Who Is Caliban? Everything You Need to Know About the 'Logan' Character's X-Men History

Logan has just been released and fans are absolutely loving it — finally, after 17 years, we have the bloody, emotional #Wolverine film that we always wanted.

Though the movie centers on Logan and Professor Xavier helping the young X-23 flee to safety, there's one other important character who helps them in the early stages of the film: Stephen Merchant's Caliban. But just who is he?

The Human Version Of Cerebro

In the comics, Caliban is an albino mutant with the ability to sense the presence of other mutants. Just as Professor X uses Cerebro to track and locate mutants, Caliban's abilities are used to assemble a team of mutants called the Morlocks. These mutants, led by a character named Callisto, lived in the sewers of New York City, as they were disfigured and unable to blend into "normal" society; this caused them to hate humans as well as other mutants who looked more conventional.

The Morlocks frequently butted heads with the X-Men, and it's in one such confrontation that Caliban comes to take care of Kitty Pryde when she is infected with a virus. He develops feelings for her, and allowed Kitty to leave to fight with her friends on the condition that she stays with him forever. When Kitty fails to return, Callisto orders the Morlocks to kidnap her and force her to marry Caliban. It's at this moment that he realizes that she did not truly love him, and he allows her to leave for good.

An Acolyte Of Apocalypse

Caliban continued to appear as both a help and a hinderance to the X-Men. Iceman trained him in combat, but he became one of Apocalypse's four horsemen, Death. While under Apocalypse's control, he gained some additional powers — enhanced strength, agility, reflexes and endurance, as well as claws — thanks to Apocalypse's genetic manipulation.

Caliban uses his new abilities to defeat Sabretooth (twice) and Archangel in combat, and even battles the X-Men alongside the other horsemen. The X-Men win the fight and Caliban is able to escape Apocalypse's control; he then returns to his reclusive ways.

In the years that follow, Caliban becomes a member of X-Force, forming a friendship with Cable. The team have many adventures together, battling X-Men foes such as Mojo and Mister Sinister.

One Of The 198

After M-Day, when the Scarlet Witch wipes out nearly every mutant in existence, Caliban is one of the few survivors. After this, his abilities come in very useful in uniting the remaining mutants left in the world; he again becomes a friend of the X-Men, assisting them in a number of missions, rejoining X-Force on a mission to locate the first mutant born since M-Day.

The team battles with Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers — and during this battle, Caliban sacrifices himself, jumping in front of a line of bullets heading for Warpath. Like all good comic book characters, he has since been revived, however.

In The Movies

In Logan, Caliban helps Logan to look after the ailing Professor Xavier, who is suffering from an Alzheimer's-like condition. Caliban and Logan share an "odd couple" type of relationship in caring for Xavier. Caliban goes on to play a very important role in the film, particularly because Donald Pierce is very interested in his mutant-tracking abilities.

Logan isn't the first time we've seen Caliban on the big screen, though. He also appeared in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, portrayed by Tomas Lemarquis — quite fitting when you consider his comic book history with Apocalypse. He briefly appeared as an underground broker who employs Psylocke as his bodyguards.

Fans of the animated series X-Men: Evolution and the 1990s X-Men cartoon may also recognize Caliban from a handful of episodes, as will players of the X-Men: Battle Of the Atom mobile game.