Surge

Origin

Surge (Noriko Ashida) was born in Tokyo, Japan and was close to her brother but ran away from home at age 13 after her powers manifested. She claims that her father doesn’t believe in mutants. It’s unknown how she got to the US but when she did, she was living on the streets of Salem Center when she went up to the Xavier Institute for help. Julian Keller chased her away for being homeless. Later, she had a serious power discharge harming a Grindstone Cafe waitress in the process.

Led by Elixir, he gathered the group to search for her that night. They saw her buying drugs which they thought was causing the problems with her powers. Sofia blew them away, but it turned out that without the drugs, her powers were out of control. With Laurie‘s pheromone emotion-manipulating powers, they subdued her and took her home.

Beast then designed special metallic gauntlets that could regulate and control her ability to absorb ambient electrical energy preventing further overloads.

Creation

Surge was created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Keron Grant and first appeared in New Mutants Vol.2 issue 8 (2004).

Character Evolution

Starting off as a homeless teenager with no control of her powers only through drugs she bought. Surge has become an excellent natural leader of the new generation of X-Men even though she doesn’t desire the position of power.

Forward and strong-minded, along with having a determined and independent personality, Nori often goes head to head with either those in power, despite their age, her superiors and especially her peers and teammates disagreeing or taking charge. In many occasions she almost gets herself into trouble, from almost starting a full out fight between herself and Hellion after he simply insulted Prodigy’s baseline status after M-Day, along with challenging Cyclops’ choices for her team and for the school itself. Her outlook comes from rebelling against her traditional (Japanese) upbringing. Surge loves her family but her father is traditional and does not believe in mutants. He believes that she simply ran away from home and brought shame to there family because of it, disowning her over the phone when Noriko called home to tell her parents she was safe.

Surge is also a vocal feminist, as quickly demonstrated when she was roomed with the shy and conservative Dust. Overall, Nori is a very loyal and trustworthy person, though quick to challenge authority and pick a fight if she needs to. She’ll do anything for a friend and when placed in charge of New X-Men, she felt a considerable amount of responsibility placed upon her, and constantly pushed herself to do better and protect her teammates and friends, no matter the cost. It was also mentioned that Surge did not desire to be the leader of the New X-Men and she does not actually desire to be placed in a position of power.

Major Story Arcs

New Mutants

Nori became a student of Xavier’s School when the school adopted a squad system. She was assigned to Dani Moonstar’s New Mutants squad with Elixir, Wallflower, Wind Dancer, Prodigy, and Icarus. She reluctantly roomed with the Afghan mutant, Dust; the two young women disagreed and repeatedly clashed on the accepted role of women in society and the Muslim traditions Sooraya wanted to follow.

Soon, the romantic relationship between Josh and Wolfsbane was revealed by the jealous Wither and he faced much ostracizing from his fellow classmates. Surge was one of those who accepted him or didn’t care. Using his powers in a new light, Josh restored Rahne’s mutant powers. Josh was then mauled by the newly feral Wolfsbane. Surge put her ingenuity to test, using her electrokinetic discharges to shock Josh into healing himself without harming him.

Later, her teammate David asked Emma Frost to remove a mental block on his mind that prevented him from accessing his full power. As a result, David became corrupted from the knowledge, skills and power he absorbed, becoming the President of an increasing authoritarian United States and marrying Noriko in the process. One thing led to another, and Nori died, but it was revealed that this was a complex illusion with a likely outcome orchestrated by Emma Frost and Dani Moonstar. Feeling guilty, David avoided Nori, who was very annoyed at that fact. She eventually cornered him and from there the two became an active couple.

Childhood’s End

For further details: Decimation and Childhood’s End

The events of House of M left 90% of the mutant population de-powered and human, one of them being her boyfriend, David. This caused them both to rethink their relationship as only 27 students were left with their powers. Nori and a couple of other students were introduced to David’s creation, the Danger Cave, using borrowed knowledge, skills and intelligence from Beast, Shadowcat, and Forge. Wither, who had thought that he had lost his powers, touched Laurie on the arm but he hadn’t and only withered her arm away. The New Mutant squad, de-powered or powered, rushed to her side and Wither ran away. Quickly after that, Emma Frost fired Nori’s squad leader, Mirage, and the staff, fearing for their safety, sent the remaining depowered students home on buses.

