Real
Name: Nelvanna NELVANNA
Real
Name: Nelvanna
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Quidlivun) goddess
Occupation: Goddess of the Northern Lights
Group Membership: Inua;
formerly Gaea's informal alliance of goddesses (Aman
Sinaya, Amaterasu,
Ameretat, Ay, Chalchiuhtlique, Frigga, Haumea,
Hera, Isis,
Ixchel,
Julunggul,
Lada, Lahamu, Lakshmi, Mahu,
Mama Cocha, Mielikki, Morrigan,
Parvati, Saraswati, Sigyn,
Wiininwaa, Xi Wangmu, Ungnyeo)
Affiliations: Alpha Flight (Aurora/Jeanne-Marie
Beaubier, Guardian/James Hudson, Northstar/Jean-Paul Beaubier,
Puck/Eugene Judd, Sasquatch/Walter Langkowski, Shaman/Michael
Twoyoungmen, Snowbird/Narya), Ancient One (Yao),
Gaea,
Hodiak, Kadlu, Moonstalker
(Kaina), Richard
Easton, Turoq, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett)
Enemies: Chaos King (Mikaboshi), Great Beasts (Herateq, Kariooq, Kimara, Kolomaq, Neootoq, Ranaq, Somon, Tanaraq, Tiamaq, Tolomaq, Tundra), Mauvais (Jean-Pierre Baubier)
Known Relatives: Narya (Snowbird, daughter), Douglas "Doug" Thompson (son-in-law, deceased), unidentified grandson (deceased), Yukotujakzurjimozoata (Yukon Jack, ex-son-in-law), Hodiak (father), Gaea/A'akuluujjusi (mother), Nanuq, Negafok, Turoq (brothers), Sedna (sister), extensive (and I do mean extensive!) extended family via Gaea
Aliases: Goddess of the Northern Lights
Base of Operations: Quidlivun
First Appearance: (spirit) Alpha Flight I#7/2
(February 1984);
(physically present) Chaos War: Alpha Flight#1 (January
2011)
Powers/Abilities: Nelvanna is immortal and
unaging, and cannot die by conventional means. She is immune to all
terrestrial diseases and is resistant to conventional injury; if
wounded, her godly life force will enable her to recover at a superhuman
rate. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it incinerates her
or disperses a major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her to
die. She can lift at least 25 tons, and her godly metabolism gives her
superhuman endurance. She can also generate blasts of unspecified
energies and open portals between dimensions. Though she is physically
trapped in Quidlivun, she can manifest in spirit form on Earth under the
right circumstances.
Height:
5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (it is unrevealed
whether her body is more dense and massive than mortal tissue, or
whether his tissue is more durable by its own nature without being more
massive)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: White
History:
(Alpha
Flight I#7/2 (fb)) - Nelvanna was the Inua's goddess of the Northern
Lights, the daughter of Hodiak...
(Thor and Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica) - and the Earth goddess Gaea, in her guise as the Inua goddess A'akuluujjusi.
(Wolverine II#170 - BTS) - The Inua allegedly created
the curse of the Wendigo to punish those who committed cannibalism on
their lands (see comments).
(Alpha Flight I#24 (fb) - BTS) - Well over a thousand
years ago the Great Beasts, creatures from another universe that had
destroyed their own world, came to Earth, the nearest planet on the
mystic continuum, intending to corrupt and pillage it as they had their
own world. Though normally the Beasts' dark natures would force them to
fight among themselves, rendering them effectively powerless, one of
their number, Somon the Great Articifer, could override this, allowing
them to cooperate and making them a greater threat. Three times the
Beasts came to Earth, and each time they were driven back by the Inua.
During their third assault,...
(Alpha Flight I#19 (fb) - BTS) - over a thousand years ago Nelvanna imprisoned the Great Beast Ranaq the Devourer within the Beast's home dimension behind a mystical Great Barrier. She also similarly imprisoned the others Beasts,...
(Thor and Hercules: Encyclopedia
Mythologica) - with the aid of other Inua.
