M (Marvel)
M is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix was a female human Mutant born as the second of four children of Cartier St. Croix and his wife. (Generation X v1 #46) She grew up with her older brother, Marius, and two younger twin sisters, Claudette and Nicole. It was noted that Monet became her father's favorite child. (Generation X v1 #40)
One day, Monet was out with her sisters and their father whilst her brother stayed home with their mother. Whilst away, Marius's mutation began to manifest causing him to feel a hunger to feed on the marrow of Mutants. One of the first people he ended up killing and consuming in this manner was his mother. The family later returned home and were horrified at what happened with Monet stating that she could never forgive Marius for what he did to their mother. (Generation X v1 #58)
She and her sisters were at their father's house in Monaco when they were visited by their elder brother. He had used his abilities to go to another dimension and attained great power where he intended for Monet to join him in ruling that realm. In his ambition, he wanted them to develop a power base through which they could return and conquer Earth. Monet though scoffed at this and simply mocked his now gruesome appearance causing him to lash out at her where he transmuted her body into becoming a red-skinned mute creature whose skin cut anything it touched. Thus, she became Penance with this being a punishment Emplate had placed on her. The M-Twins then arrived where they confronted their brother who had been banished from their household and asked who the red-skinned creature was but Marius simply said that Monet was gone forever. During that time, Claudette carved a symbol that sent Emplate to another dimension but he called Penance to him as only he could undo the transformation done to her and thus Monet was gone from the world. (Generation X v1 #40) In order to satisfy his hunger for genetic marrow, he would repeatedly feed on her. Despite not showing it, the experience would scar Monet deeply, leaving her suicidal years after being freed. (X-Factor v3 #13)
To hide their sisters disappearance, the M-Twins used their abilities to merge with one another where they appeared in this gestalt form as M. (Generation X v1 #40) There disguise was nearly perfect but there was an issue with the fact that Claudette suffered from autism with this trait sometimes manifesting in the merged M form. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #316)
Generation X
For the next few months, Monet remained in Emplate’s realm as his captive and sole sustenance. In regular intervals, he would enter her prison cell to suck down some of her bone marrow. Eventually, when Emplate engaged the newly-formed Generation X in battle, Penance was left unguarded. The aborigine mutant Gateway took the chance to free the captive girl. This saw him teleporting her to the front lawn of the Massachusetts Academy, the headquarters of Generation X. (Generation X v1 #1) Gateway’s reasons for doing so are quite obvious in retrospect; fearing their father’s reaction upon the discovery that his favorite daughter was missing, eight-year old Claudette and Nicole St. Croix had decided to merge together, becoming a 16 year old teenager looking exactly as Monet. Continuing Monet’s life in her stead, the twins had recently enrolled at the Massachusetts Academy and were part of Generation X under the codename M. Apparently, Gateway wanted to reunite the sisters. When found by Banshee and Emma Frost, the startled mentors of the new team, the unconscious Penance was taken to the school’s infirmary. There, she woke up later that night, disoriented and confused by the unfamiliar surroundings. With her razor-sharp claws, she trashed the equipment of the infirmary and ran off into the nearby woods, acting on pure instinct of survival. Generation X chased after her, but all attempts to calm down or detain the rampaging Penance proved futile. Fortunately, the disfigured Chamber was able to empathize with her freakish nature more than any of the others and got the girl to trust him and stop fighting them. (Generation X v1 #3)
While taking a bath in the school’s swimming pool together with Jubilee, Penance had a strange seizure that rendered her comatose. World renowned expert on mutant physiology Moira Mac Taggert was called and, while she did nit find the cause for Penance’s current situation, she came up with some interesting facts about her mutant power. She theorized that the girl did not actually have diamond-hard, razor-sharp skin, but that she had essentially contracted her skin around herself so tightly as to almost atrophy her muscles. Apparently, she was so afraid of the world around her that she had literally withdrawn inside herself. (Generation X Annual v1 #1995)
In the weeks that followed, Penance came to see herself as one of the team. She would join them in all their outdoor activities like a picnic and followed them into their classroom. At the same time, her facial skin seemed to soften a bit, proving Moira’s theory about the nature of her powers to be correct. (Generation X v1 #21)
Some time later, Generation X was attacked by Banshee’s cousin, Black Tom Cassidy, who kidnapped all of the students save Penance, about whom he apparently forgotten. Playing mindgames with Banshee, he ordered him to either kill Emma or lose the children. Tom was lying, though, as he had no intention of returning the children and had long sent them away. It did not make any difference for Penance, though. Seeing her teacher in distress, she cut Black Tom’s plant form in half, getting rid of him for the moment. (Generation X v1 #25)
After S.H.I.E.L.D. shut down Operation: Zero Tolerance, Penance and the two headmasters safely returned to the Massachusetts Academy, and the missing students too made their way home. In the meantime, though, an explosion had caused 'Monet' to split apart, revealing her to be the twins Nicole and Claudette. Apparently, Penance seemed to recognize them as she was rather protective of them. When the school was broken in by a pair of thieves, Penance stashed away the sleeping twins in a closet before scaring the burglars away. Later, she even provided her teammates with a clue to the thieves’ identity, pointing towards a picture of Bill and Hillary Clinton in a newspaper. As it later turned out, the burglars were indeed wearing Halloween masks in the images of the former US President and the First Lady. (Generation X v1 #33)
