Known Powers:

Muskateer is a mutate who enhances his physical prowess with various gadgets and weapons. His physical abilities approach superhuman levels in strength, physical toughness, and agility. Muskateer is a master of swords and uses a technologically enhanced sabre. The weapon is capable of firing taser-like energy over short range, or delivering electrical shocks at a touch. The sword is hard and sharp enough to cut through steel. Muskateer also wears a form-fitting kevlar-like suit for protection and possesses a wide variety of technological skills.

Notes:

Steven Harper started out as a normal, bright young man. His parents, Bernice and Theodore Harper, were noted archaeologists and historians. He spent the early years of his life traveling the world with his parents. While Steven was in college, his parents were declared missing during an ill-fated expedition to Antarctica.

Having gained admission to MIT, Steven graduated with honors and near the top of his class. Accepting a position with Kord Industries, Steven moved to Chicago to pursue his new career. After assisting on a few jobs, Steven was handed a project dealing with the creation of a lightweight body armor. While working late one night, Agents of Iron Maiden broke into the lab and attempted to steal the prototype.

Discretion being the better part of valor, Steven attempted to flee from the agents. As he dodged their weapons fire, a grenade was thrown landing near a shelf of chemicals and triggering a tremendous explosion. After waking up in the hospital, Steven discovered that the accident had changed him. He was now stronger, faster, and had a superhuman constitution.

Deciding to put his new abilities to use as a hero, Steven drew upon the renaissance Musketeers for inspiration. He adapted the body armor he had been working on and incorporated it into a costume. Next he developed a sword to use in combat. He had planned on making a flintlock pistol as well, but ran out of money and resources. Donning his costume and armed with his sword, Steven became the Muskateer. He deliberately misspelled his name to annoy reporters and their spell checkers.

Muskateer first appeared in Chicago late in 1985. He had several adventures and he crossed paths with both the Champions and the Titanic Trio, the hometown hero teams. Muskateer also had several more encounters with Agents of Iron Maiden.

Then in the spring of '86, Muskateer was approached by Black Diamond to join the new Avengers team she was putting together. Jumping at the chance, Steven resigned from Kord Industries and moved to New York.

Muskateer was star-struck with the idea of being an Avenger for the first few weeks on the team. In time, he became suspicious as to the reasons why he and Firestar, both relative unknowns, had been asked to join the Avengers. Hacking into the Avengers computers, Muskateer came across video files that showed Firestar being at the Avengers Mansion the night it was destroyed. But oddly enough, the young heroine had never been to New York before in her life.

In addition, Muskateer discovered that he had been chosen for the Avengers by the government agency that oversaw the team, the National Security Council. The NSC believed Muskateer to be an operative of Iron Maiden. Black Diamond and Nightingale discovered this accusation to be totally unfounded.

In just a short time, Muskateer was promoted to Second in Command of the team, and has acted as team leader when Black Diamond was unavailable. He is now comfortable in his role on the Avengers, and in particular with the idea of being team leader.

Recently Muskateer embarked upon a romantic relationship with the Enchantress. Despite being two very different people, there is an unexplained connection between the two. For reasons that have yet to be explained, Steven is able to pierce the illusions the Enchantress uses to conceal her identity. The Enchantress feels this connection to a much higher degree than Muskateer, being able to determine his location should she so desire.

Since becoming an Avenger, Muskateer has adventured regularly with the team and worked in partnerships with the Scarlet Sabre and the Huntress. Recently, Muskateer added a flying scooter to his equipment.

His relationship with the Enchantress took an unexpected turn when Gwen resigned from the Avengers and left town without saying goodbye. Shocked and hurt at first, Muskateer quickly deduced that Gwen had in fact been kidnapped. The link the two shared does work both ways and Muskateer was physically affected by the conditioning the Enchantress was undergoing at the hands of Lady Darkness. He couldn't sleep and was having violent mood swings.

Muskateer discovered that Lightburst had set the Enchantress up, and went after him. A minor battle ensued and Lightburst fled. Angered, and very nearly out of control. Muskateer continued to research the situation. The strain of what was going on caused him to yell at Firestar and then later fly into a full rage against Black Diamond. Muskateer stalked out of the Avengers Mansion in anger.

While driving out to the Hunter's Lair, Muskateer realized that he was going to need help in rescuing Gwen. First he contacted the Scarlet Sabre for her computer expertise, and then the Sorceress who also shared a special link with the Enchantress. Scarlet hacked her way into the Ryker's Island computers and discovered that Lady Darkness had taken control of the installation. The Morbane was behind the capture of the Enchantress as well.

Using the links that both Muskateer and the Sorceress shared, Tanya used her own magic to locate the Enchantress. The trio raided the Carrington Estate, but were too late. The Darkness took control of the Enchantress and blocked the links she shared with Muskateer and the Sorceress. The villains then fled back to Terra Nova, taking the Enchantress with them. The Sorceress managed to uncover the particulars of the spells and attempted to duplicate the effects, sending her and Muskateer to Terra Nova.

