STIGMATA

Real Name: Ana Maria Magdalena Shwartz

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Vatican agent, bodyguard

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch/Noble Kale), Venom (Eddie Brock)

Enemies: Franco Santera, Teraknid

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "That bald super mutant Spanish church lady"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Venom: Sign of the Boss#1 (September, 1997)

Powers/Abilities: Stigmata possesses superhuman strength and agility, and carries an energy-charged cane she uses as a weapon.  When Stigmata speaks the words "Angel Gabriel, soldado puro del padre santo, ayudame!", she transforms into an angelic energy being with the powers of flight, intangibility, and energy projection.  She is a highly skilled melee combatant.

History: (Venom: Sign of the Boss#2 (fb) ) - Stigmata was assigned to protect and observe San Gregarian president Franco Santera, who had allegedly repented for his tyrannical past. 

(Venom: Sign of the Boss#1) - Stigmata accompanied Santera and his family to St. Jude's Church in the Bronx, where Santera spoke of his conversion.  When his speech was disrupted by a terrorist attack (secretly planned by Santera himself), Stigmata leapt into action, dispatching a number of terrorists before being felled by the venom of their leader, Teraknid.  The paralyzed Stigmata ws bound and gagged, leaving her unable to activate her powers.

(Venom: Sign of the Boss#2) - When Santera's plot began to collapse, thanks to the intervention of Venom and Ghost Rider, he announced his intention to kill all of the witnesses inside the church.  In the ensuing panic, a nun ungagged Stigmata, allowing her to speak the "words of power".  In her powered-up form, she distracted Santera long enough to allow Ghost Rider to capture him and deliver his Penance Stare.  Stigmata then took Santera to a secret Vatican prison.

Comments: Created by Ivan Velez, Tom Derenick & Chris Ivy.

Stigmata's "words of power" translates as "Angel Gabriel, pure soldier of the patron saints, help me!". 

So if Stigmata's a mutant, how come she needs to speak an incantation to activate her full powers?  Maybe she doesn't technically need to do it, but her faith is so strong that she can't activate them, psychologically, without saying her words of power.  Or hey, maybe her mutant powers really do need divine intervention to function - certainly, stranger things have happened.

Everyone, from Teraknid's goons to Danny Ketch's buddy Melissa Maro, seems to know that Stigmata's a mutant.  Dunno how.

Her real name was revealed in Anti-Venom's profile in OHotMU A-Z HC#14.

Profile by Minor Irritant.