Kitty Pryde

Kitty Pryde is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Sprite in X-Men v1 #139.

Katherine Pryde

One account claimed that she was actually one of the Neo who replaced the real Katherine Pryde. (X-Men: Declassified v1 #1)

She was leading the normal life of an extremely gifted thirteen-year-old girl in Deerfield, Illinois when she began suffering increasingly intense headaches. The headaches were a result of Kitty's mutant power emerging. Kitty possesses the ability to pass through solid matter. Nearing 14 years old, she was returning to her home in the suburb of Deerfield following dance class where she fought her parents meeting with Emma Frost. The Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club had learnt about Kitty and looked to invite her to the Massachusetts Academy. Later on, their home was visited by Professor Charles Xavier who was looking to enrol in the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #129)

Visiting a local malt shop with some of the X-Men, Kitty and Storm began what would evolve into a close friendship. Suddenly, three Hellfire Knights burst into the shop in an attack led by the White Queen. The X-Men were overcome and taken as prisoners. Unwilling to abandon Storm and the others, Kitty hid aboard the Hellfire Club's hovercraft and found the captive X-Men in the Frost International complex where the White Queen was holding them. Storm gave Kitty the X-Men's phone number and asked her to summon help. Phoenix, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler arrived in response of the message just in time to save her from Hellfire Club mercenaries. Phoenix comforted the frightened Kitty. Pryde then helped the X-Men in rescuing their captive colleagues. Afterwards, Kitty's father was furious at Xavier for the danger he believed he had placed his daughter in. Phoenix invasively used her mental powers to calm Carmen Pryde's rage. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #131)

X-Men

Ariel in Uncanny X-Men v1 #168.

A short time later, Kitty joined the X-Men. By that time, Phoenix had died, prompting Cyclops to leave the team. In the wake of these events, the X-Men were glad to have a fresh new face in the house. Taking the codename Sprite, Kitty quickly befriended Storm and developed a crush on the shy Colossus. Initially, Kitty was rather frightened of the gruff Wolverine and the demonic-looking Nightcrawler. Professor Xavier had arranged a surprise for Kitty on the day of her arrival. He had made an appointment for Kitty with a local dance teacher, Stevie Hunter and Kitty promptly started to take regular classes at her studio. Kitty loved dancing and was happy to continue her ballet training in Westchester, as it gave her the opportunity to be with kids her own age. (X-Men v1 #139) After several weeks of preparation, Kitty had her first Danger Room session. Despite the Professor's efforts to create a challenge for his newest X-Man, Sprite excelled at her test, moving through each obstacle untouched. Moments after completing this trial, Kitty suddenly fainted, as her psyche was exchanged with that of her grown-up self, Kate Pryde-Rasputin. Kate came from a future timeline referred to as the Days of Future Past, where mutants were hunted and killed by Sentinels and the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Kate and her fellow X-Men hoped that their future could be avoided if the X-Men of the present prevented the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly at the hands of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a key event of their timeline. With the help of the X-Men, Kate succeeded in saving Kelly’s life. However, her world did not benefit from this. Upon returning to the future, Kate discovered that it was the past of another timeline that she had altered and not her own. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #142) Back in her own body, young Kitty experienced a true trial by fire on Christmas Eve. The X-Men had left her alone on Christmas and gone to Deerfield to fetch Kitty’s parents for a surprise visit. While they were away, the mansion was attacked by a N’Garai demon. To make matters worse, Kitty’s phasing power didn’t work against the supernatural creature. Although she was frightened out of her mind, Kitty didn’t panic but instead used her brains to outwit the monster. She finally managed to kill it using the Blackbird’s afterburners. There was a high cost to this triumph - Kitty's battle with the demon had laid waste to half the mansion in the process. Nevertheless, the X-Men were proud of her. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #143)

Illyana Rasputin, Colossus' six-year-old sister, was kidnapped by Belasco and the X-Men followed to Limbo. While there, Kitty was harassed by an alternate version of Nightcrawler, and they rescued her. While returning to their dimension, Belasco grabbed Illyana and Kitty held her arm. Kitty lost her grip for a few seconds and reached back into the portal until she felt an arm and pulled out Illyana. Due to her captivity in Limbo, where she spent years while only mere moments elapsed on Earth, Illyana returned to them as a thirteen-year-old. Kitty and Illyana became very close and seemed to share a link, with Illyana even joining Kitty in Stevie's dance studio and becoming roommates. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #160)

Excalibur

With Pete Wisdom in Excalibur v1 #120.

