Callisto (comics)
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Callisto is a Marvel Comics character, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith, she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983).
A mutant, Callisto possesses moderate degrees of enhanced strength, agility and senses. She was the leader of New York City’s subterranean mutant settlement the Morlocks. However, after a run-in with the X-Men, Callisto lost a duel with Storm for leadership of the Morlocks. Storm left the group in Callisto’s care and the two have had an uneasy alliance ever since.
Played by Dania Ramirez, a significantly reinvented version of Callisto appears in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand.
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[edit] Character history
Callisto's origins are unknown, although she has claimed that the scars she bears are proof of "how dumb a mistake" it was for her to try to live among normal humans; in one of her earlier appearances, her greatest psychological fear is the image of the beautiful woman that she once was, although she may have overcome that as of the present. When Callisto first appeared she was leader of the Morlocks, a group of mutants who lived in the sewers (named after H.G. Wells's characters in The Time Machine), though she soon lost her role as leader to Storm in a duel. The Morlocks were first formed well over twenty years ago by Callisto, Sunder, Caliban, and Masque.
Callisto kidnapped Archangel (then still calling himself Angel) and stripped him of most of his clothing, intending to make him her mate. Callisto also attempted to cripple Archangel by cutting away his primary feathers. To rescue Angel, Storm challenged and beat Callisto in a duel for the leadership of the Morlocks. As the new leader of the Morlocks, Storm decreed that they would no longer kidnap and terrorize surface-dwellers, and in return they would have peace.
Callisto regards Storm with both resentment and respect due to Storm defeating her in hand-to-hand combat, but she sneers at what she considers Storm's "weakness," namely her conviction not to take a life, or to take revenge on baseline humans that despise mutants. The two women fought again while the city of New York was enslaved and ensorcelled by the wizard Kulan Gath.
Callisto was later romantically involved with Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) when he assumed the identity of the artist Peter Nicholas. This followed Peter's journey through the Siege Perilous, which had caused him to suffer amnesia. Rasputin remembered nothing of his former life, including how he'd previously met Callisto and even that he possessed mutant powers. The two became attracted to each other after Masque reshaped Callisto's flesh, restoring her beauty to greater than what it was before she was scarred. Rather than an act of kindness, Masque restored Callisto's beauty only to take it away later as a means of tormenting her (Masque had taken control of the Morlocks in Callisto's absence and saw fit to capture and psychologically torture her when she reappeared in their tunnels). The process was repeated several times before Callisto and Colossus were finally rescued by Forge, Banshee and Jean Grey.
After Callisto began a career as a fashion model and moved above ground, the Morlocks attacked her, still under the influence of Masque. Masque had grossly transformed the Morlocks, leaving them with grotesque physical mutations. They subsequently renamed themselves Gene Nation and nearly beat Callisto to death. The Morlocks' Healer treated her wounds, but accidentally restored Callisto's scars and her original physical deformities. The Healer's powers were overloaded by the severity of her injuries, killing him in the process.
Callisto vowed revenge on her former followers for stealing away her looks, and then allied herself with Mikhail Rasputin, Colossus' older brother. Mikhail and Callisto appeared to have perished when he used his powers over matter to flood the Morlock tunnels. They both later reappeared alive.
More recently, Callisto was once again transformed by Masque, having her arms reformed into tentacles. Callisto was also under Masque's control in "The Arena," an elite fight club in Japan. Callisto and Storm battled each other in the Arena, but later both escaped with help from Storm's friend, Yukio.
Last seen, she was one of the main characters in the new Excalibur title, where she was helping Professor Xavier and Magneto rebuild Genosha. Ironically, this alliance briefly (and perhaps uncomfortably) reunited her with Archangel.
Callisto also has a maternal relationship with Marrow, acting as a mother-figure towards the young mutant (though the two are not biologically related), making her the only person Marrow would follow nearly blindly. It seems, however, that Callisto and Marrow don't share this relationship anymore, as Callisto hasn't made any effort to learn Marrow's current whereabouts.
In the aftermath of House of M, Callisto is among the many mutants to have lost her powers. Quicksilver offered to her the Terrigen Mists, stolen from the Inhumans, as a way to restore her powers. Callisto willingly accepted the offer and the Mist effectively restored all her previous abilities (minus her disfigurements and arm-tentacles), but without any control over them. Her new senses are so acute that even a drop of rain causes her tremendous pain; unable to handle it, she fell into a coma. She was later taken to a hospital, where the effects of the Mists wore off.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Film
Dania Ramirez portrays Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand. She was the leader of The Morlocks and then joins Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In place of an eye-patch and scars, this version of Callisto is beautiful and heavily tattooed (most noticeably; an Omega symbol on her face). She was electrocuted by Storm after their climactic battle on Alcatraz.
In the film version, Callisto possessed superhuman speed, and also the ability to sense the powers and locations of other mutants. The latter ability is similar to both that of the characters Caliban and Sage from the comics.
[edit] Television
- She appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series when she and the other Morlocks captured Cyclops rather than Angel. She was voiced by Susan Roman.
- Callisto also appears in X-Men: Evolution animated series as a less-violent, more even-tempered leader of the Morlocks. She first appeared to sabotage a beverage company where its beverage is considered poison to the mutants. She later returned when anti-mutant thugs were using laser technology to attack the X-Men, Spyke, and Leech. In contrast to her original personality, this Callisto is a voice of reason, with Spyke being the more violent-minded vigilante. Callisto is voiced by Saffron Henderson.
[edit] Bibliography
- Cable vol. 2 #42
- Excalibur vol. 1 #4, 11
- Excalibur vol. 3 #2-4, 5-7
- Marvel Comics Presents #20-24
- Mystique #23
- New Mutants vol. 1 #46
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man #4
- Power Pack vol. 1 #12
- Son of M #4-6
- Storm vol. 1 2-4
- Uncanny X-Men #169-171, 176, 179-181, 190-193, 195, 207-209, 211-214, 216-217, 219, 253-254, 259-260, 262-264, 291-293, 325, 341, 346-347, 373-374, 463-465
- X-Men Unlimited vol. 1 #18
- X-Men vol. 2 #44, 72, 74, 79
- X-Treme X-Men#37-39, 45-46
[edit] External links
- MDP: Callisto - Marvel Database Project
- Callisto's origin on the Marvel Directory
- Callisto at the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
