Table of Contents

Folding Circle

Part 1: The Dossier: An At-a-Glance Summary

Part 2: Origin and Evolution

Publication History and Creation

The Folding Circle first appeared in New Warriors (Vol. 1) #21, published in March 1992. They were created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Mark Bagley, the core creative team responsible for the New Warriors' early success. Their introduction marked a significant turning point for the series, shifting the tone towards darker, more complex narratives. The team's creation was emblematic of the early 1990s comic book era, which often favored “grim and gritty” characters with morally ambiguous backstories and a more aggressive edge. The Folding Circle was designed to be a direct challenge to the New Warriors' youthful idealism. They were not simply villains seeking world domination; they were a family, albeit a dysfunctional one, fighting for what they believed was stolen from them. Their origin, rooted in the Vietnam War and a mystical blood pact, added a layer of historical weight and supernatural intrigue to Night Thrasher's previously street-level world. Nicieza and Bagley used the Folding Circle to deconstruct their main hero, forcing Dwayne Taylor to acknowledge that the foundation of his life and mission was built on lies and dark secrets.

In-Universe Origin Story

The origin of the Folding Circle is a multi-generational saga of war, desperation, and mystical corruption. It is a tale that begins decades before their first public appearance and is inextricably linked to the parents of several key members of the New Warriors.

Earth-616 (Prime Comic Universe)

The story begins in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War. A special forces unit of American soldiers, call sign “The Dragon's Breadth,” was operating deep within enemy territory. This unit included key figures who would later shape the lives of heroes and villains alike: Daryl Taylor (father of Dwayne Taylor/Night Thrasher), Andrew Chord (father of Aaron Chord/Midnight's Fire and Silhouette Chord), Diego Casseas (the future Left Hand), Eric Conroy's father (Bloodstrike), Conan Chi-Le's father (Smiling Tiger), and Min Li Ng's father (Silk Fever). During a mission in Cambodia, the unit stumbled upon an ancient temple belonging to a mystical cult known as the Dragon's Breath Cult. The temple housed a powerful font of mystical energy, a nexus point called the Well of All Things. This Well was a direct conduit to the Universal Wellspring, a source of immense power that could grant immortality and reshape reality. The cult was led by a council of elders, secretly controlled by an ancient and malevolent entity named Tai. Facing certain death and desiring power, the soldiers of the Dragon's Breadth made a pact with the cult. They agreed to marry the female members of the cult's “priesthood” in a mystical ceremony. In exchange for their loyalty and their genetic material, the Well would bless their future offspring with a portion of its power. The soldiers saw this as a path to survival and prosperity, unaware that Tai was manipulating them. Her true goal was to create a lineage of super-powered children—a “Folding Circle”—whom she could one day sacrifice to the Well, allowing her to absorb its full power and achieve godhood. The soldiers returned to America, their lives forever changed. Daryl Taylor used the cult's resources to build the powerful Taylor Foundation, and Andrew Chord became his loyal protector. They and the other soldiers had children, who, as promised, were born with latent superhuman abilities. Years later, one of the soldiers, Diego Casseas, now calling himself The Left Hand, sought to reclaim the power he believed was their birthright. He began gathering the other children of the pact, manipulating them with a half-true version of their parents' story. He told them their fathers had been cheated out of their rightful power and that they, the children, must seize control of the Well of All Things. This collective of super-powered offspring became the Folding Circle. Their primary members included:

Their first move was to recruit Aaron Chord and his sister, Silhouette, who had been operating as vigilantes alongside Night Thrasher. This act brought them into immediate and violent conflict with the New Warriors, unraveling the decades-old conspiracy and forcing Dwayne Taylor to confront the dark truth about his family's fortune and his father's sins.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

The Folding Circle does not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As of the latest releases, there has been no mention of the team, the Dragon's Breadth unit, the Well of All Things, or the specific backstory involving Night Thrasher's parents. There are several likely reasons for their exclusion:

If the Folding Circle were ever to be adapted for the MCU, their origin would likely undergo significant modernization. The Vietnam War connection could be updated to a more recent conflict, such as the war in Afghanistan, or replaced with a corporate or black-ops equivalent, perhaps a secret project by a company like Roxxon or a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. unit. The mystical “Well of All Things” could be re-imagined as an alien energy source, a Terrigenesis-like event, or connected to an established magical dimension like Ta Lo from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Part 3: Mandate, Structure & Key Members

The Folding Circle's purpose and hierarchy were defined by their shared heritage and the manipulative guidance of their leader. They operated less like a traditional supervillain team and more like a cult or a family unit with a singular, consuming goal.

Earth-616 (Prime Comic Universe)

Mandate and Ideology

The primary mandate of the Folding Circle was to seize control of the Universal Wellspring. They were raised on the belief that the immense power contained within the Well was their birthright, a legacy promised to their fathers in the jungles of Cambodia and subsequently denied to them by a conspiracy of silence. Their ideology was a potent mix of entitlement, grievance, and perceived destiny. They saw the New Warriors not as heroes, but as obstacles—particularly Night Thrasher, who represented the establishment that had benefited from their parents' pact while hiding the truth. To them, their actions were not villainous but a righteous crusade to claim what was rightfully theirs. This entire belief system, however, was a carefully constructed lie orchestrated by the Left Hand and, ultimately, by Tai.