While recovering on Muir Island, Kitty witnessed what seemed to be the X-Men sacrificing themselves on television, in Dallas, Texas. Kitty was later visited by Illyana, who was hysterically blaming Forge for her brother and the X-Men's death and asking Kitty to aid her in killing him. Illyana left furious after Kitty declined to help her. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #227)

After having the same continuous dream, Kitty and Nightcrawler summarized that Rachel might have been trying to telepathically reach them. After being attacked by Gatecrasher and the Technet, who were hired by Saturnyne to eliminate Phoenix, Kitty and Meggan Puceanu were captured. After arriving in London and being reunited with Rachel, the combined efforts of Kitty, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Meggan, and Captain Britain battled Technet and the Warwolves, during which Kitty was briefly defeated by Joyboy, who used his powers to make her corporal, but, due to a twist, Kitty also became huge and fat. Despite this brief setback, the five pulled free and this resulted in the defeat of both Technet and the Warwolves, who were sent by Mojo to bring Rachel back. At the urging of Rachel to continue Professor Xavier's dream, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler became founding members of the British-based team Excalibur. (Excalibur Special Edition v1 #1)

After rescuing hostages in a nightclub, Kitty created a Doppelganger Module to draw-out the remaining Warwolves, by impersonating Rachel. Kitty's plan worked better than she thought and she was captured by the Warwolves. After Kitty was skinned by a Warwolf, Phoenix felt her pain and held her consciousness together, while tracking her to the Warwolves' hide-out. Excalibur rescued Shadowcat, whose intangibility saved her life, and placed the Warwolves on display at the zoo. (Excalibur v1 #2) After battling the Juggernaut and a group of escaped prisoners, the team addressed Captain Britain's drinking problems while moving into their new headquarters, Captain Britain's Braddock Lighthouse. (Excalibur v1 #3) Not long after, the team followed a trail of counterfeit money that led them to a newly-constructed version of the deadly amusement park Murderwold where they battled and overcame the villanous troupe known as the Crazy Gang as well as Murderworld's architect, Arcade. (Excalibur v1 #5)

A short time after defeating Arcade, the events of Inferno caused the Excalibur team to travel from Britain to New York City where they battled demons. During these events, Kitty in particular was forced to fight her teammate Captain Britain when she and the Captain were transformed into various movie characters by their teammate Meggan, who had been brought under demonic influence and was taking on the persona of the "Goblin Princess". In the final movie transformation, the Soulsword which Kitty had used in the past manifested itself at Kitty's side again, and Kitty used it to break Captain Britain and Meggan free from their demonic enchantments. (Excalibur v1 #7)

Afterwards, a helicopter arrived on Muir Island where S.H.I.E.L.D. acting Commander G.W. Bridge wanted to recruit her aid to help repair the computer system of the Helicarrier. Pryde came to accept the offer where she looked to broaden her horizons. (Kitty Pryde: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1)

X-Treme X-Men

With Lockheed in X-Treme X-Men v1 #44.

Having left the super-hero life behind, she went back to Chicago and got herself a full scholarship at Robert Heinlein University, where she would be free to pursue her own destiny. (X-Treme X-Men 2001 v1 #1)

