Phoenix Hero
Real Name: Rachel Anne Summers.
Occupation: Observer, former college student, former adventurer, former mutant hunting "hound", former prisoner in a mutant concentration camp, former freedom fighter, former teacher.
Identity: Secret.
Legal Status: None.
Other Aliases: Rachel Grey, Marvel Girl, Mother Askani, "Starsoul".
Place of Birth: Salem Center, Westchester County, New York, in an alternate universe.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Scott Summers (alias Cyclops, father, deceased), Jean Grey Summers (alias Phoenix, mother, deceased), Alex Summers (alias Havok, uncle, deceased), Christopher Summers (alias Corsair, removed from reality), Nathan Christopher Charles Summers (a.k.a. Nathan Dayspring Askani'son, alias Cable, "half-brother", removed from reality). All from alternate universes.
Group Affiliation: Current agent of the High Tribunal. Formerly a member of the New Mutants, Ahab's Hounds, the Mutant Underground, the X-Men, Excalibur, the Askani, and the Starjammers, all of alternate timelines and time periods.
Base of Operations: Mobile.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1/2.
History: Rachel's past is confusing to follow, even occasionally for her. She was born in an alternate future, one which may now never come to pass, to that universe's counterparts to Cyclops and Soulfire. Early on in her life, she trained with the second generation of New Mutants at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, before the school was attacked by the mutant-hunting robot Sentinels, which had taken over the United States in her home timeline. Rachel was captured and forced by a man called Ahab to serve the Sentinels as a mutant-hunting "hound". After a time, however, she was sent to a mutant internment camp along with several of the surviving X-Men of her timeline. Rachel then aided in a breakout from the camp, and went into hiding.
To save her from certain death, Rachel's friend, Kate Pryde, had instilled within Rachel's mind a post-hypnotic trigger which enabled Rachel to tap onto the Phoenix Force, a cosmic entity embodying mortals' passions, to amplify her innate yet untrained time travel powers. As such, Rachel traveled back in time to a point several years before she was supposed to be born; to her surprise, however, it was not her past. She briefly joined the X-Men of that time period, before being kidnapped by the extradimensional movie producer, Mojo. Rachel eventually managed to flee Mojo's dimension, where she joined several of her old X-Men teammates in a new team, Excalibur, based out of England.
Rachel at that point was the host for the Phoenix Force, which amplified her natural telekinesis but muddled her memories. She also revealed her existence to her parents' counterparts, who eventually came to regard her as their own daughter. She also took an interest in keeping an eye on her "little brother", Nathan Christopher; in her native timeline, he never existed.
At one point, she was thrust back into the timestream, eventually finding herself in a time ruled by an immortal mutant despot named Apocalypse. Rachel founded a resistance movement to Apocalypse's rule, eventually becoming known as Mother Askani as she grew older. One of her acolytes – likely aided by Rachel – traveled back in time to save Nathan's life from a techno-organic virus which threatened to kill him. At the same time, Rachel reached across time to bring the minds of Nathan's parents – the Scott and Jean Summers of that timeline – into prepared bodies. While only a few hours passed in their native timeline, Scott and Jean spent several years raising Nathan; however, when Rachel died of old age, their minds reverted back to their original bodies in their original time.
Ultimately, Nathan as an adult was responsible for the complete destruction of the timeline ruled by Apocalypse. An unexpected side effect of this action was that Rachel was thrust back into the timestream at the same physical age she was when she had previously left it, but with full memories of her time as Mother Askani, including her death. She then returned to her adopted parents' timeline, but without a link to the Phoenix Force. It was at this time Rachel all but legally changed her last name to Grey, honoring her mother, when Scott was mentally and then physically seduced by Emma Frost, an event which contributed to one of Jean's deaths.
For a time afterward, she joined her "uncle", Alex, and her "grandfather", Christopher, in the interstellar freebooters known as the Starjammers, before returning to Earth, where she took a teaching position with the recently reopened Institute (which incidentally had been renamed after her mother).
Recently, however, that timeline and many of the timelines closely tied to it were eliminated by the Living Tribunal, the ultimate multiversal authority. Once again, Rachel found herself thrust into the new, replacement timeline, only this time she was brought before the Living Tribunal as an anomaly. The Tribunal has given Phoenix the seemingly impossible task of surveying the new timeline for it. Since then, Rachel has been wandering this new world she's found herself in, curious as to the Tribunal's motives for giving her this task.
Even more recently, Rachel has discovered that the woman she believed was her mother was actually the Phoenix Force of her native timeline who had assumed the physical form and identity of Jean Grey. In most timelines, "Jean" had died shortly after Rachel was conceived, either killed by the Shi'ar Empire because she became Dark Phoenix, or by committing suicide to prevent further acts of cosmic destruction as Dark Phoenix. In only a handful of timelines did "Jean Grey" survive to give birth to Rachel, and in only one of those timelines did Rachel survive to adulthood. This has led Rachel to wonder if perhaps the Phoenix Force of one timeline was the exact same as on any other, and whether it was the Phoenix Force itself which has permitted Rachel to survive the destruction of timelines.
