Strong Guy

Strong Guy first appeared in The New Mutants #29 (July 1985) as Lila Cheney's bodyguard, known only as Guido. He joined X-Factor in X-Factor #71, and was first called Strong Guy in X-Factor #72. Guido's struggles with picking a codename are used for comic effect in the story, and X-Factor writer Peter David admitted that in real life he had difficulty coming up with a decent codename for the character.{{cite news | last = O'Neill | first = Patrick Daniel | date = February 1992 | title = Peter David | work = Comics Interview | issue = 105 | page = 21 | publisher = Fictioneer Books}}

Born in Rhinebeck, New York to working-class Italian parents, Guido Carosella gained a fortune in a settlement when his parents were killed by falling space debris, and was subsequently taken in by his aunt and uncle. His mutant powers were triggered in childhood during a battle with schoolyard bullies, causing him to become overly muscular and isolate further from his peers. Guido coped with his pain by developing an outgoing "public face", rarely letting even those close to him see him in discomfort.

During the incident with the bus, another boy, Charlie Ronalds, was hurt by Guido's flailing. Due to luck, Charlie survived with only a slight limp. He would later become the villain Charon.X-Factor Annual #8 (May 1993)

After losing much of his fortune, Guido becomes a roadie and bouncer for Lila Cheney.New Mutants #29 (July 1985)Uncanny X-Men #259–260 (March–April 1990)Uncanny X-Men #270 (November 1990)Uncanny X-Men #273–274 (February–March 1991) He later works with several Muir Island mutants to defeat the Shadow King, after which they form a new incarnation of X-Factor.Uncanny X-Men #278 (July 1991)X-Factor #70 (September 1991)

Guido's teammates are Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, and Quicksilver. Required to come up with a codename, Guido announces himself as "Strong Guy" at an X-Factor press conference after hearing a reporter say, "He must be the strong guy! Every super-group has a strong guy!".X-Factor #71-72 (October - November 1991)

Mister Sinister manipulates Strong Guy into destroying the Washington Monument while fighting Slab.X-Factor #74 (January 1992) With X-Factor, he aids the American-supported Trans-Sabal government in a war against rebels, and fights the Hulk, then battles the Mutant Liberation Front.Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #390-392 (February - April 1992)X-Factor #76-78 (March - May 1992) He also fights the Brotherhood of Mutants.X-Factor #82 (September 1992)

In The Infinity War, Strong Guy is among the superheroes who travel across the multiverse to battle Adam Warlock's alter-egos, the Magus and the Goddess.Infinity War #1–6 (June - November 1992)Infinity Crusade #1–6 (June - November 1993) Lila Cheney later attempts to have him return to her, but he refuses.X-Factor #93 (August 1993)

Strong Guy also develops a deep friendship with Wolfsbane. At one point, he personally brings her to Muir Island to get her medical attention.X-Factor #103 (June 1994) His other best friend on the team, Multiple Man, is seemingly killed attempting to remove the Legacy Virus from his body.X-Factor #100 (March 1994)

Strong Guy remains a member of X-Factor until an incident in Madripoor. While battling the K'Lanti, he absorbs the energy of one of their bombs and suffers a severe heart attack.X-Factor #111 (February 1995) Afterwards, he is put in suspended animation to recover until Forge heals him.X-Factor #135 (June 1997) Afterwards, he chooses to accompany Lila and her band in their travels instead of rejoining the increasingly fractious X-Factor.Strong Guy Reborn one-shot (September 1997)

Strong Guy was later seen in Tokyo as a member of a mutant fighting club called the Arena, in which the mutant fighters were being secretly enslaved by other mutants. He helped Storm and Callisto in taking down the enslavers.X-Treme X-Men #37-39 (February 2004)

In Peter David's run on X-Factor, in the aftermath of Marvel's "Decimation" storyline, Strong Guy moves to New York City to become an enforcer for Jamie Madrox's detective agency, X-Factor Investigations. In the process, he rejoins many of his former teammates from the previous incarnation of X-Factor.X-Factor (vol. 3) #1 (January 2006)X-Factor (vol. 3) #10 (October 2006)

Strong Guy later considers becoming the sheriff of Mutant Town, but changes his mind when Arcade destroys the town.X-Factor (vol. 3) #24 (December 2007)X-Factor (vol. 3) #31-32 (July-August 2008) He is later killed protecting J. Jonah Jameson from super-powered assassins, but is resurrected by Layla Miller. However, Strong Guy no longer has a soul, which leads him to become more aggressive and kill Wolfsbane's son Tier to become the lord of Hell.X-Factor #217 (May 2011)X-Factor #243 (November 2012)X-Factor #256 (July 2013){{Cite web |last=Curran |first=Robert |date=August 17, 2021 |title=X-Men: How a Fun-Loving Mutant Became Ruler of Hell |url=https://www.cbr.com/x-men-strong-guy-ruler-of-hell/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cronin |first=Brian |date=October 29, 2018 |title=Why Isn't Strong Guy the King of Hell Anymore? |url=https://www.cbr.com/mephisto-strong-guy-x-factor-thunderbolts/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Webber |first=Tim |date=February 21, 2019 |title=X-Men: Marvel's Unluckiest Mutant Has Died (Again) |url=https://www.cbr.com/x-men-strong-guy-death/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}} Red Hulk eventually convinces Strong Guy to abandon the position, but he remains in Hell to regain his soul.Thunderbolts (vol. 2) #22 (April 2014)

Strong Guy returns in Death of X, along with other mutants, helping the X-Men.Death of X #2-3 (December 2016 - January 2017)

In Secret Empire, Strong Guy is seen among the inhabitants of the mutant nation of New Tian following Hydra's takeover of the United States.Secret Warriors (vol. 2) #2 (July 2017)

At some point, Strong Guy regains his soul with help from Magik and joins her team of New Mutants. While fighting his teammates, who have been infected with the Transmode virus, he suffers from a heart attack, but Danielle Moonstar saves him by infecting him with a techno-organic virus.

