Kitty Pryde aka Ariel aka Sprite

Background

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Powers and Abilities

Kitty continues to develop her skills. She makes rapid progress in electronics and computer science as she acquires a peer, Doug Ramsey.

She receives training from Wolverine in judo and basic self-defence, and actually starts throwing, tackling and punching minor opponents. Near the end of this era, she’s actually a decent hand-to-hand fighter by real-world, reasonable standards. However, her strength and mass remain low.

Ariel has continued training in phasing additional weight. By late 1983, she manages to Air Walk and Spirit Travel while being held by Piotr Rasputin, who is about 240 lbs at that point – though this requires complete concentration.

History

Morlocks

When Calisto of the Morlocks kidnapped Angel, Sprite was part of the team that scouted the Morlock’s underground turf. During that mission she was infected by the Morlock Plague’s power. Gravely ill, she was rescued by Caliban, but the rest of the Morlocks refused to let her go.

In love with Kitty, Caliban agreed to help her when she promised not to run away, which he misinterpreted as a promise to stay with him forever.

When the other X-Men found the missing Sprite, Calibran explained the local rules. In order to save Kitty, Storm (Ororo Munroe) chose to challenge Calisto for the leadership of the Morlocks. The two women had a knife fight which ended when Storm near-fatally stabbed Calisto. The X-Men then departed for the surface with the sick Sprite, to Caliban’s dismay.

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Nearly committing murder to save Pryde started Munroe on a path of redefining herself, which would manifest itself as her punk period.

After Kitty finished recovering from Plague’s attack, Illyana started regaining her memories of her time with Belasco. For the first time, she manifested her Soul Sword and her demonic nature. Kitty greatly helped her cope, and the two room-mates became closer than ever.

At roughly that time, Kitty decided to go back to “Ariel” (after apparently briefly calling herself “Aerial”).

Mariko

Ariel accompanied the X-Men to Japan for Logan and Mariko’s marriage. While she thought this would be a great trip it turned quite sour. Storm adopted her punk look to Kitty’s uncomprehending dismay and during the marriage, where Kitty was serving as a miko , Wolverine’s bride rejected him due to the Mastermind’s telepathic influence.

As she felt terribly distant from the changed Storm, she got closer to Piotr and shared with him a low-key, platonic romantic relationship.

Kitty also became friends with of a boy of her age, Doug Ramsey, who occasionally associated with the teenaged students at the School for Gifted Youngsters. Being a fellow genius and a computers prodigy, Ramsey spent a lot of time with Kitty, working and playing with the computers at the Mansion.

Though he was more of a software guy and Kitty was chiefly interested in hardware, they rapidly built up their technical knowledge. They also got banned from every decent video game arcade in Westchester county. Eventually, Xavier explained to Pryde that Ramsey’s technical gifts were an aspect of his mutant power, though they did not tell him right away.

Oaths

Now almost 15, Kitty made her second documented attempt at a date with Piotr. As with all other attempts from then on, it was interrupted by an emergency. In this case, it was an ambush by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The ambush was successful, and Colossus was left in a critical state, his metallic form frozen in place and deeply cracked.

Remembering about a recent line of research by Dr. Richards she had read about in Scientific American, Kitty rushed to the Baxter Building. The FF being absent, she decided to just waltz through the security while intangible.

She did secure the device which could hopefully save Colossus, but on her way out was ambushed by a gang of Morlocks, who were after her for reneging on her promise to Caliban. They kidnapped her and left behind the corpse of a junkie of Kitty’s age, changed by the flesh-manipulating Morlock Masque into a replica of Pryde.

In order to gain her revenge against Storm, Callisto decided to organise a marriage between Caliban and Ariel. When Kitty wanted to leave, she reminded her of her promise (presumably, Kitty did not have a very clear memory of what she had said whilst gravely ill, and assumed Caliban’s understanding of her words was correct).

The marriage was interrupted by the arrival of Storm, Rogue and Wolverine, but Ariel still decided to owe up to what she had apparently promised and the risks Caliban had taken for her.

Kitty interrupted the fight that was developing, and obtained the Morlock’s cooperation in saving Piotr as she renewed her promise to stay with them. Colossus was saved by Rogue and the aged Morlock called Healer.

Heartbreaks

Kitty did return to the Morlock underground of her own free will, giving Illyana some letters to explain her decision to Piotr and to her parents. However, after she did show up to resume the marriage ceremony, Caliban released her from her oath. Realising she did not love him and did not want to live in the underground, he let her go, spoiling Callisto’s petty revenge.

