Post by Mystique on Jun 30, 2013 17:23:58 GMT -5
Bio is from ComicVine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Code name: Mystique
Real name: Raven Darkholme
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Red
Skin Color: Blue
Known Relatives: Christian Wagner (ex-husband, deceased), Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler, son), Graydon Creed (son, deceased), Anna Marie ( Rogue, foster daughter), Miles Ralph Brickman (husband), Gloria Brickman (adopted daughter), Talia Wagner (Nocturne, alternate time-line granddaughter)
Citizenship: U.S.A., criminal record
Place of Birth: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Mercenary, adventurer, former terrorist, government operative, private investigator, model, journalist
Education: Unrevealed
Powers
Mystique is a mutant metamorph who can psionically shift the cells and tissues of her body so as to change her physical appearance. She can cause herself to look and sound exactly like any human, humanoid, or semi-humanoid being of either sex, wearing virtually any kind of clothing and accessory (even glasses). As such, she almost never wears clothes of her own since she prefers to mimic clothing. Her control is so exact that she can precisely duplicate another person's retina pattern in her own eyes, finger, palm and skin-pore patterns on her own hands and skin, and vocal cords to match voices to the point of deceiving vocal recognition software. She is also able to shift the placement of vital organs in her body to avoid damage from lacerations and punctures (notably gunfire). She also possesses a retarded aging process, if she ages at all; she is over 100 years old. As a result of exposure to unknown extraterrestrial radiation her abilities enhanced; She now possesses a healing factor (which grants her a great tolerance for toxins), enhanced strength, and augmented shapeshifting powers. She has been shown growing wings (enabling flight), shifting her abdomen to conceal small firearms, growing extra limbs, changing her mass to become a small child and flattening her body (strikingly similar to Mr. Fantastic).
Mystique was limited only by her inability to diminish or increase her own mass. As a result, while she could make herself look exactly like a person who was physically bigger than herself, she would not weigh as much as the actual person that she was imitating. Although she could maintain the form of another person of similar height, weight, and build indefinitely (as with her own appearance as Raven Darkholme), the longer she maintained that form, the greater the strain she felt. If she maintained a bigger form for too long a period, the length of which is directly proportional to the difference in size between that form and her normal one, she would collapse and revert to her normal appearance. However recently she has stated that her mass can change when she does, possibly a result of her enhancement.
Mystique also cannot duplicate the powers of the person she imitates: for example, when she turned herself into a duplicate of Nightcrawler, she did not gain his ability to teleport. As of yet Mystique has not demonstrated any ability to adopt the form of non-humanoid beings, animals, plants, or non-living objects, it is conjectured that she cannot imitate any of these without interfering with the proper functioning of her internal organs and possibly causing her death. The truth however, like much regarding Mystique, remains unclear. However, she has on occasion, adapted fins for swimming, and even wings for hang-gliding.
Over the centuries, Mystique has become so adapt at imitation that she can usually tell if someone is pretending to be someone else just by their body language. This even goes for psychics, as she was able to tell that Nate Grey was possessing Norman Osborn.
History
Origin
Raven Darkholme, otherwise known as Mystique, has a very convoluted history in which very little is known, the exception being that she is more than 100 years old, and was most likely born somewhere in Austria. Mystique is one of the few bisexual characters in comics, having had a long relationship with Irene Adler, otherwise known as Destiny. Mystique initially met Destiny when she was hired to help her decipher her dreams and stop the worst of them from coming to pass. The two of them would eventually become life long lovers. When Mystique was involved with Destiny the two of them actively tried to thwart Destniny's negative precognitive dreams from coming to pass. The two stayed with each other for decades until Destiny was killed. Mystique has also been the mother of three known children. She is the biological mother of both Nightcrawler and Graydon Creed, whose father was the mutant Sabretooth. Ironically, Graydon turned out to be just a normal human and became the mutant- hating leader of the racist group known as the Friends of Humanity. He was eventually assassinated by Mystique herself. Her third child, by adoption, was Rogue, who would eventually join the X-Men after turning her back on the Mystique's Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
At one point in her life, Raven and Victor Creed became lovers for a time. When the two initially met, Raven was in the disguise of Leni Zauber. Both Leni and Victor had been assigned to kill a scientist in Berlin. Although, Raven was the one who ultimately killed the scientist, the two of them still needed to keep a low profile and opted to stay in the same safe house. It was here that they first became lovers until Raven faked her death so that she could leave Sabretooth without objection. During their time together, unbeknownst to Sabretooth, they conceived a child. Raven immediately gave the child up for adoption, although she
Azazel still kept track of him until he hit adolescence and it became apparent that he was not a mutant. The child grew up to be the human known as Graydon Creed. This turn out angered Raven and she refused to claim him as her child. Graydon knew that both of his parents were mutants and because they left him, he began to despise all mutants. Soon after reaching adulthood, Graydon became the leader of the mutant hating organization called the Friends of Humanity, before becoming a politician. During one of his speeches he was shot from a distance by an unknown shooter. The shooter was eventually revealed to be Raven when she was forced to go on a time traveling expedition with Jean Grey, Iceman, Toad and Juggernaut. Later on in Raven's life she had a son named Kurt Wagner with the ancient biblical mutant named Azazel. During this time Raven was married to Christian Wagner and the two of them were happily married until she learned of Christian's infertility. She then used her powers to have sex with a number of partners as she desperately wanted another child. That is when she meet Azazel, who told her of the islands he ruled off the coast of Bermuda, and that he was the father of many mutants who were called Neyaphem. Raven was soon found that she was pregnant, although her husband became suspicious as he was unable to father children. After his father convinced him to have a blood test, Raven killed her father-in-law and buried him. She then gave birth to a baby with black hair, yellow eyes, blue skin, and a pointed tail after reverting to her true form due to the stress of the birth. The villagers thought that both the mother and child were demons and they quickly attempted to kill them. Raven soon threw her newborn son into a river before changing her form to that of a local villager so that she could escape alive.
