Moondragon

Moondragon is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. A powerful telekinetic, telepath, and martial artist, Moondragon's most notable characteristics are her shaved head and her arrogance. She first appeared in Iron Man (1st series) #54 (January, 1973). The issue was scripted by Bill Everett and Mike Friedrich and drawn by Everett and George Tuska.

Origin
Heather Douglas was born in Los Angeles, California, daughter of Arthur and Yvette Steckley Douglas. When Heather was still a girl, her father was driving her and her mother through the desert when they accidentally happened to see the spaceship of Thanos land; the space villain didn't want any witnesses, so he blew their car up. Heather was thrown clear off and survived, but her parents were killed. (She would later discover that her father's reanimated corpse was made into Drax the Destroyer.) She was found by Thanos' father, Mentor, who took her to his home world, Titan, to be raised. While there, Heather studied the Titans' ways and gained her mental and physical powers. However, she came under the influence of a powerful entity called The Dragon of the Moon; she believed she had resisted it, which filled her with pride, and she took the name Moondragon as a result. She served as a priestess, philosopher, scientist (especially in genetic engineering), and warrior.

Alliances against Thanos and Korvac
She first returned to Earth under the guise of "Madam MacEvil" for the purpose of developing means to combat Thanos; this led to the creations of some villains, like Angar the Screamer. In her first appearance, she forced Iron Man to battle Namor to study them. She then revealed her true identity and helped the Avengers in their first confrontation with Thanos. She met the heroine Hellcat and took her to Titan so she could train her.

She battled Daredevil, but was nearly killed by her ex-ally Kerwin J. Broderick. She restored Daredevil's sight briefly, and then first met Captain Mar-Vell. She aided them against Angar, the Dark Messiah, and Terrex. She fell in love with Daredevil, but then returned to outer space. She aided Captain Mar-Vell, Drax, and the Avengers against Thanos.

Moondragon was one of the three candidates to be the "Celestial Madonna" who was prophesied to give birth to a universal savior, but she lost to Mantis. She then became an adventurer, and joined the Avengers. She aided the Avengers against Thanos.

Moondragon was present when the Avengers confronted Korvac; her powers allowed her to see into his mind while they fought, and she decided that his goal of saving the universe by ruling it was noble; she stayed out of the battle until Korvac, dejected, committed suicide.

Paths of corruption and redemption
Moondragon left Earth with her father (who was now Drax) and found a planet immersed in war, so she decided to take mental control of all its inhabitants to force them to live in peace. This caused her to believe herself to be like a goddess. When Drax confronted her, she killed him with her mental powers. The Avengers intervened, and Thor took her before a real god—his father, Odin, to be judged. Odin perceived within Moondragon a stalwart but tainted spirit. He condemned her to wear a magical headband that would reduce her mental powers until she had overcome her arrogance. He also assigned The Valkyrie to be her guardian

When Valkyrie rejoined the Defenders, Moondragon was forced to come along. She soon discovered that the Dragon of the Moon had been influencing her all along. She managed to reject it fully, and for the first time, started to gain friends in the team; eventually the headband came loose by itself. Unfortunately, soon after she was infected with mutated spores and started to die; the Dragon appeared again and told her it could save her life, but only if she agreed to be its host. She accepted, and now an evil being battled the Defenders, until Andromeda, Interloper, Manslaughter, and Valkyrie sacrificed themselves to kill both her and the Dragon.

Heather's soul managed to survive, and, now free from the Dragon again, contacted a her cousin Pamela; through her, she was able to obtain a new body for herself, a clone created on Titan. For a while, she and her cousin, who became the heroine Sundragon, adventured together in space.

Cosmic cohort
After Quasar was appointed Protector of the Universe, Moondragon insinuated herself into his life. She became an engineer and saleswoman for Vaughn Security Systems at one point. She was convinced that in time Quasar would realize they were eminently qualified to form the universe's most cosmic coupling. Quasar, however, asserted that qualifications have nothing to do with feelings and rebuffed her. She eventually got the message and lost interest in him.

When Adam Warlock sought people to help him safeguard the Infinity Gems, he chose Moondragon to keep the Mind Gem—but only after erecting safeguards so Moondragon could not exploit the gem's full power. Still, she agreed to join his team, the Infinity Watch. She eventually lost the gem when it was stolen by Rune.

Moondragon later became an associate of Genis (the third Captain Marvel), determined to help him control his cosmic awareness. During this time, she fell in love with Marlo Chandler, the wife of Rick Jones (whom Captain Marvel was bonded to). The two eloped on a lesbian relationship to the reluctant understanding of Rick, with whom Marlo was having marital problems anyway. Some time later, Marlo got over her feelings for Moondragon, and decided to return to Rick. Moondragon told her she must have accidentally prodded her telepathically into the relationship, but this was a lie to make the break-up easier. In truth, Moondragon was heartbroken; she left shortly after with Phyla-Vell.

