SWAIN
Real Name: Jovana
Identity/Class: Sub-species of humanity (Inhuman) mutate
Occupation: Pilot of the Astarion; former captain of the R.I.V., diplomat
Group Membership: Royal Inhuman Diplomatic Mission (Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Flint/Jason, Gorgon/Gorgon Petragon, Grid/Dinesh Deol, Naja, Panacea/Ash Minnick)
Affiliations: Mrs. Bellhauer, Black Bolt (Blackagar Boltagon), Dmitri, Forey, Frenzy (Joanna Cargill), Hub (Hubartes Plutaris), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Inferno (Dante Pertuz), Iso (Xiaoyi Chen), Karnak (Karnak Mander-Azur), Ana Kraven (Anastasia Kravinoff), Light Brigade (All-Knowing/Dara Ko Eke, Creeping Death/Hooud, Metallic Titan/Prax Ord, Midnight Blade/Kal Blackbane, Stonethrower/Els Udonta, Sun/Voorr), Lockjaw, Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr), Frank McGee, Medusa (Medusalith Amaquelin), Quake (Daisy Johnson), Reader, Triton, Universal Inhumans (Aladi Ko Eke, Avoe, Oola Udonta, Onomi Whitemane)
Enemies: Commissar, Jack, Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Maximus the Mad (Maximus Boltagon), Ronan the Accuser, Plex Intelligence, Progenitors, Snarks (Lord Dyngo, Prince Hyinar, Koyoti), Thahn Ng, Thunderbolts (Atlas/Erik Josten, Fixer/Paul Norbert Ebersol, Kobik, MACH-X/Abner Jenkins, Moonstone/Karla Sofen, Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Captain Swain
Base of Operations: New Attilan
First Appearance: All-New Inhumans#1 (February, 2016)
Powers/Abilities: After undergoing Terrigenesis, Swain developed the ability to manipulate the emotions of others, something she can do willfully and also does subconsciously, making her paranoid about her powers. Swain can read the thoughts and memories of others at a subtle level, and thus influence individuals based on their own life experiences, and she can sometimes communicate telepathically with others, including Hub, an Inhuman no one else can communicate with. Swain's powers can also be used to block the telepathic abilities of others who are in a close proximity. Swain can enter the astral plane when she is in a hypnotic state, and focus her emotion-manipulating powers on others from a distance. Swain once touched a Skyspear, boosting her abilities to the level of influencing Space Gods, called the Progenitors, and also allowing her to communicate telepathically with Panacea from across space. When emotionally interfacing with a giant space monster once, Swain absorbed the beast's aggression, causing her to lash out at her teammates, though the effect wore off after a few hours. Swain also has a long prehensile tail, and is an expert pilot, who has successfully guided the massive ships, the R.I.V. and the Astarion.
Height: 5'3" (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Pink; formerly black
History:
(All-New Inhumans#1 (fb) - BTS) - After undergoing Terrigenesis, Jovana, who later called herself Swain, grew a tail and discovered she could manipulate the emotions of others.
(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - Swain practiced putting herself in a hypnotic state which would allow her to enter the astral plane. She began practicing her secret emotional interfaces, which she could use on world leaders during diplomatic missions.
(All-New Inhumans#1/2 (fb) - BTS) - Medusa put Crystal in charge of a team that would go around the world, delicately involving themselves in diplomatic matters related to the Terrigen Cloud and new Inhumans. After giving her the Royal Inhuman Vessel, or R.I.V., Medusa assigned Swain to be the vessel's captain, and Grid, Flint, Naja, and Gorgon to aid her on missions.
(All-New Inhumans#8 (fb) - BTS) - Swain played board games with Gorgon one night, and she confessed she had a "celebrity crush" on She-Hulk.
(All-New Inhumans#3 (fb) - BTS) - Swain met Hub, an Inhuman incapable of speech or sleep who generated a constant amount of energy that left Hub in agony. Swain interfaced with Hub, and got him placed aboard the R.I.V. to act as a constant power source for the ship.
(All-New Inhumans#1/2 (fb) ) - Swain showed a group of human ambassadors from the United Nations around the various parts of the R.I.V. Swain showed them the medical chambers, the training quarters, and the greenhouse aboard before Dmitri, one delegate who was watching the tour over a screen, raised complaints about the Inhumans' intentions. The mutant Frenzy attacked, but Crystal easily defeated her, as Swain influenced the delegates' emotions toward supporting the Inhumans. Swain was frustrated when she learned that Crystal had set up the attack.