(Alpha Flight I#1 (fb) - BTS) - However, the Great Beast
Tundra returned the favor, sealing Nelvanna (and other Inua) away from
Earth.
(Alpha Flight I#24 (fb) -
BTS) - As the end approached, Tundra conceived a counter-plan, and
created a magical vortex that spun the energies of the barriers back
on their creators, so that as the Beasts became trapped in their
dimension, the ancient gods of the North were also imprisoned,...
(Thor and Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica) - in their home realm of Quidlivun.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - However Nelvanna and
other Inua could still briefly manifest on Earth when summoned by
powerful magics.
(Thor I#301 (fb) - BTS) - Circa 1000AD, after the Third Celestial Host visited Earth, promising to pass judgement on the planet when next they visited in a millennia, the Earth goddess Gaea convened a meeting of mother-goddesses from Earth's many pantheons,...
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update#1) - including Nelvanna,...
(Thor I#301 (fb) - BTS) - and the group decided to groom
twelve candidates chosen from their worshipers to epitomize man's
greatest attributes. The goddesses agreed to watch over the children of
men, looking for a new child to be their race's herald.
(Spectacular Spider-Man Annual#8/3 - BTS) - In the 11th century Nelvanna chose a sixteen year old Alaskan hunter, the Inupiat woman Kiana (see comments), who would later become the Young God Moonstalker.
(Thor I#301 (fb) - BTS) - Nelvanna, or her chosen representative, contacted Kiana and unleashed in her the godly essence possessed by all mankind. Kiana was then transported to an underground temple and placed in suspended animation, where she was gradually joined by the other Young Gods chosen by other pantheons. At some point during the subsequent centuries of waiting Nelvanna took a turn guarding the temple and its precious contents.
(Wolverine
II#172 (fb) - BTS) - During the French and Indian War of 1754-1763, the
French cannibal sorcerer Mauvais tried to conquer Canada, then the
northern and largest territory of the colony New France, but the
Nelvanna and other Inua opposed him, ensuring the region ended up in the
control of the comparatively less malevolent English.
Still considering Mauvais a potential threat to their worshipers' lands, when he resurfaced in 1789 trying to use the French Revolution for his own ends, the Inua orchestrated his capture...
(Wolverine II#165 (fb) - BTS) - by that era's Sorcerer
Supreme, the Ancient One (see comments). Frozen in place, his
immobile form was placed in le Prison de la Morte ("Prison of Death"),
hidden away on a remote island.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - In modern times Nelvanna
and the other Inua sensed that the Beasts were manipulating
weak-minded men to be their agents and tricking them into
weakening the barriers. Still restricted in their own access to Earth,
Nelvanna, her father Hodiak, and Turoq the Shaper decided they needed
their own champion on Earth to stop the Beasts. In order to create an
Inua who was equally of Earth and so not be trapped like they were, they
decided that Nelvanna would mate with a mortal. Thus when archaeologist
Richard Easton discovered in an ancient "place
of power" a mystic headband that could potentially
raise Tundra, the Inua trio used it to draw Easton into their realm.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2) - After the Shaper reassured the shocked Easton that they meant him no harm, Nelvanna introduced herself and informed him that she needed his seed. Since to mortal eyes she looked elderly, Easton was appalled by the suggestion, as Hodiak had suspected he might be. Aware that there was a limit to how long Easton could be kept in their realm, Nelvanna worried how they could persuade the mortal, but Turoq used his shaping magic to make Easton see Nelvanna as his ideal fantasy woman. Nelvanna again propositioned Easton, explaining that the world was in danger and they needed to create a champion to keep the evil in check, and this time he hesitantly accepted.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - During their night
together Nelvanna explained to Easton about the headband's power and the
danger Tundra posed. Easton and Nelvanna's tryst conceived a child.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2)
- Returned to Earth, Easton was shocked to discover that over nine years
had passed there compared to a single night with the Inua.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - A year later (Earth
time) and the heavily pregnant Nelvanna needed to give birth on the
mortal plane so her demigod child could be bound to that realm. The
goddess sent dreams to the Sarcee shaman (and medical doctor) Michael
Twoyoungmen to tell him of Nelvanna's need and draw him to the site
where Easton had found the headband.
