Trista (Inferno Babies; New Mutants foes)

trista-inferno_babies-full TRISTA trista-inferno_babies-face

Real Name: Unrevealed; possibly Trista

Identity/Class: Human mutant (possibly magically-enhanced)

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: "Inferno Babies" (see comments; Alex, Bob, Face, Loca, Maw, Russell, Scab, Shauna, Timothy, Toko); Nathan Summers (later Cable) was also one of these infants, although he didn't share their fate in limbo/Otherplace), Project Purgatory

Affiliations: Dr. Noc, General Ulysses and his demon-mutated troops (including McDonald);
formerly New Mutants (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Gosamyr, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Mirage/Dani Moonstar, Sunspot/Roberto DaCosta, Warlock/technarch, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair), X-Factor (Angel/Archangel/Death/Warren Worthington, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey), X-Men (Colossus/Peter Rasputin, Dazzler/Alison Blaire, Havok/Alex Summers, Longshot, Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Rogue/Anna Marie, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/James Howlett/Logan), X-Terminators (Boom-Boom/Tabitha Smith, Rusty Collins, Leech, Artie Maddicks, Rictor/Julio Richter, Skids/Sally Blevins, Wiz Kid/Taki Matsuya)

Enemies: General Combest, Nanny, N'astirh, N'asteris, New Mutants (Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Cypher/Doug Ramsay, Karma/Xi'an Coy Manh, Magik/Illyana Rasputin, Magma/Amara Aquilla, Dani Moonstar, Sunspot/Roberto DaCosta), Orphan-Maker (Peter), Pixie/Megan Gwynn, S'ym, US Army, Witchfire, demons of limbo/Otherplace

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the limbo realm Otherplace

First Appearance: (Unidentified infant) X-Terminators I#3 (December, 1988);
(Trista; unidentified) New Mutants III#16 (October, 2010);
(identified) New Mutants III#19 (January, 2011)

Powers/Abilities: Trista's words flow backwards, forming neurological connections as they invade the frontal lobe. As a result, her instructions become the thoughts of her targets, allowing her to command them to follow her instructions. Her abilities extend to non-verbal forms of communication, as she could control her teammate Face via tapping on his head in Morse code.

Height: Unrevealed (leaning over, she looks to be an inch or two taller than the 5'9" Cypher, so perhaps 5'10" to 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 135 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Unusual Features: She has a notable triangular scar over her right cheekbone, as well as similar scars on her right shoulder and left lateral upper arm
When last seen, she lacked a mouth.

History:
(X-Terminators#1-4/Uncanny X-Men I#236,239-242/X-Factor I#34-37/New Mutants I#71-73 - mostly BTS and completely unidentified) - With the limbo realm Otherplace, S'ym instructed N'astirh to find and steal thirteen power-filled babies (beings of both purity and great potential power) and to bring them to the chosen place (Manhattan's Times Square) for the performance of his rite and the attainment of his purpose: the sacrifice of the infants would allow S'ym to hold open the mystic portal to allow his demonic hordes to invade and conquer Earth.

N'astirh's hordes (the N'asteris) gathered the mutant children and performed the rite, but the New Mutants and X-Terminators disrupted the ritual and rescued most of the children. The Goblin Queen and N'astirh subsequently attempted to sacrifice the infant Nathan Christopher and three other of the Inferno babies to reopen the portal, but the X-Men and X-Factor thwarted this plot. Nanny and Orphan-Maker attempted to abduct the babies, but the heroes fought them off and then turned the mutant babies over the US government.

(New Mutants III#16 (fb) - BTS) - Using flesh from the mutant infants who had been used to open the portal to limbo, Dr. Noc reverse-engineered a portal to limbo. Dr. Noc continued working to weaponize the infants in a few years.

(New Mutants III#16 (fb)) - General Combest showed General Ulysses the Inferno babies and the limbo-portal and gave him a mission to raise and train the babies in the timeless realm.

(New Mutants III#16 (fb)) <Mission day 1533 / elapsed Earth time of 263 days> - Therein, Dr. Noc sought to stress trigger the young (now 4-5 years old) children's mutant powers, such as by placing the child within a barred cage, surrounded by multiple chained limbo demons seeking to reach the child. trista-inferno_babies-younger

(New Mutants III#16 (fb)) <Mission day 1673 / elapsed Earth time of 287 days> - After General Ulysses' agents recovered a bloodstone locket from a corpse of an Illyana, Witchfire led an army of demons to assault the military base.

(New Mutants III#18 (fb) - BTS) - The mutants slew the demons, although one of the mutants had his face torn off.

(New Mutants III#16 (fb)) - Ulysses instructed Noc to check on the Inferno mutants, and he found that the demons had gotten into the hatchery. Shocked, he reported "They're all dead."

Ulysses then requested permission to exit through portal Epsilon, but Combest ordered the portal sealed to prevent contamination.