X-Factor
She was then approached by Val Cooper who informed Monet that her father had been kidnapped by terrorists who threatened to behead her unless she surrendered herself to them. (X-Factor v1 #200)
X-Men
Monet came to be recruited for a new team of X-Men that were being gathered by Magneto to hunt down the activities of Someday Enterprises who were taking Mutants away for an unknown goal. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #1)
Afterwards, she was brainwashed by Mentallo and forced to join his cult with the St. Croix family hiring Sabretooth along with his Weapon X Force team to recover her. They infiltrated the cult but Monet exposed them leading to a fight as she battled the super-powered team. This was until Lady Deathstrike injected her nanobots into M's body thus freeing her from Mentallo's psychic command where they prepared to attack the supervillain but he brought the mercenary Deadpool to his side to aid him. (Weapon X v3 #22)
House of X
After the establishment of Krakoa, the living island came to be declared a sovereign nation and a home land for all Mutants that were invited to reside on it. M was among those that answered and she came to be a citizen of the new country. (House of X v1 #3)
Afterwards, she was paired with Warren Worthington III to head the newly restored X-Corporation and its business activities on behalf of Krakoa. (X-Corp v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
As a result of her brothers punishment, she came to become a red-skinned being with sharp claws named Penance where she could not speak initially in this state. (Generation X v1 #40)
Monet came to identify herself as being a Muslim and was proud of her heritage. (X-Factor v1 #317)
It was said that Monet was the apple of her father's eyes. (Generation X v1 #40)
Her father was Carter St. Croix who resided at their home in Monaco. (X-Factor v1 #200) He was noted to had become part of Xavier's Mutant Underground and looked to help Mutants escape persecution. (Generation X v1 #58) Her mother was Jamila who Monet affectionately called "Maman" who always told her daughter that if she was ever afraid then she should recite Fatiha. (X-Men v4 #25) It was noted that her mother was a Muslim of Algerian descent. (X-Factor v1 #317)
Monet was said to be the only one did not treat her sisters like freaks. (Generation X v1 #40)
She came to see her brother as a vicious creature responsible for the death of her mother and one who did not deserve human compassion. (Generation X v1 #58)
Powers and abilities
It was said that Monet was as close to a perfect Mutant as was possible. (Uncanny X-Men v4 #5)
Though telepathic, she did admit that the likes of Emma Frost were more powerful than her and that she could not read their mind. (Generation X v1 #58)
As Penance, her body was transformed into a red-skinned humanoid where she had sharp claws for hands and her body was akin to a razor where it could anything it touched. Initially, she was trapped in this state due to her brothers actions. At the time, this meant that she was rendered mute as she was unable to speak in this form. (Generation X v1 #40)
Notes
- M was created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo where she made her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #316 (September, 1994).
- The original intention was there not to be an original Monet but rather the M-Twins merged form being that identity.
Alternate Versions
- In What If...? v1 #77 (1995), an alternate version of M appeared in the What If? reality that was designated as Earth-77995 in the Multiverse. Three months after the deaths of Professor X and Apocalypse, Monet arrived at the Xavier Institute to learn about her powers. She and the other new students were welcomed by Scott Summers, who said that even though Charles Xavier has died, seeing them, he knew that his dream lived.
- In Uncanny X-Men v1 #525 (2010), an alternate version of M appeared in the Days of Present Future reality that was designated as Earth-10076 in the Multiverse. She was there when Bastion and his armada of Nimrod Sentinels invaded Utopia and are successful in eliminating Hope Summers which results in many mutants along with M to be killed by the Sentinels.
- In Age of Apocalypse v1 #4 (2012), an alternate version of M named Lady Penance appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality designated as Earth-295 in the Multiverse. She was one of the many Mutants resurrected at the command of Weapon Omega in the time following Apocalypse's demise. The operation was interrupted by Prophet however who stopped most of the resurrections, with the exception of Monet's. After returning to life, Monet began rallying mutants to her cause which was to seek forgiveness for their past crimes and to rebuild their world. She was soon approached by the servants of Weapon Omega; Azazel, Prelate Summers and Colossus who asked her to meet Weapon Omega in order to discuss how she could service the citizens under him. Penance refused however and used her telepathic powers to restore Colossus' memories and break Weapon Omega's control over him which caused him to side with her. She attempted to do the same for Cyclops but failed and was blasted for her troubles. This led to a fight breaking out between Colossus and Cyclops. Azazel agreed to leave however and took Cyclops with him but promised to return with Weapon Omega. Penance was immediately approached by Prophet, the leader of the human resistance, who revealed that it was he who resurrected her in hope that she would aid them and that she would be more open minded than Weapon Omega. In return for this, he offered her Sugar Man which made Penance accept. Azazel returned with Weapon Omega who had come to see her kneel before him which she did. Just as Weapon Omega left, the Human Resistance arrived with Sugar Man. Penance promised to be in touch with Prophet. After Weapon Omega lost the Apocalypse power, she declared herself the new ruler over his former domain. She died in battle against the Exterminators.
In other media
Television
Films
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men v1: (1994)
- Generation X v1:
- X-Factor v1:
- X-Men v3:
- Uncanny X-Men:
- Generation X:
- Weapon X:
- House of X v1:
- X-Corp v1: (2021)
External Links
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