Prodigy

Origin

David Alleyne was born a mutant, but kept his power to pick up knowledge and skills from others a secret from his friends and family. Dani Moonstar recruited him and he decided to go to the Xavier Institute after an attack by Purity, an anti-mutant group.

Dani Moonstar created a team called the New Mutants which she wanted Prodigy to become the team leader of at first but he declined which lead to Wind dancer being the leader of the team for a short time, during a field training mission against the hellions David and his team noticed how it was Sofia's lack of tactical training that caused the team to lose the mission in the first place, after Josh's dispute with Sofia about the team losing the mission David yet again gets prompted to be the team leader but states fully that he is standing by the original team leader that is Sofia, later on during a plan to get Wither out of the mansion

before he got taken in by the FBI Sofia tries to use her wind powers to get him out safely while Surge made a distraction for the cops, the plan failed which caused Dani to come and back them up, she then tells her squad that they should not take matters into their own hands and that the X-Men would deal with it, Sofia fights back and says that as Wither is on her team it should be their responsibility to help him in any situation,

David tells her that she is getting overly dramatic, Sofia mentions that he had the opportunity for team leadership so he should not be complaining about her emotional state and she then storms off in anger, David tries to get to her but Noriko makes it clear that that would be a futile action, later on the team find out that the Hellions have gone to go and break Wither out from the FBI's hold after he has been taken in with Sofia among them, Laurie offers to talk to Sofia first as they are best friends but David say's he knows what this is all about and that it would be best for him to talk to her first, a battle rages on outside the park between the New Mutants and the Hellions, as soon as Sofia sees David she unleashes a powerful gust of wind on him to fight him off, David immediately questions her actions and Sofia asks if he was going to give her another lecture on her bad leadership skills or her impulsiveness, David then states that he did not want her to give up the role of leadership and that he was willing to follow her to the end, Sofia admits her confusion with Wither and did not know what to do as Leader of the New Mutants,

David re assures her that she is not alone in the squad and Sofia states that she is with the New mutants but he must lead them, soon he takes control of the battle by ordering Sofia to attack Dust with her wind powers instead and then Noriko to electrocute Mercury with her powers,

later the X-Men come in and punish both teams for taking matters into their own hands but the Hellions were in far more trouble, later Sofia and David arrange a danger room session, they both discuss their attributes for the team and David suggests that they could co-lead the New mutants as it was done in the past, Sofia thinks this a brilliant idea and agrees which started the new age of The New Mutants.

Haunted

As the students at the Xavier Institute kick off a new term, Prodigy's younger sister Kim turns up for a visit, he shows her to all of his friends and shares the same disliking to Julian Keller as her brother does, he also brings her to one of his Drama classes that Night Crawler would be teaching, later on in her trip David brings mentions the Danger Room and Kim appears extremely awed by it, she asks if Dani will let her join and he says he doesn't know because she does not have any mutant powers so it would be highly dangerous for her, Kim explains how boring her own school is compared to this one and how she would love to be a mutant herself, David assures her that it is not all fun and games being a mutant and being a mutant means learning how to protect yourself which is what the Danger Room is for, they then head back to the school, Kim notices her schools librarian Shan at the Xavier Institute who is as surprised to see her as Kim is, later on the kids meet up for the Danger Room session with some of them bringing up the strange mis-happenings going on around the academy, Dani comes in and asks what the commotion was all about, Laurie asks if the school was haunted and Dani tells her that nobody had died recently in the school though she does believe in ghosts, David suggests that it was probably Julian using his powers on them again, they commence the Danger Room session with Kim and Dani in the control room, during the end of the session Nori overloads herself and does not feel well, Dani then rushes to her aid to see if she can help, Kim asks if she can come and Dani says she should stay put in case of an accident, Kim stays but a mysterious child figure appears to her, she asks what type of mutant powers does he have and he answer with that he is dead he then orders her to "leave now" and disappears, Kim rushes down and alerts the others and after the experience tells them that she is a mutant.

After the news of his sister being a mutant the danger room suddenly re-creates an evil version of Magneto who almost annihilates the whole team, Dani tries to scare it off by facing it with its greatest fear, Xavier but it doesn't work, luckily Shan was in the control room to shut the simulation down, the team all head out of the Danger room and each with their own injuries, Cyclops and Emma talk to David about the mysterious happenings around the institute, he tells them that he i not exactly sure about whats been happening but thinks it could have been Julian that was messing with them, something Emma thinks not of, he then brings up the fact that Kim states she was a mutant, Kim comes into the room to see if David was okay, Scott tells them that they should go and eat while him and Emma look into the matter. Later at dinner the mansion's cafeteria was strangely quite, Noriko wonders if it really was Julian that was playing tricks on them and Sofia states that he is not that mean, Kim asks why they are even discussing Julian and fights her argument about being a mutant to them, as the team discuss the strange weather outside Wither comes in to see if he could help Laurie about what happened previously concerning the ghosts matter much to Josh's dislike as he tells Kevin to back off and as the two begin to argue the items around the cafeteria such as their table begin to disappear and re appear out of no where after the ordeal the New Mutants and David go back to sleep, Josh bothers David more about the ghost matter and David promises that he would look into it tomorrow after being very exhausted, as the team are very anxious to find out about the mysterious happenings around the institute Josh suggests that David uses his powers to find out about the most recent death in the institute, he tries but the information was blocked off and he would need the powers of someone like Sage to access them, Noriko suggests that instead they should go to the cemetery to o some more investigation, the team agrees and they go to investigate, David mentions how it was not just their own team that experienced weird stuff, people from other teams did as well, as soon as they reach a grave stone David gives Kim his glasses in order to confirm if that was the ghost,

