The Stepford Cuckoos are a set of fictional mutant psychically linked quintuplets (Sophie Cuckoo, Phoebe Cuckoo, Irma "Mindee" Cuckoo, Celeste Cuckoo, and Esme Cuckoo). They are students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The alphabetical order of the Cuckoos' first names corresponds with their ages, with Celeste being the firstborn and Sophie being the youngest.

Originally calling themselves the Five-in-One, with the deaths of Esme and Sophie the remaining sisters are now known as the Three-in-One.^[1]

First appearing in New X-Men, vol. 1 #118, they were created by Grant Morrison. Their origin, as the artificially created "daughters" of Emma Frost, is revealed in X-Men: Phoenix—Warsong.

Fictional character biographies[link]

Origins[link]

As revealed in the first issue of X-Men: Phoenix—Warsong, the sisters are grown from ova cells harvested from telepath and then villain Emma Frost while she lay comatose after a Sentinel attack that killed her students, the original Hellions, and are only five of many cloned daughters. The remaining hundreds (if not thousands) of clones reside within incubation chambers inside a hidden underground laboratory at The World, a complex housing the Weapon Plus (living beings designed to serve as weapons) program. They were created by Dr. John Sublime to be powerful weapons able to kill every mutant by combining their telepathic abilities. The Cuckoos were designated Weapon XIV.

They were first introduced as the protégés and favorites of Emma Frost^[2] and were unaware of their true purpose and a telepathic block was used to mask their placement in the school, causing anyone who questioned their origins to lose their train of thought.^[3] They, along with student Quentin Quire, were noted as the strongest telepaths among the new students at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. Although Quire and the Stepford Cuckoos were rivals, Quire had a crush on Sophie. Sophie and the other Cuckoos considered him to be disgusting and rejected him completely.^[4]

Partly as an expression of adolescent rebellion, partly under the influence of a mutant drug called Kick, and partly out of a desire to impress Sophie, Quire incited a student riot at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Sophie died stopping Quire, having used the same drug to boost her powers and overexerting herself.^[5] The Stepford Cuckoos held Frost to be partially responsible for Sophie's death, Frost having "inspired her to heroism," and disassociated themselves from her at that time. With the death of Sophie, the Five-in-One became the Four-in-One. Wary of having a part of themselves missing, they tested to see if their powers still functioned well by contacting Jean Grey telepathically and informing her that Emma Frost was attempting to conduct an affair with her husband, Scott Summers.^[6]

Secretly, Esme Cuckoo had been collaborating with X-Man Xorn, then disguised as Magneto. Taking control of the Cuckoos' group mind, she telepathically steers Angel Salvadore to attack Emma Frost, completely shattering her diamond body into fragments. Jean Grey manages to telekinetically reassemble and return her to life, whereupon Emma revealed Esme's involvement. Esme then abandons her sisters to join Magneto's new Brotherhood of Mutants. Later losing faith in Xorn, the Brotherhood turns on him, including Esme, who attacks him, angry that he did not return her affections. Xorn then kills her and she dies in Emma's arms, stating with her dying breath that she never wanted to end up like Emma.^[7]

Corsairs[link]

Soon afterwards, the Institute is rebuilt, with Emma Frost and Cyclops as headmasters and leaders of the X-Men. Frost and Summers divided the older students into several six-person training squads, each taught by a staff member. The remaining three Cuckoos, now calling themselves the "Three-in-One," were assigned to the Corsairs squad, advised by Cyclops. The three girls were the co-leaders of the squad. The Cuckoos, who had abandoned the thought of being tutored by Emma, were now completely loyal to their new tutor, Cyclops.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (March–June 2005), the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force came back to Earth seeking to inhabit the body of Jean Grey. Quentin Quire, still in love with Sophie, sensed the Phoenix and exhumed Sophie's body. He sought the Phoenix, which resurrected Sophie, but she promptly chooses to die again rather than be with him. The X-Men defeat the Phoenix, though a shard of it in firefly form locates one of the Cuckoos, who replies, "What took you so long?"^{[volume & issue needed]} In X-Men: Phoenix—Warsong #3, it was revealed to be Celeste.^[8]

In the wake of House of M, in which the vast majority of the world's mutant population was depowered, the Cuckoos retained their powers. With few students left, the squad system was dissolved and Emma Frost placed the remaining students into an all-out brawl to determine who would be part of an in-training X-Men team. The Cuckoos, still resentful of Emma, refused to participate.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Weapon Plus and Phoenix—Warsong[link]

In New X-Men, vol. 1 #154 (May 2004), Grant Morrison's last issue of New X-Men, the Stepford Cuckoos are identified as Weapon XIV (each girl being units 1 to 5, ordered alphabetically by their first names), the living weapon code between Weapon XIII (Fantomex) and Weapon XV (Ultimaton).^[9]

Manipulated by both the shard of the Phoenix and Dr. John Sublime, the Cuckoos reanimate Esme and Sophie as corpses and return to the World. At the World, they are greeted by a computer image of Sublime and learn of their thousands of cloned siblings. Their true purpose was to collect data on the X-Men and transmit it to the other clones through shared nano-technology in their bodies. It is revealed that the Phoenix fragment has manifested in order to destroy the Cuckoos and all of their clones to prevent them from being activated as a weapon and killing all mutants. The Phoenix manifests most strongly through Celeste, using her as its avatar, but is then diffused according to Sublime's plans among each of the cloned telepaths, boosting their powers. The Cuckoos then learn that they also shared Emma's ability to turn into a diamond form. Now referring to themselves as the Thousand-in-One and under Sublime's control, the cosmically-empowered psychics proceed to enact their programmed destiny of mutant destruction. Celeste, at Emma's behest, accepts her role as a Phoenix host and wrestles control of the Phoenix, freeing the clones from Sublime's control for the first time. However, the Phoenix goes on to destroy the thousand clones, despite their new found freedom and desire to experience life, by shattering their newly-manifested diamond forms as well as Esme and Sophie. Disgusted by the destruction, Celeste casts the entity out of her body. However, it refuses to depart causing Celeste to reabsorb it into her own and Mindee and Phoebe's diamond hearts to end the Phoenix's destruction. Unlike Emma's diamond composition, which contains a flaw, the Cuckoo's hearts are flawless diamond. As such, the Phoenix fragment is literally sealed within their hearts. The price the sisters must pay for this is that they can never again feel emotion, leaving them more detached from others than they were before.^[10]

Post Civil War[link]

The Stepford Cuckoos are being considered as "potential recruits" for the Initiative program.^[11] The girls are next seen helping Elixir master medical and anatomical knowledge via Beast's brain. They are soon after teleported to Limbo with the other students and captured by Belasco who has helmets placed on them to keep them asleep to prevent them from using their powers. They were freed by a newly revived X-23 and turn the tide of the battle against Belasco.^[12] When the Hulk attacks Xavier, the Astonishing X-Men, and the New X-Men, the Stepford Cuckoos contact several other X-teams such as Excalibur, the Uncanny X-team, and X-Factor to get their help.^[13] They then help Prodigy access all his forgotten knowledge and abilities to compensate for his power loss as thanks for saving them when anti-mutant terrorists known as the Purifiers' attacked the school.^[14]

Messiah Complex[link]

The Cuckoos use Cerebro to track down Cable, who has the missing mutant baby that the X-Men are looking for.^[15]

When the X-Men arrive at the location indicated by the Cuckoos, the baby had already been stolen by the Marauders. The Cuckoos are unable to relocate the baby telepathically, so Emma Frost orders them to focus on finding the Marauders who kidnapped it.^[16]

Manifest Destiny[link]

Following the events of the Messiah Complex, the Cuckoos rejoin the X-Men in their new home of San Francisco, along with many of their former classmates. The girls later agree to help erase Josh Foley's memory of his work with the newly reformed X-Force team, so as to help the team maintain a sense of a secrecy from the main X-Men team. They agree to keep the team a secret, primarily out of loyalty to Cyclops. The girls have recently began to dress more individually than before, no longer wearing matching outfits. Each of them also have different hairstyles, with only one of the Cuckoos keeping their prior hairstyle.^[17]

Secret Invasion[link]

