Cannonball

Samuel Zachery Guthrie was the eldest son of a large farming family in Kentucky, born on October 17th. Sam tried to help his family by working in a coal mine after his father died there from inhaling coal dust. On his very first day, Sam and his father's friend, Lewis, got trapped in a cave-in. In his panic, Sam used his mutant blasting powers to escape, allowing both him and Lewis to get out alive.

This incident led to Sam being discovered by Donald Pierce, who recruited him in a plot to attack a young group of mutants that Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, had assembled. Sam eventually came to his senses and turned against Pierce. Professor Xavier saw the good inside Sam and invited him to join his New Mutants. Cannonball left his family to join the team.