Storm (comics)
This article is about the X-Men character. For the British/Dutch comic book character of the same name, see Storm (Don Lawrence).Storm (
Ororo Munroe) is a
Marvel Comics superhero, a prominent member of the
X-Men. Created by writer
Len Wein and artist
Dave Cockrum, she first appeared in
Giant-Size X-Men #1 (
May 1975). She may be the first black female superhero and remains the most popular.
Storm has the
mutant power to
control the weather, including
lightning,
rain,
snow, and
wind. She uses her control over wind to give herself powers of flight.
Storm was a
street orphan in
Cairo,
Egypt, before her powers manifested. Afterwards, she traveled to
Kenya, where she was worshipped as a
goddess, but joined the X-Men to fight for people who barely considered her human. She was consistently a member of some X-Men battalion from 1975 until 2005, longer than any other character. She often served as the team's leader.
She has been featured in almost every X-Men
animated series and
video game and has a theme ride named after her at the
Universal Orlando Resort. Actress
Halle Berry plays her in the
X-Men films.
Early life
Ororo's mother, N'Dare, was the princess of a tribe in
Kenya and the descendant of a long line of Africans with white hair, blue eyes and a natural gift for
sorcery. N'Dare fell in love with and married
African American photojournalist David Munroe.
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Cover art for Storm #2 (second limited series), by Mike Mayhew |
Ororo was born in
Manhattan,
New York City. When Ororo was six months old, she and her parents moved to
Cairo,
Egypt.
Five years later, a bomb (or a military plane crashing during a bombing attack) destroyed their home and killed Ororo's parents; although the original version of this story stated that the bomb was dropped by a jet of the
Israeli Air Force during the
Suez Crisis of 1956, later stories have revised the bombing first to an event of the
Six-Day War of 1967 and then to an unnamed military conflict. Ororo was trapped in the collapsed building alongside her dead mother, a
traumatic experience that would ultimately leave her with a severe case of
claustrophobia.
The
orphan Ororo grew up on the streets and became a proficient thief under the tutelage of master thief Achmed el-Gibar. To this day she is an excellent pickpocket and lockpick. One of her most notable victims was Charles Francis Xavier, the later
Professor X. He used his mental powers to prevent her escape. He also recognized the child to have a unique mind that would require further examination. However, Xavier was attacked mentally by Amahl Farouk, the
Shadow King. The two men were preoccupied enough with their battle to allow the girl to escape. Both however would recall her later.
Shortly after her twelfth birthday, Ororo felt something drawing her to the south of Africa. She left Cairo by foot and started traveling. She soon attempted hitchhiking. However, the first man who offered her a ride attempted to rape her. Using her knife to protect herself, she killed the man in self-defense. She was horrified by her act and swore to never take another human life. She would come to regret this decision later in life.
Ororo continued her solitary trek for a year. She nearly died from dehydration while crossing the
Sahara. Her journey brought her about 2000 miles south of Cairo. During the journey, new powers emerged within her. Ororo proved to be a
mutant with the power to control the weather.
Those powers would prove useful in her first heroic battle. Ororo witnessed Andreas de Ruyter and men of the
South African Army in the process of kidnapping a young boy, slightly older than she. Ororo saved the boy and learned his identity. He was Prince T'Challa of
Wakanda. The
South Africans would have used their hostage to blackmail his father T'Chaka, the
Black Panther. The two youths continued their journey together and fell in love. However, they soon had to part ways. Storm wanted to continue her journey of self-discovery. T'Challa felt bound by duty to return to Wakanda and train to succeed his father.
Storm's journey next brought her to the Kenyan portion of
Serengeti, the land of her ancestors. There, Ororo called out to the
Goddess of her ancestors and was rewarded with a vision of her adult self. Though Storm continues to swear by the Goddess or "Bright Lady" as she sometimes calls her, no name has ever been given to this deity. Current speculation is that this Goddess is
Gaia who has made multiple appearances in the
Marvel Universe.
Ororo came to use her powers to help the native tribes and their efforts in agriculture. She came to be worshipped by them as their "goddess of life." However her powers came with a price. Because her subconscious mind affected the weather around her, Ororo had to detach herself from passionate emotions to avoid causing needless harm. She spent years exploring her powers with the help of Ainet, a tribal elder who became her surrogate mother.
