Destiny (Irene Adler)

Destiny (Irene Adler) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is known as an adversary of the X-Men.

Although blind, Destiny was a mutant precognitive able to accurately predict future events.

Publication history

Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981). She died in Uncanny X-Men #255 and was resurrected with a techno-organic virus during the 2009 Necrosha event. She filled several diaries with the future history of mutantkind, the search for which was a main storyline in the 2000s (decade) series X-Treme X-Men, years after Destiny died.

As far back as 1981, Claremont had intended Destiny to be the lover of Brotherhood of Mutants teammate Mystique, and had originally intended for Destiny and Mystique to be Nightcrawler's biological parents, with Mystique taking the form of a man for the conception.^[1][2] However, at that time, the Comics Code Authority and Marvel policy prohibited the explicit portrayal of gay or bisexual characters.^[3][4] Destiny was simply referred to as the only member of the new Brotherhood that Mystique saw as a friend; all the other members being male and prone to arguing amongst each other.

Fictional character biography

Irene Adler was born in Salzburg, Austria. Mystique was working as a consulting detective when Destiny sought her help in understanding the precognitive visions recorded in her diaries.^[5] During this time, the two fell in love. Background details suggest that this meeting took place around 1900.

She was more accurate in predicting near-future events concerning her present environment. In a period of 12 months during her adolescence, Irene had produced 13 volumes of prophecies concerning the late 20th and early 21st centuries. When that period ended, Irene was left physically blind and haunted by disturbing images of uncertain meaning. She enlisted Raven's services in pursuit of two goals: the deciphering of her recorded prophecies and a mission to prevent the most terrifying of them from ever being fulfilled.

The two women would soon become lifelong friends and lovers. They both discovered that their set goals were difficult to achieve. Their abilities would easily allow them to achieve personal success but to shape the future was stated to be "next to impossible" as it would require "social engineering." Although they remained romantically involved for years to come, there were periods in which the two women were separated from one another, allowing them both to have other romantic relationships and even families.

Together, the two later raised adopted daughter Rogue in their home in fictional Caldecott County, Mississippi. They remained together until Destiny's death.

In 1946, a Dr. Nathan Milbury (apparently Mister Sinister in disguise) was involved with Project: Black Womb, a secret government project headed by Amanda Mueller and aided by Alexander Ryking (father of Carter Ryking), Brian Xavier (Professor X's father), Kurt Marko (father of Juggernaut), and Irene Adler. In the 2008 series X-Men: Legacy, Xavier is searching to find out more about this project and its influence on his (and Juggernaut's) life. From recent issues, it appears at least Kurt Marko believed their research would result in immortality.

Brotherhood

Mystique and Destiny formed the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a group of ideologically motivated terrorists. She attempted to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly with a crossbow, but was thwarted by the X-Men and taken into custody.^[6] She was rescued from Ryker's Island along with the rest of the Brotherhood, but ended up battling the Avengers and Spider-Woman and was recaptured.^[7] She predicted Rogue's disappearance from Mystique's custody.^[8] She observed, but did not participate in, one of the Brotherhood's last skirmishes with the X-Men.^[9] Eventually Mystique and Rogue engineered an escape for the Brotherhood. Rom the Spaceknight defeated the escape attempt but Destiny was rescued by Rogue and Mystique. Thereafter, Rogue, Destiny and Mystique helped Rom defeat the mutant Hybrid.

Freedom Force

Eventually, the members of Mystique's Brotherhood went to work for the United States government as Freedom Force in exchange for a pardon and protection from anti-mutant sentiment. She apprehended Magneto alongside Freedom Force in that group's first mission for the United States government.^[10] She assisted Freedom Force in taking the Avengers into custody at the Vault.^[11] She participated in Freedom Force's attempted arrest of the X-Men,^[12] during which she "foresaw" the death of the X-Men during the "Fall of the Mutants."^[13]

While on a mission with Freedom Force to Muir Island to stop the Reavers, Destiny was killed by Legion, who was being influenced at the time by the Shadow King.^[14] Shortly before her death, she predicted that Mystique would become romantically involved with Forge, and although the pair loathed each other at the time, they did develop a brief relationship while both were members of X-Factor. Mystique scatters Destiny's ashes at sea.^[15]

Mystique later protects a young mutant named Trevor Chase who addressed her as "Auntie Raven" strongly implying that Chase was Destiny's grandson.^[16] It is not certain whether Chase's mother was born before Mystique and Destiny became lovers or whether, like Mystique, Destiny had a child during the course of their relationship.

The Books of Truth

Years after her death it was revealed that when Destiny's mutant power first manifested she filled several diaries called "The Books of Truth" with prophecies of the future that, when in the wrong hands, posed the greatest threat to humanity ever known. Guarded by Destiny's companion Mystique for years, some of the volumes later came into the possession of Professor Charles Xavier. However, a team of X-Men, fearing that absolute knowledge of the future would lead their mentor to a temptation the world could not afford, exiled themselves from their home and teammates in order to hunt down the remaining Books of Truth, in the hope that they can locate the prophecies before Xavier or someone worse does.