Later, Raven would soon adopt the child named Anna Marie (who would later grow up to become the X-Man known as Rogue) after Destiny saw that Anna would be very important to their goals. Although, initially distrustful, Raven gained the young girls trust before bringing creating a family with her and Destiny for nearly a decade, with Raven becoming very protective over Anna. During this time, Raven had concealed her mutant abilities so well that she was able to work for the United States Civil Service and eventually worked her way up to the trusted position of Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Planning Agency (DARPA) in the United States Department of Defense, giving her access to military secrets and advanced weaponry, both of which she used for her own criminal and subversive purposes. In order to help further her terrorist activities, Raven organized a group called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, whose members consisted of Avalanche, the Blob, Destiny, and Pyro. The group gained infamy after their failed attempt to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly after being stopped by the X-Men. If her team had succeeded, then the future events chronicled in the story ' Days of Future Past' would eventually come to pass, and Sentinels would in turn hunt down and kill all mutants under the auspices of the U.S. government.
After training Anna in the use of her powers, Mystique gave her the codename, Rogue, and allowed her to join the Brotherhood. With Rouge on their team, the Brotherhood successfully defeated the Avengers. However, during their battle, Rouge attempted to use her absorption power on Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately, Ms. Marvel did not go down easily, and Rogue was forced to absorb her psyche and powers permanently. This caused Rogue to feel as if she was going insane since Ms. Marvels persona often attempted to gain control of Rogues mind. With no other option, Rogue abandoned her pseudo family in order to join Charles Xavier in hopes that he could help, where her mother could not. Unfortunately, Mystique believed that Xavier had brainwashed her daughter and she attempted to liberate Rogue from the X-Mens control. This rescue mission was short lived after Rogue told Mystique that she believed Xavier was the only person in the world who could help her control her powers. Reluctantly, Raven left Rogue with the X-Men, although she still continued to check in on her from time to time. Over the years however, Mystique, began to resent Xavier and the X-Men, believing that they had stolen one of the few special people in her life.
Freedom Force
Later, Raven became a member of the government sanctioned group known as Freedom Force when she offered the Brotherhood's services to Valerie Cooper, the special assistant to the Head of Security. Because of the growing anti-mutant hysteria that was spreading through America, the government accepted Raven's request under the condition that they locate and capture Magneto. The team proved to be successful only because Magneto had already opted to turn himself. As a reward for helping the government, Raven and the rest of the Brotherhood had their criminal past erased with the condition that they commit no other crime in the future. During Ravens time with the team, she helped to capture the Avengers, fought with X-Factor in order to arrest Rusty Collins, and battled the New Mutants to capture both Rusty and Skids. She also led Freedom Force to attack the Reavers on Muir Island, where Stonewall was killed. During the same battle, Mystique left Forge in charge of Destiny, until Destiny convinced Mystique she needed her aid more. Destiny was subsequently killed and Mystique blamed and swore vengeance on Forge for her death. Mystique eventually decided to take time off for herself so that she could spread Destiny's ashes in the ocean.
X-Factor
Mystique grew tired and depressed without Destiny and was soon marked for death by the Shadow King. She was soon assisted by Xavier and the X-Men before saving Xavier himself by helping to defeat the Shadow King. Unfortunately Mystique's mental condition only worsened when she was marked for death yet again. However, this time it was by her former teammate, Spiral, who tracked her across the globe. Mystique was eventually saved by Wolverine who took her back to the X-Mansion so that she could recover. In the end, Raven had a complete mental breakdown after and was taken to Forge's home in Dallas. With Forge, Mystique became horrified when she discovered that her son, Graydon Creed had become the leader of an anti-mutant hate group and had hired Sabretooth to kill Mystique. However, Mystique revealed the truth about their son to Sabretooth, convincing him to go after Graydon instead. Later, when a top ranking U.S. General with ties to Graydon turned up dead, Forge realized that Mystique was to blame and was preparing her next move to kill her son. This led to Rogue and Nightcrawler's interference as they attempted to stop Raven. Nightcrawler also finally learned the truth that Mystique was indeed his mother. Although, Raven failed to kill Creed, she was presumed dead after saving Nightcrawler, when Creed attempted to murder his newly discovered brother. Months later, Raven returned and attempted to kill Legion for killing Destiny back on Muir Island. When her attempt failed, Raven began to flee from the government. Unfortunately, Forge had placed a tracking device in her head during their time together, allowing the government team, X-Factor to find and capture her. She was then forced to become a member of X-Factor, after she discovered a government plot to blow up a damn and blame it on mutants. Sabretooth was subsequently placed on the team as a sleeper agent in order to kill Raven. During her time with X-Factor, Mystique began to develop a true romantic relationship with Forge, even though he thought that she was only using him. Later it was discovered that Mystique's lover, Destiny, had given birth to children during one of the couples long separations. The children were now adults with their own children, one of whom was a mutant. Graydon had the mutant teen savagely beaten by members of the Friends of Humanity, as a warning towards his mother. Furious, Mystique began preparations to again attempt to kill her son, however she quickly decided against it when she learned that his own colleagues wanted him killed so that he could be made a martyr. Mystique reluctantly attempted to save Graydon from being assassinated, although she failed, and ultimately ushered in a new wave of anti-mutant violence.
