The man known as Forge is a Cheyenne Indian, once the pupil of Nazé, a shaman in his tribe. Forge developed considerable mystical powers as a result of the training Naze gave him and was also a mutant with an unusual talent for inventing mechanical devices. Forge has explained that he is an intuitive genius and it's as natural as breathing for him.

Forge served in Afghanistan and lost his right hand and right leg in a B-52 attack. Injured and grieving, Forge used the souls of nine dead comrades to open a mystical portal that released the Adversary in order to win that battle. (Years later, these actions came back to haunt him, as the Adversary nearly doomed the entire Earth.) Forge designed an artificial hand and leg to replace those that he had lost and, realizing that he'd made a horrible mistake in wielding the souls of his dead friends, decided to give up all use of magic. For the most part, Forge has not used his mystical abilities for over a decade.