Fictional Obituary: Douglas Ramsey / Cypher, Marvel Comics (Comic spoilers: New Mutants #60–61)

Fictional Obituary: Douglas Ramsey / Cypher, Marvel Comics (Comic spoilers: New Mutants #60–61) Douglas “Doug” Ramsey, a student at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and a member of the New Mutants known as Cypher, died from a gunshot wound while protecting his teammate Rahne Sinclair during the confrontation with the Ani-Mator. He was a teenager. Doug grew up in Westchester County, New York, the son of Philip and Sheila Ramsey. Before becoming involved with the New Mutants, he was a young computer enthusiast whose friendship with Kitty Pryde brought him close to a world he did not yet fully understand. Their shared interest in computers gave them something ordinary to enjoy together, even while Kitty's life increasingly involved extraordinary dangers. His mutant ability allowed him to understand languages, including unfamiliar spoken languages and forms of computer communication. The talent could be easy to overlook in a room full of people who flew, transformed or projected destructive energy. In practice, it repeatedly allowed his friends to discover what was happening around them and speak to people they otherwise could not reach. That ability helped establish contact with Warlock, a frightened alien whose arrival initially brought confusion and fighting. Doug could understand him. Communication made it possible for the students to recognize a person in need of help, and for Warlock to find a place among them. The two became especially close. Warlock's changing body could protect Doug during missions, and Doug could help his friend understand the human world. Their partnership brought together abilities that were very different, along with vulnerabilities neither could entirely remove for the other. Warlock called Doug his “selfsoulfriend.” At the school, Doug contributed technical skill, research and the patient work of interpretation. He also experienced the doubts familiar to someone trying to keep up with friends whose strengths were much more visible. Understanding a threat did not make him physically immune to it. He continued taking part despite that uncertainty. His relationships with the other students grew through everyday companionship as well as danger. He and Rahne became close, and their efforts to understand Bird-Brain gave them a shared responsibility. Doug's ability helped turn an unfamiliar creature into someone whose fears and wishes could be heard. The mission in which he died arose from the team's attempt to help Bird-Brain and the other creatures held by the Ani-Mator. During the fighting, Doug saw Rahne in danger and moved to protect her. The shot that struck him was intended for her. His friends could not save him. The loss was devastating to the students who returned without him. Rahne struggled with the circumstances of his death. Warlock struggled to understand how someone so familiar could be gone. Their teacher, Magneto, was left with the responsibility of facing the death of a child placed in the school's care. Doug is survived by his parents. He is also mourned by Kitty, Warlock, Rahne and the other students whose school life had become inseparable from his own. His family laid him to rest, while his classmates tried to continue in a home that now had an absence none of their abilities could resolve. Much of Doug's work consisted of helping one person understand another. His friends will remember the young man at the computer, the classmate who could make sense of an unfamiliar voice, and the person who remained beside them when understanding the danger gave him every reason to be afraid.