The mutant detection device Cerebro has long been one of Professor Xavier's most potent tools. Designed to amplify Xavier's natural telepathy and help the X-Men scout new members, Cerebro allows telepaths to detect mutant activity all across the globe. It also catalogs information about the various mutants it encounters. However, this also makes it a deadly weapon in the wrong hands, which almost occurred during the '90s crossover Operation: Zero Tolerance, when the villainous Bastion captured Xavier and Cerebro. Attempting to hack into the device, Cerebro automatically erased all accessible files.
However, the interference of Bastion's nanotechnology -- as well as the Shi'Ar upgrades that Forge had installed in the device previously -- gave the device sentience. Forming a body for itself, Cerebro also used the nano-bots and its available knowledge of the X-Men to create its own robotic variants of the mutant heroes who almost killed the real X-Men in battle. While that threat was quickly dealt with, Cerebro's X-Men set a precedent that could doom the mutant nation Krakoa today.
Introduced in Uncanny X-Men #360 by Steve Seagle and Chris Bachalo, these X-Men had their personalities and powers patterned after other notable mutants -- with the roster consisting of Grey King (a Jean Grey-level telepath with Magneto's temperament), Rapture (a devoted Catholic woman with Archangel's powers and Mystique's appearance), Xaos (a quiet sharpshooter capable of firing explosive energy from his left eye similar to Cyclops), Crux (an Elementalist with the personality of Jubilee and the powers of both Sunfire and Iceman), Landslide (a large Beast-like brawler with Rogue's southern charm), and Mercury (a ruthless fighter with the powers of Colossus and the killer's edge of Wolverine.)
Believing themselves to be authentic and real mutants, Cerebrio's X-Men quickly went into action under the orders of "Xavier" and followed his schemes -- including kidnapping Shadowcat and conspiring to confront humanity over their own cataloging of mutantkind. The real X-Men reassembled to confront this team and defeated them, learning the "Xavier" leading the new team was an imposter. Although these new "X-Men" were taken aback and retreated to regroup, they were quickly reduced to nothing but their base parts by Cerebro, who in turn absorbed them to empower themselves. This set off the "Hunt For Xavier" storyline, which ended with Cerebro destroyed and Xavier returned to the team.
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In retrospect, the Cerebro-created X-Men actually has a lot in common with the current era of X-Men on Krakoa. Cerebro's ability to register not just the information and capabilities but the personalities and memories of each mutant it locates is a key reason why the X-Men and their allies have been able to resurrect their fallen mutant brethren. The idea of combining the powers and mindsets of multiple mutants into a single being is very similar to the Chimeras glimpsed in one of the many lives of Moira X. While the sentiment Cerebro was only a threat for a brief time, the minds of Krakoa could potentially replicate a similar process.
This also invites the possibility that Cerebro could one day find sentience again to turn against the X-Men. Now with a greater repository of mutant DNA and history, it could create far more powerful mutant fusions. Notably, Cerebro's ultimate plan was to conquer humanity and force it into a peaceful relationship with mutants. Given the current strains of anti-mutant sentiment currently spreading throughout the world, another rogue Cerebro could be the ultimate final straw that sets the world against Krakoa. If it were to malfunction again and become another threat, Cerebro could go from the salvation of Krakoa to the end of the current mutant era.
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