Soon after, Sabretooth acted on his orders to kill the members of X-Factor after " Operation: Zero Tolerance" was initiated. Mystique attacked Sabretooth in time to save her defeated teammates and arranged for them to receive immediate medical attention before going on the run again. Later, Mystique began the alias of Mallory Brickman, the wife of a US Senator. She then used her husbands status to send the FBI after Sabretooth. Weeks later, Mystique infiltrated a government operated building where she attempted to gain critical Intel on the identity of those responsible for her son's death and the attempt to kill her via Sabretooth. Nearing success, Mystique suddenly lost her powers and reverted to a human form before being arrested. This ultimately ruined all of Raven's hard work over the years, as the government destroyed all of her established alternate identities and denied her access to any of the money that she and Destiny had accumulated together. Mystique's relationship with Rogue also took a turn for the worse when Rogue refused to break Mystique out of jail and instead, decided to join her "second" family by assisting the X-Men in defeating the High Evolutionary, who was responsible for the sudden loss of mutant powers. When the X-Men succeed in their mission, all mutants regained their abilities, allowing Mystique to escape from prison. Mystique was soon sent back in time by the original X-Factor's sentient ship where she discovered that her son's killer was none other than herself, and that Destiny was one of the original members of the anti-mutant conspiracy which she had been fighting for countless years now. This caused Mystique to have another mental breakdown and she became obsessed with eradicating humanity. She soon developed a plan and reformed the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to steal the Legacy Virus from Moira MacTaggert. While impersonating Moira, Mystique's previous experience with bio-terrorism allowed her to use Moira's infected blood to create a weapon that would target humans rather than mutants. Raven was also able to find a cure for the human version of the Legacy Virus before destroying Moira's lab and fatally injuring the scientist. Before leaving Muir Island in the form of Moira, Raven was discovered by Rahne Sinclaire. Raven quickly shot the mutant in the chest with a gun engineered by Forge, depowering the young mutants. Rogue eventually attempted to stop her mother, but Mystique stabbed her in the stomach once she knew that Rogue would not allow her plan to be successful. Rogue survived the attack by absorbing Wolverine's healing factor and claws which she used to brutally stab Mystique in the back. Later in a hospital, Raven confessed to the X-Men that in Destiny's visions, she had seen a dark future for mutants and no matter what preventative action she took, it still seemed to unfold. Without sympathy, Mystique was sent to prison where she eventually escaped and began using Martinique Jason to control X-Corps before ruining the organization and cutting Banshee's throat, leaving him in critical condition.
Agent of Xavier
After being defeated again, Mystique attempted to work as a double agent for Xavier, who offered to shield Mystique from being found by the other countries she was now wanted in for her acts of terrorism. However, if she were caught, Xavier would deny ever having worked with her. Mystique was assisted on her missions with advanced technology developed by Forge, and the three inch telepathic mutant, named Shortpack, who acted as her handler. During one of her missions, an enemy of Xavier's known as the Quiet Man, contacted Mystique and offered to give her an interference transmitter (the same device that Xavier used to keep her hidden from the authorities) on the condition that she kill Xavier. Mystique created a plan with Forge where she would attempt to kill Xavier, however, he would stop her at the last minute so that the Quiet Man believed that she was still working for him. Unfortunately, the X-Men believed that she had truly attempted to kill Xavier and went after her.
It was Rogue who eventually managed to track down Mystique and she quickly disowned her foster mother, claiming that she had simply gone too far this time. Mystique attempted to apologize for what she had done to Rogue, however, her efforts were futile as she was forced to blow up the house she was in order to escape from Rogue. Mystique then returned to the Quiet Man to gain the interference transmitter, however, the Quiet Man had already decided to kill Mystique, believing that she had outlived her usefulness. It was here that Mystique learns that the Quiet Man is in reality, the Xaviers former special agent that Mystique replaced, Prudence Leighton. After an ensuing fight, Mystique managed to kill the Quiet Man, rescue her former handler, Shortpack, and discover that the interference transmitter she gained had been fake all along. She soon attempted to switch Forge's real transmitter with her fake one, however, Forge angrily smashed it before telling Mystique that he never wanted to see her again. The two mutants share a final and sad good-bye kiss before Mystique leaves and Forge discovers that she had already switched his transmitter with the fake one.
X-Men
After some time had passed, Mystique began to become worried about Rogue's relationship with Gambit and their inability to have a physical relationship. Because of this, Mystique first posed as a student at the Xavier Institute named Foxx and attempted to seduce Gambit. However, her true identity was soon discovered and she claimed that her intention was to simply test Gambit, and was only acting in Rogue's best interest. She then asked to join the team, admitting that the world was too dangerous a place for mutants to be on their own, so she sought asylum from the X-Men. Rogue was opposed to Mystique's membership, however, the team opted to allow her to join on a probationary status.
Partly due to her previous interference, Rogue and Gambit soon split up and Mystique attempted to play match maker by introducing Rogue to the mutant known as Pulse. This did not work out in Mystique's favor and when Rogue was assembling her strike force of X-Men she added Mystique to her team only to keep an eye on her. Mystique ultimately helped Rogue's X-Men in their missions, including in their battle against the Children of the Vault. During her time with the X-Men, Mystique developed and consummated a brief relationship with Iceman. However, she later revealed herself to be a traitor when she allied with Lady Mastermind and Omega Sentinel (who was being possessed by Malice) and defected with them to join Mr. Sinister's Marauders during their attack on the X-Men. At the peak of the battle Mystique shot Rogue and subsequently abducted her, taking her to the Marauders base before giving Iceman a brief warning about the future.
Messiah Complex
Mystique stayed with the Marauders and looked after the still injured Rogue. When Gambit and the other Marauders returned to their base on Muir Island with the Baby Mutant, they immediately hand the child to Mr. Sinister. Sinister then tells the Marauders to leave, with the exception of Gambit, when Sinister shapeshifts into Mystique and it is revealed that she has already killed Mr. Sinister after she forced him to touch Rogue's skin. She then admits that everything that she has done since joining the X-Men has been done in order to save Rogue's life after reading certain sections of Destiny's Diaries, which revealed the outcome of the actions that Mystique should take. Mystique then tells Gambit that the child is required to save Rogue's life. Gambit does not understand the connection until Mystique places the child's forehead onto Rogue's lips. Gambit quickly snatches the child away and chastizes Mystique, claiming that Rogue would not want to sacrifice the life of an innocent child only to save hers. Gambit soon realizes that the child is still alive, however, Mystique suddenly begins to breakdown when Rogue does not instantly wake up. Professor Xavier soon walks into the room and Gambit gives him the child for safe keeping as Rogue begins to gain consciousness. Gambit quickly tries to explain the situation, however, Rogue is still furious at her mother, and simply says that all of it has to stop. Rogue attempts to kill Mystique by touching her, believing that she is still infected by Strain-88, however it is revealed that Rogue has been completely healed and no longer has the psyche of every being she has touched residing within her. Unfortunately for her, this doesn't last long as Mystique's psychic imprint now resides within her. Rogue then leaves Mystique unconscious and heads to the Australian outback to work things out for herself.
