Thunderbird

As a result of enhancements forced on him by Apocalypse, John has lost his sense of taste in exchange for a heightened senses of smell and sight. His already dense skin was replaced and outfitted with retractable plates that increase their density when Thunderbird goes into Battle Mode. In addition, Proudstar no longer needs to breathe and possibly does not need to eat as he no longer feels hunger, although he is uncertain of the latter because he has never tried to go long without food.

John Proudstar is an Apache Indian who served as a soldier in the United States before he was hand picked by Professor Charles Xavier to join his second incarnation of the X-Men where he proved to be a formidable warrior with a spirit only matched by his strength. It is unknown which of these qualities captured the attention of Apocalypse, but Thunderbird was captured, enhanced, reformed, and remade into the Horseman War. His servitude was short-lived and his indomitable spirit, tortured into rage, set him free. He returned to the X-Men, but not as the same man. His whole life, John sought to find personal peace and a justification for his existence. Now he is further away from the answer than ever.

John broke from slumber one evening to find himself in the middle of a barren desert alongside five other X-Men from five different realities. They were greeted by the Timebroker, a construct of their collective consciousness, who explained to them that they had all become unhinged from time as a chain of events had caused their realities as they knew it to change. New events in Thunderbird's past that made him remained En Sabah Nur's soldier and servant because John was never able to wrest himself from Apocalypse's grasp. In order to return to their correct timelines, they would have to repair other realities that caused the ripple effect that disrupted their reality or they else would return to their new, unfortunate alternate existences.

During one of their early missions on an Earth where Wolverine stayed to lead Alpha Flight, Thunderbird had an interesting and unique experience as he was able to meet an alternate version of himself who was a Shaman. Looking into this mirror of his former self, he sees a John Proudstar so at ease, centered, balance, and complete, that he can't help but hate him for it. This world's John Proudstar was taken in by Alpha Flight's Shaman and left the X-Men to become Michael Twoyoungmen's student. The two John Proudstars would eventually go on a retreat in the mountains.

During this bonding refuge, Thunderbird and the Shaman were approached by the Hulk when T-Bird was showing his other self the retractable armor that Apocalypse equipped him with. The two Proudstars began to befriend the Jade Giant had been eluding Canadian authorities as well as Alpha Flight for the past few months while on one of his typical rampages. Unbeknownst to both John and John, they had company lurking in the shadows. Weapon X, another group of timeline repairing super beings, was trying to detain the Hulk and decided the best way to go about it was to shoot the Hulk in the head causing him to nuclear on the two John Proudstars who would then have to beat the Hulk into submission. Although the plan was sound in theory, things looked bleak early on as the Hulk was mopping the floor with Thunderbird despite recieving some help from the Shaman who fired a flare to signal Alpha Flight for further assistance. The Hulk lay on top of the fallen War and continued to pummel Thunderbird into an endless oblivion when something unexpected happened to turn the tides...

The senseless pounding Thunderbird was recieving awoke inside of him his raw potential and unleashed the power that Apocalypse sought to harness. In full blown War Mode, Thunderbird grabs the Hulk by the neck and delivers an uppercut that rattles his body like a thunderclap. He then proceeds throws the Hulk down on the floor, effortlessly mounts the Green Behemoth, and delivers a series of blows to the head until he has utterly beaten the Hulk and knocked him unconcious.

The seething Thunderbird shows no signs of holding off and continues with the brutal beating of the Hulk until the Shaman heeds him to cease and desist. T-Bird turns around, letting loose with a heavy roar and looks to turn on this timeline's John Proudstar. The Shaman reminds his other self that he is a man, not a monster, and tells Thunderbird to remember their mother's face and come back to her. After T-Bird recovers from his psychotic episode, the Exiles teleport in and return the Hulk to Alpha Flight headquarters before Weapon X is able to lay a finger on them.

Thunderbird would ultimately find comfort in the arms of teammate Nocturne who dated his brother in her reality. Their romance blossomed after T-Bird defeated the Hulk, but nearly went under a few weeks later in a world when John objected to their continued rapport as he claimed it was an immature refuge. He reasoned that they shouldn't bind themselves in emotional entanglements when their lives were so unpredictable and at any moment one of them could finish their missions and be sent home, be injured, or be killed. Talia took great offense to this remark, though the two would reconcile a week later when T-Bird revealed that it was his own insecurity that he swaying him from their relationship. He couldn't understand what someone so beautiful would want with a monster like himself and thought she deserved better than something like him.

Afterwards, in a reality where the Skrulls ruled the Earth for over a century and Galactus came to feed on the planet, Talia revealed to John that she was pregnant with their child. In light of this new information, John insisted that T.J. sit out the fight against the World Devourer, but she refused to comply and piloted an aircraft armed with missiles more powerful than nuclear bombs in an effort to stop the Planet Eater. In the epic battle against Galactus, the Exiles devised a plan that involved the Banner Beast, this world's Incredible Hulk, pushing an anti-matter bomb into the armor that holds together the pure energy that comprises the Eater of Planets. However, at the denouement when Morph was finally able to breach the hull of the World Eater's exterior using a laser satellite, Galactus sends Banner hurtling away in pain with an energy blast from the palm of his hand. Thing, Colossus, and the Abomination, the other heavyweights, were all too far away from Galactus to get to him in time, so John picked up the highly volatile explosive and drove it into the heart of the beast.

The resulting outburts caused the Plant Eater to resign from his campaign to devour Earth as there were other worlds that are less trouble. Although T-Bird survived taking the detonation at point blank, the injuries he recieved sends him into a comatose state in addition to possibly making him brain dead. As John was incapable of continuing, the Timebroker sends Sasquatch in as his replacement and the Exiles were forced to leave Thunderbird in this world despite strong objections from Nocturne.