Stepford Cuckoos
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The Stepford Cuckoos are a group of fictional mutant psychically-linked quintuplets of the Marvel Comics universe, students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Known properly as Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe, and Sophie Cuckoo; their names, when placed in alphabetical order, also denote their respective ages-- with Celeste being the first "born" and Sophie being the youngest.
Originally calling themselves the Five-in-One, with the death of Esme and Sophie the remaining sisters are now known as the Three-in-One.
First appearing in New X-Men (volume 1) #118, they were created by Grant Morrison. Their origin, as the cloned "daughters" of Emma Frost, is revealed in X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong
Contents |
[edit] Characters' Histories
[edit] Introduction
Introduced as the protégés and favorites of Emma Frost, the Stepford Cuckoos, along with Quentin Quire, were noted as the strongest telepaths among the fourth-generation students at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. Although Quire and the Stepford Cuckoos were rivals, Quire had a crush on Sophie. Sophie and the other Cuckoos considered him to be disgusting and rejected him completely.
[edit] Death of Sophie
Partly as an expression of adolescent rebellion, partly under the influence of the drug Kick, and partly out of a desire to impress Sophie, Quire incited a riot at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Sophie died stopping Quire in New X-Men #137 (April 2003), having used the drug Kick to boost her powers. The Stepford Cuckoos held Frost to be partially responsible for Sophie's death and disassociated themselves from Frost at that time. With the death of Sophie, the Five-in-One became the Four-in-One.
[edit] Esme's Autonomy
Soon afterwards, Esme attempted to murder Frost, an attempt which failed. Esme fled the X-Mansion, and it was revealed that Esme had really been responsible for Sophie's death. Esme wanted to seize control of the Cuckoos, but had a hard time doing so because Sophie was the dominant personality and the strongest telepath. Therefore, Esme had concocted a plan to become dominant by using Kick to amplify her own powers and by manipulating Sophie into overextending her telepathic powers to the point of death. With the departure of Esme and her expulsion from the sisters' gestalt mind, the Four-in-One were now the Three-in-One.
Esme returned in the Planet X storyline, in which it was revealed that Esme had been working for Xorn (who had revealed himself as Magneto, though this would turn out to be another lie) the entire time, and that she had developed a crush on him. However, Esme turned on him and tried to destroy his mind in New X-Men #150 (February 2004) after he rejected her affections, for which Xorn killed her.
[edit] New X-Men: Academy X
Soon afterwards, the Institute was rebuilt, with Emma Frost and Scott Summers as headmasters and leaders of the X-Men. Frost and Summers divided the older students into several six-person training squads, each taught by a staff member. The remaining three Cuckoos, now calling themselves the Three-in-One, were assigned to the Corsairs squad, led by Frost's boyfriend Cyclops. The three girls were the co-leaders of the squad.
[edit] Phoenix: Endsong
In X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (March-June 2005), the Phoenix Force came back to earth seeking the body of Jean Grey. Kid Omega, still in love with Sophie, sensed the Phoenix and exhumed Sophie's body. Kid Omega sought the Phoenix, which resurrected Sophie, but she promptly chose to die again once she realized why Kid Omega had wanted to resurrect her. Following the return of the Phoenix to the White Hot Room, a shard of it in firefly form flew to one of the Cuckoos, who replied, "What took you so long?" It has not been revealed which Cuckoo the Phoenix made contact with.
[edit] Decimation
In the wake of House of M, in which the vast majority of the world's mutant population was depowered, the Cuckoos retained their powers. With few students left, the squad system was dissolved. Frost ordered the depowered students and staff to return to their homes; as several buses filled with depowered individuals left the Institute, anti-mutant religious zealot Reverend William Stryker bombed one bus, killing many depowered students.
Emma Frost placed the remaining students into an all-out brawl to determine who would be part of an in-training X-Men team. The Cuckoos, still resentful of Emma, refused to participate. Instead, they ran to Cyclops and informed him of Frost's plan, of which he was unaware. They still reside at the Xavier Institute.