In Chicago, at the offices of Dr. Maureen Lyszinski, Kitty Pryde talked to her about traumatic events in her life. During this appointment Kitty is talking about William Stryker and the events that transpired when he tried to annihilate all of mutant-kind. Kitty tells the doctor that Stryker believed he was doing the will of God, in destroying mutants everywhere. Taking a sip of her coffee, the doctor tells Kitty that she should know that Stryker’s philosophy is wrong. Kitty tells the doctor that to many people believe that Stryker is a martyr and Charles Xavier set him up. Kitty tells the doctor that Stryker placed a gun to her head and, if it were not for a cop shooting him, Stryker would have killed her. The doctor looks at Kitty and asks if Stryker was dead to which she responded that she wished the man had never been born. The doctor comments on Kitty’s age of thirteen when she joined the X-Men and Kitty tells her that she could walk through walls. She tells the doctor that at home everyone thought she was a freak, but with the X-Men she felt normal. Kitty tells the doctor about Peter being her first love and how him and his sister fought Stryker and now both of them are dead. Kitty, near to tears, tells the doctor that she wants to kill all the people in the world that would do mutants harm. Kitty, holding to her sweater, tells the doctor that she killed once to save a friend and every day she tells herself that it was necessary and she had no choice. Tears running from her eyes, she tells the doctor that killing is easy and so is hate, but she wants to find another way. At Belles of Hell in Chicago, the bar that Kitty Pryde works at, she is telling her boss to have a good night, as she was left alone to care for the bar. On the television screen, Counselor Whedon, the founding member of the Mutants Right League, tries to defend the X-Men, saying that people are to quick to point the finger when they did not have the real evidence. Kitty tells the television that the latest craze was blaming Mutants. Picking up her cell phone Kitty calls one of her professors, but only gets Benes voicemail. Hearing a noise she turns around to tell the customer that they are closed for the night. Blasted from her feet by a sonic explosion, Kitty is unconscious and phased half into the bar. Lady Deathstrike stands above her and she tells Kitty that she was not there for a drink. Yuriko picked Kitty off of the ground and giving her to the recently freed William Stryker. (X-Treme X-Men v1 #25)

Astonishing X-Men

With Colossus in Astonishing X-Men v3 #6.

Cyclops wanted her on the team as she was well-liked and non-threatening, which fit his intention to return the team to its “super-hero” roots. However, Emma Frost later admitted that she had personally requested Kitty herself on the belief that Kitty would keep an eye on her. As anticipated given their history, Kitty immediately clashed with the team’s co-leader Emma Frost. This was only the beginning of a strained and antagonistic relationship between the two. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #2)

Living at the mansion also allowed Kitty to reconnect with Rachel Summers and the two roomed together for awhile. While overall the X-Men were jubilant at Colossus’ resurrection, for Rachel it was bittersweet. In addition to Colossus, Psylocke had also recently returned from the dead and Rachel could not help but wonder why this could happen for these two but not her own mom, Jean Grey. Kitty reacted badly to Rachel’s selfish reaction and the two friends had an uncharacteristic fight. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #460)

At first, Kitty was unsure about her relationship with Colossus, specifically if they would pick up where they had left off. After a few weeks of seeming distance, Colossus made it clear that he still had feelings for her. Emboldened by his words, that night Kitty went to his room and the two finally spent the night together. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #14)

S.W.O.R.D. managed to keep track of the giant bullet using a satellite which fell into the bullet's orbit. Because the bullet's design was to harden as time went on, it became increasingly difficult to break the bullet open. When some asteroid travelers wandered into the bullet's path it looked like the bullet was going to destroy the thousands of lifeforms on the asteroids, but the bullet phased through them - revealing Kitty to be alive. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #1)

Jean Grey School

After the Schism, Kitty came to side with Logan and joined him in restoring the school for Mutants. (X-Men: Regenesis v1 #1) She then accepted a position as headmistress of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #1)

All-New X-Men

Professor K in All-New X-Men v1 #6.

At the Jean Grey School, the X-Men came to learn that Cyclops had begun to operate openly as a Mutant revolutionary. He and his team of outlaws were striking at various locations around the world to rescue newly emerging Mutants. In response, the X-Men contemplated how to react with Kitty stating that Scott's actions was creating further negative views of Mutants and could lead to the federal government taking action. (All-New X-Men v1 #1) Any direct action against Cyclops was delayed though when the team found Beast not responding to their calls. Investigating his lab with Iceman, they later found Beast had engaged in time travel where he brought the younger versions of the original X-Men in an attempt to stop a Mutant genocide. Hank though then collapsed in pain and went into a coma where Kitty tried to stabilise him as they sought further medical attention. It was then determined that Beast believed that the only way to stop the current Cyclops was if his younger self could see his actions. Kitty was dealing with Hank whilst the younger X-Men were kept in a separate room. She then went to check on them but found that they had left and taken the Blackbird as they looked to confront Cyclops older self. (All-New X-Men v1 #2) Kitty and Bobby stayed by Hank's side where the former looked for help from other notable scientists. It was then that the time displaced original X-Men returned to the X-Mansion where the younger Beast went about saving his older self. (All-New X-Men v1 #4) Pryde stayed by the young Hank McCoy's side as he conducted his work to save the older Beast. Meanwhile, the younger Jean Grey was providing telepathic support by linking her mind to the comatose Beast. It was through this link that she witnessed her future including her death. The shock of it scared her with Kitty having to take Jean away to recover. Later on, the X-Men were greeted by a recovered Beast whose younger self had succeeded in the procedure that stabilized his mutation thus saving his life. It was then that the time displaced X-Men revealed that they had no intention of returning to their time as they wished to change their future. Unable to force them to return, Kitty decided to stay by their side and make sure they were alright as she deemed this was the best way to honor Professor X's legacy. (All-New X-Men v1 #5)

