Enemies: Builders, Cassandra Nova;

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Shi'ar Galactic Empire;

First Appearance: New X-Men I#123 (April, 2002)

Powers/Abilities: Monstra was around 7' tall and powerfully strong (probably enhanced human range). Unfortunately for her, she was not really a fighter, but could fly with the aid of an Imperial Flight Patch. Monstra had dark purple skin, purple blood, and green hair shaped in a Mohawk fashion. She was built solidly, with two legs, four arms (with three fingers and one thumb on each), four breasts, three green eyes, no discernible nose, and a large mouth (with fangs) shaped like a sucker. Her physical features may have been typical of her race. She wore a black leather-style harness and black studded gauntlets on each arm, as well as a green tunic that came off easily, plus several trophy heads on a belt (see comments).

Height: 6'8"
Weight: 516 lbs.

History: (New X-Men I#123 - BTS) - The Shi'ar Empress, Lilandra, her mind controlled by the villainous Cassandra Nova, who inhabited Charles Xavier's body, arrived in lower Earth orbit with a team of Superguardians, including Monstra and Fader, under the leadership of Gladiator. Cassandra Nova used Lilandra to enforce the power of the Imperial Superguardian Elite to attack the X-Men, using a lie that the mutants were infected and had to be exterminated.

(New X-Men I#123) - Using the element of surprise, Monstra, Arc and Squorm downed an X-Wing Mark 8 that was carrying Cyclops and Xorn (Kuan-Yin). Returning to the Superdestroyer, the Superguardians kidnapped the two unconscious mutants to use as samples for supposed "thought-plague contamination".

(New X-Men I#124) - Monstra and Fader formed part of the assault team on the Xavier Institute. At the entrance to the School's vaults, where the students and reporters were being ushered into, Monstra spotted Beast as he was about to leave to aid Emma Frost, and she alerted her fellow Superguardians. Beast launched himself at Monstra, slashing her face with his big blue paw, ripping her tunic off and temporarily blinding her. She voiced concern for Fader, who was "hiding" in the ultraviolet light frequency; he attacked Beast with his spazzgun, but missed. Beast then smashed a small statue on Fader, knocking the small Suerguardian out. Monstra then called for Manta and Squorm for back-up.

The injured Monstra then struggled to get up, only to see Beast down Squorm and Wolverine smash through a window, calling out that he had an Imperial Flight Patch on. At this point, Arc called for Gladiator's urgent assistance. However, after slashing Blimp and Schism, Wolverine next attacked Monstra, pulling at her hair to topple her over, before jumping on her and slashing at her with his blades. Then the wall melted and Gladiator appeared with Cosmo. Standing over Monstra's inert body, Wolverine challenged Gladiator, who in turn listed their violent defense of the School, including the maiming of Monstra.

(New X-Men I#133 - BTS) - Monstra and Fader left Earth along with the rest of Lilandra's Superguardians bound for Shi'ar space after the increasing and repeated manifestation of the Phoenix force in Jean Grey.

(Wolverine and the X-Men Annual#1) - At the Imperial Guard training school, Kid Gladiator provided his report to the others about his time on Earth. In earshot were Titan, Warstar, the Manta trainees, the Fang trainees, and the Smasher trainees, including Subguardian Smasher-7. Other trainees included those seeking to become Starbolt, Oracle, Plutonia, Neutron, Flashfire, Hussar, Electron, and others, but Kid Gladiator was the only one in his program. Against his father's orders, he joined the Smasher trainees (including numbers 10, 11, and 12), the Avengers, and the Imperial Guard (including Monstra and Arc).

Comments: Created by Grant Morrison (writer), Ethan van Sciver with Tom Derenick (pencils) & Townsend, Miki, Hanna, Florea (inks).
Fader created by Grant Morrison (writer) & Igor Kordey (artist).

Monstra had several trophy-style heads on her belt (reminiscent of C3-P0 and the Terminator). Perhaps she was better at fighting robots?

Monstra and Fader appeared to be trainee Superguardians, as they displayed little fighting skills against the X-Men.

It is doubtful that Fader accompanied Monstra in the capture of Cyclops and Xorn, as only 3 energy signatures were seen leaving (Monstra, Arc and Squorm).

Profile by Grendel Prime

Clarifications:

Monstra has no known connections to:

• Any other "Monstra" or countless "Monster" characters.

Height: 3'3"
Weight: 45 lbs.

Fader was short and was armed with a spazzgun and light armour. Fader had the innate ability to fly undetected by "hiding" in different parts of the spectrum (like in the ultraviolet range where humans cannot see). Unfortunately for Fader, it did not mask his scent or sounds. Fader's ability to turn "invisible" only worked when he could concentrate on it.

Fader accompanied Monstra in the assault on the Xavier Institute and was there when Beast launched himself at Monstra, clawing her face, temporarily blinding her. Fader, hiding in the ultraviolet, fired his spazzgun at Beast but missed. Beast then took a statue (notably a smaller version of Rodin's "The Thinker") and smashed at where his nose and ears told him Fader was. This violent attack knocked the small Superguardian out for the rest of the fight.

Fader and Monstra appeared to be close friends, possibly intimately so, judging by Monstra's concern for him.

-- New X-Men I#124

images:
New X-Men I#124, p17, panel 1 (attacked by Wolverine);

Appearances:
New X-Men I#123 (April, 2002) - Grant Morrison (writer), Ethan van Sciver with Tom Derenick (pencils), Townsend, Miki, Hanna, Florea (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
New X-Men I#124 (May, 2002) - Grant Morrison (writer), Igor Kordey (artist), Mark Powers (editor)
New X-Men I#133 (December, 2002) - Grant Morrison (writer), Ethan van Sciver (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Wolverine and the X-Men Annual#1 (2013) - Jason Aaron (writer), Nick Bradshaw (penciler), Walden Wong, Karl Kesel, Victor Olazaba (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)

Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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