The pair arrived on a mountain pathway on Terra Nova, but Lady Darkness and the Enchantress were nowhere to be found. Somehow, Muskateer could sense the presence of the Enchantress once more and the pursuit was resumed. While homing in on the Enchantress, Muskateer began to sense something else. Something like the feeling he got from the Enchantress, yet different. Since this new signal was along the path they were heading, Muskateer decided to investigate.

Muskateer and the Sorceress arrived at the small mountain village of Whispering Hollow while they were under seige from an army of undead. As they had gotten closer to the village, the second signal Muskateer had been sensing began two seperate signals. One was underneath the village while the other was out in the advancing army of undead. The heroes went to the villagers aid.

The signal Muskateer was sending led him out around the invading army and much to his surprise it was coming from undead commander. Mysteriously, the commander could sense Muskateer's presence as well and called him brother. The two battled with the undead commander controlling the fight at first. As they fought, the undead commander was displaying knowledge of the relationship between Muskateer and the Enchantress that he could not have possibly known. Egged on by the undead commander, Muskateer began to demonstrate abilties that he never possessed before including surges of strength and superhuman speed. Finally, Muskateer won the battle by shattering a control circlet worn by the undead commander.

While he was unconscious, he was visited by an ethreal being that resembled Gwen. This appartion apologized for interfering with Muskateer's mission but that she desperately needed his help. She was a part of the same sorority where Gwen had recieved her magical powers and thus seemed to be Gwen according to Muskateer's sense.

Once awake, Muskateer tracked down the undead commander who had surrendered to the villagers. His name was Kester and he once had possessed the abilities that Muskateer currently had. Kester explained that an ancient sorceress by the name of Tabia had cast a spell that sent her magical skill and those of her warrior husband out into the world in search of worthy successors. Two centuries past Kester had been that warrior.

Kester continued to explain that 45 years past, the Empress of Darkness had captured Tabia's Fortress and had imprisoned the essence of the past sorceress while the men had been magically animated by an Ectolian necromancer. Tabia's Inheritance had been sent out into the world but seemed to mysteriously vanish. Somehow this inheritance had reached Earth and selected Steven and Gwen as the next generation of this unique fraternity.

While not convinced by Kester's story, there was enough truth to it for Muskateer to free Kester. Muskateer is currently heading towards Tabia's Fortress in an attempt to liberate it so that the essense that dwells there can help him find Gwen.

Muskateer was (obviously) created and drawn by Muskateer.

Appearances:

Avengers # 1-19, 21-32
Huntress # 7-12, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28
Muskateer # 1 - Present
Scarlet Sabre # 8
Troubleshooters # 9, 20
X-Factor # 2, 4, 5
Young Champions # 15

Lost Heroes Notes:

In the potential future, Muskateer accidentally killed the electrical villain Hi-Voltage in combat. This incident caused a rift between himself and the Enchantress that was never sealed. Disgraced over what he had done, Muskateer resigned from the Avengers. A short time later, the woman known as Glitter (AKA the Silver Spectre) re-entered his life and they had a short fling. She was a member of Strike Force, the hero team Muskateer formed and commanded until her untimely death at the hands of VIPER staff villains.

In the months before Destroyer's bid for world domination, Muskateer and the Scarlet Sabre had a passionate love affair. This too ultimately ended when the heroine and her cybernetic alterego Jaime were killed in the assault on Destroyer's headquarters. The months that followed were only worse as humanity declared war on the superhumans and the world was torn apart. At the depths of his despair, Muskateer vowed to avenge all his friends that had fallen in blood.

Near the top of the list was Lightburst who had abandoned the heroes during the assault on Destroyer. Later the Avenger took on Starfire, the dark side of Firestar unleashed and ended the life of his close friend. Resonator was another of his targets, who had murdered Black Diamond with his Sonic Battlesuit. However, this former hero managed to survive and go into hiding.

The passing of years hardened Muskateer into the man he is now. He prefers to work alone as most of his former colleagues are now dead. He has acted with the organized resistance headed by Eclypse, but never for long periods of time. Occasionally, he has rescued supers being hunted by the HPA and passes them along to the resistance. Molly Berkowicz is the latest of these rescued strays.

Recently, an unexplained visit by Black Diamond from the past has caused Muskateer to continue on with his task of avenging his fallen friends. He has avenged the murder of Black Diamond by slaying Resonator. In the process, he rescued the now armorless Ladybug who had been forced to work in Resonator's labs.

While returning with Ladybug, a Mechanon robot was discovered heading towards Muskateer's hidden base. Since the robots had been controlled by Dr. Destroyer and used as an elite combat unit, Muskateer did his best to destroy the construct. Only after completing his task did Muskateer discover evidence that Jaime was somehow inside the Mechanon robot. Muskateer is now feverishly working to try and save Jaime.

Lost Heroes Appearances:

Lost Heroes # 1 - Present

Awards:

Voted Best Hero for 1999, 2000, 2001, & 2002