Kitty left Wolverine's X-Men team and the Jean Grey School after the Battle of the Atom, citing her companions lack of trust in her decisions during the event despite everything she'd given up for them. She took the time displaced X-Men with her, and together they joined Cyclops and his X-Men, at the New Charles Xavier School for Mutants. (X-Men: Battle of the Atom v1 #2)

Guardian of the Galaxy

One day, after taking down a Chitauri spaceship, the Guardians recovered a strange artifact. Since they didn't trust Earth to deal with unknown tech, Kitty suggested taking it to Spartax where Peter could help them identify what it was. After they arrived, they were attacked by a rogue Kree accuser called Hala who accused them of destroying the Kree empire and wanted revenge. (Guardians of the Galaxy v4 #1)

X-Men: Gold

Upon returning to Earth, she looked to resume a normal life as she settled back in Chicago. It was in this time that Storm approached Kitty about re-joining the X-Men as she was stepping down. By this point, Mutants were suffering from the recent conflict against the Inhumans with them moving the X-Mansion into Limbo. Leading the team, she decided to move the X-Mansion back to Earth where it now came to be situated in Central Park in New York City. (X-Men Prime v2 #1)

In the aftermath, Kitty came to head the X-Men as they came to face a new wave of anti-Mutant sentiment. Leading the team, they came to deal with Terrax but by this point the mayor's office looked to charge the X-Men for their habitation of the Xavier Outreach in Central Park. (X-Men: Gold v2 #1)

Dawn of X

The Red Queen Kate Pryde in Marauders v1 #22.

After the establishment of the Mutant nation of Krakoa, Homo Superior from around the world flocked to the island through its portals. However, Kitty was unable to pass and instead broke her nose during an attempt. She was then convinced by Emma Frost to lead a pirate crew that looked to deliver Krakoa medicines to sites around the world whilst smuggling captive Mutants out of countries. Thus, she formed a team of X-Men who operated with the support of the Hellfire Trading Company in helping Mutants around the world. Their first mission involved going to Russia to rescue captive Mutants held by the government. (Marauders v1 #1) Afterwards, Pryde was asked by Emma Frost to shut down Sebastian Shaw's rogue Hellfire operation that was diverting Krakoan pharmaceuticals for a profit. She was then given a new ship that they called the Marauder as well as a position within the Hellfire Trading Company as its Red Queen. (Marauders v1 #2)

Seeing Pryde as an obstacle to his complete control of the Hellfire Corporation, Shaw began plotting against Kate and her crew. After taking notice how Emma became overprotective of the newly crowned Red Queen, Shaw realized that for the same reason she can't travel through Krakoa's gates nor read or understand the Krakoan language until Emma implanted it in her brain, the X-Men's Resurrection Protocols also won't apply to her, which means Kate cannot be resurrected if she died. He orchestrated a distraction by paying off human supremacists Homines Verendi to stage an attack on his own son. Once Kate was defenseless, Shaw emerged from below deck and ensnared Lockheed with a net gun, making him a helpless hostage. He then released Krakoan seeds at her feet, which wrapped around her and prevented her from using her powers. He then dropped her and Lockheed into the sea. While Lockheed was able to survive, Kate sank helplessly, and once her head dropped under the surface, she had no air left and drowned instantly. (Marauders v1 #7)