The Cuckoos help oppose Skrull invaders in San Francisco. When the Skrulls place a blockade on all telepathic communication, they channel their telepathy through Cerebra into Emma as she attempts to find the psychic blockade and destroy it. Emma's psyche is briefly disconnected from her body and as she fights the Skrull psychics, the Cuckoos, on orders from Cyclops, use their telepathy to keep Emma's autonomic functions going.^[18] Afterward, the Cuckoos appear as supporting characters in Uncanny X-Men.^[19]

Nation X[link]

During a pitched battle between the X-Men and a pack of genetically altered versions of Predator X, the Phoenix fragments that were contained in the Cuckoos' diamond hearts leave them and depart into space for reasons unknown.^[20] During their time on Utopia, the Cuckoos begin to experience boredom and start sneaking off the island to buy DVDs of horror films. Influenced by the movies, the girls start mentally torturing their classmates using scenarios from The Twilight Zone and Ring among others. After Emma discovers this, she reveals that as a child she was a fan of the film Clash of the Titans, and that she occasionally daydreams of being in the movie herself. Realizing that she always loved teaching, Emma decides to make the Cuckoos into teachers for the island's school, thus giving them something to do with their time.^[21]

Chaos War[link]

During the "Chaos War" storyline, Esme and Sophie are among the fallen X-Men members who return from the dead after what happened to the death realms.^[22] In the aftermath of the defeat of the Chaos King, Sophie is returned to the afterlife after reality is restored by Hercules.^[23]

Regenesis[link]

After 'Schism' the Cuckoos decide to side with Cyclops and they become one of the few 'X-Recruits' who maintain on Utopia.^{[volume & issue needed]} The first signs of becoming individuals again is shown in Generation Hope where Phoebe does not agree with Irma (mindee) and Celeste on how they treat Generation Hope member Primal and the way they see Hope.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Powers and abilities[link]

The Cuckoos share a telepathic hive mind. Powerful telepaths individually, their combined power is even greater than its sum. These powers allow them the psychic standards of broadcasting/receiving thoughts, mind control, planting illusions, force blasts of pure psionic energy, astral projection, etc. Their gestalt mind allows them to communicate with one another instantaneously, though the strength of their gestalt depends on their proximity to one another; the further they are from one another, the weaker their ability to connect.^[24]

Though they most often function and act as one unit, they are indeed capable of thinking and operating individually. When all five sisters were alive, Sophie was the dominant consciousness and often commanded the Cuckoos. However, as implied by Esme's actions, it is possible for another one of the Cuckoos to wrest control of the gestalt and perhaps even use the powers of all sisters without the consent and knowledge of the others. With the loss of Sophie and Esme, The Cuckoos are not as strong as they were with five.^[25]

Like their mother, Emma Frost, each Cuckoo sister also possesses the ability to transform into an organic diamond body, and as such gains invulnerability, durability, and super strength. Unlike Frost, however, their diamond forms are flawless; such that nothing can enter or escape. They demonstrate this ability by sealing the splintered fragment of the Phoenix Force inside their hearts by permanently changing their hearts to diamond, in the process sacrificing their ability to ever feel genuine emotions again. The Phoenix Force eventually manages to escape, potentially allowing the sisters to regain their emotions. During the Warsong series, the Cuckoos gained the power of flight and pyrokinesis, presumably from Phoenix-induced telekinesis.^[26]

The power level of the Cuckoos, in all of their incarnations, have been reported by many of the staff at Xavier's School to be extremely impressive and strong.^[10]

Personalities[link]

Esme Cuckoo[link]

Esme Cuckoo was the first to split from her sisters, falling in love with Shi'ar-soldier Stuff who disguised itself as a student.^[27] This led to a recurring writer's joke^{[citation needed]} about the other Cuckoos always disliking their sisters' boyfriends. She soon attempts to murder Frost, and was later revealed to be the one responsible for the events that killed Sophie. Wanting to seize control of the Cuckoos but encountering resistance from Sophie, Esme used the drug Kick on herself to augment her own psychic powers and take control of the Stepford Cuckoos's group mind. Esme manipulated her sister Sophie into also using the drug Kick in order to overexert her telepathic powers to the point of death. Esme returned in the Planet X storyline, in which it was revealed that Esme had been working for Xorn the entire time, and that she had developed a crush on him. However, Esme turned on him and tried to destroy his mind after he rejected her affections. Xorn reluctantly was forced to kill her. She dies in Emma's arms, who tells Esme that out of all the Cuckoos, she was most proud of her.^[28]

Sophie Cuckoo[link]

Sophie Cuckoo's personality is explored just before her death. She was stated as always being the dominant mind amongst her sisters. When Quentin Quire began a riot on the Xavier Campus, Sophie was "inspired to heroism" and used Kick to strengthen her powers and fight him. The strain killed Sophie, though it was secretly Esme's psychic influence that ultimately pushed her toward death. She has since been portrayed in other realities as the most free-thinking of the Cuckoos.

Irma "Mindee" Cuckoo[link]

Mindee Cuckoo was the next Cuckoo to be written with a distinct personality. She had a relationship with another student, Germaine, who was killed by an anti-mutant mob when the students were trapped in a building in the aftermath of Xorn's destruction of Manhattan. She then had a combative relationship with Jay Guthrie who was always interrupting her while she played the piano. She later helped Gambit during Exodus' Brotherhood's attack on the school. Her real first name is "Irma."^[29]

Celeste Cuckoo[link]

During the events of Warsong, Celeste Cuckoo expressed fears of losing touch with her sisters, changing personalities, and wielding the Phoenix Force. According to Emma, she is the tattletale of the group.^[26] She eventually accepted her powers, killing the Thousand-in-One clones and her resurrected sisters per the cosmic judgment of Phoenix. Disgusted by the destruction the Phoenix caused, she tried to expel the Phoenix fragment from her body, but was instead forced to seal it inside Mindee's, Phoebe's, and her own diamond hearts.

Phoebe Cuckoo[link]

Phoebe Cuckoo demonstrated a power-hungry personality during the events of Warsong. In contrast to Celeste, who feared the consuming power of the Phoenix, Phoebe desired power out of the sheer affinity for wielding it. She readily embraced the Phoenix and enjoyed the destructive power it gave her.

Conceptual changes[link]

Originally, the first letter of each of the Cuckoo's names was supposed to spell out the word "spice" when put in proper sequence, Sophie, Phoebe, Irma, Celeste and Esme. However, Grant Morrison never mentioned the name of the fifth Cuckoo (the one whose name was supposed to start with "I") during his run on New X-Men, and it was only later on that this fifth Cuckoo was named "Mindee" by Chuck Austen, who was unaware of Morrison's Easter egg. However, writer Matt Fraction later rectified this, stating that Mindee's real first name was Irma, thus restoring the original acronym.^[30]

They were first called the Stepford Cuckoos in New X-Men, vol. 1 #123 (April 2002), which was also the first issue in which Esme was named. Sophie, Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee were named in New X-Men, vol. 1 #134 (January 2003), New X-Men, vol. 1 #149 (January 2004), New X-Men, vol. 1 #153 (April 2004), and New X-Men, vol. 1 #156 (June 2004), respectively. In the New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook, their last name was confirmed as "Cuckoo" and their codename as the "Three-in-One".

Other versions[link]

Age of X[link]

In the "Age of X" reality, the Stepford Cuckoos are shown as inmates of Fortress X's X-Brig.^[31]

Exiles[link]

In a reality shown in Exiles, where after the Hulk was jettisoned into space and discovered by Annihilus, killing him and taking the Annihilation Wave to Earth, Sophie, Esme and Mindee appear as some of the few remaining superhumans. Sophie has detached herself from the two remaining Cuckoos and is dating Quentin Quire, while Esme and Mindee remain like their original depictions in the main Marvel universe. Sophie's mental abilities have also increased, and she has recurring dreams of future events to come.^[32]

Here Comes Tomorrow[link]

In the "Here Comes Tomorrow" timeline, 150 years from now, Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe are members of the X-Men and operators of Cerebra, having merged with the machine, and calling themselves the "Three-in-One." Their psychic powers have also been amplified, allowing them to see the future. Despite the long time that has passed, they appear to be in their early twenties. With the release of the Warsong miniseries this can be attributed to the nanites in their bodies and their origins as Weapon XIV.^[33]

House of M[link]

In House of M, the quintuplets were part of the New Mutant Leadership Program at the United Nations. From the five, Sophie appeared to be the one with the stronger personality. Sophie joined Prodigy, Surge and the rest of the New Mutants on their trip to Japan to find Seiji Ashida, while Celeste, Esme, Mindee, and Phoebe remained on New York, though they agreed to maintain the secret. Sophie was later killed in Japan by anti-mutant terrorists.^[34]

X-Men: The End[link]

In the alternate future depicted in X-Men: The End, Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe have each developed their own look and now call themselves "the Spikes." Phoebe has long, brown hair, Mindee has long, blond hair, and Celeste has short, black hair.

In other media[link]

Television[link]

The Stepford Cuckoos made their television debut in the animated series Wolverine and the X-Men,^[vague] voiced by Tara Strong. They are shown as members of the Hellfire Club. They serve as hosts for the Phoenix Force and wear the traditional red and gold Dark Phoenix costumes.^[35]

Film[link]

Three identical blonde girls were shown in the background in an Institute scene in X-Men: The Last Stand. Writer Zak Penn confirmed in a chat that these were indeed the Stepford Cuckoos.^[36]

Video games[link]

The Stepford Cuckoos appear as antagonists in the video game X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse voiced by Jennifer Hale. They are encountered in the Madri Temple and end up handing Emma Frost over to Apocalypse. They fight the X-Men alongside Holocaust who serves as their protector. There was a reference that they left the X-Mansion when their fourth sister was killed in action in a recent mission.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stepford Cuckoos at Marvel.com
• Stepford Cuckoos on MarvelDatabase

Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January 1980), and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne.

An urbane, mutant telepath with a well-noted dry wit^{[1][dead link]} initially known as the White Queen, Frost has evolved from one of the X-Men's most dangerous foes to one of its most central members.

The character placed #30 as Marvel's highest ranking female on Empire's Top 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters in 2008^[2] and took 69th place on Wizard’s 200 Greatest Characters of All Time List in 2008,^[3] ranking ahead of other X-Men with more extensive histories. She was ranked fifth in Comics Buyer's Guide's 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list.^[4]

Actress January Jones portrays the character in the 2011 film X-Men: First Class.

Publication history[link]

From her initial appearance as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Frost appeared as an X-Men villain over the years. She frequently appeared in Uncanny X-Men and the original volume of the New Mutants alongside her Hellions.

In March 1986, Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire, and Steve Leialoha were the creative team for the four issue Firestar miniseries, where Emma predominantly appeared alongside her Hellions. This series showcased Frost as the main villain as she attempted to turn Angelica Jones into her own personal weapon.

After recovering from a coma and aiming to redeem herself upon the knowledge that her Hellions had been slaughtered, Frost played a pivotal role in the Phalanx Covenant, which saw her team up with Banshee, Jubilee, and Sabretooth in an attempt to save the next generation of mutants. This led to her becoming a main character of the spin-off series Generation X which began in November 1994 under the creative eyes of Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo, and Mark Buckingham. The series ended after over 75 issues (and several one-shots and miniseries) with Brian Wood, Ron Lim, Sandu Florea, and Randy Elliott ending the series. The series offered glimpses into her past before her days in the Hellfire Club, as well as introducing her sisters Adrienne and Cordelia.

After the series ended and all the X-Titles were revamped, in 2001 Frost appeared in New X-Men as a teacher for the mutant population of Genosha, which was then controlled by Magneto. After a Sentinel strike leveled the island nation, the X-Men found Frost amidst the rubble with a "secondary mutation" which hardened her skin to a diamond-like density. Using Frost as a character was suggested to writer Grant Morrison on his website by a fan. While Morrison initially had no plans to use her, the death of the character Colossus left Morrison with an opening.^[5] He created Emma's secondary mutation – a super strong diamond form – as a replacement for Colossus' powers and added her to the cast.^[6] Subsequently, Frost joined the X-Men. This would lead to her instigating an affair with fellow X-Man Cyclops, who was having marital difficulties with Jean Grey. This series also provided further glimpses into her past, introducing her father Winston Frost and her brother Christian.

In August 2003, writer Karl Bollers penned an ongoing series showcasing her origins titled Emma Frost. The series, which lasted for 18 issues, began during her days as a private school student and ended before her days as a Hellfire Club member. It expanded on the role of her father Winston and her brother Christian, also exploring the early days of her two sisters. Later Marvel issues would expand Emma's character history by depicting her as having past romantic histories with prominent Marvel characters, such as Iron Man and Prince Namor.^[7][8]

Under Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, Emma was featured in the third volume of Astonishing X-Men. She has been a major character in the ongoing series, specifically during its third arc, "Torn," in which the authenticity of her allegiance to the X-Men is explored. She also frequently makes guest appearances in other Marvel titles, New X-Men in particular. The reduced presence of X-Men founder and former headmaster Charles Xavier in recent years has intensified her importance as one of Marvel's foremost telepaths.

Background explored[link]

In a flashback story told by Frost herself in Generation X #24, Frost details a time she spent in a mental institution after being sent there by her parents. However, the short-lived Emma Frost series depicted Frost's early years differently, having her leave home and attend college. The series was supposed to cover Frost's life from high school until her first appearance as the White Queen, however, it was canceled at issue #18. Generation X #-1 showed the first meeting of Emma Frost, Banshee, and the Dark Beast, taking place after the events depicted in the Emma Frost series.

In X-Men: Deadly Genesis, Frost is shown after the events of Generation X #-1 working as a stripper at the Hellfire Club before rising to the rank of White Queen. Frost is approached by Professor X and Moira MacTaggert to join a new team of X-Men along with other characters introduced in the series. The task proves harder than first anticipated and Xavier is met with great resistance from Frost. The event is then mentally erased from everyone's minds by Xavier.

Fictional character biography[link]

Emma Frost was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the wealthy Winston and Hazel Frost; she is the second of three daughters and also had an older brother, Christian Frost. Winston is cold, ruthless, and domineering, often imposing impossibly high standards on his children, while Hazel abuses prescription drugs to cope with the tensions of her household. Thus, Emma obtains no emotional support from her parents or her sisters Adrienne and Cordelia, but gets along with her gay brother Christian.

At her school, she is ruthlessly teased by the other students and has difficulties with her grades. She is supported by her teacher, Ian Kendall. After some time with headaches, her telepathic powers begin to manifest, allowing her to read the minds of other students and get answers to the tests. Because she is able to glean information, Emma becomes a tutor to other students and Ian recommends her to be a teacher, something Emma's father refuses.

On her way home from school one day, Emma's car breaks down and Ian gives her a ride home. After reading his thoughts and learning that he thinks she is beautiful and intelligent, Emma kisses him. Her sister Adrienne records it and her father uses the evidence to get Ian fired. Emma begins to fight back by revealing Adrienne's secret modeling career and taking pictures of her father with a mistress. Her actions intrigue her father, who says that she reminds him of himself at her age. Her father chooses her to carry on his fortune, but after seeing her father betray her trust and commit Christian to a mental institution following a suicide attempt, Emma rejects his offer and decides to make her own way in life.^[9]

After a period of homelessness, Emma meets and falls in love with a young man named Troy, who agrees to let Emma live with him. She learns that he owes a large amount of money to a local mobster named Lucien. In order to save Troy's life, Emma agrees to participate in a fake kidnapping scheme in an attempt to extort the remainder of Troy's debt from her father. However, Winston refuses to pay the ransom, and Troy is killed while valiantly attempting to save Emma from an enraged Lucien. After disposing of Troy's corpse, Lucien's thugs handcuff Emma to a pipe and seal her mouth shut with duct tape, intending to kill her later. Adrienne releases Lucien's ransom video to the media, forcing Winston to pay for Emma's safe release. Not content with the money, Lucien still decides to kill her, but by using her powers, Emma turns the thugs against one another and then forces the remaining henchman to free her.

Emma takes the ransom money and enrolls in Empire State University.^[10] There, she begins to learn about mutants for the first time. She briefly dates a basketball player; however after their first date, he mysteriously attacks her and is reported. She also meets a fellow telepath named Astrid Bloom, who becomes her friend and mentor. Emma is also shocked to learn that Ian is also working at ESU and is dating her roommate. Emma, who still loves him, begins to date him and is horrified to later learn that he was caught attacking her roommate.

