M (comics)

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This article is about the Marvel Comics superhero. For the Norwegian comic strip, see M (comic strip).

M (Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix) is a fictional comic book superhero, a mutant who appears in the X-Men family of books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, she originally was a member of the teenage mutant group Generation X, and now appears in the series X-Factor.

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia to a rich father from Monaco and his Algerian wife (she actually has three passports from France, Bosnia, and Algeria), the original Monet St. Croix joined the Generation X team as the mysterious mutant Penance, a mute, childlike mutant with razor sharp skin and an affinity for apples. It was later determined that Monet's two younger sisters Nicole and Claudette St. Croix had been impersonating M, while the actual Monet had been trapped in the form of Penance. The four St. Croix children all possess some form of powers; in addition to M and Penance, their brother Marius is the vampiric mutant Emplate. In Generation X issue #40, the original Monet was returned to her M form and her sisters assumed the Penance identity.

Monet on the cover of Generation X #24, Art by Adam Pollina

As M, Monet St. Croix possesses several superhuman abilities; she is able to fly, possesses superhuman strength, superhuman reflexes, and telepathy. Highly intelligent, she often displays an arrogant, condescending attitude, for which she quickly clashed with many of her Generation X.

As her often-rival Jubilee teased, M's mutant power appeared to be simply "being perfect." In truth, Monet St. Croix had survived an incredible series of ordeals, including the machinations of her brother, Emplate. Subsequently, M became self-reliant and outwardly harsh and defensive to make up for her fear and insecurity. The only other person she let see her vulnerabilities was Everett Thomas, Synch, with whom she was briefly romantically involved.

When Synch sacrificed his own life to stop an exploding bomb that had been placed at the academy by Emma Frost's sister, Adrienne, M was devastated. Soon after Synch's death, the team rapidly began to fall apart, even as Monet began to open up and act more vulnerable around her teammates. Following the bomb incident, Monet began to observe Emma Frost acting strangely villainous, possibly reverting to her more sinister White Queen identity. The entire team questioned Emma's leadership abilities, particularly when combined with Banshee's relapse into alcoholism following the death of his lover, Moira MacTaggert.

The team soon parted ways, but M temporarily joined Banshee's militant X-Corps with Husk and Jubilee in order to keep an eye on the devastated Irish mutant. However, the X-Corps were soon destroyed by Mystique, and M soon joined the X-Corporation's European branch, located in Paris, where she joined Cannonball, Multiple Man, and Siryn in combating Weapon XIII. Monet helped the X-Men battle Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut before returning to her duties at X-Corporation Paris.

Following the events of House of M and the shutdown of X-Corporation, M, who also has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair,^{[citation needed]} has opted to join X-Factor Investigations, a private detective agency run by Madrox. After one mission involving a very emotionally distraught woman, Monet broke down crying in Jamie Madrox's arms. It is unknown if this was a genuine display of sympathy, or a side-effect of her powers; this question will likely never be answered, as Monet threatened to break Madrox in half if he ever brought it up. A comment made to Rictor seems to imply she no longer wishes to go by the name M, but as with many characters who have dispensed with their codename, hers is still used in her entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and on Marvel's website.

Monet helps to gather the Madrox duplicates in Uncanny X-men #406, art by Aaron Lopresti.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Known Powers: M is superhuman in essentially all aspects.

• Superhuman Strength
• Invulnerability: Highly resistant to injuries due to her seemingly possessing a denser musculature then most beings, but it is possible she attains this ability from another basis.
• Healing Factor: M possesses a regenerative quality allowing her to heal and recover from wounds. The effect also has the added benefit of making her more resistant to toxins and disease, and possibly the aging process.
• Enhanced Senses: M possesses telescopic and night vision and more acute hearing. It is possible her other senses are enhanced also.
• Enhanced Agility: her agility is greatly enhanced, far more than peak human.
• Flight: ability to psionically levitate and move herself in the air by force of will.
• Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: her speed and reflexes are greatly enhanced, far more than a peak human.
• Telepathy: ability to read minds and project her thoughts into the minds of others.
• Sibling-Merge: Monet and all her siblings are able to merge into different combinations with different powers, although it seems easiest for the twins Nicole and Claudette.

Known Abilities: formidable hand-to-hand combat knowledge.

[edit] Alternate versions

In the harsh world known as the Age of Apocalypse, Monet was known as Know-It-All and was part of Generation Next, having merged with the team's computer system. She risked her life to search the databases of Apocalypse, a task which ended in her destruction at the hands of the Shadow King. Her real name was given as Claudia. The St Croix twins were called "The Monets" and worked alongside their brother in Apocalypse's Elite Mutant Force.

In the alternate future in the X-Men: The End series written by Chris Claremont, M is a member of the XSE and a critical part of the hastily marshalled forces attempting to defeat Mr. Sinister.

In the widely panned Generation X TV movie, she was played by Amarilis. The movie version displayed no psionic powers.

[edit] External links

• Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki