Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared in X-Men #1 (October 1991).
[6] Thought to be royalty from Spain,[citation needed] Fabian Cortez organizes the original Acolytes, who pledge themselves to Magneto and his cause.
[volume & issue needed] Alone again, Cortez is surprised to be recruited by Magneto himself, to whom the United Nations has given control of Genosha.
After a further betrayal by Cortez, discovered by Magneto's UN advisor Alda Huxley to be the leader of the Genoshen cabinet assisting a rebellion in Carrion Cove, Magneto is restored to full power by one of the Genengineer's machines and, as he no longer needs Cortez, moves him from a prison in Hammer Bay, to over fifty miles away to Carrion Cove in less than 20 seconds.
[14] Selene especially wants Magneto captured for his collaboration with Emma Frost to overthrow her from her position as Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
Deadpool battles the trio, but the techno-organic virus that is inside the Acolytes (which caused their resurrection) prevent him from killing them.
Deadpool, seeing that Loa's powers were able to slay Selene's minions, forces her to kill Cortez and Delgado by throwing her into them (to survive, she has to slide through them, which causes them to crumble).
[15] The techno-organic virus however appears to reform Cortez, as he resurfaced later along with fellow Upstarts members Shinobi Shaw, Siena Blaze, and Trevor Fitzroy, and started the game that they created long ago.
They kill members of the Nasty Boys to lure out Cyclops and his ragtag team of X-Men to Washington Heights.
The X-Men gain the upper hand as the Upstarts retreat; but Shinobi is left behind, only to kill himself as he does not want to be captured or controlled by the Hellfire Club.
Weeks later, Cortez is rescued by Nick Fury and the X-Men, but is on the verge of death due to the experimentation he was forced to endure.
[33] In the reality seen where Tony Stark chooses not to begin a super-hero career as Iron Man after returning from captivity.
[34] In the reality where the space station Avalon was officially recognized as a mutant colony under the rule of Magneto, divisions between his Acolytes erupt, with Exodus leading the isolationists, who want to take Avalon to the stars and away from the taint of humanity on Earth, while Cortez's annihilationists wish to return to Earth, eliminate the humans, and reclaim their homeland.
These concerns become secondary after the birth of Acolytes Skids and Rusty's first child, who registers as Homo Ultima, the next stage of humanity, beyond even that of mutant.
In the aftermath, it is revealed that Magneto engineered fake genetic scan results for Homo Ultima, sacrificing the child to bring unity to his Acolytes.