Annihilation
In the Annihilation miniseries, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell have returned, visiting the graves of Mar-Vell and Genis-Vell. At that time though, Thanos appeared, and kidnapped Moondragon, using her as a hostage to draw out Drax the Destroyer for an unknown purpose. However Thanos' plan for revenge was cut short as Drax rushes off to save his daughter, which he did by ripping Thanos heart out, just as he was about to save the universe from Annihilus. However, Drax and Moondragon then manage to free the Silver Surfer, who in turn helps free Galactus, destroying Annihlus' plans. Galactus then teleports away Drax and Moondragon. Moondragon "loses track" of Drax, and is reunited with Phyla-Vell.

Annihilation: Conquest
In Quasar: Annihilation: Conquest, the love of Phylla and Moondragon was explored in depth. Due to the Phalanx taking over the Kree Empire, Phylla and Heather had to find the 'savior' that was shown to Quasar (Phylla). They came across the Adaptoid who was absorbed by the Phalanx and set to prevent the ladies from finding the savior. During the battle Moondragon had to change to a dragon, like the 'Dragon of the Moon' she had to fight most of her life. Moondragon can not change back to her human form anymore. Moondragon and Phylla follow a voice Phylla hears, to find the savior for the Kree race which is being attacked by the Phalanx. In the end it turns out 'the voice' is the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree. Thanks to the Supreme Intelligence they find a cocoon, in which Adam Warlock is restoring. The cocoon breaks open and Phylla and Moondragon ask Warlock to help them fighting against the Phalanx. Shortly after, the Phalanx arrives, led by the murderous android Ultron. Moondragon attempts to protect Phyla and Ultron responds by plunging his arm into her chest. Heather dies shortly after in Phyla's arms.

Powers and abilities
Moondragon has vast psionic powers, released through training by the monks of Shao-Lom. She has a number of powers, including primarily telepathy, which enables her to read minds and communicate mentally with others; control of other people's minds, inducement of personality changes, and erasing of specific memories of others; she can also fire bolts of psionic energy as concussive blasts that can stun an opponent (or even render them brain dead), and induce mental illusions in other people. It has proved sufficient to control the entire population of the planet Ba-Banis, allowing her to become their ruler for a time. She also has the psychic ability of telekinesis, an ability that lets her move, lift, and manipulate most forms of physical matter using only her thoughts, levitate herself and others upwards into the air into flight, create shields and barriers of pure psychic force, and fire blasts of concussive psychokinetic energy, with sufficient strength to crack steel. Moondragon developed these through her training from the monks of Titan. However, Moondragon's powers are not without weaknesses. For instance, Rick Jones was able to stop Moondragon's telepathy by taping her to a chair, covering her eyes and mouth with duct tape, and placing headphones on her ears which blasted loud heavy metal music. This caused Moondragon to lose touch with her senses and concentration, thus leaving her powerless.

Moondragon is also a highly skilled martial artist and again has been taught various mental disciplines by the monks of Titan, allowing her to have complete control over her body, including autonomic functions such as heart beat, bleeding, and breathing, as well as awareness of pain. Her martial arts skills have acquired victories over the Celestial Madonna Mantis and Captain America. She is also highly knowledgeable in various areas of advanced Titanian scientific disciplines such as biology and genetics. She is also a highly skilled starship pilot. She was educated in Titanian science, philosophy, martial arts, and the use of her psionic powers by the Titanian monks of Shao-Lom. However, Moondragon often suffers from emotional instability.

In her new dragon form, she appears to have all her old mental powers plus those of a dragon, which include flaming breath, great strength, claws, and winged or interstellar flight. Her lover, Quasar, has been using Moondragon in this form as a mount as a knight might a horse.

For a time, she possessed the Infinity Gem called the "mind gem," which enhanced her psionic powers to an unknown, perhaps potentially unlimited degree. Adam Warlock had apparently instituted some unknown safeguards within the gem to prevent her from misusing it.

Ultimate Heather Douglas
In the first issue of the Ultimate Extinction arc, a bald woman with a dragon tattoo and considerable martial arts prowess attacks Misty Knight. A computer database later identifies the woman as Heather Douglas, who has been dead for decades.

This woman is revealed to be a clone of the original Heather Douglas. There are in fact hundreds of these clones (as well as male equivalent, bald clones of an unnamed man). These clones were created by a cult that worships Gah Lak Tus (the Ultimate version of Galactus). They try to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. and face the Ultimates and the X-Men while other heroes attempt to deal with the threat of Gah Lak Tus.