DARIA
Real Name: Unrevealed, possibly Daria (see
comments)
Identity/Class: Human cyborg
Occupation: Record keeper
Group Membership: Operation: Zero Tolerance
(Bastion, Harper and unrevealed others)
Affiliations: Jubilee (Jubilation Lee)
Enemies: None (though
as a member of OZT, all mutants were her enemies)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Operation Zero Tolerance
headquarters, New Mexico
First Appearance: Generation X#20 (October, 1996)
Powers/Abilities: Daria was a human teenager
enhanced with Prime Sentinel technology. She could process and analyze
information from a great number of sources at great speeds. She had an
advanced sensor array that could detect a variety of bodily functions
and even scan a person's DNA for signs of aberrations such as the
X-Gene. When attacked, her nano-tech defense systems would automatically
compose the most efficient counter measure based on the mutagenic
bio-signature of the attacker. She's been known to generate swarms of tiny,
metal insects. She could fly and was strong enough to carry at
least one other person with her during flight.
Height: 5'7" (by approximation)
Weight: 160 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Bald
History:
(Generation X#29 (fb) - BTS) - The young teenage girl who would be known as Daria was among the many baseline humans who were enhanced with nano technology to become Prime Sentinel sleeper units. Unlike most of the others, Daria wasn't assigned for field duty, instead she and an undisclosed number of similarly outfitted and enhanced girls were moved to Operation: Zero Tolerance's New Mexico headquarters. Daria served there as Bastion's personal assistant and record keeper.
(Generation X#20) - Daria and Bastion were reviewing video footage of Generation X's first encounter with Emplate at Boston's Logan Airport. She was asked to analyze the various players involved, including Chamber who she concluded was composed completely of psionic energy. She had no information on Emplate, but stated she'd be cross-referencing with Black Air's intelligence department. Intrigued by Chamber, Bastion ordered Daria to find out who he was by going through the flight records and the passenger list. Daria announced it would take her less than ten minutes, which Bastion still felt was too long. He told her to summon him once she had the information which she did, minutes later. Daria went up to Bastion as ordered but because she startled him, he strangled her as punishment for sneaking up on him. Together, they concluded Chamber was the British teen Jonothon Starsmore, whose flight ticket had been paid for by Frost Enterprises. Bastion ordered Daria to get him all available information on Emma Frost's company.
(X-Man#22) - Daria was asked by Bastion for a status update on various superhuman beings that might prove a threat for Operation: Zero Tolerance. He was specifically interested in the mutants who had at one point formed the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. When she couldn't locate them anywhere, just like she hadn't in recent months, Bastion moved on. He requested she gave him more intelligence on the Silver Surfer.
(Generation X#23) - Daria and Bastion went over all the data available on Frost Enterprises CEO Emma Frost. Frustrated there was very little photo documentation on her formative years, all they had to go with was a single unused photo from the society pages of Frost attending a Wall Street cocktail party. Daria remarked that it seemed as if Frost came and went at her leisure, doing whatever she wanted while becoming one of the world's most preeminent money brokers. When his assistant suggested she might be a mutant, Bastion firmly reminded her they weren't in the guessing business before asking her to tell him more of the school Frost was running nowadays.
(Generation X#27 (fb) - BTS) - Daria first met Jubilee after Bastion brought the young mutant in when he rescued her from an attack by the Black Tom Cassidy possessed clone of Mondo. Jubilee was outfitted with equipment that could digitally record and project her memories, in an attempt to learn as much of the X-Men's secrets as possible before the official launch of Operation: Zero Tolerance. Daria was tasked to observe whatever Jubilee could offer.
(Generation X#27) - Daria watched with ever growing disgust how Bastion brutally interrogated Jubilee in an attempt to coax more memories out of her. He achieved a partial success when showing her a fake, broken visor brought back a conversation Jubilee had with Cyclops after Illyana Rasputin died. He got another memory out of her when he claimed to have killed Bishop. He then ordered Daria to show Jubilee how they were torturing Wolverine, figuring that seeing her mentor get killed would cause her to break completely. Instead, Jubilee instantly realized it was fake when "Wolverine" begged for his life, something the real Logan would never do. She laughed in his face, completely shutting down the memory transfer process and causing Daria to exclaim "God, I love this girl". She then, to her amazement watched as the memory visualization machinery picked up Bastion's memories of his own creation. When she tried to question him about it later on, Bastion insisted she didn't see anything. He proceeded to order her to process all the information they had gathered from Jubilee within the hour and then contact Harper and the other Zero Tolerance operatives to move in on the X-Men later that night. Stunned, Daria asked if he was sure he wanted to risk jumping so far ahead of schedule. One threatening glance of Bastion's was all the answer she needed.
