Mystique
From Cassius Comics
| Mystique | |
| |
| Real Name | Real name unknown; alias Raven Darkholme, Foxx, Helmut Stein, Mallory Brickman, B. Bryon Briggs, Ronnie Lake, Holt Adler, Leni Zauber, Raven Wagner, countless others. |
| Base | Mobile. |
| Stats | 5'10" (variable), 120lbs. / Yellow eyes (no visible irises, variable), medium length scarlet hair (variable). |
| Affiliations | Provisionary member of the X-Men. Former member of the X-Corps, The Brotherhood of Mutants, X-Factor, Freedom Force, "the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants" (unofficial name), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. |
| First Appearance | Ms. Marvel #16 (cameo, April 1978), 18 (full, June 1978) |
| Created By | {{{creators}}} |
See also Surge
Contents |
Origin
Much of the past of the woman known now as Mystique remains a mystery, including her true name and age; though she claims to be 83, she is closer to 130 years old. Her known history began at the turn of the 19th century, when (while using the alias Raven Darkholme, her most used identity), she was hired by an Austrian precognitive mutant named Irene Adler, who was seeking a means to decipher her prophetic diaries. Darkholme and Adler became fast friends, and soon became lovers. They became adventurers, though other than a period of time in the 1930s which they spent traveling with the mutant Logan (Wolverine), Darkholme and Adler's activities were undocumented for decades following.
At the beginning of the Cold War, Darkholme took on the identity of Leni Zauber, a German spy. As Zauber, she met and romanced the mutant Sabretooth (Victor Creed), with whom she shared a one-night stand that left her pregnant. She gave birth to a son whom she named Graydon, raising him until he reached puberty. At that point, Darkholme determined that he Graydon was not a mutant, and she callously abandoned him. Years later, Darkholme married the German Baron Christian Wagner and sought to become pregnant with his child, to no avail. While with the Baron, Darkholme was seduced by the demonic mutant Azazel (who gave her the name Mystique, the only alias she has attributed to herself since). Azazel impregnated her then left, but the Baron Wagner was suspicious of Darkholme's sudden pregnancy after so many failed attempts between them. He demanded a paternity test, but Darkholme murdered him to hide her infidelity. Nevertheless, she was forced to flee the Castle Wagner nine months later when she gave birth to blue-furred mutant, losing concentration and reverting to her true form during delivery. Darkholme attempted to kill her son by casting him over a cliff, but he was saved by Azazel, who left him in the care of a gypsy named Margali Szardos. The boy was raised with no knowledge of his mother and no connection to his past, save for the name that she had given him, Kurt Wagner.
Many years later, now living together with Adler, Mystique discovered a young mutant runaway named Marie. Giving her the new name Rogue, Mystique and Adler raised the girl as their own. Meanwhile, Mystique created a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, following in the footsteps of the mutant-supremacist Magneto; Adler took the name Destiny and became second in command, a calming influence to Mystique's more radical tendencies. When Rogue's energy absorbing power manifested, Mystique encouraged her to join the group. Adler soon predicted that Rogue would someday be harmed by the heroine Ms. Marvel; The Brotherhood attempted a preemptive attack on Ms. Marvel, but she successfully fended them off. Not long after, when Senator Robert Kelly declared that he was running on an anti-mutant campaign, Mystique led the Brotherhood in an attempt to assassinate him. They were opposed by the X-Men, and Mystique was reunited with her son Kurt, now using the alias Nightcrawler. Though Wagner saw the remarkable resemblance that the two shared, before he could learn of their relationship, Mystique was forced to flee. Though she and Rogue escaped, the rest of the Brotherhood were captured and imprisoned.
Searching for a way to free her comrades, Mystique sent Rogue to absorb Ms. Marvel's powers. The plan worked...too well. The inexperienced Rogue froze during combat and maintained physical contact with Ms. Marvel for too long, permanently absorbing her powers. Nevertheless, Rogue freed the imprisoned Brotherhood members, though they were soon recaptured by Ms. Marvel's teammates in the Avengers. Rogue and Mystique soon attempted a second jailbreak, though they were only able to free Adler. The three women remained together as the unofficial "Sisterhood of Evil Mutants" until Rogue abruptly left, seeking help from the X-Men in controlling her mutant powers.
As America grew more and more prejudiced against mutants, Mystique agreed to turn the Brotherhood into a government-sponsored team, in exchange for conditional pardons for all members. Renamed Freedom Force, the group had a number of successful missions before suffering tragedy when both Adler and rookie team member Stonewall were killed by the Reavers. Mystique took a leave of absence to mourn her lover's death, and Freedom Force soon disbanded. Searching for direction, Mystique spent time traveling with first Wolverine then Forge before her son Graydon resurfaced and blackmailed his father into attempting to kill her. The elder Creed relented when Mystique revealed her Leni Zauber identity; she then made a retaliatory attempt to kill Graydon, but he was saved by Rogue and Nightcrawler. Mystique was soon captured by the government's new superhero team, X-Factor, and was forced to join herself. While with the group, Mystique finally got her revenge on Graydon, assassinating him during a speech announcing his candidacy for the presidency.
