SAGESage, also known as
Tessa, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She has most often been associated with the X-Men and the Hellfire Club, whom she spied upon for
Professor Charles Xavier.
A mutant, Sage possesses a number of
mental abilities and was originally presented as the personal assistant to the Hellfire Club’s Sebastian Shaw, but an extended
retcon revealed that she had been one of the first mutants
Professor Xavier discovered (Sage says that this was about the same time as he located
Beast , but in other accounts he found Sage first). Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she was sent to spy on the Hellfire Club, something that has haunted her in the years since.
She has been a member of the original X-Men teams, the X-Treme X-Men, and more recently a member of the latest incarnation of Excalibur and the Exiles.
Sage's main mutant power is the ability
to sense the mutant potential in others, activate it under the proper circumstances, and to advance existing mutants into the next level of their power.
Her mutation also grants
a computer mind—in addition to possessing a perfect memory, she can process data much faster than even the fastest of computers—whatever she sees, she remembers. Whatever she remembers, can be recalled in an instant, with perfect clarity, and analyzed with greater speed and accuracy than computers. She uses these "computer-like" abilities in order to analyze and catalogue a latent mutant's or mutant's DNA, necessary for concluding the proper modifications before she jumpstarts them. She also uses this ability to analyze combat situations, her general environment and the behavior of others.
Sage multitasks on a superhuman level and it is implied she is constantly tackling many mental obstacles at once. In
X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #1 (April 2004), Sage battles an opponent, reviews previous battle footage from memory, and plays an Internet game of chess simultaneously, with little or no effort at all.
Sage is a telepath, however for a long period of time she had "shut them down" because the thoughts and emotions she had received telepathically from the people surrounding her had distracted her concentration. Sage also feared being open to psionic communication would make her vulnerable to the mental domination of Elias Bogan. Given that Sage's mental shields require that concentration and focus of mind, she made the decision to forfeit the use of her telepathy. Following her joining the Exiles, Sage's telepathic abilities have emerged due to her struggle with Roma's memories and Diana Fox. Sage's telepathy allows her to read minds, broadcast thoughts, fire mind-blasts, and other similar abilities.