Shadowcat (Katherine "Kitty" Anne Pryde) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She used the code-names Sprite and Ariel early in her career and is a member of the X-Men. She first appeared in X-Men #129 (January 1980). She is notable as one of the few recognizably Jewish characters in Marvel Comics.
Katherine "Kitty" Pryde was born in Deerfield, Illinois , United States to Carmen and Theresa Pryde.
Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Prydeman, was a European Jew, known to have been held in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. His married sister Chava Rosanoff is reported to have died during the Holocaust. Samuel was rescued by the United States Army at the end of World War II in Europe in 1945. He soon immigrated to the United States.
As an adolescent of thirteen years of age, Kitty started suffering from recurring headaches. Unknown to her was that these resulted from her body trying to cope with her new powers. Kitty was a mutant, with the ability to become intangible and walk through solid matter. An ability Kitty herself calls "phasing".
Shortly thereafter Pryde was approached by both Professor Charles Francis Xavier and the Hellfire Club's White Queen, Emma Frost. Taking an instant dislike to the White Queen, she chose to go with Xavier. When Emma kidnapped Xavier and the X-Men, Kitty helped fight to free them. Proving herself in this battle, she joined the X-Men soon after.
Being a thirteen year old girl among a team of combat trained adults, Kitty became something of the team's mascot character. Dressing in ridiculously colored outfits and going by cute names such as 'Ariel' and 'Sprite', Kitty led a relatively care free existance among the X-Men.
This changed when Kitty became possessed by the demon ninja, Ogun. While in Japan assisting her father, who had gotten caught up in a bit of organized crime, Kitty was brainwashed by Ogun into thinking she was his assassin. Ogun bestowed upon Kitty a virtual lifetime of martial arts training and sent to her kill her fellow X-Man, Wolverine. Now calling herself Shadowcat, Kitty was able to resist Ogun's influence with Wolverine's help (and tough love). Kitty and Wolverine defeated Ogun and in the process formed a strong teacher/student bond with each other which remains to this day. Nevertheless, Kitty returned to the X-Men a changed girl, no longer the innocent and carefree Sprite they knew.
Despite Professor X's attempt to move her to The New Mutants after they were formed, she remained an X-Man for several years. During this time she developed a crush on her teammate Colossus. Also during this time, her life was saved by a small alien dragon when the X-Men were fighting the Brood; the dragon, who she named Lockheed and who has been her frequent companion since. During the Morlock Massacre, she was injured by Harpoon's energy spear and lost control of her phasing abilities. She was eventually cured with the help of both Doctor Doom and Mr. Fantastic. During Kitty's absence from the team, however, the X-Men had died fighting the Adversary. Unaware that Roma had returned the X-Men to life, Kitty joined the British team Excalibur. It was during her time with Excalibur that Kitty inherited her friend Magik's Soul Sword, and that she became romantically involved with scruffy British bad-boy Peter Wisdom.
Eventually Excalibur disbanded and Kitty ended her relationship with Wisdom. She returned to the X-Men, but left again after the apparent death of Colossus. She went on to attend the University of Chicago, trying to give herself a normal life. It was during this time her father was killed when Cassandra Nova's wild sentinels destroyed Genosha.
Recently, she once again rejoined the X-Men at the urging of Cyclops and Emma Frost. On one of the new team's first missions, Kitty discovered Colossus alive and imprisoned in a research facility. The full repercussions of this discovery have yet to be seen.
Powers & Abilities:
Shadowcat possesses the ability to "phase" -- pass through solid matter by passing her atoms through the spaces between the atoms of the object through which she is moving. Utilizing her phasing ability she can also walk on air. While phasing she is intangible and thus invulnerable to physical attacks; additionally, telepaths have a hard time reaching her mind in phased form. Her phasing powers also disrupt any electronic equipment she passes through.
Due to a battle injury, Kitty Pryde became unable to control her phasing abilities, and nearly faded out of existence. Although Reed Richards and Doctor Doom saved her life, for years she was only able to become solid through great effort; she has since overcome this disability.
Shadowcat is a genius in the field of applied technology such as computers. She is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained in the arts of aikido and karate. After the martial arts master known as Ogun possessed her and imprinted his mind onto hers, Shadowcat became skilled in the arts of ninjitsu, which she was later trained extensively by her one time mentor, Wolverine. She has had training in gymnastics and is a professional dancer.
