Emma Frost

Emma Frost
File:Emmaf165.png Emma Frost Salvador Larroca, artist
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #129 (January 1980)
Created by	Chris Claremont John Byrne
In-story information
Alter ego	Emma Grace Frost
Team affiliations	Hellfire Club, X-Men, Xavier Institute, The 198, Frost International, Hellions, Generation X, Hellions Squad
Notable aliases	White Queen,Shadow,The [Black]Dark Shadow
Abilities	Telepathy, transmorph capable of morphing into indestructible organic diamond in which her telepathy is possibly supressed, evidence of latent telekinesis.

Emma Grace Frost, also known as the White Queen, is a Marvel Comics character, a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January 1980).

An urbane, mutant telepath known for her revealing white attire, Frost has been both friend and foe of the X-Men. She was originally one of the wealthy, mutant elites who comprised the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. She has had a lifelong interest in teaching the next generation and led the club’s junior team the Hellions.

After her students’ deaths, she joined Charles Xavier’s cause, mentoring the X-Men junior team Generation X. She later joined the X-Men and became headmistress of the Xavier Institute, although her ethics and loyalty remain in question.

Character history

File:Uncanny131.png

Cover to Uncanny X-Men #131. Art by John Byrne.

Hellfire Club and Massachusetts Academy

Emma Frost first appeared as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, a group of superhumans who dressed in 18th century clothing and plotted world domination. Frost and the Club's agents captured several members of the X-Men. Frost engaged the Phoenix in a psychic battle, which she lost badly, but from which she recovered.

During her time with the Hellfire Club, Frost also ran the Massachusetts Academy, a school for mutants which served as a counterpoint to that of X-Men founder Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Frost's trainees became the supervillain team the Hellions and fought Xavier's young students the New Mutants. At one point, Frost began privately training a young mutant named Angelica Jones to be her personal bodyguard and assassin in reaction to political in-fighting among the Hellfire Club. Jones eventually discovered Frost was manipulating her and broke free from her control to later become the super-heroine Firestar.

Death of the Hellions

When the time traveling mutant Trevor Fitzroy unleashed the mutant-hunting robots called the Sentinels on Frost and the Hellions, Frost was left in a coma by the attack and nearly all of her students were killed. One of the Hellions, Tarot, somehow returned to life several months later. The two Hellions that managed to survive were Warpath and Empath.

The X-Men cared for the comatose Frost at their headquarters. Later, she awoke and possessed the body of the X-Man Iceman (Bobby Drake). In Bobby's body, Emma made use of his ice powers in ways Bobby have never dreamed, and pushed the limits of his powers. She escaped the X-Men, but she was devastated when she discovered the deaths of her students and Xavier was able to coax her back into her own body.

Generation X

Xavier paired Frost with the X-Man Banshee to mentor the teenage mutant team Generation X at Frost's Massachusetts Academy after the two had teamed up to stop the Phalanx. Banshee's trust of Frost was intermittent — at times he was suspicious of her, and at others he trusted her implicitly. Her students were also initially skeptical of her. However, they soon came to trust their headmistress. She also made her peace with Firestar around this time.

After Frost's business ventures took a bad turn, she turned to her estranged sister Adrienne for help. Adrienne, a psychometrist, offered financial assistance but demanded to be co-headmistress of the school in return. Adrienne secretly plotted against Emma and planted a bomb at the school, which killed Synch, one of Emma's students. Emma tracked down and murdered Adrienne and then returned to the Academy, growing increasingly distant from her students in an effort to hide her crime. This, combined with Banshee's increasing depression and drunkenness following the death of his long-time lover Moira MacTaggert, led the students to leave, disbanding Generation X.

File:Newx156.jpg

Emma and Cyclops. Cover to New X-Men #156. Art by Salvador Larroca.

Joining the X-Men

Afterwards, Frost traveled to the mutant haven island of Genosha. There, Frost ran and taught at a mutant school until a genocidal Sentinel attack killed most of the island's population. Frost survived only due to the sudden manifestation of her secondary mutation: the power to transform herself into a flexible, diamond-like substance that provides her near-invulnerability.

Frost then joined the X-Men and taught at Xavier's newly-reopened school. She also started to look after and train a group of telepathic quintuplets known as the Stepford Cuckoos, who quickly became her prized pupils. She also began a sexual telepathic relationship with the X-Man Cyclops (Scott Summers), who had become distant from his wife Jean Grey, as a result of his temporary physical and mental merger with the mutant immortal, Apocalypse.