(Alpha Flight I#7/2) - There, Twoyoungmen
summoned Nelvanna to Earth and used his magic to deliver the child,
Narya.
(Alpha Flight I#12 - BTS) - Narya became the superhero
Snowbird, a member of Alpha Flight, alongside Twoyoungmen as Shaman, and
scientist Walter Langkowski as Sasquatch; none of them were aware that
Sasquatch's ability to transform into a monstrous superhuman form was
down to his exposure to gamma radiation as he believed, but because he
was linked to the Great Beast Tanaraq and transforming into its avatar.
Initially that was a purely physical change, with Langkowski's mind
controlling the form, but finally Tanaraq began to influence Sasquatch's
behavior, triggering violent rages. Nelvanna and her fellows sensed
something was amiss from their realm.
(Alpha Flight I#21 - BTS) - Having determined the details
of what they had been sensing, Nelvanna, Hodiak and Turoq became angered
that Snowbird had not slain Sasquatch, despite ample opportunities to do
so. To express their displeasure, they struck at her from their realm as
she was flying over Northern Alberta, inflicting intense pain that
caused her to fall from the sky.
(Alpha Flight I#23) - With Snowbird still not having carried out her duty to slay Tanaraq's host (because she didn't know actually know Sasquatch was Tanaraq's avatar), the trio of gods visited her in a dream, inflicting more pain on her as they berated her for her "treachery," with Nelvanna telling her daughter that death was too easy a punishment for her failure. As Snowbird insisted she was innocent, Turoq finally showed her the truth about Sasquatch.
(Alpha Flight I#23 - BTS) - Now aware of what she had to do, Snowbird awoke and headed to confront Sasquatch, arriving just as Tanaraq took full control and slaying him as her mother, grandfather and the Shaper had demanded.
(Alpha Flight I#24 - BTS) - Snowbird and the rest of Alpha
Flight ventured into the Great Beasts' realm to rescue Langkowski's
soul. Snowbird seemingly slew Somon the Great Artificer (he actually
survived or was later revived), causing their realm to begin to
die and the Beasts to turn on one another. After escaping back to Earth
Snowbird deemed her mission completed, and allowed herself to act on her
growing love for the mortal Doug Thompson.
(Alpha Flight I#36) - Snowbird married Doug and later fell pregnant. When the pregnancy advanced to term literally overnight, Shaman sought a mystical nexus where the child could be delivered safely and contacted the Inua, but Nelvanna informed him that by choosing a mortal mate Narya had rejected her heritage and turned her back on the gods. When the mage countered that she had likewise mated with a mortal, Hodiak responded that she had only done so to avert a great evil, and Nelvanna added that Narya's choice was motivated by selfish human desires. Stating that since Narya had turned her back on them, they would do likewise rather than aid her folly, Turoq ended the summoning, and the visions of the Inua vanished.
(Alpha Flight I#37) - Unaware his estranged daughter,
Elizabeth, had used her own mystic powers as Talisman to misdirect him
to a location that harbored a malevolent entity, Pestilence, Shaman took
Snowbird to where he believed he could safely deliver her child. As the
mage prepared, the Inua trio appeared once more to Narya, also allowing
Doug to see them. Informing the pair that with her task done, Narya now
belonged with them, not on Earth, they offered Narya one last chance to
give up her connection to humanity and go with them, with Nelvanna
warning her daughter that bearing a mortal's child would mean she had
turned her back on living eternally in their realm. Unwilling to give up
on either her husband or unborn infant, Narya rejected them, and the
gods vanished.
(Alpha Flight I#45) - Doug, Snowbird and their infant child all ultimately died thanks to Pestilence. At their joint funerals, Michael Twoyoungmen called on the Inua and petitioned they forgive Narya and let her spirit dwell in their realm. Admitting that despite her previous harsh words that she desired this too, Nelvanna freed Narya's soul from her slain body, but her spirit refused to go there unless both Doug and her child were permitted to accompany her. Hodiak responded to this ultimatum by reminding everyone they had been prepared to leave Narya's spirit trapped on the Earthly plane, but Nelvanna swiftly made it clear she would not permit this. The other two gods agreed to raise Doug and the child to godhood, and the trio freed the two mortal spirits from their corporeal remains to join Narya, then departed with them back to their own realm.
