Contributed by Mike McDermott
Very little is known about the caretaker of the Mykines island, including his actual name. He served as the caretaker of the island when it was owned by Namor the Sub-Mariner, and remained on in the role after Namor turned the island over to the mutant nation of Krakoa as a protectorate.
The Lighthouse Keeper met with Emma Frost when she came to the island to make arrangements for the first Hellfire Gala. The mutant fashion designer Jumbo Carnation was present as part of Emma’s entourage, and the two men shared an immediate attraction. They shared a subtle flirty moment when the Keeper gave Jumbo a wink that made him blush.
The two of them went on to become an item, and the Lighthouse Keeper would travel the world with Jumbo and be seen with him at various social events. He was also Jumbo’s date to Krakoa’s annual Hellfire Gala’s….including the final Gala that was attacked by the anti-mutant organization Orchis. The Lighthouse Keeper was one of the only human survivors of the so-called “mutant massacre” and therefore one of the few who knew the truth of what Orchis had done that night.
When Orchis realized that they had overlooked him, they sent an agent to assassinate the Lighthouse Keeper to prevent him from revealing what he witnessed. The assassination attempt failed since the dragon Lockheed, pet of the X-Men’s Kate Pryde, had been staying at the lighthouse with him since the massacre and Lockheed incinerated the Orchis agent.
The Lighthouse Keeper has not been seen since the fall of Orchis, but hopefully he and Jumbo have since been happily reunited.
On an episode of the CEREBRO podcast hosted by Connor Goldsmith, Gerry Duggan revealed that he intended to reveal that the Lighthouse Keeper had some skeletons in his backstory, and that he had ended up on the island after having killed someone. Since Duggan never had the opportunity to tell the story on-panel the exact circumstances are unrevealed and it is not official canon at this point. However, his unfazed reaction to an assassin showing up to kill him, and to Lockheed killing that assassin right in front of him, does point to the Lighthouse Keeper being a man who has experience with death and violence.
The Lighthouse Keeper first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto by Jonathan Hickman and Ramon Perez. He was revealed as gay in Marauders #17 by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. Art by Phil Noto from X-Men #32.
Please note that the character’s sexual orientation is not labelled in story and he could be gay or bisexual or pansexual.
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