Structure and Hierarchy

The Folding Circle was a small, insular organization with a clear, if informal, power structure.

Key Members

Member Real Name Abilities and Role
Midnight's Fire Aaron Chord Son of andrew_chord. A peerless martial artist with superhuman speed, strength, agility, and senses. He is the fiercest fighter on the team and shares a complicated, protective, and often antagonistic relationship with his sister, Silhouette, and his adoptive brother, Dwayne Taylor.
The Left Hand Diego Casseas The manipulative founder and strategist. He possessed the ability to channel mystical energy from the Well through his left hand, which he could use for concussive blasts. He was the most knowledgeable about the pact, but used that knowledge to mislead his followers.
Silk Fever Min Li Ng A powerful pyrokinetic with the ability to generate and control intense fire and heat. Her mother was a member of the Dragon's Breath Cult, giving her a more direct connection to the Well's magic. She was one of the most zealous members of the Circle.
Smiling Tiger Conan Chi-Le A feral combatant with superhuman agility, enhanced senses, and razor-sharp claws and teeth. He is vicious and animalistic in battle. His father was an American soldier from the Dragon's Breadth and his mother was Vietnamese.
Bloodstrike Eric Conroy The team's powerhouse. He possesses superhuman strength and durability, making him capable of trading blows with heavy hitters like Namorita. He served as the primary brute force for the team's operations.
Silhouette Silhouette Chord Daughter of Andrew Chord and sister of Midnight's Fire. Initially a vigilante partner to Night Thrasher, she was targeted by the Circle. She can teleport through shadows by tapping into the Darkforce Dimension and is a master of crutch-style fighting. She was never a true member, but her heritage made her central to their conflict.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

As the Folding Circle does not exist in the MCU, there is no established mandate or membership. However, a hypothetical adaptation could draw from existing MCU concepts. A potential MCU version of the Folding Circle might be portrayed as the products of a rogue supersoldier program or a corporate experiment gone wrong. Their “mandate” could be to expose the organization that created and abandoned them, or to seize the technology or power source that empowered them. A hypothetical roster might look like:

This structure would preserve the core concept of a tight-knit, super-powered group with a personal grievance, while grounding their origin more firmly in the established science and corporate espionage of the MCU rather than Vietnam-era mysticism.

Part 4: Key Relationships & Network

The Folding Circle's existence was defined by a small, intense network of conflicts and alliances, almost all of which revolved around their shared, secret history.

Core Allies

The term “ally” is complex for the Folding Circle, as their primary relationships were internal and often fraught with tension.

Arch-Enemies

Affiliations

The Folding Circle's affiliations are more about legacy and origin than formal alliances with other Marvel Universe groups.

Part 5: Iconic Events & Storylines

The Folding Circle's time in the spotlight was brief but impactful, primarily contained within a single, definitive story arc that reshaped the world of the New Warriors.

"Nothing But the Truth" (//New Warriors// Vol. 1 #21-25)

This is the quintessential Folding Circle storyline, detailing their introduction, motivations, and ultimate defeat.

Post-"Nothing But the Truth" Appearances

After their initial defeat, the Folding Circle ceased to exist as a cohesive unit. However, its individual members appeared sporadically throughout the Marvel Universe, often changed by their experience.

Part 6: Variants and Alternative Versions

Unlike major teams such as the avengers or x-men, the Folding Circle is a relatively obscure group with a very limited presence outside of the main Earth-616 continuity.

See Also

Notes and Trivia

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

1)
The creation of the Folding Circle by Fabian Nicieza was a direct response to his desire to add more depth and consequence to Night Thrasher's origin, which he felt was too similar to Batman's. By introducing the idea that Dwayne's parents were not innocent victims, he fundamentally changed the character's motivations.
2)
The name “Folding Circle” has never been explicitly defined in-canon, but is thought to refer to the global nature of the pact and the way the members were gathered from around the world, “folding” in on their single target and goal.
3)
The Universal Wellspring, the source of the Circle's power, is a concept linked to other powerful Marvel Universe nexuses, such as the Nexus of All Realities. It represents a fundamental cosmic energy source.
4)
The designs of the Folding Circle members, by Mark Bagley, are a classic example of early 1990s comic book aesthetics, featuring pouches, sharp angles, and an overall “extreme” look that was popular at the time.
5)
Primary Source Material: The definitive story of the Folding Circle can be found in New Warriors (Vol. 1) issues #21, #22, #23, #24, and #25.
6)
Though they were pawns of Tai, the Folding Circle's actions had a lasting impact, leading to the eventual dissolution of the Taylor Foundation and forcing Night Thrasher to rebuild his entire operation from the ground up under the new name of the Taylor Foundation.