Karolina Dean
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Karolina Dean is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, a member of the team of young superheroes known as the Runaways. Her first appearance was in Runaways (vol. 1) #1.
Character history
Karolina Dean is the daughter of Frank and Leslie Dean, two Majesdian (alien) overlords who posed as Hollywood actors when they came to Earth. Despite growing up with two famous parents, Karolina was untouched by Hollywood scandal and developed a strong moral compass. She also showed interest in new age beliefs. She is a vegan and originally wanted to be an actress like her mother.Karolina's alien heritage gives her ability to fly and manipulate solar energy. Her powers were inhibited for most of her life thanks to a med alert bracelet forged from a strange metal. Her parents, wishing to give her a "normal" life, lied about her having a deadly allergy and instructed her to never take the bracelet off. For a long time Karolina is ashamed of her alien heritage, believing herself to be a freak, and doesn't put much value in her own life. This is shown to be true when she offers to sacrifice herself to save her teammates when they are attacked by a youthful vampire they have taken into their company. The vampire is killed when he drinks her blood due to the irradiated solar energy her body stores.
After the defeat of The Pride, the Runaways are split up by Social Services. Karolina Dean is sent to a foster family who are addicted to prescription painkillers, and she is forced to see a psychologist. Missing her fellow Runaways, Karolina organizes a reunion, asking the team to meet her at the James Dean memorial where they decided to run away the first time. After the girls are joined by Chase, the team heads off to an Avengers storage complex to spring Gert's dinosaur, Old Lace. After succeeding, the kids decide to stay together rather than return to their foster homes and leave to their new lives in the Leapfrog.
Karolina is plagued by insecurity, whether by her weight, her status as an extraterrestrial, or her hidden homosexuality. In the months that have passed since the end of the first series, Karolina seems to have become more well-adjusted and open about her alien heritage. Throughout Series One it is insinuated that Karolina is actually attracted to Nico; this is confirmed in issue #7 of Series Two, when Karolina unsuccessfully tries to kiss her friend. Her love life becomes more complicated with the arrival of Xavin, a Super-Skrull in training, and her fiancé through an arranged marriage.
After a brief battle between Xavin and the Runaways, Karolina parts ways with the group, but she hesitates, since she does not want to continue "living a lie" by marrying a man and denying her true sexuality. Xavin then reveals that, since Skrulls are shape-shifters, he can easily change his gender and becomes a woman for her. Karolina returns to her home planet with Xavin in hopes of stopping the war that had raged between it and the Skrulls that had been triggered by her parents. She leaves her med bracelet to Nico as a gift and remains in contact with the Runaways via voice transmissions.
Karolina later returned to the team, explaining that the conflict between the Skrulls and the Majesdanians reignited during Karolina and Xavin's wedding, and the Skrulls destroyed Majesdane with anti-matter missiles. Karolina has learned more about using her powers on her homeworld, and apparently no longer needs her bracelet to surpress her powers.
Trivia
- Karolina has many coincidental similarities with Hulkling of the Young Avengers. Both are blond, gay, teenage, alien superheroes raised as humans. Both are in love with their teams Spell Caster (though while Karolina's feelings for Nico were not returned, Hulkling and Wiccan are a couple) and both have resisted an attempted kidnapping by a Super-Skrull (though different Super-Skrulls for different reasons).
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