Axel Cluney discovered his mutant-powers at the age of 14 when he got sick off of alcohol and vomited his super acid in a girl's face, melting it off and scarring her. The incident was as much traumatic for Axel as it was for the girl. He would spend years having nightmares of the incident, and feeling the guild of not even remembering the name of the girl. Zeitgeist was created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred in 2001 and first appeared in X-Force # 116.