Pixie (X-Men)

For other uses, see Pixie (comics).

Pixie
Pixie. Art by David Finch
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men: Academy X #5 (November, 2004)
Created by	Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir (writers) Michael Ryan (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Megan Gwynn
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	The Lights[1] New X-Men Paragons training squad Xavier Institute X-Men X-Men-In-Training
Abilities	Insect wings enable flight "Pixie dust" which causes hallucinations on targets Wields a Souldagger Limited magic

Pixie (Megan Gwynn) is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe. Her mutation grants her pixie-like eyes, colorful wings that allow her to fly, and "pixie dust" which causes hallucinations. After a confrontation with the revived former member of the New Mutants, Magik, she gains the ability to use magic and a magical weapon called the "Souldagger." Her main use of magic is a massive teleportation spell, which makes her a key asset to various X-Men missions and teams and places her as one of the titles' primary magic users. She was first introduced as a student on the Paragons training squad at the Xavier Institute in New X-Men, vol. 2, later joining the New X-Men team, and later graduating to the Uncanny X-Men team. Though only a side character in her initial appearances, she has since become a prominent character in various X-Men titles.

Fictional character biography

Megan Gwynn is a Welsh teenager from a fictional mining town called Abergylid. Her father died in the mine and because of that she develops a fear of it and leaves. She would later discover he wasn't really her father, but the villainous Mastermind was, and Lady Mastermind and Mastermind II are her sisters.^[2] In her original inception, she had short pink hair, pure black eyes and butterfly-like rainbow wings.

Pixie (center) and her team

After enrolling at Xavier Institute, Pixie is assigned to be part of the Paragons training squad under the tutelage of former New Mutant member Rahne Sinclair. She wears a bicycle helmet during training sessions, due to her uncertainty with flying. During this time, she develops a crush on the X-Man Cyclops and is considered a cheerful girl who fits in well with other students; she was voted Friendliest Student.^[3]

M-Day

Following the events of House of M, almost all of the Institute's students are depowered, which leads to the dissolution of the school's training squad system. Pixie is one of only twenty-seven students, including her fellow Paragons Trance, Wolf Cub, and Match, not to have lost her mutant abilities.

She participates in Emma Frost's battle royal which determines who will train to be an X-Man, but does not make the team. She remains at the school, appearing occasionally as a side character. Later, forty-two of Pixie's former classmates are killed when their bus is blown up by a missile sent by William Stryker, an anti-mutant crusader. Among the confirmed deaths are Gwynn's fellow Paragon, DJ.^[4]

Quest For Magik

Pixie, along with Anole, Loa, Wolf Cub, Rockslide, and Match, are told a frightening ghost story by fellow student Blindfold one night at the school. However, they discover that the story is not fictitious, but rather a prophecy; telling Pixie that she is "sorry for [her] loss," Blindfold and her classmates are sucked into the realm of Limbo, where they were immediately attacked by a mob of demons.^[5]

Pixie stays by Blindfold's side during the fight, and Blindfold cautions Pixie and the others that Pixie must not "fall to darkness." Pixie uses her powers on-panel for the first time during the fight, incapacitating several demons with her "pixie dust."^[6] After Darkchilde saves the small group, she asks N'astirh to bring Pixie to her, recognizing that Pixie's soul is the most innocent and therefore the most powerful in Limbo. Despite her friends' pleas, Megan submits to Magik's request to use her soul to create a Soulsword and Bloodstones, magical stones forged from an innocent soul that grant great power to their owners, but is freed from the process by Anole. His intervention saves her, but leaves the spell unfinished, resulting in the creation of only one Bloodstone and a "Souldagger" instead. Magik then explains that the Souldagger is actually a portion of Pixie's own soul and that black magic has now filled the hole left behind in the knife's creation, leaving Pixie no longer an innocent, represented by a great portion of her pink hair changing to black.^[7]

Pixie is then taught a teleportation spell by Magik and Pixie uses it to teleport herself and her friends to Belasco to stop him from torturing the rest of the students. Pixie saves the students and ultimately kills Belasco by stabbing him with the Souldagger.^[8] After defeating Belasco, Magik wants to use more of Pixie's soul to create more Bloodstones to gain more power, but becomes disgusted with herself when her brother calls out to her, sending Pixie and the others back to the Xavier Institute and sealing all entrances to Limbo. Pixie and Anole are then made official members of the New X-Men for their bravery in Limbo by insistence of Rockslide.^[9] Pixie later reveals that Doctor Strange will tutor her in magic when she comes of age and begins receiving additional training.^[10][11]