X-Men
Ororo reached her maturity while still in the role of a tribal goddess. There, she was found by her old victim
Charles Francis Xavier, who invited her to join his second team of X-Men. Their first mission involved rescuing the original X-Men from the mutant
ecosystem inhabiting the
Pacific island of Krakoa. Storm was able to combine her powers with those of her teammates and send the entire island to outer space.
Although Storm initially had trouble adjusting to
Western culture, particularly the sort represented by her sometimes-vicious teammate
Wolverine, she found a home and family among the X-Men such as Jean Grey and Piotr Rasputin who became not only her best friends, but also a surrogate sister and brother. In time, she revealed herself to be a capable leader and became leader of the X-Men when its longtime leader,
Cyclops left the group. When the young
Shadowcat joined the X-Men, Storm formed a very close, almost maternal bond with her.
Around this time, the X-Men spent a long time in space battling the
Brood, an alien race, in which she and the others unknowingly became host to future Broods. This left Ororo with a dilemma, to kill the growing Brood within her and break a vow she made when young or to allow it to transform her into another Brood. In the end she escaped out into space deciding to kill herself. This effectively killed the Brood within her but left her vulnerable in space. Fortunately she was rescued by whale like creatures called the Acanti who could communicate telepathically.
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Cover to Uncanny X-Men #170. Art by Paul Smith. |
Spending so much time away from planet Earth severed the deep psychic connection Storm had with her home planet, prompting a period of much soul searching. Storm went through some profound personal changes because of this inner conflict, which resulted in her becoming more aggressive and violent. This led to her cutting her hair in a
mohawk and wearing leather clothing - changes that alienated her from Shadowcat for a time. Storm was influenced in this by a lover of Wolverine's,
Yukio, who became one of her dearest friends; some fans believe the two were lovers, though given Marvel's policies of the time, this possibility was never more than implied. She also fought
Callisto for leadership of the
Morlocks and won by stabbing Callisto in the heart. Callisto only managed to survive due to the healing powers of another Morlock. The two remained enemies for awhile, but eventually managed to make up and are now friends. Storm now trusts Callisto enough that she asked Callisto to look after Xavier while he was in
Genosha.
However her victory over Callisto would lead Storm to fight another Morlock named
Marrow years later. Threatening to kill innocent people with a bombtrigger attached to her own heart, Marrow forced Storm to decide to either kill her or let the incocent people die. She did that in the belief that Storm as an X-man was unable to kill. However, during the fight, Storm ripped Marrow's heart out saving the civilians.
Romance
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Storm and Forge. Art by Marc Silvestri. |
Storm had an on-again, off-again romance with the mutant
Forge. She first broke up with him when she discovered that he had created the neutralizer gun used to erase her powers, though she later forgave him. In a battle with the
Adversary in Dallas, Storm appeared with her powersfully restored and was able to help her teammates defeat the Adversary.
Believed dead by the world, thanks to the conclusion of
The Fall of the Mutants, she and her teammates were resurrected by Roma and transported to Australia, where they encountered and defeated the
Reavers, a merciless group of cyborgs. Believed dead along with the X-Men was
Madelyne Pryor, Cyclops's first wife. Madelyne held a secret grudge against Cyclops for abandoning her and their infant son,
Nathan Christopher for Jean Grey. While she found comfort with Cyclops' brother,
Havok, her negative feelings toward her estranged husband and the trauma of losing her son made her vulnerable to persuasion and eventually corruption by
N'astirh one of the demons from the dimension of Limbo, leading to the
Inferno crossover. After saving the world from being sucked into the hell-like dimension, Storm led the X-Men back to their base in Australia. Following a battle with
Nanny and the Orphan Maker, Storm was presumed dead. In truth, though, Nanny had captured Storm and faked her death with the use of a SHIELD life model decoy, which resembled her and was left in the wreckage of Nanny's ship to be found by her teammates. The true Storm, now de-aged by Nanny (approximately at the age of 11-12) was a captive in Nanny's hands. However, she managed to escape and started wandering in Cairo, Illinois, with no memories of the past. Her powers were also diminished, due to her age. The
Shadow King decided to use this opportunity to hunt her down, by taking over the body of
FBI agent Jacob Reisz and framing Ororo for murder. On the run, Storm returned to
thievery in order to survive. The Shadow King's agents ambushed her in one of her capers; luckily, though, she was saved by the intervention of fellow mutant and thief
Gambit. The duo formed a partnership, as thieves. Eventually, they battled Nanny and defeated her and during battle, Storm's memories were restored. She and Gambit then travelled to the X-Mansion, where they were reunited with Banshee and Forge. After several tests were conducted, it was clearly shown that Ororo was stuck in her pre-teen form and that the de-aging process was irreversible.
