Persuasion (comics)
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| Purple Woman | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Alpha Flight #41 (Dec. 1986) |
| Created by | Bill Mantlo and David Ross |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Kara Killgrave |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Notable aliases | Purple Girl Persuasion |
| Abilities | Mind control via pheromone manipulation Ability to merge her mind with others |
Persuasion (Kara Killgrave, formerly known as the Purple Girl and the Purple Woman) is a fictional
Fictional character biography
Zebediah Killgrave, alias
At the onset of puberty, Kara's whole body turned purple. When she revealed her plight to her mother, Melanie Killgrave, her mother revealed to Kara the identity of her father. Unable to cope with her change in appearance and the circumstances of her conception, Kara ran off.
She made her way to a skiing exhibition, where her sporting hero Jean-Paul Beaubier was scheduled to make an appearance. While in a washroom, preparing to meet him, a young woman repeatedly banged on the cubicle door. In anger, she told the woman to, "go jump off a cliff." The woman, unable to control herself, did exactly that and had to be saved by Beaubier. In doing so, he had no choice but to reveal his secret identity as
Beta Flight
Kara became a valued member of Beta and Alpha Flights and fought alongside them in battles against such foes as the
When she decided to return to the group, she was contacted by
While still in training, Box (Madison Jeffries) had her assist him against the composite being known as Omega. Kara was able to compel it to separate back into Box (Roger Bochs) and Scramble, but Scramble then lobotomized Bochs and reformed Omega. Madison was then forced to kill Omega.[volume & issue needed]
Kara returned home with her friends Goblyn and Laura Dean.[
Fear Itself
During the
Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter
Kara resurfaces later in New York City. She is knocked out, drowned (to neutralize her pheromone-based powers), and slammed into the ground in a surprise attack by Jessica Jones, who believes Kara has something to do with her daughter Danielle's skin turning purple. After regaining consciousness and gaining awareness of the situation, she tells Jones she had nothing to do with Danielle's skin turning purple. Jessica Jones apologizes for pummeling Kara, noting she has issues with Kara's powers and purple face due to past traumatic experiences with her father, The Purple Man. Kara gives Jones some words of advice about her daughter. Unbeknownst to them, the Purple Children are watching them from a distance and report their findings to an unknown assailant.[12]
Later, when they're supposed to meet, Jessica is attacked by Kara from behind, who is being mind-controlled herself. Jessica defensively throws her off with force, breaking Kara's arm in the process. Kara continues the attack and Jessica has no choice but to knock her out.[13] After the serum used to control Kara wears off, she joins her siblings the Purple Children in keeping their father the Purple Man unconscious so he will not escape. Jessica later thanks them all for helping her.[14]
Joining the Thunderbolts
Seeking redemption, Kara joins the new Thunderbolts team led by Luke Cage and Hawkeye, fighting under the name Persuasion.[15]
Powers and abilities
Persuasion can control a person through the use of pheromones, reducing them to a near-mindless state, extremely receptive to suggestion. A side effect of her power is that the people she controls turn purple temporarily. Upon recovery from Kara's power, her victims usually have a splitting headache. Persuasion's powers apparently cannot affect the body's involuntary systems. An order to "drop dead" would only result in the loss of consciousness. She can steal control of people from other mind controllers such as Mesmero. Her power can be nullified by encasing Kara in plastic or other forms of airtight imprisonment (thus preventing her pheromones from affecting others), as does submerging the affected person.
Over time, her powers grew to the extent that she could control people without saying a word. She also extended her range of control for several miles. At one point, Kara controlled all of Alpha Flight. Kara can create a mindlink with people, making their minds one. This was never fully explained, but it was stated that she could merge her mind with whomever she wanted. She once merged her mind with a living planet, but it was too much for her and couldn't keep the connection for long.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Persuasion joins with a group of low-level telepaths to create a kind of "psychic pyramid scheme" known as the Overmind which Quentin Quire, the mastermind behind the Overmind, uses to increase his own limited skills.[16] Persuasion and the telepaths that compose the Overmind are later confronted and killed by the Shadow King.[17]
References
- ^ Alpha Flight #41
- ^ "Alpha Flight" #48 (July 1987)
- ^ Alpha Flight #52
- ^ Alpha Flight #71
- ^ a b c X-Men: The 198 Files #1
- ^ Marvel Digital Holiday Special #1(2008)
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 4 #0.1
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 4 #3-4
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 4 #4
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 4 #7-8
- ^ Cable and X-Force #9
- ^ Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #1
- ^ Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #2
- ^ Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #3
- ^ Zub, Jim (2022). Thunderbolts (2022). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Age of Apocalypse #5 (September 2012)
- ^ Age of Apocalypse #11 (March 2013)