Messiah Complex

When the first new mutant since M-Day appears, Pixie joins X-23, Hellion, Anole, Surge, Armor, and Rockslide in attacking the Washington, D.C. base of the anti-mutant Purifiers by teleporting them there. They are confronted by Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers with Hellion receiving a near mortal injury.^[12] Greatly outnumbered, Pixie panics and cannot teleport the team out until Rictor, who infiltrated the Purifiers as a spy, helps her concentrate. Pixie manages to cast a hazardous "blind teleport," which scatters the New X-Men between Washington, D.C. and the Xavier Institute^[13] The students are then recovered and taken back to the Institute by Iceman, and the wounded sent to the infirmary.^[14] However, Predator X later attacks the Institute, going after the weaker, wounded students in the infirmary. Pixie, realizing that X-23 had killed this type of creature before, attempts to teleport Predator X to X-23's location, but mistakenly takes the majority of the students and Beast along with her and the creature, dropping them in the middle of the X-Men's fight for the mutant baby with the Marauders on Muir Island.^[15] During the fight, Pixie is brutally beaten by the Malice-possessed Omega Sentinel, who taunts Pixie until Megan manages to defeat her by unexpectedly stabbing her with the Souldagger, exorcising Malice from Omega Sentinel's body.^[16]

Pixies and Demons

In the 2008 Free Comic Book Day X-Men one-shot story titled "Pixies and Demons," Pixie returns to her hometown after the X-Men disband following the conclusion of Messiah Complex. However, she finds the demonic N'Garai are plaguing the town and are kidnapping people to feed Kierrok the Damned, their leader. Pixie calls in the X-Men to help defeat the N’Garai and Megan has to face her fear of the mine in which her father was killed in order to defeat the demons. After defeating Kierrok, Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men take her back to America and she joins the newly reformed X-Men in San Francisco.^[17]

Manifest Destiny

After leaving one of Dazzler's gigs, Pixie is ambushed by a group of masked anti-mutant men calling themselves the Hellfire Cult. She is overpowered by the attackers and is subjected to beatings that leave her incapacitated. She manages to make her way back to the X-Men's new base and is immediately taken care of by Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Karma, and Beast.^[18] The attack and the events of the previous year cause her to question whether or not she wants to continue as part of the X-Men, but a discussion with Wolverine causes her to stay and assist them against Empath, whose powers have grown out of control. After beating him up, she stabs him in the head with her Souldagger, leaving him blind and his powers weakened.^[19] She decides to remain with the X-Men, assisting them in various other missions, including the Skrull invasion of San Francisco.^[20] According to writer Matt Fraction, her role is that of Kitty Pryde and Jubilee when they first joined the X-Men.^[21] Her strong magical ability as a teleporter with nearly unlimited distance and capacity also causes Nightcrawler, who is much more limited and traditionally serves as the X-Men's primary teleporter, to question his future usefulness to the team, though he later comes to terms with his own abilities.^[22]

X-Infernus

Main article: X-Infernus

Despite her cheerful persona, Pixie begins to reveal her anger and bitterness over her initial experience in Limbo and her incomplete soul, feeling that she is less than human. During a training session, Nightcrawler points out that her personality changes when she uses the Souldagger. This causes her to summon it and her personality turns sinister and she stabs him in the chest, causing him to pass out. Upon regaining her senses and removing the dagger, she finds that it has freed the Soulsword housed within Kurt's body. Sensing the Soulsword, Magik teleports to Earth to reclaim it.^[23] However, Pixie engages her in a fight, demanding to have the stolen portion of her soul returned and refuses to hand over the sword. Magik defeats her and regains her Soulsword, teleporting away and leaving Colossus distraught. The X-Men learn that they are now able to enter Limbo through Pixie's teleportation spell, and a team consisting of Colossus, Wolverine, Mercury, Rockslide, Pixie, and Nightcrawler is formed to reclaim Magik. Nightcrawler is put in charge due to Pixie and Colossus' personal stakes in the mission.^[24]

Pixie brandishing the upgraded Souldagger. Art by Greg Land.

