Real Name: DOUGLAS RAMSEY
First Appearance: NEW MUTANTS # 13
Place of birth: Salem Center, New York
Known relatives: Philip Ramsey (father), Sheila Ramsey (mother)
Height: 5'9
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair Color: Blond
Eye Color: Blue
Doug was a unique character in the Marvel Universe, and my personal favorite member of the New Mutants. With his limited mutant power, and his ordinary background as the All-American kid, Doug made a terrific point-of-view character with whom many comic book readers could identify with. Chris Claremont knew this and used Doug perfectly.
The local kid from the X-Men's own hometown, it was not unusual for Doug to exclaim how terrified he really was to go into battle with the likes of the monsters, demons and all-powerful evil mutants that the New Mutants faced. This characteristic could have made Doug seem a coward, as Bobby often accused him
of, but Cypher was nothing if not courageous.
Instead, Doug became one of the most realistic characters in comics. Doug's desire to help his friends and teammates, to belong any way he could, is typical of most teenage boys. His friendship with the alien Warlock became one of the most fantastic relationships in all of comics. His budding romance with Wolfsbane, begun when Louise Simonson took over writing the title, seemed to develop too quickly, and was in truth a bit forced. His death was one of the most pointless in comics, a cop out of major proportions as he, by far the least powerful mutant in any X-title, became the only casulaty of the big crossover event, Fall of the Mutants. Still, at least in the end, Cypher got the hero's death that he deserved.
Douglas Ramsey was first met by comic fans as a teenage friend of the X-Man Kitty Pryde. Ramsey shared Pryde's interest in computers and video games and they became close friends, in fact, Professor Xavier revealed to Kitty that Doug was, in fact, in love with her. Xavier also realized that Doug was, in fact, a mutant. His particular knack for deciphering both human and computer languages was a result of a particular mutation with which he was born. Realizing his mutation would not stop Doug from living a normal life, Charles Xavier decided against admitting Doug to the school.
However, along with Xavier, Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, learned that Ramsey was a mutant. Frost offered Ramsey a scholarship to the Massachusetts Academy, hoping to induct him into the Hellions, her team of adolescent mutants she was training to serve the Hellfire Club's secret criminal purposes. Ramsey went to the Academy for his final admissions interview, accompanied by Pryde, who suspected the Hellfire Club's intention in recruiting her friend. At the Academy the White Queen captured Pryde, who was rescued by the New Mutants. Ramsey remained ignorant to the true purpose of the school, but decided against attending the Academy after all.
Afterwards, Doug became a friend of the New Mutants, though he did not know that he and they were mutants. The New Mutants concealed their superhuman powers and costumed identities from him until one night the techno-organic alien being known as Warlock crash landed in the pond outside the school grounds. Confused and terrified, Warlock found himself battling the New Mutants. In an effort to communicate with the alien, the New Mutants summoned Ramsey and revealed to him the truth about both his and their mutant powers. Using the mansion's sophisticated computer equipment, Ramsey succeeded in initiating communication with Warlock. Shortly afterwards both Doug and Warlock became members of the New Mutants. Ramsey was code-named Cypher, after his ability to decipher languages.
During their adventures with the team, Doug and Warlock found themselves in Asgard, the legendary home of the Norse Gods. There, with Warlock injured, Doug offered up his own life-force to his friend. Warlock warned that by doing so, Doug faced the risk of contracting the techno-organic virus, which would transform Doug's body intio living circuitry similar to Warlock's. Doug agreed anyway, and the two merged themselves into one entity which they affectionately called Douglock.
Doug and Warlock continued to merge on several other occasions. Each time Warlock noted the risk, and each time Doug took the chance and apparently came out unscathed. Doug loved what he saw looking through Warlock's eyes, and by doing so he gained abilities that augmented his own limited powers. 'Lock and Doug became best friends and called themselves "The Team Supreme." Together, they saved the team several times, most notably from the evil alien Mojo. It was during that encounter that Doug fell for the X-Man, Psylocke, a beautiful British telepath. While Betsy did return Doug's feelings, nothing ever occurred between the two.
When Warlock left the team to join Sunspot in the short lived mutant team, The Fallen Angels , Doug was left alone, and felt helpless. Just before an event at the Hellfire Club, the reader was made aware that Doug had in fact been infected with the techno-organic virus. There, Doug got drunk and forced the New Mutants into a contest with the Hellions which the Mutants lost. Doug felt even more alone, until he began to develop a crush on his teammate Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane.
It was this crush that would be the end of Doug Ramsey. The New Mutants came to the aid of a mutant they called Bird-Brain. In fact, Bird-Brain had been engineered by a villain called the Ani-mator, an employee of Cameron Hodge and the Right. While battling to save Bird-Brain and a host of genetically engineered animals, Doug jumped in the way of a bullet meant for Rahne.
After being shot by the Ani-mator, Doug died before he could be reunited with his soul-friend Warlock. 'Lock did try to re-animate Doug's corpse in one of the more morbid issues of the series, but to no avail. Doug was dead, and not long after Warlock was killed as well. Warlock's ashes were scattered over Doug's grave.
Doug's mutant power allowed him to translate any language, spoken or written, human or alien in origin. His superhuman skill also extended to his great facility in deciphering codes and computer languages. Cypher's skill was such that he was once able to make great headway in translating the written language of an extraterrestrial race in a matter of minutes. His mutant talent was an intuitive one which worked on a subconscious level, and which may have been related to telepathy.
Doug also had an extremely advanced talent for computer languages. He became an expert at working with computer software and programs, and often ran the Danger Room sessions for both the New Mutants & the X-Men.
While Doug does remain dead, unlike many characters in the Marvel Universe, a character calling itself Douglock did appear soon after Warlock's death. Douglock was a techno-organic being with no memory who had many of Doug's traits, including a similar appearance and an affinity for Rahne Sinclair. Kitty Pryde was convinced that Douglock was, in fact, Doug reborn, but she phased into Ramsey's grave to find out for sure, and his body remained untouched.
Recently, it was revealed that Douglock was actually Warlock reborn. While 'Lock is just now starting to remember his past, he has also retained the memories and feelings of his best friend, Doug, due to their repeated merges. Exactly how much of Doug remains in Warlock remains to be seen.
