rockslide: Definition from Answers.com

Rockslide
Art by Skottie Young.
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance New Mutants (volume 2) #7 (January 2004) Created by Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir Carlo Barberi
Characteristics Alter ego Santo Vaccarro Species Human Mutant Team affiliations Xavier Institute New X-Men Hellions Abilities Body composed of rock, which grants him superhuman strength, endurance, durability, and the ability to fire his hands and fingers as projectiles

Rockslide is the codename of Santo Vaccarro, a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute and a member of the former Hellions squad therein. Post-M-Day, he was one of only 27 students to retain his powers; he is currently training to become an X-Man. He is best friends with Julian Keller and is extremely close to and protective of Mercury. Despite his earlier appearances as a stereotypical bully, he has evolved into a good-natured (though extremely boastful) and fiercely protective friend to most of the school's students.

Fictional character biography

Introduction

An Italian-American mutant, Santo was sent to the Xavier Institute where he befriended Julian and the would-be Hellions. He was originally advised by Iceman, but was selected by Emma Frost to be part of her prized Hellions squad. Santo and the rest of the Hellions went on to win the Field Tournament and were declared the best squad at the end of the school year. Santo dreams of being a super-human wrestling star and enjoys murder-mystery television programs (such as Medium starring Patricia Arquette and Murder She Wrote).[1] He is also a fan of Dance Dance Revolution.[2].

Hellions Miniseries

During the summer vacation, Julian, from a well-to-do background, invited his friends to his home. The Hellions ran into trouble quickly, as his and Cessily's appearances along with Sooraya's dress disturbed people at the airport. After a brief struggle, the group was allowed to board, and made their way to California, where Julian originates. Soon, the team encountered the 'Kingmaker', from whom they each received a trial wish. Santo's wish was to become a World-class Champion in superhuman wrestling. However, when the Hellions eventually refused a permanent deal with the Kingmaker, the Kingmaker shattered Santo with a laser blast. Julian used his telekinesis to piece Rockslide back together, and together the Hellions defeated the Kingmaker.

Decimation

Soon after returning to the school after the vacation, the events of the House of M storyline transpired. In this reality, Santo was once again a champion superhuman wrestler. After the effects of M-Day, he was one of the few students who didn't lose their powers. The depowered students and staff were sent to their homes. One bus was bombed by anti-mutant religious zealot Reverend William Stryker, and Santo's former teammate and friend Brian was among those killed. The X-Men held a funeral for those students whose parents would not accept them, and Santo reflected upon how he had "failed" by not being able to save those killed.

With the mutant population drastically decreased, the government sent the Sentinel O*N*E* Squad to watch over the school, which began housing as many remaining mutants as would take refuge. All of the remaining students were placed by Emma Frost into an all-out brawl, and the ones deemed to be the best were to be assigned to become a group of in-training X-Men. Santo made the team and began training to become an X-Man.

Childhood's End and Nimrod

William Stryker continued his terror attacks against the school. Santo's teammate Josh ended Stryker's plans by killing him. The New X-Men, with the help of David, then made the connection between Stryker and Nimrod. The team leader, Nori, then decided that the team would find and destroy the robot. When the team confronted Nimrod, Rockslide revealed how much the death of his fellow schoolmates had affected him when he intercepted an attack by Nimrod meant for Hellion crying "Not again!" He was obliterated by the attack, fueling the rest of the team in their eventual defeat of Nimrod. Hellion and Mercury tried desperately to awaken and to piece him back together, but Rockslide's remains were initially unresponsive. Thankfully, even in his shattered form, he was able to survive, and was finally put back together, only to become larger and more rugged than his previous form. Rockslide is later seen talking to Match and Anole about their abilities and how useful or useless they would be if they joined the New X-men team, indicating Match and Anole may be possible candidates for admission onto the team. He was at the memorial service for all the students lost in Stryker's attack on the Institute.

Mercury Falling

Recently, Rockslide sees the Young Avengers on television, learning about them for the first time, to his fellow students' surprise. He decides that the New X-Men should beat them up, with himself fighting Hulkling. Fellow students Loa and Anole tell him that Hulkling would win.

Rockslide accompanied the X-Men when they jumped from the Blackbird to save Cessily from the Facility. He helped with great enthusiasm during the fight, and in the aftermath, made fun of Shadowcat and her powers, saying that being an X-Man must be "really hard". Kitty then jokingly threatened to kill him.

Civil War/The Initiative

Santo has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. ^[1]

Quest For Magik

Santo and the other students were captured by Belasco, and taken to Limbo. While hiding from Belasco, along with Blindfold, Match, Loa, Anole, Wolf Cub, Pixie, and Gentle, Santo was unsure what to do. As demons approached the group, Santo fought them off, but then seemingly exploded when he tried to shoot his fists at them. Santo then seems to reconstitute himself in a magma rock form that is also impervious to magic and beats the badness out of Illyana who then helps them to rescue their fellow students and kill Belasco. Back home Rockslide threatens to quit if Pixie and Anole aren't made part of the new X-Men.

World War Hulk

Rockslide is one of the students that goes up against the Hulk in World War Hulk: X-Men. He knocks over the Hulk so the other students can hold him down, but is knocked away when Hulk regains his strength. When Rockslide attacks him alone, it appears that Hulk knows who he is and what he can do. The Hulk rips off both of Rockslide's arms, steps on him, then tears off his legs. He then rids Rockslide of his limbs by throwing them a great distance, ridding Rockslide of his powers and the ability of ambulatory function. Ironically, Santo has stated that as a kid he pretended he was the Hulk.

Powers and abilities

Santo's body is composed completely of granite, which grants him superhuman strength, endurance, durability and the ability to explode and reconstruct himself from the rocks around himself. He previously had the ability to fire his hands as projectiles but that ability was lost.

In the Hellions mini-series, he was shattered by the Kingmaker and put back together by Julian, much like how a disembodied Emma Frost was reanimated by Jean Grey in the first New X-Men series. Given that Julian's power is obviously much less developed than Jean's, it would make sense that Santo's body is designed to be pieced back together should it be broken. This is supported by the recent incident in which Santo's body was obliterated by Nimrod, only to eventually put itself partially back together (Santo needed Julian's help again to fully reform). This time his appearance is larger and more rugged.

In the Quest for Magik arc, this process was undergone again. Santo being blown up again in Limbo when he tried to fire his fists off but Blindfold reveals that aspect of his powers doesn't work anymore. Soon Santo returns as a large lava type "golem". His molten rock, being in Limbo, form is also resistant to magic. This is shown when Darkchild tried to stop him from attacking her and when Belasco tries to zap him with magical energy, but they both have no effect.

Dr. McCoy's suspicion is that after Nimrod shattered Santo, Nimrod must have atomized most of his original body and dissolved him in some sort of disembodied psychic state. Santo, in theory, is able to re-form himself as a "Golem" from some kind of ambient earth matter and obtain that earth matter's properties. The first time his body was destroyed, he was able to reform from solid rocks and obtained a larger and rugged rock body. The second time, he reformed from Limbo's molten rocks and obtained the ability to generate and maintain heat from within. The third time, he reformed from the school's grounds after exploding himself (an ability he gained from his molten rock form). Beast, currently, is testing the extent of Rockslide's reformation abilities. As a result, Santo's original ability to fire off his limbs is seemingly lost in his new reformed bodies. Instead, the energy used to propel his limbs is now explosively released from his entire body, obliterating his form, from which he can recover.^[2]

References