Randall Shire

Randall Shire is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics Universe. His first appearance was in Cable #79.

Fictional character biography

Randall Shire ran a small traveling carnival in Australia. He and two brothers, known only as Key and Wall, performed all over the continent. Shire and his companions were all low-level mutants pretending to be sideshow entertainers. Shire himself was a projecting empath, able to impose his own emotional state onto anyone who heard him speak. Shire was content running his carnival until one day, in the midst of a performance, he was possessed by Semijan, one of the alien species known as the Undying Ones.

Semijan's presence boosted Shire's mutant power to astonishing levels. Whenever Shire spoke, he bound people to him by the sound of his voice. Anyone hearing him speak became his slave, and whatever Shire wished became their purpose. Key and Wall were Shire's first victims, and thousands more Australians followed.

However, Semijan was ambitious, and Shire traveled to America. From there, Semijan planned to conquer the world through Shire, possessing highly placed government officials. When S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander G.W. Bridge investigated the disappearance of the supposedly catatonic mutant mercenary Blockade, who had actually been possessed by Semijan's rival Undying One Aentaros, he came into contact with Shire who made Bridge his slave.

After the mutant hero Cable defeated the Blockade, Aentaros' next possession victim was Cable's long-time friend Domino, and Aentaros' plans to kill Shire continued. However, Cable learned that if Shire were to survive the assassination attempt, an alternate future in which humanity conquers the galaxy and renames itself the Ranshi Empire would flourish. If Shire were to die, an alternate future in which Earth becomes a paradise of peace known as Harmony would occur.

When Aentaros possessed Domino to use her to kill Shire, the mutant hero Cable intervened and managed to stop the assassination. This enraged Semijan, and thanks to Shire's power those whom he had enslaved also became enraged and turned on Shire. Because Cable saved Shire and then discredited him, both the Ranshi Empire and the Harmony timelines were destroyed, leaving only one ship-full of survivors from each world. Shire was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, and after Cable and his allies invaded the Undying Ones' lair, Semijan fled Shire's body to return to confront the invaders. Randall Shire lost his mutant powers after the M-Day.^[1]

Powers and abilities

Randall Shire was a projecting empath; he could impose his own emotional state onto anyone who heard him speak, allowing him to convince others of things they would not normally believe or incite others to act on his behalf.

Bibliography

• Cable vol. 2 #79-82

References