[edit] Weapon Plus & Phoenix - Warsong
In New X-Men #154 (May 2004), Grant Morrison's last issue of New X-Men, the Stepford Cuckoos are identified as Weapon XIV (each girl being units 1 to 5, ordered alphabetically by their first names), the living weapon code between Weapon XIII (Fantomex) and Weapon XV (Ultimaton).
In an interview with Newsarama, Pak confirms that not only will the origin of the Stepford Cuckoos be revealed in Phoenix: Warsong; but that either or both of the deceased siblings may be involved in the consequences of the entire series, as opposed to just the Three-in-One. There is also a monologue by an unknown character or force linked to the Cuckoos who inquires "Why have they never asked why you're called Cuckoos?"; and then goes on to mention how a cuckoo "lays it's eggs in a songbird's nest", with the "stupid warbler" unaware of the situation until it's too late.
The first issue of Phoenix: Warsong indeed feature all five Cuckoo sisters, as both Sophie and Esme are recalled from the grave by the cosmic force at the episode's conclusion. The second issue reveals that they are only five of many cloned female telepaths. The third issue reveals that the sisters were grown from ova cells harvested from Emma Frost while she lay comatose after the Sentinel attack that killed her students, the original Hellions. The remaining hundreds (if not thousands) of Cuckoo sisters reside within incubation chambers inside a hidden underground laboratory at The World, the complex where the latest Weapon Plus living weapons: Huntsman, Fantomex and Ultimaton, were created. During the sisters' visit to "The World," they are greeted by a computer image of John Sublime.
[edit] Powers
The Cuckoos are a telepathic hive mind. Each powerful telepaths individually, their combined power is even greater than the sum of its parts. Though they most often function and act as one unit, they are indeed capable of thinking and operating individually.
When all five sisters were alive, Sophie was the dominant consciousness and often commanded the Cuckoos. However, as implied by Esme's actions, it is possible for another one of the Cuckoos to wrest control of the gestalt and perhaps even use the powers of all sisters without the consent and knowledge of the others. With the loss of Sophie and Esme, The Cuckoos are not as strong as they were with five.[1]
The power level of the Cuckoos, in all of their incarnations, have been reported by many of the staff at Xavier's School to be extremely impressive and strong; these staff members include: Professor X, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, and Henry McCoy.
[edit] Similarities between Emma and the Cuckoos
One of the more noticeable characteristics of the Cuckoos was their similarity to Emma Frost, which led them to be called "mini-Emmas" in the comics themselves. The Cuckoos also have a physical resemblance to Emma, though Emma's hair is not truly blonde.
Personality-wise, Esme shared the ruthless, dominating side of Frost, while Sophie displayed Frost's later heroic nature and ideals. They both sought individuality, as Emma had during her teenage years, especially before leaving her family.
X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong informs that the Stepford sisters are a result of John Sublime's theft of Emma Frost's egg-cells. According to the female units, John Sublime harvested her ova at some point after the original Hellions were killed. What is not revealed however, is what (if any) other genetic sources were combined with Emma's to create the Cuckoos-- as it is highly likely that they are her offspring, instead of her clones; which would explain the difference in hair phenotype between themselves and their "mother" (none of the Frost family members has nor had natural blond hair).
[edit] Boyfriends
Writers have continued to use a running joke about boyfriends of the Stepford Cuckoos. Thus far, whenever one of the Stepford Cuckoos has become involved in a romantic relationship, the other Stepford Cuckoos have usually expressed strong disapproval, perhaps out of jealousy. On the other hand, perhaps the disapproval is justified, considering that the Cuckoos have had an extremely poor track record when it comes to boyfriends:
- Esme's boyfriend Kato, seen in New X-Men #123 (April 2002), apparently a Japanese mutant, turned out to actually be the sponge-like Stuff, an "advance scout of the Shi'ar Superguardian Elite, assigned to lifeform sterilization procedure."
- Kid Omega had a crush on Sophie (which she did not return) and engaged in such actions for her sake as inciting a riot at the X-Mansion (indirectly causing her death) and resurrecting her (an action she promptly rejected).
