Black Tom Cassidy: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Thomas Cassidy

First Appearance: X-Men #99 (June, 1976)

Powers: Concussive blasts, Superhuman Strength, Healing Factor, Chlorokinesis, Life Absorbtion, and many more

Affiliation: Hellfire Club, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Did You Know?  Tom Cassidy is the cousin of the X-Men member, Banshee

A Little History

First appearing in X-Men #99, Thomas Cassidy is a mutant who possesses the power to fire concussive blasts that he channels through wood. Due to his mutation requiring wood, he can often be found carrying around a wooden stick.

Thomas Cassidy grew up as the heir to his family’s fortune. This included but wasn’t limited to the family estate. Unfortunately for Tom, he gambled his inheritance away and lost it to his cousin, Sean.

To further complicate things, he and Sean vied for the affection of the same woman, Maeve. No different than before, luck was not on Tom’s side and Sean won her heart. The two, Sean and Maeve would marry leaving Tom to serve as the Best Man at the wedding.

Having lost the love of his life, Tom turned to a life of crime as…you guessed it, Black Tom. Initially, he was able to hide who he was by disguising himself as a soldier. Eventually, like many other times in his life, Tom’s luck caught up to him and he was caught. 

Shortly after his imprisonment, Sean became an Agent of Interpol and was assigned on a mission far from his family. He left unaware that his wife, Maeve, was pregnant with their child. While away, Maeve gave birth to their daughter, Theresa.

Tragedy struck when Maeve and Theresa were away visiting family in Northern Ireland. While there the small town fell under a terrorist attack. As a consequence, Maeve killed and Theresa was thought to be dead. What nobody realized was that Tom was present and he took the child before she was harmed. He then raised her as his own, and only after many years, finally told Sean what had happened.