Moondragon

Origin

Heather Douglas was only a child when the villain Thanos came to Earth, and killed her parents because they witnessed his arrival (her late father would later be turned into Drax the Destroyer). She was found by Mentor, an Eternal of Titan, and was brought to Titan to be raised. Intense study of mental and physical disciplines under the Shao-Lom Monks allowed her to tap into her latent mental powers, making her the equal of a Titan in combat, and superior to most. The cosmic entity known as the Dragon of the Moon secretly played on her arrogance and mentally influenced her, causing her to believe she was a superior being, above morals. Even without the Dragon’s influence however Moondragon suffers from a bit of a superiority complex as, while she seems to be on a team more often than not, she is never a popular member and is always talking down to her teammates; which is all a big part of what has made her a fascinating character. Throughout her superhero career, she would repeatedly be involved with Adam Warlock; sometimes loosely and sometimes integrally.

Creation

Moondragon was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin and first appeared in Iron Man #54.

Mayor Story Arcs

Iron Man

None of her upbringing on Titan or her heroic tendencies are touched on in her first appearance, nor is she even appearing under her proper name. When she first appears in Iron Man #54, she is a one-off villain going by the preposterous name of “Madame MacEvil” and she somehow instigates a conflict between Iron Man and Namor. Appearance-wise, everything about her is exactly as it would be later on when she joins the Avengers only her outfit is all red rather than Green. No mention of her as ‘Madame MacEvil’ is ever made after this. No mention is really even made of ‘Madame MacEvil’s” capabilities as in this one appearance she doesn’t really demonstrate any powers and is merely a schemer.

As Doctor, her only interests is in experiments. She was studying Namor as lastest subject in a study of human hybrids. She was created some machines with AI, a submariner, missiles, sattelites. She possess wealth and fame, they are meaningless for her. There is only the thrill of knowledge explored and discovered. She used her technical knowledge for introduce into command link with Iron Man’s armor.

Avengers & Defenders

On Earth, she joined the Avengers. During one particular mission with the Avengers and Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock and Thanos killed one another. Her ego finally led her to mind-control the Avengers and conquer an alien planet known as Ba-Bani. She mentally controlled the entire planet, enslaving them and making herself the unquestioned leader. When the Avengers came to liberate the planet from her, she killed her father Drax the Destroyer with a fatal mind-wipe assault while he was allied with them. Moondragon gave up the conflict after this and was taken into custody, her powers diminished.

The Avengers sent her to Asgard to learn better ways; she was put “on probation” as a member of the Defenders. Somewhere in the midst of this, Moondragon was a member of a scouting mission alongside The Thing, Starhawk and Her/Kismet that brought them to the gravesite of Adam Warlock where Her/Kismet sought to bring Warlock back to life to be her mate, but failed to do so. During her time with the Defenders, she taught Hellcat some Titanian martial arts and even helped her develop some minor psychic powers. The Dragon of the Moon again began to control her, however, leading to the deaths of the Defenders team, Moondragon herself included (although being superheroes, they all eventually got better).

Resurrection

The Titanian supercomputer ISAAC grew her a new body, and for a short time she traveled space with her cousin Sundragon; She tagged alongside Quasar for a time, with the ulterior motive of trying to become his mate. Failing in this, she went off on her own for a while; eventually resurfacing on a decrepit spaceship about to run out of oxygen, only to be saved by Adam Warlock and offered a spot in his new team, the Infinity Watch alongside her revived, though mentally stunted father, Drax the Destroyer.

Infinity Watch

As a member of the Watch, she was given the task of guarding the immensely powerful Mind Gem, which intensified her already great mental powers. The group split from the beginning and she sought out to test her new abilities. One of her first actions was to help the Silver Surfer find the lost planet of Zenn-La. An incredibly powerful being known as the Great One had taken the planet into his mind. She was able to test her mental abilities and eventually remove all the planets the Great One held.

After the Man Beast tried to use the Watch against themselves, they finally agreed to work together. This was temporarily broken by the Goddess, who used mind control to gather heroes from across the universe to serve her in the Infinity Crusade. Moondragon was made high priestess of the Holy Guard and coordinated the Guard with the Goddess. When the control was broken, Moondragon was upset at the thought of being used and was upset with herself that she could be controlled. Near the end of the Infinity Watch’s run, Moondragon was injured on a mission and was stuck in a full body cast for a time. After the Watch disbanded, Moondragon and her father confronted Chronos, the Titan entity that had created Drax twice over and insisted that he restore Drax’s mental faculties and Moondragon’s health. Chronos agreed, but slightly depleted Drax’s physical prowess in doing so.

