SNOWBIRD
Real Name: Narya
Other Aliases: Anne McKenzie
Group Affiliation: Former member of Alpha Flight
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120
Creator: John Byrne
In the Marvel Universe it has been revealed that the gods of many
ancient civilizations actually exist. This is also the case with the
gods of the north. In ancient times the gods had battled the
Great Beasts
for the fate of the world. Finally the gods wove a spell
to trap the Beasts in their own ruined realm. In the instant the spell was
cast the Beast known as Tundra was able to turn the spell against
the gods, exiling the gods from Earth just as much as the Beasts.
In recent years the gods came to the realization that the barrier
against the Beasts was weakening, and might fall. They themselves were
still trapped. In order to create an agent that might battle
the Beasts in their stead, they used an ancient headband to summon an
archaeologist named Richard Easton through the barrier. There they asked
him to sire a child with Nelvanna, Goddess of the Northern Lights. Easton
was rather reluctant, as Nelvanna resembled an ancient crone. However, he
agreed readily enough once the god known as the Shaper made Nelvanna into
a beautiful woman. The resultant child would be half-human, and able to
pierce Tundra's barrier. Easton returned to Earth, believing only one night had
passed. In reality, seven years had gone by.
When her time drew near, Nelvanna approached
Michael Twoyoungmen to act
as a "midwife" to the birth. Twoyoungmen agreed, and during the birth realized
the child was a metamorph, with no set form. To grant it one he cast a spell to
bind the child to the land, and humanity. He did so too well... although he
didn't realize it at the time, Twoyoungmen's spell would later have profound
consequences.
The child Narya was born already one year of age; within another year
she appeared a woman of twenty. Soon after her first birthday she and
Twoyoungmen were visited by James Hudson and his
wife Heather. James invited both Narya and
Twoyoungmen to join Department H after Heather saw
Narya change into her avatar, a great white owl, to hunt.
Narya took part in the First Flight
adventure, and began adjusting to human ways. To grant her a more normal
life Hudson arranged a cover identity of RCMP officer Anne McKenzie, while
Narya became a charter member of Alpha Flight
as Snowbird.
Snowbird first encountered the Great Beasts on Earth when her father
used the ancient headband for its other purpose: to summon Tundra to Earth.
[Easton had gone insane from his experience in the Eskimo gods' realm. It
should be noted that Snowbird never had any idea that it was her father who
summoned the Beast. -C] This adventure served to recreate Alpha Flight after
its first disbanding.
Snowbird remained a stalwart part of Alpha Flight, battling both the
Beasts and other menaces. On an adventure to New York she discovered the
consequences of Shaman's long-ago spell: she was bound to the land of
Canada, and would weaken and die if she left its borders. But Snowbird
survived and continued to live and learn about life. She eventually fell in
love with Douglas Thompson, a fellow Mountie who had fallen for Anne
McKenzie.
Narya left Alpha Flight after a battle that killed
Walter Langkowski and resulted in the seeming end of
the Great Beasts. Allowing Alpha to believe she had returned to the realm of
the Eskimo gods, she instead retired and moved in with Thompson.
Eventually Narya became pregnant, and went to Shaman for assistance.
Talisman,
seeking to humiliate her father, ordered the spirits to take him to
an island that housed a maelevolent being called
Pestilence for the birth.
Pestilence possessed the child, and in subsequent battles with him Snowbird,
Thompson and their son were all killed. Although the Eskimo gods had been
disapproving of her relationship with Thompson, after their deaths all
three souls were granted entrance to the gods' realm.
Since her death both Snowbird's mortal form and her spirit have
remained active. Snowbird's body is now inhabited by the spirit of Walter
Langkowski, and has been mystically reshaped by Narya into an exact
duplicate of Walt's original form. As well, Snowbird's spirit possesses the
ability to occasionally return to the Earth plane from the realm of the gods.
She has done so twice since her death.
In Wolverine #143 it was revealed that Snowbird has returned to the land of the living, and was taken captive by a splinter faction of the Advanced Idea Mechanics. (A.I.M) The explanation given for her return in that issue is absolutely impossible based upon past history. For completeness' sake, here it is.
In the issue it was claimed that Snowbird has a healing factor that kicked in after her physical death, slowly bringing her body back to life. The main problem with this hypothesis is that Snowbird's body is still walking around, wearing Walter Langkowski's face. [The writer compounded the problem by having Walt be the person coming up with the "healing factor" explanation. -C] Obviously, this is a major continuity problem that should be cleared up by the next writer to use Alpha Flight.
It is very likely that Snowbird will rejoin Alpha Flight once she recovers from her captivity. This is not yet confirmed, however.
Snowbird derives numerous super-human abilities from her heritage
as a demi-goddess. She iss super-humanly strong and capable of flight.
She is also a metamorph, capable of changing into any creature native
to the artic. [It should be noted that Narya's true face, what she called
her "true fires" was quite unhuman. What she looked like as both Snowbird
and Anne McKenzie was a result of her metamorphic powers. - C] It was
this ability that enabled her to change into a shape resembling a white
Sasquatch, as the mystic union of Walter Langkowski and Tanaraq was
created in the high arctic. [ALL Snowbird's forms except her human ones
were bright white. - C] It is interesting that Langkowski, although he
now possesses Snowbird's physical form, only shifts between two forms:
one that perfectly duplicates his old human form and an ORANGE Sasquatch.
Snowbird also possessed psychic abilities that enabled her to "replay"
the recent past of an area in her mind. As well, she had the mental ability
to compell others to aid her in her struggle against the Great Beasts.
Until the Eskimo gods became angry over her relationship with Doug
Thompson, Snowbird would weaken and be in danger of dying if she left
the physical borders of Canada due to Shaman's binding spell. [Why the rift between her and her family
would have an effect on Shaman's spell is unknown. Why the rift would
also allow her to mimic ALL creatures, not just arctic ones, is unknown.
I chalk it up to Mantlo's incompetence on the title. It should probably
be noted that Walter Langkowski does not weaken if he leaves Canada. - C]
Now that Snowbird has returned, it is unclear what limitations, if any, are on her mobility or metamorph abilities.
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