ALIAS: Emplate
REAL NAME: Marius St. Croix
NATIONALITY: Possibly Algerian
TEAM AFFILIATION: Mostly solo. Occasional leader of a team of his creation.
AGE: Possibly in his 20's
POWER: Emplate is a Genetic vampire, ability to drain the marrow from a mutant's bones (through small "mouths" on his hands) and assume the victim's powers temporarily. Ability to phase in and out of a person's sight, able to create portals to different realms. Has some spell casting abilities.
FIRST APPEARANCE: Generation X #1

Marius St.Croix, AKA Emplate, has been the trademarked feared enemy of Generation X since his introduction in Generation X #1. Ever the endless schemer, Emplate will stop at nothing to complete his dreams of conquest. For years he has been "held prisoner" in an alternate dimension in order to gain it's powers to conquor it and ultimately to stay alive. You see with Emplate, his trademark is that he is known as an energy stealing vampire. His power is to suck the marrow out of mutant bones with the mouths of razor sharp teeth in the palms of his hands in order to gain the victim's energy and their particular powers for a limited time. That was the main reason he had kept Penance as his prisoner for so long, she was the sole mutant who could withstand his torture due to her diamond hard skin. Emplate had been able to gain few powers from the dimension but not without a price. With supping on Penance for so long and permenantly gaining her spiked hair and form, after she was rescued from his clutches, he was left with no one to drain for energy. With his energy running low with no one to "sup" from, he would have to enter the dimension to gain power and would be submitted himself to the torment that he put his victims through. With the many hands of the souls, they would tear, rake and shred his body as he passed the dimensions, now leaving him in a ravaged body that his replicating skin could not repair. It had come to the point that he now cannot live on Earth without his respirator to breathe. Upon this he is determined to stop at nothing in order to return Penance to his clutches and to gain total control on everything he sets his eyes on along the way.

Although Emplate is a paranoid conquoring villain, that's not to say that he's one to attack anyone solo. On many occasions Emplate has enlisted "recruits" to help him with his plots and has joined others who were bent on destroying Generation X. The most famous of his recruits would be the team who were shown in the first year of Generation X in 1994. This team was composed of Bulwark (enhanced mass), Vincente (turn to a purple mist), Murmur (what seems to be a mummy with a large mouth in his chest) and briefly Gayle Edgerton (Chamber's old girlfriend) along with Penance and Synch when Emplate had supped their powers and took control of them. They were only introduced during the three issue storyline but are still well known by fans today. Although we have not seen this team in ages, you can still count on Emplate's little lackey "D.O.A." to follow his master's will and back up his plans without missing a beat. (or a quick "Sir" comment) Even though Emplate has nearly lost his control of Penance since she has been away from him for so long, he still is bent on taking her back. It was only with issue #40 do we find out why...

Emplate is the oldest of the family St. Croix, and it's possible that he may even be a century old. With all the information and secrecy of this malfunctioning family, anything seems to be possible. (Although I still do not believe in the theory that Hama cooked up for Penance and it was even stated that this storyline should not have happened, I'll say it anyway) Emplate was the big brother to Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix (whew, let me catch my breath on that one..) and the twins Nicole and Claudette St. Croix. At this point in the story, Emplate had been jumping between the earth realm and his dimension for some time. His skin had become manipulated and grey then, but he was still quite strong and healthy with a near normal appearance. He continuously tried to enroll Monet into his clutches so they could take over his realm for good but it was not meant to be. Monet being the vain, self centered yet still good sole, ultimately refused to take part in his schemes. With her usual snobby attitude and comments she would continuously insult her brother for his actions. Finally taking it one step too far, Marius became furious and showed her what powers he had gained from the dimension. He cast somewhat of a spell which encased Monet into the form of Penance. Stating that now her tongue is truly sharp, he took away everything that was hers, her voice for mocking him, her perfect body, and her mind. The twins came in to find what had happened but there was nothing they could do to stop them going back to the dimension. From then on he kept her as a slave and supped her energy to keep him alive and punished her further. (I don't agree with that, feeding off of your sister and having her as a slave?) Ultimately he has one twisted mind to put this torture upon anyone, let alone his own sister.

What was it that really caused Emplate to turn to a life of crime and torture? Hardly any of his past has been revealed even though his sisters are members of Generation X. The only thing that is known for certain is that he blames himself for the death of their mother. He has never forgiven himself for her death which he had apparently caused in GenX #58, but it seems that there is no turning back for him. He thinks he is gaining full control of his life even though he can't stop his hunger and turning on mutants to stay alive. To all of the children, it appears that their father is hardly in their lives. We've only seen pictures of their father busy at work. He has long since abandoned Marius due to his evil ways and even "Monet" (the twins merging themselves to impersonate Monet), who has been stated to be the "apple of his eye", only has the money he had given her when she left to go to the Acadamy. Emplate's father had returned GenX #58 in order to see his children, but Emplate refuses to associate with him. With no one left to turn to, all Emplate has now is his need to be dominant even if he has to go through the torture of the nether dimension to do it. With his constant confrontations with the teens, maybe one day he will come to realize that it's not worth it, that there could be other ways to go about his problems. He doesn't have anyone to confide in, to release his pent up emotions and he needs to learn about his powers before they corrupt him any further. Whether he will one day realize what he has become and that he is not to blame for their mother's death is unknown. Until then he will be the thorn in the paw of Generation X for a long time to come.