PLASMA
Real Name: Leila O'Toole
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Citizen of Ireland
Dual Identity: Secret
Occupation: Cult leader;
formerly Archeologist & Egyptologist
Group Membership: Cult of the Living Pharaoh
Affiliations: Cult of the Living Pharaoh (Ahmed, High Priest, Trackers, many others), Knights of the Moon (Hashim, many others),
various mercenaries (Brendan, Hans, Jake, Ling, Louis, Russ, Sharp, Tony, many others)
Enemies: Marlene Alraune, Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch/Noble Kale), Havok (Alex Summers), Moon Knight (Marc Spector), Mr. Parnell, Wolverine (James Howlett), many hostages
Known Relatives: Filene Abdol (deceased aunt), Salome Abdol (deceased cousin), Ahmet Abdol
(Living Pharaoh/Living Monolith, uncle),
Mr. O'Toole (father), Mrs. O'Toole (mother; Ahmet Abdol's sister), Trackers (cousins)
Aliases: Tracker
Base of Operations: Grand Central Station, New York City
Formerly: Temple of the Living Pharaoh's cult beneath the Cairo Pyramid Confectioners Warehouse in Cairo, Egypt
Formerly: Dublin, Ireland (place of birth)
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#24/4 (late July, 1989)
Powers/Abilities: In her unpowered form, Leila possessed the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height and build who engaged in moderate regular exercise. She was able to absorb and store ambient energy. She became stronger by just being around somebody like Havok as she could siphon his cosmic energy slowly from him. The cosmic energy increased her mass proportionately. Her strength and durability increased proportionately to her height. Thus, if she were ten feet tall, she would be able to lift 800 lbs. The full extent of her strength is as yet unknown. Initially the absorption enabled her to release energy blasts from her hands like Havok himself. Plasma was able to emit destructive energy with a thus far maximum force of 30 pounds of TNT. Her mutant powers weren't connected the same way as the Living Pharao's were, and she needed Havok to fill her up with cosmic energy to activate her mutant abilities. Limits to her powers couldn't be determined as Havok stopped serving her cosmic energy before she reached her limits. Powers she gained through Havok's cosmic energy became permanent and she could use them as much as she wanted to.
Height: (as O'Toole) 5'9", (as Plasma) variable
Weight: (as O'Toole) 135 lbs., (as Plasma) variable
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
History: (Marvel Comics Presents I#31/1 (fb) ) - A Tracker caught Leila shortly after she ran away and brought her back to the High Priest who gave her information that intrigued her enough to work for them. The cult hoped that one descendant of the Living Pharaoh was linked to Havok's powers the same way Abdol and therefore they planned to shield Havok from cosmic rays forever by encasing him in a substance that would've allowed him to live on. So they hoped to get a new leader with the same abilities as the Living Pharaoh. Leila was sent to Australia to help capture Havok by acting as bait.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#24/4) - Leila waited at her supposed broken car until Havok arrived to help her. They were immediately attacked by mercenaries from the sky. Leila lost consciousness when Havok used his power against them. She was back on her feet when he jumped into his car and tried to start it, and she saved him from being encased in the substance intended to shield Havok from cosmic rays. The mercenaries thought that Leila betrayed them and now attacked her too. Her car was blown to pieces and, after Havok drove the mercenaries away, he and Leila had to walk through the Australian outback to the next town. On their way Leila talked with Havok about the strange feeling she had when he fought the mercenaries and about them being after her because she ran away from the Cult of the Living Pharaoh. It became dark while they were walking, and suddenly they were caught by Jake and his mercenaries in a net.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1) - Leila passed out again when Havok freed them from the net and fought the mercenaries off. They used one of the mercenaries' aircrafts to fly to the next town and Havok was surprised that Leila could handle it. Leila still wanted to know how Havok did all these things, but he didn't answer her. In the next town they rented a car and, after Leila drove Havok to a hotel, he wanted to stay there, but Leila convinced him to travel with her through the country. Days later they were having a great time traveling on rivers, seeing kangaroos and the ocean, riding on horses and slowly falling in love. One night they were having dinner and Leila told Alex that before she had met him she felt like only half a person. She went to the bathroom to freshen up, but she didn't return as mercenaries and a Tracker finally caught her. Havok tried to stop them, but a mercenary threw a grenade at him seemingly killing Havok. The Tracker killed the mercenary for this and left with the remaining mercenaries and Leila on one of their aircrafts.