While quelling a riot at the school, one of the Cuckoos was killed and the others left Emma, blaming her for the death. In the aftermath of the riot, Jean Grey discovered Emma and Scott's affair, and an enraged (and far more powerful) Jean Grey confronted Emma. Unleashing the full might of her Phoenix-augmented psi-powers, Jean tore through Emma's mental defenses and forced her to face the self-denials of her past. Having their own minds manipulated is far more traumatizing for telepaths than for non-telepaths, especially for a telepath as powerful and skilled as Emma. The experience left her humilated and emotionally shattered. Soon afterward, fellow X-Man Beast found her physically shattered in her diamond form. While other members of the school investigated the murder, Beast and Jean Grey successfully reassembled and fused Emma's body back together. Alive again, Emma was able to name her murderer - Esme Cuckoo. Esme had shot Emma in her single flaw with a diamond bullet, under the direction of Xorn/Magneto. Esme fled, and after her subsequent death, the three remaining Cuckoos returned to Emma.

Leading Xavier's

Emma (back) with her new team of Hellions. Art by Clayton Henry

Emma did not remain in such a state for long. Following Jean Grey's apparent death, Cyclops and Emma became lovers, despite the criticism from their teammates. The two took over the school after Professor Xavier stepped down. Frost became co-headmaster with Cyclops and advisor to a new team of Hellions.

Due to Emma's refined telepathic abilities, she beat the alternate future daughter of Jean Grey and Cyclops, Rachel Grey, in a contest on the astral plane. Frost then rather peacefully offered Rachel the chance to help her hone her telepathic skills. Rachel, though still wary, accepted the proposal.

In "Phoenix: Endsong" the X-Men found themselves facing off against the Phoenix again. The Phoenix Force returned to Earth and resurrected Jean Grey from her grave. In a plan to trap the Phoenix Force Emma offers her body as vessel. Emma is temporarily possed by the Phoenix till Jean Grey removes it from her body.

Emma was pivotal to the plot of the House of M event. In this reality, she was married to Scott and the pair had three children. Emma was the first X-Man Wolverine contacted for help after the Scarlet Witch altered reality. She was the only other reawoken individual to side with Wolverine in a controversial opinion to kill the Scarlet Witch in order to return to the world to normal.

Following Decimation the student population has gone drastically down. Emma and Cyclops decide to have one team of students to train as New X-Men. To pick who is on this team they put all the students in the danger room to fight each other. Emma chooses six students, four from her Hellions squad, to be New X-Men. Cyclops lets X-23 join the New X-Men squad which Emma greatly opposes because X-23 is too dangerous. At this time the racist preacher William Stryker causes the subsequent deaths of most of the depowered students and tries to elimate mutant kind. Once again Emma feels responsible for the loss of young lives. Emma announced to Iron Man that the Xavier Instititue and the X-Men would not support the Superhuman Registration Act and remain neutral (see Civil War) as she fears that the registration of mutants would put them in more danger. Ms. Marvel's visit to the Institute in order to convince the X-Men to support the pro-registration heroes caused Emma harshly critize the Avengers for not showing any kind of support following the Genoshan genocide and the mass deaths of the depowered students while showing her psychic images to illustrate her point.

Loyalties

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Emma Frost with Cassandra Nova. Art by John Cassaday.

An ongoing subplot in Astonishing X-Men depicts Emma's unusually antagonistic relationship with Kitty Pryde and possible domination of Scott Summers as possible evidence of disloyalty. Her secretive relationship with the surviving Stepford Cuckoos has also been presented as "evidence," and accusations are frequently made by other characters having reason to distrust her motives. In issue #12 (August 2005), the question of Emma's "true loyalties" are brought into focus as Emma abandons the team during a fight to confer with a shadowy figure, revealed on the final page to be one of a group of four individuals watching from the shadows. The group contains Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (a young telepath and former student of Emma's, who apparently died in Genosha), and a cloaked figure called Perfection, who discuss among themselves Emma's impending betrayal of the team.

