Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Stepford Cuckoos

Real Name
Celeste, Esme (deceased), Mindee, Phoebe, Sophie (deceased) (surname unrevealed)

Occupation
Students, adventurers; (Esme) former terrorist

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
New York City, New York

Known Relatives
Emma Frost (mother)

Group Affiliation

Xavier Institute Student Body/Corsairs; (Phoebe, Celeste, Mindee) formerly X-Men; (Esme) Brotherhood of Mutants

Education
Various courses at Xavier Institute

Height
(all) 5' 6"

Weight
(all) 105 lbs.

Eyes
(all) Blue; glowing white when using powers

Hair
(all) Blonde

Powers
The Stepford Cuckoos share a unique bond that allows them to combine their individual telepathic powers to form a powerful "supermind." The Cuckoos can use their powers to read the minds of others, alter another being's perception of reality, manipulate the thoughts and bodily actions of others, or to shield their minds against telepathic probes. Through their bond, the Cuckoos communicate almost instantaneously, often speaking in unison or finishing one another's sentences. The strength of this bond is based on proximity; the further away they are from one another, the weaker it becomes.

Other Info
The Stepford Cuckoos were five identical mutant sisters (Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe, and Sophie) who were enrolled at the Xavier Institute and soon proved to be the best students in Emma Frost's telepathy class. (They were sometime referred to as Five-in-One.) When the Institute was attacked by the U-Men, the Cuckoos were among the students that helped oppose them. (To learn about Emma Frost and/or the U-Men, click on their names above. Note: Beware of the very revealing outfits worn by Emma Frost on her bio page. Also, the "Five-in-One" are shown in the third picture posted.)

Later, the Cuckoo sister Esme romanced a student named Kato who revealed himself to be Stuff (a spy for the alien Shi'ar Empire's Imperial Guard who had been dispatched to Earth by Cassandra Nova to eradicate mutant kind). Along with Emma Frost, and fellow student Angel Salvadore, the Cuckoos were captured, but were able to defeat Stuff and free Emma. With Emma's help, the Cuckoos were able to create a trap for Nova. (Click on the highlighted names to learn more about the characters above. Note: Beware of a revealing outfit on the Angel Salvadore bio page.)

Soon after, when Quentin Quire began a riot on the Xavier Institute, Sophie was used the power-boosting drug "Kick" to strengthen her powers and fight him. However, the strain killed Sophie (though it was secretly Esme's psychic influence that ultimately pushed Sophie toward death). Esme then and influenced the Cuckoos to blame Emma Frost for their sister's death and to leave her tutelage. This lead to only four sisters remaining (aka Four-in-One).

Later on, Esme telepathically forced Angel to shoot Emma Frost, seemingly killing her. Fortunately, Emma was restored by her X-Men teammate Jean Grey's manipulation of the cosmic Phoenix Force. After this, Esme fled the Institute, joining who she believed to be the X-Men's arch-nemesis Magneto. However, after this fake Magneto (a mutant known as Xorn), destroyed the Institute and attacked Manhattan, the three other Cuckoos joined up with the X-Men to oppose the him. Ultimately, Esme turned against Xorn, but she was killed by him for her betrayal. Now, there remains only three sisters (aka Three-in-One). (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the characters/force. Note: Beware of the skin-tight outfit worn by Jean Grey on her bio page, and the Phoenix Force bio page.)

Later, these three remaining Cuckoos resolved their differences with Emma Frost, who had also become co-headmistress of the rebuilt Institute. The Cuckoos were placed into Cyclops' Corsairs squad, after which Mindee helped Gambit defend the Institute from an attack by a reformed Brotherhood of Mutants. Also, when the immovable mutant the Blob attacked the Institute, the Cuckoos were instrumental in his defeat by the students. (To learn more about the above characters/team, click on their highlighted names. Note: Beware of Emma Frost's skin-tight/revealing outfit on Cyclops' bio page.)

After the effects of M-Day, a small fragment of the Phoenix Force came to one of the Cuckoos and began influencing their behavior. Being manipulated by both the Phoenix Force, and a man named John Sublime, the Cuckoos traveled to the World (a laboratory created by Weapon Plus). Here, it was revealed that Emma Frost's ova was the genetic templates used to clone thousands of Cuckoos. Thus, making Emma Frost the Cuckoos mother. (To learn more about the above characters/place/event, click on the highlighted names above. Note: Beware of the revealing outfits worn by some on the M-Day bio page.)

To learn more about the Stepford Cuckoos, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Stepford_Cuckoos.

In the movie X-Men: The Last Stand, three identical blonde girls are shown in the background in a scene at the X-Mansion. The writer, Zak Penn, confirmed that these girls were the Stepford Cuckoos. (The second picture posted is of the scene showing the Stepford Cuckoos in the background.)

5 comments:

  1. So were the original 5 accepted into the institute as orphans? It seems they had no idea who their parents were before the learned about "the world" and the clones.

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  2. Yeah. As far as my research has shown, the Stepford Cuckoos were orphaned (due to possibly their parents dying).

    In addition, I found out that the Stepford Cuckoos had "a telepathic block [that] was used to mask their placement in the school, causing anyone who questioned their origins to lose their train of thought."

    Therefore, I don't believe anything has been disclosed between the sisters being created in "The World" and them being at the Xavier Institute in their teens.

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  3. They sound super cool.. too bad they weren't in the movie more!

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  4. One more thing. Is there a special reason for the name Cuckoos? I thought people were crazy if they were "cuckoo."

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  5. Well, their name was created as an allusion to "The Stepford Wives" and "The Midwich Cuckoos." Both were books, and also created into movies.

    Here are the Wikipedia links to both of the above mentioned titles if you would like to take a look at them:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stepford_Wives
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midwich_Cuckoos

    ReplyDelete