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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