Luckily, Nori retained her powers. One bus of de-powered students as it departed was blown up by anti-mutant zealot Reverend William Stryker. Though de-powered, David and Sofia, weren’t killed and though Sofia immediately left, David and Nori deepened their relationship as a response. Most of the remaining students, except Nezhno, Laurie, Ernst, Martha who were excused and the Three-In-One who refused to take part in such savage behavior, were organized by Emma Frost into a large battle to see who would become a member of the trainee X-team. Nori had attacked Julian without mercy since he had bullied and teased David for a long time and it had only escalated since he had lost his powers. Since Julian didn’t take down X-23, Emma, out of spite, made Nori the team leader much to her surprise, as Mercury, Rockslide, Elixir, Dust and Hellion were appointed on the team. Cyclops forcedly appointed X-23 on the team against Emma’s will. Soon after, Nori was gifted with new and improved gauntlets, definitely lighter.

They were still at risk since Stryker’s crusade against the 10% of mutants left continued. He ordered the assassinations of Wallflower and Quill and luring an oblivious and naive Icarus to his side and capturing Nimrod and disassembling it using its weaponry to directly attack the Institute itself. Nori then led her fellow classmates, now teammates, against him, and Josh who was enraged at the deaths of Laurie and his de-powered friends on the doomed bus used his powers to kill Stryker but was left in a comatose state.

Nimrod

When the Avengers, Ms. Marvel and Iron Man, visited the Xavier Institute, Emma, Cyclops, and the students learned that Jay was killed by Stryker, but had left a message with his blood saying Nimrod. Later, Forge sent a distress message through Nori’s gauntlets that Nimrod was there, having pieced himself together enough to go to Forge for repairs. The X-Men, going off to Storm and Black Panther’s wedding, left the students with the O*N*E Sentinels, refusing to believe that Nimrod was back. Seeing Nimrod as a huge threat, Nori stepped up as leader to convince the team to sneak out and take down Nimrod themselves and save Forge:

David put together a plan to sneak out of the school without the Sentinels finding out. The New X-Men, including Prodigy reached Dallas and proceeded to save Forge but Nimrod transferred himself into a new body and was about to kill them all, but they formed a plan, and in the end after X-23 cut Nimrod’s new body open and Mercury used her shape-shifting to keep it open, Surge removed her gauntlets and poured all her power into Nimrod, damaging him once more and jaunting him into the past.

Following their defeat of Nimrod, Surge and Prodigy were summoned to Cyclops’ office. Initially believing they were in trouble for disobeying direct orders, the two were pleasantly surprised when Cyclops commended them for their good work in defeating Nimrod and saving Forge, recognizing them and their team as true members of the X-Men.

Mercury Falling

Nori and David were completely unaware of most the events that transpired in this arc and were trying to recruit Bling to their team after being told by Cyclops that she had done extremely well with the Adjectiveless X-team in the Blood of Apocalypse arc. She refused, saying that being an X-Men meant being put on the lines for a firing squad. Onyxx, who was with her, blurted out that he saw Laura coming back all bloody without Cessily from the Grindstone Cafe. Nori and David panicked and rushed off and asked Sooraya about it. Nori was then about to leave the school taking Dust and Rockslide with her to search for Hellion, X-23 and Mercury, and were ready to take down the O*NE Megaton Sentinel along the way. They were stopped by Shadowcat who took them inside to strategize. Surge, Cyclops, Rockslide, Dust, Elixir, Emma Frost, Shadowcat, and Colossus arrived in the nick of time to save the trio.

Quest for Magik

Along with Hellion, Surge was the only other student from the Xavier Institute who wasn’t pulled into Limbo, having pulled Hellion out of the mansion to berate him for going to rescue Mercury without either consulting her or bringing the rest of the New X-Men. Trapped outside of the Mansion by Belasco’s spells, the two battered the barrier helplessly in order to get to their friends. Their only contact with the other students during this time was Trance’s message that David was dead, killed by the demonic sorcerer himself, saddening and enraging Surge in equal measure. After forcing Amanda Sefton out of a coma, she forced Sefton to take her and Hellion to Limbo, with the added guest of a piloted Sentinel. Hellion flew her and himself to Belasco’s castle, and they both took part in the final battle against Belasco and the hordes of Limbo.

Children of the X-Men

Beginning to crumble under the pressure of leadership in this time of great stress, and fearing for David’s life, Surge made constant attempts to get him to leave the school so that he would be safe, even going as far as to kiss Hellion to make David jealous, and even attacking him. David dumped her after this.