Emma later learns that Astrid was secretly behind both the basketball player and Ian's attacks. Furious, she attacks Astrid telepathically and leaves her comatose. Though she is able to use her powers to save Ian's job, he rejects her when she confesses her powers as a mutant to him. She becomes cold towards humans after this, and later auditions as a dancer for the Hellfire Club,^[11] an underground elite society. Emma discovers the plans of Edward Buckman and Steven Lang to destroy all mutants. Alongside Sebastian Shaw, Lourdes Chantel, and Harry Leland, Emma battles Lang's Sentinels. Alongside Shaw, she kills Buckman and the Council of the Chosen, then – along with Shaw – takes control of the Hellfire Club, setting themselves up as Lords Cardinal of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.^[12]

White Queen of the Hellfire Club[link]

Emma Frost becomes the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. She becomes the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Frost International, which helps to fund the activities of the Lords Cardinal. Frost also becomes the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, a school for mutants which serves as a counterpoint to Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, recruiting young mutants competitively with Xavier by using a bug planted in Cerebro. Frost and the Club's agents later attempted to recruit Kitty Pryde for the Massachusetts Academy, and capture (and personally torture) several members of the X-Men, including Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, and Phoenix Frost engages Phoenix in a psychic battle in which she is overpowered and on the verge of being killed. Frost launches a last-minute attack that led the X-Men to believe she had committed suicide,^[13] though in truth, she was comatose and recovering from Phoenix's attack under the care of Sebastian Shaw.^[14] In another encounter with the Hellfire Club, Frost telepathically forces Kitty Pryde's parents to transfer her from Xavier's to the Massachusetts Academy. She then switches minds with Storm in order to defeat the X-Men from within their own ranks, but the process is soon reversed and the two are restored to their respective bodies.^[15] She was later temporarily rendered comatose by Mastermind.^[16]

During her time with the Hellfire Club, Frost continues to run the Massachusetts Academy. Frost's trainees become the supervillain team known as the Hellions while she serves as the Hellions' mentor. She recruits Firestar for the Massachusetts Academy, but then battles Firestar.^[17] She attempts to recruit Doug Ramsey for the Massachusetts Academy, and captures Kitty Pryde again.^[18] With the Hellions, she battles the Hellion's rival team, Xavier's New Mutants for the first time.^[19] When the New Mutants are later killed and resurrected by Beyonder, they are left traumatized and withdrawn. Frost offers her assistance in telepathically restoring them to their former selves. She then coerces their headmaster Magneto into allowing them to join the Massachusetts Academy.^[20] With Shaw and Selene, she invites Magneto to join the Hellfire Club.^[21] She engineers a contest between the New Mutants and Hellions, and recruits Magma for the Massachusetts Academy,^[22] and then has Empath accompany Magma to her home of Nova Roma.^[23] Alongside Magneto, Shaw, and Selene, she battles the High Evolutionary's forces to rescue Magma.^[24] She later helps Magneto search for the New Mutants when they had gone missing; alongside Magneto, Shaw, and Selene, Emma encounters the effects of the Inferno.^[25] Alongside Magneto, Shaw, and Selene, she battles the New Mutants, and votes to oust Shaw from the Club.^[26]

When the time traveling mutant Trevor Fitzroy unleashes the mutant-hunting robots called the Sentinels on Emma Frost and the Hellions, Emma places herself in a psychic coma in order to survive the ordeal and nearly all of her students are killed.^[27][28] She later awakens in the Xavier Academy. Disoriented, she switches minds with Iceman and escapes but when she discovers the deaths of her students, Professor Xavier is able to coax a devastated Emma Frost to switch back.^[29]

Generation X[link]

Emma Frost later teams up with the X-Men Banshee and Jubilee, as well as Sabretooth and Synch, to defeat the Phalanx, and rescue a select group of teenage mutants who become a superhero team known as Generation X^[30] and students at the reopened Massachusetts Academy, which is now run by co-headmasters Emma Frost and Banshee. After Frost's business ventures take a bad turn, she seeks help from her estranged sister Adrienne, who is a psychometrist. Her sister offers financial assistance but demands to be co-headmistress of the school in return.^[31] Emma's sister secretly plots against her and plants a bomb at the school, which kills Generation X member Synch.^[31] Frost tracks down and murders Adrienne^[32] and then returns to the Academy, growing increasingly distant from her students in an effort to hide her crime. Monet comes to the realization that Emma murdered her sister and informs other students that they can no longer trust her. This, combined with Banshee's increasing depression and drunkenness following the death of his long-time lover Moira MacTaggert, leads the students to leave, disbanding Generation X.^[33]

Joining and leading the X-Men[link]

Afterwards, Emma deals with her emotions from murdering her sister and travels to the mutant haven island of Genosha where she teaches at a mutant school until a genocidal Sentinel attack kills most of the island's population including all of her students; Emma survives due to the sudden manifestation of her secondary mutation: the power to transform herself into a flexible, near-invulnerable, diamond-like substance. Emma then joins the X-Men after they rescue her from Genosha, and takes on a teaching position after the Xavier Institute reforms into a regular school.^[34] She starts to look after and train a group of telepathic quintuplets, the Stepford Cuckoos, who quickly become her prized pupils. Frost and the Cuckoos prove themselves when they help fight and defeat Charles Xavier's evil twin sister Cassandra Nova. As a member of the X-Men, Frost begins a psychic, non-physical, sexual relationship with Cyclops, who had become distant from his wife Jean as a result of his temporary physical and mental merger with the ancient mutant Apocalypse and added disconnection from Jean "remanifesting" the Phoenix Force. Emma and Cyclops' psychic meetings begin in the form of therapy,^[35] but soon turn into a telepathic romantic affair.^[36]

While quelling a riot at the school, one of the Stepford Cuckoos, Sophie, is killed and the others reject Emma's mentorship, blaming her for the death. They attempt to get revenge by telepathically contacting Jean about Emma's and Cyclops' psychic affair.^[37] In the aftermath of the riot, Jean catches Frost and Summers in bed together in their minds. In a rage, she unleashes her reignited Phoenix powers and psychically humiliates Frost. Afterward, Emma is found physically shattered in her diamond form.^[11] As Bishop and Sage investigate the crime, Jean uses her increasingly growing Phoenix powers to reassemble Frost's body, acknowledging that Emma has genuinely fallen in love with Scott. Revived, Emma is able to name her attempted murderer – Esme of the Stepford Cuckoos, who had mind-controlled fellow student Angel Salvadore into shooting Frost in her single flaw with a diamond bullet, under the direction of Xorn.^[38]

Jean is later killed by Xorn, and a guilt ridden Cyclops is unable to move on with his life and with Emma, which results in a dystopian alternate future, which is prevented by Jean, reborn as the White Phoenix of the Crown, by urging Cyclops to start a new life with Emma.^[39] Despite the criticism from their teammates and family members, Cyclops and Emma Frost become lovers, and the two take over the school after Professor Xavier steps down;^[40] Emma becomes co-headmistress with Cyclops and adviser to a new team of Hellions.^[41] She develops an antagonistic relationship with fellow teacher Kitty Pryde^[42] and the daughter of Jean and Cyclops, Rachel Grey, who was furious at her father for starting a relationship with Emma immediately after Jean's death. However, the two seemingly reached a truce when Emma offers to help Rachel hone her telepathic abilities.^[43][44]

The question of Emma's "true loyalties" are brought into focus as Emma abandoned the team during a fight to confer with a shadowy figure, revealed to be one of a group of four individuals watching from the shadows. The group contained Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and a cloaked figure called Perfection, who discussed among themselves Emma's impending betrayal of the team.^[45] Emma's survival of the destruction of Genosha was due to Cassandra Nova creating Emma's secondary mutation as part of a scheme to infiltrate the X-Men as a sleeper agent, Nova having erased the memory of their encounter and only restoring it recently.

Following Decimation, the student population drastically decreases, and Emma, without consulting Cyclops, decides to revamp the entire workings of the school.^[46]

During X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong, it is revealed that Emma's ova are the genetic templates used to clone thousands of identical female telepaths, five of which had become the Stepford Cuckoos. The encapsulated offspring, as well as Celeste Cuckoo, begin to refer to Frost as "mother" – a title whose usage she later accepts. In the end, the Phoenix (inhabiting the body of Celeste Cuckoo) destroys the thousands of additional clones, Emma is pained by the loss of her cloned children and declares revenge against the Phoenix.

