James Proudstar was born in Camp Verde, Arizona to Neal and Maria Proudstar. James was the second child for the Proudstar's as they had another son named John. James grew up on his parent's ranch along with his parents his brother and his grandfather. James and John both developed mutant powers because their mother had been exposed to nuclear energy from a near by government testing site. James and his older brother were very close as James idolized John. When John was old enough he left Camp Verde and joined the Marines. Even with John now far away from home, James continued to look up to him.
When John returned from the Marines after a two year tour of duty it was discovered that Maria Proudstar was diagnosed with chronic lymphocyte leukemia, a terminal form of cancer, by Doctor Edwin Martynec. Michael Whitecloud, a family friend of the Proudstar's was also a reporter that had been investigating Dr. Martynec. Michael believed that Dr. Martynec was performing illegal activities at his medical lab. When Michael told John of what he discovered about Dr. Martynec, the two young men traveled to Dr. Martynec's lab but unknown to them James had over heard and he stowed away inside his brother truck and secretly went to Dr. Martynec's with them.
When John and Michael arrived at Dr. Martynec's lab they discovered that James had hidden in the truck and traveled with them. With no time to argue, the three young men entered the lab and quickly discovered that Martynec was performing illegal enhancement experiments and they also learned that Martynec was some type of were-creature! In the battle that followed, John was able to hold off Martynec while the others escaped. In the end Martynec blew up his lab to cover his escape but more importantly to the Proudstar's, their mother was in perfect health.
After rescuing his mother James returned home with his brother. Over the next few years James and John continued their close relationship even though John's mutant abilities developed even further. John's mutant abilities caught the attention of Charles Xavier, the leader of the mutant outlaw team known as the X-Men. Xavier offered John membership with the X-Men and even though James protested his brother leaving in the end, John joined the X-Men. When John left, James blamed Xavier for breaking up his family. Shortly after John joined the X-Men, he was killed in combat. John's death angered James to the point that he vowed to one day get even with Xavier for taking his brother from him.
As James grew older his mutant powers began to emerge and he was recruited by Emma Frost to become a member of her mutant team known as the Hellions. Emma nurtured James's anger and gave him the codename Thunderbird (John also used this codename). Emma wanted to exploit James and use him as a tool to use against Xavier and the X-Men. Since James hated Xavier anyways, it was not difficult for Emma to focus his hatred towards killing Xavier. As a member of the Hellions, James clashed with Xavier's teen mutant group, the New Mutants. Even though James hated Xavier he showed no ill will towards the New Mutants, as a matter of fact it was James's cool head that kept the two young teams from hurting one another. Because of his level head and sound judgment, Emma made James the field leader of the Hellions.
After James became a member of the Hellions his hatred of Xavier continued. In an effort to gain vengeance against Xavier, James kidnapped the former X-Man, Banshee in an attempt to draw the X-Men into a trap. James was holding Banshee at a secret NORAD base located in the Cheyenne Mountains; this was the same place where John had been killed. The X-Men broke federal law in an attempt to rescue Banshee since it was illegal for them to enter the NORAD base. The Hellions assisted James with his plan against the X-Men. During the battle between James and the X-Men, James actually saved the lives of the X-Men, Wolverine and Shadowcat. At the end of the battle, James came face to face with Xavier and found that he could not kill him as he has planned to do. In the end James made peace with Xavier. Xavier invited James to join the New Mutants but James refused the offer and returned to the Hellions.
As the leader of the Hellions, James did his best to do the right thing and to lead the team without breaking any laws or hurting anyone.
The teams encountered one another on other occasions. When one Hellion used his powers against one of the New Mutants, the New Mutants as a team came after that individual. After the New Mutants captured that Hellion, James led the Hellions on a rescue mission. Instead of fighting the New Mutants, James simply assured them that Hellion's actions would not go unpunished, believing him, the New Mutants turned the Hellion member over to the Hellions.
Things would soon sour as the Hellions were routed out by the Purifiers and the team was wiped out. James was able to survive, escape, and disappear into the night.
Suspecting that the rest of his team were killed, James pursued other avenues of his life. He returned home to Arizona to find his family and friends had been wiped out by an unknown mutant that left no trace or direction for James to track. This distraught James to no end.
Instead of rampaging all over Arizona, he was faced with a vision from his spirit guide. The Thunderbird. The same spirit guide that aided his brother so many years before. The guide, in the vision, expressed to James that he needs to find himself, to become more balanced and centered. In this, James put all other things aside and sought inner peace - communicating with his spirit guide, James discovered much more about himself. With a clear mind and clear conscious, James will once again return to the world of being a hero while searching for the person who killed his family.
Impulsive - James is a young man that is very very impulsive. James has no time for small talk as he is always quick to act in any given situation. Once that James has chosen his course of action it would take a great effort to stop him as he truly believes that he is doing the right thing.
