Roma

Origin

Roma is the daughter of Merlyn and youngest of her kind. Introduced as an assistant to her father. She is the lady of the Northern Skies.

Roma oversaw and helped maintain order and balance between the multi-universes, taking on a key role in the beginnings of Captain Britain and in the creation of the Excalibur team.

Creation

Roma is a Marvel character created by Chris Claremont, Herb Trimpe and Fred Kida, first appearing in Captain Britain, Issue #1

Character Evolution

First paired with her father as representatives of the Otherworld, Roma was elevated to the position of Ruler when Merlyn unexpectedly perished during the time of Captain Britain’s creation. Despite being the youngest of her race, Roma was already thousands of years old at the time of her ascension and was considered a benevolent and just ruler of the Multiverse. However, during her tenure as Omniversal Guardian Roma was shown to make decisions which revealed a manipulative and callous nature, willing to sacrifice anyone she felt necessary to maintain an equilibrium amongst the dimensions. Roma would ultimately prove herself valiant prior to her death at the hands of her own father who she discovered faked his death as part of a larger scheme to gain immense power in the Omniverse.

Major Story Arcs

Meeting Captain Britain

The daughter of Merlyn, Roma took over his duties as guardian of the Omniverse after he seemingly turned evil and was subsequently defeated by Captain Britain. As the Omniversal Guardian, she supervised the Captain Britain Corps. Roma’s main involvements in the fate of Earth-616 include resurrecting the X-Men (including Captain Britain’s twin sister Psylocke) after they died in battle fighting the Adversary during the Fall of Mutants. Before sending them to Australia, Roma gave Psylocke the Siege Perilous.

A few years later, Roma would also influence the Braddocks’ lives by first asking Brian to rule the Overworld with his wife Meggan, then by taking away Psylocke while she was delivering the killing blow to the Shadow King under her twin’s eyes. This latest action was in fact intended to add Betsy Braddock to the Exiles team.

Prior to the House of M, Roma was seen watching over the omniverse. Abraxas had been set loose from Eternity due to the absence of Galactus. Given the power of Abraxas and the absence of Galactus, it was determined that the only thing capable of stopping him was the Ultimate nullifier. Knowing it’s location within the Worldship of Galactus from a previous encounter, the Human Torch and Nova (a Frankie Raye from an alternate universe) set out to retrieve it. When they do, Nova turned against the Human Torch while stating how angry she is about Galactus consuming/destroying her home world and how she now served Abraxas. She gave Abraxas the Ultimate Nullifer and he then appeared in front of Roma magically. She told him to cease his mad plot to remake the universe in his own image. Abraxas thanked her for protecting Eternity for all these many, many years and then kissed her on the mouth causing instant death for her. In the end, Galactus showed up, effortlessly called the Ultimate Nullifier to his person and sent Abraxas away.

Eventually, the Braddock twins reunited in the wake of X-Men: Die By The Sword. This crossover between the Exiles and New Excalibur saw these teams join forces to help Roma and Saturnyne fend off the attacks of Merlyn, who set his mind on reclaiming his throne with the assistance of Mad Jim Jaspers by attacking his daughter while in her Starlight Citadel. The fight would reach its climax with Roma being killed but not before imparting most of her knowledge to Sage.

Power and Abilities

Roma is the youngest of her race but is still millenia of years old. She is virtually immortal and has magical powers which she’s used in a variety of ways including but not limited to: teleportation, astral projection, healing, telepathy, and energy manipulation. As the Omniversal Guardian of Otherworld she has access to it’s power and technology.

Physical Characteristics

• Gender: Female
• Age: Undetermined
• Height: 5’11’ (Variable)
• Weight: 120 lbs (55kg) Variable
• Eyes: Blue (Variable)