The second episode of FX's deep dive into the Marvel universe, introduces a character with a fascinating power and backstory. Is Ptonomy from Legion in the X-Men comics? David's new confidant has heroic potential.
Simply put, he's not in the comics. Most of the characters on Legion, with the exception of David himself, are original. Ptonomy is a new mutant with the ability to manipulate memories. At Summerland, a cool sounding mutant summer camp at what seems to be the beginning of mutant evolution, he is known as a memory artist. He remembers everything, even his own birth, but was practically raised by someone who couldn't always even remember his own name. Ptonomy is able to help David navigate his own memories and begin to control the voices in his head.
Even the name Ptonomy doesn't have a specific origin that I can find. It looks like Ptolemy, which means "aggressive and warlike," smashed together with the word autonomy, which means the ability to self govern, free from influence or control. He's basically the opposite of David, who is plagued by the voices in his head and unable to control his own life. To break it down further, the Greek root "pto," found in the word symptom, means to fall. The suffix "nomy," means to study a system of laws, a specific area of knowledge.
I like that Legion is not beholden to all of the characters in the X-Men universe. That's sort of the great thing about mutants. There are so many of them that it doesn't really matter whether a character was lifted from the page or not. The established world can alway accommodate more mutants. Ptonomy definitely fits in on Legion and makes a good addition to this world.
