Wind Dancer
| Wind Dancer | |
|---|---|
| File:Winddancer (comics).jpg Wind Dancer, by Randy Green | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | New Mutants (volume 2) #1. |
| Created by | Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir Keron Grant |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sofia Mantega Barrett |
| Team affiliations | Xavier Institute, New Mutants squad |
| Abilities | Formerly: Control of air movement, enabling flight and long-distance eavesdropping, among other things. |
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Wind Dancer is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute, and a member of the New Mutants squad therein. Her real name is Sofia Mantega, and she first appeared in New Mutants (volume 2) #1.
Biography
Sofia Mantega was born, and lived most of her life in Caracas, Venezuela. While she developed her powers with little incident, her life fell apart the day her mother was killed in a riot in town. Her uncle claimed he "had not the patience to raise a mutant" (though not to her face) and sent her to her father (who had been unaware of her existence) in Colorado, United States, the head of a major American supermarket chain.
Her enthusiasm at finally meeting him was quickly dampened by his cold manner. Setting three ground rules - she would learn English before school started, she would get good grades, and she would not use her mutant power. In return for these, and not bothering him, he would ensure she would want for nothing.
Three weeks later, in early January, she joined the school, but had difficulty fitting in. By her birthday in May, despite her best efforts, she still had no friends at the school, and her father didn't even know it was her birthday (unlike his butler Derek, the only person who had any time for her). After hearing someone say that no one liked her behind her back after lying that they were busy, she finally snapped. Going to one of her father's stores, she let loose a hurricane inside it, completely wrecking it before collapsing into a fetal position, where the police found her and arrested her.
Her father visited her in jail. Asking her why she'd done it, she weakly replied that it was to see whether he'd notice, and that she'd made sure no one was hurt. Intending to leaving her in prison for 48 hours before dropping the charges, and planning on a second paternity test to make sure he was not her father before sending her back to Venezuela, he was confronted by Danielle Moonstar. Having seen what Sofia had done on the news, she "persuaded" him to release Sofia into her custody so that she could take her to the Xavier Institute, then talked Sofia herself into going. After saying goodbye to Derek, they went onward to Xavier's.
There, she finally began to become part of a group, and the group that would become the New Mutants squad formed around her. However, after the formalisation of the team, she was forced into the role of leader when Prodigy rejected the role, and didn't have the instincts or talent for the position, making her irritable and isolated. This only worsened when she became confused about the right thing to do when Kevin Ford was arrested, and she briefly sided with the Hellions. Finally, in the midst of the fight caused when the New Mutants tried to stop them, he talked her into letting Kevin go, and she talked him into leading the team. Afterward, however, he was still reluctant, but agreed to be co-leader with Sofia, to better mesh their strengths.
Thereafter, Sofia's temper eased again until the school dance, where she caught Laurie manipulating Prodigy to make her ex-boyfriend Elixir jealous. Alarmed by the rapid disintegration of the squad, she found herself kissing Hellion, who she'd had a reluctant crush on since her arrival at the Institute, and he pushed her to end the in-fighting since she was the one who saw the good in everyone - even him. She tried to do so by forcing everyone to get together for a camp-out on the X-Mansion grounds and she pushing events along as best she could, refusing to give up and eventually managing to reunite the squad.
Shortly afterward Sofia's powers were taken away from her when she (and several other mutants) was turned into a "baseline" human as a result of the Decimation Wave on M-Day. She was not on the bus with the other depowered students but left the mansion with her father's butler during the funeral.
Powers and abilities
Wind Dancer had the ability to control the movement of air, which included the ability to generate wind, fly and, more subtly, amplify small vibrations in the air - allowing her to hear faraway conversations. Her mutant powers have since been removed as a result of Marvel's 2005 mini-series, "The House of M."