Get Mystique
During the following commotion of the end battle and shooting of Xavier in Messiah Complex, Mystique regains consciousness and escapes from the area. Cyclops later asked Wolverine to track down Mystique and permanently take her out. Wolverine tracks her all over Afghanistan while remembering the time that they first met. It turns out that both of them had previously been captured for being mutants back in the Wild West Era, and after freeing themselves, Mystique convinced Wolverine to join her group of fellow mutants. Wolverine agrees, however, he double crosses the group when they attempt to rob a bank by leading police to the scene. Fortunately for Mystique, she had already left before the police arrived. During the present time, Wolverine continued to track Mystique before he is ambushed. Mystique then shapeshifts into his form and continues to kill an unknown soldier. When Wolverine finally arrives at the scene, others begin to shoot at him, allowing Mystique to then shapeshift into a woman and kill the General of an army, allowing her to impersonate him. Wolverine finds a way to get close to her only for her to escape again. During the battle he calls her a coward, and she explains why Wolverine hates her so much. She tells him that they kept accepting Mystique into the group only for her to betray them. She tells them that it is only her nature and that Wolverine will also betray them sooner or later. Later on Wolverine finds her again, and she is naked to show Wolverine that she is not a coward nor is she ashamed of herself. After some explosions and shooting, Wolverine finally gets closer to her and a fight ensues. Wolverine is shot and stabbed while Mystique is stabbed with his claws multiple times. Injured, Mystique shoots Wolverine in the head which should cause him temporary brain damage as she then throws up in his face. She crawls away until Wolverine heals and awakens only to find her yet again. She tells him to just kill her but he sees that she is bleeding to death and throws her a gun, telling her that he has friends who will always come to get him, while she's alone. That in mind she should know what the gun is for. Mystique screams out at Logan as he leaves her in the dessert with the pistol.
Manifest Destiny
It is later discovered that Mystique survived that day and has been in the form of Iceman's ex-girlfriend, Opal Tanaka, having met Bobby at a party. Recently, Bobby had been experiencing difficulties with his powers. His body is in pain and always feels cold. As Opal, Mystique encourages him to call Hank. Hank advises Bobby that the problem with his powers could very well be due to the toxin Mystique slipped him, but he would need to run tests in San Fransisco to be sure. He sends the X-Jet by remote and 'Opal' insists on coming with him. During the flight she questions him about how he was infected and asks Bobby, "I wonder if she meant for this to happen.", but he dismisses the idea that Mystique would even care. Soon after, the bomb she slipped onto the plane explodes, creating a hole in the side of the jet. She reverts back to her true form before kicking him out of the jet and to the snowy covered mountains they were flying over.
Throughout the next few days Mystique repeatedly attacks him and nearly kills him; but never finishing him off. She tells Iceman that she has never loved nor liked him. She injects him directly with another toxin, refusing to let hospital workers help him, and forcing him to cure himself with his malfunctioning powers. While Bobby hitchhiked, she attacked the semi he was riding in. Bobby traps her in ice, but she escapes when he is distracted by the semi's driver.
She is later found waiting on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, disguised as Iceman, with a pressure switch detonator in her hand to the bomb she has planted. Bobby is given permission to approach her first while the others look for the bomb. It's here the two finally have it out. He tells her that Wolverine told him what happened in their fight. Mystique admits that Logan was right about her being alone. That it sounded like the truth. Bobby tells her that he thinks she was lying earlier about not loving him. To this she has no reply. He pushes her further about how her daughter and son wont have anything to do with her. She starts to cry and demands he stops, but he just pushes harder telling her that if she would try asking someone out to dinner in place of blowing up bridges she might actually get a somewhere. With her hurt, angry, and sad she is distracted enough to let Bobby freeze her hand while still holding the detonator. Her bomb has been found and the rest of the X-Men are on the way. She uses her frozen fits to knock Bobby down and tells him. She will come to see him again. Not with her body or face, but promises that he will love her. That being said, she jumps off the top of the bridge, the full seven-hundred feet; and into the San Fransisco Bay. Her body is never found, but Bobby is sure she is alive and realizes he owes her thanks. In her own way she cured him of the very problem she started.
Utopia
The world wants to have birth control over mutants which is why Norman Osborn (HAMMER leader, Iron Patriot, and world leader) wants to handle the affairs by creating his own mutant peace-keeping team: The Dark X-Men. This is something Professor Xavier publicly accepts, but in secret the Professor is actually Mystique under Osborn's influence. While the real Charles Xavier is being held captive and tortured in H.A.M.M.E.R.'s base. Mystique seems an unwilling participant in the Dark X-Men team. Of all the villains and heroes Osborn has collected for his various dark teams. It's Mystique that he injected with nanites. Should she step out of line he has threatened to blow her up.
Not being used as a field agent of the Dark X-Men team. Instead she is sent out to perform PR (Public Relations) tasks, in the guise of Charles Xavier; such as giving interviews on talk shows or interacting with other media outlets. The plan is to have a well known advocate of human-mutant coexistence denounce Cyclops and his actions.
After the betrayal of Emma Frost, Namor, Cloak and Dagger. Mystique remains behind, still infected with nanites, with the left overs of the Dark X-Men; Dark Beast, Weapon Omega, and Mimic. With the rescue of Professor X and Beast by the X-Men. Mystique posing as Jean Grey as a ploy to play with some of the X-Men that she dislikes, such as Cyclops, Wolverine and Emma Frost.
Mystique and Norman appear to have a deal that was made between the two of them. Something that has not been spoke of. She is impressed that Norman had the foresight to realize that she's too dangerous to be left alone, and tells him so. She may not be happy to be on this leash, but she does see why he feels it's needed. It's later revealed that Norman Osborn has placed nanites in her nervous system, so that if Mystique disobeys Norman, he'll blow her up. Norman has assigned a mission to her and the Dark X-Men, having to face the returned Nate Grey. After the Dark X-Man help the Green Goblin defeat Nate, Mystique realizes it was a mistake not helping him.