Messiah Complex

When Surge heard about the attack in Alaska, and that the Purifiers were involved, she immediately tried to convince Cyclops to let her and the rest of the team help find the mutant child, but was rebuffed. Angry with Summers and frustrated that the human terrorists who murdered their friends were being let off scot-free, Surge launched an unauthorized attack against a Purifier Church, consisting of the New X-Men team (without David, Dust and Elixir) with Armor. Initially, the attack went well; the New X-Men defeated numerous Purifiers and damaged the church, as well as determining that the baby was not in the hands of Risman’s followers. However, things took a turn for the worse when the Purifiers were reinforced by Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers, and Hellion was mortally injured in the process. When they were picked up by Iceman (after Pixie scattered them between Westchester and Washington with a teleportation spell gone wrong), they returned to the school. With Hellion badly wounded and the Mansion in ruins, Nori began to doubt her abilities in leading the team. When discussing it with Emma Frost, the former White Queen told Nori that the reason she chose her as team leader was because she “knew she would take care of them, including from” her.

When Predator X arrived at the school to prey upon the remaining students, Surge, despite her considerable doubts, leapt into action, holding the mutant-killing monstrosity at bay and buying time for them to reach safety. Saved from being eaten by her teammates, Surge ordered a pursuit, and was caught along with Predator X and the New X-Men when Pixie teleported the group to Muir Island. Surge took part in the final battle on Muir Island, leading the New X-Men to victory against the Marauders.

Divided We Stand

Surge appears in ‘Divided We Stand: Book Two’ alongside her former New Mutants mentor Dani Moonstar. Seeking shelter with the older woman after the X-Men disbanded, Nori literally ran all the way to Dani’s cabin in Colorado without stopping (from where is not made clear, but it is assumed that she began at the ruins of the mansion). With her powers overloading out of control, Nori passed out. The next morning, Nori began tearfully breaking down over her various mistakes and renounced her worth both as an X-Man and as team leader. Although Nori seemed inconsolable, Dani got the young mutant to reveal the exact nature of her troubles. Although Dani tried to convince Nori that the trials she faced only made her stronger, the Japanese prodigy remained unconvinced and unsure of where to go from there.

Secret Invasion

Eventually, however, Nori would rejoin the X-Men in San Francisco, feeling more confident but seemingly having abandoned her prior role of leadership. Surge was one of the many X-Men who took part in the defense of San Francisco against the invading Skrulls during their Secret Invasion.

Kidnapped by the Leper Queen

Nori was one of several mutants who were abducted by the Leper Queen and her Sapien League for the purpose of being injected with their modified Legacy Virus and being used as living bombs against humans, in hopes of turning public sentiments against them. Along with fellow New X-Men Hellion, Noriko was kidnapped, injected and sent to the United Nations Building in New York City in hopes that the destruction of the famous landmark would cause the international community to clamp down on mutant rights.

Surge and Hellion were teleported away just as the new X-Force stormed the building, and just as Wolverine managed to learn their location from the Leper Queen, he and the rest of the team were teleported into the future by Cyclops to find Cable before they could rescue the children. Upon returning to the present, X-Force arrived just in time to confront the Sapien League members transporting Surge and Hellion to the UN building. Already injected with the Legacy Virus and with her powers spiraling out of control, Noriko attempted to flee the scene in hopes of getting away from the crowds and thus harming fewer people. Archangel’s programming kicked in before he could help Nori, leading to a critical delay, and only after Wolverine stabbed him did he retrieve Surge so Elixir could heal her. Moments before the two former New X-Men touched, however, it appeared that Surge’s powers detonated in a massive electrical explosion, catching much of X-Force and the protesters in the blast.

A panicked Domino ran to the scene from far away, and was surprised to see everyone alive, though Hellion, Surge and Elixir were all unconscious. Logan explained that Josh managed to burn away the Legacy virus from Surge, but Noriko had built up too great a charge. When she released the energy, Hellion had redirected the energy into the sky using his telekinesis. The three teen mutants were then brought back to the Graymalkin Institute to recover from the ordeal.