(All-New Inhumans#1/1 (fb) - BTS) - Three months later, when Swain went to meet Gorgon, Flint, and Grid, Naja asked her to tell the others she was off on a mission.
(All-New Inhumans#1/1) - Swain greeted Gorgon, Flint, and Grid, and soon accompanied them down to Sydney, Australia, where Crystal and Naja were fighting a paramilitary unit, including Jack, in order to save new Inhuman Ash Minnick, a blue-skinned woman from Australia who said she could no longer experience emotions. The team went to investigate a Skyspear in the Outback, and Gorgon translated a word on the side in an ancient Inhuman dialect, that read "genocide". Just then, Swain informed them the cloud was passing over Sin-Cong.
(All-New Inhumans#2) - After meeting with Quake, Crystal led the team (Swain, Flint, Gorgon) on a diplomatic mission to Sin-Cong, where the Commissar assured them that none of his people had been transformed by the Terrigen Cloud, proving his people's genetic superiority. Flint, Crystal, and Swain questioned some of the locals. The Commissar later hosted a dinner for the group, and he revealed to them some of the genetic experiments his government had done on civilians, resulting in monstrous deformities. To show his power Commissar began torturing the mutates, causing Flint to lash out at the soldiers to protect them. Crystal managed to smooth things over with the Commissar, and they were escorted back to the R.I.V. That night, they each got a nightmare vision of how the Commissar had torched and killed all the Inhuman cocoons in the country along with their families and loved ones.
(All-New Inhumans#3) - Aboard the R.I.V., Swain, Crystal, Gorgon, and Flint discussed the nightmares. Swain checked on Hub, making sure he was unaffected by the nightmares, then Swain offered to put the ship on autopilot and go under hypnosis to find the truth of things. In her induced hypnosis, Swain interfaced with the astral Inhuman, who identified himself as Thanh Ng, and he exposed Swain's emotional powers. Swain introduced Thanh Ng to Hub, but Thanh then took over her mind and influenced her to force Hub to attack Sin-Cong.
(All-New Inhumans#4) - Thanh Ng forced Swain to use Hub and they continued firing on Sin-Cong, turning one blast on Gorgon, but he had an armored chair to fight back. Crystal used an override to shut the weapons system down, then Swain managed to drive Thanh Ng out of her mind, after Gorgon overwhelmed him with a lot of rage. Later, Swain confided in Jack about her struggles with emotional manipulation, and he called her a monster.
(All-New Inhumans#8 (fb) - BTS) - While Gorgon, Flint, and Ana Kraven were off on a mission, Swain stayed aboard the R.I.V., and she detected some unusual seismic activity.
(All-New Inhumans#8) - Gorgon called Swain to check in, saying they were safe and wanted to stay in Utolan for a few days. Swain worried about them.
(Thunderbolts IV#3) - Captain Swain, with Hub, watched the Inhumans battle with the Thunderbolts. Fixer hacked into the R.I.V., forcing the Inhumans to stand down while the Thunderbolts escaped.
(Thunderbolts IV#3 - BTS) - Swain and Grid examined the alien cocoons the Thunderbolts had destroyed.
(All-New Inhumans#11 (fb) - BTS) - Worried about emotionally manipulating the others, Swain kept herself in isolation, only communicating with the team through technology.
(All-New Inhumans#11) - After making sure Luna had made it on board to see her mother, Swain confided in Hub her worries about her powers, and Hub suggested she connect with Panacea, who could not experience emotions. After attending Crystal's birthday party, Swain pulled Panacea to the side and made her interest known. They held hands and let their tails intertwine together.
(IVX#1) - In Chechnya, Gorgon and Crystal brought a seemingly endangered mutant on the ship, but he revealed himself to be Magneto and took the R.I.V. apart, restraining Swain in metal, though she was later freed as the conflict changed.