Using this and other elements of Emma's consciousness, Emma created physical manifestations of Cassandra in her human form, Sebastian Shaw, Emma's younger evil self in the Hellfire Club calling itself "Perfection", and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, her former student in Genosha.

First, she began using her telepathy on Cyclops to appear as Jean/Phoenix, trying to reveal the lack of control he had over his optic blasts. Perfection noted that Emma's feelings for Summers were genuine, however. Emma's telepathy discovers that when Scott fell out of a plane with his younger brother Havok, Scott placed a deep mental block in his mind which prevents the controlled use of his powers. Encouraged by Emma, Scott revisited that moment in his life and reversed the decision. It is further revealed that Ellie, Shaw, and Perfection were actually psionic projections created by Emma under Cassandra's influence. Cassandra Nova had placed a portion of her mind in Emma's before being trapped in the body of Stuff.^[47]

With Cyclops out of the way, Frost/Nova and the physical manifestations calling themselves the "Hellfire Club" assault the X-Mansion, incapacitating every X-Man except Shadowcat. Kitty manages to elude capture, and, fulfilling the role Emma asked her to in the beginning of the series, manages to capture the former White Queen. However, Kitty was eventually tricked by Nova/Emma/"Perfection" into helping Nova/Emma/"Perfection" retrieve the "Stuff" body containing the rest of Nova. A depowered Cyclops, with the help of Blindfold and Hisako Ichiki, was able to defeat the "Hellfire Club" by figuring out they were fake, while Emma herself tried to get Kitty to shoot her in order to block Cassandra's escape, but was stopped by Cyclops. Undeterred, Nova then attempted to transfer her mind into Hisako. The ending was interrupted as everyone present was teleported away by S.W.O.R.D. and onto their ship which was headed towards the Breakworld.

Emma, along with Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Beast, Shadowcat, Hisako, Ord, and Danger, were taken to deep space by S.W.O.R.D. and Agent Brand. The psychics on the S.W.O.R.D. ship did not detect Cassandra Nova in Emma's shattered psyche, effectively proving Emma's loyalty to the X-Men by her refusal to allow Nova into Hisako. Though emotionally wounded, Emma recovered fast enough to be present for the team's departure to the Breakworld. Separated, Emma, Scott, Beast, and Agent Brand discover the temple of Attur-Hei ("The Palace of the Corpse.") Joined by teammates Wolverine and Hisako (who adopted the code-name "Armor"), Emma conceded to Agent Brand's plan of separation. She and Scott left Attur-Hei on a single S.W.O.R.D. armed jet to rendezvous with the rest of the S.W.O.R.D. operatives on the Breakworld.

While flying, several Breakworld fighter jets approach, attempting to knock Emma and Scott out of the air. The couple successfully repel the Breakworld onslaught, exchanging heated words in the process. Amidst Emma's protestations that Scott was "acting as though [he knew] what [she's] been through," he finally professed his true love for Emma. Stunned, Emma could barely speak, except to utter an apology. Before her reasons behind apologizing were discussed, Scott noticed a blip on their radar. Danger appeared, utterly destroying the S.W.O.R.D. cruiser. Switching to diamond form in the nick of time, Emma is spared while Scott is mortally injured. Cradling an injured Scott in her arms, Emma sheds a tear. As the Danger Room entity approached, Emma makes a request of the machine. She asks that Danger kill her, and that "she" do so quickly.

However, this turns out to be another one of Emma's "lessons" this time aimed at Danger, who in truth seems incapable of killing the X-Men due to her core programming. Emma offers Danger a deal in exchange for her help with the X-Men's mission. As X-Men proceed with their planned attack on Breakworld weapon's installation, they are surrounded by Breakworld ships and Scott is forced to take a single battle cruiser to draw attention from the main team, being shot down and apparently dying in the process (with Emma feeling Scott's life flash before his eyes).

Scott is resurrected by their enemies, just as Colossus had been. It turns out Cyclops' sacrifice was all part of a master plan by the team undetected by way of Frost's telepathy in order to distract their opponents so the rest of the team can carry out their own duties without as much difficulty.

The arc concludes with Kitty trapped in the bullet and the team trying to find various ways to save the Earth and save Kitty. As the bullet heads toward Earth, Emma keeps in telepathic contact with Kitty, trying to reassure her, even offering to psionically sedate her, though Kitty becomes more and more certain that she will not make it out unharmed or alive. As it becomes clear that all other options have run out, Emma states that she never wanted something like this to happen and she and Kitty come to an understanding. Emma calls Kitty "astonishing" before Kitty sacrifices herself, phasing the bullet through Earth. In the aftermath, the X-Men are uncertain of Kitty's fate, believing her to either be dead or at least phased into part of the runaway bullet. Emma is devastated.

In a conversation with Iron Man, Frost announces that the Xavier Institute and the X-Men would not support the Superhuman Registration Act and remain neutral, as she fears that the registration of mutants would put them in more danger.^[7]

Messiah Complex[link]

Emma is part of the team that investigates the detection of a new mutant in Alaska. She also defends the X-Men from the Marauders and the telepathy of Sinister and Exodus. Emma is last seen with Cyclops' team of X-Men looking for Cable and then tracking down the Marauders with the Cuckoos. Later when X-Force arrives at the Marauders' hideout, Emma takes out Harpoon. During the final battle on Muir Island, she faces Exodus, distracting him in a telepathic duel long enough for Dust to enter his body and scour his lungs with her sand form, incapacitating him.

Divided We Stand[link]

After the events of Messiah Complex, Emma and Scott vacation in the Savage Land but soon leave to answer a distress call by Archangel from San Francisco. The couple saves San Francisco from an out of control Martinique Jason. Afterwards, the Mayor of San Francisco welcomes the X-Men with open arms as their new super-hero team and Emma and Cyclops send out a telepathic message to all remaining mutants throughout the world, informing them that San Francisco is now considered a sanctuary for the remaining mutants in the world.

Manifest Destiny[link]

A new anti-mutant group calling themselves the "Hellfire Cult" appears in the Bay Area, committing various anti-mutant hate crimes. They are led by Emma's former pupil, Empath, as well as a mysterious red-haired dominatrix telepath who calls herself the Red Queen. After Empath discloses his experience of lusting after Emma during his days at the Massachusetts Academy, the dominatrix takes on Emma's appearance.^[48] While investigating the Hellfire Cult's base, Cyclops is seduced by Emma who is wearing the Red Queen's dominatrix outfit. Later while at a Dazzler concert, when Scott mentions the event, Emma is confused by what he means. At that moment, Scott catches sight of a familiar red-headed woman on the other side of the club. When Emma asks what he saw, he cryptically tells her that his dead ex-wife Madelyne Pryor is alive.^[49]

Emma has also expressed doubts about whether or not she deserves to be an X-Man, only to have veteran X-Man Wolverine assure her that she has earned her place on the team.^[50] Later, when Xavier attempts to warn Cyclops about his recent encounter with Sinister, Emma manages to enter the Professor's mind undetected. During the course of their encounter, Emma forces Xavier to relive each of his mistakes and morally ambiguous decisions made under altruistic pretenses. It is also revealed that while Emma is just as angry with Xavier as Cyclops is, she also wants to help him move on with his life. Emma points the Professor in a new direction by forcing him to relive the death of Moira MacTaggert and reminding him of her last words.^[51][52]

Secret Invasion[link]

Emma Frost is seen fighting the Skrulls in San Francisco during the invasion.^[53] There, the Skrulls set up a telepathy-blocking "wall" throughout the globe. Emma channels the Cuckoos' telepathy into her own using Cerebra in an attempt to locate the source of the psi-blockade but is left comatose.^[54] The Cuckoos tell Cyclops that Emma is dead, unaware that Emma's telepathic mind is continuing to battle the psychic team of Skrulls. Setting a series of traps through misdirection, Emma manages to break free and shut down the psi-blockade.^[55] Following the Skrulls' defeat, she is introduced as a member of a secret cabal, consisting of herself, Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, Loki, Namor and the Hood, who are manipulating events in their favor.^[56]

Dark Reign[link]

After waking from a nightmare, Emma is invited to join Norman Osborn's Cabal. Their first meeting is shown and their goal is to help each other accomplish their goals. When Emma points out she doesn't belong, Norman responds by pointing out who she once was and says she is an influential spokesperson for a powerful dying race. He reminds her that someone has to make a bold move on behalf of her people, and that she needs to tap into her true self and make some difficult decisions. He also claims he wants a psychic on the team because it keeps everyone else (relatively) honest. She later leaves without confirming whether she will attend.^[57]

