Though a third Summers brother was mentioned years before by Sinister during an encounter with Cyclops, Vulcan first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1, a story written by Ed Brubaker that ran from January to July 2006.

Vulcan then appeared in "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire" storyline, also written by Brubaker, in The Uncanny X-Men issues #475 to 486 (September 2006 to July 2007).

[8] This was all to build up to the "War of Kings" storyline,[9] and Vulcan's part of the story is set up in the Kingbreaker mini-series, written by Yost.

[11][12][13] While being sent to Earth to serve Erik the Red, Gabriel escapes and is found by Moira MacTaggert, who adopts him and helps him master his powers.

Subsequently, he joins Petra, Darwin, and Sway in a mission to rescue the original X-Men from the sentient island Krakoa.

[11][12][13][14] Reawakened in modern times by the mutant energy released during M-Day, Vulcan returns to Earth to seek revenge against Charles Xavier, killing Banshee in the process and kidnapping Rachel Summers and Cyclops.

Reluctantly, Rachel does so, and with Xavier as a guide, she is able to not only reveal the truth behind what really happened on Krakoa, but she also detects another consciousness within the mind of Vulcan.

Vulcan easily repels their attack and flees the planet, renouncing Cyclops as his brother, and heads for space with the vision of D'Ken killing his mother raging in his mind, bent on revenge.

After reaching the inner territory of the Shi'ar throneworld, Chandilar, the ship is confronted and ordered to surrender by the Imperial Guard.

[17] Vulcan kills several powerful guardsmen in combat (Neutron, Cosmo, Smasher, and Impulse, among possible others), but is defeated by Gladiator, and taken to a prison moon.

[12][13][19] After his wedding, Vulcan throws Professor Xavier into the M'Kraan Crystal, kills D'Ken, and names himself Emperor of the Shi'ar.

Now with Xavier's lost telepathy restored by the Crystal, he, along with Nightcrawler, Warpath, Darwin, and Hepzibah, are sent back to Earth by Lilandra locking the ship's programming.

Meanwhile, Havok, Marvel Girl, Polaris, Ch'od, Raza, and Korvus form a new team of Starjammers bent on defeating Gabriel (Vulcan) once and for all, and salvaging the remains of the crippled Shi'ar Empire.

Vulcan and Gladiator attack the leader of the Scy'ar Tal and are easily defeated, whereupon they retreat deeper into Shi'ar space.

Eventually the Shi'ar, taking over the planet, took the M'kraan Crystal as their own, declaring it the sacred gift of the deities Sharra and K'ythri.

The M'Kraan, changing their name to Scy'ar Tal, then devoted their culture and society to the destruction of the Shi'ar Empire.

The Shi'ar Imperial Guard end Havok's battle with Vulcan by appearing with the Starjammers in captivity, threatening to kill them.

[26] Vulcan appears on a monitor of Havok's cell on a prison and taunts him by telling him the events of Messiah Complex.

[27] Vulcan begins an aggressive war of conquest to expand the Shi'ar Empire, occupying, among other races, the Z'Nox.

The Starjammers escape their prison, nearly killing Vulcan in the process, and severely wounding Deathbird, but being forced to flee to the Kree Imperium.

Though advised by the Fraternity of Raptors and his admirals to sue for peace and return to their planets to restore order, Vulcan refuses to listen and flies off to engage the Inhumans.

[32][33][34][35][36] Vulcan is an Omega-level mutant with the ability to psionically manipulate, control, and absorb vast amounts of energy.

[38] He is able to go without food for long periods by directly absorbing energy, and can generate protective force fields for interstellar travel.

The exact limits of his power replication abilities are unknown, but he was capable of utilising Marvel Girl's telepathy without her consent.

[43] According to his creator, Ed Brubaker, Vulcan has a "hidden potential" which allows him to fully generate and have control over seven elements (fire, earth, electricity, wind, water, darkness, and light).

Krakoa is then jettisoned into deep space, where it remains untouched for years until being discovered by the Silver Surfer.

Vulcan is banished to Krakoa as it resumes drifting through space, and, as punishment, he is forced to replay the transpired murders of the X-Men every time he requires food.