she looks but that wasn't the boy, the real ghost was standing near the tree and she spots him, he disappears for a short time only to re appear behind Kim, he tells her to "leave now!", the team try to assure him but he orders them to leave the school as soon as possible, Sofia tries to calm him down some more but he uses his powers and teleports them elsewhere.

When the team re gain awareness of their surroundings they find that they were teleported into mid air and are falling quickly to the ground, Jay manages to get Kim, while Sofia tries to help David but David orders her to save Noriko instead, as David was heading swiftly to the ground he stops due to some type of force,

it was Julian, he asks where the rest of their team have gone and they explain Josh and Laurie were on a date, mean while

back at the cemetery Shan and Dani come in, Dani explains how she knew who the boy was and what his powers were and what exactly happened on the day of his death as the team come to realization Dani suggests that they go get some rest, in the morning David sees Noriko and offers some breakfast, she declines even when he insists, she tells him the reason of her mood, the fact that his sister Kim doesn't like him, she then explains the reason of her hurt and mentions how she called her dad and he acted as if she was not his daughter anymore, David cheers her up and they go and get breakfast, later in the evening Sofia proposes that the best way to contact the ghost again would be to perform a Seance, David wonders if they could get into trouble and mentions what happened the last time they tried to get in touch with the ghost, Dani thinks it a wise decision but cautions Sofia about her choice, David asks what a connection with death means as Dani has one and she tells him about her past as a Valkyrie,

shortly the team being the Seance and begin chanting "Jefferey Garret we ask that you commune with us and move among us", as they chant the wind outside gets fiercer and the tables begin to disappears until it's just Davids team left, suddenly knives appear above them and shoot straight at their table, Dani thinks that it would be best for them to stop but Sofia insists, the candles get brighter and the ghost appears once more and commands them to leave yet again, Kim tries to help but the ghost makes t clear that he does not want any and vents out his frustration towards the school for his death, Dani asks why he didnt depart when they told him to, he explains how he wanted to go and get a picture of his family from his room but was not quick enough to get it, Dani explains what he is doing is wrong and he begins to apologize and then disappears once more, after most of the team depart David apologizes for his doubts towards Sofia and she tells him not to worry.

In the morning David finds Kim in the library and she tells him the news of how she was not a mutant in the first place, she sees that he's happy and he explains that he is happy because she does not have to go through what he did as a mutant, he tells her that she has another day for sulking or another day for fun, she asks if she can go to Sofia's flying class and he agrees.

At one point he wanted Emma to unlock his mind to let him be able to permanently keep all knowledge gained from others. She and Moonstar gave him a very realistic vision of the future where he had these new abilities. In this possible future, Prodigy gained all of the knowledge of the teachers at the Institute (including Beast), and quickly surpassed them in intellectual abilities. He set off into the world to learn more absorbing the intellect of Stephen Hawking, Tony Stark ,and other famous minds. He is able to develop a cure for all incurable diseases at the cost of killing his friend and former teammate Elixir. Later, he is married to Surge, and becomes President of the United States. He is responsible for the deaths of the X-Men, and seeks to create a one-world government through coercion and intimidation, and finally destroying anyone in his way. The vision ends during an attack on the White House by the Hellions and his wife where Surge is forced to destroy everyone. After experiencing and believing in this possible future, David agrees with his teachers and decides against having his mental block removed. This experience comes at the price of his relationship with Surge, who he shared a mutual romantic interest in, as he is left afraid of her getting hurt.

Decimation

After the Decimation, Prodigy was left powerless but stayed at the School to show his friends the Danger Cave he had built. It was his own version of the Danger Room that let the team train by reliving X-men missions of the past. After William Stryker killed a bus full of students and many others left the school, the teams were rearranged and members of the New Mutants and Hellions were placed together, now with Noriko Ashida in charge. Prodigy stayed as an unofficial member since he had no powers but couldn't go home because his parents didn't want him to come back.

In an effort to protect David, Noriko kissed Hellion so David would think she no longer loved him and would want to leave the school. Her plan almost worked, but as David was packing, The Stepford Cuckoos offered to make him completely remember everything he had ever learned. Though he wouldn't have his powers back (he wouldn't be able to learn anything new) he would be able to be a part of the team. He accepted and his first act as Prodigy again was to break up with Noriko. He is currently part of the team again and uses his learned abilities to act as a substitute teacher when the senior staff is absent.

