Moondragon
| Moondragon | |
|---|---|
| File:Moondragon.PNG Moondragon, in art by Andrea DiVito | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Man vol. 1 #54 (January 1973) |
| Created by | Bill Everett Mike Friedrich George Tuska |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Heather Douglas |
| Team affiliations | Infinity Watch, Defenders, Avengers |
| Abilities | telekinesis, telepathy, and martial arts |
Moondragon is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. A powerful telekinetic, telepath, and martial artist, Moondragon's most notable characteristics are her shaved head and her arrogance. She first appeared in Iron Man vol. 1 #54 (January, 1973). The issue was scripted by Bill Everett and Mike Friedrich and drawn by Everett and George Tuska.
Biography
Origin
Her real name is Heather Douglas, the daughter of Arthur Douglas, whose reanimated corpse was made into Drax the Destroyer. When Heather was still a girl, her father was driving her and her mother through the desert when they accidentally happened to see the spaceship of Thanos land; the space villain didn't want any witnesses so he blew their car up. Heather was thrown clear off and survived, but her parents were killed. She was found by Thanos' father, Mentor, who took her to his home world, Titan, to be raised. While there, Heather studied the Titans' ways and gained her mental and physical powers. However, she came under the influence of a powerful entity called The Dragon of the Moon; she believed she had resisted it, which filled her with pride, and she took the name Moondragon as a result.
Career
Allied against Thanos and Korvac
She first returned to Earth under the guise of "Madam McEvil" for the purpose of developing means to combat Thanos; this led to the creations of some villains, like Angar the Screamer. She then revealed her true identity and helped the Avengers in their first confrontation with Thanos. She met the heroine Hellcat and took her to Titan so she could train her.
Moondragon was one of the three candidates to be the "Celestial Madonna" who was prophesied to give birth to a universal savior, but she lost to Mantis.
Moondragon was present when the Avengers confronted Korvac; her powers allowed her to see into his mind while they fought, and she decided that his goal of saving the universe by ruling it was noble; she stayed out of the battle until Korvac, dejected, committed suicide.
Paths of corruption and redemption
Moondragon left Earth with her father (who was now Drax) and found a planet immersed in war, so she decided to take mental control of all its inhabitants to force them to live in peace. This caused her to believe herself to be like a goddess. When Drax confronted her, she killed him with her mental powers. The Avengers intervened, and Thor took her before a real god- his father, Odin, to be judged. Odin perceived within Moondragon a stalwart but tainted spirit. He condemned her to wear a magical headband that would reduce her mental powers until she had overcome her arrogance. He also assigned The Valkyrie to be her guardian.
When Valkyrie rejoined the Defenders, Moondragon was forced to come along. She soon discovered that the Dragon of the Moon had been influencing her all along. She managed to reject it fully, and for the first time, started to gain friends in the team; eventually the headband came loose by itself. Unfortunately, soon after she was infected with mutated spores and started to die; the Dragon appeared again and told her it could save her life, but only if she agreed to be its host. She accepted, and, now an evil being, battled the Defenders, until four of them sacrificed themselves to kill both her and the Dragon.
Heather's soul managed to survive, and, now free from the Dragon again, contacted a cousin of hers; through her, she was able to obtain a new body for herself, a clone created on Titan. For a while, she and her cousin, who became the heroine Sundragon, adventured together in space.
Cosmic cohort
After Quasar was appointed Protector of the Universe, Moondragon insinuated herself into his life. She was convinced that in time Quasar would realize they were eminently qualified to be the universe's most cosmic coupling. Quasar, however, asserted that qualifications have nothing to do with feelings and rebuffed her. She eventually got the message and lost interest in him.
When Adam Warlock sought people to help him safeguard the Infinity Gems, he chose Moondragon to keep the Mind Gem- but only after erecting safeguards so Moondragon could not exploit the gem's full power. Still, she agreed to join his team, the Infinity Watch. She eventually lost the gem when it was stolen by Rune.
Moondragon later became an associate of Genis (the third Captain Marvel), determined to help him control his cosmic awareness. During this time, she fell in love with Marlo Chandler, the wife of Rick Jones (whom Captain Marvel was bonded to). The two eloped on a lesbian relationship (rare for a mainstream comicbook, especially with two established characters) to the reluctant understanding of Rick. Some time later, Marlo got over her feelings for Moondragon, and decided to return to Rick. Moondragon told her she must have accidentally prodded her telepathically into the relationship, but this was a lie to make the break-up easier. In truth Moondragon was heartbroken; she left shortly after with Phyla-Vell.
Moondragon appears next in the 2006 Annihilation miniseries.
Powers
Moondragon has considerable psionic powers, including telepathy, which enables her to read minds and communicate mentally with others. She has been known to control minds, fire bolts of psionic energy that can stun an opponent (or even render them brain dead), and induce mental illusions in other people. She also has the psychic ability of telekinesis, an ability that lets her move, lift, and manipulate most forms of physical matter using only her thoughts, levitate herself upwards into the air and fly, create shields and barriers of pure psychic force, and fire blasts of concussive psychokinetic energy.
Moondragon is also a highly skilled martial artist and has been taught by the monks of Titan to have complete control over her body functions such as breathing. She also is highly knowledgeable in various scientific disciplines such as biology and genetics.
Ultimate Moon Dragon
In the first issue of the Ultimate Extinction arc, a bald woman with a dragon tattoo and considerable martial arts prowess is shown attacking Misty Knight. When entered into a computer database, the woman is identified as Heather Douglas, who has been dead for decades. Template:Spoiler This woman is revealed to be a clone of the original Heather Douglas. There are in fact hundreds of these clones (as well as male equivalent, bald clones of an unamed man). These clones were created by a cult that worships Gah Lak Tus (the Ultimate version of Galactus). They try to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. and face the Ultimates and the X-Men while other heroes attempt to deal with the threat of Gah Lak Tus.