (Brian Cruz) - places a psionic broadcast on a person that repels or compels those around him toward or away from the signal
• Dust (Sooraya Qadir) - changes her entire body into sand which reacts to allow her to move around in blasts and then return the sand back into her original form.
• Wither (Kevin Ford) - rapidly deteriorates organic matter with his body upon direct contact. Formerly a New Mutant, Wither switched to the Hellions team due to the persuasion of Emma Frost, a dislike of Dani Moonstar, and a hatred for Elixir.

Former members:

• Icarus, currently with the New Mutants, was previously a member of this group of Hellions.
• Specter (Dallas Gibson) was part of the initial lineup (which didn't include Dust or Icarus), but wasn't in the final, formal, team. He can blend with his own shadow, which gives him darkness powers. He can't stay in shadow form for too long or he succumbs to his own darkness. The shadow form is stronger during the day.

Hellion reference in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In Season Six of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer a demon motorcycle gang appears called the Hellions. This is a reference to the X-men Hellions by Joss Whedon, the creator of the series. He went on to write Astonishing X-Men.

References

"Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1: Gifted" Pub: Marvel Comics ISBN 0-7851-1531-5