Deathbird
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Deathbird (Cal'syee Neramani) is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in Ms. Marvel #9
Deathbird is part of a segment of the extraterrestrial Shi'ar race that possesses talon-ended wings. She is the sister of the Shi'ar empress Lilandra and is on a constant mission to usurp her from the throne.
Character biography
Deathbird was born Cal'syee Neramani to the ruling house of the Shi'ar Imperium. Her name was stripped from her after as it was prophecied that she was destined to commit great evil. She was exiled after brutally murdering her mother and an unnamed sister.
Her younger sister Lilandra became Majestrix of the Empire following the death of their brother, D'Ken. Deathbird decided to take the throne for herself, and allied with the councilman Samedar and the alien parasites called the Brood. The X-Men defeated her and her allies, but not before being infected with the Brood (although they were ultimately cured thanks to the powers of Binary). She later retook the throne, this time succeeding. However, Skrulls impersonating Lilandra and her consort, Charles Xavier, took the throne from her. With Lila Cheney's help, she and the X-Men defeated the Skrulls, and Deathbird received a position of power in Lilandra's Empire; after the Kree-Shi'ar War, she was granted dominion over a portion of the conquered Kree Empire, although the Kree seem to have since become independent once more.
Romance with Bishop
When the Shi'Ar asked for the X-Men’s help against the invading Phalanx, who had already reached their throneworld Chandilar, the X-Men joined with Deathbird. They managed to fend off a Phalanx assault on the Shi'ar Empire, and during the conflict, Deathbird and the X-Men Bishop forged a warrior's respect for each other. Deathbird was amazed that the Earth mutant showed no fear and stood up to her, and they also seemed physically attracted to each other.
As a gesture of honor, Deathbird escorted the mutants back to Earth but their ship was inexplicably destroyed in transit. Deathbird escaped annihilation, with the injured Bishop, using a private ship. She initially convinced Bishop that he was paralyzed due to his injuries and that, of all the X-Men, only he survived. However, not before long, Bishop realized that he was not really injured but that Deathbird was using the lab equipment to hold him in stasis. Right when he accused her of his suspicions, the craft was attacked and Bishop convinced her to release him, so that they could deal with the matter together. Eventually, they became partners and even romantically involved.
During their journeys the two were once accidentally transported to an alternate future Earth that was ruled by an evil daughter of Shi’Ar Empress Lilandra and Charles Xavier. Bishop and Deathbird helped the rebels to oppose her and, in the end, Deathbird defeated her niece in a duel. She could have slain her, and every instinct told her to do so, but she let her live. Bishop's influence was showing its effects. The heroes of the liberated earth helped Bishop and Deathbird to return to their own time and they continued their quest to get home.
Betrayal
Eventually, Bishop and Deathbird returned to the Sol System and encountered the inert planetary mass of the Living Monolith on their way to Terra Firma. Curious, the two landed their craft and investigated the manshaped planet. Suddenly Deathbird betrayed Bishop to a cadre of Skrulls and he was returned to Earth in order to implement the ultimate plans of the Skrulls' ally, Apocalypse. Deathbird was herself betrayed and transformed by Apocalypse into one of his Horsemen. With the title of War, Deathbird helped Apocalypse assemble the X-Men he referred to as "the Twelve." Apocalypse was defeated, however, and Deathbird and the Horsemen scattered.
Deathbird and Bishop later ran into each other during the Maximum Security event. Earth had been made a prison planet, with an energy barrier around the solar system, and Deathbird has the key to unlocking it. Bishop confronted her, and the two fought. Deathbird then dared Bishop to kill her, before opening an airlock and getting sucked out into space. Bishop was able to close the airlock, and then admitted to himself that he hated her.
It was presumed that Deathbird perished in the aftermath of this, but she has recently been seen on the cover of Uncanny X-Men# 475 and will likely play a major role in "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire" storyline.
Powers and abilities
Deathbird is not a "mutant" and therefore does not have mutant powers; rather she is a Shi'ar evolutionary throwback and has superhuman strength, stamina, and enhanced endurance. She can lift at least 5 tons. She shares the same avian-like physiology typical of her race (such as hollow bones and greater than human strength), but in her case the avian characteristics are even more pronounced. This is because she is a "genetic throwback," meaning that she resembles the more primitive Shi'ar. She has inherited atavistic characteristics such as fully functioning wings that most Shiar lack and is capable of self propelled flight at a natural winged flight limit velocity.Deathbird's fingernails are essentially talons which can score steel and tear through substances such as bone and tissue easily.
Aside from her natural physical advantages, she is a formidably trained warrior of great cunning and skill. She often goes into berzerker frenzies in the heat of battle making her unpredictable.
In other media
Deathbird made several appearances in the original 1990's X-Men animated series. There, she was evil and hated her sister Lilandra as well. During the episodes "Beyond Good and Evil", she even teamed-up with Apocalypse in an attempt to destroy Lilandra once and for all and claim the Shi'ar Imperium for herself. However, she's betrayed by Apocalypse and abandoned at the mercy of Lilandra and Imperial Guard Praetor Gladiator.Deathbird was also seen in the first Sega Genesis-made "X-Men" video game, where she had kidnapped her sister Lilandra and eventually ended up being defeated by the X-team.
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