While the X-Men battle various demons in Limbo, Belasco's daughter, Witchfire defeats Magik and adds Pixie's Bloodstone to her amulet, causing Pixie to lose control and teleport herself to Belasco's castle. There, Witchfire forces her to become her new apprentice and begins forging a final new Bloodstone from Pixie's soul, causing her to nightmarishly transform completely into a demon.^[25] Witchfire uses the Bloodstones to summon the Elder Gods to her aid. Pixie is reluctantly forced to work together with Magik to defeat Witchfire. While the X-Men battle the Elder Gods, Illyana fights Witchfire and strips her of the amulet containing the Bloodstones. Illyana and Pixie use their blades to destroy the amulet, but Witchfire escapes the crumbling castle into the Elder Gods' dimension, claiming to return for her "apprentice." Pixie is despondent over losing more of her soul and tries to attack Magik with her Souldagger, but the glowing stone in its blade indicates that the additional stolen piece of her soul is inside it. Pixie flies away in tears into the wilds of Limbo, upset over the additional loss of her soul.^[26]

Return from Limbo

Pixie returns to the X-Men unexplained, but demonstrating noticeably improved fighting ability and greater anger when she hears about "Proposition X," a piece of anti-mutant legislation seeking to control mutant reproduction.^[27] She continues to work with the X-Men, using her abilities to defeat enemies such as Empath and rescue several students and team members, such as when the Sisterhood, a team of mutant villainesses led by a revived Madelyne Pryor, attack the X-Men's headquarters.^[28] During the protests between anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements about mutant reproductive rights, Pixie is injured when a riot breaks out.^[29] Later she teleports Rogue, Gambit and Danger to San Francisco for assistance.^[30] She is later made a part of a team to battle Emma Frost's Dark X-Men.^[31] After Emma Frost, Namor and Cloak and Dagger betray the Dark X-Men and Norman Osborn and relocate to Utopia, Pixie and Magik begin teleporting everyone to their new island base.^[32] During the final battle, Pixie joins Armor and X-23 in fighting Daken.^[33]

Pixie Strikes Back

In the 2010 miniseries Pixie Strikes Back; Pixie finds herself and several of her teenage teammates under a spell, causing them to live under the impression that they are ordinary high school girls. However, the illusion begins to fade, with Pixie finding herself in confrontation with the demon Saturnine. Meanwhile, a woman arrives on Utopia claiming to be her mother, demanding to see her.^[34] Later the woman that claimed to be Pixie's mother shows up in the Wyngarde mansion, where Lady Mastermind is fighting with Martinique. She tells them to stop acting like the babies of the family and that they have been usurped while Pixie is seen in the next panel, revealing that Jason Wyngarde is her father.^[2]

New Mutants

During a recent New Mutants arc more of her soul was ripped out after she was captured by the people at Project Purgatory. By the end of the story arc the bloodstones that make up her soul were returned to her by Magik meaning she can make her soul whole once more.

Regenesis

Pixie had a brief fling with Velocidad when Hope walked in on the two. Hope was very angry at Gabriel for this. Pixie was preparing to go to Westchester, but Hope begged for her to stay and help make her team better.

Pixie is now part of Generation Hope.

Powers and abilities

Megan possesses insect-like wings (depicted of various colors, depending on the artist) that allow her to fly. Initially, her wings were broad and multicolored, similar to a butterfly's, but recent depictions have her with iridescent, translucent wings, more like those of a dragonfly. It has been suggested that her wings' appearance is affected by her psychological state.^[35]

Pixie using her pixie dust power. Art by Greg Land.

In addition, her mutation allows her to produce a "pixie dust" that causes hallucinations, often with comedic effects, such as demons seeing bright bubbles and teddy bears, or in one instance, causing Wolverine to see and try to fight a herd of unicorns. In another instance, Megan uses her dust seemingly harmlessly to enhance the audience's perceptions of Dazzler's light show during a concert. She states that she has no idea what individuals affected by her dust are seeing.^[6]

After Magik takes part of Megan's soul in an attempt to create a Soulsword, her appearance changes, reflecting the portion of her soul lost to black magic. Artists' depictions of this change in her personality are inconsistent, but typically depict her pink hair with black streaks.^[7] She also has the ability to detect the supernatural, as evidenced when she fought the N'Garai who were under a cloaking spell. When asked how she knows where they are she replies, “there’s a sliver of darkness that Magik put inside my soul… And it’s like a compass needle for other dark… stuff.”^[17] She has also been trained in hand-to-hand combat at the institute.