- Germaine, Mindee's boyfriend who first appeared in New X-Men #155 (June 2004), died the very next issue, #156 (June 2004), defending her from an anti-mutant mob.
- When Xavier's Institute held a dance to celebrate the end of the school year, all three Cuckoos attended the dance with Julian Keller (Hellion). Julian is extremely arrogant, sometimes cruel, and, as one of the Hellions, is one of the antagonists of New Mutants and New X-Men: Academy X. Julian later left his dates to have a dance with Wind Dancer, whom he shares a mutual attraction. The triplets did not seem to care.
[edit] Alternate versions
- In the "Here Comes Tomorrow" timeline, 150 years from now, Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe are members of the X-Men and operators of Cerebra, having merged with the machine, and calling themselves Three-in-One. Their psychic powers have also been amplified, allowing them to see the future. They also appear to be in their early to mid-twenties, despite the long time that has passed. While not made explicit, a healing factor could be responsible for their youthful appearance.
- In House of M, the quintuplets were part of the New Mutant Leadership Program at the United Nations. From the five, Sophie appeared to be the one with the stronger personality. Sophie joined Prodigy, Surge and the rest of the New Mutants on their trip to Japan to find Seiji Ashida, while Celeste, Esme, Mindee, and Phoebe remained on New York, though they agreed to maintain the secret.
- In the alternate future depicted in X-Men: The End, Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe have each developed their own look and now call themselves the Spikes.
[edit] Trivia
- The first appearance of the Stepford Cuckoos was in New X-Men #118 (November 2001); however, they were not identified by name. They were first called the Stepford Cuckoos in New X-Men #123 (April 2002), which was also the first issue in which Esme was named. Sophie, Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee were named in New X-Men #134 (January 2003), New X-Men #149 (January 2004), New X-Men #153 (April 2004), and New X-Men #156 (June 2004), respectively.
- Originally, the first letter of each of the Cuckoo's names was supposed to spell out the word "spice" when put in proper sequence, Sophie, Phoebe, Celeste and Esme. However, Grant Morrison never mentioned the name of the fifth Cuckoo (the one whose name was supposed to start with "I") during his run on New X-Men, and it was only later on that this fifth Cuckoo was dubbed "Mindee" by writer Chuck Austen, who was unaware of Morrison's easter egg.
- In the New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook, their last name was confirmed as "Cuckoo" and their codename as the "Three-in-One".
- Like their mother Emma Frost, they are blonde-haired and blue-eyed, though their eyes glow white when they use their telepathic superpowers. It is worth noting that Emma is genetically a brunette, whereas her daughters are natural blondes.
- Their name is an allusion to the Stepford Wives and the Midwich Cuckoos. The Cuckoos and their abilities are roughly based on those of the "Paper-dolls", telepathic quadruplets from a 1964 novel by L. P. Davies.
- The matter as to which Cuckoo the Phoenix appeared to has been clarified in limited series entitled Phoenix: Warsong by Endsong writer Greg Pak. Warsong serves as a direct sequel to Phoenix Endsong. The Cuckoo was Celeste and she was also the one to be in love with someone, that someone being SHIELD agent Jake.
- Despite her betrayal, Emma has said that Esme is the Cuckoo who she is most proud of.
[edit] In other media
- The Stepford Cuckoos appear as antagonists in the video game X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. Like the comics, they once had Emma Frost as their mentor. When one of them died and another fled, the rest blamed Emma and joined forces with Apocalypse to get revenge on her. As a result, the remaining three appear as villains in the game. However, in the video game there were only four Cuckoos to begin with, not five (or hundreds for any case).
- Three identical blond girls were shown in the background in an Institute Scene in X-Men: The Last Stand. Writer Zak Penn confirmed in a chat that these were indeed the Stepford Cuckoos. [1]
[edit] References
- External Links
- Triplicity, a Stepford Cuckoos fansite
- Stepford Cuckoos Stepford Cuckoos on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
- Notes
- ^ X-men #142