Emma begins to suspect that Scott is keeping something from her, namely the existence of X-Force. After a talk with Scott, Storm notices she is worried and Emma says she feels as if Scott is pushing her away and they are not partners and leaders and she is simply his girlfriend. Storm points out that Scott only does that if he thinks he is protecting her from something and if she truly is a leader, she should lead, eventually leading her to agree to attend the meeting called by Norman Osborn.^[58]

At the meeting, it is revealed that she and Prince Namor share a romantic history. During her days as the White Queen, Sebastian Shaw sent Emma to convince Namor to join the Hellfire Club. Instead, Namor took her to his kingdom and they began a relationship. Believing Emma to have betrayed him for Namor, Shaw sent a reprogrammed sentinel to Atlantis, attacking the two and destroying the kingdom. When Namor confronted Shaw for his treachery, Selene took telepathic hold of Emma, erasing her memories of Namor, who vowed revenge on Shaw. In the present, Emma reveals that her initial battle with Phoenix unlocked her memories of Namor. She makes a pact with him, seducing Shaw and using her telepathy to make Namor believe she has executed him, while secretly telepathically incapacitating Shaw. Per their deal, Namor vows to protect mutant-kind as his own people, while Emma, more determined to fill her role as a leader of mutant-kind, contacts Scott to have Shaw captured by the X-Men for "crimes against mutant-kind."^[8] Approaching him later in his cell, Emma reveals that she has captured Shaw for Namor and on the basis that the Sentinels he commissioned were ones later used by Cassandra Nova to destroy Genosha. She sentences him to remember nothing but the faces of the Genoshan victims using her telepathy.^[59]

Sisterhood of Mutants[link]

The Red Queen along with her Sisterhood of Mutants attack the X-Men with the goal of retrieving a lock of Jean Grey's hair in Wolverine's possession, with Lady Mastermind placing Emma under a psychic barricade. Jean Grey appears to Emma and helps her to break free by using what appears to be a bit of the Phoenix Force. She defeats Lady Mastermind and later attacks the Sisterhood at their base along with Storm, Karma and Dazzler.^[60] Emma is later awoken in the middle of the night by Beast who states that the secrets she and Scott have been keeping from each other are going to tear everything apart.^[61]

Dark X-Men[link]

Emma Frost is appointed by Norman Osborn to lead his new team of "Dark X-Men". Marvel writer Matt Fraction indicated that her alliance with Osborn will place Emma and Scott at odds with one another, providing "a profound schism."^[62] Each member is hand-picked by Norman but Emma has Namor added to the team for her own reasons.^[63] The team debuts to the public as the official "X-Men" maintaining high public approval through Osborn's careful media strategy. They oust the original X-Men, portraying them as a dangerous militia.^[64] Meanwhile, Emma discovers that Osborn is working with the Dark Beast, torturing apprehended mutants and feeding their powers into a machine that empowers Weapon Omega.^[65] Cyclops sends X-Force on a strategic evacuation of the mutant prisoners, resulting in a planned confrontation with the Dark X-Men. As the teams prepare to face off, Emma then reveals her role as a double agent, defeating the Dark X-Men with Namor's assistance. She extends an invitation to Cloak and Dagger to join the true X-Men as they teleport to the newly created island base Utopia. Upon learning of this, Norman orders his Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men to go after Emma, Namor, and Scott.^[66] During the final battle, Emma enacts Scott's final plan, to distract the invincible Sentry by taking the Void into herself. Doing so allows the Sentry to regain control and flee the battle, however Emma cannot contain the Void and it chases after the Sentry, though a sliver of it remains within her body.^[67] In order to keep the sliver of the Void from utilizing her powerful psychic abilities, she must remain in diamond form.^[68] Eventually, it came to the decision to extract the Void when the release of the Phoenix from the Cuckoos rendered them unconscious. With Professor X's help, they bridged Cyclops' mind to Emma. However, the Void instead took over his body, only for Scott to use the psychic training he has picked up from his years with Jean to contain the Void in an inescapable prison in his mind.^[69]

Necrosha[link]

Emma is targeted by Selene along with Sebastian Shaw and Donald Pierce for failing and betraying her years ago in her plan to ascend to godhood. Selene is also angry over Emma using the Black Queen name when she was working for Osborn's Dark X-Men. She sends the resurrected Hellions to attack and taunt Emma.^[70] Their appearance is successful, leaving Emma in a state of shock and guilt, forcing Cyclops to order other X-Men to protect Emma who is unable to act in her horrified state. Selene's inner circle appears on Utopia to capture Warpath and retrieve Selene's stolen mystical blade. Emma recognizes Blink and stops Wolverine from killing Wither. However, Selene's inner circle succeeds in capturing Warpath and ruthlessly kill Onyxx and Diamond Lil and severely injure Angel before returning to Necrosha. Emma recognizes that the threat will not end until Selene is permanently stopped, and orders X-Force to travel to Necrosha and kill Selene and her inner circle, including Wither.^[71]

Second Coming[link]

During the events of Second Coming, Emma acts as moral support to Scott as well as acting as a line of communication between Scott and his Alpha Roster of X-Men.^[72] When Rogue becomes aware that she has an empathic connection to Hope, she contacts Emma for help, though Emma finds that the bond is not telepathic in nature. Along with all the other telepaths among the X-Men, Emma is affected by the psionic backlash when Bastion shuts Cerebra down and informs Scott that Ariel has died in a missile strike.^[73] She attends Nightcrawler's funeral along with all the other X-Men.^[74] After Scott sends X-Force into the future to try to stop the army of Nimrod Sentinels invading the present, Scott informs Emma that it is a suicide mission.^[75] She takes part in the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and when Bastion destroys the bridge, she watches with concern as Hope manifests the Phoenix Force energy signature, though Wolverine tells her there is nothing she can do now.^[76]

After the battle is over, the students have a bonfire to try to recover from the battle. As Emma stands around in her diamond state, Scott approaches her and asks how Hope is and if they were right in placing their faith in her as a mutant messiah. Emma tells him that it does not matter at this point, frustrating him. After Scott leaves she sees the Phoenix Force manifest around Hope, who momentarily takes on the appearance of Jean Grey, prompting her to remember that Jean had told her to "prepare". Horrified, she runs after Scott to tell him about what she saw and what she remembered. Finding him in Cerebra, Scott tells her they were right as five new mutants manifest their powers across the globe.^[77]

Post Schism[link]

After the events of SCHISM, Emma Frost stays on Utopia with Cyclops' team, regardless of her desire to return to a school setting where she feels she belongs. Emma also begins to fund Cyclops' team financially as Angel is no longer on the team due to being taken over by the Archangel.^[78]

Powers and abilities[link]

Emma Frost is a mutant of enormous telepathic ability,^[79] and is also capable of transforming into an organic diamond state with enhanced strength and durability which suppresses her telepathy.

Telepathy[link]

Since her introduction, Emma Frost's primary mutant power has been telepathy. She is capable of extraordinary psionic feats, including the telepathic standards of: broadcasting and receiving thoughts, mind-control, altering perceptions and memories, psychic shielding, astral projection, mind switching, brain engram modification, mental sedation, and induction of mental pain via touch.^{[43][51][52][54][55][80][81][82][83][84][85]} She is also able to boost or activate a mutant's powers through access of their brain's neurological pathways, and can communicate across global distances unaided.^{[43][51][52][54][55][80][81][82][83][84][85]} The exact level of her telepathic power has varied depending on writers and has ranged from weaker than other prominent telepaths^{[14][42][86][87][88][89][90]} to rivaling the abilities of Charles Xavier himself.^[52] She has also been referred to as a "psi of the highest order," been ranked among the five most skilled telepaths on the planet,^[82] and has demonstrated the ability to overcome more powerful telepaths, such as Nate Grey,^[80] or Rachel Summers, through greater experience and skill.^[43][44] Later, under the writing of Matt Fraction, Emma was classified as an "omega-class" telepath".^{[91][92][93][94]}

Diamond form[link]

