"Misunderstood Characters Vol. 2 Pt. 2 - Quicksilver"
by David (Rhyme)

I had a request from someone to do more articles on misunderstood characters. And let's face it people, there are more than three misunderstood characters!

I write this week about a character that a certain person never understood-myself. I write this article for two reasons. #1- to make myself understand Quicksilver better, and #2- because I feel that their are other fans out there like me, who don't really understand Quicksilver, and need to.

Quicksilver had always been a boring character to me. He had never done anything particulary interesting to me at all. Maybe it was because he had never gotten the spotlight (at least not in a comic I had read).

But then I got to thinking. He had never done anything really interesting to me...maybe this was the whole idea of his character! After all, Quicksilver has had to live in Magneto's shadow for his entire life. And this is where it gets interesting.

Magneto has gathered a lot of followers in his short time in Genosha. When Quicksilver saves one of these followers who is infected with the Legacy Virus, the man does not thank him. Instead, he says "Are you truly the son of our savior?" Quicksilver, who is irrated, responds, "My father is no 'savior' of anyone or anything! His goals are little more than self-satisfying attemps at personal power...regardless of the harm that befalls those around him, innocent or not! When will you fools cease worshipping him like some messiah and see him for what he truly is?!"

At the same time, the Zealot who opposes Magneto views Quicksilver differently. He calls him 'the Magnusson' and trys to use him as bait to get to his father. Because of Quicksilver's relationship to Magneto, he gets drawn into many situations.

Perhaps the worst view of Quicksilver is by his own father, Magneto. When Rogue wants Magneto to help Quicksilver, he responds, "My son? Hasn't he opposed me at every turn, spurned every invitation to join me, to rule at my side? a true son is more about loyalty than blood. In my eyes, I no longer have a son. this loyal, emotionless machine, with no biological DNA linking us as blood relations, is a better son to me than Pietro has ever been."

Should one man be judged by his father's actions? His whole life, Pietro has been struggling to be free of his father's shadow, and live his own life. Pietro has been cast into many different roles, merely because his father is Magneto. His father's dark legacy surrounds him, and that makes him a great character.