Kitty’s increasingly close friendship with Ramsey, and Ramsey’s attempts to date her (transparent to everyone but Kitty) drove a rift between her and Rasputin. The young Russian started getting cold feet and decided a simple peasant like him wasn’t right for a tech genius like Pryde.

This worsened when Ramsey was tapped to join the Massachusetts Academy, and Rasputin saw Pryde’s concern over this. Pryde even organised an operation with the X-Men to ensure that the Hellfire Club was not planning something sinister against Ramsey.

Growin’ up

The same day, Ororo and Kitty had a heart-to-heart, since Storm could see how Kitty was affected by Storm’s new, colder demeanour and the sudden chilling in their relationship. Kitty accepted that Storm was also growing up, and had moved on from the motherly role she had adopted toward her for several years.

Kitty did not understand Piotr’s sudden aloofness, though, being oblivious to Doug’s attitude toward her.

While accompanying Ramsey to the Massachusetts Academy, Pryde was bushwhacked by the White Queen, whom Ariel believed was in a coma. Furthermore, her contingency plans all fell apart as the X-Men had been unexpectedly taken to Battleworld to fight in the Secret Wars. Illyana realised what was going on and the New Mutants came to the rescue – only to also fall into a trap.

Kitty and the New Mutants more or less joined the Hellions as a result of the White Queen’s telepathic pressure. Eventually, thanks to Kitty’s and Illyana’s actions, and the prideful Hellions challenging the New Mutants to an honour duel, Xavier’s students escaped on their own.

During a discussion with the White Queen, Pryde learned that Ramsey was in love with her, and the Queen stated that Pryde was reciprocating but in denial.

Piotr leaves

As the X-Men returned from Battleworld via Tōkyō, Piotr had a talk with Kitty. Back on Battleworld he had fallen in love with a healer named Zsaji, an intense relationship that stirred the young Russian’s romantic soul and made him realise that his feelings for Pryde had never been as strong.

He awkwardly dumped her. Piotr was so lost in his own feelings and conflicts that he failed to acknowledge the sacrifices Pryde had recently made to save his own life.

Crushed by Piotr’s decision, Kitty pretended to gracefully accept the news, being at this point the more mature of the two. As Illyana and Lockheed consoled Pryde, Rasputin was chewed out by Wolverine at a nearby bar for his romantic naïveté.

Being by far the oldest X-Man, Wolverine had over time — and despite his gruff nature — developed a role as a mentor with a hint of fatherliness toward the youngest X-Men, including Kitty and Piotr. His experience mentoring Kitty would later make him the tutor of choice for other young recruits, such as Jubilee or Armor.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine

Broken-hearted, Kitty left for a few weeks for Chicago to visit her dad and perhaps her mom. Carmen Pryde being extremely busy with business, his daughter spent about a week alone until she ran out of tears over Piotr dumping her.

As it turned out, however, her father’s business would soon impact her life in a drastic manner – and lead to major changes.

Description

See illustrations.

Personality

See profile #1.

This era is the rough point where Kitty starts understanding that she’s bisexual (and primarily interested in men). But only the vaguest signalling was possible in super-hero comics back then. So for decades the data is primarily in interviews with Chris Claremont.

Quotes

“Lockheed isn’t a pet, Nightcrawler – he’s my friend ! Don’t you dare snarl, Lockheed ! Wolverine’s my friend, too !”

“I was going to show you the latest Star Wars comics, but that can wait.”

“I gave my word, Illyana. What am I, if that means nothing ? Wolvie’d understand — it’s a matter of honour.”

“It’s just… Ororo was so special…. like my mom and best friend both — and now, she’s a stranger. I’m afraid, Doug. I’ve lost her forever.”

DC Universe History

(This is the Post-Crisis version of Kitty’s history, and so mostly ignores the Earth-hopping her story might have entailed when the Infinite Earths still existed. They are left, instead, as an exercise to the interested reader.)

This section created and compiled by John Colagioia.

Three billion years ago, the Guardians of the Universe created a vast army of androids they called the Manhunters. Their programming was initially simple: “No evil escapes the Manhunters.” But, for reasons still unknown, this creed became corrupted, and the Manhunters rebelled from their masters.

