M (comics)
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- This article is about the Marvel Comics superheroine. For the Norwegian comic strip, see M (comic strip).
M (Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix) is a fictional comic book superheroine, 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.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Early life
Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia to a rich and eccentric father, Ambassador Cartier St. Croix from Monaco and his Algerian wife. Monet was a spoiled child since Cartier favored the over-achieving Monet over her brother, Marius, and younger twin sisters, Nicole and Claudette. Being spoiled, Monet was, naturally, arrogant and pompous, which led to resentment from her brother Marius. One day Monet, father along with her sisters and herself, left their home for unknown reasons. When they returned they found Mrs. St. Croix dead. Cartier was enraged that Marius knew nothing of what happened and kicked him out of the house. The family then lost all contact with Marius and soon her father grew to regret his decision.
Marius however soon returned one day, after apparently returning from another dimension with an altered appearance. He asked Monet to join him on his quest to conquer the world. Monet, having no desire at all to rule the world, declined his "offer", in fact, true to form she went a little too far, and teased him about his appearance. Finally having enough of his sister's ridicule, Marius transformed her, apparently through magical means, into a red-skinned, untouchable, mute creature, unable to use her own mutant powers. This was her punishment for her cynical 'holier-than-thou' attitude which she has had throughout their childhood.
Immediately after Monet's transformation into Penance, the twins - Nicole and Claudette - walked in on Marius and the red creature, who unknown to them was actually their sister. Angry that Marius returned home despite their father's protest, the twins used their powers to banish him to another dimension. As Marius was being transported there, he told Monet to come with him, as he was the only one capable of reverting her to her original state. Monet thinking she had no other choice agreed, and went with Marius to this other dimension. However, Marius lied and Monet was never reverted back to her original form. Instead, Marius, now calling himself Emplate, used his own sister as his 'meal', feasting on her genetic marrow for energy.
Back at the St. Croix home, the twins were left confused as to who the red creature was with their brother. They did, however, know that Monet had mysteriously gone missing. Afraid their father would break down, and the household would fall apart, the twin sisters merged bodies and replicated Monet. Everything about the twins' version of Monet was like the original, including her physical body, personality, and powers. Everything would have been perfect, if it weren't for Claudette's autism. Since both the twins' personalities were combined, Claudette's autism would sometimes take effect, leaving "Monet" in catatonic stupors.
When Cartier returned home he found the twins gone and Monet unconscious. Cartier grew concerned about his daughter's constant "black-outs" which started occurring after the twins went missing, he enrolled 'Monet' in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
[edit] Phalanx Covenant/Generation X
The twins under their new Guise as Monet battled the Phalanx and joined Generation X.
While the Monet-twins happily studied at the Academy, the true Monet was suffering as Emplate's main sustenance. In fact, Marius fed off of Penance so much that he permanently gained her physical attributes - 'spiky' hair and claws. Penance ended up suffering at the hands of Emplate for several years before Gateway rescued her, and brought her to Generation X .Unable to communicate, the physically deprived and drained Penance was a complete mystery to Generation X, Penance upon regaining consciousness was just as riddled by her surroundings.
Months after the arrival of Penance, Emplate returned to the Academy to reclaim his 'meal'. Extremely angry that he had been deprived of his main sustenance, he and his newly formed Hellions stormed Generation X. While there, he revealed to Generation X that 'Monet' was really his sister. Unfortunately for Emplate, Generation X, with the help of Bishop, defeated him and saved Penance.
[edit] M/Penance/M-Twins
Later on, it was finally revealed that 'Monet' was truly Nicole and Claudette in disguise. While in a battle with the Prime Sentinels, 'Monet' was blasted by one, and buried under a pile of debris. When teammate Synch cleared off the rocks, he did not find *one* M, but two! However, despite their cover being blown, the twins still did not explain why they masqueraded as Monet in the first place.
It would be soon after the twins' revelation that Emplate came back to terrorize the young mutants. During the battle, the twins merged with Emplate, creating a new persona, called "M-Plate". When the three of them separated, they knew each others' secrets, including what really happened to the true Monet St. Croix. The twins kept the secret for a short time, though Synch eventually found out when he accidentally synched with the twins' telepathy and found out their secrets. Everett managed to convince Nicole to finally reveal the truth to the rest of the team.
Immediately after Nicole revealed to Generation X who Penance really was, the twin sisters merged back together to form "M". Using their combined powers, the twins somehow switched bodies with Penance, leaving the twins in the Penance body, but allowing Monet to go free. (Generation X #40) Returning to normal the traumatized M overcompensated for her vulnerabilities by projecting an arrogant, self-reliant and outwardly harsh and defensive, condescending attitude, for which she quickly clashed with many of her Generation X classmates. The only person she let see her vulnerabilities was Everett Thomas, Synch, with whom she occasionally flirted with.
A rivalry started with her teammate Jubilee, who often stated that Monet's power was simply "being perfect". Jubilee eventually became even more jealous of her when Monet and Everett started spending more time together. When Emplate returned during the school dance Jubilee caused an explosion which, once again, separated the twins from each other, and left the Penance body to become its own being.
