Fatale is a
supervillain appearing in
American comic books published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. The character appears in usually those comics featuring the
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...
family of characters. She is an assassin who usually works for
Dark Beast.
Publication history
Created by writer
John Francis Moore and artist
Jeff Matsuda
Jeff Matsuda (born 1970) is an American animator and concept and comics artist who served as the chief character designer for both '' Jackie Chan Adventures'' and ''The Batman'' and is the president and creative director of X-Ray Kid Studios. Mats ...
, she first appeared in ''
X-Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
'' #112 (July 1995), though in ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...
'' #49 it was revealed that Pamela Greenwood, a waitress who had appeared two years before in ''The
Uncanny X-Men
''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X- ...
'' #299 (and who was created by
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous ''X-Men'' series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Tita ...
and
Brandon Peterson
Brandon Peterson is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on Marvel Comics from Paterson New Jersey and Top Cow's '' Codename: Strykeforce'' in the 1990s.
Career
Peterson's early works for Marvel include a ''New Warriors'' ...
), was in fact Fatale in disguise.
Fictional character biography
Little is known about Fatale's youth. She is one of Europe's finest assassins and the
Dark Beast's most trusted servant. When Dark Beast becomes interested in the
X-Man
Nathaniel Grey (X-Man) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Steve Skroce, the character first appeared in ''X-Man'' ...
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
, he places Fatale undercover as a waitress named ''Amy Johnson'' in Harry's Hideaway, a bar the X-Men often visit to gather information for him. There she is able to scan Bishop's mind to find information about his ideal woman and changes her appearance to match this image. She takes the name ''Pamela Greenwood'', but fails to get any closer to Bishop. He notices something familiar about Pamela, but never pursues his interest in her.
After his visit to the
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics ...
, Bishop begins having nightmares. He suspects that the character Pamela Greenwood is somehow connected and goes to her apartment to question her. Pamela reveals herself as Fatale and fights Bishop. However, Dark Beast, monitoring the fight, calls her off when
Beast enters the fight. Seeing a new opportunity to infiltrate the X-Men, Dark Beast kidnaps Beast and takes his place.
Several months later in the story,
Havok is losing control of his powers. Both Dark Beast and Sugarman order their respective agents Fatale and Scarlett McKenzie to kidnap Havok so that they can brainwash him. Scarlett is able to trick a dazed and confused Havok into coming with her as far as Tokyo, Japan, en route to
Genosha
Genosha ( or ) is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as "Earth 616" in the Marvel Universe and a prominent place in the X-M ...
, but they are intercepted by Fatale, who has hired the Tatsu clan's ninjas for their help in her mission. Havok is rescued by long-time X-ally Yukio and is reclaimed by X-Factor, who had followed the parties involved to Japan, driving off Fatale and Scarlett after a massive battle.
Fatale later helps Dark Beast mask Havok's abduction by
Random
In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual ra ...
, by penning a letter to Polaris. They disguise it as a letter from Havok, who has supposedly taken an extended leave of absence from the time and their relationship to try to cope with his problems on his own.
When
Onslaught
Onslaught may refer to:
Characters
* Onslaught (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics supervillain
* Onslaught (DC Comics), a DC Comics team of Quraci terrorists
* Onslaught (Transformers), the leader of the Combaticons in the ''Transformers'' series
...
attacks the X-Men, Dark Beast reveals himself and offers his services to Onslaught. Dark Beast, Random, Fatale, and a brainwashed Havok form the Dark Descendants and fight X-Factor, but are defeated. Havok and Random escape, but Dark Beast and Fatale are sent to prison.
Havok decides that Dark Beast's experiments might still be going on, and he allies himself with the telepath/teleporter Ever and forms a new incarnation of the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sometimes referred to as BoEM or B.O.E.M) is a fictional team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devoted ...
, simply called The Brotherhood. Havok frees Fatale and Dark Beast from prison, telling them that he chose Fatale over Ever and that he wants both of them to join his Brotherhood. Both agreed but Havok disbands the group several weeks later when he discovers Dark Beast's hidden lab. Fatale sides with Dark Beast, but is defeated by Havok.
Fatale is de-powered during the "
Decimation" storyline. She later resurfaces in the 2007 "X-Cell" storyline in ''X-Factor'' vol. 3, alongside fellow former mutant
Blob
Blob may refer to:
Science Computing
* Binary blob, in open source software, a non-free object file loaded into the kernel
* Binary large object (BLOB), in computer database systems
* A storage mechanism in the cloud computing platform M ...
as part of the terrorist group X-Cell. After Blob attempts to steal food from
Multiple Man
James Arthur Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Len Wein, he first appeared in '' Giant-Size Fantastic Four'' #4 (February 1975).
...
and
Rictor
Rapamycin-insensitive companion of mammalian target of rapamycin (RICTOR) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''RICTOR'' gene.
RICTOR and mTOR are components of a protein complex that integrates nutrient- and growth factor-derived s ...
, resulting in a fight between Rictor and Blob, she is forced to step in and attack Multiple Man, recognizing him only after the blow creates a duplicate, one with no moral or physical difficulty with breaking her arm. She stabs the dupe with a concealed poisoned blade, before fleeing.
She is later repowered by
Quicksilver and the Terrigen Mist, but when she begins to heat up from the effects of the Mist,
Abyss
Abyss may refer to:
* Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld
Film and television
* ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen
* ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...
flings her and
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...
into the Brimstone Dimension and then follows them. The explosion that would have resulted from the Mist is forestalled by the frozen nature of time in the Brimstone Dimension.
In the 2014 opening storyline of the fourth volume of ''X-Factor'', which stars a new, corporate-sponsored incarnation of that team, it is revealed that A.I.M. scientist Terrance Hoffman managed to extract them from the Brimstone Dimension and capture them, draining them of the Terrigen Mist energies and leaving them powerless once again. He uses the mutants as guinea pigs, performing illegal experiments on them that they regard as torture. Serval Industries sends the new superhero team, X-Factor, consisting of
Polaris,
Gambit
A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage.
The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe sim ...
and
Quicksilver to Hoffman's base to stop him and rescue the mutants, though they do not know that Fatale, Abyss, and Reaper are among them. Polaris frees Fatale, but Hoffman uses the energy drained from Abyss and Reaper to transform himself into a giant mutate of immense power. Quicksilver and Gambit manage to knock Hoffman unconscious and return him to normal, and when they prevent Reaper and Fatale from killing the unconscious Hoffman, Fatale cannot believe Polaris actually works with Pietro and lets him know about what he has done to her, Abyss, and Reaper in the past, they will never be even.
She soon enough turns her vow into reality, confronting the new X-Factor team during a conference press about the terrible things Quicksilver did under the assumption that it was a Skrull in disguise. Polaris has security take Fatale out, but Pietro holds them back, admitting his crimes in front of the media.
[''All-New X-Factor'' #12]
Powers and abilities
Fatale has several superhuman powers: she can bend light around her, alter her appearance and even turn invisible. She is also a powerful teleporter, capable of teleporting large objects or groups of people across the world. She loses these powers following M-Day. Even without them Fatale remains a threat; she is a skilled martial artist and often uses a poisonous blade or advanced firearms. Yukio identifies Fatale's fighting style as ''Ghost Tiger Style''. Fatale is also a skilled forger.
Other versions
As revealed in an interview by writer
John Francis Moore, in the "
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics ...
" storyline, Fatale was the mutant known as Artemis, a Morlock that lived underground with other outcast mutants before Apocalypse's war. A rebel with the power of camouflage (though she may have also had other abilities), she was approached by Sinister to join his ranking officials. However, she rejected Sinister's offer. For this rejection, Sinister imprisoned Artemis in the Breeding Pens where she later tried to escape with other mutants who had refused to become followers of Apocalypse. Artemis was followed by Prelate Scott Summers (Cyclops) and vowed to fight him to her death rather than die on her knees. When Cyclops cornered her, she pulled a knife on him and took him by surprise. If it had not been for Alex Summers, she would have undoubtedly killed Cyclops. Artemis was last seen in Beast's lab, who added her to a vat of genetic material to produce more Infinites.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatale (Comics)
Characters created by John Francis Moore (writer)
Comics characters introduced in 1993
Fictional assassins in comics
Fictional characters who can manipulate light
Fictional characters who can turn invisible
Fictional female assassins
Fictional illusionists
Marvel Comics characters who can teleport
Marvel Comics female supervillains
Marvel Comics martial artists
Marvel Comics mutants