When they mounted a final assault on Oa, the Guardians exiled their creations, scattering them to the farthest corners of the universe, and replacing them in their duties with a sentient police force, the Green Lantern Corps.

Those Manhunters exiled to the planet Earth, finding the world devoid of the Guardians’ interference, thrived. They became bounty hunters, and recruited and trained a human following, forming a sizeable cult with vaguely Asian trappings.

The Lanterns come to Earth

Then, one day, the world of the Manhunters changed, as Green Lantern Abin Sur died in the mountains of California, and chose Earthman Hal Jordan as his successor—an Earthbound Green Lantern. As quickly as possible, the world’s Manhunters summoned their brethren to their adopted homeworld, and began to plot revenge on their former, and now hated, masters.

In their first attempt, they attempted a bluff. Posing as agents of the Guardians, themselves, they accused and convicted Hal Jordan—the most trusted agent of the Guardians—of destroying an inhabited planet.

This plot proved unsuccessful, but allowed the androids to set the stage for their next plot, by allowing one of their human members, Mark Shaw, to “defect,” becoming an ally to the Justice League of America under the name of the Privateer.

Shaw’s defection, however, was (from the perspective of the Manhunters) merely a ruse to gain the confidence of Jordan and his fellow Leaguers. Under hypnotic direction of the Manhunters, he also adopted the identity of the villainous Star-Tsar.

Unmasked by the Red Tornado, Shaw admitted that he was a mere pawn of the Manhunters, and went to prison of his own free will. And here, oddly, Kitty Pryde’s story begins.

Pryde of the Manhunters

A teenage genius with a strong moral streak taking college courses, Pryde made for a perfect Manhunter agent…and a perfect test for the now-ambiguously-loyal Mark Shaw. Shaw was broken out of prison and sent to recruit the young girl, posing as an instructor.

With forged credentials and a healthy knowledge of his material, he easily coerced her into travelling with him to the Manhunter compound. There, she was introduced to the Grandmaster.

Face to face with such a fanatic, Pryde quickly realized that something was very wrong. But she chose to play along until an opportunity for escape presented itself.

Kitty’s initial training at the hands of the Manhunters triggered her powers, who instantly noted her effect on technology. Armed with a surprising new weapon, Kitty Pryde was immediately sent to the Justice League’s Satellite Headquarters to procure files and then destroy the computers.

To get their attention, a battle was staged between Pryde and several other Manhunter agents, with the former apparently on the losing side.

Sleeping satellite

As predicted, members Green Arrow and Black Canary arrived on the scene, chasing away the young girl’s “persecutors.” Feigning minor injury and openly displaying her phasing abilities, the pair determined that the girl would be safest on the satellite, thus taking the bait.

Another distraction, this time a natural disaster, engineered by the Manhunters drew the heroes away from the satellite, leaving Kitty aboard without supervision.

…Or so the Manhunters thought, at least. As Kitty was about to put her plan into action to notify the Leaguers of the situation, the Justice Society arrived for a meeting with their successors. The young girl quickly explained her situation, and requested the superhero equivalent of asylum.

The Justice Society having recently inducted several younger members in the past months, they invited Kitty to join outright, thus ensuring her protection.

Reclaimed

Kitty stayed with the Justice Society for quite a while, along with fellow youngsters (relatively speaking) Power Girl and the Star-Spangled Kid. When the others left in protest, supporting the young heroes who would form Infinity, Inc., Hawkman (needing validation after his treatment by his own son) gently asked Kitty why she hadn’t left.

Grossly misinterpreting his intentions, Kitty also resigned from the Justice Society.

Hearing of this spat, the Manhunters chose to once again activate Mark Shaw, this time to reclaim their “lost” agent. Using Carmen Pryde’s Yakuza dealings as leverage, Shaw managed to get Kitty to Japan, where she was captured by the Manhunters and her formal brainwashing begun, with Shaw forced to watch.

With every step of Kitty’s regimen of psychological and physical conditioning, Shaw fought his own directives until, just as the conversion was to be completed and the Manhunter mask passed into Pryde’s hands, he managed to break free.

Shaw quickly taught Pryde how to resist her incomplete compulsions, saving her from the life of subservience that he, himself, was struggling to escape. With Pryde safe, Shaw left, maintaining control until he could return to prison and psychologist Simon LaGrieve.

Infinity and beyond

With more confidence—and more ability—Kitty joined with Infinity, Inc., staying with them until the Crisis. During the final stages of the fight, she was savagely injured by a Shadow Demon, making it impossible for her to even control her own powers.