(Alpha Flight I#45 - BTS) - Langkowski's disembodied
spirit took over Narya's abandoned form.
(Wolverine II#172 (fb) - BTS) - Now aware the Great Beasts
remained a threat, the Northern Gods orchestrated Snowbird's
resurrection...
(Wolverine II#143 - BTS) - using AIM (Advanced Idea
Mechanics) as their unwitting pawns to do so.
(Wolverine II#170 - BTS) - Mauvais broke free of the Ancient One's spell and returned to Canada to where the connection between Earth and the Inua realm was strongest, seeking revenge against the Inua, intending to usurp the power of the Wendigo so he could use it to lock the Northern Gods out of the region forever and conquer the country. In response Nelvanna, Hodiak and Turoq subtly ensured Mauvais' mutant foe Wolverine learned of his location and confronted him.
(Wolverine II#172 (fb) - BTS) - Mauvais blocked the Inua's
access to Earth, but when this happened Snowbird sensed the loss of
contact and summoned the rest of Alpha Flight.
(Wolverine II#172) - Alpha Flight arrived to assist
Wolverine against Mauvais, who had now transformed himself into a
Wendigo while retaining his intellect and sorcerous powers. Together
they wore him down sufficiently that his warding spells failed, allowing
the Inua trio to manifest. Declaring their previous punishment had been
too lenient, Hodiak opened a portal and banished Mauvais to the Great
Beasts' dimension. Afterwards Nelvanna thanked Wolverine and Alpha
Flight, saying they were in the heroes' debt before returning to their
own realm.
(Astonishing Tales: Snowbird#1) - At the edge of the
Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, Snowbird suffered a moment of existential
crisis and contacted her mother and grandfather to ask them if her
existence was fated to be nothing more than a ceaseless war against the
forces of darkness, with no mate or child to share her life with. They
responded that these very longings betrayed her true nature, noting that
her father being mortal was crucial to making her their avatar on Earth,
but telling her not to fall prey to her inherited human frailties.
Informing her that an ages-old threat was once again rearing its head,
they sent her south to Elk's Tooth Alaska to deal with two returned
Great Beasts, Tiamaq and Herateq. After observing from their realm as
Snowbird slew both Beasts, Nelvanna asked her father if they had been
cruel to deny Narya's plea, wondering if her daughter's existence was
indeed to be nothing more than the role of an executioner, or whether
her mortal passions might outweigh the desires of the gods.
(Chaos
War: Alpha Flight#1) - The Chaos King and his demonic forces attacked
Earth and all its attached godly realms. As his forces overran Quidlivun
Nelvanna and the other Northern Gods fought back desperately. Fighting
back to back with Nelvanna, the lightning goddess Kadlu pointed out to
her fellow goddess that they could not win, and advised her to save
Snowbird, who was fighting nearby. Nelvanna told her daughter to flee,
an instruction Snowbird protested against. Opening a portal to Earth
Nelvanna pushed her daughter through it, reminding her child that she
was the only one of the Inua who could travel between the dimensions,
and insisting that while the Chaos King might strike them down, she
trusted Snowbird to find a way to prevail; this last was cut off as the
Chaos King impaled Nelvanna on his claws, slaying her.
(Chaos War#5 - BTS) - With the help of Snowbird and others
the Greek demigod Hercules defeated the Chaos King and used the
collected godly powers the villain had amassed to restore everything,
presumably including reviving the slain Inua.
Comments: Adapted from mythology into Marvel by John Byrne.
We've not been told that Nelvanna chose Kiana to become a Young God, but the Math adds up: Gaea asked her alliance of mother-goddesses to locate candidates to be Young Gods out of the races they watched over; Nelvanna is the Inua representative on said group; Kiana is Inupiat. Nelvanna might not have approached Kiana directly, as we are told sometimes it was a representative on behalf of the goddess, but she would still have been the one doing the choosing.