Loyal - Along with James quick to act nature is his unyielding loyalty to his friends. James has lost his family and all of his childhood friends so anyone that James chooses to call a friend is very special to him. There is almost nothing that James would do for a friend. James does not give his friendship away carelessly as he fully understands that once he chooses to befriend someone, he is making a life long decision.
Vendictive - To cross James or any of his friends is inviting nothing but trouble as he is very vengeful. James finds it difficult to forgive anyone that has done him wrong in the past. If anyone hurts James or one of his friends, James will hold it against that person until some type of redemption is paid. An excellent example of James's vengeful nature is that even after forgiving Xavier for his brothers death he still believed that the X-Men owed him something.
Honorable - James has been raised to believe that personal honor is extremely important. James has grown into a very honorable young man as he will do everything in his power not to dishonor himself. James's code of honor is similar to the code of the bushida as he believes in such rights such as never making fun of his enemy and respecting all life. There have been several times in his life when James has questioned his own honor but so far he believes that he has led a honorable life.
Caring - Above all else, James is a very caring person. James's kindness is evident whenever he is not in a combat situation as he will gladly go out of his way to benefit others. James's kindness if of course greater for his friends as he would die for any one of them without giving it a second thought. As a mutant Super-hero, many believe that James is kind because of that but even before his days as a hero he was a very caring person. Even while James served as a member of the Hellions he cared a great deal for those around him.
Warrior - In combat James is a true warrior as he always fights the good fight and shows his enemy mercy. James has a warrior's spirit as he always does his best in a fight and he always fights with honor. Because of his physical presence, James seems to always be in the frontline of a battle and he would have it no other way.
Proudful - As a Native American, James is very proud of who he is where he comes from. James believes that in many ways he carries all Native Americans on his back because he is one of the few Native Americans that are in the public eye in a positive manner. James is fully aware that his actions are being closely watched by those who believe that his people are slow and stupid; James would like nothing more than to squash all of the stereotypes against all Native Americans.
HEIGHTENED SENSES: James has very sharp senses as he is able to smell, hear and see things that normal humans cannot. James is able to see objects hundreds of feet from him as if they were right in his face. James's vision also allows him to see clearly in total darkness. James's hearing rival's his vision as he is able to hear a person's normal breathing from up to twenty feet away; at closer range he is able to hear a person's heartbeat. James is able to hear whispers in a crowded room as of the person whispering was talking directly to him in their normal tone of voice. James's sense of smell is perhaps his greatest enhanced sense as he is able to locate and identify people by their scent alone. James can track beings with scents just like the Wolverine can. He can detect pheremones, mostly those of animals over humans, and able to detect that type of animal communication. With James's super senses it is nearly impossible to sneak up on him without using extreme measures.
ENHANCED REFLEXES AND COORDINATION: James has reflexes and coordination that allow him to perform complex physical maneuvers. James is able to perform gymnastic maneuvers with little effort even though he has had little or no training in this area. James can do back flips, summersaults and other gymnastic moves as if he has spent a great deal of time practicing them. For a man of his size and build it is nothing short of amazing to see how graceful James is able to move. James agility, maneuverability and his coordination are on par with the likes of Sabretooth and Wolverine.
SUPER STRENGTH:
James is one of the strongest men alive as his mutant abilities include a strength level that nearly rivals the strength of the X-Man, Colossus. When James mutant powers first manifested he was able to lift roughly 15 tons. As James grew older he became physically stronger. Today James is able to lift about 80 tons with extreme effort. James is able to lift and carry his maximum lifting weight about one hundred yards before fatigue would force him to set the object down. Because of his great strength, James is able to deliver powerful physical attacks that could destroy most physical barriers. James can easily shatter steel walls and bend most metals as if they were clay. Super metals such as adamantium are beyond James's ability to damage. James can lift and throw cars as if they were toys. James can throw a mid sized car about 50 to 100 yards. James is able to lift tanks and toss as well but he is only able to toss them a few yards at best.
FLIGHT: It is unclear as to how James is able to fly as some have suggested that it is psionic in nature. In any case James is able to fly through the air under his own power. The top speeds that James is able to reach while flying is about 150 miles per hour. James can fly for about 8 hours continuously before fatigue would force him to land. While in flight James is able to carry about 50 tons in weight with him. James is a very agile flier as his enhanced maneuverability extend to his flight as well, thus he can do things such as turn 90 degrees in an instant stop on a dime and perform complex aerial maneuvers with little difficulty.
SUPER SPEED: Warpath is able to run and move at higher rates of speed than a normal human. His maximum running speed is 56mph and this allows him to attack and defend at slightly higher rates.
