"Luke, I Am your Father" syndrome, part I

Madame Rouge- Mystique

Why, your kounterpart kurator asks someone— anyone who may ever read these words— are comic book creators so susceptible to the “Luke, I am your father” syndrome?

The second character cited was introduced in 1980 in the perhaps too-often-referenced “Days of Future Past” storyline: Mystique was a blue-skinned shapeshifter leading a new iteration of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Evidently she was intended by co-creator Chris Claremont as not only the “life partner” of fellow evil mutant Destiny, but, due to the biological quirks of shapeshifting, the “father” of Nightcrawler.

But the time at Marvel, LGBT characters were verboten. Only in the last decade or so (I think?) was this connection revealed.

It’s enough that Magneto was eventually shown to be the father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. It was also enough that Nightcrawler was a German gypsy of unexceptional parentage, and to limn him to a blue -skinned mutant femme fatale is, frankly, cheap and unimaginative.

As for Madame Rouge, I seem to remember that she was wreeten to ‘ave a conspeecuous french accent.

Commonalities:
Both are shapeshifters who’ve made it into the film/tv arms of their representative franchises.

Differences:
Only that Madame Rouge (who can also stretch!) is an obscure french super-villainess who has not been revived in the DCU.

Alternate histories:

MR: Laura Demille was apparently born in the early 20th century; her preternatural shape-shifting abilities have retarded her aging. She assumes a number of identities and associations, and using the codename Madame Rouge, comes to light as an antagonist of Hawkgirl and the Titans, and as a mentor to a troubled young Terra. She has since worked with and against the Titans, and apparently (and stupidly) has been revealed to be the mother of the Titan Changeling.

MY: Raven Darkholme is modified into a shape-shifter by a criminal mastermind; using the codename Mystique, Darkholme opposes the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Initially, Mystique struggles with a split personality, vacillating from affection for Charles Xavier and hostility towards the Doom Patrol, which she is incorrectly believed to have murdered. She finally dies in battle with the X-Men.

They run their teams from their wheelchairs

Niles Caulder- Charles Xavier

A rumor has persisted for some time that either the Doom Patrol and the X-Men books were unduly influenced by the other . Both books debuted in 1963; both books featured antagonists that belonged to an organization including the words “Brotherhood” and “Evil”; and both were premised on outsiders defending a mistrustful general populace.

But the contention seems to rest on the characterizations of their leaders: both ae super-geniuses confined to wheelchairs. Bob Haney and Arnold Drake, the Doom Patrol creators, and X-Men co-creator Stan Lee denied that any such mischief took place, and in any case, the Doom Patrol seems all around more Fantastic Four-esque to me.

But their similarities work well enough for my purposes, despite that a pairing here necessitates that both must be transferred into franchises that are not paired with one another.

Commonalities:
Both are, like I said above, super-geniuses confined to wheelchairs, and are thus lead their organizations from their respective home bases.

Differences:
Xavier is an omega level mutant telepath. Caulder ain’t. Caulder, though, has a luxuriantly full head of hair and beard.

Alternate histories:

NC: As a youth, Niles Caulder’s metahuman intellect allows him to master multiple scientific disciplines, but an encounter with an alien antagonist leaves him a quadriplegic. Taking the code name “the Chief,” Caulder founds a school for young metahumans: his first class—Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, “Elongated Kid” and Wonder Girl— takes the name the Teen Titans, who often oppose his former friend Black Adam. In the ensuing years, he has intermittently resided in the Vegan star system with his lover, Koriand’r, and running his school and advocating for metahuman rights.

CX: As a youth, Charles Xavier masters multiple scientific disciplines, but an encounter with an antagonist leaves him a quadriplegic. Using the code name, Professor X, he assembles three individuals —Susan and Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm— recently granted with extraordinary abilities; the quartet is collectively known as the Fantastic Four. It is later learned that Xavier was behind said transformations; his reputation as a manipulator sullies his profile in the superhuman community.