During the
X-Tinction Agenda, Storm was captured by
Genoshan magistrates and turned into a mutate. After she was blasted in a battle, she regained her personality and was also restored into full adulthood.
Following his battle with the
Shadow King on
Muir Island, the recently-returned
Professor Xavier found himself with the assembled members of both the X-Men and
X-Factor. The Professor decided to divide the X-Men into two separate strike forces: the Gold Team, led by Storm and consisting of Jean Grey, Iceman, Colossus, and Archangel, and the Blue Team, led by Cyclops, and featuring Beast, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke and Wolverine.
Moira MacTaggert and Forge lived in residence as well.
As their relationship continued to develop, Forge proposed marriage to Storm. Storm was hesitant, however, because accepting Forge's proposal would mean giving up her place with the X-Men in order to lead a more "normal" life. Forge sensed Storm's hesistation, and asked her best friend, Jean Grey, her opinion on Storm's feelings. But due to miscommunication between Jean and Forge, Forge rescinded his offer, leaving a distraught and teary-eyed Storm whispering that she was going to say yes.
In the alternate future depicted in
What If (vol. 2) #114, Ororo married and had a daughter with fellow X-Man Wolverine and named her
Kendall Logan. This daughter became the hero known as
Torrent, having some of her mother's control over weather as well as her father's feral abilities. A relationship between Wolverine and Storm was also shown in the 1990s animated series episode "One Man's Worth".
On an alternate earth (Millennium Visions) Storm and Gambit have a daughter, Medea.Her powers are a mix of Storm's lightning bolts and Gambit's charged kinetic cards.
Her past relationship with then-Prince T'Challa a.k.a. the
Black Panther has been confirmed to resume before the two wed in the summer of 2006.
Perennial Leadership
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Storm cover from Uncanny X-Men |
Following
Operation: Zero Tolerance, Ororo again took sole leadership of a unified group of X-Men while Cyclops and Phoenix semi-retired to tend to Cyclop's recent injuries. It was during this period that the Shadow King returned, and targeted Storm and
Psylocke specifically, tricking them into returning to Storm's old village in Kenya, where the events of the Psi-War took place.
After averting the Rise of
Apocalypse and spending a couple of months on a leaderless faction of X-Men including Phoenix, Beast, and Gambit, Storm went on to lead a group of X-Men outside of the mansion in the search for
Destiny's
diaries, the Books of Truth, inspired at least in part by the events of
The Twelve storyline. This team came to be known as the
X-Treme X-Men. While searching for the diaries, Storm enjoyed a brief flirtation with a younger man,
Slipstream and was kidnapped by the intergalactic warlord
Khan who wanted to make her his queen, as several villains over the years were wont to do. Despite being badly injured, struck by Viper prior to being captured and having to fight off Khan's harem, she managed to defeat Khan with the aid of the
X-Treme X-Men who came to rescue her. They brought her back to Earth where she spent time recovering with the aid of Wolverine.
Storm continued to lead the group even after Destiny's diaries were rendered inert because she did not approve of the way Xavier was running the mansion. The group returned to help rebuild the Xavier Institute after the mansion was destroyed by a man who was believed at the time to be
Magneto, but was later revealed/retconned to be
Xorn. From the school, Storm headed the
X-Treme Sanctions Executive, a special police task force of mutants policing mutants given worldwide authority.
Bishop, at first, was hesitant to join this timeline's XSE, because it worried him that his future as a member of the
Xavier's Security Enforcers could still come true.
Due to the Scarlet Witch's magicks,
98% of the mutants lost their powers. ( Storm did not lose hers ) This is apparently going to make her a more prominent member of the Marvel Universe according to recent interviews.
