Cassandra Nova is a fictional enemy of the X-Men in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, Cassandra first appeared in New X-Men #114 (July 2001). Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to first comic book to feature a character. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... Frank Quitely (January 18, 1968 - ) is the professional pseudonym of Scottish comic book artist Vincent Deighan. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Hellfire Club is a Marvel Comics supervillain team that frequently battle the X-Men. ... The Shiar, also called the Aerie, are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. ... FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... Frank Quitely (January 18, 1968 - ) is the professional pseudonym of Scottish comic book artist Vincent Deighan. ... New X-Men refers to two superhero comic books published by Marvel Comics within the hugely popular X-Men franchise. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cassandra is a "mummudrai," a parasitic life form born bodiless on the astral plane. The mummudrai that became Cassandra became telepathically entangled with the future Charles Xavier, who possesses vast mutant telepathic powers. This granted Cassandra some psionic powers herself, including the ability to exit the womb and create a body. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, known as the leader and founder of the X-Men. ... In Marvel comic books, particularly those of the X-Men mythos, a human being who is born with genetic modifications that allow for abilities not possessed by regular humans is commonly called a mutant. ... Telepathy, from the Greek τῆλε, tele, remote; and πάθεια, patheia, to be effected by, describes the hypothetical transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses. ...

Cassandra is Xavier's ideological dark shadow, bent on destruction and genocide. She is most infamous for commanding an army of Sentinels to massacre 16 million mutants within the mutant homeland of Genosha. Genocide is the mass killing of a group of people as defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or... The Sentinels are fictional robots in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... Flag of Genosha under Magnetos reign. ...

Fictional character biography

Origins

Cassandra Nova began life at the same time as Charles Xavier. Conceived without a body, Cassandra improvised one by copying Xavier's DNA to make her own body, effectively becoming his twin sister. She grew with her brother until the time when Charles sensed her monstrous thoughts. Charles attempted to kill the creature, resulting in its physical body being stillborn. Despite this, the creature survived as chaotic cellular matter and clung to a sewer wall for decades, rebuilding its physical form and perfecting its effort to mimic human traits. During this time, she grew convinced that the womb in which she had fought Charles and the universe she now inhabited were one and the same, a universe in which only she and Charles were real, and that her purpose was to destroy every illusion Charles held dear: his dream, his X-Men and his beloved Lilandra. The expected result of pregnancy is the birth of a living child. ... Lilandra is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Jean Grey later discovered that Cassandra Nova is the mummudrai (from a Shi'ar legend, meaning opposite) of Charles Xavier. "Legend says each of us faces our own personal mummudrai in the womb, shortly before birth - it is our first experience of the alien, the other, the different". In reality, the mummudrai are a parasitic species born bodiless on the astral plane, and it was only through becoming entangled with Charles Xavier's developing telepathic mind that Cassandra Nova created a body for herself. This article or section on a comics-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... The Shiar, also called the Aerie, are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Genocide

After she was able to rebuild herself, Cassandra returned with a vengeance. She convinced the last living relative of Bolivar Trask, Donald Trask III, to activate a pair of enormous wild Sentinels and send them to destroy the mutant homeland of Genosha, killing 16 million mutants. Cassandra duplicated Trask's DNA so she could also issue orders to the Sentinels, programmed to obey only those with the DNA of a Trask. Cassandra infected her own body with millions of nanosentinels just as she was captured by Cyclops and Wolverine. Bolivar Trask is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ... The Sentinels are fictional robots in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... In Marvel comic books, particularly those of the X-Men mythos, a human being who is born with genetic modifications that allow for abilities not possessed by regular humans is commonly called a mutant. ... Flag of Genosha under Magnetos reign. ... Cyclops (Scott Summers) is a fictional character who exists in the Marvel Comics Universe, a superhero who is the field leader of the X-Men. ... For other uses, see Wolverine (disambiguation). ...

Cassandra was taken to the X-Mansion, where she broke free and defeated most of the X-Men easily. Cassandra then put herself into Xavier's machine Cerebra (an enhanced version of Cerebro) and switched minds with her brother before Emma Frost snapped Cassandra's neck (Emma had been in Genosha teaching during the attack and witnessed her students massacred). Trapped in Cassandra's broken body, Xavier was unable to warn the X-Men before Cassandra, now in Xavier's body, shot him. In the Marvel Comics universe, Cerebro (Spanish for brain also called Cerebra) is a mechanism that the X-Men leader Professer Charles Xavier uses to detect mutants who are using their powers. ... Emma Grace[1] Frost, also known as the White Queen, is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. ...

