Storm (comics)
Categories: Black superheroes | Fictional thieves | Marvel Comics mutants | X-Men members | Fictional elementals
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- This article is about the X-Men character. For the British comic book character of the same name, see Storm (Don Lawrence).
Storm (Ororo Munroe) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a prominent member of the X-Men. She first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975).
Storm has the mutant power to control the weather, including lightning, rain, snow, and wind, which she primarily uses to make herself and others fly.
Having debuted at a time when memories of Star Trek's Lt. Uhura were still fresh, Storm's status as a black female with a similar name and Kenyan origins may not be coincidental. In any case, she may well be the first black, female superhero of any note and remains the most popular.
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Character history
Early life
Ororo's mother, N'Dare, was the princess of a tribe in Kenya and the descendant of a long line of Africans with white hair, blue eyes and a natural gift for sorcery, although Storm herself has not developed this talent. N'Dare fell in love with and married African American photojournalist David Munroe.
Ororo was born in Manhattan, New York City. When Ororo was six months old, she and her parents moved to Cairo, Egypt.
Five years later, a bomb destroyed their home and killed Ororo's parents; although the original version of this story stated that the bomb was dropped by a jet of the Israeli Air Force during the Suez Crisis of 1956, later stories have revised the bombing first to an event of the Six-Day War of 1967 and then to an unnamed military conflict. Ororo was trapped in the collapsed building alongside her dead mother, a traumatic experience that would ultimately leave her with a severe case of claustrophobia.
The orphan Ororo grew up on the streets and became a proficient thief under the tutelage of master thief Achmed el-Gibar. To this day she is an excellent pickpocket and lockpick.
One of her most notable victims was Charles Francis Xavier, the later Professor X. He used his mental powers to prevent her escape. He also recognized the child to have a unique mind that would require further examination. However Xavier was attacked mentally by Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King. The two men were preoccupied enough with their battle to allow the girl to escape. Both however would recall her later.
Shortly after her twelfth birthday, Ororo felt something drawing her to the south of Africa. She left Cairo by foot and started traveling. She soon attempted hitchhiking. However the first man who offered her a ride soon attempted to rape her. But the young thief had learned self protection from Achmed el-Gibar. She used her knife to protect herself and killed the man in self-defense. She was though horrified by her act and swore to never take another human life. Ororo would reconsider that oath in adult life.
Ororo continued her solitary treck for a year. She nearly died from dehydration while crossing the Sahara. Her journey brought about 2000 miles south of Cairo. During the journey new powers emerged within her. Ororo proved to be a mutant with the power to control the weather.
Those powers would prove useful in her first heroic battle. Ororo witnessed Andreas de Ruyter and men of the South African Army in the process of kidnapping a young boy, slightly older than her. Ororo saved the boy and learned his identity. He was Prince T’Challa of Wakanda. The South Africans would have used their hostage to blackmail his father T'Chaka, the Black Panther. The two youths continued their journey together and fell in love. However they soon had to part ways. Storm wanted to continue her journey of self-discovery. T’Challa felt bound by duty to return to Wakanda and train to succeed his father. T'Challa would grow to became the next Black Panther and join the Avengers. The two would remain friends in adult life.
Storm's journey next brought her to the Kenyan portion of Serengeti, the land of her ancestors. (Southern Serengeti is territory of Tanzania). There Ororo called out to the Goddess of her ancestors and was rewarded with a bright Vision of a woman resembling Storm in adult life. Storm would continue to swear by the Goddess but no name has ever been given to this deity. Current speculation is that this Goddess is Gaia who has made multiple appearances in the Marvel Universe as the ultimate maternal ancestor of its various gods (for example Thor).
Ororo came to use her powers to help the native tribes and their efforts in agriculture. She came to be worshipped by them as their "Goddess of life", possibly the same deity Ororo had contacted in her vision. However her powers came with a price. The weather Ororo controlled was also subconsiously affected by her emotional state. Ororo had to detach herself from stronger, violent emotions in order to prevent the fury of the elements to bring ruin to those close to her. Ororo spend years exploring her powers with the help of Ainet, a tribal elder who came to serve as the surrogate mother of the youthful goddess.
X-Men
Ororo reached her maturity while still in the role of a tribal goddess. There she was found by her old victim Charles Francis Xavier, who invited her to join his second team of X-Men. Their first mission involved rescuing the original X-Men from the mutant ecosystem inhabiting the Pacific island of Krakoa. Storm was able to combine her powers with those of Cyclops, Havok and Polaris and send the entire island to outer space.
Although Storm initially had trouble adjusting to Western culture, particularly the sort represented by her sometimes-vicious teammate Wolverine, Storm found a home and family among the X-Men. Moreover, she revealed herself to be a capable leader, and became leader of the X-Men when its longtime leader, Cyclops, married and left the group. When the then-young Shadowcat joined the X-men, Storm formed a very close, almost maternal bond with her.
Around this time, the X-Men spent a long time in space battling the Brood, an alien race. Spending so much time away from planet Earth severed the deep psychic connection Storm had with her home planet, prompting a period of much soul searching. Storm went through some profound personal changes because of this inner conflict, which resulted in her becoming more aggressive and violent. This led to her cutting her hair in a mohawk and wearing leather clothing - changes alienated her from Shadowcat for a time. Storm was influenced in this by a lover of Wolverine's, Yukio, who became one of her dearest friends; some fans believe the two were lovers, though given Marvel's homophobic policies of the time this possibility was never more than implied. She also fought Callisto for leadership of the Morlocks and won by stabbing Callisto in the heart. Callisto only managed to survive due to the healing powers of another Morlock. The two remained enemies for awhile, but eventually managed to make up and are now friends. Storm now trusts Callisto enough that she asked Callisto to look after Xavier while he was in Genosha.