(Uncanny Inhumans#1.MU) - In Rome, Swain and Crystal put civilians on the R.I.V. to get them to safety while other Inhumans battled a giant monster. Another monster forced their ship to crash and Crystal was injured, causing Swain to send out a mental distress call to Inferno. As Swain tried nudging the monster's emotions, she was overwhelmed by its size. Swain and Crystal rushed the civilians to safety in a nearby cave as the monster pursued them. Swain tried again to nudge the creature toward calmness, but she was overcome by its rage and she struggled to control it as she drove the creature away. They got the civilians out of the cave and Swain gave in to the rage, driving the creature off a cliff, but she went tumbling after, needing to be saved by the arriving Inhumans (Inferno, Medusa, Triton, Karnak) and the Human Torch. Swain attacked the others until Karnak knocked her unconscious. Back on the R.I.V., Swain was kept in a hospital bed behind a force field as the aggression slowly wore off, but Crystal commended her heroism.
(Inhumans Prime#1) - Lockjaw teleported Swain in to block Maximus the Mad's telepathic powers, and Maximus was arrested. Later, Medusa publicly stepped down from the throne, publicly revealing that the Terrigen Mists had been destroyed. Swain wondered aloud to Crystal what might happen next, just as Marvel Boy approached, stating he knew how to find Terrigen.
(Uncanny Inhumans#20/2) - Swain joined other Inhumans in celebrating Medusa at the Quiet Room.
(Royals#1) - Swain piloted a flying car with Iso and Flint to help contain the newly emerged Inhuman, Mrs. Bellhauer. Marvel Boy visited the Inhumans, telling them he could guide them on a mission to space that would teach them all about Terrigenesis, and Swain offered to pilot the ship that would contain Marvel Boy, Crystal, Medusa, Gorgon, "Black Bolt" (secretly Maximus), and Flint on this special mission. Swain warned Marvel Boy about her emotion-control powers. Swain bid farewell to Panacea, who logically accepted that Swain needed to go; Panacea asked Swain not to die, saying she'd grown fond of her.
(Royals#2) - Aboard the Astarion, Swain alerted Medusa to the presence of a Chitauri swarm, and Medusa helped Swain pilot away from the monsters. Soon, Medusa exposed "Black Bolt" as Maximus.
(Royals#3) - Medusa helped the others realize that they had to press forward, even with Maximus among them, and there was no hope of saving Black Bolt at this time. Swain agreed to keep Maximus near her as her powers would block any attempts he made at mind control.
(Royals#4 (fb) - BTS) - Swain realized that Maximus' powers also inadvertently stopped her subconscious emotional manipulations of others.
(Royals#4) - Swain piloted the Astarion toward Hala, where she was struggling to find a safe place to land as Ronan the Accuser attacked them. The Astarion lost a wing and nearly crashed until Marvel Boy used his Pocket Battlefield to aid in landing the ship safely. Ronan the Accuser attacked and his hammer awakened feelings of guilt within them all. Swain saw an image of Panacea saying that Swain didn't love her.
(Royals#5) - Swain and the others were freed from their mental torture when Marvel Boy launched the Plex Intelligence, giving Ronan the Accuser a new leader.
(Royals#6) - After the Plex Intelligence fixed the Astarion, the Inhumans boarded the ship, where Maximus briefly teased Crystal and Swain for missing their lovers, though Medusa soon silenced Maximus. The team went to Centauri IV to meet the queens of the Universal Inhumans, including Oola Udonta, Aladi Ko Eke, Onomi Whitemane, and Avoie, and their guardians in the Light Brigade.
(Royals#7) - The Inhumans interacted with the Light Brigade, but Swain held back from the others, afraid of using her emotion-manipulating powers on accident. All-Knowing, a woman of the Badoon, flirted with Swain, offering her physical comfort, but Swain pulled away, remembering Panacea. Soon, the groups were captured by a group of super-powered Snarks.
(Royals#8) - Gorgon freed the captive Inhumans and Light Brigade, but the Snarks had stolen all of their powers. When Medusa killed Koyoti with a gun, Swain's powers returned to her, though she felt no different. Flint soon touched the Skyspear and then moved a rock to kill the other Snarks. They were all shocked to see Gorgon and Medusa kissing.
(Royals#9) - Captain Swain piloted the Astarion through unknown space, following the Skyspear signal back to its source. Swain began doubting their mission, wondering if the pure Terrigen they were seeking would kill Medusa, just as Flint told them that they had arrived at the World-Farm. The Progenitors then seized the Astarion.
(Royals#10) - As the Progenitors destroyed the Astarion, Flint used crystal projected from his body to wrap the others in a shield to protect them. Flint guided the crystal to the Progenitors' planet, where they saw entire planets in machines being tested. Flint collapsed, the crystal overtaking more of his body, and they grabbed him, then a Progenitor attacked. When Crystal was wounded while holding it off, Maximus convinced Swain to combine her powers with his and they ended up reaching out to the neural network of the Progenitor and shutting it down, destroying the robotic god.
