Simon is a shy, quiet mutant, who was first discovered in an abandoned church in Switzerland by Cargill, Unuscione, and Milan, begging for something to believe in. They took him in and he became one of the youngest members of the Acolytes, ordered to accomplish small tasks of little importance. He was put in charge of feeding the captive Dr. Moira MacTaggert, but eventually found out the truth about their leader, Fabian Cortez. Cortez instead, used his powers of amplification to shoot Neophyte out of their headquarters, where he fell into a grotto. A woman came to his rescue, although he was confused about why a human would help a mutant. Suddenly, a trio of Acolytes showed up and killed the woman, creating major confusion for Neophyte. This act caused him to rethink his loyalties towards Fabian Cortez, leading the X-Men to their base, and leaving the Acolytes.
Eventually, Neophyte was given a trial by the Acolytes for his crime of treason after aiding the X-Men and allowing them to discover their headquarters. The former X-Man Colossus decided to defend Neophyte in his case, opting for a second chance for the boy, instead of the penalty of death that the other Acolytes went for. Neophyte felt hopeless, fully expecting to be executed. Being prosecuted by Amelia Voght and judged by Exodus, Neophyte claimed the Acolytes as hypocrites, as they preached Magneto's way, but were guilty of doing the same thing humans have done to mutants. When he mentioned Professor Charles Xavier's name, the Acolytes were sent into an uproar, only to be stopped by Exodus, who stated that Neophyte's death will only occur after the trial. Colossus stepped forward and managed to convince Exodus to merely banish Neophyte from Avalon.
Much later, Neophyte was finally accepted into the Acolytes' ranks after Magneto resurfaced, as he obviously felt Neophyte was a worthy follower. While still the most compassionate of the group, Neophyte was often teased for his beliefs and thought of as weak by the other Acolytes. On the battlefield, however, he held his own, and proved to be a useful teammate.
Neophyte was one of the few mutants to survive Cassandra Nova's Wild Sentinel attack on Genosha. Neophyte retained his mutant powers during M-Day.
Neophyte was seen in an offshoot group of Acolytes when the X-Men attacked them. The X-Men were looking for the Marauders and believed this group of Acolytes to have a connection to Exodus. It later turned out their information did not help as Wolverine later tracked down Amelia Voght.
Neophyte was seen as a mutant on Utopia on the run from Nimrods during Second Coming.
-Marvel Fandom
Key Issues & Appearances
1
Significant comic book appearances featuring Neophyte