In Astonishing X-Men #13 (February, 2006), it was revealed that Emma's survival of the destruction of Genosha in New X-Men #115 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). Perfection noted that Emma's feelings for Summers were genuine, however. Related, in "Astonishing X-Men" #13, Cassandra noted that Emma is a "predator," that Emma will "do what's best for" Emma, which will mean, "in the long run...planting yourself where you can be of use to me, and, in the short run, surviving [the attack on Genosha]." In Astonishing X-Men #14, Emma began using her telepathy on Cyclops to appear as Phoenix, trying to reveal the lack of control he had over his optic blasts. It was revealed that shortly after he fell out of a plane with his younger brother Havok, Scott placed a deep mental block in his mind which prevented the controlled use of his powers. Encouraged by Emma, Scott revisits that moment in his life and reverses the decision. On the final page, Scott is shown without his ruby glasses on, revealing his newfound control of his abilities, apparently comatose. In Astonishing X-Men #15, Emma and the new Hellfire club assalt the X-Mansion, incapacitating every X-Man. Near the end of the issue, the new Hellfire club tell each other this is only the beginning. None of them see that Kitty Pryde was able to escape the attack, and reflects that Emma made her move like she always knew she would.

Emma Frost series

File:EmmaFrost8.jpg

Emma as a teenager.
Art by Greg Horn.

Following the success of some of the newer X-Men titles such as the New Mutants (Vol.2) and X-Treme X-Men, staff at Marvel considered a new title centered around the former White Queen. Marvel launched an Emma Frost ongoing series in 2003. It was cancelled in 2004. This series detailed Emma's early years, and was written by Karl Bollers. The earlier issues were drawn by Randy Green, who left after #6. He was replaced with Carlo Pagulayan for the remaining issues up until the series was cancelled. The series was supposed to cover Emma's life from high school until her first appearance as the White Queen, however, it was cancelled at issue #18.

Emma Frost was reprinted in three digest-sized collections (the first of which released under the Marvel Age imprint).

• Emma Frost Vol. 1: Higher Learning collects issues #1-6 and revolves around Emma's conflicts with her family, especially her father.

• Emma Frost Vol. 2: Mind Games collects issues #7-12 and features Emma's first forays into criminal activity.

• Emma Frost Vol. 3: Bloom collects issues #13-18, in which Emma goes to college and befriends another telepath, Astrid Bloom, and learns to use her powers. This was the last trade, as Marvel cancelled Emma Frost at #18.

As no link to the Hellfire Club or the Dark Beast is shown in the series, it is considered the events of the Emma Frost series happened before her meeting with the Dark Beast shown in Generation X minus 1, and that Emma's time at a psychiatric institution are a fabrication based on the fate of her brother Christian. Shortly after the events of the "Emma Frost" series and her encounter with the Dark Beast, Emma became a stripper at the Hellfire Club and was approached by Professor Xavier and Dr. Moira MacTaggart to join a new team of X-Men. When she refused, Professor X erased her memory of their encounter.

Powers and abilities

Since her introduction, Emma has displayed the telepathic standards of broadcasting and receiving thoughts, mind control, altering perceptions and memories, creating concentrated blasts of mental energy called 'psi bolts', astral projection, etc. She is highly skilled at creating electronic devices that amplify/block/engage psionic powers, as well as exploiting flaws in most electronic equipment.

Emma is also very adept at performing 'psychic surgery': the utilization of pin-pointed psionic energy to exert absolute control over individual brain functions such that the physical form can be manipulated (i.e., injuries healed, disabilities repaired, stimulation or retardation of growth and aging, etc). This an unusual feat for even the most powerful of telepaths, but one that Emma is keen to utilize whenever the occasion suits her.

Upon their meeting in the rainforests of Ecuador, Cassandra Nova labeled Emma's psychic abilities as 'bush league' in comparison to herself. Regardless of that statement, Emma can formidably hold her own even against those of more considerable might. An example of this was her victory over Rachel Grey (Marvel Girl II) on the Astral Plane; while Rachel may have had significantly more raw power, Emma's refined skills enabled her to claim victory over the relatively inexperienced Rachel. Also in contrast to Cassandra Nova's claim, other characters in the comics and canon writers label Emma as a "high-order telepath," capable of extraordinary telepathic feats.

During the massacre of over 16 million mutants in Genosha, Emma developed a secondary mutation: the ability to transform herself into a perfectly smooth, flexible, translucent diamond-like substance. Her abilities have been inconsistent in this form. Although initially only her skin turns into diamond, she was shattered by a diamond bullet, indicating that her entire body turns into organic diamond. Emma is virtually impervious to all forms of physical damage and can use her indestructible body to support incredible amounts of weight, though different writers have shown varying accounts of her strength. The Official X-Men Handbook 2004 clearly states that Emma does gain strength in her diamond form enabling her to lift 50 tons. The interactions between her diamond form and her telepathy have also been inconsistent; while some reports say that due to a genetic flaw Emma cannot access her telepathy in diamond form, later stories have contradicted this. Furthermore, reports vary on her mind's condition while in diamond form - some say that her mind is mirrored and impossible to read, while others say that her mind is vulnerable in such a state. Recently, it has been revealed that Cassandra Nova 'created' Emma's secondary mutation for her, although whether this is truly Cassandra Nova or merely a figment of Emma's fragile psyche has yet to be determined.