Imperial

Now in Xavier's body, Cassandra mentally forced the Xavier Institute student Beak to beat Beast into a coma after he discovered that Xavier and Cassandra shared the same DNA. Cassandra Nova then contacted the Shi'ar, whose leader was Majestrix Lilandra, Xavier's lover. Cassandra manipulated the Shi'ar Imperium, driving Lilandra insane and using her to make the Shi'ar Imperial fleet destroy the empire. Cassandra also made Lilandra send the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to wipe out the mutant population of Earth, starting with the X-Men. The Guard fought the X-Men until they were able to show the truth to the Imperial Guard. Beak (Barnell Bohusk) is the name of a fictional character associated with the X-Men and its spinoff the Exiles. ... This article or section on a comics-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... The Shiar, also called the Aerie, are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Lilandra is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Angered at Cassandra's treachery and realizing the danger she posed, the Imperial Guard fought Cassandra, who defeated them and headed into the mansion. She had planned on using Cerebra to eliminate all mutants. However, Jean Grey (who was becoming increasingly more powerful due to a manifestation of the Phoenix entity) was able to split Xavier's consciousness into pieces and store a little part of him in every single living mutant mind. When Cassandra used Cerebra and focused on all the mutants, the pieces of Xavier's mind were brought back together; at the same time, Jean Grey telephatically attacked the Immensity, successfully overwhelming and forcing Cassandra out of Xavier's body. The alias of Phoenix has been used by several fictional comic book characters published by Marvel Comics. ... This article or section on a comics-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ...

Without a body, Cassandra became pure psychic energy, bodiless and blind. Emma Frost tricked Cassandra into returning to what appeared to be her old body, which was in reality the alien polymorph "Stuff."

Cassandra's essence entered the body and was locked into a self-repeating program in the synthetic brain.

Ernst

It has often been hinted, though never explicitly stated, that Cassandra Nova took on the form of Ernst in order to be reprogrammed at the Xavier Institute. Chuck Austen, who followed Morrison on New X-Men was criticized for, among other things, disregarding elements of Morrison's stories. In Austen's New X-Men #156, Cyclops and Beast investigate Cassandra's containment unit following the destruction of the mansion, only to find it empty. However this neither proves nor disproves Morrison's storyline. The continued appearance of Ernst, post-Decimation, separately from Nova, seems to disprove the story altogether. Chuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum) is an American writer and artist of comic books, most famous for his work on the popular Uncanny X-Men title, as well as on other Marvel and DC titles. ...

Hellfire

Cassandra Nova with Emma Frost. Art by John Cassaday.

Cassandra, back in her original form, returned in the "Danger" story arc of Astonishing X-Men, alongside Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club. During this arc it was implied that Frost's survival of the destruction of Genosha in New X-Men #115 was due to Cassandra Nova creating Frost's secondary mutation. In exchange, Emma was to assist Nova as part of a scheme to infiltrate the X-Men as a sleeper agent (Nova having erased the memory of their encounter at the time). However, it has yet to be stated whether this was real or a false memory implanted by Nova. Image File history File links Emmacassandra. ... Image File history File links Emmacassandra. ... Astonishing X-Men is the name of three X-Men books, the first two were limited series and the third an ongoing series. ... Sebastian Hiram Shaw, also known as the Black King, is a Marvel Comics supervillain, and an adversary of the X-Men. ... The Hellfire Club is a Marvel Comics supervillain team that frequently battle the X-Men. ... New X-Men refers to two superhero comic books published by Marvel Comics within the hugely popular X-Men franchise. ...

This infiltration occurred when Emma tricked Cassandra into entering her original body: Cassandra managed to plant a seed of her consciousness into Emma's brain. She then played up on Emma's survivor guilt over not perishing during the Genosha massacre and also her general guilt over her past life as the villianious White Queen in the Hellfire Club. Cassandra's influence resulted in Emma creating manifestations of Cassandra in her human form, Sebastian Shaw, Emma's younger self as the White Queen (calling herself "Perfection"), and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, a former student of Emma's who was killed in Genosha. Emma and these manifestations then proceeded to attack the X-men; Beast was reduced to a feral animal, Wolverine became a timid child (with a humorously antiquated vocabulary), and Cyclops lost the use of his powers and was rendered comatose. Survivor guilt, otherwise known as survivor syndrome, is the mental condition that results from the appraisal that a person has done wrong by surviving traumatic events such as combat, natural disasters, or even surviving a lay-off in a work place. ... The Hellfire Club is a Marvel Comics supervillain team that frequently battle the X-Men. ... Negasonic Teenage Warhead (real name Ellie Phimister) is a fictional mutant character in the Marvel Comics universe who first appeared in New X-Men vol. ...