At the moment of the destruction of Genosha, Frost manifested a secondary mutation giving her the ability to transform her body into organic diamond.^[11] In this form, Frost is translucent and retains mobility while being almost invulnerable, and able to support incredible amounts of weight, though different writers have shown varying accounts of her strength. Her diamond form was at least strong enough for her to tear out of bonds and, in a single punch, send Lady Mastermind soaring across a room and straight through a wall.^[60]

Emma's diamond body is virtually tireless as she does not produce fatigue poisons and has no need for water nor food.^[95] She is also numbed from emotion, pain and empathy, impervious to cold,^[96] and resistant to heat in this form.^[97][98][99] Despite this high level of invulnerability, her diamond form has a single molecular flaw, which if exploited – such as being shot with a diamond bullet – can cause her body to shatter.^[11] Though the exact location of the flaw in her diamond body has not been stated outright, clues point to it being located in between her eyes.^[100]

Frost's full range of abilities between her diamond state and regular form have been inconsistent;^[95][101] however, later occurrences^[102][103] depict that Frost cannot access her psychic powers in diamond form, explained by different writers as either a distinct genetic flaw^[34] or suppression by her diamond form's adamantine luster.^[104] Depictions have also stated that Emma has a degree of telepathic immunity while in diamond form, though the extent of this immunity has been portrayed inconsistently as well, ranging from total shielding from psychic invasion to vulnerability to psychic attack.^[97][105] Her diamond form is also stated to emit low-level ultraviolet light, causing it to glow in darkness.^[104]

Innate traits and expertise[link]

Frost has a gifted intellect with college degrees in multiple fields, including a Bachelors of Science in Education with a minor in Business Administration from the prominent Marvel Universe's Empire State University. A superb businesswoman, Emma Frost for many years was founder and CEO of Frost Enterprises, a major multinational conglomerate headquartered in New York City that rivaled Stark Enterprises and Worthington Industries and specialized in shipping, aerospace engineering and new technology R&D.

Frost is also a highly capable planner, an electronics expert, and can invent machines that grant various psionic abilities, such as "Multivac", a mutant locater capable of monitoring the psionic levels of mutants; the "Hallucinator" used to induce hypnotic hallucinations to brainwash others; the gun-like device that enabled her to exchange minds and powers with Storm; and the Mindtap mechanism which enhanced and enabled her Hellfire cohort Mastermind to project his illusions directly into the mind of the Phoenix.^{[13][104][106][107][108]}

Telekinetic potential[link]

On occasion, it has been hinted that Frost is also a latent telekinetic. Jean Grey's displaced psyche was able to use Frost's brain to generate a telekinetic force field and fly, while it inhabited the White Queen's body.^{[volume & issue needed]} However, Xavier clearly states that Jean's transference was so complete that she was able to also transfer her telekinesis which is why he was in awe of the feat Jean accomplished.^[27] During the Onslaught Saga, Frost unwittingly levitated several kitchen utensils while having a bad dream.^[109] During this time Onslaught and Nate Grey caused separate and massive damage to the astral plane causing many psi talents to act unpredictably.^{[volume & issue needed]} When the mutant Synch "synched" with Frost's powers, he was able to use them to levitate several objects and individuals in the room. This phenomenon is then referred to as telekinesis and credited to Frost's psi powers. Synch made reference in this issue to Emma's telepathy being affected by whatever mysterious energy that twins gave off, the same energies that protected them from being affected by the telekinetic display.^[110]

Other versions[link]

In addition to her mainstream incarnation, Emma Frost has been depicted in other fictional universes.

Age of Apocalypse[link]

In the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, Emma Frost never joined the Hellfire Club and is a member of the Human High Council. She had the portions of her brain that granted her telepathy removed in order to join the ranks of the Council.^[111]

Age of X[link]

In the "Age of X" reality, Emma Frost is shown as an inmate of Fortress X's X-Brig.^[112]

Days of Future Past[link]

In this reality, Emma was the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club, but retreated to a technological base off the coast of India after a majority of the mutant population was wiped out. She sold her telepathic abilities in services of mutant leaders and was eventually approached by Jubilee and Magneto to save Wolverine, who was mind-wiped by the Hellfire Club's Red Queen, Psylocke. Emma managed to restore Logan's mind and joined Magneto and Jubilee in defeating Psylocke and the Hellfire Club's plans for world domination. They continued to operate out of Emma's base with other members as the "X-Men" while Emma attempted to rehabilitate Psylocke back to the side of good.^[113]

Earth-889[link]

In Earth-889, a steampunk era, Emma leads the "X-Society" which consists of herself, Scott, Beast, and Logan. The X-Society is heralded as a society of adventurers and called upon by the New Albion (an antiquated name for California) police to assist and investigate various occurrences. Emma consistently refuses Scott's proposals of marriage citing class differences and her desire to avoid "tedious scandal." During an investigation of parallel events of those in Astonishing X-Men's Earth-616, the X-Society pursue Subject X, who causes the Hindenburg disaster and the X-Society are blamed for the deaths of its passengers. In response, the government places the X-Society under house arrest, causing Emma to consider moving away to Europe and accepting Scott's offer of marriage.^[114]

Exiles[link]

In a reality visited by the Exiles, Warlock's techno-organic virus and the Legacy virus interacted in a way to cause 75% of the population to turn into techno-organic beings known as Vi-Locks, including humans and super-beings. The remaining heroes banded together to fight the Vi-Locks and find a cure. Emma, while using a wheelchair, served as the heroes' chief means of communication by using her telepathy, since all other forms of communication were monitored by the Vi-Locks.^[115]

House of M[link]

When the Scarlet Witch changes reality into one where mutants are the dominant species ruled by the House of M, Emma Frost is a child therapist (one of her clients being Franklin Richards who was traumatized after his family died in a spaceship crash) and married to Scott Summers, a pilot. She is later sought after by Wolverine and reminded of the true reality by Layla Miller. Along with other "reawakened" heroes, she leads a confrontation against the House of M in an attempt to restore reality. Only those heroes shielded by Doctor Strange's magic and Emma's telepathy remembered the events of House of M after reality was restored.^[116]

Marvel Adventures[link]

Emma Frost appears in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53 as the best friend of mutant Sophia Sanduval, also known as Chat, and mostly uses her powers for personal gains. She is also one of the few people who knows Peter Parker's identity as Spider-Man and grows interested in him. She uses her telepathic powers and briefly takes on the alias "The Silencer" to see what Peter is capable of.^[117] Chat begins dating Peter afterward. After Chat discovers Emma's schemes, Chat seeks Spider-Man's help, leading to a confrontation between him and Emma. Eventually, Emma confesses her crush on Peter, which she began to have after first looking into his mind and realizing his earnest heroic beliefs and motives. She also reveals that she had caused everything in an attempt to break him and Chat up, feeling that she could neither date Peter while he was with Chat, nor could she spend time with Chat like she used to. By breaking them up, Emma hoped that at least she could reclaim Chat's friendship. She makes up with Chat, who still believes her to be good, and allows herself to be arrested, while Peter and Chat go on a date.^[118]

Marvel Noir[link]

In the Marvel Noir universe, Emma is the warden of Genosha Bay, a 1930s prison where the world's most dangerous sociopaths are held without trial or due process. As a nod to the risque nature of the mainstream White Queen and the Hellfire Club, this version of Emma has a bondage fetish, relishing being tied up during a prison break and telling her captor "tighter please".^[119]

New Exiles[link]

After the New Exiles land on the world of warring empires, they encounter Dame Emma Frost, head of Britain's Department X and founder of Force-X. Emma uses a wheelchair in this reality as well.^[120]

Old Man Logan[link]

In a reality where villains have won and divided up America amongst themselves, Emma Frost marries Doctor Doom in order to ensure the survival of her species. Together with Doctor Doom, they rule a sector of what once was the United States of America, the only place on Earth where mutants can live without fear of persecution. She sends her lover Black Bolt to save Logan and Hawkeye from a Venom-possessed Savage Land T-Rex. She uses her telepathy to make herself look young.^[121]

Prelude to Deadpool Corps[link]

In issue #2, Deadpool visits a world where Emma Frost runs an orphanage for girls that includes kid versions of Jean Grey and Rogue. Here she is pursued romantically by this world's Professor Xavier, who runs an orphanage for troubled kids. During a dance hosted by the two orphanages, Xavier tries but fails to win Emma's affection.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Ultimate Marvel[link]