After the Watch

Later, Moondragon floated around the galaxy on her own, resurfacing here and there, eventually becoming an active Avenger once more for a brief time as a member of the Avengers Infinity subgroup. After Avenger Infinity, Moondragon returned to Earth seeking out Genis-Vell / Captain Marvel in the hopes of offering her aide in training him. Moondragon and her father, Drax the Destroyer both became parts of Genis’ life (Moondragon much more so than Drax), as well as that of Rick Jones, who was molecularly bonded to Genis. While essentially living with Genis and Rick as their roommate, Moondragon struck up a lesbian relationship with Rick’s estranged wife Marlo and the two of them went off together to explore their relationship. Their love proved short lived and, on the rebound and on a whim, Moondragon was picked up by Genis’ sister Phyla-Vell and the two went off together to pursue what would actually be a healthy and happy relationship that would take them into the Annihilation war(s). Moondragon got her wish to be Quasar’s lover, but not the way she originally planned; when, at the end of the first Annihilation war her girlfriend Phyla became the new Quasar when she retrieved the late Wendell Vaughn’s quantum bands from Annihilus.

Annihilation Wave

During the first Annihilation war, Thanos kidnapped Moondragon and humiliated Phylla by defeating her with ease. Thanos tried to use her to get a reading on his temporary ally, Annihilus, which showed Thanos that he could not help Annihilus any more than he already had. As Thanos set about trying to undo his mechanations that had imprisoned Galactus and the Silver Surfer for Annihilus, his old nemesis Drax the Destroyer arrived, ready to finally complete his destiny of killing Thanos. Moondragon tried to deter her father but was unsuccessful, and Thanos was killed; though luckily Moondragon and Drax still managed to set Galactus free, reversing the tide of war in the resistance’s favor.

Annihilation Conquest

After the Annihilation war, Moondragon and Phyla provided aide to Kree fringe colonies ravaged by the war. Their humanitarian aide and romance is interrupted by the second Annihilation war and their mission to search for a savior of the Kree Empire, which turns out to be a reborn Adam Warlock. During this event, Moondragon discovers she has the power to become a literal Dragon, more powerful than ever, although she cannot return to human form; which puts stress upon her relationship with Phyla, though they manage to work through it. In an epic battle against the alien Phalanx and Ultron not long after becoming a dragon, Heather is killed in action by Ultron while defending Phyla. Towards the end of the war she is seen by Phyla one last time, though this is more than likely just in Phyla’s head.

Guardians of the Galaxy

After a Skrull infiltration of their headquarters on Knowhere it was revealed to the Guardians that Mantis had used been asked by Peter Quill to use her mind-control powers on the team’s member in order to help the team function better. As a result of this news, Quasar and Drax go of in search of of the earth girl Cammi (who was lost in the Annihilation War) only to find out that Moondragon is still alive. This brought them to Mentor who promptly murdered them!

Phyla and Drax found themselves on a borderland called Oblivion, where the Quantum bands fell of Phyla’s wrists seeing as the bearer was now dead. Not long after she was faced by her own demons but Drax soon send them packing. They however were joined by Maelstrom whom used Moondragon as bait to lure them for his master Oblivion with the intent of then using them to cross back over into reality. After his apparent defeat he agreed to lead them to her but he led them to the Dragon of the Moon where he said Moondragon was supposed to be within the dragon that was regaining its strength after Ultron dispatched it back to Oblivion. Maelstrom however regained the upper hand once the Quantum bands re-bonded with him and quickly encased Phyla and Drax with the intent of feeding them to the Dragon of the Moon in exchange for the Dragon using its energy to release Maelstrom from Oblivion.

Then, Maelstrom dropped Phyla into the Dragon’s mouth, who was rising. After a short battle with the original Quasar, Phyla tore herself out of Dragon of the Moon, carrying Heather in her arms. With the Dragon dispatched and Maelstrom gone Quasar tried to return the bands to her but Phyla declined stating that she had powers of her own.

Together with Drax and Phyla, Heather returned to Mentor’s place. Then, Drax and Phyla rejoin the rest of Guardians of the Galaxy back on Knowhere accompanied by Heather. Upon learning of the upcoming war between the Shi’ar Empire, with their new Emperor Vulcan, and the Kree, now led by the Inhumans’ and their King Blackbolt, all of the Guardians reunite and make a plan to stop the aggressions before they destroy the very fabric of reality.