Mauvais said he was imprisoned by the Sorcerer Supreme during the French Revolution. Since at the time it was believed that the Ancient One had been the only Sorcerer Supreme for the last several centuries, Mauvais and the Inua handbook profiles identified Mauvais' foe as the Ancient One. However, subsequent retcons have revealed that others took up the title of Sorcerer Supreme for periods during the Ancient One's overall reign, so there's now the possibility that Mauvais' foe was someone else.
In Alpha Flight I#64 Nelvanna and the other
Inua seem to appear to Sasquatch; this was subsequently revealed in
Alpha Flight I#67 to have been an illusion generated by the Dreamqueen.
Later, Alpha Flight I#122 the Goddess appeared to members of Alpha
Flight as Nelvanna.
Neither of these issues contain genuine appearances by Nelvanna.
Mauvais claims it was the Inua who created the Wendigo
curse, though he doesn't say if Nelvanna was involved in that particular
act. Relevant subsequent handbook entries (Wendigo, Inua, etc.) have
thus also stated this. It's worth noting however that Monsters
Unleashed#9/6 says it was the "Elder Gods," which is usually taken to
refer to a very different group, and in Amazing X-Men II#12 Tanaraq
claims credit for "forging" it. Maybe Mauvais was simply wrong about who
created it, or maybe it's some combination of all three - a lot of
curses that afflict mankind (vampirism, lycanthropy) originate with
Chthon and the Darkhold, so perhaps he devised the curse, but it was
Tanaraq who unleashed it on mankind (the version he is seen unleashing
in World War Wendigo transforms non-cannibals into Wendigo), and then
the Inua, unable to stop the curse completely, redirected it to only
afflict cannibals, rather than any innocents?
John Byrne chose to have Nelvanna be
Snowbird's mother in part because he was paying homage to another
version of the character. Nelvanna
is actually one of the earliest comic book superheroines, debuting in
Hillborough Studios Triumph-Adventure-Comics#1 in August 1941, meaning
that she predates the more famous Wonder Woman by two months. Though for
many years largely unknown outside of Canada, where her comics were
published, she remained fondly remembered there, prompting Byrne's
homage.
This profile was completed 09/11/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary's celebratory event.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Nelvanna has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Thor
and Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica, p30,
pan1 (main image)
Alpha Flight I#7/2,
p3, pan3 (headshot)
Alpha Flight I#7/2,
p3, pan1 (manifesting to Easton)
Alpha Flight I#7/2, p3, pan5 (youthful
illusion)
Alpha
Flight I#7/2, p7, pan1-2 (giving birth)
Wolverine II#172, p17, pan1 (confronting Mauvais)
Chaos War: Alpha Flight#1, p1, pan4-5 (slain by Chaos King)
Nelvanna of the Northern Lights collection cover (Bell Features'
Golden Age Nelvanna)
Appearances:
Alpha Flight I#7/2 (February 1984)
- John Byrne (writer, art), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Alpha Flight I#21 (April 1985) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Bob
Wiacek (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Alpha Flight I#23 (June 1985) -
John Byrne (writer, pencils), Bob Wiacek, Keith Williams (inks), Denny
O'Neil (editor)
Alpha Flight I#36-37 (July-August 1986) - Bill Mantlo (writer), David
Ross (pencils), Gerry Talaoc (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Alpha Flight I#45 (April 1987) - Bill Mantlo (writer), June Brigman
(pencils), Whilce Portacio (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Wolverine II#170 (January 2002) - Frank Tieri (writer), Sean Chen
(pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Wolverine II#172 (March 2002) - Frank
Tieri (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Mike Raicht
(editor)
Astonishing Tales: Snowbird#1 (November 2009) - Karl Bollers (writer),
Harvey Tolibao (art), Michael Horwitz (editor)
Chaos War: Alpha Flight#1 (January 2011) - Jim McCann (writer), Reilly
Brown (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
First Posted: 09/12/2021
Last updated: 09/11/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright
info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
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