Age: 19 (physically); 34 (chronologically).
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Eyes: Green.
Hair: Red, presently dyed brown.
Other Distinguishing Features: Rachel possesses scars on her face, indicating her status as a "hound". She normally uses her telepathy to hide these scars by causing people to subconsciously not notice them. Rachel also possesses intricate permanent tattoos on her back, placed there by the Shi'ar of a now-destroyed timeline.
Uniform: Gold shirt with a phoenix pattern, red pants, red gloves, gold boots. This uniform is identical to the first uniform she wore as a member of the X-Men of Earth-616, when she first became the host to that universe's Phoenix Force.
Strength Level: Rachel possesses the normal human strength of a woman her physical age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular toning exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: A second-generation mutant, Phoenix possesses the psionic powers of telepathy, telekinesis, and time travel. Using her telepathy, she is able to scan someone's surface thoughts, communicate mentally with others, and probe someone's memories. In addition, she is able to project images she pulls from others' minds into thin air for all around her to see. She is also able to stun someone into unconsciousness, focusing her telepathy into a "mind bolt". Rachel's telepathy also enables her to determine if someone is a mutant by picking up on the variations in a mutant's synapses. She is able to affect peoples' minds on a subconscious level, which she normally just uses to hide her facial scars; lately, she's been using it to hide from the superhuman populace in general.
Using her telekinesis, Phoenix is able to move objects at will, form a psychokinetic shield around her, and fly at great speeds. For a short time, she also had the ability to rearrange matter on the molecular level, although she only used this power when possessing the Phoenix Force.
Rachel also possesses the ability to cast her mind into the past or future, and to use this power to have someone temporarily "trade places" with their past self. Using the power of the Phoenix Force, she was able on a handful of occasions to physically transport herself across the timestream. On the first of these occasions, she ended up in a past that was similar to but not exactly her own (see History, above).
Rachel's powers also make her immune to "changes" in the timestream, allowing her to remember the past, even if that past is destroyed. Once, she died of old age in an alternate future, but when that alternate future was destroyed found herself in the present day of the timeline she had previously left at the same age she left, complete with all the memories of her time in the destroyed timeline.
4,070 points
| ST: 11 [10] | HP: 11 [0] | Speed: 7.00 [0] |
| DX: 13 [60] | Will: 15 [15] | Ground Move: 7 [0] |
| IQ: 12 [40] | Per: 12 [0] | Air Move: 15/22 [2] |
| HT: 14 [40] | FP: 14 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Dmg: 1d-1/1d+1 | BL: 24 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 11 | Parry: 12 | DR: 50 (force field) + 12/4* (uniform) |
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Affliction (Temporal Mind-Swap) 1 (Advantage: Possession (with Accessibility: Alternate Self Only, Timespanning: Past Only, Projection, and Mind-Swap), +600%; Cancellation, +10%; Extended Duration: Permanent, +150%; Melee Attack: Reach C, -30%; Persistent, +40%; Preparation Required: 1 hour, -50%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [81]; Appearance (Attractive) [4]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Damage Resistance 50 (Force Field, +20%; Hardened 1, +20%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [325]; Detect Mutants (Precise, +100%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [19]; Emotion Sense 2 [9]; Enhanced Move (Air) 1.5 (Move 22/44 mph; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [27]; ESP Talent 4 [20]; Flight (Mutant Psionic, -10%) [36]; Hard to Kill 3 [6]; Hard to Subdue 3 [6]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Illusion (Area Effect, 4 yds, +50%; Ranged, +40%; Visual Only, -30%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [38]; Mental Blow 4 [28]; Mental Surgery 2 [25]; Mind Clouding 9 [54]; Mind Shield 5 [20]; Mindwipe 4 [31]; Omnilingual (Mutant Psionic, -10%) [36]; Possession (Accessibility: Alternate Self Only, -50%; Mind-Swap, +10%; Projection, -50%; Time-Spanning (Past and Future), +100%; Mutant Psionic, -10%) [100]; Psychokinesis Talent 4 [20]; Seekersense 3 [18]; Sensory Control 3 [43]; Signature Sniffer 1 [4]; Suggestion 4 [35]; Super-Spy 2 [30]; Telekinesis! 12 (Increased Range (×5), +20%; Super-Damage, +900%; Visible, -10%; Mutant Psionic, -10%; Wildcard Power, ×4) [2,376]; Telepathy Talent 4 [20]; Telereceive 5 [60]; Telescan 5 [25]; Telesend 5 [27]; Telespeak 5 [63]; Temporal Inertia [15]; Time Mastery Talent 2 [10]; Very Fit [15]; Very Rapid Healing [15]; Zeroed [10].
Perks: Avatar [1]; Dirty Fighting [1]; Intimidation Factor [1]; Tactical Reading [1].