Utopia

Surge was alongside the other X-Men when a confrontation between several mutants and Simon Trask’s Humanity Now! coalition sparked a series of massive riots in the San Francisco area. Assigned alongside Colossus and Cipher, Surge did her part to help bring the riot under control, arresting ringleaders, cordoning off sections of the city and helping the wounded get to safety. Unfortunately, her hard efforts and those of her allies were stalled when Norman Osborn‘s Dark Avengers showed up to bring the situation under control, and Nori was ordered to flee back to the X-Men’s base when Venom attacked Colossus. Nori managed to arrive at Graymalkin Industries safely, however, and joined the other X-Men as they tried to wait out the proverbial storm unleashed by Osborn’s Avengers and Trask’s anti-mutant supporters. When Psylocke and the Science Team raised the sunken Asteroid M from the bottom of San Francisco Bay, Surge was among the many mutants transported to their new home by Pixie, Magik and the X-Men’s other teleporters. During the final battle against Osborn’s Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men, Nori aided the rest of the New X-Men and Iceman in bringing down Mimic, and joined the rest of the mutant community as they worked to build their new home on Utopia.

When Osborn, furious at his defeat at the hands of the X-Men and the betrayal of both Namor and Emma Frost, sent the maddened, monstrous Marrina to destroy Utopia and the Atlantians in retaliation, Surge proved to be instrumental in the former Alphan’s defeat, using her electric powers to stun the creature long enough for the rest of the X-Men to dispatch her. Nori continued to have many adventures and battles with the rest of the X-Men, including joining Cyclops’ attack against the Hidden City of the Agents of Atlas in order to retrieve the stolen Cerbero, leading the New X-Men to free some of their captured teammates from the mutant Sack with the help of Psylocke and Dazzler, and helping Hellion and Prodigy fight off the resurrected Rusty Collins when Utopia was attacked by Selene’s Transmode-revived mutant servitors.

Shortly after the Necrosha incident, Surge began to experience a loss of control of her powers, with even the simplest application spiraling quickly out of control. Realizing that each incident occurred in the presence of Magneto, another inhabitant of the island, Nori asked Rogue to look into the situation, as she was somewhat intimidated by the Master of Magnetism. When confronted, Magneto stated that he was using his control over electromagnetism to boost Surge’s powers in order to help her reach her full potential (albeit without her knowledge or consent). Rogue was able to convince Magnus to stop interfering with her powers, but it remains to see what effects this will have in the long term.

Second Coming

Following the death of Nightcrawler and Hope’s arrival on Utopia, Bastion created a massive energy bubble that sealed Utopia from the outside world and opened up a chronal portal the Golden Gate Bridge, allowing a horde of Nimrod-class Sentinels to pour in from the Days of Future Past universe.

Surge took part in the initial catastrophic battle against the machines, being injured in the process, even as her teammate Hellion lost his hands in the conflict. Comforted by Mercury in the immediate aftermath, Nori steeled her resolve, joining Cyclops’ team as the X-Men leader personally led a counterattack in support of the mutant defenders already engaged with the Nimrods. Surge was also present in the final battle against Bastion, as Hope’s powers finally manifested and enabled her to destroy the machine once and for all.

The Killing Dream

Surge had a short appearance in X-23’s quest for her soul story arc. Surge confronted Laura about her ways and was angered by the choices she made by joining the X-Force. Dust quickly retaliated by defending Laura, and assumed that Surge was merely jealous of Laura.

Surge denied it and went on that she was being responsible and making sure that they were safe and not being lied to like Laura had done to them.

Surge in the end felt betrayed and lied to and asked if they were ever really friends, and questioned Laura’s motives of even wanting to be anything but a killer.

First to Last

Surge was among the New X-Men members that protect Cyclops during the attack on Utopia by the Evolutionaries. Surge was also among the other students that saved Irma from the attack of Toad, Dragoness, Bliss, Masque and Litterbug.

Avengers vs. X-Men

Although not part of the initial battle among the Avengers and the X-Men, Surge was one of the mutants who were first captured by the Avengers and was being held against their will at the Avengers Academy alongside, Loa, Dust, Pixie, Prodigy, Transonic, Primal, Martha, Sebastian Shaw, Velocidad, and the Cuckoos. Still a leadership figure, Surge rebelled against staying at the Academy, and made snide remarks at first about being held as a prisoner. She continued this through the whole time until a fight broke loose against the X-Men and the students at the Avengers Academy.

Throughout her stay at the Academy, the X-Students and Avengers Students agreed, after listening to X-23, that it was time for the X-Students to make their own decision. The X-Students, including Surge, created a mock fight against the Avengers Academy staff and students so they could triumph and be set free. Surge stood alongside the Phoenix Five and helped them keep peace around the world.

