Risque (Gloria Dolores Muñoz) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

. Her first appearance was in ''

X-Force X-Force is a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants#New Muta ...

'' #51 (August 1991).

Fictional character biography

Early life

Risque grew up in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to a

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

mother and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n father. As established in a textual flashback in ''X-Force'' #66, she used to spend much of her time at the Wacky World Amusement park with her father. After her powers manifested at thirteen, she abandoned her suddenly embarrassing dad and spent time at the park flirting with older boys. She even acquired a job there, but was fired after a fortnight for smoking in costume behind the Astro-World Tilt-A-Whirl. She then got into some trouble, which the mysterious Sledge helps extricate her from in return for doing him a favor.

Rendezvous with Warpath

Risque has to send a message to

Warpath Warpath may refer to: *Great Indian Warpath, a network of trails in eastern North America used by Native Americans Games * ''Warpath'' (video game), a 2006 FPS video game by Digital Extremes for the PC and Xbox *'' Warpath: Jurassic Park'', a 199 ...

intimating that she has knowledge regarding the Camp Verde massacre. She meets Warpath in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she introduces herself to him from the shadows, plants a kiss on his lips, and leaves. When

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...

makes her move against the

Externals The Externals are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Considered a rare subspecies of mutants, most of them were X-Men antagonists. The original, unused name for the group was to be Th ...

, killing those who remain, Risque arrives and pulls the wounded Warpath out of

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...

's facility before Selene can drain his life. Risque takes James to Florida to recuperate and they fall for each other. Finally, James desires to get back to his friends, and the duo arrives just in time to defend

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'' ...

from the genetic mastermind villain

Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team of assassins known as the Maraud ...

. An ancient expert in mutancy, Sinister found Risque "fascinating" as "a mutant unknown". Risque and Warpath's new romance was met with displeasure from Warpath's previous love interest and current teammate,

Siryn Theresa Maeve Rourke Cassidy is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Debuting under the codename Siryn, she later retired the name and went by Banshee, in hon ...

. Warpath previously felt romantic feelings for Siryn but as Risque thinks, "Now she resents me for taking James away from her." Warpath intends to remain at the

X-Mansion The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X-Me ...

, but the duo fights the

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 ...

and

Mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

in New York City. Risque finally fulfills her "mission" by slipping a sleeping pill into Jimmy's drink. She takes him to Sledge's junkyard in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. There, Sledge offers Warpath information concerning his tribe's murder in exchange for a favor of his own.

Fleeing X-Force

Risque fled town knowing Warpath's teammates in X-Force would be on her trail. Paying by cash for her living arrangements to keep her untraceable, the X-Men's mutant-detecting machine

Cerebro Cerebro (; Spanish for "brain", from Latin ) is a fictional device appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The device is used by the X-Men (in particular, their leader, Professor Charles Xavier) to detect humans, specifica ...

eventually tracks her down in the apartments surrounding Wacky World, the amusement park she knew by heart. Seeing X-Force in her motel room, Risque flees to Wacky World itself. Once again underestimating the lengths X-Force would go for her capture, she is blindsided by the

Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell ...

. She escapes from Caliban on the monorail and hides with two willing young male collaborators, who enjoy the intrigue Risque brings. Caliban finally catches up with her in a maintenance tunnel but he collapses. This was due to numerous biological tampering done to him over the years. Risque initially desires to flee before calling for

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

, but her conscience forces her to stay behind and tend to the injured mutant. Her reluctance to leave when she had the chance caused her to be captured by the remaining members of X-Force, who initially believe she has harmed Caliban. By the time X-Force arrives, a two and a half hour ride in their ''Pacrat'', Warpath reveals that he was not held captive and was ready to leave, with Sledge's offer fresh on his mind. Risque tries to make amends with Warpath but to no avail; pleading her case concerning her debt to Sledge does not work. Unfortunately, her betrayal of Warpath's trust mars their relationship, as she had feared it would. As their relationship seemed to be finished, a joyful Siryn smirks in the distance.