Disadvantages: Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Code of Honor (Hero's) [-10]; Duty (Living Tribunal) (9) [-5]; Flashbacks (Mild) [-5]; Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Status -1 [-5]; Wealth (Poor) [-15].
Quirks: Broad-Minded [-1]; Hidden Scars ("Hound" Tattoos, hidden via telepathy) [-1]; Hiding From "Parents" [-1]; Hollywood Homely [-1]; Pet Peeve (Anti-Mutant Bigotry) [-1].
Skills: Acrobatics (H) DX+0 [4] – 13; Acting (A) IQ+2 [2] – 14*; Aerobatics (H) DX+0 [4] – 13; Autohypnosis (H) Will-1 [2] – 14; Body Language (Human) (A) Per+1 [4] – 13; Body Sense (H) DX+1 [8] – 14; Brawling (E) DX+3 [8] – 16; Breath Control (H) HT-2 [1] – 12; Climbing (A) DX-1 [1] – 12; Current Affairs/TL8 (Headline News) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Detect Lies (H) Per+3 [8] – 15*; Emotion Sense (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14†; Escape (H) DX+2 [4] – 15*; Fast-Draw (Knife) (E) DX+1 [1] – 14‡; Filch (A) DX+0 [2] – 13; First Aid/TL8 (Human) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Forced Entry (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Forward Observer/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Hiking (A) HT-1 [1] – 13; Housekeeping (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+5 [16] – 18; Innate Attack (Projectile) (E) DX+5 [8] – 18§; Jumping (E) DX+0 [1] – 13; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Leadership (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Lifting (A) HT-1 [1] – 13; Lip Reading (A) Per+2 [8] – 14; Lockpicking/TL8 (A) IQ+2 [8] – 14; Mental Blow (H) Will+5 [8] – 20†; Mental Strength (E) Will+1 [2] – 16; Mental Surgery (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14†; Mind Clouding (H) IQ+8 [20] – 20†; Mind Shield (H) Will+5 [8] – 20†; Mindwipe (H) Will+2 [1] – 17†; Observation (A) Per+4 [8] – 16*; Panhandling (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Pickpocket (H) DX+1 [2] – 14*; Psi-Sense (H) Per+6 [12] – 16#; Running (A) HT+0 [1] – 13; Seekersense (H) Per+8 [20] – 20#; Sensory Control (H) Will+2 [1] – 17†; Shadowing (A) IQ+4 [8] – 16*; Stealth (A) DX+3 [4] – 16*; Streetwise (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Suggestion (H) IQ+4 [4] – 16†; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 14; Teaching (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Telekinetic Control (VH) IQ+8 [24] – 20¥; Telereceive (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14†; Telescan (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14†; Telesend (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14†; Throwing (A) DX+1 [4] – 14; Tracking (A) Per+5 [12] – 17*; Urban Survival (A) Per+0 [2] – 12; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4] – 14.
Techniques: Broadcast (Telesend) (H) def+7 [8] – 14; Deep Probe (Telereceive) (H) def+8 [9] – 14; Multiplicity (Telereceive) (H) def+4 [5] – 13.
Starting Spending Money: $2,000 (50% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +2 from Super-Spy.
† Includes +4 from Telepathy Talent.
‡ Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes.
§ Defaulted from Innate Attack (Beam).
# Includes +4 from ESP Talent.
¥ Includes +4 from Psychokinesis Talent.
Role-Playing Notes:
Rachel is a brave, caring young woman who has seen many atrocities against mutants, mutated humans, and baseline humans in her many lifetimes.
Design Notes:
1. Yes, before anyone asks, this is the mainstream Rachel Summers/Rachel Grey currently seen in a number of X-books. Her powers – and secretly the Phoenix Force – have enabled her to survive the destruction of Earth-616 (the mainstream Marvel Universe) and the creation of Earth-Reboot.
2. Rachel's history required a lot of research. She's always been one of my favorite X-Men, even when she was running around in an '80s gymnastics leotard and leg warmers, without a uniform or code-name. Her time in Excalibur, v1, greatly developed the character. Her first appearance in the uniform I've described was Uncanny X-Men v1 #199, and revealed to her teammates in Uncanny X-Men Annual #9, set between issues #199 and #200. I always liked this outfit, even more than the spiked red leather catsuit she wore in Excalibur. (And yet, later artists tended to forget this uniform existed, probably because Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 was the only place it was clearly seen – the issues of Uncanny X-Men around that time period had some horrible artwork.) (The image I used was taken from a scan of the Annual, and cleaned up even more by a Photoshop-savvy friend.)
3. Oddly enough, Rachel, while she remembers her complete history as detailed above, is again in the body of a young woman in her late teens/early twenties. Blame the Living Tribunal and the Phoenix Force for that, if you wish. This woman's been through Hell and back (with the ashes to prove it!), and she's still kicking. At least she's not angsting about it.