In the Ultimate Marvel series, Emma Frost is a former student, and girlfriend, of Professor Charles Xavier; in charge of the Academy of Tomorrow and is secretly a part of the Hellfire Club that is trying to separate the Phoenix from Jean. This version of Emma Frost is pacifistic, able to develop a diamond skin, non-telepathic, and until recently dressed much more conservatively than her mainstream counterpart. As a member of the Hellfire Club however, she has been seen wearing her traditional White Queen garb.^[122]

Magneto has her killed in Ultimatum along with the rest of the Academy of Tomorrow except for Havok.^[123]

What If? Astonishing X-Men[link]

In the 2010 What If? Astonishing X-Men one-shot "What if Ord resurrected Jean Grey instead of Colossus?", Jean Grey's resurrection causes friction with Emma, who believes her presence and history with the Phoenix will ensure the X-Men's demise. The two women discover that the Breakworld has predicted that Phoenix will destroy their planet. Under the deception of the psychic remnant of Cassandra Nova, Emma extracts hidden vestiges of the Phoenix Force from the remaining Stepford Cuckoos, killing them and granting her the powers of the Phoenix so that she may free Cassandra from her prison, no longer requiring Shadowcat. Emma kills Ord, destroys the Breakworld, and confronts the X-Men, killing Beast. Emma reveals her fear that Jean will proceed to take everything—including Scott—away from her now that she has returned. S.W.O.R.D. intercedes and intends to kill Emma for the destruction of the Breakworld. Jean realizes that it is actually Cassandra Nova controlling Emma. Scott manages to reach Emma with his love and she gains enough control to allow the X-Men a chance to kill her and stop Cassandra. Shadowcat pulls out Emma's heart, but is also killed when the Phoenix Force explodes from Emma's body.^[124]

X-Campus[link]

A teenaged version of Emma appears as Sebastian Shaw's girlfriend and one of the students at the Worthington Academy, a school for mutants shown in the X-Campus limited series.^{[citation needed]}

Young X-Men "End of Days"[link]

In a dystopic future depicted in the final two issues of Young X-Men, an aged Emma Frost (now going by the codename "Diamondheart") is one of only four remaining mutants on "Xaviera", a former mutant safe-haven independent state and utopia. She remains on a team of X-Men with Graymalkin, Wolverine, Anole and an incapacitated and greatly aged Ink, whom she often hopes will speak. Dust suddenly appears, now greatly changed in her appearance and persona with altered powers, and proceeds to confront and easily kill each member. Emma attempts to fight her, but is quickly suffocated by Dust's whirlwind.^[125]

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• Emma Frost is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants in the X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men (1989) animated television pilot, voiced by Susan Silo. In addition to her telepathic abilities, she displays the ability to create "psy-bolts" – sometimes called "psionic energy spears" or "psychic harpoons" – that can damage physical objects, similar to her character's abilities in early comics.

• Emma Frost first appears in cameos in the X-Men animated series (1992–1997), during the episode "The Phoenix Saga - Part IV". She is again featured as the White Queen of the Inner Circle Club in "The Dark Phoenix Saga". During this series, she is a powerful telepath. Frost was able to shut out Xavier with the aid of Cerebro, and keep Professor Xavier from locating Jean/Phoenix. Emma also appears again amongst the captured telepaths in the "Beyond Good & Evil" plot. She was voiced by Tracey Moore.

• Emma makes her first major non-supporting and non-cameo character role in Marvel Animations' Wolverine and the X-Men, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is depicted as both a member of the X-Men team as well as an integral addition to the main cast of the series. Much like her other animated incarnations, Emma displays her abilities as a powerful mutant telepath throughout the course of the show. However unlike her other appearances, Emma also displays her signature ability to shift into a diamond form. Like her portrayal in the comics, she develops affection for Cyclops. In the three-part episode "Foresight", it is revealed that she is also a member of the Hellfire Club (called the Inner Circle) in their plot to extract the Phoenix Force, though she believes that the group intends to destroy the Phoenix Force to save humanity and is shocked to hear that they intend to harness the Phoenix Force for their own purposes. Emma later sacrifices herself to prevent the Phoenix Force from causing destruction and this leads to her apparent death.

• Emma also appears as a major character in the X-Men Anime (part of the Marvel Anime) series, voiced by Kaori Yamagata in the Japanese version and by Ali Hillis in the English Dub. She is initially introduced as a psychic specter seen by Cyclops while trying to help Jean Grey in her Dark Phoenix form which ultimately ends in Jean's death. This leads Cyclops to believe Emma had something to do with Jean's death. Emma is next seen trapped in stasis and after being freed by the X-Men, aiding them, and offering them access to her mind to clear up Cyclops's suspicions, she is offered a place on the team along with Armor. Like her main comic book counterpart Emma is a mutant telepath who underwent secondary mutation to obtain her diamond form abilities. She was also a member of the Anime Universe's Hellfire Club, referred to as the "Inner Circle", but left for moral reasons to continue to her educating of mutant children. Whilst her personality remains refined and confident like her comic book personality, Emma's personality in the anime series is much warmer and maternal especially in her dealing with Armor.

Film[link]

• Emma Frost appears in the 1996 live-action television movie called Generation X portrayed by Finola Hughes.
• When Bryan Singer was still slated to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, the role of Emma Frost was intended for Sigourney Weaver.^[126] After Singer left the project in favor of making Superman Returns, the character was dropped completely.
• In 2006, a movie based on Emma Frost was being considered with director David O. Russell as a potential spin-off from the X-Men movie franchise.^[127]
• A character similar to Emma Frost appears in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, portrayed by Tahyna Tozzi. She has the ability to change into a diamond form but does not display telepathy. In the film, she is held hostage by William Stryker, who blackmails her sister Kayla into working for him as part of his plan to manipulate her husband Wolverine. A fake murder by Sabertooth is staged, which serves as the driving force of the film's plot. Before the film's release, rumors stated that actor Hugh Jackman identified the character as Emma Frost in the film's trailer at Comic-Con 2008, though no such identification was made. The character's identification was later supported by a Marvel article released on their official website and in commercial trailers; however she is unnamed in dialogue, and listed only as "Kayla's sister" in the film's credits. Following the appearance of the character in X-Men: First Class, a film set fifteen years before the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this version is no longer considered Emma Frost within the film series canon.^[128]
• January Jones plays Emma Frost as a major antagonist in X-Men: First Class, released by Fox on June 3, 2011.^[129] She is the consort of Sebastian Shaw, the villainous leader of the Hellfire Club who seeks to start a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and United States. This would eradicate all non-mutant life and mutate any survivors, leaving the Hellfire Club to rule over this new world order. Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, and their team of teenage mutants thwart their plan, and Emma is incarcerated, though she is freed by Lehnsherr, who is now known as Magneto, at the end of the film. In this film, she is able to block Xavier from using his telepathy on her, as well as creating illusions and performing mental torture. While in diamond form, she shows absolute immunity towards psychic attack, but is susceptible to physical damage.

Video games[link]

• Emma Frost (as the White Queen) is a boss character in the video games The Uncanny X-Men (1989) for NES, X-Men: Madness in Murderworld (1989), and Konami's X-Men (1992).

• Emma Frost is a playable character in X-Men Legends (2004) and is a non-playable character in the sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005) voiced by Bobby Holliday.

• Emma Frost is referenced in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. If one speaks to Storm in Valhalla, she mentions that Emma Frost caught Weasel near Wolverine's bikes, while Iceman mentions that Emma Frost once took control of his body if the player talks with him in the Sanctum Sanctorum. She makes a cameo amongst the heroes defeated by Doctor Doom.

• Emma Frost is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online. She has telepathic powers and her diamond form as well. Notable powers she has are the ability to turn into her diamond form and reflect the sun's light into a beam, as well as shoot three psychic discs.^[130]

• Emma Frost is a non-playable character in X-Men: Destiny, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

• Emma Frost will be a playable character in the upcomming Marvel Heroes (video game) developed by Gazillion Entertainment.^[131]

Motion comics[link]

Emma Frost appears in the Astonishing X-Men motion comic voiced by Erica Schroeder.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Emma Frost at the Marvel Universe
• EmmaFrostFiles.com A resource site for Emma Frost
• Spotlight feature on Emma Frost at UncannyXmen.net
• Marvel's Top 10 Heroes of 2007 - 9th Place: Emma Frost