[edit] Leaving the Academy
Cartier St. Croix upon hearing the return of the twins decided to visit his three daughters. When he arrived he came face to face for the first time in years with his son Marius who was severely injured. He tried to make amends with all his children for having neglected them for so long. When he apologized to Marius, his son finally revealed his darkest secret. He was the one who killed his mother, further infuriating Monet.
Cartier‘s way of showing he cared was to transfer his daughters away from the academy. Apparently, Monet had been telling her father how she hated being in the Massachusetts Academy, so he transferred her to another exclusive boarding school in the Swiss Alps. Monet seemed to be adapting fine to her new school, but she soon found out that the headmaster was really a vampire, who was responsible for a number of deaths in the school. Monet quickly defeated him, and the school was burned down. After that, M had a choice to go to any school she wanted, but she chose to return to the Massachusetts Academy.
[edit] Final days of Generation X
When Monet returned, she and Everett continued to grow close and they began to intensify their relationship. Following the reopening of the school to normal children and the appointment of Emma Frost’s sister Adrienne as a new headmistress, her life and those of her teammates went through hell. The school was outed as having mutants and Adrienne planted bombs all over the school to get vengence on her sister. M and the other students tried their best to deal with the situation but it was all for naught. In a final show of heroism, Everett Thomas sacrificed his life to save his teammates. He was subsequently killed by a bomb that was strategically placed by Adrienne.
Devastated after his death, Monet seemed to lose focus and was clearly the most distraught over his passing. 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. After they found out Emma had killed her sister in retribution for Ev's death, 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 school was promptly closed when the students decided their instructors were unfit to teach them.
[edit] X-Corps/X-Corporation
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.
[edit] X-Factor Investigations
Following the events of House of M and the shutdown of X-Corporation, M, who also has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair (X-Factor vol. 3 #9), has opted to join X-Factor Investigations, a private detective agency run by Multiple Man. After one mission involving a very emotionally distraught woman, Monet broke down crying in Jamie Madrox's arms. Monet threatened to break Madrox in half if he ever revealed her moment of "weakness". A comment made to Rictor seems to imply she no longer wishes to go by the name M. However, in a therapy session with Doc Samson, Monet stated that she hides behind the "M" persona so that others will not see how vulnerable she has become after the lengthy time she was held captive by her brother.
Monet also had a brief romantic fling with Madrox, however this did not end well because Madrox was not sure if he or a duplicate had slept with Monet. Monet has also improved a bad situation with fellow member Siryn, by suggesting a jet-setting shopping trip, which Siryn accepted. During this Paris trip, the two encountered a small anti-mutant mob marching on Paris' own Mutant Town, and were arrested by the Gendarmes for breaking the riot up. Instead of fighting the police off and saving the ex-mutants, they surrendered, not wishing to create a 'mutant-terrorises-innocent-people' story. However, in a French prison, the mob leader bragged to Siryn and Monet that he and his mob had succeeded in burning down the building, which was why he had been arrested. An emotionless M tore off the bar from her cell, and threw it at the man, injuring him. When asked what she had done by Siryn, she coldly replied 'I made a political statement.' Soon after Monet crucified the mob leader before she and Siryn broke out of the prison to check on the ex-mutants. When the two arrived they found an abandoned girl whom Monet decided to take back to the States.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
Known Powers: M is superhuman in essentially all aspects.
- Superhuman Strength
- Invulnerability: Highly resistant to injuries.
- 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.
- Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: her speed and reflexes are greatly enhanced, far more than a peak human.
- Flight: ability to psionically levitate and move herself in the air by force of will.
- Telepathy: ability to read minds, project her thoughts into the minds of others, and defensively mask her mind against telepathic intrusion. Limited offensive capabilities, e.g. mind control, memory wipe, etc.
- Sibling-Merge: Monet and all her siblings are able to merge into different combinations with different powers, although it seems easiest for the twins Nicolette and Claudette.
Known Abilities: M is formidable in hand-to-hand combat and her intelligence is beyond genius level.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
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. Strangley 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.
[edit] X-Men: The End
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.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Movies
In the widely panned Generation X TV movie, she was played by Amarilis Savón. The movie version displayed no psionic powers, and when describing her abilities mentioned only physical powers.
[edit] Trivia
- A comment made to Rictor in X-Factor vol. 3, 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 is a citizen of Algeria, Bosnia, and France with passports from all three.
- Scott Lobdell, the creator of M and Penance, never intended for there to be a "real" M - only the twins.
- In an early issue of Generation X, Bishop becomes disoriented and mistakes M for his mother. It has also been indicated that the Australian aboriginal mutant Gateway is his great-grandfather.[citation needed] Interestingly, Gateway was M's or more specifically her sisters mentor prior to their joining Generation X. The matter of M being Bishop's mother is still speculation or if in fact one of M's sisters who at the time where impersonating her are his mother, as it has yet to be confirmed.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
- Monet Uncannyxmen.net Character Bio
- Mutatis Mutandis Bio
- KMC Monet respect thread
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Black superheroes | Fictional models | Fictional Monegasques | Marvel Comics mutants | Fictional telepaths | Marvel Comics characters who can fly | Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds | Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength | Fictional French people | Fictional Bosnians | Fictional Algerians