Following the funeral, one final attempt was made to resurrect Kitty Pryde with the Five conducting the protocol but it was seemingly a failure once again. However, Emma Frost came to realise that the husk inside was viable but that it never broke out of its cocoon but rather needed help to phase out of it. Thus, all the previous attempts had failed because the husks did not phase out and simply drowned in their incubators. Upon emerging, Xavier uploaded her consciousness into the new body with Kate Pryde being reborn once more. (Marauders v1 #11)

In Madripoor, Pryde thanked the people who had taken care of Lockheed while she was gone, when she learned that the Verendi were trying to raze Lowtown in order to gentrify it. To prevent them from doing so, the Hellfire Trading Company outbid them in buying multiple properties to ensure the safety of the people, including the creation of a free hospital for the local community. Revolted with this affront, the Verendi unleashed the new Reavers, composed of people who had been maimed by mutants. In their attack, the Reavers successfully caused an international incident that led the Marauders to be banned from Madripoor.[126] With their protectors gone, the people of Lowtown were pillaged and had their houses destroyed by the Reavers. Captain Pryde swam through the sewers of Madripoor to plant a secret Krakoan Gateway and allow a small team of Morlocks to sneak into the city, fight the Reavers and free Madripoor. (Marauders v1 #19)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Kitty with Lockheed in X-Men: Gold v2 #30.

Her parents and loved ones tended to affectionately refer to her by the nickname of Kitten. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #129) After joining the X-Men, Charles Xavier initially considered giving her the code name Ariel but Kitty did not like the name. Storm suggested the code name of Sprite instead with Pryde loving the name and taking it for her own to protect her secret identity in the field. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #139) The time-displaced original X-Men came to refer to her as Professor K after she started to oversee their training. (All-New X-Men v1 #5) She started preferring people calling her Kate instead of Kitty. (Marauders v1 #1) When working for the Hellfire Trading Company, she was given the position of Red Queen in its hierarchy. (Marauders v1 #2)

Logan had said that he did not teach her martial arts so that she could kill people but rather to keep her alive. (Excalibur v1 #85)

Kitty never considered herself to be a superhero but saw the X-Men as having always thought of themselves as a place to train mutants and, occasionally, save the world from evil. (X-Treme X-Men v1 #25)

Her father was Carmen Pryde and her mother was Terri Pryde. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #129)

It was revealed that her childhood hamster was called Peter. (Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha v1 #1)

Powers and abilities

Though she considered herself a genius, she admitted that she could not understand Beast's scientific work. (All-New X-Men v1 #2)

As a Mutant, Kitty Pryde had the ability to phase through solid objects at will allowing her to pass through them. Initially, her powers only activated by instinct where she suffered headaches when they first awoke and the strain of their use caused her to fall unconscious for brief periods. Through concentration, she was able to actively use her ability allowing her to phase through walls and other objects at will without any adverse side effects. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #129)

Logan had trained her in several fighting styles such as Budo and a Jewish martial art used by Mossad who were the Israeli secret service. (Excalibur v1 #85)

The Silver Samurai came to be impressed at her swordfighting skills where he remarked that she may have been better than Wolverine. (X-Men: Kitty Pryde - Shadow & Flame v1 #4)

Notes

• Kitty Pryde was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where she made her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #129 (January, 1980).
• During an interview on X-Plain the X-Men, Claremeont revealed that he had always intended for the revelation that Kitty Pryde was bisexual with him considering Rachel Summers as a possible love interest but was not allowed to show this at the time due to censorship.

In other media

Television

• In Pryde of the X-Men, Kitty Pryde appeared in the setting of the animated one-shot pilot where she was voiced by actress Kath Soucie.
• In X-Men: Evolution, Kitty Pryde appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Maggie Blue O'Hara.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, Kitty Pryde appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Danielle Judovits.

Films

• In X-Men: The Last Stand, Kitty Pryde appeared in the setting of the live-action film where she was portrayed by actor Elliot Page.

Video games

• In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Kitty Pryde appeared as an NPC in the setting of the video game where she was voiced by actress Kim Mai Guest.

Appearances

• Uncanny X-Men v1: (1980)
• Kitty Pryde: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1:
• X-Men: Regenesis v1:
• Wolverine and the X-Men v1:
• All-New X-Men v1:
• Guardians of the Galaxy:
• Marauders v1:
• Marauders v2:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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