Polaris
| Real name:
Lorna Dane (This is her legal name since her adoption. Her given name has
not been revealed).
Former aliases:
M-2, Magneto the Second, Malice IV
Identity:
Secret
Occupation: U.S.
government operative, (formerly) Graduate student in geophysics at the
University of California at Berkeley, adventurer
Legal status: Citizen
of the United States with no criminal record
Place of birth: Unrevealed
Marital status:
Single
Known relatives: Zaladane
(alleged sister, possibly deceased), unnamed uncle and aunt (adoptive parents).
Neither the names of Polaris' true parents nor those of her adoptive parents
have yet been revealed.
Base of operations: X-Factor
II Headquarters, Embassy Row, Washington, D.C.
Group affiliation: X-Factor
II, (formerly) X-Men "reserve member," Marauders
First appearance: X-MEN
#49 |  |
Powers:
Lorna Dane has the mutant ability to manipulate magnetic fields, and to
a lesser extent, electrical and gravitational fields. He usually uses these
abilities to fly, fire bolts of magnetism, and create protective shields
of magnetic force. By using her magnetic abilities as a type of radar,
she can notice invisible or disguised creatures. During a time when she
believed her powers were stolen by Zaladane, Lorna was used as a psychic
conduit for the being known as the Shadow King. Thus, Lorna unconsciously
amplified the emotions of others around her, usually releasing their agressiveness.
In proportion to the intensity of emotions around her, Lorna physically
grew in mass and size and exhibited an armor-like toughened skin against
physical attacks.
History: Lorna Dane's biological
parents are said to have been killed in a plane crash only weeks after
her birth. She was then adopted by the Danes, probably her mother's sister
and brother-in-law. The Danes never told Lorna that they were not her true
parents because they feared that the knowledge would traumatize her. Lorna
didn't learn about the truth about herself until she was nearly 20 years
old.
The only outward sign of Lorna's
mutant genetic structure was her green hair, which was dyed brown. Her
mutant powers might never have been activated, except for the intervention
of "Starr" Saxon, the master roboticist. | |
| He had constructed a duplicate
of the villain Magneto and a large army of androids with strange powers,
called the Demi-Men. Saxon decided that he needed some real mutants to
lead the android army while he stayed behind the scenes, giving directions
to the fake Magneto.
The first recruit was the mutant
called Mesmero. Then, using a psycho-generator, which has some features
in common with Charles Xavier's mutant-detecting Cerebro device, Mesmero
summoned mutants in North America with latent powers.
Lorna Dane found herself compelled
to travel to San Francisco, where Mesmero and his androids captured her.
After being brought to their desert headquarters, Lorna was subjected to
the genetic stimulator that enabled her to use her previously latent powers.
Mesmero also used his hypnotic powers to make Lorna believe in the bogus
Magneto's cause and think that she was Magneto's daughter. With her powers
over magnetism, Lorna was given the codename Polaris.
Shortly afterward, however, Mesmero
dropped his control over Lorna, believing that she would obey her "father"
no matter what happened. Unfortunately for Mesmero, Magneto, Polaris, and
the Demi-Men were confronted by the mutant hero team X-Men.
One of their members, Iceman,
revealed to Lorna that Magneto was not her father and that she had been
duped into helping him. She joined the X-Men in defeating Saxon, Mesmero,
the fake Magneto, and the Demi-Men army.
Lorna returned with the X-Men
to their mansion headquarters. For a |
while afterward, Lorna was romantically
inclined towards Bobby Drake, the Iceman, but eventually she fell in love
with Alex Summers, the mutant known as Havok. During one adventure, Polaris
and the rest of the X-Men were captured by the living-island Krakoa, and
were rescued by an all-new X-Men team.
Lorna and Alex took this opportunity
to leave the life of mutant heroes behind them. Neither Dane nor Alex wanted
to live the life of adventurers; they soon discovered that they had a mutual
interest in geophysics. They spent some time performing doctoral research
in the Diablo mountain range in California.
Later, Lorna and Alex's minds
were taken over by the Shi'ar intelligence agent, Davan Shakari, alias
Eric the Red. Davan served D'ken, then the emperor of the Shi'ar galaxy
and was tasked with keeping the X-Men's leader Charles Xavier from joining
D'ken's sister, Lilandra, in deposing him. Polaris and Havok fought the
X-Men on Davan's behalf. Although they were defeated, Eric the Red kept
Polaris and Havok close by until his final defeat by the X-Men forced him
to flee the planet. Lorna returned to her scientific work with Alex.
Later, however, she and Alex
were attacked by the mutant-killing Marauders, acting on behalf of the
villain Mr. Sinister. Polaris was possessed by the Marauder called Malice,
who suppressed Lorna's | |
personality, and joined that team.
Under the creature's control, Polaris led the Marauders for Mister Sinister
on several missions, including the failed attempt to capture Madelyne Pryor.
The Marauders fought the X-Men time and again, often clashing with Polaris'
former boyfriend Alex.
| Later, Malice found out that
it was permanently bonded with Lorna Dane's psyche, due in some part to
a physiological reaction to Polaris' nature. She momentarily rebelled against
Mr. Sinister for keeping this knowledge a secret, but the disloyalty was
quickly replaced by obedience when Mr. Sinister exercised some of his considerable
power on Malice/Polaris.
During a final show down between
the Marauders, Mister Sinister, the X-Men |
and their allies X-Factor, (occurring
during a demonic invasion of New York City) Polaris was the last Marauder
standing. She was questioned by the mutant heroes when their mansion headquarters
exploded. The explosion knocked out all the X-Men, but Malice/Polaris stayed
conscious. Sinister arrived and ordered her to kill all the X-Men but Jean
Gray. Malice/Polaris and Sinister were attacked by the X-Men as they revived,
and during the battle, Malice/Polaris ultimately escaped.