When the X-Men journeyed to Niganda to investigate reports of mutant animals, they ran into Black Panther. At the end of the mission, . Storm stayed in Niganda to help the mutants affected there. During this time she came into conflict with an African Colonel named Shetani, who was hunting down and killing de-powered mutants in search of Storm. When she finally confronted him, he revealed to her that he was her uncle. Afterward, Shetani told Storm of a hidden village in Northwest Kenya where she met her grandmother for the first time. This finally prompted her to accept the Black Panther's marriage proposal.
The marriage between Storm and the Black Panther is one of the major events of the Civl War tie-in books with characters Iron Man and Captain America showing up for the wedding but leaving before the ceramony because of the sight of each other. A walking Charles Xaviermakes an apperance and as a gift Dr. Doom invites the newlyweds to his country.
Storm is a
mutant with
atmokinesis: the psionic ability to control the weather. When controlling weather elements, her eyes illuminate a white color and
aura. She can manifest any degree of
wind,
temperature,
lightning,
storm,
ice and all manner of
precipitation,
tornadoes and
hurricanes, although particularly severe natural weather conditions have in the past proved too much for her to control. She has the ability to control the weather on any planet she is on. Storm was able to tune herself to an entire planet when the elements raged uncontrollably, she was able to calm the planets elements and heal the planets ozone layer. ( issue see 'Storm front' ) Storm has been known to create cosmic turbulence when a
Sentinel was about to affect the Earth with a gamma gun to draw a
solar flare from the sun to the Earth[
1]. Storm is immune to the effects of most weather, although she has in the past been overcome by particularly severe storms. Her body changes to compensate for the extremes she engineers; i.e. her
body temperature would rise as she caused her surroundings to become cold. She has the ability to project, focus and aim force blasts of extreme electrical bolts from her hands or the sky using her elemental powers. Storm can alter her visual perceptions so as to see the universe as multi-colored energy patterns. She can change the body temperature of anyone by manipulating that temperature and lowering or raising it. The elemental manipulation of the human body also gives her the stunning ability to drain the electrical energy from mutants brainwaves that will literally cause them to lose power. At times, she has used her ability to manipulate wind in a manner that resembles
telekinesis, lifting massive objects like buildings and hurling them against opponents, and stop projectiles like
bullets. By manipulating the
wind Storm can fly at incredible heights and speeds. Not only can she stop most physical attacks with her powers, but she can also generate electric fields, magnetic fields, high-density pressure fields, strong pressure domes that can cut through a mountain and even electromagnetic fields. Storm once even generated an electrolysis field underwater to surround herself and her teammates with a globe of oxygen in their proximity. While once in outer space, to destroy a brood embryo that was inside of her, Storm took her powers to a unimaginable level by gathering the entire energy of a galactic core which consisted of millions of living worlds and stars [
2] [
3]. She can also control
ocean currents [
4].
Storm has empathy/affinity for the earth. She is aware of every living thing and can even "sense" if a tree is ill.
Storm also has the potential to wield
white magic because her ancestors were priestesses. In an alternate time-line, Storm taught
Illyana Rasputin how to use her magic. With white magic Storm was able to travel the astral plane, teleport, heal herself and others, cast spells, create force fields and more.
Ororo is highly intelligent and an able
strategist and field commander of the X-Men.
Her days as a thief have given her mastery of skills normally used by professional thieves, such as stealth, breaking into heavily fortified areas and
picking locks (she always keeps a set of lock picks in whatever current costume she wears). She is also an excellent combatant in both armed and unarmed combat, having been instructed by Wolverine.
In the
Ultimate Marvel continuity, Storm is an illegal immigrant from
Morocco who settles in
Harlem. She makes a living stealing cars before joining the
X-Men. She has a romantic relationship with
Beast that is burdened by Beast's low self-esteem. After Beast dies, Storm pursues Wolverine romantically, but he resists her advances because of her age. The two have continued a friendship, however, during "Shock and Awe." The two spent the night playing pool together in "Date Night."