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1 - BTS) - Leila was returned to Egypt. She explained everything that had happened including her connection to Havok's powers as one of the Living Pharaoh's descendants and a plan was crafted to lure Havok into fighting to fill her with more power.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#27/1) - The Cult of the Living Pharaoh gathered and the High Priest threatened to sacrifice Leila if Havok didn't fight the Trackers.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#28/1) - Leila was brought away to get prepared, and Havok wanted to know what the High Priest meant by preparing her, but he only told Havok that Leila would be released after he who was the Living Pharaoh was satisfied. Later in the arena Havok faced the Trackers and Leila was among them as the only Tracker with a full mask. Her female body was hidden behind an armor and she fought relentlessly against Havok with her cousins. Each was defeated by Havok, but Leila didn't stay down. Havok continued to fight her, but instead of weakening, she got stronger. Havok used maximum power to send her through a wall, but Leila rose again. Her armor broke off and it was revealed that she was a woman. Now calling herself Plasma, as the rightful heir of the Living Pharaoh, she was declared the cult's new ruler, and her followers kneeled down and praised her.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#29/1) - Plasma told her followers to imprison Havok instead of killing him, but he fled. She sent Trackers and cultists after him to catch him, but they failed because Havok now had some helping claws with Wolverine.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#30/1) - Havok and Wolverine returned the temple and were attacked by Plasma in her throne room. Wolverine was knocked out by her, and Havok fought back. He couldn't beat her and only wanted to know where Leila was. Plasma took of her helmet and revealed that she was Leila O'Toole.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#31/1) - Leila explained everything to Havok and told him that she just hadn't told him everything that had happened to her. She told him that she saved him from the substance because she felt that she was connected to Havok when he used his powers near her for the first time and that the Tracker that accompanied her to Australia thought that she had betrayed the cult. She revealed that the Living Pharaoh was her uncle and that she found Havok through a psychic bond he shared with her similar to the one Havok had with the Living Pharaoh. Plasma led Havok to the arena and demanded he give her his power at its fullest. He didn't want to so she beat him up and started to kill her followers. After she destroyed the temple's ceiling, Havok finally used his power, but only once to defeat the Trackers next to Plasma. She wanted more, but Havok knocked her out with a punch and left.
(Moon Knight III#25 (fb) - BTS) - After Havok and Wolverine had destroyed the Cult of the Living Pharaoh Plasma committed herself to follow her uncle's footsteps by uniting all Middle Eastern cults by showing them that she was the chosen one of their gods. In the end she wanted to start a holy war against the rest of the world with her followers at her side. She began her mission by recruiting the Cult of Khonshu.
(Moon Knight III#25) - Plasma started a terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty and Grand Central Station on the same day. Her men at the Statue of Liberty were stopped by Moon Knight and Ghost Rider and revealed Plasma's second target. Meanwhile Plasma was present at a benefit for homeless people at Grand Central Station; all lights went out after Plasma blocked the tunnel to Grand Central Station by stopping a subway abruptly with a plasma blast. A short time later Plasma and her men had the station under their control, and she introduced herself to the hostages and then told the Knights of the Moon leader Hashim that she was honored to fight for them in Khonshu's name. Later, Plasma decided to make an example when she lost contact to some of her men, but the volunteering Marlene Alraune was spared and instead her lethally wounded accompanier Mr. Parnell got his head vaporized by Plasma in front of the NYPD. Ghost Rider appeared and attacked Plasma, but she destroyed him with a plasma blast. Shortly after that all bombs were in place, and she left the building with her men with a train on a deserted subway track. The Knights of the Moon stayed behind to stop everyone from following Plasma, but they failed against Moon Knight and Ghost Rider (who had re-formed). They reached the train, took care of Plasma's mercenaries, and then faced Plasma herself. She got rid of Ghost Rider first and then fought Moon Knight whose offense was ineffective. Plasma stayed on the train and continued to attack her foes despite Moon Knight telling her that they were going to hit a wall. She died in a terrible explosion when the subway hit the wall.
Comments: Created by Howard Mackie, Rich Buckler & Joe Rubinstein.
Plasma had an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89, but this was years before her final appearance.
Snood listed Plasma as one of the villains at the AIM Weapon Expo on Boca Caliente, but she was already dead at that point.
