Origin
Moonbeam originally moved to New York City as a young teenager to pursue an acting career in the big city. While there, she met a fellow actor who had fallen on similar hard luck in the rough big city acting business. After a period of time, she fell in love with her coworker and they decided that they would move in together. One fateful night in a hotel her lover murdered Moonbeam, then he hurriedly took the body and sealed it in a mausoleum. That night Moonbeam’s mutation activated on her necrotic tissue and she was revived. However, she found herself still effectively sealed within her tomb. While in this state she managed to discover her ability to communicate with the deceased buried around her. The dead who’s spirits were free to roam planted a seed of doubt in Moonbeam’s killer, eventually luring him back to the crypt in which he had buried Moonbeam.
He returned to the site of the burial to rest assured Moonbeam remained as she was. Once he released her from her catacomb; she appeared as the mutant heroine, Dead Girl and sought revenge on the man that had taken her first life.
Creation
Deadgirl was created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred and first appeared in X-Force #125 2002.
Mayor Story Arcs
Joining X-Force
When X-Force was send into a mission which involved a grave-yard, Dead Girl emerged from one of the graves and told them the story of her life and her death. The team was shocked of her story and understood her craving for revenge against the ones that had hurt her. She was soon asked to join the ranks of the new X-Force team, which she happily accepted.
At first, a lot of the teammates where afraid to have a real dead person among them, but they soon saw the value of her membership through her powers and her personality. After the death of fellow teammate U-Go Girl, Dead Girl joined the team under the new name of X-Statix.
With X-Statix and Avenging the Dead
After the team had regrouped, Dead Girl and Anarchist became lovers which soon led them to leave X-Statix and go on their own tour: “Death and Anarchy” roadshow. Later through the tour, Tike (Anarchist) had been arrested. Though soon after discovered to be a celebrity giving him near immunity to the authorities. After the venture, they simply didn’t find it satisfying enough so they rejoined X-Statix.
While Dead Girl fought alongside her teammates for a number of missions, in which her strange and unusual behavior sometimes gave them the chills, there was one solo mission that stood out. Dead Girl found out that the mortision of X-Statix was actually a necrophil whom had violated the corpses of the dead. She knew this because the voices of the dead had been crying out to her. While investigating the mortision she learned that he was married and had a child. The child felt neglected by her father and started using white make-up to make her look more ‘dead’, in hope of getting her father’s attention. The wife of the mortision was aware of his strange preferences and disliked him greatly because of it. It was at this time that Dead Girl intervened and showed the mortision the things that he had done to his family and to the dead. She served him her own brand of justice, seemingly killing him so the spirits of the dead could have their vengeance on the sick man.
After the mutant pop star Henrietta Hunter had been resurrected again, Dead Girl shared her dislike with her teammates. After the villain Mister Code had slain her, Dead Girl put her dislike aside and helped Henrietta’s spirit get revenge on her original killers.
Death of a Team
Dead Girl had a number of other missions. It was however decided by the team that they would disband, promising each other to do one last mission. It was however on this mission that things went horribly wrong. Due to unknown circumstances Dead Girl seemingly ‘died’ again, slowly rotting away after being shot at. Because of this, she was not able to save her other team-members whom where almost all killed by the opposing forces.
Sole Survivor – Dead Girl Mini-Series
Although the last mission seemed to have been the end for Dead Girl, her troubles had yet begun. While Dead Girl’s other team-members had died, Dead Girl was brought back to life by sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange to stop The Pitiful One from resurrecting the dead from Earth to be his undead minions. Among these minions where a group of supervillains including Kraven the Hunter, and Mysterio , but also Dead Girl’s old team-mate Anarchist. To stop these evil beings from entering earth, Dead Girl and Doctor Strange forged a plan and made a trip to the afterlife, in witch she recruited Orphan to fight the villains. The heroes also encountered U-Go Girl during this trip. Orphan and U-Go Girl had a brief moment together in the afterlife and joined the team of heroes. During this time, both Doctor Strange and Dead Girl seemingly started to have feelings for one another, although this was never truly consummated except for a kiss.
Ultimately Dead Girl, together with Orphan and U-Go Girl, managed to show Anarchist the errors of his ways and had him rebel against the villains, ending up fighting the villains together with Dead Girl, Doc Strange, U-Go Girl and the Orphan. After the evil forces had been taken care of, it is implied that Orphan and Anarchist joined U-Go Girl into Heaven (though she could still technically be alive. See All-New Doop) . Dead Girl remained on earth, and has not been seen again as of yet.
Powers
Physically deceased, her mutation was triggered by death, Dead Girl has a variety of abilities akin to the mystical zombie and ghost. Her mutant abilities include:
- Necromancy/Necrokinesis: She has the ability to telepathically communicate with cells, bacteria, and dead/disintegrating tissue of corpses, speak to dead spirits either using their physical remains or on the astral plane, temporarily resurrect the recently deceased as zombies or ghosts, and briefly summon images of deceased people from the minds of others. This is the manner in which she controls her own body. She can animate and control parts of her body even after they have been severed.
- Immortality: Since she is dead, Dead Girl does not require food, water, heat, or oxygen for sustenance.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: She can rebuild her molecular structure from virtually any physical attack, regardless of how much damage or destruction she sustains, even if reduced to a skeleton. She can safely “survive” toxic conditions deadly to anyone else. She can transform her hands into claws, and otherwise alter her body to an unclear extent.
- Intangibility: She is able to “phase” through solid matter; either by shifting her atoms through the spaces between the atoms of the object through which she is moving, or by reducing her molecular density. She also has the ability to create an ethereal version of herself and pass through objects in a ghost-like state, and cross over freely to the death realm. She can use this power to walk on air.
- Enhanced Physique: She is in perfect physical condition and maintains above-average strength and agility.