(Royals#11) - Flint piloted the Progenitors' platform by "communing" with it, and he led the group to the massive Prima Materia, the giant crystals that were the source of the Terrigen. When more Progenitors attacked, Swain touched the Prima Materia, expanding her powers exponentially, and she suddenly found herself mentally communing with Panacea, who reminded her that just because she couldn't experience emotion that she didn't love Swain less. With her enhanced powers, Swain pushed the emotions of one of the Progenitors, forcing the god to destroy itself.
(Royals#12) - Flint held the crystal construct together while Maximus touched the Primagen, and he communed with his future self, realizing the Progenitors were going to follow them back to Earth and destroy them. Medusa put another plan in place.
(Inhumans: Judgment Day#1 (fb) - BTS) - The team returned to Earth, where Flint built a giant tower on the Moon, calling it New Arctilan. Swain was reunited with Panacea, and she told her all about their adventures.
(Inhumans: Judgment Day#1) - Panacea examined Flint and said that he was at peace, though Swain worried. Panacea then examined Maximus, hearing more details about the Prima Materia and the Progenitors. They soon joined with Medusa, Frank McGee, Reader (with Forey), Marvel Boy, and Crystal, and planned an attack on the Progenitors from the Astral Plane, which Reader helped them access with a reading. In time, Medusa returned from the Astral Plane, having defeated the Progenitors and regained her powers.
(Marvel's Voices#1/5) - Swain attended a celebration with other LGBTQ heroes.
Comments: Created by James Asmus, Charles Soule, Stefano Caselli, and Nico Leon.
3 additional images by Markus Raymond.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Swain has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Inhumans Prime#1, p16, p3 (main)
All-New Inhumans#1, p5, pan2 (face)
All-New Inhumans#11, p9, pan4 (Captain of the R.I.V.)
Thunderbolts IV#3, p9, pan5 (restoring ship control)
Royals#7, p5, pan6 (pink hair)
Appearances:
All-New Inhumans#1 (February, 2016) - James Asmus, Charles Soule (writers), Stefano Caselli, Nico Leon (artists), Nick Lowe (editor)
All-New Inhumans#2-4 (February-April, 2016) - James Asmus, Charles Soule (writers), Stefano Caselli (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
All-New Inhumans#8 (August, 2016) - James Asmus, Charles Soule (writers), Stefano Caselli (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Thunderbolts IV#3 (September, 2016) - Jim Zub (writer), Jon Malin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
All-New Inhumans#11 (November, 2016) - James Asmus (writer), Rhoald Marcellius (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
IVX#1 (February, 2017) - Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire (writers), Leinil Francis Yu (penciler), Gerry Alanguilan (inker), Wil Moss (editor)
Uncanny Inhumans#1.MU (April, 2017) - Paul Altor (writer), Brian Level (artist), Charles Beacham (editor)
Inhumans Prime#1 (May, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Ryan Sook, Christopher Allen (pencilers), Walden Wong, Keith Champagne (inkers), Wil Moss (editor)
Uncanny Inhumans#20/2 (May, 2017) - Charles Soule (writer), Kim Jacinto (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#1 (June, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Jonboy Meyers (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#2 (June, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Jonboy Meyers, Thony Silas (artists), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#3 (July, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Thony Silas, Wil Robson (artists), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#4-5 (August-September, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Thony Silas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#6-7 (October, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Kevin Libranda (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#8 (November, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Kevin Libranda, Javier Rodriguez (pencilers), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#9-10 (December, 2017) - Al Ewing (writer), Javier Rodriguez (penciler), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#11 (January, 2018) - Al Ewing (writer), Javier Rodriguez, Kevin Libranda (artists), Wil Moss (editor)
Royals#12 (February, 2018) - Al Ewing (writer), Kevin Libranda, Javier Rodriguez (pencilers), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Wil Moss (editor)
Inhumans: Judgment Day#1 (March, 2018) - Al Ewing (writer), Kevin Libranda, Michael del Mundo (pencilers), Marc Deering (inker), Wil Moss (editor)
Marvel's Voices#1/5 (April, 2020) - Luciano Vecchio (writer/artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
First Posted: 11/08/2020
Last updated: 11/08/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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