Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-plotter John Byrne.
In her first appearance, the character's surname was not revealed;The Uncanny X-Men #141–142 (Jan.–Feb. 1981) in later appearances, she was established as the daughter of the alternate future counterparts to Cyclops and Jean Grey-Summers from the dystopian Days of Future Past timeline. Although there are other characters bearing her name throughout the multiverse, Rachel is considered a multiversal anomaly with no true alternate-universe counterparts.Knights of X #4 (2022)
The character is a mutant with similar abilities to her mother, including telepathy, telekinesis, and a connection to the Phoenix Force. Throughout her publication history, she has also been referred to by the monikers Marvel Girl, Phoenix, Prestige, and Mother Askani (later simply Askani).
Publication history
Rachel first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981) and has since been affiliated with several comic book superhero teams including the X-Men and Excalibur.
In 2022, she joined the Knights of X team as part of the Destiny of X era under the leadership of Captain Britain, who takes a group of mutants under her wing leading them into the Otherworld. The title was the follow-up to the 2019's Excalibur relaunch and was written by Tini Howard. In its fourth issue, Rachel Summers and her long-time friend Betsy Braddock confessed their romantic feelings for each other and their kiss was shown in a splash page.
Fictional character biography Future adolescence Rachel Anne Summers is the daughter of X-Men members Jean Grey and Cyclops and originates from an alternate future known as Earth-811, introduced in the "Days of Future Past" storyline. In this reality, the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly provoked the ratification of the Mutant Registration Act, leading to a dystopian future where North America is overtaken by Sentinels. Rachel is abducted by operatives working for Ahab, who use drugs and hypnotherapy to turn Rachel into the mutant-hunting "Hound". Rachel's psychic powers link her to her victims, fueling her grief and despair until she attacks and scars Ahab. In return, Rachel is sent to mutant concentration camps. There, she befriends the surviving mutant rebels, including Wolverine, Magneto, Colossus, Storm, Kate Pryde, and Franklin Richards.
Rachel managed to send Kate's consciousness into the past to her younger self to prevent the assassination, but it does not change the future.Excalibur #52 (July 1992) Rachel sends her astral form into the past to find out why and discovers that she had sent Kate into an alternate past. On the way back, she encounters the disembodied Phoenix Force.
Rachel and Kate are trapped while intending to destroy a new model of Sentinel.The Uncanny X-Men #192 (April 1985) The Phoenix Force rips Rachel from her timeline and sends her body back to the alternate past to which she had sent Kate's consciousness.The Uncanny X-Men #184 (Aug. 1984) In this timeline, Jean Grey was killed and Cyclops remarried to Madelyne Pryor.The Uncanny X-Men #188 (Dec. 1984)X-Men/Alpha Flight #1–2 (Dec. 1985–Jan. 1986)
X-Men Rachel briefly joins the X-Men before fully bonding with the Phoenix Force.The Uncanny X-Men #199 (Nov. 1985) She, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Captain Britain, and Meggan go on to found the team Excalibur.Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (1987) While part of the team, she discovers that this universe's version of her mother, Jean Grey, was alive.X-Factor Annual #5 (1990) She attempts to bond with Jean, but Jean initially rejects any contact with her. Jean still resents the Phoenix Force for stealing a portion of her life. She also rejects Rachel because she felt that Rachel's existence is a constant reminder of the dystopian future she feared could still come to pass.The Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990)
Askani Rachel remains with Excalibur until an incident causes Captain Britain to be lost in the timestream. She exchanges places with the time-lost Captain BritainExcalibur #75 (March 1994) and emerges two thousand years in the future, in a world conquered by Apocalypse.The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1–4 (May–Aug. 1994) She gathers together a group of rebels and founded the Askani. She trains one of her followers to travel back in time and bring her "brother" Nathan forward in time when he was infected with a techno-organic virus.X-Factor #68 (July 1991) The Askani clone Nathan in case he did not survive the virus. Apocalypse's followers attacks the Askani and take the clone (who would later become Stryfe), leaving Rachel critically injured. Hooked up to life support, she draws the minds of Scott and Jean into the future to raise Nathan and tutor him in the use of his powers. Rachel finally dies ten years later and sends Scott and Jean back to their original bodies seconds after they had left. After Nathan defeats Apocalypse, he retrieves Rachel, who had survived and been flung even farther into the future.Cable vol. 2 #85-86
Rachel Grey Rachel rejoins the X-Men, taking the name "Marvel Girl" to honor her mother (who had recently died yet again) and wearing a costume her mother had designed but never worn: a variation on Jean's first green costume. She also changed her last name to "Grey", possibly to express disapproval at her father's betrayal of Jean, as well as his continuing relationship with Emma Frost.X-Treme X-Men #46The Uncanny X-Men #444X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #11 (Dec. 2005)
End of Greys
Rachel spends some time with her grandparents, bonding with her grandfather Corsair. At a family reunion with all her relatives, a commando unit under the order of the Shi'ar attacks the party, killing everyone in an effort to wipe out the Grey genome. The commando unit is unable to kill Rachel, who is instead given a "deathmark" on her back that allows the Shi'ar to track her.The Uncanny X-Men #466-468
Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire After Rachel is kidnapped, along with Cyclops, by her paternal uncle Vulcan, he frees Darwin from inside him.X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6 (2006) Later, Professor X recruits Rachel, along with Havok, Nightcrawler, Warpath, Darwin, and Polaris, for a space mission to stop Vulcan from laying waste to the Shi'ar empire.The Uncanny X-Men #475 (September 2006) Aware of Rachel's vendetta against the Shi'ar, Professor X intends to uncover who ordered the murder of the Grey family.
