Xavin
Encyclopedia
Xavin is a fictional character
in the Marvel Comics
award-winning series, Runaways
. She is a Super-Skrull
in training, created by author Brian K. Vaughan
& artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways vol. 2 #7. Although Alphona was the series' drawer at the time, artist Takeshi Miyazawa
first drew the character on print.
Xavin had first appeared to the Runaways, taking on the form of a black male, but changed into a black female just for the sake of Karolina Dean
, a lesbian whom she was to marry. Regardless, Xavin is also often seen as a male, simply to be "intimidating". Xavin, often called "Xav" for short, is known for her obnoxious and warlike personality. She had originally found it hard to fit in with the runaways because of her constant gender switching, and adapted to the group fairly slowly. She is the daughter of the famed Skrull Prince De'zean.
When Xavin journeys to Earth to find Karolina Dean
, she reveals to Karolina that her parents had one more large secret. The Deans had been exiled from their planet Majesdane for criminal activities. They traveled to Earth where they encountered Xavin's father, Prince De'zean of the Skrulls, who was going to rule the planet. The Deans had stopped the destruction but gave the Skrulls the location of another, more valuable planet: Majesdane. In order to prove they weren't lying, they gave Prince De'zean's son their daughter's hand in marriage. The Deans had believed that Xavin would die in the new Skrull/Majesdanian war. He arrived on Earth in order to marry her and hopefully stop the fifteen year war between their races Xavin encountered Karolina shortly after her romantic advances were rejected by Nico Minoru
. Xavin, trying to convince Karolina to be his bride, fought and pursued her. Karolina revealed that she is not attracted to men and doesn't want to live a lie, but Xavin altered his form to that of a human woman and persuaded her to leave Earth with the new female version of Xavin.
During the wedding ceremony, a fight breaks out between the two races and Xavin and Karolina barely escape before Majesdane is destroyed. They return to Earth, where they help rescue Molly Hayes
from the New Pride
. Xavin impersonates Nico and takes a bullet for her, distracting Geoffrey Wilder
long enough for Nico to untie Molly and escape. Xavin survives the attack by shape-shifting her organs out of the way.
, former Skrull King and enemy of the religious extremist Skrulls' Queen, Veranke
. She finds Hulkling injured, targeted for assassination by Veranke herself. By siding with Hulkling, she's branded as a traitor too.
In Runaways' s "Dead Wrong
" story arc, a group of surviving Majesdanians arrive to arrest Karolina
. After they repeatedly attack the Runaways, Xavin realizes that the aliens won't stop until they get Karolina. Karolina apparently leaves the group with the Majesdanians. The Runaways are later shocked to find the real Karolina knocked out. Xavin shape-shifted into Karolina's form and took her place. Xavin would take all the punishment for their species' war. Kissing Karolina, Xavin whispers her love and departs the group.
, has the Skrull
natural ability to shape-shift. Xavin was a Super-Skrull
in training, meaning she can manifest the powers of the Fantastic Four
: Mr. Fantastic's ability to stretch and contort his body into any shape imaginable, Invisible Woman
's power to render herself invisible and ability to create and force fields, the Human Torch
's fire-control and flight and the Thing
's superhuman strength and resistant rock-like hide. Unsurprisingly, the Super-Skrull K'lrt is one of Xavin's idols. As stated by Xavin, she is still a Super Skrull in training, so she can only use her Fantastic Four abilities one at a time; at one point, when Xavin was bombarded with high frequency sounds, she lost control of her powers and burnt up the Griffith Observatory
. Finally, in vol. 3, #2, she used all her powers at once in anger.
, Xavin is mostly male, but female briefly. In vol. 3, #1, Xavin is only male, but in vol. 3 #2, Xavin is only female. Karolina is fixed on the idea that Xavin is female, and that Xavin isn't pretending to be a woman, just learning to be human. During an argument with Karolina, Xavin loses control and changes form into her female form, and Karolina takes that to mean Xavin's true form is a female. However, on his blog, the artist Humberto Ramos
notes that he was instructed to draw Xavin taking different genders depending on the situation.
. In her first appearance, she called Victor a "toy". Xavin met Karolina after Karolina suffered rejection from Nico, her crush for many months. When Xavin expressed no concern of changing physical appearance from male to female to please her, Karolina began a relationship. Xavin once took the form of Nico in order to please Karolina, but Karolina rejected her as Nico and reassured Xavin that she loves her as she is. Later on, during an argument, Xavin subconsciously reverted back to female human form, which both surprised and pleased Karolina, who had earlier expressed some lingering doubts about Xavin's true gender.
Besides Victor, Xavin strongly infuriates Nico and often question's Nico's leadership decisions.
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...
in the 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...
award-winning series, Runaways
Runaways (comics)
Runaways is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series features a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime group called the Pride. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series debuted in April of 2003 as part of Marvel Comics'...