--Karen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Code name: Mystique
Real name: Raven Darkholme
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Red
Skin Color: Blue
Known Relatives: Christian Wagner (ex-husband, deceased), Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler, son), Graydon Creed (son, deceased), Anna Marie ( Rogue, foster daughter), Miles Ralph Brickman (husband), Gloria Brickman (adopted daughter), Talia Wagner (Nocturne, alternate time-line granddaughter)
Citizenship: U.S.A., criminal record
Place of Birth: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Mercenary, adventurer, former terrorist, government operative, private investigator, model, journalist
Education: Unrevealed
Powers
Mystique is a mutant metamorph who can psionically shift the cells and tissues of her body so as to change her physical appearance. She can cause herself to look and sound exactly like any human, humanoid, or semi-humanoid being of either sex, wearing virtually any kind of clothing and accessory (even glasses). As such, she almost never wears clothes of her own since she prefers to mimic clothing. Her control is so exact that she can precisely duplicate another person's retina pattern in her own eyes, finger, palm and skin-pore patterns on her own hands and skin, and vocal cords to match voices to the point of deceiving vocal recognition software. She is also able to shift the placement of vital organs in her body to avoid damage from lacerations and punctures (notably gunfire). She also possesses a retarded aging process, if she ages at all; she is over 100 years old. As a result of exposure to unknown extraterrestrial radiation her abilities enhanced; She now possesses a healing factor (which grants her a great tolerance for toxins), enhanced strength, and augmented shapeshifting powers. She has been shown growing wings (enabling flight), shifting her abdomen to conceal small firearms, growing extra limbs, changing her mass to become a small child and flattening her body (strikingly similar to Mr. Fantastic).
Mystique was limited only by her inability to diminish or increase her own mass. As a result, while she could make herself look exactly like a person who was physically bigger than herself, she would not weigh as much as the actual person that she was imitating. Although she could maintain the form of another person of similar height, weight, and build indefinitely (as with her own appearance as Raven Darkholme), the longer she maintained that form, the greater the strain she felt. If she maintained a bigger form for too long a period, the length of which is directly proportional to the difference in size between that form and her normal one, she would collapse and revert to her normal appearance. However recently she has stated that her mass can change when she does, possibly a result of her enhancement.
Mystique also cannot duplicate the powers of the person she imitates: for example, when she turned herself into a duplicate of Nightcrawler, she did not gain his ability to teleport. As of yet Mystique has not demonstrated any ability to adopt the form of non-humanoid beings, animals, plants, or non-living objects, it is conjectured that she cannot imitate any of these without interfering with the proper functioning of her internal organs and possibly causing her death. The truth however, like much regarding Mystique, remains unclear. However, she has on occasion, adapted fins for swimming, and even wings for hang-gliding.
Over the centuries, Mystique has become so adapt at imitation that she can usually tell if someone is pretending to be someone else just by their body language. This even goes for psychics, as she was able to tell that Nate Grey was possessing Norman Osborn.
History
Origin
Raven Darkholme, otherwise known as Mystique, has a very convoluted history in which very little is known, the exception being that she is more than 100 years old, and was most likely born somewhere in Austria. Mystique is one of the few bisexual characters in comics, having had a long relationship with Irene Adler, otherwise known as Destiny. Mystique initially met Destiny when she was hired to help her decipher her dreams and stop the worst of them from coming to pass. The two of them would eventually become life long lovers. When Mystique was involved with Destiny the two of them actively tried to thwart Destniny's negative precognitive dreams from coming to pass. The two stayed with each other for decades until Destiny was killed. Mystique has also been the mother of three known children. She is the biological mother of both Nightcrawler and Graydon Creed, whose father was the mutant Sabretooth. Ironically, Graydon turned out to be just a normal human and became the mutant- hating leader of the racist group known as the Friends of Humanity. He was eventually assassinated by Mystique herself. Her third child, by adoption, was Rogue, who would eventually join the X-Men after turning her back on the Mystique's Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
At one point in her life, Raven and Victor Creed became lovers for a time. When the two initially met, Raven was in the disguise of Leni Zauber. Both Leni and Victor had been assigned to kill a scientist in Berlin. Although, Raven was the one who ultimately killed the scientist, the two of them still needed to keep a low profile and opted to stay in the same safe house. It was here that they first became lovers until Raven faked her death so that she could leave Sabretooth without objection. During their time together, unbeknownst to Sabretooth, they conceived a child. Raven immediately gave the child up for adoption, although she
Azazel still kept track of him until he hit adolescence and it became apparent that he was not a mutant. The child grew up to be the human known as Graydon Creed. This turn out angered Raven and she refused to claim him as her child. Graydon knew that both of his parents were mutants and because they left him, he began to despise all mutants. Soon after reaching adulthood, Graydon became the leader of the mutant hating organization called the Friends of Humanity, before becoming a politician. During one of his speeches he was shot from a distance by an unknown shooter. The shooter was eventually revealed to be Raven when she was forced to go on a time traveling expedition with Jean Grey, Iceman, Toad and Juggernaut. Later on in Raven's life she had a son named Kurt Wagner with the ancient biblical mutant named Azazel. During this time Raven was married to Christian Wagner and the two of them were happily married until she learned of Christian's infertility. She then used her powers to have sex with a number of partners as she desperately wanted another child. That is when she meet Azazel, who told her of the islands he ruled off the coast of Bermuda, and that he was the father of many mutants who were called Neyaphem. Raven was soon found that she was pregnant, although her husband became suspicious as he was unable to father children. After his father convinced him to have a blood test, Raven killed her father-in-law and buried him. She then gave birth to a baby with black hair, yellow eyes, blue skin, and a pointed tail after reverting to her true form due to the stress of the birth. The villagers thought that both the mother and child were demons and they quickly attempted to kill them. Raven soon threw her newborn son into a river before changing her form to that of a local villager so that she could escape alive.
