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| Known relatives: Wife (real name unrevealed, presumed deceased), Shinobi (son) |
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| History: Sebastian Shaw was born into an impoverished family, but with his superb business skills, he became a millionaire by the age of 20. He eventually became the head of Shaw Industries, a multinational corporation, which is heavily involved with United States defense contracts and the production of munitions. Shaw was invited to join the Hellfire Club, a leading social organization for the elite of society. Soon after joining, Shaw learned of the Club's secret Council of the Chosen, a group of members who, unknown to the others, conspired to achieve world domination through economic and political means. Through the force of his personality, Shaw became one of the leaders of the Council, rising to the rank of Black Bishop (members of the Inner Circle were given titles corresponding to the names of chess pieces). The leader of the Council, White King, had the council give considerable financial backing to Dr. Steven Lang's attempt to create new mutant-hunting Sentinels. Upon the collapse of Lang's enterprise, Shaw seized the opportunity to run the White King out of office. Shaw then became the Black King, leader of the Council of the Chosen (renamed the Inner Circle) and master of the Hellfire Club. |
| Shaw's corporation, Shaw Industries, had a secret contract to build Sentinels for the United States government's covert Project Wideawake, whose goal was to hunt down, capture, and study superhuman mutants. Shaw hoped to use his position with the project for the Inner Circle's own ends. (None of the Inner Circle members are known to be mutants either by the United States government or by the general public.) |
| Later, Shaw survived an attempted challenge to his leadership of the Circle by its renegade White Bishop, Donald Pierce. Pierce kidnapped a young woman known only as Tessa, whose photographic memory enabled her to function as a living storehouse of information about matters of importance to the Circle for Shaw. Professor Charles Xavier and the New Mutants defeated Pierce. Tessa returned to the Inner Circle, which put Pierce on probation from the Club. |
| In recent years the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle has clashed several times with the mutant X-Men, and the enmity between the two groups persists to this day, especially after the Fall of 2000, in which several members of the Hellfire Club and associates were killed, most notably Donald Pierce, Madelyne Pryor and Trevor Fitzroy. |
| Today Shaw assumes leadership of the Hellfire Club and Inner Circle (as well as the world) with Emma Frost, the White Queen, Selene the Black Queen and Tristan Lehnsherr, the White King. |
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