. She is a Super-Skrull
Super-Skrull
The Super-Skrull is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #18 The Super-Skrull (Kl'rt) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The...
in training, created by author Brian K. Vaughan
Brian K. Vaughan
Brian Keller Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and Pride of Baghdad, and was one of the principal writers of the television series Lost, during seasons three through five...
& artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways vol. 2 #7. Although Alphona was the series' drawer at the time, artist Takeshi Miyazawa
Takeshi Miyazawa
Takeshi Miyazawa is a comic book artist who was born in Canada and attended Queen's University in Ontario to study art. His art style incorporates a manga sensibility.-Bibliography:Incomplete comic book checklist:...
first drew the character on print.
Xavin had first appeared to the Runaways, taking on the form of a black male, but changed into a black female just for the sake of Karolina Dean
Karolina Dean
Karolina Dean , also briefly known as Lucy in the Sky, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters...
, a lesbian whom she was to marry. Regardless, Xavin is also often seen as a male, simply to be "intimidating". Xavin, often called "Xav" for short, is known for her obnoxious and warlike personality. She had originally found it hard to fit in with the runaways because of her constant gender switching, and adapted to the group fairly slowly. She is the daughter of the famed Skrull Prince De'zean.
History
Karolina Dean
Karolina Dean , also briefly known as Lucy in the Sky, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters...
, she reveals to Karolina that her parents had one more large secret. The Deans had been exiled from their planet Majesdane for criminal activities. They traveled to Earth where they encountered Xavin's father, Prince De'zean of the Skrulls, who was going to rule the planet. The Deans had stopped the destruction but gave the Skrulls the location of another, more valuable planet: Majesdane. In order to prove they weren't lying, they gave Prince De'zean's son their daughter's hand in marriage. The Deans had believed that Xavin would die in the new Skrull/Majesdanian war. He arrived on Earth in order to marry her and hopefully stop the fifteen year war between their races Xavin encountered Karolina shortly after her romantic advances were rejected by Nico Minoru
Nico Minoru
Nico Minoru , is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. Created in 2003 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, the character first debuted in Runaways vol. 1 #1 with most of the other main characters...
. Xavin, trying to convince Karolina to be his bride, fought and pursued her. Karolina revealed that she is not attracted to men and doesn't want to live a lie, but Xavin altered his form to that of a human woman and persuaded her to leave Earth with the new female version of Xavin.
During the wedding ceremony, a fight breaks out between the two races and Xavin and Karolina barely escape before Majesdane is destroyed. They return to Earth, where they help rescue Molly Hayes
Molly Hayes
Molly Hayes , is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters...
from the New Pride
Pride (comics)
The Pride are a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain team, a criminal organization that controlled the Los Angeles area of the Marvel Universe. As they are the parents and the initial and more prominent foes the Runaways have faced, they are perhaps the team's greatest enemy to date...
. Xavin impersonates Nico and takes a bullet for her, distracting Geoffrey Wilder
Geoffrey Wilder
Geoffrey Wilder was a fictional super villain in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. Geoffrey led the Pride, the super villain crime ring of Los Angeles. He was the father of former Runaway Alex Wilder.-Fictional character biography:...
long enough for Nico to untie Molly and escape. Xavin survives the attack by shape-shifting her organs out of the way.
Secret Invasion
When the Runaways return from a trip to the past, Xavin learns she is in the most heated phase of the Skrull Invasion. Instead of fighting, she knocks out her teammates and attempts a peaceful settlement of the war, reasoning that the Skrulls are "religious extremists". Her attempts at peace fail, and she's informed that the Runaways are targeted for execution. She urges Nico to take the rest of the team and hide, and in a last ditch effort to halt the invasion, she flees to search for HulklingHulkling
Hulkling is a fictional comic book superhero and a member of the Young Avengers, a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. Hulkling's character is patterned on the Hulk...
, former Skrull King and enemy of the religious extremist Skrulls' Queen, Veranke
Veranke
Veranke is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics who serves as the queen of the Skrull empire in the Marvel Universe. She plays a significant role in the events of Secret Invasion as she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth....
. She finds Hulkling injured, targeted for assassination by Veranke herself. By siding with Hulkling, she's branded as a traitor too.
As a fugitive
Weeks later, Xavin is more well adjusted, refraining from insulting Victor and becoming close to Molly (the only teammate other than Karolina to always refer to Xavin as female). However, Xavin is still more-or-less an outcast to the other members. Like the other Runaways, Xavin is an orphan (she told the group when she first appeared that his parents were dead because of the aliens' war). She also calls herself a runaway when she reveals her identity to Geoffry Wilder. Xavin joins the group but has trouble adjusting to her new surroundings and getting along with her new teammates, particularly Victor, whom she often offends with condescending remarks about robots. Although she is aggressive and headstrong, Xavin is motivated to protect her new home by her love for Karolina. Xavin usually reverts to the male Skrull form when in battle insisting that it adds to a more intimidating persona, despite Karolina thinking that it is sexist, yet still spends some time in male human form as well. However, during their trip to 1907, it was revealed that when she loses control or is under emotional pressure, the female form was the one to which she would revert, something that made Karolina very happy.Departure
Dead Wrong (comics)
"Dead Wrong" is a story arc of the Marvel Comics' award-winning comic series, Runaways. The story arc features the first appearance of the creative team of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos. The arc is composed of the first six issues of the series' third volume.-Production:Terry Moore was announced...
