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Isak Blomgren is the son of Jens and Ana Blomgren of Stockholm, Sweden. The family immigrated to the United States when Isak was seventeen. The Blomgren family has been in the fine clothing business since the late 1700s. They've dressed kings and statesmen, celebrities, businesspeople and the just plain wealthy. The Blomgren line of suits in particular are very well-regarded for their cut, fine material and fashion-forward innovation.
Isak was groomed from a young age to be part of the family business. His aunt Aleksia Blomgren-Albinson took over the company when Isak's grandfather died. Shortly after, Aleksia sent her brother Jens to New York to head up the company's North American division.
As the youngest of three brothers and the least business-minded, Isak was not likely to take on a high role in the company - at least not for a good number of years. He was however, handsome, charming and personable. His first job after he graduated high school was to act as Blomgren's representative at fashion shows. It was a very glamorous, very heady job for a young man. If it weren't for the strange state of his genes, he might have lived a charmed life.
The mutation was triggered when he picked up smoking from the models and designers he hung around with. His parents had strictly forbade it and until he got out on his own, he never had any desire to push it. But from the moment he inhaled the cigarette smoke, his life would never be the same.
Isak had moments where he clashed with his family, but the importance of the family name and the family business were things he believed in wholeheartedly. So he told his parents and his brothers about his mutation. He should have anticipated that the family's reaction to an abnormal family member would be to close ranks. He was pulled back to New York. The family paid for private doctors to examine Isak and help him control and understand his abilities. His family were never quite the same around him after that, though they did not shun him. They realized that if they did, Isak might well go public, which could destroy a business with many conservative clients.
Isak began to grow angry and bitter, at first at his powers, then at the reaction of his family. He had always been a proud lad (and his parents had encouraged that pride) so suddenly being treated not like the golden boy and instead like a stain on the family name angered him. The anger spread further, to public perceptions about mutants. He started to blame the attitudes of humans as a group for fearing mutants. If they weren't so afraid of what they didn't understand, he reasoned, he'd still be sipping cocktails in Nice with models and celebrities.
The simmering anger might have cooled given enough time, but the zombie plague hit very close to home. His father Jens contracted the disease and died (and was resurrected, and had to be put down by his mother) before a cure was found. His mother Ana also became ill, but thankfully a cure was developed before she was too far-gone.
Ana was in a state of tremendous grief and shock over the deaths of so many, Jens' death and the fact that she had to take out his re-animated body. Coupled with her own struggles getting over the plague put her in a very dark place. She started voicing suspicions about their family doctor. She had done some checking in to him and it seemed he was suspected of being involved with Prometheus. That, plus the fact that Jens got sick soon after they had Doctor Van Buren over for dinner, made him the focus of her wrath. She told Isak that he needed to do something about Doctor Van Buren.
Isak had always been particularly close to his mother, so to see her fall apart so much was very hard for him to witness. He found out where the doctor lived, and snuck into his penthouse (with the help of some greased palms.) He very nearly choked the life out of Van Buren that night. Only a last minute hesitation saved his life.
Isak never knew how the Brotherhood of Mutants found him, or knew what happened that night. But they did, and they welcomed him into the fold. They gave him a place to direct his anger.
His mother recovered somewhat, enough to get the family business back on its feet. Ana was not willing to send her son overseas again, and Isak had no desire to go now that he had found the Brotherhood. He was made the New York spokesman for the family business, schmoozing again, as well as attending all the fancy shindigs. Isak no longer simply has a good time at these gatherings. He keeps his ears tuned for information that will help the Brotherhood, and, he believes, mutants as a whole.
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