BODY RESISTANCE: James' body is highly resistant to harm. In the past James has gone toe to toe with the Juggernaut and survived relatively unharmed. James's body is tough enough that he can survive most physical attacks with very little harm becoming him. James has survived falls from great heights without any injury to himself. Most conventional weapons are useless against James as it would take something along the lines of heavy artillery to cause him serious harm. People with normal human strength find it impossible to physically hurt James as he could take a direct punch from the likes of Colossus and not be harmed. However, in a prolonged battle against someone like Colossus or Juggernaut James's resistance would begin to fail him as very few beings could survive long against either of those two powerhouses.
In regards to energy attacks, James is only slightly less resistant to the damage produced than he is physical damage. Typically it causes some minor pain if strong enough, but in many cases he powers through it and brushes away the supposed damage.
COMBAT:
As a hand to hand combatant James is very skilled as he is able to fight with incredible talent. James is able to deliver a wide variety of punches and kicks to dazzle an opponent. James first received combat training while he was a member of the Hellions. James's skills include basic combat and a mixture of martial arts, the combination makes James a formidable hand to hand combatant. James could hold hid own against the likes of Daniel Moonstar but he would be over matched by the likes of Wolverine or even Kitty Pride.
Not only is James a formidable hand to hand combatant but he is also skilled with many weapons. James prefers to fight with his bare hands or melee weapons but he does know how to use missile weapons and projectiles.
LEADERSHIP:
James was groomed by Emma Frost to be the leader of the Hellions and while that is the only time that he has led a team, her training was invaluable. James could lead a team if the need ever came even though he is a bit rusty in the area.
PILOTING:
As a member of Hellions James learned how to pilot many of the high tech vehicles. James is good at piloting from point A to point B but he lacks the skill needed to win dogfight or anything like that.
SURVIVAL:
James was born and raised on a Native American reservation in the wilderness of Arizona. As a child James learned how to survive in the wild as he and his older brother would spend many nights camping out in the wild. James knows the difference between wild foods that are dangerous to eat and what wild foods are good to eat. James can survive in the wilderness for extended periods of time as to him as a youth it was a way of life.
NATIVE_AMERICAN_LORE:
Being a Native American is something that James is very proud of. Ever since he can remember James has been told of great tales about his ancestors. The stories that James was told were passed down from generation to generation dating back to a time before the Europeans first came to what they called the new land. James is very knowledgeable in the history and the culture of Native Americans. Of course not all Native Americans were in the same tribe so there are things about some Native Americans that James doesn't know.
TRACKING/HUNTING:
From his early childhood James was trained how to track and hunt. In many ways James depended on his tracking and hunting skills so that he and his family would have food to eat. James is a highly skilled tracker as the combination of his mutant powers and his years of training allow him to track just about anything under any circumstances. As a hunter James knows what types of tracks that animals leave and also what the nature of the animal is that he is hunting. James's tracking and hunting would be best used in an environment or region similar to the one that he was raised in.
RESIST_DOMINATION:
Thanks to his training from the powerful telepath Emma Frost, James is well trained at guarding his thoughts from others. James has no real defense against a telepath but he would know when his mind is being read. James's resistance to mental domination is greater than the average persons so a mental attack against a large crowd that included James is something that he might be able to resist, as long as the psychic didn't know that he has been trained to defend his mind. Minor telepaths might find James harder to control than the average person but powerful telepaths would have no problem breaking down James's mental defenses.
EMMA FROST: When James was the leader of the Hellions he was Emma frost's prize student. Today James and Emma are still good friends as they have shared several conversations since he has left the Hellions. Emma has now joined Xavier's dream for a peaceful existence between mutants and humans and that allows James and Emma to remain friends.
CAMP VERDE: James is the sole survivor of Camp Verde thus he owns all of the land that once was Camp Verde. Today nothing much is left of the camp as the materials that were once there were given to the sentient computer known as the Professor. Even though there is nothing but barren land, James still owns that land.
HELLIONS: If any are alive, James would be able to call upon them for assistance, as they too would be able to call upon him if such a need were to arise.
AMBIDEXTERITY: James has the ability to use both hands with equal skill. This includes writing, fighting, and even spinning a pen.
ALONE: James has lost everyone in his family and all of his childhood friends. James's first lost was his older brother John. Next he lost everyone else as the tribe that he belonged to was wiped out by an unknown evil mutant whom he vows to hunt down and scalp. While James has made new friends there is no replacing his lost family and loved ones.
BRUTE: As a very physically powerful mutant James uses his strength as a way to solve a problem and as we all know, that is not always the best thing to do. James is not stupid but because he is so strong he tries to use his strength instead of his brains at times.
STRENGTH: James is overly strong. Sometimes too strong. When doing fine manipulation, he sometimes breaks things. For example, twisting the top off a pickle jar and shattering the jar. These accidents can be fatal, and therefore James takes care not to break people.
UNKNOWN KILLER: The unknown killer of his family will become forefront on his list of things to do and could ultimately distract him from what ever he currently may be on task with.
