SWAY

Real Name: Suzanne Chan

Identity/Class: Human mutant, citizen of the United States

Occupation: Adventurer;
                      formerly student

Group Membership: Muir-MacTaggert X-Men (Darwin/Armando Munoz, Petra, Vulcan/Gabriel Summers)

Affiliations: Moira MacTaggert, Professor X (Charles Xavier), Detective Walters, X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Havok/Alex Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, Polaris/Lorna Dane),

Enemies: Krakoa the Living Island

Known Relatives: David Chan (father, deceased), Emily Chan (mother, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Krakoa;
                                  formerly Muir-MacTaggert Research & Development Institute, New York;
                                  formerly China Town, New York City, New York;
                                  formerly San Diego, California

First Appearance: (Seen) X-Men: Deadly Genesis#3 (March, 2006); (as Sway) X-Men: Deadly Genesis#4 (April, 2006)

Powers/Abilities: Sway possessed the mutant ability to control time within her immediate vicinity, enabling her to slow or stop the temporal flow in minute radiuses. She could also replay the recent past in short bursts, witnessing events as ghostly images. Initially, her hold over time was brief and all encompassing, Moira MacTaggert's training and Charles Xavier's mental bootcamp helped her to fine tune this ability considerably. At the end of her life, she could selectively slow down at least half a dozen objects simultaneously, while "freezing" a fair number of other objects completely.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 137 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#3/2) - Born to naturalized Chinese parents David and Emily Chan, Suzanne grew up in San Diego, California where she enjoyed a happy childhood. At age 20, she wanted to move to New York to study at Barnard College. She even managed to convince her concerned parents to visit the city and the campus to see there was nothing to worry about. However, while they were walking through New York's Chinatown district, the Chans were caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting. The event activated Suzanne's latent mutant control over time and she instinctively slowed everything in her immediate vicinity down to a crawl, allowing her to dodge the bullets. Her parents weren't that lucky and died before her eyes. In shock, she was taken to the hospital by the police for observation and released after 48 hours of crying and sleeping. Walking the streets of New York alone, she eventually ended up at the spot of her parents' murder. There, she discovered a new mutant ability: perceiving past events like a series of ghost images. She was stunned to see her parents get mowed down again, but she also got a good view of the gunmen. She followed their temporal afterimage back to their hideout where the thugs were having a party. Furious, she called the police from a payphone on the corner and waited for them to arrive. She then helped prevent another bloodbath by slowing down time long enough for the cops to make the arrests. Sway was taken to the police station by detective Walters who was impressed by her abilities. While Sway waited in his office, Walters called his associate Moira MacTaggert who quickly came down to offer Suzanne help with her situation. She accepted.

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#4 (fb) - BTS ) - Suzanne accompanied Moira to the Muir-MacTaggert Research & Development Institute in New York. There, she joined Moira's other students Darwin, Petra and Vulcan. She also met Charles Xavier, who aided Moira in devising the students' training sessions. They also met Cyclops once when he accompanied Xavier to the Institute. As time continued, Suzanne started to hone her abilities, learning to focus and controlling the flow of time around specific objects rather than simply blanking out everything at once. Compared to fellow students like the geomorph Petra, she made relatively slow progress.

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#4 (fb) - BTS) - Charles Xavier sent his X-Men on a mission to check out the mutant presence he detected on the island of Krakoa in the South Pacific. Xavier was unaware he'd actually felt the island itself, which following atomic testing had mutated into a merged animal/vegetable composite hungry for mutant energies. When the team arrived, they were quickly overpowered and taken prisoner, forcing Xavier to mount a rescue mission.

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#4 (fb) ) - Xavier went to the Muir-MacTaggert Institute and explained to Moira what had happened to the X-Men before asking for her students. Suzanne and the others were propositioned by Charles and, in no small part thanks to the eager Vulcan, agreed to help him. Xavier took them back to his school where he used his telepathic powers to give the inexperienced, young mutants a crash course in the use of their powers. Within a few hours, they experienced long months of training which greatly increased Sway's control over her temporal powers. As a result of Charles' mental boot camp, Sway and her fellow students believed themselves to be full fledged X-Men, ready for anything. After handing them their uniforms, made of unstable molecules by Reed Richards, Xavier and Moira saw Sway and the others off (see comments).

