The Right is a subversive organization dedicated to the elimination of all superhuman mutants to ensure the freedom of normal human beings. The organization was secretly founded by Cameron Hodge, the public relations director for X-Factor. Hodge was the leader of the Right, and was known as the Commander.

Hodge secretly funded the Right by diverting funds he received while he served as X-Factor's public relations manager. Warren Worthington III, then known as the Angel, believed Hodge to be his friend while, in fact, Hodge deeply resented Worthington's good looks, vast wealth, and his powers. Worthington and Hodge devised the concept of X-Factor, an organization of supposed mutant hunters who masqueraded as normal human beings, but would actually make contact with superhuman mutants and help them control their superhuman abilities. However, as Hodge has secretly intended, the campaign actually fueled the Right's purposes by intensifying prejudice against mutants.

The first physical display the Right committed was kidnapping the mutant known as Rictor from his native Mexico where he was responsible for a devastating earthquake. The Right discovered that Rictor had been the source of the quake. They brought him to San Francisco where they linked him to an elaborate device designed to amplify his powers enough to shift the tectonic plates within the San Andreas fault and cause a catastrophic earthquake. They had hoped this plan would further discredit mutants when officials determined the cause of the quake, but X-Factor foiled their scheme.

The Right contracted convicted genetic engineer, Dr. Frederick Animus, later known as the Ani-Mator, and commissioned him to find a means of preventing mutation from occurring. The Right supplied Animus with animals to use as subjects for his experiments, and they created a laboratory for him on an otherwise deserted island in the North Atlantic called "Paradise."

However, Animus defied his employers instructions and created creatures with combined characteristics of human beings and animals which he called his "Ani-Mates." He intended them to be a slave race that would serve humanity. One of the Ani-Mates, Bird-Brain, escaped from "Paradise" and was befriended by the New Mutants who accompanied him back to the island. They were captured by the Ani-Mator, who intended to discover a way to give his Ani-Mates the shape-shifting power of one of the captive New Mutants, Wolfsbane.

The New Mutants subsequently escaped only to be recaptured by members of the Right, including Hodge. The Right had arrived on the island to discipline the defiant Ani-Mator. Bird-Brain and other Ani-Mates rescued the New Mutants and battled the Right. In the melee, Animus aimed a handgun at Wolfsbane, intending to kill her rather than allow the Right to take her. However, the New Mutant, Cypher, knocked Wolfsbane aside, only to be fatally shot himself. Infuriated, another New Mutant, Magik, exiled Animus and the involved members of the Right to the dimension Limbo. Their fate has yet to be revealed.

After a narrow escape from the New Mutants, Hodge rededicate the cause of the Right to destroy mutants rather than to contain and discredit them. By this time, X-Factor realized that Hodge was their enemy and during their first battle with the Right, they learned that he was the leader of the organization.

Worthington, who had been driven to despair and suicide by Hedge's machinations to amputate the Angel's wings, had been "reborn" at the hands of the mutant Apocalypse, who used his advanced biological knowledge to give him new, deadly wings. Calling himself the "Archangel," Worthington tracked Hodge to a secret Right base in Chicago seeking vengeance. When the Archangel discovered that the Right had performed experiments on his former lover, Candace "Candy" Southem, which resulted in her death, he violently lashed out, killing several of their members and apparently Hodge himself.

Whether Hedge truly met his death remains to be seen, although the current activities of the Right have been quelled with the absence of a leader.

Thus far, the only revealed headquarters of the Right have existed in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York; Members of the Right are often designated rankings and corresponding uniforms as in the military. Higher officials dress in ceremonious robes during meetings.

Weapons and Paraphernalia: The Right has access to a vast arsenal of advanced, state-of-the-art technology and weaponry. When in combat, members of the Right often wear armored battle suits that have machine guns attached to the shoulder places and can fire explosive missiles. The battle suits also give them the power of flight at low velocity, increased resistance to injury, and a slight enhancement of strength. The facemasks of the armor have "smiley faces" painted on them as an aid in psychological warfare.

First Appearance: X-FACTOR #17