While in space, the team is attacked by Korvus, a Shi'ar warrior sent to kill Rachel. Korvus' ancestor, Rook'shir, was a previous host of the Phoenix Force, and a small portion of the Phoenix's power was left behind in his sword, the Blade of the Phoenix. With this power, Korvus makes short work of the other X-Men; when Rachel blocks the sword, their minds are involuntarily linked. Through this link, Rachel learns that Korvus' family was also murdered by the Shi'ar government because of their connection to the Phoenix. The remaining echo of the Phoenix power from the sword was then transferred to Rachel. Rachel claimed that rather than having taken the power, the power chose to go to her.
Due to Rachel's connection to Korvus through the sword, she discovers the Phoenix Force formerly in the blade is just an echo, a "blue shadow", of the Force. The shadow of the Phoenix begins influencing Rachel's behavior, causing her to design a new darker uniform and begin a romance with Korvus.The Uncanny X-Men #481 (Feb. 2007) She soon breaks off the relationship after she realizes their bond is only because of the residual Phoenix Force.X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1 (Nov. 2007)
After the death of Corsair at the hands of Vulcan, she, along with Havok, Polaris, Korvus, Ch'od, and Raza Longknife, form a new version of the Starjammers. They elect to remain in Shi'ar space and restore Lilandra to the throne or die trying.The Uncanny X-Men #486 (July 2007) Rachel, Korvus, Havok, and Polaris, eventually returned to Earth.Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #2 (Feb. 2010)
Age of X While on the way back to Earth, Rachel attempted to contact Professor Xavier or Emma Frost with a message. However at that moment, Moira (a powerful alternate personality of the mutant Legion) warps reality, taking Rachel's mind with it and creating the amnesic Revenant. Once reality is restored, Rachel's mind is separated from her body. Because of Moira's actions, Rachel no longer remembers the message and her mind retains the form of her Age of X counterpart.X-Men: Legacy #248 Rachel is then invited to hold a position as senior staff member of the "Jean Grey School for Higher Learning," which was rebuilt from the Xavier Institute and has Wolverine as acting Headmaster and Kitty Pryde as Headmistress.X-Men: RegenesisWolverine and the X-Men #1
Avengers vs. X-Men During the events of AVX, when the X-Men on Utopia escape from the invading Avengers, Rachel contacts Cyclops to provide Hope's location.Avengers vs. X-Men #3 Afterwards, Rachel states that she knows the Phoenix Force better than anyone else on Earth and that she is living proof that it can be controlled. She also says that if the Phoenix has chosen her and that is the destiny that Hope wants, she will do everything in her power to help her. She and Iceman tell Wolverine at the school that they are going to help Cyclops in the battle.Wolverine and the X-Men #10 However, when Cyclops and Emma Frost begin to be corrupted by the Phoenix's power, she, like the other X-Men, decide to oppose their rule. Rachel then battled against Cyclops and helped both the Avengers and X-Men in the final battle.
Marvel NOW! and Inhuman war In 2013, Marvel revealed an all new all female series simply named X-Men. Written by Brian Wood with art by Olivier Coipel, X-Men features Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey, and Psylocke. When Kitty returns from space to lead the X-Men, Rachel joins her team in X-Men Gold and adopts the new code name Prestige.
Dawn of X In the new status quo for mutants post House of X and Powers of X, Professor X and Magneto invite all mutants to live on Krakoa and welcome even former enemies into their fold.House of X #5 Rachel spends some time with her family on the Summer House, the new residence of the Summers Family, located on the Moon.X-Men vol. 5 #1 Soon after X (Xavier) is killed by bioengineered human terrorists,X-Force vol. 6 #1 Cyclops gathers Rachel and Kid Cable for a mission on the Atlantic Ocean regarding a piece of their new homeland of Krakoa.X-Men vol. 5 #2
Later, she joins Polaris, Daken, Northstar, and former X-students Eye-Boy and Prodigy in a new initiative in Krakoa: they are to investigate any mutant death and prepare a report for the Five as part of the Resurrection Protocols of Krakoa. Their first case involves the supposed death of Northstar's twin sister, Aurora.X-Factor vol. 4 #1
Powers and abilities Rachel possesses various psionic abilities, generally exhibited through telepathy, psychometry, telekinesis, and limited time manipulation.
Telepathy Rachel's "virtually unlimited" telepathy allows her to receive, broadcast, and manipulate cognitive processes (such as thoughts) in an intricate manner. Examples of Rachel's aptitudes for this include creating durable mind-links across distances, projecting blasts of psionic energy that disrupt aspects of brain functioning, shielding her mind from other telepaths, creating illusions, and rendering someone imperceptible to the five senses. In addition, Rachel has demonstrated the ability to telepathically suppress superpowers; control, repair, and exchange minds; as well as safely editing memories. Rachel has also harnessed her telepathy to sense, locate, and track other sentient beings based on their thought patterns, but has a moral apprehension about using this skill due to her experiences as a Hound.