With her phasing ability threatening to kill her, she was sent to Markovia to heal, under the supervision of Dr. Helga Jace (who, for the purposes of this continuity, never was a Manhunters agent).

Soon after, just as Kitty was beginning to recover, she noted that most of the hero teams she knew—the Justice League, the Justice Society, Infinity, Inc., and even the Teen Titans—were all disbanded, on the verge of disbandment, or worse. Something of a depression settled on her.

She was roused from this dark time by the arrival of the former Teen Titan known only as Raven, pursued by “War Dogs” from Apokolips, spilling over from Darkseid’s “Legends” campaign. Kitty was one of the heroes that came to her aid, as did Prince Brion “Geo-Force” Markov and Rex “Metamorpho” Mason and others.

Outsiders

The heroes finding that they worked well together, and feeling that Markovia could still benefit from a team of superheroes, they reformed the Outsiders.

As it turns out, though, Raven was actually not the woman known to the Titans, but rather a doppelgänger from what is today known as another Hypertimeline. Her presence, in fact, weakened the walls of reality in Markovia, sending the Outsiders bouncing uncontrollably through Hypertime (play-for-play equivalent to the Crosstime Capers, for those having trouble following along). Among their final excursions is to the world of the Atomic Knights.

This group of Outsiders mostly follow along in Excalibur’s footsteps, or the nearest equivalent. On returning to their native Hypertimeline (Kitty returning first, finding herself manipulated by a friend of Markov’s), they encountered Gardiner “Atomic Knight” Grayle.

Grayle apparently knew them from their stay in “his” time, casting some suspicion on what, exactly, happened in the “Crosstime Capers,” and thus preventing the Outsiders from actually discovering Hypertime.

Hypertime happenings

The group then met with, and gained the approval of, the newly-returned Justice Society.

Then they found that their entire history and formation has been manipulated by ancient sorcerors, and so on, with other members from the first incarnation of the Outsiders joining for short periods (all interspersed with periodic “Hypertime bleeds” of alternate Outsiders running through their headquarters).

After a major battle, though, Raven found herself gravely wounded and also began to feel how she was destabilizing the timeline. Fearing for the lives of her friends, she chose to leave the Earth. However, this exile was short-lived, as she sensed a parallel disruption in the timestream, in the form of Matt “Waverider” Ryder.

Following his trail back to his home time, Raven learned of Monarch (or Lord Chaos, if you prefer a Titans spin to this) and his future control of Earth. At the same time, Kitty was tested by Waverider, and also felt a strong dose of Monarch’s time.

Save the future

Together, Kitty and Raven (now returned to Markovia) convince the rest of the team that the future needed help more than the present, and spent some time laying the groundwork for a revolution against the dictatorial hero, saving one Dawn Grainger in the process.

Successful, the Outsiders return home, but find Raven missing, and the Hypertime fluxuations more or less healed, and new members on their doorstep, including Mark “Manhunter” Shaw, fully healed, and feeling the need to work with the young woman whose history was so linked to his own.

When the Outsiders disbanded, though, Pryde and Shaw found they still had work to do. The DEO’s main computer had been built, partially, with Manhunter technology, and wanted revenge on its failed agents. Kitty was brought in as an interim agent, and between them, they managed to defeat the construct. Kitty left, intending to retire to a normal life.

One for the teams

This was not to be, however. A signal from Batman, of all people, summoned Pryde to the Justice League Watchtower. He informed her of the League’s disappearance, and the need for a substitute team. She served the team, briefly, with distinction and, when the “real” League returned, she was offered a position on the new hybrid team.

Pryde rejected the offer, finding the team shoddy and undisciplined, even with the return of the more typical Leaguers. Again, she left to retire to a normal life.

…And, again, this was not to be. News reports began appearing of the so-called Power Company, and one of the partners, calling himself “Manhunter,” but clearly not Mark Shaw.

Her current goal is to investigate and make her way into the Power Company, and find out what she can about this man who thinks he’s as good enough to name himself after one of her oldest friends and mentors…

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Vintage X-Men comics plus 2008-2009 Wolverine : First Class flashbacks (up to and including issue #18).

Helper(s): About.com paediatrics chart (for height and weight at 13 ½). Pufnstuff, Chris Cottingham, Alan Wilkinson, Gareth Lewis, Eric Langendorf. M&M stats by Pawsplay.