Origin
Idris was an inhabitant of the Brilliant City, an alternate reality which seems much more pure, pristine, bright, enlightened and cleansed than other realities. Earth like but with inhabitants that are extremely powerful and advanced, each inhabitant capable of dimensional travel and powerful energy abilities and physical capabilities. Idris was like any other inhabitant of this perfect society and reality, until one day she glanced up and noticed that there were greater and more powerful beings in higher planes of reality that comparably made the inhabitants of the Brilliant City less, than even more so than the inhabitants of the Brilliant City made other lower realities inhabitants less. This knowledge was too great a shock and truth than Idris could cope with and she would flee her reality her mind and conscious splintering severely leading to self denial and delusion that would in effect lead to Idris living out in multiple forms and personalities across multiple realities. Notable personas would be Sister Perpetua, Nicola Zeitgeist and Hassan.
Sister Perpetua would be a blind nun who would encounter the shaman Nate Grey (also known as X-Man) and travel with him as a companion. Nicola Zeitgeist would be a member and leader of the superhero team and Earth protectors the Protectorate alongside Thor, Nate Xavier, White Bird, Technocrat, Nightfighter and Citydweller. Hassan a warrior and fighter. All three would eventually met each other and realize they were one in the same.
Creation
Idris, (Sister Perpetua, Hassan and Nicola Zeitgeist) is a Marvel comics published character created by writers Steven Grant, Warren Ellis and artist Ariel Olivetti. Idris first appears in her guise of Sister Perpetua first appears in the X-Man series, specifically in the issue X-Man #71 – Fearful Symmetries Part 1 released in 2001. She also appears in that issue as a separate entity Nicola Zeitgeist. Two issues later in issue X-Man #73 – Fearful Symmetries part 3, Hassan would appear, another aspect of Idris. In this issue Nate Grey would also help the various aspects of Idris were in fact one entity and help her recover her true identity and memories.
Idris’s Nicole Zeitgeist persona served as a member of the Protectorate, with that team also created by Steven Grant, Warren Ellis and Ariel Olivetti. The Protectorate also bare an uncanny resemblance to Wildstorm comics Authority team and book, with each member being a parallel of an Authority team character. Given that Warren Ellis created many of both and was involved in both teams creations, the parallels aren’t as unoriginal as one could accuse the characters of being. Idris/Zeitgeist herself an analogue/parallel of Jenny Sparks.
Character Evolution
Idris is a complicated character in the sense she appears as multiple characters who all appear before the realization they are all in the same and that the singular entity that encompasses them all is Idris. The various personas of Idris all have different looks, personalities, powers and abilities, names, costumes and mannerisms, they only immediate similarity they possess are similar facial structure. Each persona has a lot of nuance and distinguishing facets. Sister Perpetua the first aspect we are introduced to is plagued and haunted by terrible prophetic visions of broken worlds under siege by demonic forces. Later this would be revealed to be the lower realities that exist on the spiral, with Sister Perpetua’s original reality the Perfect City occupying the top level of the spiral. The backstory she believes she has is that her father once removed her eyelids after she fell asleep in church and that she even removed her own eyes to stop the horrible visions she would experience.
Major Story Arcs
Sister Perpetua
Sister Perpetua is a nun who experiences painful and raw visions of apocalyptic worlds suffering and crushed by under darkness and pain, bleak earths that tormented her and filled her with anxiety. She is met by Nate Grey who wished to help her, experiencing some of her trauma and pain using his telepathic abilities. Sister Perpetua relates to him stories about her youth where her father cut her eyelids off after she fell asleep in church as a young girl. She however would be the one who would remove her eyes hoping that it might prevent the horrible visions plaguing her, but unfortunately they would persist. She is slightly weary and anxious around Nate, who does his best to make her feel at peace. Nate Grey asks her permission to scan her mind with his telepathy hoping to see the source for these visions, and they believe they can find more answers in a new reality X-Man sees in her mind, a location known as Earth 253. He also comments on the various mental barricades she has constructed. Shame for mutilating herself, fear of the unknown, Nate gives her the chance to see through his eyes and takes her on a trip high above the clouds so that she might experience what it might be like to be an angel. Perpetua feels that she is evil and her painful visions are punishment and penance.
