From his early days as an infant with the X-Men to his role as X-Force's founder and leader, Cable has one of the most complex, complicated histories in modern comics, and Nathan Summers' body is just as strange as his life story. In fact, his body is one of the major reasons behind his complicated backstory.

Now, we're taking a closer look at the man behind the giant guns and equally giant shoulder pads to get under Cable's skin. While Cable might not have the most famous body in the Marvel Universe, the power that lies inside of his head and the Techno-Organic virus coursing through his veins changed the course of history in the Marvel Universe.

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One of Cable's eyes always glows when he uses his psionic abilities, and sometimes when his emotions are heightened. This eye is usually the one that's infected by theTechno-Organic virus, al though it can switch sides along with his scar depending on the artist.

At a glance, it's easy to assume that the glow is a side effect of his T.O. Virus, but it's mostly part of his natural mutation, as a visual representation of his telepathic powers. His Age of Apocalypse counterpart Nate Grey -- who grew up uninhibited by T.O. -- also usually displays a single glowing eye when using his powers.

For virtually all of Cable's existence, he has sported a trademark head of silver or white hair. While this could be chalked up to his being in his 40s or 50s, his years of time travel make it hard to quantify his age. However, comics that depict his childhood and the current young incarnation of Cable that is running around Krakoa these days, reveal that his hair started going gray as a teen.

Assuming that the source of the gray hair isn't just part of his natural physiology, it could be caused by the stress of growing up as a rebel and future messiah in a dystopian wasteland. However, it could also stem from the strain his immense powers put on his body, since Nate Grey has a similar hair color.

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Cable's scarred eye is another trademark of his appearance, but it has an inconsistent backstory. When he first appeared in comics as a mysterious mercenary, he only had a single scar across his right eye. Over time, that scar grew and changed into a star-like pattern, which evolved into its standard design. kept from then on out. The story behind the scar in the comics was eventually explained as the point where Cable was first infected with the Techno Organic virus as a baby before he was sent into the far future for treatment.

Similarly to his glowing eye, the scarred eye is also prone to switching sides depending on whoever is drawing Cable at the time. Sometimes, the scar is put over the left eye instead of the right and/or combined with the glowing eye.

During a particularly body-horror heavy storyline in Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher's Cable& Deadpool, the dysfunctional duo were temporarily fused together after getting infected by the Facade virus. As a result, they weregenetically linked, which left Cable with a much weaker version of Deadpool's healing factor for a while.

Hilariously, this also meant that Cable's DNA-based teleportation -- or "bodysliding" as it was known in the future -- technology would also bring Deadpoolalong for the ride, dragging him to Cable's location. The activation phrase "Body Slide By Two" became the catalyst for several wacky misadventures between the pair that helped deepen the friendship between the two characters.

Since Apocalypse attacked him as an infant, Cable has been infected with theTechno-Organic (or T.O.) virus that's infected over half of Cable's body. Under normal circumstances, the virus slowly converts an organic host intoa metallic, essentially lifeless form.To keep the rest of his body from being consumed Cablehas beenforced from a very young age to use a significant amount of his telekinetic powers and concentration to hold the virus at bay, keeping him from ever fully utilizing his incredibly strong psionic abilities.

The left side of Cable's body is the most obviously affected by the virus and gives him a cyborg-like appearance. Technically he is a cyborg of sorts, since that part of his body is not solid medal but made up of ahighly complex series of cybernetics that requires careful maintenance and repair if damaged. Despite its downsides, this technology can come in handy, and it allows Cable to plug into the internet, download and upload programs, and hostmicrocomputers or AI.

Though it mightlook like only Cable's left side is fully infected, the virus has actually spread much, much further than that.His entire skeleton, nervous system, and several vital organs are all at least partially converted to a T.O. material and cybernetically enhanced. This makes Cable much stronger and more durable than most usual, and it enhanced his senses and reflexes as well. In a pinch, Cable can even get enough of a grasp on the T.O. with histelekinesis to alter the metallic portions of his body, which lets him spontaneously change his size, sprout knives or spikes or tinker with the capabilities of his internal hardware.

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