Later, Raven would soon adopt the child named Anna Marie (who would later grow up to become the X-Man known as Rogue) after Destiny saw that Anna would be very important to their goals. Although, initially distrustful, Raven gained the young girls trust before bringing creating a family with her and Destiny for nearly a decade, with Raven becoming very protective over Anna. During this time, Raven had concealed her mutant abilities so well that she was able to work for the United States Civil Service and eventually worked her way up to the trusted position of Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Planning Agency (DARPA) in the United States Department of Defense, giving her access to military secrets and advanced weaponry, both of which she used for her own criminal and subversive purposes. In order to help further her terrorist activities, Raven organized a group called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, whose members consisted of Avalanche, the Blob, Destiny, and Pyro. The group gained infamy after their failed attempt to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly after being stopped by the X-Men. If her team had succeeded, then the future events chronicled in the story ' Days of Future Past' would eventually come to pass, and Sentinels would in turn hunt down and kill all mutants under the auspices of the U.S. government.
After training Anna in the use of her powers, Mystique gave her the codename, Rogue, and allowed her to join the Brotherhood. With Rouge on their team, the Brotherhood successfully defeated the Avengers. However, during their battle, Rouge attempted to use her absorption power on Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately, Ms. Marvel did not go down easily, and Rogue was forced to absorb her psyche and powers permanently. This caused Rogue to feel as if she was going insane since Ms. Marvels persona often attempted to gain control of Rogues mind. With no other option, Rogue abandoned her pseudo family in order to join Charles Xavier in hopes that he could help, where her mother could not. Unfortunately, Mystique believed that Xavier had brainwashed her daughter and she attempted to liberate Rogue from the X-Mens control. This rescue mission was short lived after Rogue told Mystique that she believed Xavier was the only person in the world who could help her control her powers. Reluctantly, Raven left Rogue with the X-Men, although she still continued to check in on her from time to time. Over the years however, Mystique, began to resent Xavier and the X-Men, believing that they had stolen one of the few special people in her life.
Freedom Force
Later, Raven became a member of the government sanctioned group known as Freedom Force when she offered the Brotherhood's services to Valerie Cooper, the special assistant to the Head of Security. Because of the growing anti-mutant hysteria that was spreading through America, the government accepted Raven's request under the condition that they locate and capture Magneto. The team proved to be successful only because Magneto had already opted to turn himself. As a reward for helping the government, Raven and the rest of the Brotherhood had their criminal past erased with the condition that they commit no other crime in the future. During Ravens time with the team, she helped to capture the Avengers, fought with X-Factor in order to arrest Rusty Collins, and battled the New Mutants to capture both Rusty and Skids. She also led Freedom Force to attack the Reavers on Muir Island, where Stonewall was killed. During the same battle, Mystique left Forge in charge of Destiny, until Destiny convinced Mystique she needed her aid more. Destiny was subsequently killed and Mystique blamed and swore vengeance on Forge for her death. Mystique eventually decided to take time off for herself so that she could spread Destiny's ashes in the ocean.
X-Factor
Mystique grew tired and depressed without Destiny and was soon marked for death by the Shadow King. She was soon assisted by Xavier and the X-Men before saving Xavier himself by helping to defeat the Shadow King. Unfortunately Mystique's mental condition only worsened when she was marked for death yet again. However, this time it was by her former teammate, Spiral, who tracked her across the globe. Mystique was eventually saved by Wolverine who took her back to the X-Mansion so that she could recover. In the end, Raven had a complete mental breakdown after and was taken to Forge's home in Dallas. With Forge, Mystique became horrified when she discovered that her son, Graydon Creed had become the leader of an anti-mutant hate group and had hired Sabretooth to kill Mystique. However, Mystique revealed the truth about their son to Sabretooth, convincing him to go after Graydon instead. Later, when a top ranking U.S. General with ties to Graydon turned up dead, Forge realized that Mystique was to blame and was preparing her next move to kill her son. This led to Rogue and Nightcrawler's interference as they attempted to stop Raven. Nightcrawler also finally learned the truth that Mystique was indeed his mother. Although, Raven failed to kill Creed, she was presumed dead after saving Nightcrawler, when Creed attempted to murder his newly discovered brother. Months later, Raven returned and attempted to kill Legion for killing Destiny back on Muir Island. When her attempt failed, Raven began to flee from the government. Unfortunately, Forge had placed a tracking device in her head during their time together, allowing the government team, X-Factor to find and capture her. She was then forced to become a member of X-Factor, after she discovered a government plot to blow up a damn and blame it on mutants. Sabretooth was subsequently placed on the team as a sleeper agent in order to kill Raven. During her time with X-Factor, Mystique began to develop a true romantic relationship with Forge, even though he thought that she was only using him. Later it was discovered that Mystique's lover, Destiny, had given birth to children during one of the couples long separations. The children were now adults with their own children, one of whom was a mutant. Graydon had the mutant teen savagely beaten by members of the Friends of Humanity, as a warning towards his mother. Furious, Mystique began preparations to again attempt to kill her son, however she quickly decided against it when she learned that his own colleagues wanted him killed so that he could be made a martyr. Mystique reluctantly attempted to save Graydon from being assassinated, although she failed, and ultimately ushered in a new wave of anti-mutant violence.