The Burning Tiger Qabiri
Nate Grey would bring Sister Perpetua to the Earth 253 reality, where they would come into contact with a super hero team the Protectorate. The Protectorate had encountered the mysterious inter-dimensional interloper Qabiri of the Shining City. Qabiri had set New York ablaze killing all its seven million citizens. Citydweller, Nightfighter, White Bird and Technocrat would be first to confront Qabiri, but their attempts to subdue him would fail, Qabiri manhandling the quartet with his power. Respite would come as Thor, Zeitgeist and Nate Xavier would arrive, after finishing a mission in another dimension. Qabiri would leave suddenly, confusing the Protectorate, but Thor and the Professor would follow him. The duo would be forced to fight against Qabiri, with Thor’s stubborn and direct physical attack getting him killed. Professor would fall shortly after. Nate and Perpetua would aid the Protectorate as best they could, with some initial confuse between both groups over the fact that Perpetua and Zeitgeist appearing to have the same facial features. Idris as Nicola Zeitgeist would be coordinated a lot of Protectorates efforts, dramatically and visually different from Perpetua. Citydweller reports in to Zeitgeist informing her he is dying, Qabiri’s attacks on cities, destroying many a fatal wound to he who relies on cities.
Even with X-Man’s help Qabiri would go on to kill more of the Protectorate and eventually even strike against the very planet setting off a chain reaction that would destroy it. All would perish except for Sister Perpetua, Nate Grey and Nicola Zeitgeist (both Perpertua and Zeitgeist still unaware they were the same being)
Hassan and the Brilliant City
Sister Perpetua, Nicola Zeitgeist and X-Man have teleported to another dimension to escape the destruction of Earth 253 at the hands of the deranged Qabiri. Nate Grey is slightly disorientated but manages to use his powerful telekinetic abilities to create a safety bubble to protect the himself and his two companions from falling into deadly lava. Nate would also be unsure how they managed to teleport to this location with Sister Perpetua and Zeitgeist seemingly clueless as well. Nate would explain that he wouldn’t have teleported them to a location where it would require most of his telekinetic ability to filter air supply for them. He would start perceiving a pattern about Perpetua and Zeitgeist and their ability to survive through impossible odds and that they seem so similar. Perpetua would interrupt realizing that another person was near their location and the three would travel in X-Man’s telekinetic orb to meet Hassan, a female warrior who felt drawn to the location. Hassan was champion of the Emirates and also resembled Sister Perpetua and Nicola Zeitgeist. Nate would escort the three aspects of Idris to his home reality in the Himalaya’s. Here he would resume his theory about all three woman being the same entity but before they could conclude his theory Qabiri would attack having caught up to them.
Powers and Abilities
Idris possesses many varied and incredible powers and abilities. An inhabitant of the the Shining City, physiologically she is many multitudes superior to normal human beings. Idris is long lived and essentially immortal, having existed for eons. Her peoples people has even been described as unfathomable. Idris possesses super human levels of durability, strength, resilience and durability, and she can generate and manipulate potent and massive amounts of energy, enough to destroy worlds. She can travel dimensions, read minds, traverse through realities at her will, form powerful force fields, and sense other life forms. She can fly under her own power and exist and remain unaffected by the void of outer space.
Even aspects and facets of Idris demonstrated powers, one part of Idris Sister Perpetua experienced visions and could maneuver around desire lacking eyes. Nicola Zeitgeist was a member of the Protectorate team and considered one of its more powerful members. Hassan was a warrior and fighter.
Physical Characteristics
- Height: Unrevealed
- Weight: Unrevealed
- Hair: Blonde
- Eyes: White irises on black sclera.