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#6 (fb) ) - Charles Xavier mentally monitored the team's rescue mission to Krakoa, guiding Vulcan through the Strato-Jet landing sequence when suddenly their mental connection was broken. Now on their own, they were immediately besieged by the island, who formed monsters from the marsh and rock to attack them. After fighting off the initial wave, Vulcan ordered Sway to use her time replay to track down the X-Men. They watched in horror as the island claimed Marvel Girl and Cyclops. The team discovered Cyclops who was being guarded nearby by some of Krakoa's creatures. They managed to free Scott and tried to get the drained mutant to the jet. As they marched through the jungle, Krakoa began to drain their energies as well, making it harder for them to move. They still reached the Strato-Jet and briefly talked with Cyclops who agreed to take the aircraft up into the air to attempt to reconnect with Xavier. As soon as he left, the enraged Krakoa turned on Sway and the others, attacking with full force. Sway tried to slow their enemies down, but was brutally cut in half even as a giant, walking volcano creature seemingly incinerated the others. Horrified by watching his fellow mutants, and kid brother Vulcan, die, Cyclops fired up the Strato-Jet and headed for home.

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#6 (fb) - BTS) - At the moment of her death, Sway released all her stored temporal energies at once. This slowed down time long enough around her teammates for Petra to act even as the volcano creature incinerated her. The geomorph had the ground swallow the mutants, even creating a small cavern for them. Petra died, while the drained Vulcan and Darwin were rendered powerless and unable to move.

(Giant Size X-Men#1 ~ X-Men: Deadly Genesis#6 (fb) - BTS) - Xavier was forced to erase Cyclops' memories about ever meeting Sway, the others or the Muir-McTaggert research facility. He also mind-wiped Moira MacTaggert, unaware that the heartbroken Moira had already made videologs about the entire affair. In the end, Cyclops returned to Krakoa with a new group of mutants and rescued his teammates. Krakoa was rocketed into space, with no one but Xavier to remember Sway.

(X-Men: Deadly Genesis#6 - BTS) - The X-Men learned of Sway and the rest of Moira's students' existence and final fate when Vulcan returned to Earth and forced Xavier to reveal what he'd done all those years ago. The team decided to honor Suzanne's sacrifice with a proper burial, even though there was no actual body to bury. She was laid to rest along with Petra and the recently deceased Banshee (Sean Cassidy) at the Xavier Institute.

(X-Men Legacy I#210 (fb) ) - Locked in psychic combat with Charles Xavier, the Acolyte Exodus used Xavier's guilt over having caused Sway and Petra's deaths as weapons, replaying the events to torment and haunt Charles.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey#4 - BTS) - When the Phoenix Force returned to Earth to once again try and merge with Jean Grey, it trapped her in an imaginary world where the Phoenix Force had created several constructs of deceased X-Men, amongst them Sway. Dressed in red X-Men costumes the constructs fought the real X-Men until a small squad successfully reached Jean upon which the constructs disappeared.

Comments: Created by Ed Brubaker (writer), Trevor Hairsine (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks)

"When marimba rhythms start to play/Dance with me, make me sway..." The tragic tale of Sway and the other students of Moira MacTaggert should be all the proof anyone ever needs that Professor Xavier truly is a jerk. Also, the idea that he could give them a crash course in using their powers by making them think they had the experience was ludicrous at best. Their minds might believe they have the experience and skill, but their actual, physical bodies had no time to develop and mature along in the process. It'd be like convincing a novice runner the idea he's actually a trained marathon man... The results aren't pretty. Also, even though time was of the essence, Charles still insisted that Reed Richards made customized uniforms for this rescue squad?

Sway received a profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#11 and X-Men: Messsiah Complex Mutant Files#1.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sway should not be confused with

• Any other "Sway" characters

David & Emily Chan

Sway's parents emigrated from Hong Kong to America before she was born. They settled down in San Diego, California and became naturalized citizens. At age 27 they became parents of their only child Suzanne who, at 20, wanted to study at Barnard College in New York. The Chans had reservations about sending their daughter across the country, but Suzanne convinced them to take a trip to New York with her so they could see there was no need to worry. Visiting China Town, the Chans were accidentally involved in a gang war shooting. David and Emily got caught in the crossfire and died before their daughter's eyes, who saved herself using her newfound mutant powers. She later used her temporal abilities to track down her parents' killers.