Soon after, Sabretooth acted on his orders to kill the members of X-Factor after " Operation: Zero Tolerance" was initiated. Mystique attacked Sabretooth in time to save her defeated teammates and arranged for them to receive immediate medical attention before going on the run again. Later, Mystique began the alias of Mallory Brickman, the wife of a US Senator. She then used her husbands status to send the FBI after Sabretooth. Weeks later, Mystique infiltrated a government operated building where she attempted to gain critical Intel on the identity of those responsible for her son's death and the attempt to kill her via Sabretooth. Nearing success, Mystique suddenly lost her powers and reverted to a human form before being arrested. This ultimately ruined all of Raven's hard work over the years, as the government destroyed all of her established alternate identities and denied her access to any of the money that she and Destiny had accumulated together. Mystique's relationship with Rogue also took a turn for the worse when Rogue refused to break Mystique out of jail and instead, decided to join her "second" family by assisting the X-Men in defeating the High Evolutionary, who was responsible for the sudden loss of mutant powers. When the X-Men succeed in their mission, all mutants regained their abilities, allowing Mystique to escape from prison. Mystique was soon sent back in time by the original X-Factor's sentient ship where she discovered that her son's killer was none other than herself, and that Destiny was one of the original members of the anti-mutant conspiracy which she had been fighting for countless years now. This caused Mystique to have another mental breakdown and she became obsessed with eradicating humanity. She soon developed a plan and reformed the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to steal the Legacy Virus from Moira MacTaggert. While impersonating Moira, Mystique's previous experience with bio-terrorism allowed her to use Moira's infected blood to create a weapon that would target humans rather than mutants. Raven was also able to find a cure for the human version of the Legacy Virus before destroying Moira's lab and fatally injuring the scientist. Before leaving Muir Island in the form of Moira, Raven was discovered by Rahne Sinclaire. Raven quickly shot the mutant in the chest with a gun engineered by Forge, depowering the young mutants. Rogue eventually attempted to stop her mother, but Mystique stabbed her in the stomach once she knew that Rogue would not allow her plan to be successful. Rogue survived the attack by absorbing Wolverine's healing factor and claws which she used to brutally stab Mystique in the back. Later in a hospital, Raven confessed to the X-Men that in Destiny's visions, she had seen a dark future for mutants and no matter what preventative action she took, it still seemed to unfold. Without sympathy, Mystique was sent to prison where she eventually escaped and began using Martinique Jason to control X-Corps before ruining the organization and cutting Banshee's throat, leaving him in critical condition.
Agent of Xavier
After being defeated again, Mystique attempted to work as a double agent for Xavier, who offered to shield Mystique from being found by the other countries she was now wanted in for her acts of terrorism. However, if she were caught, Xavier would deny ever having worked with her. Mystique was assisted on her missions with advanced technology developed by Forge, and the three inch telepathic mutant, named Shortpack, who acted as her handler. During one of her missions, an enemy of Xavier's known as the Quiet Man, contacted Mystique and offered to give her an interference transmitter (the same device that Xavier used to keep her hidden from the authorities) on the condition that she kill Xavier. Mystique created a plan with Forge where she would attempt to kill Xavier, however, he would stop her at the last minute so that the Quiet Man believed that she was still working for him. Unfortunately, the X-Men believed that she had truly attempted to kill Xavier and went after her.
It was Rogue who eventually managed to track down Mystique and she quickly disowned her foster mother, claiming that she had simply gone too far this time. Mystique attempted to apologize for what she had done to Rogue, however, her efforts were futile as she was forced to blow up the house she was in order to escape from Rogue. Mystique then returned to the Quiet Man to gain the interference transmitter, however, the Quiet Man had already decided to kill Mystique, believing that she had outlived her usefulness. It was here that Mystique learns that the Quiet Man is in reality, the Xaviers former special agent that Mystique replaced, Prudence Leighton. After an ensuing fight, Mystique managed to kill the Quiet Man, rescue her former handler, Shortpack, and discover that the interference transmitter she gained had been fake all along. She soon attempted to switch Forge's real transmitter with her fake one, however, Forge angrily smashed it before telling Mystique that he never wanted to see her again. The two mutants share a final and sad good-bye kiss before Mystique leaves and Forge discovers that she had already switched his transmitter with the fake one.
X-Men
After some time had passed, Mystique began to become worried about Rogue's relationship with Gambit and their inability to have a physical relationship. Because of this, Mystique first posed as a student at the Xavier Institute named Foxx and attempted to seduce Gambit. However, her true identity was soon discovered and she claimed that her intention was to simply test Gambit, and was only acting in Rogue's best interest. She then asked to join the team, admitting that the world was too dangerous a place for mutants to be on their own, so she sought asylum from the X-Men. Rogue was opposed to Mystique's membership, however, the team opted to allow her to join on a probationary status.
Partly due to her previous interference, Rogue and Gambit soon split up and Mystique attempted to play match maker by introducing Rogue to the mutant known as Pulse. This did not work out in Mystique's favor and when Rogue was assembling her strike force of X-Men she added Mystique to her team only to keep an eye on her. Mystique ultimately helped Rogue's X-Men in their missions, including in their battle against the Children of the Vault. During her time with the X-Men, Mystique developed and consummated a brief relationship with Iceman. However, she later revealed herself to be a traitor when she allied with Lady Mastermind and Omega Sentinel (who was being possessed by Malice) and defected with them to join Mr. Sinister's Marauders during their attack on the X-Men. At the peak of the battle Mystique shot Rogue and subsequently abducted her, taking her to the Marauders base before giving Iceman a brief warning about the future.
Messiah Complex
Mystique stayed with the Marauders and looked after the still injured Rogue. When Gambit and the other Marauders returned to their base on Muir Island with the Baby Mutant, they immediately hand the child to Mr. Sinister. Sinister then tells the Marauders to leave, with the exception of Gambit, when Sinister shapeshifts into Mystique and it is revealed that she has already killed Mr. Sinister after she forced him to touch Rogue's skin. She then admits that everything that she has done since joining the X-Men has been done in order to save Rogue's life after reading certain sections of Destiny's Diaries, which revealed the outcome of the actions that Mystique should take. Mystique then tells Gambit that the child is required to save Rogue's life. Gambit does not understand the connection until Mystique places the child's forehead onto Rogue's lips. Gambit quickly snatches the child away and chastizes Mystique, claiming that Rogue would not want to sacrifice the life of an innocent child only to save hers. Gambit soon realizes that the child is still alive, however, Mystique suddenly begins to breakdown when Rogue does not instantly wake up. Professor Xavier soon walks into the room and Gambit gives him the child for safe keeping as Rogue begins to gain consciousness. Gambit quickly tries to explain the situation, however, Rogue is still furious at her mother, and simply says that all of it has to stop. Rogue attempts to kill Mystique by touching her, believing that she is still infected by Strain-88, however it is revealed that Rogue has been completely healed and no longer has the psyche of every being she has touched residing within her. Unfortunately for her, this doesn't last long as Mystique's psychic imprint now resides within her. Rogue then leaves Mystique unconscious and heads to the Australian outback to work things out for herself.
