Able to psionically affect himself and others to be a pariah, teenage mutant Tag learns to use these powers while training on the Hellions Squad at the Xavier Institute.
Fitting In
Young Puerto Rican-born Brian Cruz moves to the continental United States with a great desire to fit into his new home. His mutant ability to cause others to run away from him manifests during puberty, alienating him from those around him. He is subsequently brought to the Xavier Institute by telepath Emma Frost, who is resistant to his abilities. Under the Institute’s tutelage, Brian learns to focus his power through contact, making people run away from what he touches, the psychic equivalent of a game of “tag.”
Tag, You’re It
Tag has a limited form of mind control that initially causes others to run away from him. With practice, he learns to focus his power, “tagging” a person or object through touch, making them “it,” resulting in one of two effects: Either the target becomes a pariah, causing others to run as far away from it as possible, or the target becomes so desirable that others try to get as close as possible, which can result in the target becoming smothered. Eventually, Tag learns to focus his power without touch, and can mentally decide which result to manifest. He also selectively decides who is affected by his power each time he uses it.
His power has a limited range, and those affected by it become free from his control after moving an unspecified distance from the target. Tag is also bilingual in Spanish and English, and is a very organized individual.
When “M-Day” occurs and most mutants lose their powers, Tag is part of that group. But when resurrected by The Five on the newly-formed nation state and sentient island Krakoa, he possesses his powers once again.
Mutant Allies and Enemies
While at the Xavier Institute, Brian becomes close with his Hellions training squad teammates, particularly Santo Vaccarro, AKA Rockslide. When their fellow Hellions member Ford, AKA Wither, is taken into FBI custody, Brian joins the others in attempting to liberate them, but the opposing squad, the New Mutants, stop them. However, he fights alongside the New Mutants when Fred Dukes, AKA Blob attacks the Institute. When the Hellions go up against the wish-fulfillment Kingmaker, Brian wishes to become indispensable to the team, and the team defeats the enemy together.
Brian is a sympathetic person, and as such, he does his best to listen to his teammates, recognizing when they need support. He commiserates with Wither about his death touch and comforts Cessily Kincaid, AKA Mercury, when her parents refuse to accept that she is a mutant.
Tag’s Tale
When the student body was divided into training squads, Brian followed his friends into Frost’s Hellions squad, taking the codename Tag. This group, led by Tag’s roommate Julian Keller, AKA Hellion, became confident and cocky due to early victories in inter-squad competitions, and an intense rivalry developed between the Hellions and the New Mutants training group. Tag became particularly close with fellow Hellion Rockslide. When Xavier Institute student Wither was taken into FBI custody during an investigation into his father’s death, the Institute faculty allowed it, hoping to show that mutants were not above the law. Disagreeing with this decision, the Hellions tried to free Ford, but the New Mutants stopped them. Some time later, Tag helped both groups defeat the Blob, when he attacked the Institute while the X-Men were absent.
During a school break, Tag and the Hellions visited Hellion’s California home, where the enigmatic Kingmaker offered them their hearts’ desires. Tag worried his friends might no longer remain a group once their wishes were fulfilled, so he wished they would never drift apart. Convinced by the Kingmaker to wish for something more substantial, Tag wished to become indispensable to his teammates, assisting them in making their own dreams come true, essentially training to become the next Kingmaker in using contacts and favors to enable others to succeed; but when Kingmaker asked the group to commit crimes in exchange for their wishes, they refused. During the subsequent battle, Tag used his power in reverse for the first time, making what he touched overwhelmingly desirable to those around it, making them run to it rather than away.
Shortly after their return to the Institute, an insane Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, altered reality, ultimately stripping most mutants, including Tag, of their abilities in the “M-Day” incident. The Xavier Institute elected to send the depowered students home, but the mutant-hating Purifiers, led by William Stryker, launched a rocket attack against the bus taking them from the school. Brian was amongst the 42 students slain, devastating Rockslide and his other remaining friends. Some time later, his body was exhumed from its grave on the Institute’s grounds and consumed by the mutant-devouring Predator X.
When Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert, now known as Moira X, co-found the nation-state of Krakoa, they have their resurrectionist group, The Five, bring back fallen mutants. Brian was one of them and reunited with his Hellions teammates.