Marvel NOW

Surge alongside with her former teammates have joined Wolverine’s Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. An inactive member in the school, nothing unique has happened to Surge since residing at the school.

Powers and Abilities

Surge is a mutant who can absorb electricity from all sources (e.g. static in the air, outlets, etc.), and her powers are based in such a way that she absorbs electricity at all times. To control her ability, she must wear specially designed gauntlets to control her powers, or else her constant absorption of electricity clouds her thinking, makes her speak very fast and in a jittery, electronic fashion, worsens her control over her discharges, and radically alters the electrical impulses in her nervous system. The latest version of her gauntlets was made by Forge and are lightweight/more efficient as they have an adjustable knob to change the level of intensity in her blasts, as well as allowing her to control the input of electricity at a more stable rate.

While the upper limits of Surge’s electricity manipulation have yet to be determined, Surge has:

• Completely absorbed a Sentinel’s electrical energy.

• Mocked fellow electrokinetic Striker’s attempt at overloading her.

• And nearly fried part of a city when losing control.

• Without gloves, Surge has absorbed the power of a city to overload Nimrod’s time circuits.

Surge can also channel her energy into generated super-speed, making her one of the faster X-men. Her top speed has not been officially calculated, but Surge has:

• Crossed a mile in seconds

• Surge’s cruising speed is slightly inferior to bullets

• Ran from upper New York to the mountains of Colorado, after classes were over.

• In a hypothetical instance, Surge ran from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, to Boulder, Colorado in mere hours. All in all, Surge has the ability run at least several hundred miles per hour and retain that speed for several hours.

The energy field Surge generates also seems to grant the young X-man enhanced durability/energy projection as well. Surge’s electric field acts like something of a barrier, with this electric shielding Surge was unpierced by a bullet (bullets that tore through her friend ), tanks a sustained explosion, and even survived a blast from Nimrod. Energy projection wise, aside from losing control and nearly toasting Multi-city blocks Surge has impressive blast power that has harmed shielded Hellion (forcing him to use his full power to counter her, ending with them both collapsed) and even temporarily made Hell-lord Belasco register uncomfort.

Surge has a natural aptitude for leadership, and has had some training Wolverine in hand-to-hand combat.

Alternate Earths

Earth-58163

Surge was part of the SHIELD Junior Agents, the Hellions. She and Prodigy were romantically involved even though he was a part of the opposing New Mutants force. During the events of House of M, Nori quickly becomes wrapped up in a conspiracy by Emperor Sunfire of Japan to forcibly convert baseline humans into mutants using his Project: Genesis. Along the way, she is forced to examine her loyalties to the House of M when she discovers that her father, Seiji, has become part of a sapien resistance group fighting against mutant rule. Although initially maintaining an excellent relationship with Sunfire, Surge ultimately rejects his authority and the rule of the House of M when the atrocities committed under Project: Genesis are uncovered, and leads the New Mutants and Hellions into an open revolt against them when the Scarlet Witch resets reality back to normal.

Too Much Information

In this reality, she was married to David. He is the president and close to world peace. She disagreed with what he was doing, and he was about to have her killed. She ran and reorganised the New Mutants. they, along with the Hellions attacked the White House. Most died before the Explosion that Surge caused to end Davids rule.

In Other Media

Television

Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers

Noriko appears as a recurring character in the show, marking her first television appearance. She is voiced by Kokoro Kikuch. In the show, she is a young girl from Tokyo and a classmate of Akira, one of the main characters. After meeting during a basketball game, the two become fast friends, with Noriko eventually developing a crush on him. Around this time, she begins to have dreams of a psychic projection of Charles Xavier reaching out to her. Following a night out on the town with Akira, the two youths are attacked by a gang of muggers, which causes Noriko to accidentally use her powers for the first time. Though she is initially disgusted over her powers and nearly uses them to destroy everything around her, Akira is able to bring her back to her senses by convincing her that one day humans and mutants can live together in peace.

Video Games

X-Men: Destiny

Surge Appeared in X-Men: Destiny as a Non-playable character.

X-Men: Battle of The Atom

Surge is featured in the mobile card game “X-Men: Battle of the Atom” based on the comic book story with the same name. Her cards are:

• Surge
• [New Mutants TS] Surge
• [Future] Surge
• [New X-Men] Surge
• [Utopia Defender] Surge

Marvel: War of Heroes

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

• [Shocker] Surge
• [Electric Blue] Surge