On the run from X-Factor, Mystique reformed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and attempted once again to kill Robert Kelly, but was foiled again. Mystique then created the identity of Surge and infiltrated Banshee's X-Corps. She attempted to wrest control of the group and was nearly successful, but at the last minute Mystique's plans were ruined by Abyss, who sucked her into the dimensional portal contained within his body. Mystique was released during a battle between the X-Men and the resurfaced Azazel, but she was soon captured by Homeland Security agents.
Mystique was tried for her crimes and found guilty, and was sentenced to be executed. The X-Men's leader Professor X (Charles Xavier) intervened and offered to protect Mystique from the government if she would perform missions for him that he deemed too sensitive for his X-Men to do. Faced with no other options, Mystique agreed and was partnered with a diminutive "handler" codenamed Shortpack. On her first mission, Mystique was sent to locate a former agent of Xavier's named Prudence, but found that she had been killed by a mutant arms dealer named Steinbeck. Almost immediately afterwards, Mystique turned double-agent, reporting on Xavier to the mutant spy Shepard, unaware that he worked for the Quiet Man, who was Steinbeck himself. Shepard soon asked Mystique to kill Xavier and she agreed, though she became sidetracked when Shortpack was captured by Steinbeck. Teaming with the enigmatic Fantomex, Mystique captured Shepard and revealed that she knew that he was Prudence's brother, and the Quiet Man was actually Steinbeck's body being controlled by Prudence's mind. With Shepard's unwilling help, Mystique rescued Shortpack and destroyed the Quiet Man.
Now freed from her debt to Xavier, Mystique sought to reassert herself into Rogue's life. Mystique decided that her daughter deserved better than her long-time lover Gambit, and sought to seduce him by taking the form of an Xavier Institute student named Foxx. Though Gambit found himself tempted by her attention, he remained loyal to Rogue, prompting Mystique to reveal her true identity. She then assumed the form of her foster daughter and propositioned Gambit again, though he rebuked her once again. Mystique then revealed herself to the rest of the X-Men and surprisingly asked to join the team. After a lengthy debate, they agreed to admit her, but before she could accept, her son Kurt asked her to leave for a time to allow him to adjust to her apparently changed ways. Mystique reluctantly agreed, though after the events of M-Day, she returned, bringing with her the mutant Pulse, whom she had hoped to set Rogue up with had she been successful as Foxx. Though this will likely prove to be troublesome in the future, for the moment both Mystique and Pulse have proven themselves to be essential to the team, especially in battle against the resurrected Apocalypse.
Powers
Mystique is a shape-shifter who possesses the ability to alter her physical appearance to perfectly duplicate any human or human-shaped creature. Though able to duplicate physical mutations (such as Angel's wings), she cannot copy other types of powers (such as Cyclops' optic blasts) without using artificial means. In addition, while Mystique can change her physical size, she cannot increase or decrease her mass, keeping her at her normal weight no matter what form she takes. Mystique can indefinitely maintain any form of approximately her natural size, but taking on larger forms puts a proportionately greater strain on her system, forcing her to revert to her natural size when exhausted. Mystique's constant shape-changing and naturally renewing skin cells have given her the permanent appearance of a woman in her mid-twenties, despite her being more than a century old.
Several years ago, Mystique risked exposure to dangerous levels of radiation in order to save The Toad's life. This triggered a secondary mutation in her, even temporarily transforming her natural state into a more reptilian form. Since then, Mystique has been able to change her body to adapt to different situations. This includes the ability to adjust her eyes to see in the dark, grow functional wings from her back, grow talons from her fingers, flatten herself to a nearly two-dimensional thickness and grow thick, natural body armour. In addition, her healing rate has drastically increased, and Mystique is now immune to most forms of poisons.
Mystique is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and marksman, who is never without at least one sidearm (often concealed in her "costume"). She is a master tactician and strategist specializing in guerrilla warfare, and an excellent actress. Mystique also speaks a number of different languages, including (presumably) Russian and German.
Trivia
- Adler and Mystique's romantic relationship remained unspoken for many years, as Marvel had a policy of not featuring any openly gay or bisexual characters. Although the true nature of their relationship was later confirmed, one of writer Chris Claremont's original story ideas was never used: After Mystique was revealed as being Nightcrawler's mother, Claremont had hoped to tell a story in which she turned out to have actually been his father, having used her shape-shifting abilities to transform into a man and impregnate Adler. This idea was nixed by editorial, and Nightcrawler remained fatherless until Chuck Austen created the character Azazel years later.
- Though often portrayed in movies and video games as Magneto's lieutenant, Mystique in fact has rarely had any contact with the man, and their Brotherhoods were completely unrelated.
- Mystique never wears clothing, preferring to create the illusion of clothing with her own shape-changing skin.
Affiliation
Mystique is a provisionary member of the X-Men and a former member of the X-Corps, The Brotherhood of Mutants, X-Factor, Freedom Force, "the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants" and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
She is Destiny's former lover/life-partner, and a former lover to Azazel and Sabretooth. She is the mother of Graydon Creed and Nightcrawler, and Rogue's foster mother.