Get Mystique
During the following commotion of the end battle and shooting of Xavier in Messiah Complex, Mystique regains consciousness and escapes from the area. Cyclops later asked Wolverine to track down Mystique and permanently take her out. Wolverine tracks her all over Afghanistan while remembering the time that they first met. It turns out that both of them had previously been captured for being mutants back in the Wild West Era, and after freeing themselves, Mystique convinced Wolverine to join her group of fellow mutants. Wolverine agrees, however, he double crosses the group when they attempt to rob a bank by leading police to the scene. Fortunately for Mystique, she had already left before the police arrived. During the present time, Wolverine continued to track Mystique before he is ambushed. Mystique then shapeshifts into his form and continues to kill an unknown soldier. When Wolverine finally arrives at the scene, others begin to shoot at him, allowing Mystique to then shapeshift into a woman and kill the General of an army, allowing her to impersonate him. Wolverine finds a way to get close to her only for her to escape again. During the battle he calls her a coward, and she explains why Wolverine hates her so much. She tells him that they kept accepting Mystique into the group only for her to betray them. She tells them that it is only her nature and that Wolverine will also betray them sooner or later. Later on Wolverine finds her again, and she is naked to show Wolverine that she is not a coward nor is she ashamed of herself. After some explosions and shooting, Wolverine finally gets closer to her and a fight ensues. Wolverine is shot and stabbed while Mystique is stabbed with his claws multiple times. Injured, Mystique shoots Wolverine in the head which should cause him temporary brain damage as she then throws up in his face. She crawls away until Wolverine heals and awakens only to find her yet again. She tells him to just kill her but he sees that she is bleeding to death and throws her a gun, telling her that he has friends who will always come to get him, while she's alone. That in mind she should know what the gun is for. Mystique screams out at Logan as he leaves her in the dessert with the pistol.
Manifest Destiny
It is later discovered that Mystique survived that day and has been in the form of Iceman's ex-girlfriend, Opal Tanaka, having met Bobby at a party. Recently, Bobby had been experiencing difficulties with his powers. His body is in pain and always feels cold. As Opal, Mystique encourages him to call Hank. Hank advises Bobby that the problem with his powers could very well be due to the toxin Mystique slipped him, but he would need to run tests in San Fransisco to be sure. He sends the X-Jet by remote and 'Opal' insists on coming with him. During the flight she questions him about how he was infected and asks Bobby, "I wonder if she meant for this to happen.", but he dismisses the idea that Mystique would even care. Soon after, the bomb she slipped onto the plane explodes, creating a hole in the side of the jet. She reverts back to her true form before kicking him out of the jet and to the snowy covered mountains they were flying over.
Throughout the next few days Mystique repeatedly attacks him and nearly kills him; but never finishing him off. She tells Iceman that she has never loved nor liked him. She injects him directly with another toxin, refusing to let hospital workers help him, and forcing him to cure himself with his malfunctioning powers. While Bobby hitchhiked, she attacked the semi he was riding in. Bobby traps her in ice, but she escapes when he is distracted by the semi's driver.
She is later found waiting on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, disguised as Iceman, with a pressure switch detonator in her hand to the bomb she has planted. Bobby is given permission to approach her first while the others look for the bomb. It's here the two finally have it out. He tells her that Wolverine told him what happened in their fight. Mystique admits that Logan was right about her being alone. That it sounded like the truth. Bobby tells her that he thinks she was lying earlier about not loving him. To this she has no reply. He pushes her further about how her daughter and son wont have anything to do with her. She starts to cry and demands he stops, but he just pushes harder telling her that if she would try asking someone out to dinner in place of blowing up bridges she might actually get a somewhere. With her hurt, angry, and sad she is distracted enough to let Bobby freeze her hand while still holding the detonator. Her bomb has been found and the rest of the X-Men are on the way. She uses her frozen fits to knock Bobby down and tells him. She will come to see him again. Not with her body or face, but promises that he will love her. That being said, she jumps off the top of the bridge, the full seven-hundred feet; and into the San Fransisco Bay. Her body is never found, but Bobby is sure she is alive and realizes he owes her thanks. In her own way she cured him of the very problem she started.
Utopia
The world wants to have birth control over mutants which is why Norman Osborn (HAMMER leader, Iron Patriot, and world leader) wants to handle the affairs by creating his own mutant peace-keeping team: The Dark X-Men. This is something Professor Xavier publicly accepts, but in secret the Professor is actually Mystique under Osborn's influence. While the real Charles Xavier is being held captive and tortured in H.A.M.M.E.R.'s base. Mystique seems an unwilling participant in the Dark X-Men team. Of all the villains and heroes Osborn has collected for his various dark teams. It's Mystique that he injected with nanites. Should she step out of line he has threatened to blow her up.
Not being used as a field agent of the Dark X-Men team. Instead she is sent out to perform PR (Public Relations) tasks, in the guise of Charles Xavier; such as giving interviews on talk shows or interacting with other media outlets. The plan is to have a well known advocate of human-mutant coexistence denounce Cyclops and his actions.
After the betrayal of Emma Frost, Namor, Cloak and Dagger. Mystique remains behind, still infected with nanites, with the left overs of the Dark X-Men; Dark Beast, Weapon Omega, and Mimic. With the rescue of Professor X and Beast by the X-Men. Mystique posing as Jean Grey as a ploy to play with some of the X-Men that she dislikes, such as Cyclops, Wolverine and Emma Frost.
Mystique and Norman appear to have a deal that was made between the two of them. Something that has not been spoke of. She is impressed that Norman had the foresight to realize that she's too dangerous to be left alone, and tells him so. She may not be happy to be on this leash, but she does see why he feels it's needed. It's later revealed that Norman Osborn has placed nanites in her nervous system, so that if Mystique disobeys Norman, he'll blow her up. Norman has assigned a mission to her and the Dark X-Men, having to face the returned Nate Grey. After the Dark X-Man help the Green Goblin defeat Nate, Mystique realizes it was a mistake not helping him.
--Karen