Nekra is a
mutant
In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...
supervillain
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are oft ...
appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s 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 was created by
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight:' ...
and
Ross Andru
Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21.
In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...
for the 1973 comic book ''
Shanna the She-Devil
Shanna the She-Devil (Shanna O'Hara, Lady Plunder) is a fictional jungle adventurer superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Carole Seuling and penciller George Tuska, she made her first appearance ...
''. She is a mutant caused by an atomic explosion at the
Los Alamos Proving Grounds, as was the mutant supervillain
Mandrill
The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...
.
Publication history
Nekra first appeared in ''
Shanna the She-Devil
Shanna the She-Devil (Shanna O'Hara, Lady Plunder) is a fictional jungle adventurer superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Carole Seuling and penciller George Tuska, she made her first appearance ...
'' #5 (August 1973), and was created by
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight:' ...
and
Ross Andru
Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21.
In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...
.
The character subsequently appears in ''Marvel Two-In-One'' #3 (May 1974), ''Daredevil'' #109–112 (May–August 1974), ''Spider-Woman'' #13–16 (June–July 1979), #50 (June 1983), ''West Coast Avengers'' #2 (October 1985), ''The Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' #1–2 (October–November 1985), #12 (September 1986), ''Web of Spider-Man'' #46 (January 1989), ''Alpha Flight'' #79–80 (December 1989–January 1990), ''Avengers Spotlight'' #29 (February 1990), ''Avengers West Coast'' #65 (December 1990), and the graphic novel ''Avengers: Death Trap, the Vault'' (1991). The character does not appear for several years after that, until she reappeared in ''Witches'' #1 (August 2004), and ''The Loners'' #1 (June 2007), and #4–5 (September–October 2007).
Nekra received entries in the original ''
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic u ...
'' #8, the ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #9, and the ''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A–Z'' #8 (2006).
Fictional character biography
Decades ago, Gemma Sinclair was an African-American cleaning lady at
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
. An exploding lab experiment bombards Gemma with radiation, causing her future child to be born a mutant. Nekra is born with fangs and white skin but is not an
albino
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
. Loathed by her parents and community, Nekra runs away into the New Mexico desert to live alone when she is 14 years old.
She soon encounters by chance another child who has been mutated by the same explosion. Although his parents were white, he had been born dark-skinned and had developed fur and
baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
-like features, for which he had named himself
Mandrill
The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...
. For six years they live by theft and scavenging until they are attacked by a lynch mob that thought they were monsters. While filled with rage, Nekra discovers she is invulnerable to the mob's attacks. Slaying a few of their persecutors, the two escape and come to regard each other as if they were siblings.
The two later travel to Africa as part of the Mandrill's ambitious scheme to overthrow multiple nations through
Black Spectre Black Spectre has two meanings in the Marvel Universe. The first Black Spectre is the name of a fictional organization which first appeared in ''Daredevil'' #108 (March 1974) and was created by writer Steve Gerber and penciller Bob Brown. It was a l ...
, a
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
powered by the Mandrill's pheromonal control over women. This effort is thwarted by
Shanna the She-Devil
Shanna the She-Devil (Shanna O'Hara, Lady Plunder) is a fictional jungle adventurer superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Carole Seuling and penciller George Tuska, she made her first appearance ...
. The two eventually escape, kidnapping Shanna's father in the process and eventually killing him.
Their next plot is of similar means, whereby they use the Mandrill's powers to raise a cult of black women to overthrow America. They are eventually defeated on the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
lawn by
Daredevil, the
Black Widow, and Shanna. Abandoned by Mandrill, Nekra is captured by authorities.
Nekra is held captive and drugged in a
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...
hospital until a subliminal message from
Hate-Monger
The Hate-Monger is the name of several different fictional character, fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The original character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book) ...
inadvertently gave her the rage necessary to break free. While in the New York sewers, Nekra encounters a cult of
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...
, which she persuades that she herself was the reincarnation of Kali. She then moves to the West Coast where she kills and replaces Adrienne Hatros, the reclusive sponsor of an emotional research clinic where Nekra hopes to overcome her own dependency upon emotions. There she develops a drug to subdue feelings of affection and successfully field-tests it, using
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional Character (arts), characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original version is Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Jessica Drew (later impersonated by Veranke), the second ve ...
as the target of her feelings.
Nekra falls in with the voodoo-master
Black Talon
Black Talon is a brand of hollow-point pistol and rifle ammunition introduced in 1991 by Winchester, primarily intended for law enforcement and personal defense use. Black Talon rounds were known for the unique construction of the bullet and it ...
as voodoo tutor, and with the
Grim Reaper
Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...
as her lover. When the Grim Reaper dies in combat, Nekra is able to briefly reanimate him as a
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
, so lifelike that even the Grim Reaper does not realize he is dead. When Nekra's love becomes greater than her hate though, the Reaper dies again. Nekra takes his corpse with her, in hopes of reanimating him again.
Nekra then had run-ins with
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
, and then
Hank Pym
Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in ''Tales to ...
. She also battled
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wo ...
at the behest of
Llan the Sorcerer
La Lunatica
Lacuna
Lady Bullseye
Lady Deathstrike
Lady Dorma
Lady Grey
Lady Lark
Lady Lark (Linda Lewis), later named Skylark, is a character in the Marvel Comics series Squadron Supreme and hails from Earth-712. She first appeared in ...
.
Nekra spends some time in the super-villain prison
The Vault. During a prison-wide riot, she and
Mister Hyde have a brief romantic interlude.
Nekra finally manages to re-animate the Grim Reaper again, but this time there is a caveat: he has to kill one person every 24 hours in order to stay 'alive.' The Reaper chooses Nekra as his first victim and kills her.
Sensing the potential threat of
Doctor Druid
Doctor Anthony Druid, also known as Doctor Droom and Druid, is a fictional mystic and a supernatural monster- hunter appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller Jack Kirby, ...
,
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Daimon made his live-action debut in the Hulu television series '' Helstrom'', played by Tom ...
uses his magics to reanimate Nekra and sends her to investigate him. First, she seduces Doctor Druid, which negates his powers, but he manages to regain them via sacrifice. Nekra then shoots Doctor Druid in the forehead, killing him.
Nekra is one of a handful of mutants to have retained her powers in the wake of
House of M
"House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...
.
Nekra resurfaces and is seen donating genetic material to an M.G.H ring that had sprung up in L.A. after the death of
The Pride. She is defeated by
Ricochet
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
,
Darkhawk
Darkhawk (Christopher Powell) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Darkhawk'' #1 (March 1991), and was created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley. The c ...
, and the third
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional Character (arts), characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original version is Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Jessica Drew (later impersonated by Veranke), the second ve ...
. She later returns to the Loners' meeting place to get her revenge on them. Nekra easily battled and defeated all of the Loners and proceeds to strangle Mickey, when she is struck from behind by a mysterious lady named "Namie".
A girl going by the alias Death Reaper makes an appearance in ''
Dark Reign: Zodiac''. She claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Nekra. Nekra joins the Grim Reaper's new
Lethal Legion
The Lethal Legion is the name of seven teams of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The first version of the Lethal Legion appeared in '' The Avengers'' #78 (Jul. 1970).
The secon ...
. She and the rest of the Legion are betrayed by Grim Reaper, who uses them as a ploy to give Osborn's Avengers better publicity. She is sent to prison, under the impression that Grim Reaper is dead.
Nekra is seen during the riots in San Francisco with
Frenzy
''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squar ...
of the Acolytes. Both are told by
Karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
to behave, but Nekra tells her they were promised Utopia and they will never stop hunting mutants. They'll always be hunted, tormented, and killed. She is then blasted by
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was originally conceived as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. M ...
. She later takes part in the final battle. Once again pitted against Osborn's
Dark Avengers
''Dark Avengers'' is a 2009–2013 American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is part of a series of titles that features various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers, with this version of the team - unbeknownst to the pub ...
as well as his X-Men, she follows the rest of the mutants to the island of Utopia. It is also revealed that she has a daughter named Death Reaper who is an ally of the villain
Zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
.
During the ''
Chaos War
"Chaos War" is a Marvel Comics storyline that began publication in October 2010 across nine comic book series: the five-issue miniseries ''Chaos War'', written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, supplemented by seven branded miniseries or one-sho ...
'' storyline, Nekra assists a resurrected Grim Reaper in fighting the Dead Avengers. She was killed with the Grim Reaper when Vision self-destructed.
At some point, Nekra accepted citizenship of the sovereign mutant nation
Krakoa
Krakoa is a fictional living island appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 and was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. Initially depicted as an antagonist, Krakoa has since gro ...
. She became involved with
Oya. When the two of them killed a bunch of mercenaries who were invading the island by sea, they were sentenced to the Pit of Exile for breaking the "murder no man" law. Arriving in the pit's simulated reality they were greeted by its then-sole resident:
Sabretooth, who promised to torture them as practice. While at first he tried to hunt them down, Third-Eye eventually used his powers to break the illusion and convince Victor that they weren't the ones he wanted to hurt, so he changed the illusion to make them all prison cellmates with
Professor X
Professor X (Charles Francis Xavier) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the founder and sometimes leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writ ...
and
Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
as the wardens. Victor began working on a plan for them to escape the pit by channeling their consciousnesses through the island so they could manifest themselves on land. He sent everyone up the surface on missions to gather allies to help in their quest, a distrustful Nekra and Oya decided to ignore his request and instead seek out their own ally,
Bling!. When a fight between Sabretooth and
Melter
The Melter is the name of three fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Melter, Bruno Horgan, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #47 (Nov. 1963).
Publication history
The character debuted ...
almost kills everyone in the pit, Nekra and Oya are saved when Third-Eye drags their consciousnesses to the astral plane while Krakoa fixes their bodies. They find themselves in a recreation of Sabretooth's childhood home with him there waiting for them, after having dinner together they all discussed what they did to get thrown in the pit and whether they deserved to be there. Shortly afterwards, they met with
Cypher
Cypher is an alternative spelling for cipher.
Cypher may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Cypher (French Group), a Goa trance music group
* Cypher (band), an Australian instrumental band
* Cypher (film), ''Cypher'' (film), a 2002 film
* C ...
who informed them that Sabretooth had betrayed them and escaped The Pit on his own. He offered them their own releases on two conditions, that they take fellow prisoners Nanny and
Orphan-Maker
Orphan-Maker (Peter) is a fictional Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. His first appearance was in ''X-Factor'' vol. 1 #31.
Publication history
Orphan-Maker's first appearance wa ...
and
Toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...
, who had been hiding back in Sabretooth's Hell where they'd originally entered from and that the assembled team hunts down Sabretooth so he can be punished for his crimes. The team of exiles then sails of on a boat made by
Madison Jeffries
Madison Jeffries is a fictional mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as having the ability to reshape plastic, metal, and glass to any shape desired. He also has the technopath ...
with Nekra assuring Oya they will never return to Krakoa.
The team tracked Sabretooth to Noble Island, which she and Oya were horrified to discover was a dumping ground for the bodies of mutants experimented on by Orchis. After fighting a super-powered Orchis agent named “The Creation” and losing Orphan-Maker, Sabretooth came on a boat and smugly offered them a ride. After giving Sabretooth a savage beating, in which she noticed his healing factor had stopped working. The team went on a mission to rescue Orphan-Maker from Orchis second base, with Nekra reluctantly acknowledging the necessity of Sabretooth's skills. While there Oya asked why she hadn't used the seed Cypher gave her yet to take Sabretooth back to Krakoa for punishment and she reiterated her distrust for the leaders of Krakoa.Inside the base they found a prison full of mutants and Doctor Barrington's creation came crashing through the wall. Nekra wanted to fight but Sabretooth stopped her, recognising she was running away from something. She explained she'd witnessed Orphan-Maker take his helmet off and seemingly kill Dr. Barrington with one look. Now that his X-Gene was finally activated, Orphan-Maker's immense power was going to kill everyone on the base. With everyone unsure of what to do, Third-Eye took them all back to the Astral Plane.
[''Sabretooth & the Exiles'' #2. Marvel Comics.]
Powers and abilities
Possesses the ability to increase her strength, endurance, and resistance to pain and injury by harnessing her violent emotions. Her heightened adrenal activity causes a series of metabolic reactions within her body that toughen her skin and increase the efficiency of her muscles. At her peak, she can lift approximately 10 tons, withstand an explosion of about 100 pounds of TNT and extreme degrees of cold and heat. Her powers are limited by how long she can sustain her emotional state, generally for no more than an hour.
References
External links
Captain Comics' article on Dr Druid
{{authority control
Characters created by Ross Andru
Characters created by Steve Gerber
Comics characters introduced in 1973
Fictional African-American people
Fictional characters from New Mexico
Fictional murderers
Fictional priests and priestesses
Marvel Comics characters who use magic
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics female supervillains
Marvel Comics mutants