Reunion with X-Force

Months later, Risque ran into

again while she was helping the

Vanisher Vanisher (Telford Porter) is a fictional character and mutant supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Vanisher's primary ability is teleportation. He is usually depicted as an opponent of the X-Men. The charac ...

steal the Heart of Pele, a sacred Hawaiian gem. However, when she is attacked by one of the Lava Men, Warpath saves her and gets X-Force involved in the quest for the stone. They eventually return the stone to Pele, the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an goddess of the volcano. This prevents the Lava Men from using the Gem to activate ancient 'Deviant' machinery. Every volcano on Earth would have erupted if the Lava Men plan succeeded. It turns out, though, that 'Risque' was in fact Pele herself and the real Risque, who had come to find the Heart, was still asleep on the beach. The team reunites with the real Gloria Muñoz and vacation on the island together. Shortly after the incident in Hawaii, the psychic and physical connection between

Danielle Moonstar Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, originally codenamed Psyche and later Mirage, is a fictional Northern Cheyenne superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in the graphic novel ''The New Mutants'' (Sept. ...

and Arcadia spawns a new Demon Bear that rampaged through Sledge's warehouse. Risque is sent to help X-Force defeat the bear in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Unfortunately, she is of very little help, and spends most of the time flirting with Warpath.

X-Corporation and "Death"

After the Xavier Institute became outed as a mutant organization, Risque was apparently contacted by

Charles Xavier 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 ...

, who made her part of his

X-Corporation The X-Corporation (X-Corp) is a fictional institution appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men comics. This organization was created to ensure the protection of mutant rights throughout ...

monitoring mutant rights violations in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Risque finds out about a company trafficking in mutant body parts. Unfortunately, she was ambushed by the

U-Men The U-Men was an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1980 and active until 1989. They toured extensively across the United States. Their musically "dirty" sound and off-the-wall sense of humor were a forerunner for the later ...

, followers of

John Sublime Sabra Sabreclaw Sabreclaw is a character in the Marvel Comics 2, MC2 universe who first appeared in ''J2 (comics), J2'' #8 (May 1999). He is the half-brother of Wild Thing (comics), Wild Thing and the son of Wolverine (character), Wolverine. ...

, founder of the Third Species movement. Risque did manage to compress one of her attackers into the size of a baseball, but could not fend them all off and was slain. Her death scene was never seen on-panel nor was a body ever shown, but her seeming demise was supported by her former X-Force ally and X-Corporation teammate

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

Possible Reference

Risque was on

She-Hulk She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...

's list of possible candidates to join the superhero group the

Lady Liberators The Lady Liberators, also called the Liberators, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original team's only appearance was in '' Avengers'' volume 1 #83 (December 1970), written by Roy Thomas, with ...

. However, She-Hulk crossed the name off of her list, indicating that Risque was unavailable. If the reference was to Gloria Muñoz, this would presumably be due to her death (as described above). However, it may be that a different character was using the "Risque" name at that time.

Necrosha

Risque is among the dead mutants resurrected by the transmode virus that

sends to attack

. She is one of the few mutants who regained control of her body and was able to warn Warpath to escape before succumbing to the virus and resuming her assault. Gloria's final fate is uncertain as it is unknown whether she was among the mutants teleported 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-Me ...

Blink Blinking is a bodily function; it is a semi-autonomic rapid closing of the eyelid. A single blink is determined by the forceful closing of the eyelid or inactivation of the levator palpebrae superioris and the activation of the palpebral portio ...

to serve as sacrifices for the newly deified Selene or if she was among the mutants who managed to escape Utopia.

Powers and abilities

Risque is a mutant with the ability to create localized gravity fields, which affects inorganic

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...

within an object, and compress it into a small, high-density mass. She can telekinetically maneuver that object to propel it at high velocities, as well as projecting concussive blasts of pink psychokinetic energy. Although, not at superhuman levels, she is naturally skilled in

acrobats Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in ac ...

.''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z'' Vol 1 #9 (July 2009)