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Carol Danvers, also known as Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, and Captain Marvel, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Super Heroes #13 (March 1968).

Fictional Biography

Early years

Carol Danvers was a United States Air Force pilot who later joined the Central Intelligence Agency. She served alongside her lover Michael Rossi, and is known to have encountered Wolverine and Nick Fury during this time. She eventually became a close ally and possible love interest of Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), an alien of the Kree military who gave up his mission of conquering the Earth and instead chose to protect it.

Ms. Marvel and the Avengers

Carol Danvers became Ms. Marvel after she was subjected to the "psyche-magnitron", a device of Kree origins. Her DNA was altered to resemble that of the Kree, and in the process she also gained superhuman strength and durability, the ability to fly, and a "seventh sense" (apparently a sense beyond that of the "normal" sixth sense), which provided her with premonitions. Her first costume was based directly on Mar-Vell's second costume, a red outfit with black mask, gloves and boots; her second, more prominently featured costume was a black ensemble with a stylized lightning bolt across the chest. As Ms. Marvel, she fought a number of villains who would go on to become prominent supervilains, including Mystique and Deathbird. Many of these villains were co-created by writer Chris Claremont, who would amplify Ms. Marvel's already prominent feminist characteristics.

Ms. Marvel joined the Avengers, but several months later was sidelined due to a surprise pregnancy (a surprise because she had not been intimate with any men for some time). The pregnancy progressed at freakish speed and within weeks she gave birth to a son. The son quickly grew to adulthood. Her son, Marcus, revealed that he had come from Limbo, a dimension outside of time, and had fallen in love with Carol. He had kidnapped Carol during a previous mission, and had used mind control devices to force her to fall in love with him. He had seduced and impregnated her, then transferred his essence into her womb, essentially becoming his own son. After he made this revelation to Carol and her fellow Avengers, she somewhat inexplicably agreed to be his partner and left the team with him for this other dimension. It was later revealed that she was still under Marcus's influence at that point. After she left with him, his accelerated aging continued until he withered away to a husk, at which point she used his technology to return to Earth.

Rogue

Carol was not seen again until Avengers Annual #10, in which Ms. Marvel lost her powers permanently when the mutant supervillain Rogue ambushed her outside her San Francisco apartment building.

This was because Carol had once stumbled upon an arms deal that Mystique, Rogue's foster mother and, by then, the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, was coordinating behind the scenes and had foiled her carefully laid plans. Mystique's partner and lover, the precognitive mutant Destiny, glimpsed Carol's future and warned Mystique that Ms. Marvel was intimately tied to a great tragedy which would harm Rogue. Determined to shield her daughter from this danger, Mystique developed an obsessive hatred for Carol. When she learned that Carol had resurfaced in San Francisco following her departure from the ranks of the Avengers, she plotted to end this threat to Rogue once and for all. Rogue overheard her mother's angry words and concerns and determined to deal with Ms. Marvel herself.

The fight continued far longer than Rogue expected, and she permanently absorbed Danvers' abilities and memories. She dumped Danvers off the Golden Gate Bridge and only the intervention of Spider-Woman saved Danvers' life. Professor X helped Danvers recover her memories, but she was unable to feel the emotions she once felt for friends and family (what once was love would now be only mild affection). When the Avengers attempted to express their sorrow, she berated them for letting her go so easily, especially considering that she had been under Marcus' mind control.

Binary and the X-Men

Danvers stayed away from the Avengers for quite some time and had a series of adventures with the X-Men which culminated in the entire team being kidnapped and sent to outer space by the war-mongering alien race known as the Brood. Painful medical experiments on Danvers caused her to gain tremendous superpowers, including the ability to survive in space, to manipulate cosmic energy, and superhuman strength; the source of these powers was attributed to a "white hole"--a virtually limitless source of cosmic power. Danvers became known as Binary; in her "Binary" form, her hair became a corona of flame and she donned a red-and-white costume with a stylized black starburst on the breast. When the X-Men chose to let the severely disturbed Rogue join their school, Danvers cut all ties to the group and spent the next several years in space, often battling alongside the Starjammers.

Warbird

Eventually Danvers' link to the white hole was broken, and as a result, she lost her cosmic-level powers as Binary, but retained a level of superhuman strength, flight, resistance to injury, and enhanced senses comparable to those she had once possessed before her battle with Rogue, as well as the power to manipulate and absorb energy. She rejoined the Avengers and changed her code name to Warbird, again donning her classic black Ms. Marvel costume. She was no longer as powerful as she was as Binary, but she was considerably more powerful as she was in her early days as Ms. Marvel. Insecurity about her powers no longer being what they once were caused her to become an alcoholic. When she was unable to function in any coherent capacity, a humiliated Danvers quit the team rather than be expelled. With the help of fellow alcoholic Tony Stark (Iron Man), Danvers curbed her drinking and stabilized her powers. She rejoined the Avengers for a few missions but left again in 2003 to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., and is currently working with the newest incarnation of the Thunderbolts, although she is not a member of that group.

As of recently, she seems to have retaken the Ms. Marvel name.

External links

• THIS WOMAN, THIS WARRIOR: The Carol Danvers Homepage

• Avengers members
• Defenders members
• Fictional alcoholics
• X-Men members