Malice/Polaris began to wander
the Earth. Eventually, Lorna Dane was able to wrest limited control over
Malice and at one point was able to call Havok and the X-Men for help.
While waiting for the help to arrive, Malice/Polaris was captured by hunters
sent from the Antarctic paradise Savage Land. The hunters brought her to
Zaladane, the | |
current self-appointed ruler of
the Savage Land. Using technology left behind by the villainous High Evolutionary,
Zaladane, who claimed to be Polaris' sister, absorbed all of Polaris' power.
Malice appeared to be destroyed in the transfer. The X-Men came to rescue
her, and it was during the rescue that Lorna began exhibiting strange new
powers, pulling her chains out of the stone wall and growing about a foot
taller. The group of mutants successfully escaped Zaladane's clutches,
but the X-Men were teleported out of the Savage Land by their ally Gateway,
leaving Lorna and the Savage Land protector Ka-Zar to fend for themselves.
Lorna finally left the Savage
Land and got on a boat headed in the general direction of Scotland. During
this trip, Lorna continued to exhibit new powers, notably the ability to
affect other people's emotions. The whole crew of the ship lost control
of themselves, destroying each other and the ship, so Lorna called Muir
Island, the mutant research facility in Scotland, and asked for help. The
former X-Men member Banshee arrived and saved Lorna from the sinking ship,
and they returned to Muir Island. At this point, the X-Men were believed
to have been killed, so Lorna agreed to stay on Muir Island to understand
her new powers. The island's owner, Moira MacTaggert, put Lorna through
a series of tests, but she failed to figure out where these new powers
were coming from.
| Muir Island was soon attacked
by the mutant hunting group known as the Reavers. Lorna Dane, using her
new powers, and other Muir Island residents along with X-Men ally Forge
and the Freedom Force, managed to fight back against the Reavers and to
force them to retreat. Ultimately, Muir |
Island was taken over by the villainous
Shadow King. Lorna in particular was used her as a conduit for his power
in order to control all the inhabitants of the island. The teams X-Factor
and X-Men defeated the Shadow King by freeing Lorna from his power. Soon
after the Shadow King's defeat, Lorna's magnetic powers returned.
Soon afterwards, U.S. government
employee Valerie Cooper persuaded Polaris to join in a new version of the
team X-Factor as a fully-sanctioned government team. There, she was reunited
with Alex. Polaris adventured with the team throughout its tenure, and
slowly repaired her relationship with Alex.
At one point, Lorna quit the
team briefly when it went "underground" and when Alex appeared to turn
evil and form a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with the villain the Dark
Beast. Ultimately, however, Alex stopped the plans of the Dark Beast with
the help of X-Factor and their allies, the time-travelling X.U.E. (Xavier's
Underground Enforcers.) Polaris joined both teams in an adventure to prevent
an apocalyptic future, but her lover was seemingly killed when a time machine
created by X.U.E. member Greystone exploded. Believing Alex dead, Polaris
left the team and X-Factor disbanded.
Weeks later, X-Men member Nightcrawler
encountered Lorna in a church, and she confided in him that she felt she
was being followed, and that she was sure Alex was still alive. A group
of alien Skrulls working with the villain Apocalypse were indeed shadowing
her, and broke into her apartment to retrieve the headgear from Havok's
original costume. Lorna then learned that she was one of the so-called
"Twelve," a team of mutants Apocalypse wanted to use in order gain ultimate
power. Polaris journeyed with the X-Men to Egypt to battle Apocalypse.
During the encounter, Magneto, another member of the Twelve, discovered
that he could use Lorna to tap into the Earth's magnetic field with incredible
force, effectively hiding his then-current reduced-power state.
After Apocalypse was defeated,
Lorna traveled with Magneto to the nation of Genosha, which had recently
been given to Magneto by the United Nations. Polaris continued to supply
him with power and help him keep order. She believed she was doing it for
the greater good, but she also enjoyed the education in her powers that
she was receiving. In the end, Magneto launched a full-scale assualt on
Carrion Cove, the last city opposing his rule, in order to gain access
to technology that would restore his full abilities. Polaris and several
hereos attempted to stop him, but they were defeated. Polaris left the
country with the hero team Avengers.
Afterward, the evil Cassandra
Nova sent a contingent of Sentinels to decimate Genosha, | |
leveling the country. Magneto was
believed to have died as he was still convalescing from his wounds during
a previous conflict with the X-Men. Apparently, Lorna was also present
during the Sentinel attack, and her mutant powers allowed her to survive
while at the same time capturing millions of magnetic patterns-- recordings
of the last moments of Genosha. Her sanity was completely overwhelmed by
the experience, and the magnetic recordings would manifest around the city
as ghosts. The X-Men arrived to pay respects to the fallen country and
discovered Lorna's condition. They helped her expunge the magnetic recordings
from her consciousness, releasing Magneto's last words as a final broadcast
of his views of mutant rights to the world and the heavens. Dane returned
with the X-Men to the United States before parting company.
When Alex recovered from the
comatose state he was then in, she immediately proposed marriage to Alex
without giving him a chance to say yes. When at the wedding, Alex said
he couldn't go through with it, she became unhinged and tried to kill him
and Annie Ghazakian, the nurse he had fallen in love with while in a coma.
The X-Men stopped Dane and tried to help her recover. In the process, Professor
Xavier used his mental powers to diagnose her condition and subsequently
discovered that her madness stemmed from the fact that, just before Genosha
was destroyed, she had learned that Magneto was indeed her father.