Romance
Storm lost her powers for a while, though they were eventually restored. She also had an on-again, off-again romance with the mutant Forge. She first broke up with him when she discovered that the neutralizer gun used to erase her powers was created by him, though she later forgave him. Later, she was transformed into a child by Nanny and, being amnesiac, returned to thievery. During which she met Gambit. After regaining her memory, she brought him to the team and was restored to her adult state later in Genosha.
Forge once proposed to Storm, but got cold feet and backed out before she could accept, leaving her distraught and in tears.
Leader of the XSE
Storm later led a group of X-Men outside of the mansion in the search for Destiny's diaries, the Books of Truth. On this search, she enjoyed a brief flirtation with a younger man, Slipstream and was kidnapped by the intergalactic warlord Khan who wanted to make her his queen. Despite being badly injured (shot by Viper prior to being captured and having to fight off Khan's harem), she managed to defeat Khan with the aid of the X-Treme X-Men who came to rescue her. They brought her back to Earth where she spent time recovering with the aid of Wolverine.
Storm continued to lead the group even after Destiny's diaries were rendered inert because she did not approve of the way Xavier was running the mansion. The group returned after the mansion was destroyed by someone posing as Magneto, called Xorn, to help in the rebuilding process. Storm now remains there, where she heads the X-Treme Sanctions Executive, a special police task force of mutants policing mutants given worldwide authority.
Powers and abilities
Ororo is a mutant with the psionic ability to manipulate the weather within roughly a mile proximity of her person. With great concentration she could expand her ability over much greater areas, even a large portion of the coast of the continental United States. Along with concentration, hand gestures usually accompany thoughts, but are not neccesary. When controling weather elements her eyes illuminate a white color and aura. She can manifest any degree of wind, lightning, storms including lightning, all manner of precipitation, tornado-like cyclones, and small hurricanes. She is also immune to the elements and to the changes of air pressure that her powers cause. She has the ability to project, focus and aim force blasts of extreme electrical bolts from her hands or sky using her elemental powers. At times she has been able to use her ability to manipulate wind in a manner that resembles telekenesis, lifting massive objects and hurling them against opponents. This is frequently used to lift and propel herself through the air, giving her flight and levitation. She has even been known to stop projectiles such as bullets from hitting by using her ability to manipulate the wind. She is one of the most powerful members of the X-Men.
Aside from the abilities granted by her mutation, Ororo is highly intelligent and an able strategist and field commander of the X-Men. Although not a criminal, her days as a thief have given her mastery of skills normally used by professional thieves, such as stealth, breaking into heavilly fortified areas, and picking locks. She is also an excellent combatant in both armed and unarmed combat, having been instructed by Wolverine.
Ultimate Storm
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Storm has been re-imagined as an illegal immigrant from North Africa who settled in Harlem. She made a living stealing cars before joining the X-Men. She was much more belligerent and angry than her inscrutable mainstream version and was the long-time girlfriend of Beast. Though, after his death, Storm enjoyed some flirtation and a single kiss with another teammate, Wolverine.
Other Media
Storm, originally voiced by Iona Morris in Season 1 and then Alison Sealy-Smith for all subsequent seasons, was featured in the X-Men animated series of the mid-1990s and guest starred on a few episodes of the Spider-Man animated series.
In the animated series X-Men: Evolution, Storm was portrayed as a teacher at Professor X's Xavier Institute, and was voiced by Kristen Williamson. Storm is an American who was orphaned in Cairo after her parents were killed during an earthquake. Abandoned by fate, she wandered around the Middle East, surviving as a child-thief until her powers manifested themselves, until the day that Professor X discovered her serving as a goddess for an African tribe who believed her to be an Elemental Spirit. Professor X returned her to the States, where she learned to fully manifest her powers and help train other mutants like herself. Storm's powers tie her to all things natural; she has empathy/affinity for the Earth and all things natural. Her room is filled with plants, which she waters by using her powers to make it rain indoors. Because allowing her powers to run free could cause untold damage, Storm must keep her emotions in check. She is therefore outwardly serene. If she were to lose control of her emotions, all manner of weather-related catastrophes could happen. One of the few things that can make Storm lose her cool is her claustrophobia. The earthquake that left her an orphan also left her buried under rubble for days -- at the tender age of four! She was left with numbing claustrophobia. She is the aunt of the X-Man, Evan Daniels (Spyke).
Storm also guest starred in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 90's in Parts 2 and 3 of the Secret Wars arc. Storm was voiced by Iona Morris, her original voice actress from the 90's animated series. She was again cast as Storm in the Spider-Man Animated Series as it is recorded in Los Angeles (where Iona Morris is now based) whearas the X-Men animated series was recorded in Canada and it would have proved to costly to get the Canadian voice actress back.
Along with Doctor Doom, The Hulk, Kingpin, and Spiderman, Storm also has a ride in Marvel Super Hero Island of Universal Studios. A common teacup ride found in most themeparks with theming, "Storm Force Acceleration" also includes strobe lights which can be seen if ridden after dark.She is the first superheroine to have a ride named after her on Marvel Super Hero Island or anyone else for that case.
She is played by Halle Berry in the movies X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and X-Men 3 (2006). Despite a high-profile actress like Berry in the role, in the first two movies, Storm received little screen time and took a backseat to characters such as Wolverine and Jean Grey. Due to her little screen time though, Halle Berry complained and as a result the role was enhanced for her in X-Men 3. The third installment is set to be released on May 26, 2006.
Storm also has notably appeared in most of the X-Men video games that have been released on various consoles. The most noticeable ones are Marvel vs. Capcom series, X-Men Legends for various game systems, and the X-Men Mutant Academy games for the Sony PlayStation.