--Markus Raymond
Profile by Markus Raymond
CLARIFICATIONS:
Plasma has no known connection to:
Jake has no known connection to:
Sharp has no known connection to:
The Trackers have no known connection to:
He was the leader of an Australian group of mercenaries (Brendan, Ling, Russ, Tony, among others). He used conventional weapons and devices supplied by the Cult of the Living Pharaoh.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#24/4) - Jake and his mercenaries attacked Havok from the air and proceeded with their plan until Leila saved Havok from being encased. The surviving mercenaries fled. Some time later Jake and his team were able to surprise Havok and Leila in the outback and caught them with a net.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1) - Jake had to hold his men back from killing Havok and Leila because they were both wanted alive by the Living Pharaoh's cult. Havok broke free from the net and knocked the mercenaries out with a few plasma blasts to the ground beneath them. Days later three of Jake's team accompanied a Tracker to get Leila and Havok. One of his men made the mistake to seemingly kill Havok and got in the process killed by the Tracker.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#26/1) - Havok found Jake in a bar and pretended to be sent by the Tracker. Jake went with Havok to the outside where Jake's men were already waiting to blast Havok. He knocked them from the roof and Jake ran into a house. Havok followed him and ran again into an ambush. Havok scared these mercenaries off while Jake hid behind the bar. Jake told Havok that Leila was brought to the Cairo Pyramid Confectioners Warehouse in Egypt. Jake tried to kill Havok when he had turned his back on Jake, but Havok couldn't be surprised one more time and destroyed the ground beneath Jake who then fell to his death.
--Marvel Comics Presents I#24/4 (25/1-26/1
He was a mercenary Moon Knight knew from his past in the mercenary business. Sharp got involved with Plasma because he needed the money. He was hired with other mercenaries like Hans and Louis. He fought Moon Knight together with Knights of the Moon members and was stabbed by a cultist's sword when he fell on it. He died after telling Moon Knight Plasma's plan to blow up the whole station.
--Moon Knight III#25
The Trackers were all descendants of the Living Pharaoh. They wore armors to increase their strength and durability. Each Tracker had his own kind of weapon mostly included into their armor. These weapons were mostly energy beams in their masks gloves. One Tracker used knives and another one an ankh that could project energy beams as well.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#31/1 (fb) ) - A Tracker caught Leila O'Toole shortly after she had fled from the Cult of the Living Pharaoh. A Tracker later accompanied Leila to Australia.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1) - The Tracker thought that Leila betrayed them when she saved Havok from being encased, and he hunted her down with the Australian mercenaries. She got her in a restaurant, but Havok tried to stop the kidnapping, and a mercenary threw a grenade at him and seemingly killed Havok. The Tracker punished the mercenary by killing him. He left with Leila and the remaining mercenaries, knowing that he had failed because Havok and Leila had to be taken alive.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1 - BTS) - The Tracker returned with Leila to Egypt.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#31/1 (fb) ) - The Tracker was punished for Havok's apparent demise.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#27/1) - After a failed assault at the airport a Tracker waited for Havok in the Cairo Pyramid Confectioners Warehouse. Havok arrived and after he mentioned the similarity between the Tracker and the Living Pharaoh, the Tracker opened a trap door and Havok fell through a tunnel into the cult's hidden temple. There another Tracker attacked Havok, but he beat him through a wall. On the other side four more Trackers waited for him and a High Priest held Leila and threatened to kill her if Havok didn't fight the Trackers.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#28/1) - The Trackers brought Havok to an arena where he waited for them to return and fight. Five Trackers (among them Leila) entered the arena and attacked Havok. They tried to defeat him with knives, energy beams from armors and other weapons, but Havok beat them all with his plasma blasts, except for Leila.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#29/1) - The defeated Trackers were lying on the ground and couldn't stop Havok from running away. One Tracker later led the hunt on Havok. He got his hands on Wolverine, who was now helping Havok, but before he could crush the Canadians' skull Havok shot the Tracker with a plasma blast in the back. The cultists retreated after that.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#30/1) - Four Trackers waited for Havok's return in the Cairo Pyramid Confectioners Warehouse. Together with a bunch of cultists they squared off against Havok and Wolverine, but the heroes were able to beat them and fled downwards to the cult's temple.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#31/1) - Trackers observed Plasma's final fight against Havok. One tried to interfere when Plasma was down, but Wolverine stopped him. Two other Trackers helped Plasma to her feet and Havok blasted them before knocking out Plasma with a right fist.
--Marvel Comics Presents I#25/1 (31/1 (fb), 25/1, 27/1-31/1
images:
Marvel Comics Presents I#29, p1, pan1 (main image)
Marvel Comics Presents I#31, p3, pan5 (head shot)
Moon Knight III#25, p13, pan3 (second costume)
Marvel Comics Presents I#24, p32, pan1 (Jake)
Moon Knight III#25, p19, pan3 (Sharp)
Marvel Comics Presents I#27, p5, pan5 (a Tracker)
Marvel Comics Presents I#24 (July 1989) - Howard Mackie (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#25-26 (August, 1989) - Howard Mackie (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#27-28 (September, 1989) - Howard Mackie (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Bruce Patterson (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#29-30 (October, 1989) - Howard Mackie (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Bruce Patterson (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#31 (November, 1989) - Howard Mackie (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Bruce Patterson (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Moon Knight III#25 (April, 1991) - Howard Mackie (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Tom Paler (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Last updated: 04/20/14
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