Karima Shapandar

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Karima Shapandar
Cover to Excalibur #3 featuring Karima Shapandar. Art by Andy Park.
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance X-Men Unlimited #27 (June, 2000) Created by Chris Claremont Brett Booth
Characteristics Alter ego Karima Shapandar Affiliations X-Men Genoshan Excalibur, Omega Prime Sentinels, Indian Police Force Abilities As a Prime Sentinel, has advanced cybernetic nanotech responsible for superhuman strength, resistance to injury and regenerative abilities, electrostatic poles mounted on her arms, flight, and a selection of unspecified weapons and mechanisms that retract into her body

Karima Shapandar is the name of a fictional character associated with the X-Men spinoff Excalibur. Is vegetarian. She first appeared in X-Men Unlimited #27 and was created by Chris Claremont and Brett Booth.

[edit] Biography

Karima was a police officer from India who was transformed into an Omega Prime Sentinel by Bastion of the Operation: Zero Tolerance program. It all started when Karima was dispatched to look after Neal Shaara (who would later become known as Thunderbird). Neal was looking for his brother, Sanjit, who had gone missing researching some mysterious disappearances in Calcutta. A bond quickly developed between the two, and they were on the verge of beginning a romantic relationship when they were attacked and captured by Bastion. Neal learned that Sanjit had become a Prime Sentinel, programmed to seek out and destroy mutants. Bastion intended to do the same to Neal and Karima, but the morphing process catalyzed Neal’s latent mutant power, which destroyed the building around him. Sanjit fought his programming long enough to disable the other Sentinels, but died in the process.

As Neal cradled Sanjit’s body, Karima quietly told Neal to run. She had discovered that she was a Prime Sentinel; humans transformed into sentinels and set up as 'sleeper' agents, unaware of their programming until a nearby mutant activated them (as in Neal's usage of his mutant powers).

"I am an Omega Prime. Within moments I will have reached my full combat mode–with my core programming to destroy creatures like you. It is becoming increasingly difficult to even think of you as human. Your only chance is to disappear. Get as far away from India – and from me – as you can. Assume a new identity... a new life."

Neal refused, saying he loved Karima. Karima begged him to leave, saying she couldn't hold on much longer. Neal was forced to flee.

Karima later resurfaced on the decimated mutant homeland of Genosha, where she encountered Charles Xavier and Magneto. The two were able to disable her Sentinel programming and restore her mind, but the technological modifications to her body remained.

Karima stayed on the island with the others, working as a police officer to restore order. She is trying to adjust to her new form, which comes into conflicts with her Hindu beliefs. It is assumed she left the island with most of the other residents after Decimation.

The X-Men recently discovered a disassembled Karima, along with Lady Mastermind in a lab of the Fordyce Clinic that was testing on mutants to see if someone can catch mutation like a disease. As of X-Men #189, Beast has reassembled her. But she appears to have lost part of her memory from the moment she got disassembled. In issue #192, Rogue officially recruited her onto the team to help fight the Children of the Vault.

[edit] Powers

Karima is fitted with Prime/Omega Sentinel technology which gives her superhuman strength, reflexes, speed and endurance. She also has flight capacity, nanite regeneration to repair any physical injury/damage she receives (she is also repaired so that she is stronger and more durable than she was before she suffered damage) and several projectile weapons, as well as electrostatic poles built into her forearms that generate massive amounts of electrical energy.

[edit] Trivia

When asked what he liked about the character, creator Chris Claremont responded "I liked the idea of her. The notion... of someone being transformed into a wholly mechanical being and what effects that has on sense of self, sense of soul? She’s an outcast from both human and mutant society, yet bound by her own personal sense of honor to try to protect both. Callisto’s (another character in the Excalibur series) one kind of 'monster,' Karima’s another. They both have their measure of prejudice to overcome."