Born into an extremely wealthy family, young Warren attended a prestigious East Coast boarding school where he roomed with Cameron Hodge. Warren's life changed forever the day he began sprouting wings from his shoulder blades, and he hid them under his clothes. Later, when fire struck his dormitory, Warren discovered while escaping that his wings enabled him to fly. Donning a blond wig and long nightshirt to disguise himself as an anonymous "angel," Warren saved the other students. Warren soon became the costumed crime-fighting Avenging Angel and attracted the attention of Professor Xavier, who recruited him as a founding member of the heroic, mutant X-Men team. After the young telepath Jean Grey joined the X-Men, Warren was instantly attracted to her. Eventually realizing that Jean loved their teammate Cyclops, Warren stopped pursuing her. Soon after, Warren rekindled his old college flame Candy Southern and the pair became inseparable. After his father was killed by agents of the criminal Dazzler, Warren investigated and was shocked to learn that the Dazzler was his uncle Burt, who had been using his brother's company as a cover for his crimes. In the ensuing battle, Warren dropped the Dazzler from a great height and presumed him dead; but Burt survived, and plotted to marry Warren's mother Kathryn in an effort to secure the family fortune. Furthermore, Burt had arranged for Kathryn to be secretly, gradually poisoned. Warren and the X-Men foiled Burt's plan, though too late to save Kathryn.
When the sentient island Krakoa captured the X-Men, Professor X assembled a new squad of X-Men to rescue them. After this, most of the original students - including Warren - left the team. Warren inherited his family fortune and used a portion of it to fund a Los Angeles-based super-team, the Champions. Warren revealed to the general public that he was the Angel, though his connection to Xavier's school remained secret. After the Champions disbanded, Warren eventually rejoined the X-Men, but his constant clashes with Wolverine soon led him to quit. After declining the first of two invitations to join the Avengers, Angel teamed with Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and the X-Men to defeat Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates; helped the Avengers battle his rampaging ex-Champions teammate Ghost Rider (John Blaze); defeated his French counterpart Le Peregrine during the Grandmaster's Contest of Champions; and befriended the new Dazzler, mutant singer Alison Blaire, whom he romantically pursued for a time. Later, Angel joined the Defenders when that group reorganized as a more formal team under the guidance of his fellow X-Men graduate Beast. Angel served as financier of the new group, which was managed for a time by his girlfriend Candy, but they disbanded after most of its members seemingly died in battle with the Dragon of the Moon.
Angel then reunited with the other original X-Men in forming X-Factor, an organization that posed as mutant hunters but secretly helped fellow mutants. Warren's old friend Hodge was employed as X-Factor's public relations manager, but he had come to hate mutants, and he secretly used X-Factor's resources to fuel anti-mutant sentiment. Soon after, Warren's status as X-Factor's secret financial backer was leaked to the media, causing great controversy. During the Marauders' massacre of the subterranean Morlocks, Warren's wings were damaged by the Marauder Harpoon. Warren was hospitalized, and Hodge tricked the doctors into needlessly amputating his wings. Unaware of his friend's manipulation, Warren named Hodge beneficiary of his assets. With Warren deeply depressed after the loss of his wings, his break-up with Candy, and the controversy surrounding X-Factor, Hodge sabotaged Warren's plane in an attempt to kill him and create the appearance of suicide. Though the world believed him dead, Warren was rescued by the eternal mutant Apocalypse, who offered to restore his wings. Desperate, Warren agreed, and through technological and genetic manipulation, which turned his skin blue, he was given razor-sharp metal wings. Warren became Apocalypse's Horseman Death, but after being tricked into believing he had killed Iceman, he was eventually able to break Apocalypse's programming. Warren then hunted down Hodge, who had kidnapped Candy. In the ensuing clash, Hodge killed Candy and Warren decapitated Hodge. Warren subsequently rejoined X-Factor as Archangel, and soon saved the life of policewoman Charlotte Jones. The two became romantically involved, helping Warren reclaim his humanity.
Following an attack on the various heroic mutant teams by agents of the island nation Genosha, Warren learned that Hodge had survived, having bargained with a demon that granted him eternal life, but Hodge was ultimately defeated by the heroes. After X-Factor's members rejoined the X-Men, a mutual attraction developed between Warren and his teammate Psylocke. During this period, Warren teamed with Spider-Man, the New Warriors, the Avengers and other heroes to battle Darkling, whose Darkforce temporarily corrupted and controlled Archangel and other morally conflicted heroes before Darkling's defeat; and the mystic Doctor Druid tricked Archangel and Iceman into participating in a Secret Defenders mission that pitted them against old Champions foe Swarm, who was driven off before the duo ever learned who had manipulated them. Having inherited Hellfire Club membership from his father, Warren declined an offer from the Club's then-Black King Shinobi Shaw to join its Inner Circle as the White King. Following a savage attack by the feral mutant Sabretooth, Warren and Psylocke, who had since become lovers, left the X-Men for a short time to recuperate. During this time, Warren's metallic wings molted, revealing that his original, feathered wings had grown back underneath. Later, when Professor X disbanded the X-Men in an attempt to ferret out an alien impostor, Warren joined an ad-hoc team of X-Men to help the young mutant Mannites battle Apocalypse's latest Horseman Death. Warren then returned to the X-Men as a reservist, his responsibilities as head of Worthington Industries taking precedence. Ending his relationship with Psylocke, Warren later committed himself to the X-Men full-time, becoming team leader.
After Professor X was publicly exposed as a mutant, Warren took a more public role in his business activities, speaking to the G8 summit about mutants in the world economy. When the X-Men were captured by the plant-like mutant Black Tom Cassidy, Warren's skin reverted to normal after Tom drained some of his life-force. Subsequently recovering from his injuries, Warren underwent a secondary mutation that gave his blood healing properties. When Xavier Institute student Husk uncovered corruption within Worthington Industries, she and Warren encountered the mutant werewolves the Dominant Species, whose leader, Maximus Lobo, claimed to have been the one who killed Warren's father. When Husk was severely injured by the werewolves, Warren used his newfound power to save her life, and the pair soon became romantically involved. After Cyclops became co-headmaster of the Institute, he asked Warren to establish a high-profile charity to improve mutantkind's image. Inspired by Robert A. Heinlein's story, "The Menace from Earth," Warren established "Wings over the World," a recreation center wherein visitors don artificial wings and fly by means of anti-gravity. Warren later also established "Mutantes Sans Frontières," a global outreach organization that sends trained mutant volunteers to places where the X-Men have no official presence. Setting up office in Zanzibar, Warren and Husk became involved in an attempt by the Hellfire Club's White Queen Courtney Ross to destabilize the country by employing the mercenary Viper and the Weaponeers. Alongside the country's President - who was secretly the superhero Askari - and Genoshan reinforcements, the heroes managed to repel the invaders.
Following the events of "M-Day," when many of the world's mutants lost their powers, a mutant named the Ghoul began murdering fellow mutants. To help lure him into the open, Warren faked losing his powers and was interviewed by journalist Sally Floyd. When the Ghoul appeared and captured Floyd, he was opposed and defeated by the X-Men. Recently, the powers of Warren come back and during the Civil War, he returned to the X-Men.
Check out others who have used the name "Angel" at the Disambiguation Page.
