Masque (comics)
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- For the comic book character Masque who was briefly a member of the Avengers, see Madame Masque.
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Masque is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Masque first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #169. Masque was originally a prominent member of the sewer-dwelling community of mutant outcasts called the Morlocks, lead by Callisto.
[edit] History
Masque was one of the few Morlocks to escape the Marauders in the Mutant Massacre, and after the slaughter of most of her brethren, Callisto traveled to Moira McTaggart's hospital on Muir Island, to remain with the few surviving Morlocks. When Callisto returned to New York to seal off the tunnels of the X-Mansion connecting to the Morlock tunnels, she was kidnapped by new Morlocks, now under Masque's leadership. Masque gave Callisto a pretty new face of a top supermodel, which inadvertently lured Colossus (who had just resurfaced with amnesia, after having travelled through the Siege Perilous), into the clutches of Masque's Morlocks after he fell in love with her.
Masque teamed the Morlocks with Toad's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but in one of their first battles against X-Force, led by Nathan Summers, Masque was apparently killed by Shatterstar.
Recently, Masque returned, with the ability to manipulate her own flesh, as a beautiful woman (resembling Marylin Monroe). Masque ruled an underground cadre of mutant gladiators that fought for fame and the right to control defeated fellow warriors in combat. Here, she used her powers to manipulate Callisto, giving her octopus like arms, and Storm into becoming the greatest gladiator. Callisto and Storm eventually rebelled and defeated Masque yet again. It is unknown if Masque retained her mutant powers after the M-Day.
[edit] Powers
Masque possesses the ability to change the physical appearance of any other person by touch, and originally couldn't use it to alter her own hideous appearance. This caused her to often manipulate others' bodies to make them as disfigured as her own. When the Morlocks formed, Masque was used to make several members ugly, thus making them outcasts from the human world, ensuring their loyalty.
[edit] Masque's gender
The way Masque was drawn and portrayed in issues of Uncanny X-Men from the late 1980s and early 1990s might lead one to the conclusion that Masque is male. In 1990, Warlock also asked the following question in New Mutants #91:
(Warlock himself is a member of a genderless species.)
On top of the quote, it can be assumed from The Arena arc in X-Treme X-Men that Masque prefers to shift appearances, taking on the likeness of others (men and women) from photographs.