Throughout the years, it has been strongly hinted that Emma is also a latent telekinetic. In a battle with the Phoenix Force, Emma channelled her mental energy into a "psi-bolt," causing the building around her to collapse. To save herself from Trevor Fitzroy, Jean Grey's displaced psyche was able to use Emma's brain to generate a strong telekinetic force-field and fly while it inhabited the White Queen's body. Generation X #19 takes this even further, wherewithin an unconscious Emma telekinetically levitated several kitchen utensils around her while having a bad dream. In Phoenix: Endsong, Emma mentally hurls Shadowcat away from Cyclops in a moment of desperation. As Emma's mutant abilities are her telepathy and diamond form, it is still unclear as to how these feats were accomplished as writers have yet to elaborate on the issue.

Alternate Versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Emma Frost never joined the Hellfire Club, and was part neither of the X-Men nor of Apocalypse's forces. Instead, she was a member of the High Human Council, despite being a mutant. The AoA Emma had no psychic powers due to a lobotomy, which, regardless of it having been forced, saved her from Apocalypse's psychic mutants purge.

Frost was one of the HHC leaders that lead the attack against Apocalypse, alongside Mariko Yashida and Brian Braddock, whom Frost both distrusted and disliked for his extreme anti-mutant stance.

Ultimate Universe

First appearing in Ultimate X-Men #42, the Emma Frost of the Ultimate Universe is a former student of Professor Charles Xavier. The two became romanticaly involved, but they eventually split over ideological differences: Whereas Xavier believes in aggressive action and in protecting his students from society, Emma believes in an intergrated approach to mutant/human relations. Emma believes Xavier to be too violent.

Emma returned to Chicago and became a teacher, giving mutant education seminars. The governor supported her cause and introduced her to the White House chief of staff. Through him, she meets the American president and organizes the New Mutants program, designed to educate humans about mutants and to cut the government's ties to Charles Xavier, whose reputation has been tarnished. During the group's first media appearance, they and the president are attacked by Sentinels and must be rescued by the X-Men. Xavier tries to convince Emma to stay with the X-Men, but she returns to her own school in Chicago. Her new program, the Academy of Tomorrow, accepts all talented students, regardless of genetic status.

In the Ultimate X-Men comics, Emma can transform her skin into an organic diamond form, like her secondary mutation in the Marvel Universe; however, she does not display telepathic abitlities.

In other media

• Emma Frost (as the White Queen) appeared in the 1989 animated television pilot, Pryde of the X-Men, with Susan Silo providing her voice. Frost was portrayed as a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with no mention of the Hellfire Club.

• Finola Hughes, with the help of a white wig, portrayed Emma Frost in a 1996 live-action television movie titled Generation X. As in the Generation X series, Frost still went by the code name White Queen.

• Emma Frost briefly appeared in an episode of the Fox Kids X-Men animated series as the White Queen of the Inner Circle Club (the name used for the Hellfire Club in the animated series) during Dark Phoenix Saga.

• Emma Frost is a playable character in the computer role playing game X-Men Legends and returns as a non-player character in the sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.

• Emma Frost is the mid-boss of Stage 5 in Konami's X-Men arcade game, which was largely based on Pryde of the X-Men. Susan Silo added her voice talents to the game with such infamous engrish quotes as, "The White Queen welcomes you to die!"

• Emma Frost (as White Queen) appears in the X-Men game for NES. She appears at the end of the fourth level, "Battle on a Living Starship." As a boss, Frost morphs into the player's chosen character and mimics their attacks, periodically returning to her normal form. Unless players were able to decipher the hidden code written on the front of the game, this was the final level of the game.

• After the success of the X-Men trilogy of movies, there has been talk that an Emma Frost film is being considered by 20th Century Fox.[1]

External links

• MDP: White Queen (Emma Frost) - Marvel Database Project
• UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Emma Frost
• IGN Votes for Hottest Comic Book Babe - Winner: Emma Frost