Polaris
Real name: Lorna Dane (This is her legal name since her adoption. Her
given name has not been revealed).
Former aliases: M-2, Magneto the Second, Malice IV
Identity: Secret
Occupation: U.S. government operative, (formerly) Graduate student in
geophysics at the University of California at Berkeley, adventurer
Legal status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Place of birth: Unrevealed
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: Zaladane (alleged sister, possibly deceased), unnamed
uncle and aunt (adoptive parents). Neither the names of Polaris' true
parents nor those of her adoptive parents have yet been revealed.
Base of operations:X-Factor II Headquarters, Embassy Row, Washington,
D.C.
Group affiliation: X-Factor II, (formerly) X-Men "reserve member,"
Marauders
First appearance: X-MEN (first series) #49
History: Lorna Dane's parents are said to have died in a plane crash
only weeks after her birth. She was then adopted by the Danes, who are
said to be her mother's sister and brother-in-law. The Danes never told
Lorna that they were not her true parents for fear that the truth might
have a traumatic effect on her. Lorna did not learn the story about the
plane crash and the fact that she had been adopted until she was nearly
twenty years old.
Lorna Dane had been born with green hair, which at first her foster
parents and then she herself always kept dyed brown so that she would
not be thought of as being "different." Dane's hair color was the only
outward sign of her unusual genetic structure. She had the latent
genetic potential for magnetic powers, but certain genetic factors were
absent which would have allowed her to exercise those powers. In the
normal course of events, Dane would never have been able to use these
powers. However, the intervention of Samuel "Starr" Saxon, the master
roboticist whose brain patterns were later preserved in the
Machinesmith, altered the normal course of events. Saxon had constructed
an android duplicate of Magneto, the mutant with great magnetic powers
who was then believed to be dead, and a small army of androids with
strange powers called the Demi-Men. Saxon's plans were to use these
androids as his means of accumulating vast wealth and power, while
deceiving the world into believing them to be examples of evil mutants,
who had become objects of widespread fear.
Saxon decided that he needed some actual mutants to help lead the
android army while he himself remained behind the scenes, giving
directions through the Magneto robot. First, Saxon had the robot Magneto
recruit Mesmero to serve as second in command. Then, Saxon decided that
a mutant who was a natural source of vast magnetic power would be useful
in dealing with his metal robot army. From sources still unrevealed,
Saxon acquired a "psyche-generator," which has some features in common
with Charles Xavier's Cerebro machine. Mesmero used the psyche-generator
to summon mutants in North America with latent powers. The nearest such
mutant with latent magnetic powers, Lorna Dane, found herself compelled
to travel to San Francisco, the city where Mesmero was. Mesmero and his
androids captured her and brought her to their desert headquarters,
where they placed her inside a "genetic stimulator," which altered her
genetic structure so as to allow her to exercise her previously latent
powers. Meanwhile Mesmero used his hypnotic powers upon her to alter her
personality so that she would sympathize with the bogus Magneto and his
cause. She was told that she was the daughter of Magneto and that she
had inherited her powers from him.
Shortly afterwards, however, Mesmero dropped his control over Dane,
overconfidently assuming that she would obey her supposed father no
matter what happened. On the contrary, after the X-Man named Iceman
revealed to her that Magneto was not her father, and told her about the
plane crash and her adoption, Lorna Dane joined the X-Men in battling
"Magneto." Mesmero and the Magneto robot escaped, the Demi-Men were
destroyed, and Saxon, his plans ruined, had to fall back on hiring
himself out as an assassin who used androids to kill.
For a time Dane was romantically inclined toward Robert Drake, the
Iceman, but eventually she fell in love with Alexander Summers, who is
also known as Havok. Neither Dane nor Summers wished to lead lives as
adventurers, but they discovered that they had a mutual interest in
geophysics. Hence, they both began doing doctoral research in that
subject in the Diablo mountain range in California. Since they spent
most of their time away from public view, Dane did not bother to dye her
hair. Neither Dane (who eventually took the code-name Polaris) nor
Summers have ever been full-time X-Men, but they were always willing to
help the X-Men in emergency situations, and have done so in the past.
Lorna received her current costume, which is of Shi'ar design, when her
mind came under the domination of the Shi'ar Intelligence agent Davan
Shakari, who served D'ken, the now deposed emperor of the Shi'ar Galaxy.
Charles Xavier finally freed her from Shakari's control. For a time
Polaris was mentally possessed by Malice, one of the members of the team
of assassins called the Marauders. Later, after she regained her free
will, Polaris encountered her alleged sister Zaladane, a sorceress based
in the prehistoric Savage Land. Zaladane temporarily stole Polaris's
magnetic powers. Strangely, as a result, Polaris developed alternate
powers, including superhuman strength and durability, and also grew
considerably in height and mass.
Eventually Polaris regained her normal size and powers. She resumed her
romantic relationship with Havok, and they both joined the United States
government's new version of X-Factor. She has remained a member of
X-Factor for years.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Eyes: Dark green
Hair: Light green
Strength level: Polaris possesses the normal human strength of a woman
of her age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Known superhuman powers: Polaris possesses the ability to manipulate
magnetism. Although she has the potential to exercise all of the powers
that Magento has, as yet she has only used powers involving the
manipulation of magnetic, electrical, and gravitic fields. Moreover, she
cannot summon as great an amount of energy as Magneto can. The exact
limits on the amount weight that she can magnetically lift at present
have not been measured, but they are considerably below those of
Magneto. Since she has preferred not to use her powers in combat
situations, she has not worked nearly as hard to develop them as Magneto
has. As with Magneto, it is unknown whether Polaris's powers are purely
psionic or whether they derive from her physically.
Polaris has been observed levitating metallic objects and creating force
fields in which she can suspend persons or objects in the air and in
which she can protect them from attacks from outside the fields. She can
also overload or short-circuit electrical systems. By concentrating,
Polaris can perceive the world around herself solely as patterns of
magnetic and electrical energy. She can perceive the natural magnetic
auras surrounding living beings, as well.
