Storm (Ororo Munroe) is a Marvel Comics superhero and a prominent member of the X-Men. She first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975).

Storm has the mutant power to control the weather, including lightning, wind, rain and snow, and using the wind to fly.

Character history

Ororo's mother, N'Dare, was the princess of a tribe in Kenya and the descendant of a long line of Africans with white hair, blue eyes and a natural gift for sorcery, although Storm herself has not developed this talent. N'Dare fell in love with and married American photojournalist David Munroe. Ororo was born in Manhattan in the United States, and when Ororo was six months old, she and her parents moved to Cairo, Egypt.

Five years later, a bomb destroyed their home and killed Ororo's parents; although the original version of this story stated that the bomb was dropped by an Israeli jet during the Suez Crisis, later stories have revised the bombing to an unnamed military conflict. Ororo was trapped in the collapsed building alongside her dead mother, a traumatic experience that would ultimately leave her with a severe case of claustrophobia. Ororo grew up on the streets and became a proficient thief under the tutelage of master thief Achmed el-Gibar. To this day she is an excellent pickpocket and lockpick.

As a teenager, she proved to be a mutant with the power to control the weather. Reaching maturity, she moved deeper into Africa, where she became worshipped as a goddess. Here she was found by Charles Xavier, who invited her to join his second team of X-Men. Ororo accepted, taking the code-name Storm.

Although Storm initially had trouble adjusting to Western culture, particularly the sort represented by her sometimes-vicious teammate Wolverine, Storm found a home and family among the X-Men. Moreover, she revealed herself to be a capable leader, and became leader of the X-Men when its longtime leader, Cyclops, married and left the group. When the then-young Shadowcat joined the X-men, Storm formed a very close, almost maternal bond with her.

Around this time, the X-Men spent a long time in space battling the Brood, an alien race. Spending so much time away from planet Earth severed the deep psychic connection Storm had with her home planet, prompting a period of much soul searching. Storm went through some profound personal changes because of this inner conflict, which resulted in her becoming more aggressive and violent. This led to her cutting her hair in a mohawk and wearing leather clothing - changes alienated her from Shadowcat for a time. She also fought Callisto for leadership of the Morlocks and won by stabbing Callisto in the heart. Callisto only managed to survive due to the healing powers of another Morlock. The two remained enemies for awhile, but eventually managed to make up and are now friends. Storm now trusts Callisto enough that she asked her to look after Xavier while he was in Genosha.

Storm lost her powers for a while, though they were eventually restored. She also had an on-again, off-again romance with the mutant Forge. Storm first broke up with Forge when she discovered the neutralizer gun used to erase her powers was created by him, though she later forgave him. Forge once proposed to Storm, but got cold feet and backed down.

Later, she was transformed into a child by Nanny and, amnesiac, returned to thievery, during which time she met Gambit. After regaining her memory, she brought him to the team and was restored to her adult state later in Genosha.

Storm later led a group of X-Men outside of the mansion in the search for Destiny's diaries, the Books of Truth. On this search, she enjoyed a brief flirtation with Slipstream and was kidnapped by the intergalactic warlord Khan who wanted to make her his queen. Despite being badly injured, she was rescued and brought back to Earth to recover by Wolverine. Storm continued to lead the group even after Destiny's diaries were rendered inert because she did not approve of the way Xavier was running the mansion. The group returned after the mansion was destroyed by someone posing as Magneto to help in the rebuilding process. Storm now remains there, where she heads the X.S.E, a special police task force of mutants policing mutants given worldwide authority.

Television and film

Storm, voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith , was featured in the X-Men animated series of the mid-1990s and guest starred on a few episodes of the Spider-Man animated series.

In the animated TV series X-Men: Evolution, Storm was portrayed as a teacher at Professor X's Xavier Institute, and was voiced by Kristen Williamson .

She was played by Halle Berry in the movies X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003). Despite a high-profile actress like Berry in the role, in both these movies, Storm received little screen time and took a backseat to characters such as Wolverine and Jean Grey.

External links

• Spotlight on Storm from UncannyXMen.net