Leech (James "Jimmy") is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Leech made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men as a Morlock, a group of mutants whose deformities force them to live in the sewers under Manhattan. He is usually depicted as being around twelve years old (his exact age is unrevealed). He speaks in broken English and refers to himself in the third person. Publication history Leech first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984), and was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. Leech appeared as part of the "Morlocks" entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #9. Fictional character biography The green-skinned Leech was orphaned as a toddler. His parents left him to die when his mutations became apparent. He was found by the Morlock Caliban and taken to a human-looking mutant woman named Annalee who raised him and several other young mutant orphans as her children. He made friends with X-Factor's ward named Artie Maddicks and had a few brief encounters with the X-Men. During the Mutant Massacre story arc, Mister Sinister rallies his henchmen, the Marauders, to infiltrate the sewers and massacre all the Morlocks living there in an effort to rid the world of "genetically impure" mutants. While many Morlocks are killed, Leech and Caliban survive, rescued by Power Pack and the X-Terminators (X-Factor in their role of mutant hunters). Leech joins Artie in the care of X-Factor until they could be enrolled in St. Simons, a private school that willingly accepts mutant children. Soon after they began attending this school, Leech and Artie are captured by mutant-hunting demons. Leech's technologically enhancing mutant friend, Taki Matsuya and an ad-hoc team of mutants, calling themselves the X-Terminators, join with the New Mutants in battling the demonic threat. They adventure through much of New York, witnessing much, such as innocent men being eaten, before the threat is contained. Leech, Artie, and Taki return to St. Simons, though they do not stay out of trouble. Taki's crush on a teacher leads to uncovering a plot by mutant-hating humans to kidnap and kill as many mutants as possible. The young trio disobey orders and literally fly off. After much violence, the kidnapping plans are discovered and the conspirators arrested. A nearby resident, Ida Fassbender, discovers the trio's technologically assisted jaunts, and her paranoia endangers their lives. She