Abraham Kieros is a wounded soldier when Apocalypse finds him. He has been left unable to move, and Apocalypse offers to restore that ability in exchange for service.

Abraham Kieros is a wounded soldier when Apocalypse finds him. He has been left unable to move, and Apocalypse offers to restore that ability in exchange for service. Calling the result War is almost painfully direct. A man whose life has already been damaged by violence is given a new body and sent straight back into it, this time wearing the name of the thing itself. His mutant power lets him generate destructive force by bringing his hands together. The armor and mechanical mount turn that into a very visible battlefield role. He can strike at a distance, break things apart and make an already crowded fight dangerous for anybody standing nearby. His argument with Famine in X-Factor #19 also shows how little peace there is inside the group. He talks about his military experience and what Apocalypse did for him. She needles him, he lashes back, and their fight needs to be stopped before they have even dealt with the people they were sent to attack. Apocalypse encourages his sense of having been forgotten. That is a powerful thing to offer someone who feels abandoned: an explanation for the pain, someone to blame and a job that supposedly proves his worth again. But the new role is still service to another man's agenda. His restored mobility doesn't come with an opportunity to decide what kind of life he wants outside a battlefield. Apocalypse has already picked the uniform and the mission. War can look like the straightforward heavy hitter among the four. His recruitment makes that image less simple. The man inside the armor has been offered help with a condition attached, and the condition is more destruction.