Messiah Complex

During the events of Messiah Complex, when the various factions of the mutant world battled to decide the fate of the first Mutant born since M-Day, David played a smaller role. He, along with Surge and Hellion, discovered the part the purifiers played in the conflict. While Surge led the others in an attempt to retrieve the baby from the Purifiers, on that mission they learned the Purifiers didn't have the child, Prodigy elected to remain behind because the motivation was impure. When the Mansion was attacked by the sentinels meant to guard it, Prodigy helped Beast to stabilize everyone in the Med labs.

During the intervening time David used his knowledge to repair the damage to Cerebro, with assistance from the Cuckoo's. When Pixie teleported the New X-Men and Predator X to Muir Island he was present, and took part in the battle. After these events Cyclops disbanded the X-men.

Manifest Destiny and Secret Invasion

David returned to his family and spent the intervening time with them. When Cyclops moved the X-Men to San Fransisco, Prodigy was among those who came to help prepare the new headquarters, though he is not currently an active member in any field teams. When the Skrulls attacked San Francisco Prodigy assisted the X-Men in defending the city. When the Cyclops team captured a Skrull spacecraft, Prodigy assisted Beast in decoding it's hard drive and studying it's information. After they were finished with the ship Prodigy joined Hank in providing tech support for the X-Men. While Beast was working on a weapon to take out the Skrull soldiers, Prodigy was left to monitor their equipment. While he also supported them in the field, his major contribution was monitoring their scanners and keeping track of the Skrull's movements. He notified Cyclops of the Mother-ships descent into downtown San Fransisco.

Prodigy attempted to figure out what the Skrull's were up to, and just as he got an idea, the Skrull commander contacted Cyclops with his demands. Prodigy used the X-Men's scanning equipment to verify the Skrull threat, informing Cylcop's that the people were spread out over several blocks. As the realization of the Skrull's implication set in David was among those present as Beast and Cyclops debated the use of the Legacy Virus. Scott then called an assembly of the X-Men where he informed them of the plan and gave them the option of participating or not, like the rest of the X-Men David chose to participate. Prodigy aided Beast in applying the Legacy Virus to the costumes of all the X-Men present before their assault in preparation for their plan. He then joined the X-Men in their surrender, waiting for the word from Cyclop's before they attacked. After the Skrull Commander decided to gather his people, Prodigy escaped along-side his fellow X-Men using his skills to pilot a Skrull craft full of his teammates to safety.

Second Coming

When Hope, the mutant messiah, returned from the future with Cable, Bastion set forth the next act in his plan to eradicate mutants. Prodigy was on Utopia during the early struggles and was not summoned to go into battle with many of the other X-Men. However, he did serve as an aide to both Cyclops and Beast, aiding Cyclops by providing news from the field as it came in. He later aided Beast as well and created plans on what their next course of action would be after Bastion enclosed Utopia and the surrounding area in a force field and attacked the X-Men.

Power and Abilities

Empowered

Prodigy's mutant ability, called psychomimicry, allowed him to gain the knowledge and mental skills of those around him for as long as they were in his range. Not only did this make him incredibly skilled and even smarter depending on who was near him, but it gave him a better understanding of his teammates' skills and how to best have them work as a unit, each person's abilities complimenting another, making him a natural leader. The extent of his Ability could have also allowed him to copy powers from other Mutants, it is unknown however if he could. He also had the innate ability to read attacks directed against him, allowing him to easily avoid or counter them if he was fast enough. He is currently powerless as a result of the Decimation but is still a highly intelligent and skilled leader and an experienced fighter in his own right.

Depowered

Prodigy, to an extent, regained his powers in New X-Men #43. He can no longer absorb new skills telepathically, but thanks to the powerful psionic abilities of the Stepford Cuckoos, has all the knowledge and skills he had ever gained at his disposal, similar to a photographic memory-based muscle mimicry power. It is implied that he has every skill that the X-Men have been known to possess like Wolverine's samurai skills but it hasn't been directly shown, however he is still a baseline human with no physical enhancements so he won't be able to perform any super-human feats. 

Personal Data

Characteristics

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 187 lbs
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black

Status

Place of Birth:  Chicago, Illinois
Citizenship:  U.S.A. 
Education: High school
Known Relatives: Christopher Alleyn (father), Dorothy Alleyn (mother), Kim Alleyn (sister)
Likes: Jazz, Chicago Cubs
Dislikes: Cheaters
Voted: Most likely to Succeed. 

Alternate Versions

House of M

In the House of M universe, David was once more a member of the New Mutants. The New Mutants were a group of young mutants trained to be diplomats, and David graduated the valedictorian.

Prodigy once more acts as the leader of the new mutants (although in this case it's more unofficial). He leads the New Mutants in an attempt to save Nori's father.

While initially conflicting with rival group the Hellions, the two groups would join together after learning of tortures of humans. David, along with the rest of the surviving New Mutants and the Hellions would later make their last stand against Sunfire and his army.

X-Men: The End

Prodigy briefly appears in X-Men The End, as an agent of the X.S.E. He, along with Iceman, interrogates Sage. Prodigy absorbs all the information she knows, and is deeply troubled with what he finds out. When joined by Val Cooper, he reveals that she is an impostor. She responds by transforming into a Warskrull, killing Prodigy shortly after.