Film
*She is played by Academy Award-winner
Halle Berry in the movies
X-Men (2000),
X2 (2003) and
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Despite a high-profile actress like Berry in the role, Storm received little screen time in the first movie and took a backseat to characters such as
Wolverine and
Jean Grey. In the second film,
X2, Storm had more screen time but no real story. Berry rallied for more character development, threatening to leave the project entirely. As a result, her role was enhanced in
X-Men 3. In the third movie, Storm takes over as the director of the Xavier Institute, and as the leader of the X-Men.
Television
*Storm first made guest appearances on the
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in the episodes titled "A Firestar Is Born", "The Education of a Superhero" and "The X-Men Adventure". She was voiced by
Kathy Garver in "The X-Men Adventure" and
Annie Lockhart in "A Firestar Is Born".
*Storm then appeared in a TV pilot that later was released on video in
Pryde of the X-Men.
Andi Chapman provided her voice here.
*Storm, originally voiced by
Iona Morris in Season 1 and then
Alison Sealy-Smith for all subsequent seasons, was featured in the
X-Men animated series of the mid-1990s. Storm also guest starred in the
Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 1990s in Parts 2 and 3 of the Secret Wars arc. In the Spider-Man series, Storm was once again voiced by
Iona Morris because it was recorded in Los Angeles, where Iona Morris is now based.
*In the
animated series,
X-Men: Evolution, Storm was portrayed as a teacher at Professor X's Xavier Institute and was voiced by
Kristen Williamson. Storm is an American who was orphaned in
Cairo after her parents were killed during an earthquake. Abandoned by fate, she wandered around the
Middle East, surviving as a child-thief until her powers manifested themselves, until the day that Professor X discovered her serving as a goddess for an African tribe who believed her to be an Elemental Spirit. Professor X returned her to the States, where she learned to fully manifest her powers and help train other mutants like herself. Storm's powers tie her to all things natural; she has empathy/affinity for the Earth and all things natural. Her room is filled with plants, which she waters by using her powers to make it rain indoors. Because allowing her powers to run free could cause untold damage, Storm must keep her emotions in check. She is therefore outwardly serene. If she were to lose control of her emotions, all manner of weather-related catastrophes could happen. One of the few things that can make Storm lose her cool is her
claustrophobia. The
earthquake that left her an orphan also left her buried under rubble for days when she was 4 years old. She was left with numbing claustrophobia. She is the aunt of the X-Man, Evan Daniels aka
Spyke and a member of the staff at the
Xavier Institute. This has confused many fans as to how she could be an orphan and still have a brother or sister in order to have a nephew.
Video games
|
Storm in Marvel vs Capcom 2 |
*Storm has notably appeared in most of the X-Men video games that have been released on various consoles. The most noticeable ones are
Marvel vs. Capcom series and the
X-Men Mutant Academy games for the
Sony PlayStation. She is particularly popular in
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as part of the rushdown-oriented tournament team of
Magneto/Storm/
Psylocke (MSP) and is considered one of the best characters in the game.
*Most recently, she appeared in
X-Men Legends and its sequel
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse for various game systems. She was voiced by
Cheryl Carter in
X-Men Legends and by
Dawnn Lewis in
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
*Ororo also appeared in the
EA video game
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. In this game, she is implanted with an Imperfect chip and becomes evil. In this game Wolverine, after defeating her with difficulty, removes the chip from her body.
*She appeared in the video game based on the film,
X-Men: The Official Game, as a very powerful character. She is playable only in two missions. Her voice is supplied by
Debra Wilson.
*Storm was confirmed as one of the heroes who will appear in the upcoming
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but her status has remained unknown.
Other
*Storm has, on occasion, appeared in American television commercials for Universal Studios theme park and Visa Checkcards.
*Along with
Doctor Doom, the
Hulk,
the Kingpin and
Spider-Man, Storm also has a ride in Marvel Super Hero Island of
Universal Studios. The ride (based on a common teacup ride) "Storm Force Acceleration", also includes strobe lights which can be seen if ridden after dark. She is the first superheroine to have a ride named after her on Marvel Super Hero Island.
Storm debuted at a time when memories of
Star Trek's Lt.
Uhura, with a similar name and Kenyan origins, were still fresh.
*
African characters in comics*
MDP: Storm - Marvel Database Project
*
Spotlight on Storm from UncannyXMen.net