(New Mutants III#18 (fb)) <Mission day 1674 / elapsed Earth time of 287 days> - As Trista and the others watched, Noc clarified to the arriving Ulysses that the children had survived, and that it was the demons who had died.

(New Mutants III#18 (fb)) <Mission day 1704 / elapsed Earth time of 292 days> - Trista and the others watched as safety and firing mechanisms were installed on Face. When Noc noted to Face that they were not the bad guys, Trista and the others stood by as Timothy asked who were the bad guys. Ulysses noted that he was glad they had asked...

(New Mutants III#19 (fb - BTS) - At some point, Trista entered a romantic relationship with her teammate Russell.

(New Mutants III#17 (fb) - BTS) - Ulysses and his men, as well as the now mature "Inferno Babies" traveled 600 miles "blood-north" through the shifting worlds of the Elsewhere Desert.

(New Mutants III#15 (fb) - BTS) - Ulysses and his men, as well as the now mature "Inferno Babies" returned to Earth (allegedly after 26 years in limbo, but with only 4 years having passed on Earth).

(New Mutants III#15) - Ignoring orders from General Combest, Ulysses led forces to capture the X-Man Pixie, taking possession of her soul dagger.

(New Mutants III#16) - When Combest attempted to take Ulysses into custody and chastised him for losing his "weapons," Ulysses noted that the mutants did not like being called weapons. Trista and the other mutants then slew Combest and announced their presence/revealed their survival. Holding Face on a leash, Trista commented, "Surprise."

(New Mutants III#17 (fb) - BTS) - Trista and the other mutants obliterated an entire battalion of the US Army in approximately 30 seconds.

(New Mutants III#17) - General Ulysses' demon-enhanced agent McDonald's enhanced vision/senses allowed him to report that while Magik and her New Mutants allies had arrived in limbo and knew they had Pixie, they weren't close to discovering Ulysses' group's location.

When one of Ulysses' soldiers wondered if they were safe in their location after having taken out the army battalion, Trista and the others looked on with amusement as Timothy noted that he and his mutant allies had been the ones to take out the army, and that with the speed and ease with which they had done so, they were safe there for as long as they needed.

(New Mutants III#17 - BTS) - After weeks in limbo/Otherplace, Magik led her New Mutants allies (Cannonball, Cypher, Karma, Magma, Moonstar, Sunspot) to confront Ulysses and his forces.

(New Mutants III#17) - Ulysses summoned the "Inferno Babies," and Toko tore the Soulsword from Magik, after which Russell beat Magik into submission before sending Trista and the others to take out the other New Mutants. Trista joined Maw, Scab, and Bob in beating on the weakened Magik.

(New Mutants III#18) - After Russell explained their nature and history, Toko advised the New Mutants that Magik would be killed when they were done with her. When Danielle Moonstar shouted, "No!", Trista noted that they had been told that the New Mutants would try to stop them. As a fight ensued, Cypher confronted Trista, asking her to surrender and threatening non-verbal means; replying that he had a sexy voice, she simply took him under control with her voice, telling him, "Watch my friends hurt your friends with me," and he was powerless to resist. As he explained how her powers worked, she told him, "Shush, now." trista-inferno_babies-whipping

After Magma arrived and threatened the group, Trista noted that she knew Magma would be trouble. Russell mockingly noted that she just didn't like there being another blonde. As Trista started to agree, Russell instructed her to, "Do it," and she, via tapping on Face's skull, via Morse code, as well as manual direction of his head, instructed Face to fire a blast that took out Magma. Cypher noted that even Morse code carried the personality of the author, and that her tapping was very cruel, to which she replied, "So what?"
After Trista's teammates finished off the rest of the New Mutants, Scab asked what they would do with them now, and Russell told him, "Whatever we want."

(New Mutants III#19) - As Face approached Karma, Shauna briefly lost control, allowing Karma to mentally communicate with Face. Berated by Trista for losing control, Shauna quickly rendered Karma unconscious again. As Face approached Karma, Trista yanked him away by his chain and struck him with her whip

(New Mutants III#19 - BTS) - Ulysses used the Soul Sword to steal a portion of Pixie's soul and then used that to complete the Bloodstone Amulet.

(New Mutants III#19) - Ulysses subsequently summoned Trista and the rest of the "Inferno Babies" to their transport as they planned to return to limbo (to use the Bloodstone amulet to slaughter the resident demons). Trista commanded Cypher to carry the injured Moonstar. As they prepared to depart, Trista instructed Timothy to use Face to seal up the tunnel behind them.

(New Mutants III#19 - BTS) - Following the departure of Trista and most of the others with Ulysses, Karma was able to connect to Face's mind, and -- using her eyes to see -- Face slew the other "Inferno Babies (Maw & Timothy) and the soldiers watching over Magik and Karma.