This team of X-Treme X-Men spent some time searching for Destiny's diaries, and found the rest of them, yet these became apparently useless when a prediction in one of them was prevented from taking place. However, after the event known as House of M, the diaries were sought out again by Mister Sinister, who believes that one of the books contain information on the eventual fate of mutant-kind in the wake of Decimation. For that mission, he used the Acolytes to obtain Destiny's Diaries. Exodus and his Acolytes attacked the Xavier Institute only to find forgeries of the books. The real diaries were actually hidden in Flint, Michigan by Shadowcat and Emma Frost. However, all the books were burned to ashes by Gambit before the Marauders or the X-Men could read them.

Necrosha

After getting hold of the Technarch transmode virus during the Necrosha storyline, Selene resurrected Destiny so she could question Irene about what her future holds.^[17] After telling Selene what she wants to hear, Destiny is taken back to her cell, where she telepathically contacts Blindfold by accident when she was trying to reach her foster daughter Rogue. After showing Blindfold she means no harm and saving her life from falling rubble caused by Warpath, she gives Blindfold information about Selene. However, after breaking contact, she realizes she may have made a grave mistake.^[18]

The mistake is revealed to be Proteus who is now in possession of Blindfold.^[19] Rogue, along with a group of X-Men go to Muir Island to battle Proteus, and it is through the combined efforts of Rogue, Magneto and Psylocke that he is defeated. Afterwards Destiny explains to Blindfold that she is not her mother, as the other previously considered, but a distant relative. Destiny then takes a moment to share a final good-bye with her foster daughter, before eventually leaving in order to supposedly die at the end of the storyline.^[20]

Chaos War

During the Chaos War, Moira MacTaggart, Thunderbird, Banshee, Esme and Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos, and Multiple Man's fallen clones are resurrected and appear on the former grounds of the X-Men school. There, Moira MacTaggart finds one of Destiny's diaries which contains a passage depicting the events of the war and apparently the key to defeating Amatsu-Mikaboshi. It is also revealed that she is the same Irene Adler of Sherlock Holmes's stories.^[21] After Thunderbird prayed to the Thunderbird God to teleport the group away from the attacking Carrion Crow, Thunderbird and the group learned that Moira has been possessed by Destiny's ghost.^[22]

Power and abilities

Destiny was a mutant that had the ability of psionic precognition, to see future probabilities and interpret them to best select or manipulate what was likely to happen. This allowed her to compensate for her blindness by seeing where objects in her path would be. The accuracy of Destiny's ability to foresee the future decreases in direct proportion to the distance ahead in time.

She carried a small crossbow with her that she used offensively, and had good aim because she "saw" where it would land in her precognitive visions.

In Necrosha, Destiny was shown to utilize telepathic abilities as she mentally searched for Rogue (instead finding Blindfold) and then projecting her image into Blindfold's mind. This was explained later that she had fragments of the mutant Proteus inside her. After making physical contact with Blindfold, Proteus appeared to take full possession of Blindfold and vacate Destiny's body. As such, she may or may not still have telepathy.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

Destiny appeared in the Apocalypse ruled reality, the Age of Apocalypse. She had retired in the paradise of Avalon and was convinced by the X-Men that Bishop's claims were true.^[23] She was one of the three (along with Bishop and Magik) who entered the M'Kraan Crystal as they "no longer" had counterparts.^[24]

Millennial Visions

Destiny appears as a member of the Brotherhood on Earth-1043.^[25]

In other media

Television

Destiny appeared in the X-Men: Evolution animated series voiced by Ellen Kennedy. In the series she is not part of the Brotherhood and never wore a costume, but is Mystique's best friend and took care of Rogue before she joined the X-Men. Her visions provided the series with constant cliffhangers and future storylines, including predicting when Rogue's powers manifested (shortly before they did), a prediction of Rogue's apparent death, and that both Rogue and Mystique would play key roles in the coming of Apocalypse. Destiny appears in episode 103 - "Rogue Recruit" and episode 308 - "Self Possessed".^[26] While never outright stated in the show, character designer and show director Steven E Gordon confirmed that she was intended to have been Mystique's lover, as in the comics.^[27]

Video games

Destiny appeared as an NPC in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse voiced by Marsha Clark. She is depicted as a former Brotherhood member who quit and relocated to Avalon in the Savage Land after having a vision Apocalypse would attack, Beast will die, and Angel would betray the X-Men.

See also

• LGBT themes in comics

References

External links

• Destiny at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Destiny (Irene Adler) at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Destiny (Age of Apocalypse) at the Marvel Universe wiki