(Wolverine II#115) - Bastion showed Jubilee footage of the OZT-captured X-Men carted into the base, hoping it would cause her to relive some more memories he could sift through. Just as he was showing the imprisoned Charles Xavier the same images in an attempt to break him, Daria called him to Jubilee's observatory because the machinery had started to display her memories of Wolverine fighting various villains. Annoyed because he was interrupted, Basion chastized Daria for not seeing those memories were simply fantasies Jubilee replayed in her own mind to keep her spirits up. He then told her the real Wolverine was already on his way to be incinerated in the basement, unaware Wolverine had already freed himself and some of the others. Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops and Cannonball were fighting a hopeless battle trying to escape the closed down base. With Daria looking on, Bastion had Jubilee brought to the command deck so she could see her old teammates get slaughtered. Instead, Jubilee took advantage of the opportunity to throw herself on the controls of the base's blast doors, allowing the X-Men to escape. Furious, Bastion slapped his prisoner and then told Daria to prepare a transfer module because he needed to return to the Xavier Institute immediately.
(Generation X#28) - Two days later, Daria came to Jubilee's cell with a tray of food and pleaded with the stubborn prisoner to eat something. She even took a bite herself to prove it was safe to eat. Instead, Jubilee cursed her out and wondered why a girl her age would ever want to help someone like Bastion. Startled, Daria left the room just as Jubilee threw the spoon at her head. Days went by before Daria returned to see Jubilee who still had refused to eat anything and was lying on the floor of her cell in a semi-conscious state. Concerned that she might have injured herself, Daria kneeled down to see if she was okay. In reality, Jubilee had only feigned weakness and fired a pyrokinetic blast at Daria, figuring it would stun her. Instead, Daria's Prime Sentinel programming took over and her nano-tech defense systems generated a giant swarm of metallic locusts that washed over Jubilee in retaliation.
(Generation X#29) - Jubilee survived the initial insect
swarm and saw Daria for what she truly was: a machine girl who didn't even
know she had these powers. By now, Daria had lost complete control over
her nano-tech form, fritzing out and crying inconsolably. With Jubilee's
help, she was able to calm down enough to regain control of her form.
This led Daria to a startling realization: if OZT considered Jubilee a
freak because of her powers, what would they think of her?
(Generation XI#30) - Even though she left Jubilee back in her cell,
Daria couldn't stop thinking about their encounter and the implications
of having powers just like the very people she was trying to wipe out.
Soon afterwards, she made a life altering decision: she was going to
help Jubilee go free. She returned to the cellblock, unhooked the girl's
restraints and led her out.
(Generation X#31) - After leaving the compound, Daria
put Jubilee on her back and took off. Their escape was quickly noticed
by Bastion who was surprised Daria had been able to overcome her
programming. He sent three Prime Sentinel units to retrieve the girls.
Hopelessly outmatched, Daria kept her promise to get Jubilee into safety
by dropping her off before leading the Sentinels away. Watching Daria
fly off, Jubilee couldn't help but thank the bravest human/Sentinel/freak
girl she'd ever met (see comments).
Comments: Created by Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris
Bachalo (pencils), Mark Buckingham (inks).
Ah, Daria... Aka: teenage Tessa with a built-in jetpack.
Her position within Operation: Zero Tolerance was never made clear.
While clearly a Sentinel technology enhanced human, she wasn't a combat
unit, but served as Bastion's assistant. She seemed to be a unique
entity, until several Daria-like bald Sentinel girls showed up during
James Robinson's brief run on Generation
X. That might suggest "Daria" wasn't actually her name, but
her Sentinel class type.
So, did Daria die in Generation X#31?
The story strongly suggests she did, but the Prime Sentinels stressed they
merely wanted to capture Daria to find out where she'd hidden Jubilee. The
last we see is their fiery jet exhausts chasing Daria down the cliffside,
where she presumably destroyed herself and the others. But, until we see a
body, that's pure speculation.
Speaking of speculation, at the time people thought that Daria was actually the 616 version of Know-It-All, a member of Earth-295's Generation Next who at one point was also intended to be Monet St. Croix's alternate reality counterpart. But no, she was "just" a Prime Sentinel.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Daria should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Generation X#30, p21, pan1 (main image)
Generation X#20, p3, pans1-2 (first appearance)
Generation X#27, p12, pans 1-3 (can only watch)
Generation X#29, p23, pan1 (regains control)
Generation X#31, p14, pan3 (and Jubilee's great escape)
Appearances:
Generation X#20 (October, 1996) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris
Bachalo (pencils), Mark Buckingham (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Man#22 (December, 1996) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Roger Cruz &
Manny Clark (pencils), Bud LaRosa & Steve Geiger (inks), Jaye
Gardner (editor)
Generation X#23 (January, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Mitch Byrd
(pencils), Jason Martin & Karl Story (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Generation X#27 (May, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris Bachalo
& Pop Mann (pencils), Al Vey & Scott Hanna (inks), Bob Harras
(editor)
Generation X#28 (June, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris Bachalo
(pencils), Al Vey (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Generation X#29 (August, 1997) - James Robinson (writer), Chris
Bachalo (pencils), Al Vey, Tim Townsend & Al Milgrom (inks), Mark
Powers (editor)
Wolverine II#115 (August, 1997) - Larry Hama (writer), Leinil Francis Yu
(pencils), Edgar Tadeo (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Generation X#30 (September, 1997) - James Robinson (writer), Chris
Bachalo (pencils), Al Vey & Eric Cannon (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Generation X#31 (October, 1997) - James Robinson (writer), Chris
Bachalo (pencils & inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Last updated: 06/29/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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