Because the spell to steal Megan's soul was interrupted, a new Soulsword could not be formed; instead, Megan can summon a Souldagger, a mystical item that disrupts magical constructs and harms magical beings. Because of her connection with Magik, as Megan uses the Souldagger, her personality changes and becomes darker and more disturbing.^[23] Her dagger later changes from silver to red after it absorbs Pixie's Bloodstone.^[26] It is unclear if this change is merely cosmetic. Like recent depictions of the Soulsword,^[36] Pixie's Souldagger appears to have physical effects beyond disrupting magic and harming magical creatures. For example, while the abilities of the mutant Malice are psionic and based on mutation and not magic, the soul dagger is able to exorcise Malice's psyche from Karima Shapandar.^[16] It also appears to have physically harmed Empath, disrupting his psychic abilities and leaving him blind after she stabs him in the head with it.^[19]

Though untrained in the mystic arts, Pixie possesses the potential to wield magic, largely due to black magic which has filled the missing portions of her soul.^[10] Pixie can recite the incantation taught to her by Illyana Rasputin ("Sihal Novarum Chinoth") to teleport over long distances and to the dimension of Limbo.^[23][24] She is capable of teleporting herself and large groups over vast distances and across dimensions with relative ease, though teleporting without focusing ("blind teleporting") can be hazardous, causing those transported to be scattered and potentially causing injury to Pixie herself.^[13] Following the events of "Quest for Magik," Pixie is approached by both Doctor Strange and Amanda Sefton to receive formal tutelage in sorcery after she has come of age.^[11]

Other version

Age of X

In the alternate universe "Age of X", Megan is known as "Nightmare" and her "pixie dust" causes frightening hallucinations. Compared to her Earth-616 counterpart, her pixie dust only requires skin contact to take effect, instead of inhalation. Her appearance is different as well, with her skin tone lavender and her wings having a bat-like appearance. Her personality is also more sassy and unreserved compared to her Earth-616 counterpart.^[37]

In other media

Television

• Pixie appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "X-Calibre" voiced by Kate Higgins. She is depicted as having her trademark pink hair and colorful pixie wings. The only ability she displays is flight.^[38] In "Greetings from Genosha," Pixie is later seen arriving in Genosha.

Video games

• Though the character grew up in Wales, Pixie appears in the X-Men: Destiny video game voiced by Aileen Ong Casas in an American accent.

References

1. ^ Generation Hope #12
2. ^ ^{a b} Kathryn Immonen (w), Sarah Pichelli (p), Sarah Pichelli (i). "Pixie Strikes Back" X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back 2 (March 10, 2009), Marvel Comics
3. ^ DePhilippis, Nunzio; Christina Weir (2005). New X-Men: Academy X Vol. 3: X-Posed. New York: Marvel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7851-1791-9. 
4. ^ New X-Men #23-24
5. ^ New X-Men ##37
6. ^ ^{a b} New X-Men #38
7. ^ ^{a b} New X-Men #39
8. ^ New X-Men #40
9. ^ New X-Men #41
10. ^ ^{a b} New X-Men #42
11. ^ ^{a b} New X-Men #43
12. ^ New X-Men (2nd series) #44
13. ^ ^{a b} X-Men (2nd Series) #205
14. ^ Uncanny X-Men #493
15. ^ New X-Men #46
16. ^ ^{a b} X-Men (2nd series) #207
17. ^ ^{a b} Free Comic Book Day: X-Men - "Pixies and Demons" (2008)
18. ^ Uncanny X-Men #501
19. ^ ^{a b} Uncanny X-Men #503
20. ^ Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 - 4
21. ^ Kevin Mahadeo. [WWLA] UNCANNY X-MEN GETS MATT-ED UP, http://www.wizarduniverse.com/ March 18, 2008. Accessed August 21, 2008.
22. ^ "X-Men: Manifest Destiny #4"
23. ^ ^{a b c} X-Infernus #1
24. ^ ^{a b} X-Infernus #2
25. ^ X-Infernus #3
26. ^ ^{a b} X-Infernus#4
27. ^ Uncanny X-Men #509
28. ^ Uncanny X-Men #510
29. ^ Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1
30. ^ X-Men: Legacy #226
31. ^ Uncanny X-Men #514
32. ^ Dark Avengers #8
33. ^ Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus One-shot
34. ^ Kathryn Immonen (w), Sarah Pichelli (p), Sarah Pichelli (i). "Pixie Strikes Back" X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back 1 (February 10, 2009), Marvel Comics
35. ^ X-Men Legacy #248
36. ^ New Mutants Vol.4 #3
37. ^ Morse, Ben (March 2, 2011). "Age of X Assessment: Chapter 1". Marvel Comic News. Marvel Comics. http://marvel.com/news/story/15287/age_of_x_assessment_chapter_1. Retrieved March 5, 2011. 
38. ^ Wolverine and the X-Men Ep. 6

External links

• UncannyX-Men.net-Yearbook Entry on the Paragons