A still techno-organic Strong Guy is held captive by O*N*E and placed inside a Sentinel. He is rescued by Cyclops and Wolverine before sacrificing himself to save the others by absorbing massive amounts of energy.Uncanny X-Men (vol. 5) #12 (April 2019)

Strong Guy is later seen on Krakoa, having been revived by the Krakoan council like many other previously dead mutants.Cable (vol. 4) #1 (May 2020)

Strong Guy possesses superhuman strength which he can increase by absorbing kinetic energy and use it to enhance his physical strength to an unmeasured limit. He cannot store the energy he absorbs for very long, and must physically expel it within 90 seconds to prevent it from permanently distorting his body.{{Cite web |last=Garcia |first=Mayra |date=September 21, 2023 |title=10 Marvel Snap Cards That Would Crush Their Comic Variants |url=https://www.cbr.com/strong-marvel-snap-cards-vs-comic-characters/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}} He possesses superhuman stamina and durability.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=November 2013}}

An unusual percentage of his body mass is stored in the upper half of his body, causing him to appear top-heavy and thus very imposing. Strong Guy's powers first appeared after being beaten by bullies and hit by a bus; unable to expel the energy, his body was permanently warped. Strong Guy's maximum strength level is such that he has sufficient power to move the Blob,X-Factor #107 (October 1994) or briefly stand toe to toe with the Hulk, although the latter's rage-enhanced strength was so powerful that the energy of channeling merely one blow put Strong Guy in danger of a heart attack afterwards.World War Hulk: X-Men #3 (October 2007) Guido is formidable at hand-to-hand combat in the style of street fighting.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=November 2013}}

Guido has a gifted intellect and is a talented actor and comedian. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in drama from New York University.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=November 2013}}

Strong Guy is nearsighted and wears corrective "bottlecap" lenses.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=November 2013}}

• In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Strong Guy 94th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.{{Cite magazine |last1=Franich |first1=Darren |date=June 9, 2022 |title=Let's rank every X-Man ever |url=https://ew.com/article/2014/05/21/x-men-best-worst/ |access-date=January 26, 2023 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}
• In 2018, Comic Book Resources (CBR) ranked Strong Guy 8th in their "Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World" list.{{Cite web |last=Lealos |first=Shawn S. |date=September 16, 2018 |title=Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World |url=https://www.cbr.com/age-of-apocalypse-characters-ranked/ |access-date=October 11, 2022 |website=CBR |language=en-US}}

An alternate universe variant of Strong Guy from Earth-295 appears in Age of Apocalypse.Gambit and the X-Ternals #1–4 (March - June 1995)

• Strong Guy makes non-speaking appearances in X-Men: The Animated Series as a member of X-Factor.{{cn|date=January 2023}}
• Strong Guy appears in the X-Men '97 episode "Bright Eyes", voiced by Adrian Hough.{{cite web |title=Strong Guy Voice - X-Men '97 (TV Show) |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/X-Men-97/Strong-Guy/ |access-date=April 29, 2024 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{Cite web |last=Gaul |first=Jack |date=May 6, 2024 |title=A Throwaway X-Men '97 Cameo Makes One X-Men Movie Failure Even More Obvious |url=https://www.cbr.com/x-men-97-cameo-makes-x-men-movie-failure-more-obvious/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}

Strong Guy appears as a playable card in Marvel Snap.{{Cite web |last=Steel |first=Tom |date=August 4, 2023 |title=Strong Guy: How To Fix Marvel Snap{{'}}s Least Used Card |url=https://www.cbr.com/marvel-snap-strong-guy-fix/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Duran |first=Misael |date=May 19, 2022 |title=All characters and cards featured in Marvel Snap at launch |url=https://www.gamepur.com/guides/all-characters-and-cards-featured-in-marvel-snap-at-launch |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=Gamepur |language=en-US}}

• In 1993, Toy Biz released an action figure of Strong Guy sporting his X-Factor uniform as part of their X-Men series.
• Marvel and Planet Studios released a 1.25 inch/3.175 cm Full Figure pin of Strong Guy, 1994.
• Bowen Designs produced a Strong Guy Mini-Bust, sculpted by Jeremy Pelletier, July 2012. It was released in Phase 5, Bust # 288.{{Cite web |date=March 22, 2012 |title=Strong Guy mini-bust - Bowen Designs |url=http://www.bowendesigns.com/product/strong_guy_mini-bust.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322132818/http://www.bowendesigns.com/product/strong_guy_mini-bust.aspx |archive-date=March 22, 2012 |access-date=April 29, 2024}}
• Hasbro released a 6" scale action figure of Strong Guy as the Build-A-Figure for a wave of Deadpool and X-Men characters in their Marvel Legends line in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Fallon |first=Sean |date=October 28, 2019 |title=New Comic Con Marvel Legends Waves Include Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and More |url=https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/spider-man-fantastic-four-marvel-legends-london-paris-comic-con-order/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |website=ComicBook.com |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Marvelwiki|strong-guy|Strong Guy}}
• {{Marveldatabase|Strong Guy}}
• [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/strong-guy/4005-7599/ Strong Guy] at Comic Vine
• [http://uncannyxmen.net/characters/strong-guy Strong Guy] at UncannyXmen.net

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