Dr. Faiza Hussain, later given the codename Excalibur, is a fictional

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 character within Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

' shared universe

Shared universe

A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....

 the Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...

. Hussain was created by writer Paul Cornell

Paul Cornell

Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....

, first penciled by Leonard Kirk

Leonard Kirk

Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as Supergirl, JSA, Star Trek, Batman, and Witchblade...

. First appearing in Captain Britain and MI: 13

Captain Britain and MI: 13

Captain Britain and MI: 13 is an American comic book series from Marvel Comics, written by Paul Cornell, with art by Leonard Kirk. The series centers on the fictional British government agency MI: 13, which is dedicated to protecting the United Kingdom from supernatural threats...

#1 (May 2008), Faiza Hussain is used as a the title's "point of view character

Point of view (literature)

The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...

".

Fictional character biography

Faiza Hussain is the only daughter of a family of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i heritage who live in Chelmsford

Chelmsford

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. A London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 based Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 doctor, and British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 fangirl, Hussain initially gets caught up in the Skrull's

Skrull

The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....

 invasion

Secret Invasion

"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....

 as she is performing battlefield triage

Triage

Triage or ) is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. The term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate,...

 while the Skrull attack is going on around her. While attending to the wounded, alongside the Black Knight

Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

Dane Whitman is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, the company's third person to bear the name Black Knight. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, he first appeared in The Avengers #47 Dane Whitman is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics...

, Faiza Hussain is struck by a Skrull laser weapon, this weapon seemingly gives Hussain powers which she uses to help Black Knight fend off more Skrulls.

After the defeat of the Skrulls, Faiza Hussain became the wielder of Excalibur

Excalibur

Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...

 and joined MI-13 as Black Knight's steward

Steward (office)

A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...

. When Dracula

Dracula (Marvel Comics)

Dracula is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the vampire Count Dracula from the novel of the same name by author Bram Stoker, and is also influenced by Universal Studios' version of the character.-Publication history:A...

 attacked the United Kingdom he personally attacked Hussain's family, injuring her mother while kidnapping her father and sending forces to attack the members of MI13. In the aftermath of the attack, Pete Wisdom deduced that attack's aim was to keep Faiza (and Excalibur) out of the battle. He gives Faiza the codename "Excalibur" because he wants Dracula and his forces to hear and know that the mythical blade is still an active part of MI:13.

Powers and abilities

Faiza Hussain is a trained doctor and appears to have a wide knowledge of the superhuman population. Although being an unpowered character in the first issue, Paul Cornell stated Faiza's power(s) would manifest during the first few issues of Captain Britain and MI: 13. In issue 2 this came to pass, when Faiza Hussain showed an extreme level of control over biological organisms, she was able to disassemble a human body into its component parts while keeping the subject alive and stopped a horde of Skrulls by stopping the bodies from being able to move. She is seen to use these powers not only on living organisms, but also on other kinds of materials (like Black Knight's clothes) The extent and classification of these powers are yet to be revealed but Black Knight described them as purely defensive.

In a Q&A Cornell outlined her powers:
Faiza's own control over biological organisms does not work on any character or being with infused with magic.