Meanwhile, Emma/Cassandra subjected Kitty Pryde to a cruel dystopic vision that tricked her into using her phasing powers to open the containment chamber where Cassandra, trapped in Stuff's form, had been imprisoned. Afterwards, Kitty was to murder Frost and the rest of the X-Men, as Nova's permanent host. Cassandra's plans were foiled by a revived Cyclops, and other students at the Xavier Institute (including Blindfold and Hisako Ichiki). Emma also rebelled against Cassandra's influence and attempted to have Kitty kill her in the hopes that this would thwart Cassandra's plans. Admitting that Kitty was too much of a challenge, Cassandra then attempted to transfer her mind into Hisako, but was interrupted when everyone present was teleported away by S.W.O.R.D.. It is unknown if Cassandra's possession of Hisako was successful, though the art indicates some sort of energy transference between the two. Blindfold is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute. ... Hisako Ichiki is a fictional mutant teenager who is enrolled at the Xavier Institute; she maintained her powers after the events of Decimation. ... S.W.O.R.D. (an acronym for Sentient World Observation and Response Department) is a fictional counterterrorism and intelligence agency in the Marvel Universe which deals with extraterrestial threats to world security. ...

Other versions

Here Comes Tomorrow

In the Here Comes Tomorrow future timeline, Cassandra's reeducation was a complete success; she had embraced Xavier's dream and went on to become Headmistress of the Xavier Institute. Instead of simply going by the name of Cassandra Nova, she added the Xavier surname to her own, now calling herself Cassandra Nova Xavier. Alongside Wolverine, the three remaining Stepford Cuckoos (now calling themselves the Three-in-One), Beak's grandson Tito Jr, E.V.A. and No-Girl (Martha Johansson), Cassandra became one of the X-Men, fighting against Sublime and its armies of Crawlers, led by Apollyon. Cassandra was destroyed by Sublime after it unleashed Phoenix on the X-Men. Cover to trade paperback Here Comes Tomorrow is the climactic eighth story arc in Grant Morrisons run on the Marvel Comics series New X-Men, which ran from issues #151-154. ...

However, this timeline diverged from Earth-616 when Jean Grey reached back and psychically forced Cyclops to accept Emma's offer to run the Xavier Institute together. In the current timeline, Cassandra remembered her original identity.

X-Men: The End

Cassandra factors prominently in the alternate future depicted in X-Men: The End storyline (Book 3). In this timeline she remains a villain. She is primarily responsible for the Shi'ar attacks on the X-Men, which she had manipulated in the hopes of gaining control of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. Her hopes was to bond with the Phoenix and thus be able to destroy all existence. She was successful, however Jean and Psylocke are able to subdue Cassandra. Jean then tells Cassandra that they are all going to transcend reality. Jean uses her connection to the Phoenix to bring a host of X-Men together (both dead and living) so that they can all become one with the universe while bringing others back to Earth. Xavier and Cassandra admit that they are scared of each other, and Jean tells them that this is part of being human. Then, she and the resurrected X-Men form a giant Phoenix and become part of the universe itself.

Powers

The mummudrai are usually forced to fight with the mind of their host over a body. However, given the vast potential in Xavier's genome, Cassandra Nova is able to build her own body, mimicking human traits as best she can. Cassandra can also manipulate the DNA it has copied to act as a rapid healing factor or to phase through solid matter.

First using her DNA copying ability, she mimics Donald Trask III, a relative of Bolivar Trask, so that she can voice command the Sentinels, who obey the Trask family line, to attack Genosha. Bolivar Trask is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

After copying the DNA of Charles Xavier, the mummudrai Cassandra Nova accesses the full spectrum of latent mutant functions in his genome (she has the powers of Charles Xavier, the ones he could have and the ones he might receive as a result of latent mutation), granting itself vast psionic powers.^{[citation needed]} These powers include: telepathy, telekinesis, a healing factor, phasing, and the ability to replicate the DNA sequence of other beings. She has all the powers of the "average" mummudrai as well, which are astral projection and mental possession.

External links

• Cassandra Complexities at UncannyXmen.net
• Cassandra Nova on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki