Cable (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers) is a fictional character, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with X-Force and the X-Men. He is the adult son of the X-Man Cyclops (Scott Summers) and Madelyne Pryor (Jean Grey’s clone), and the half brother of Rachel Summers, from a possible future timeline, having been transported as an infant to the future, where he grew into a warrior, before returning to the present.
Cable and Deadpool, one of the most notable partnerships of all time
The character first appeared as a newborn infant in Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986), created by writer Chris Claremont, while Cable’s adult identity was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist/co-writer Rob Liefeld, and first appeared in The New Mutants #87 (March 1990).
Origins-
Nathan Summers’ birth was carefully orchestrated by the geneticist Mister Sinister, who had created his mother Madelyne Pryor as a clone of the mutant telepath Jean Grey. Soon after, Pryor was corrupted by demonic influences into using baby Nate as a sacrifice to open a portal between Earth and the demon-infested dimension Limbo, but was opposed by her husband and Nate’s father Cyclops, his teammates in X-Factor, and his former team the X-Men. Sinister planned to use Nate as a weapon against his former master, Apocalypse, but Apocalypse learned of this and had Nate captured and infected with a deadly techno-organic virus. After Apocalypse was defeated by X-Factor, a member of the Clan Askani – a sisterhood dedicated to opposing Apocalypse in the alternate future of Earth-4935- offered to save Nate’s life by taking him to her own era. Desperate, Cyclops agreed, and Nate was taken 2,000 years into the future of Earth-4935, where the Mother Askani (actually his time-displaced half-sister Rachel) had him cloned in case the virus could not be cured. Minions of Apocalypse attacked and stole the clone, taking it to their master, who raised the child as his heir, Stryfe.
Rachel pulled the psyches of Scott and Jean into the future of Earth-4935 to help keep Nate safe, and, as Slym and Redd Dayspring, they raised him for the next 12 years, teaching him how to use his mutant powers to keep the virus at bay. After the teenage Nate defeated Apocalypse, he traveled to the last Askani enclave and was welcomed as the Askani’Son, “the Chosen One.” After the enclave was attacked, Nate regrouped the surviving Askani into the rebel Clan Chosen.
Nate later fell in love with young novitiate Aliya Jenskot, and soon they were married and had a son named Tyler. Following one clash with Stryfe, Aliya was killed and Tyler was captured. Stryfe brainwashed Tyler, and in a subsequent encounter, Nate was forced to shoot Tyler to save his Clanmate Dawnsilk.
After Stryfe used a time travel device to flee into the past, arriving in the late 20th century, Nate followed. He arrived in Scotland, years before his birth, and was taken in by geneticist Moira MacTaggert, who taught him how to speak English. He adopted the codename Cable, as a metaphor for being a link between the present in the future. Moira sent him to visit her friend Professor Xavier in the U.S. Meeting Xavier, Cable helped design the security systems for his mansion in exchange for lessons on how to live in the 20th century.
Powers and abilities-
Cable was born with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. However, the extent to which he has been able to utilize these powers has varied dramatically throughout his appearances. Originally, both were limited by his need to restrain his techno-organic infection , and his powers were negligible compared to his more traditional fighting skills. However, following the subsidence of the infection, they gradually increased to the point where they were similar in magnitude to those of Nate Grey, to whom he is genetically identical. At their height, he demonstrated the ability to simultaneously levitate the floating city of Providence and combat the Silver Surfer. Following that story, his powers were burnt out and he replaced both with technological substitutes. He later states that both his telepathy and telekinesis have faded to nothing.
In the “Legion Quest” storyline, Beast notes that Cable possesses “latent time-travel abilities”.
Cable as seen in the online game, Marvel: Avengers Alliance
His techno-organic body parts possess enhanced strength and durability, and his techno-organic left eye gives him enhanced eyesight, allowing him to see farther than a normal human and in the infrared spectrum. He is also able to interface his techno-organic body parts with machinery, using them to hack into computers, open electronic locks, and travel through time.
Sources:
- Cable (comics) – Wikipedia
- Marvel Universe Wiki: The definitive online source for Marvel super hero bios.
Footnote:
Link to original answer on Quora – Who is Cable in Marvel Universe? by Tanmay Pereira Naik
Clichéd Musings 