Jean Grey was one of the founding members of the X-Men and has been
with the team since she was a teenager. Her telepathic powers
manifested when her best friend Annie was hit by a car during their play.
Rushing to the girls side, Jean suddenly found herself in her friends
head, sharing her last moments of life with her. Scarred by the experience,
Jean bacame catatonic. Her parents, frantic with worry, sent Jean to visit
Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X), who was famed for his work
with young minds. Xavier helped put Jeans mind back together, and
years later, after her telekinetic powers had developed, she
joined the fledgling team of X-Men as Marvel Girl. It was here that
she met Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, leader of the X-Men.
The two fell in love almost right from the beginning. There were many
trials during her first years as an X-Man, but as part of the team she
proved herself time and time again.
The first big change in her life came when the team was captured by the
living island Krakoa. Cyclops alone escaped and went to Professor X for help.
Professor X used Cerebro to find the mutants who would become the new X-Men;
Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Banshee. Upon being
freed from the island by the new team of mutants, the original X-Men
decided to retire for a time and lead normal lives. Only
Cyclops remained with the team. Jean spent her
time as a fashion designer, but fate reclaimed her as an X-Man
when she and Scott were at a formal gathering and attacked by Sentinels.
It was to be an unforgettable adventure as the X-Men were swept off
into space, returning to earth in a spaceship that was burning up and
disintegrating as it hit the earths atmosphere. Jean made the ultimate
sacrifice when she sent the rest of the X-Men to the radiation shielding
compartment, flying the ship on her own with only her telekinesis to shield her.
It was not enough. The ship crashed into Jamaica Bay on Earth scattering
the X-Men and leaving Jean nowhere to be found. She resurfaced moments later
as Phoenix, her costume changed and her powers much stronger. The
rest of the team believed her love for Scott and latent power had
resurrected her from the dead, and so it seemed.
As time passed, the X-Men became more and more fearful for Jean.
It seemed that with her increased, now near-infinite powers she was
like unto a God. The power had begun
to consume Jean, her mortal vessel unable to contain such
a cosmic force and keep it under control. The villain Mastermind
began to toy with her mind as well, making the unstability that much worse.
Eventually, she lost control completely, becoming Dark Phoenix, an
evil version of herself. With the power came with an appetite to match. Her
cosmic power needed fuel, and one night she crept from the mansion and flew
out into space, consuming a sun to feed her power. Unfortunately,
the system the sun supported was inhabited, and the creatures living in
it were consumed in the supernova she created. None of the X-Men were
aware of what had occurred, and Jean, for her part was battling the
darker side of herself, switching back and forth between personas.
While the X-Men were unaware of her crime, the denizens of space
were not, and the Shi'ar came calling, demanding that the price
for the innocent lives she had claimed was her own life in exchange.
The X-Men resisted as a whole, and during the ensuing battle Jean lost
control of herself once again. In the end, she regained her true self,
and sacrificed herself to save the universe from a power she could
not control, vaporizing herself with an alien weapon. Or so it seemed.
The X-Men thought Jean dead for many years, until the Avengers
made an amazing discovery at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. They had found a
cocoon which they were unable to penetrate, and called Reed Richards of
the Fantastic 4 to research it.
Inside, Richards found a woman, perfectly
preserved, and looking for all the world like Jean Grey. He in turn, called
Cyclops, now married to Madelyne Pryor, who left immediately to
discover whether or not it was, in fact, Jean. It was indeed. And with her
second resurrection, a new team was born. X-Factor brought together the original
members of the X-Men once again, and Jean kept her original name of
Marvel Girl.
It took Jean some time to puzzle out what had happened to her, but
eventually she regained her memory. As the dying ship had descended toward the
Earth, Jeans telekintic shield had begun to give way before the radiation.
In her moments of dying, she cried out for help. It came in the form of the cosmic
entity called the Phoenix. It offered to save her in exchange
for a chance at human life. Jean agreed and the Phoenix took a small
portion of Jeans consciousness, becoming Jean in effect, while it stored
the true Jean away in a cocoon to heal. The duplicate was so perfect,
with that bit of Jean Grey's persona added, that even the Phoenix
itself believed it was really Jean Grey. But the story of the Phoenix
does not end, even here.
While Jean Grey was believed to be dead, the villain Mr. Sinister had
cloned a duplicate of her for his own schemes, no longer having
access to the original. The clone was perfect, but without the soul
to give it life. In the instant the Phoenix had sacrificed its vessel
to save the universe, it tried to return to Jean Grey the portion
of herself it had taken from her. But that portion was now soiled
with the blood of the lives the Phoenix had taken, and Jean Grey rejected it.
Having nowhere else to go, the Phoenix found the clone of Jean Grey,
and deposited the portion it held of her into the lifeless body.
This clone was to be Madelyne Pryor, wife of Cyclops. Jean eventually
had to face Madelyne in combat when Sinister began his evil plans
and set loose the small portion of the Phoenix power Madelyne still
held. She defeated Madelyne, and Madelyne chose death rather than
to live in the same world as Jean. She tried to take Jean with her, and would
have succeeded had not the Phoenix power offered her again that
portion of herself it had taken. Accepting it, Jean became whole again
and Madelyne passed from the world.
Time passed, and the trials were many. Eventually Scott and Jean
were married. They spent their honeymoon raising Scott and Madelyne's
son in an alternate timline. After several years there, they were returned to Earth.
Jean went without a moniker for a long time before finally deciding to take
back the name Phoenix. More recently, while on hiatus from the team with Scott, she has redonned her former green and gold Phoenix costume, much to the suprise and dismay of Cyclops. Unfortunately, it may be a while before anyone finds out if the Phoenix Force still resides within Jean Grey, due to the loss of her telepathic power caused by the machinations of the Shadow King. She and Scott have decided to remain in Alaska while she recovers from the loss.
Other distinguishing features: None
Strength: Normal
Fighting skills: Fair hand-to-hand combatant, coached
by Wolverine; relies on psionic powers in combat.
Special skills and abilities: Highly adept in wielding
psionic powers.
Known superhuman powers: Telepathy (enabling her
to read minds, project her thoughts into others' minds,
and stun the minds of others with "mental bolts"),
telekinesis (enabling her to levitate herself, other living
beings, and objects)
Updated July 18, 1998
Phoenix has had
guests since March 19, 1998
This history was written by Onyx, please do not use without permission. Stats copied from Marvel Comics.