Wicked (comics)

Wicked is a fictional character created by Chris Claremont for Marvel Comics second installment of the series Excalibur. She is one of the few survivors of the island of Genosha which was decimated by the wild Sentinel attacks commissioned by Cassandra Nova.

Fictional character biography

Not much is known about Wicked. She is one of the few survivors of the attack on Genosha's capital Hammer Bay. Right before the attack she had a fight with her mother about what she was wearing (her attire is associated with the gothic subculture). Her mother shouts that she was wicked, right before their house was destroyed by the Sentinels. No one knows how she survived, but she is next seen following Charles Xavier as he treks his way through the island. She confronts Xavier, angered by his X-Men's failure to protect the mutants of Genosha. The two are confronted by Unus and a few of his men. With the assistances of Wicked's friend Freakshow the confrontation is stalled, especially when Freakshow swallows Unus. (Neither is physically harmed by the experience).

Freakshow and Wicked agree to be Xavier's students. They both come back after a gentle telepathic nudge encourages them to get a good sleep. Later on that day, Wicked saves Magneto, believed to be dead but in reality hiding on the island, from the blades of Callisto. Storm had sent Callisto to keep an eye on Xavier. When Callisto battles Wicked's spirits, it was discovered that when the ghosts were hurt Wicked feels the pain instead.

With these members and the later additions of Shola Inkosi and Karima Shapandar they formed a basic team with the mission of rebuilding the island of Genosha and finding survivors and refugees. They successfully find a gray skinned mutant named Broadband, gifted with the power to tap into all forms of electronic communications and project them to others, Book, a former librarian who is a vast repository of knowledge, and the unwilling ally Dark Beast.

Wicked, confronted by the ghosts of her angry parents. Art by Roy Allen Martinez

Around this time, Wicked and Freakshow also endure an attack/search and rescue mission by former Genoshan Magistrates (the ex-police force of the island). Callisto protects them during some of the battle. Everyone gets in on the battle and the two eventually subdue some of the attackers themselves.

Since the events of the House of M and the conclusion in Decimation it was seen that Wicked was among the depowered, as well as the rest of the Excalibur vol. 3 cast, in Son of M #5. Desperate to gain her powers back, she took a huff of the Terrigen Mists Quicksilver was offering and regained her powers. However, with her powers enhanced by the Mists, she was encountered by the spirits of her deceased parents, who condemned her, saying she had left them to die, and that she was a "nasty, selfish little tramp", until she made them go away. She was later taken to a hospital with the other refugees, and the effects of the Mists wore off, leaving her powerless once more.

Powers and abilities

Wicked has the ability to summon necroplasmic residue left behind by the death of living beings and manifest them as ghost-like entities to do her bidding, which is an overwhelming ability on an island where 16 million people died. Whether these are spirits of individuals or non-specific recombinations of spiritual remnants remains unclear. The psychic manifestations she summons are transparent and float about like traditional ghosts, as well as possess the ability to become tangible or intangible upon will. However, the downside of her powers is that she shares some type of empathic link with the apparitions, feeling their pain if they are wounded. Fortunately, she can incorporate others into the empathic link she shares with her apparitions to ease the pain or experience the same sensory input her ghosts are experiencing.

References

External links

• Uncannyxmen.net character bio on Wicked
• Wicked on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki