[2] Blaming the X-Men for the death of his brother Thunderbird, Proudstar joins the Hellions, a group of young mutants led by Emma Frost.

Proudstar first appears as the second Thunderbird in New Mutants #16 (June 1984),[3] created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Sal Buscema.

[3] As a child, he once visited the roadside carnival that employed Chondu the Mystic and that Tabitha Smith also attended and had his fortune read by Destiny.

He was targeted by the geneticist Edwin Martynec secretly researching radiation mutation who was finally foiled by his brother John Proudstar and his friend reporter.

As a Hellion, James clashes with the New Mutants and Kitty Pryde, but to his chagrin, Frost feels they are not ready to take on the adult X-Men.

[6] James defies Frost's orders, dons his brother's costume, and kidnaps former X-Man Banshee to draw the team to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where John was killed.

Finding a Hellfire mercenary's mask at the scene, James deduces that Emma Frost committed the act to punish him for leaving the team.

[10] As a member of X-Force, James becomes more calm and controlled and strikes up a close friendship with his teammate Theresa Rourke Cassidy.

[volume & issue needed] Warpath meets Risque, who helps James with his confidence, and the two begin a love affair.

[volume & issue needed] After X-Force's disintegration, Warpath joins the Mumbai branch of the international mutant agency X-Corporation.

[volume & issue needed] Together, they confront one of the X-Mansion's guardian Sentinels when Caliban, a long time X-Men ally, runs onto the grounds.

[volume & issue needed] Warpath (calling himself "Running Sun") and the others are sent by Jason to confront Cyclops and Emma Frost.

[22] Warpath is one of the founding members of the new X-Force, Cyclops's covert wetwork team, charged with finding and eliminating Purifiers cells.

[27] After defeating the Demon Bear with the aid of Ghost Rider, he learns that this creature was created when the animal spirits of his people were disturbed.

[28] When Surge, Hellion, and Boom-Boom are kidnapped, Warpath and the X-Force attempt to save them but are teleported off to the future to find Cable and Hope Summers.

[volume & issue needed] Warpath appears as a target for the newly revamped Weapon X Program and is opted to join Old Man Logan's new team.

Following Thunderbird rescuing some of his people from some Heritage Initiative operatives led by Edwin Martynec where they were funded by Orchis, Warpath came through the Krakoan Gate that was planted on the Apache reservation and meets his grandmother Lozen.

[42] He possesses superhuman resistance to injury, at least enough to withstand short-range gunfire,[43] grenade explosions,[44] and direct telekinetic attack from Exodus.

[volume & issue needed] It has since been suggested by writer Christopher Yost that Warpath felt "rather embarrassed by the whole flying thing.

For example, he can run at high speeds up to at least 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph) for long distances and quickly climb building walls by digging his hands and feet into the bare concrete.

[53] In new publishing coinciding along Marvel's new ResurrXion event, Warpath has showcased regenerative abilities able to recover from mild to serious injuries inflicted upon him by new Weapon X cyborgs.

He gained extensive training in the use of the staff by his long-time teammate Shatterstar, whom he eventually matched in a record time of only a dozen tries.

Ghost Rider activated limited Apache shaman abilities within James to help him fight the Demon Bear.

However, he avoids John's fate in the mainstream comics and, finally acknowledging that his brother laid down his life to save others, joins the new X-Men team afterwards.