" story arc, a group of surviving Majesdanians arrive to arrest Karolina
Karolina Dean
Karolina Dean , also briefly known as Lucy in the Sky, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters...
. After they repeatedly attack the Runaways, Xavin realizes that the aliens won't stop until they get Karolina. Karolina apparently leaves the group with the Majesdanians. The Runaways are later shocked to find the real Karolina knocked out. Xavin shape-shifted into Karolina's form and took her place. Xavin would take all the punishment for their species' war. Kissing Karolina, Xavin whispers her love and departs the group.
Powers and abilities
Xavin, being a SkrullSkrull
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....
, has the Skrull
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....
natural ability to shape-shift. Xavin was a Super-Skrull
Super-Skrull
The Super-Skrull is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #18 The Super-Skrull (Kl'rt) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The...
in training, meaning she can manifest the powers of the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
: Mr. Fantastic's ability to stretch and contort his body into any shape imaginable, Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman
Susan "Sue" Storm Richards is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 in November 1961, and was the first female superhero created by Marvel in the Silver Age of Comics...
's power to render herself invisible and ability to create and force fields, the Human Torch
Human Torch
The Human Torch is a fictional character and superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he is a member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, debuting in The Fantastic Four #1...
's fire-control and flight and the Thing
Thing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
's superhuman strength and resistant rock-like hide. Unsurprisingly, the Super-Skrull K'lrt is one of Xavin's idols. As stated by Xavin, she is still a Super Skrull in training, so she can only use her Fantastic Four abilities one at a time; at one point, when Xavin was bombarded with high frequency sounds, she lost control of her powers and burnt up the Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
. Finally, in vol. 3, #2, she used all her powers at once in anger.
Personality
Xavin is known for her war-like, rash attitude, something that irritates the other Runaways, particularly Victor, who she had a strong animosity towards because being an android, Victor would have been hardwired to cook and clean on her planet. Although Xavin often demonstrates a strong, General-type behaviour, there are periods when she accidentally shows she barely has any more experience than the other runaways; more notably a time when she stretches herself from one building to another just to get to the other side, instead of simply creating a force-field bridge (Only realising this possibility after it was pointed out to her by Molly).Gender issue
Due to Xavin often changing through his/her three main forms, (human female, human male, and true Skrull form) both characters within the series and fans question the nature of her gender. As a Skrull, a race of shapeshifters, Xavin stated "for us, just changing our gender is no different than changing our hair color", implying that Skrulls change their looks often. When asked by Molly about why she doesn't stay in female form all the time, Xavin replied that it was simply her nature to do so and doesn't see a problem in it, though it causes Xavin to start questioning her own nature. Although Karolina does truly love Xavin, even so much as to deny Xavin disguised as Nico, she does become depressed when Nico questions Xavin's true gender. In Civil War: Young Avengers/RunawaysCivil War: Young Avengers/Runaways
Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways is a comic book mini-series tie-in to Marvel Comics' Civil War crossover event. The series serves as a team-up between the characters from Young Avengers and Runaways. The series was written by Zeb Wells with art by Stefano Caselli...
, Xavin is mostly male, but female briefly. In vol. 3, #1, Xavin is only male, but in vol. 3 #2, Xavin is only female. Karolina is fixed on the idea that Xavin is female, and that Xavin isn't pretending to be a woman, just learning to be human. During an argument with Karolina, Xavin loses control and changes form into her female form, and Karolina takes that to mean Xavin's true form is a female. However, on his blog, the artist Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.-Career:...
notes that he was instructed to draw Xavin taking different genders depending on the situation.
Relationships with other Runaways
Due to her war-like, yet rash attitude, Xavin often irritates the other Runaways. She often believed that Victor was supposed to be hardwired to know everything, being a cyborgCyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
. In her first appearance, she called Victor a "toy". Xavin met Karolina after Karolina suffered rejection from Nico, her crush for many months. When Xavin expressed no concern of changing physical appearance from male to female to please her, Karolina began a relationship. Xavin once took the form of Nico in order to please Karolina, but Karolina rejected her as Nico and reassured Xavin that she loves her as she is. Later on, during an argument, Xavin subconsciously reverted back to female human form, which both surprised and pleased Karolina, who had earlier expressed some lingering doubts about Xavin's true gender.
Besides Victor, Xavin strongly infuriates Nico and often question's Nico's leadership decisions.