(New Mutants III#20 (fb) - BTS) - Russell became jealous of Trista's attention with Cypher. trista-inferno_babies-magickeyboard

(New Mutants III#20) - After Ulysses, his crew, and Trista and the remaining "Inferno Babies" arrived in limbo, Trista had Cypher work on a keyboard attached to a computer bank, as she enjoyed the way it sounded. An irritated Russell told Trista that Cypher shouldn't be in there as they didn't know what that the equipment did, but Trista told him to shush, as she was just teaching her pet a trick.

(New Mutants III#20 - BTS) - Loca told Moonstar that Cypher was aware that Russell would kill him out of jealousy as soon as Trista turned her back; Loca considered Russell's shame to be quite a buzz. trista-inferno_babies-mouthless

(New Mutants III#20 - BTS) - Toko subsequently placed the soul "bloodstone" in the amulet, activating a spell that unleashed immense demons ("Elder Gods," which has consistently referred to the N'Garai masters) that tore through the portal from limbo to Earth.

(New Mutants III#21 (fb) - BTS) - Realizing the keyboard played magic, symphonies of spells, Cypher used it to magically seal Trista's mouth, freeing him from her control.

(New Mutants III#21) - The mouthless and powerless Trista wept as Cypher explained to the arriving Moonstar what he had done.

(New Mutants III#21 - BTS) - The rest of Trista's teammates were similarly incapacitated.

Legion (David Haller), released via a plan of Magik and Illyana, apparently destroyed the invading demons and the "bloodstone" amulet.

Comments: Inferno babies created by Louise Simonson, and various others
Trista created by Zeb Wells and Leonard Kirk.

It's hard to believe they never got a better name than the "Inferno Babies..."

We see so many stories where Spider-Man or someone fights to uphold this no killing standard...in this one, Dani Moonstar shoots Loca in the neck with an arrow, and Cannonball deliberately smashes though a monorail, killing Scab, Noc, and others.

This profile was completed 10/19/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent the New Mutants' 2010's stories and characters.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Trista should be distinguished from:

TRISTAN - Street Arabs circa 1907, badly scarred flying the Yorkes' bomb away from others, battled Runaways in recent years, stayed with Lillie--Runaways II#25
TRISTUM - Guildern, comrade of Donal Ban, recruited Nikki Doyle to help him claim the throne--Wild Angels
TRIESTE - Banari, slave of Starblasters, died when Tamara tried to kill her Skullhugger--Namor I#46
T'RYSS - Skrull house to whom R'Kyll belonged--Fantastic Four Annual#18
VATSAYANA's TRYST - artifact, associated with the Carnal Serpent--Terror INC#11
Other characters, etc.

images: (without ads)

New Mutants III#16, story pg. 21/last page (full);
    #17, story pg. 10, panel 2 (face);
    #18, story pg. 2, panel 1 (younger form);
        pg. 14, panel 3 (using voice to control Cypher);
        pg. 18, panel 2 (Morse code controlling Face);
    #19, pg. 2, panel 4 (whipping Face);
    #21, pg. 9, panel 2 (Cypher standing over kneeling Trista in front of the keyboard/computer);
            panel 4 (mouthless, crying Trista);

Appearances:
X-Terminators#1 (October, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Al Williamson & Al Milgrom (inkers), John Wellington (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#236 (late October, 1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#34 (November, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Terminators#2 (November, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Al Milgrom (inkers), Bob Harras (editor)
Power Pack I#42 (December, 1988) - Jon Bogdanove (writer, penciler), Stan Drake (inker), Carl Potts (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#239 (December, 1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#35 (December, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Terry Shoemaker (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Terminators#3 (December, 1988) - Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Al Milgrom (inkers), Bob Harras (editor)
New Mutants I#71 (January, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Bret Blevins (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#240 (January, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#36 (January, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Terminators#4 (January, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Al Milgrom (inkers), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#241 (February, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
New Mutants I#72 (February, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Bret Blevins (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Factor I#37 (February, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
Avengers I#300 (February, 1989) - Walter Simonson (writer), John Buscema (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#147 (February, 1989) - Gerry Conway (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Excalibur I#6 (March, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (penciler), Paul Neary (inker), Terry Kavanaugh (editor)
Fantastic Four I#324 (March, 1989) - Steve Englehart (writer), Keith Pollard (penciler), Romeo Tanghal (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
New Mutants I#73 (March, 1989) - Louise Simonson (writer), Bret Blevins (penciler), Al Williamson & Mike Manley (inkers), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men#242 (March, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Bob Harras (editor)New Mutants III#15 (September, 2010) - Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk (artist), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
New Mutants III#15 (September, 2010) - Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk (artist), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
New Mutants III#16-18 (October-December, 2010) - Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk (artist), Jake Thomas (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
New Mutants III#19 (January, 2011) - Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk (artist), Jake Thomas (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
New Mutants III#20-21 (February-March, 2011) - Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk w/ Andrew Currie (artist), Jake Thomas (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)

First posted: 09/07/2026
Last updated: 08/13/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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