Penance (comics)
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This article describes fictional events in the past tense. The present tense should be used in order to clearly differentiate between fictional events and actual history. To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this comics-related article or section may require cleanup. See this article's talk page before making any large and/or controversial edits. This article has been tagged since August 2006. |
For the Thunderbolts member, see Penance (Thunderbolts)
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Penance is a body which several members of the St Croix family, all members of the Marvel Comics superhero team Generation X, had been trapped in. When last seen, however, the form had no known host.
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[edit] History
[edit] Generation X
Monet St. Croix was the sister of Marius, Claudette and Nicole St. Croix. When her brother, who would become Emplate, first manifested his mutant powers, the conceited and shallow Monet often verbally abused him. And enraged Emplate transformed her body into a hardened, unhuman like state and left her mute. He told her to "consider this your penance". Claudette and Nicole, realizing how dangerous their brother was becoming, banished him to his own pocket dimension, but he managed to bring Penance with him. Nicole and Claudette, knowing Monet was their parents favorite, decided to merge into one body with the appearance of Monet.
Shortly after the formation of Generation X, Penance was dropped onto the front lawn of the Massachusetts Academy by Gateway, who spoke only to call her Penance. She was then brought inside by Banshee, who discovered then just what her powers were as he cut his hands badly as he tried to pick her up. This girl's skin was a deep red tone and was exceptionally hard and sharp, with spiked hair and hands. Penance became a mystery to them, as she did not speak, nor appear to understand any language. Placed in the infirmary, she was watched over as Banshee and Emma Frost attempted to find out who she was. However, M theorised that she had been a prisoner of Emplate, a parasitic mutant who fed upon other mutants who the group had recently encountered. They were at a blank on who she was as Emma, a telepath, could not properly read Penance's mind. They let her rest in the infirmary and left to see what the others were up to. Unknown to them, Penance awoke with one thought on her mind: survival. With this she tore apart her new "cell" and broke out of the Academy to be free at last.
Hearing the alarms of a breach, the team rushed to the infirmary and stared at the extensive damage she caused during her escape. The team split up to find her before she could cause anymore damage to the area or herself. Chamber strayed off alone, feeling that she was a kindred spirit, as they both knew the pain of being trapped in a horrible body. He knew that she would somehow find her way to him, so he sat in the woods and waited. After fighting her way past Banshee, Husk, Synch, Jubilee, and M, she finally ran into Chamber. He talked telepathically into her head, attempting to convince her that he knew how she felt being trapped. She was about to slash at his face, but his words calmed her down enough to realise what she was doing. When she was calmed down, she was led back to the Academy to start her time with Generation X.
During her stay at the Academy, she rarely stayed around the others. Her animalistic nature kept her away from the others as well as her hesitance to be captured again. All that she had been through and had now become had turned her into a timid, skittish wreck. Jubilee was especially friendly to her, often taking apples to her. During her time at the Academy, she had her good times and bad. Penance suffered a form of seizure while at the pool with Jubilee but soon recovered. She did eventually begin to trust her new friends and even went on a mission with them in Generation X #8. In a subsequent mission, presumably to cover up their relation, Uber-Villain Emplate referred to her as "Yvette," but her teammates believed it and grew wary of her.
After the twins told the team the truth about Monet and Penance, they felt horrible about impersonating their sister for so long. In order to "make things right", they decided to do something about it - they merged together again into their Monet form and then grabbed Penance's hand. Two forms appeared. One was the form of Penance, while the other was a shocked Monet St. Croix. The twins merged inside the Penance form which allowed for the real Monet to be released, while the twins became the ones trapped inside the Penance form.
Generation X continued to refer to the form, with the twins, as "Penance", while Monet later started a fight with Jubilee, feeling that she had treated her as an animal, or pet, while in the Penance form. The team continued their efforts to cure the new Penance, while Monet, feeling responsible for her sisters' condition, also tried to help privately.
Later, a mysterious explosion freed the twins from the Penance form, but the body itself remained. Whether someone else has become trapped within it or whether the body has a mind of its own now remains unrevealed. Finally, when the twins left for home, they took Penance, along with Artie Maddicks and Leech, with them. Penance has not been seen since.
Note: Penance I was Monet St. Croix, II was the M Twins. The Penance body first appeared in Generation X #1. It was only after all three St. Croix girls had left the body that it was discovered that it had a mind of its own.
[edit] The Loners
A preview in Wizard #181 shows that Penance will join the cast of the Runaways spin-off, The Loners.
[edit] Powers
The powers of the different hosts of the Penance form varied, but while in the Penance form all people had diamond-hard skin and extended razor-sharp tendrils on their fingers, toes, and hair follicles. Because of the density of the skin, she also enjoyed a highly reduced capacity for physical injury, as well as a mind that is mildly resistant to psychic intrusion.
[edit] Original plan
Scott Lobdell, the creator of M and Penance, never intended for there to be a "real" M - only the twins - or for Penance to be, in effect, a host body. His intention was that Penance was simply a wholly deaf (and mute) girl from the (former) Yugoslavia and apparently named "Yvette", whose skin had drawn tightly around her as a result of Emplate feeding upon her.