War of Kings

Adam Warlock returns with Gamora to the Guardians and informs the team of the War of Kings. Starlord and Rocket Raccoon decide they should split in 3 teams to avoid this war growing out of proportions:

1. The Kree Team with Starlord, Bug, Gamora, Jack Flag and Martyr (Phylla-Vell)
2. The Shi’ar Team with Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Adam Warlock, Major Victory and Groot
3. The Coordination Team with Moondragon, Mantis and Cosmo the Spacedog
   

   

The Kree Team asked Blackbolt to stop the war, a request he denied. The Shi’ar team becomes separated from Adam Warlock, who is transported on to a Shi’ar vessel and is attacked by Vulcan, emperor of the Shi’ar. The rest of the Shi’ar Team works with the Starjammers to free Lilandra from Emperor Vulcan. In her short time with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Moondragon has seemed to discover a sense of belonging. She has become close friends with the rest of her Coordination Team and enjoys being able to interact with other telepaths. But Moondragon only has a short time to be reunited with her love, Phyla. Phyla had made a deal with the Dragon of the Moon and had changed inside. Moondragon noticed this change but before they could really talk about it, Phyla was killed in battle with the Magus, along with many other team members. This left Moondragon even more confused and empty since her resurrection.

When the Luminals investigated a rip in space-time known as the Fault without the cooperation of the Guardians, they released a strange creature from within it. Once it came on Knowhere, all havoc broke loose. Moondragon’s mental abilities were the only weapon they had to battle the creature. In order to stop it’s destruction, Moondragon took the creature inside of her self, making her appear to be pregnant with the creature. She used her mental powers to keep the creature from destroying her.

Cynosure demanded the creature pay for its crime of killing one of her Luminals and tried to convict it while inside Moondragon. Meanwhile, the creature was sought out by the Universal Church of Truth and they kidnapped Moondragon and Cynosure, who had handcuffed herself to Heather, and planned to force her into labor and release the creature. The Guardians and the Luminals arrived to save their people, and Moondragon was able to overpower the creatures mental influences after she had a vision of Phyla. Back on Knowhere, the creature was safely removed and sent back into the Fault.

Powers & Abilities

As a result of her training by the monks of Shao-Lom, Moondragon has vast psionic powers. She has telepathy, which enables her to read minds, communicate mentally with others, control of other people’s minds, alter personalities, and erase specific memories of others. She also has telekinesis, enabling her to move, lift, and manipulate most forms of physical matter using only her thoughts; she can 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. She can combine her telepathic and telekinetic powers into bolts of sheer 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. Moondragon developed these through her training from the monks of Titan.

However, Moondragon’s powers are not without weaknesses. Her powers are dependent on her concentration. 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. She can examine herself internally down to the cellular level. 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 dragon form, she appeared to have all her old mental powers plus those akin to the legendary dragon, including flaming breath, great strength, claws, and winged or interstellar flight. Her lover, Phyla, had been using Moondragon in this form as a Knight would use a steed.

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.

Alternate realities

Earth-398

Moondragon of Earth-398 was known as Priestess and was a member of the Queen’s Vengeance.

Earth-1610

In the Ultimate universe, the original Moondragon is deceased since years, but during the Gah Lak Tus invasion, the Earth is invaded by thousands of her assassin clones, both in male and female version.

Other Media

Television

X-men: The Animated Serie

Moondragon is among the psychics kidnaped by Apocalypse in the saga “Beyond Good and Evil” with Xavier, Jean Grey, Stryfe, Rachel Summers, Typhoid Mary and others.

Games

Marvel: War of Heroes

Moondragon appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:

• [Telepathic Monk] Moondragon
• [Infinity Watch] Moondragon
• [Estranged] Moondragon
• [Born Guardians] Drax & Moondragon

Marvel Heroes

Moondragon is a non-playable character in the game. she is voiced vy Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

Marvel Avengers Alliance

Moondragon is a playable character in the game. She can be recruited by completing the Covert Task: De-Lunacy.

Her bio in the game says: Heather Douglas survived an attack on her family by Thanos. Raised on Titan, she studied both mental and physical disciplines under the tutelage of the Shao-Lom Monks. Tapping into her latent psychic abilities, she was drawn to the cosmic entity known as the Dragon of the Moon. Seeking to use her as its host, it resides deep within her mind as a contestant source of temptation and corruption. Heather took on the name of Moondragon and sought a way to combat Thanos eventually returning to her home planetof Earth where she reunited with her long-lost father, Arthur Douglas who had become Drax the Destroyer, and and joined the Avengers. She would later become a part of the Defenders, the Infinity Watch, and finally, the Guardians of the Galaxy.