Once he was Arthur Douglas, a so-so jazz musician, as I recall. He ended up dying next to a burning car in the desert between Vegas and Reno. He was my father. I was with him that time, also. But death wasn't the end for dad, just the terrible beginning. There was this cosmic entity named Kronos who needed a champion to keep Thanos in line. He grabbed my dad's soul and used it to animate his hero. So pop became the lumbering behemoth known as Drax the Destroyer. I guess even back then part of me still loved the guy. Didn't stop me, though, from killing him a second time. 
- —Moondragon[src]
History
Early Life
When Heather Douglas was still a girl, she was in the car with her parents when they happened to be on the path of Thanos' spaceship. Not wanting to risk having been seen, the mad titan, destroyed the car, killing both her parents.[15] Alone, she was found by the Eternal Mentor, who took her to his home, Titan. However, since he couldn't raise her himself, he left her to be raised by the Shao-Lorn monks in their monastery.[1]
Training in the monastery
While there, Heather studied the Titans' ways and disciplines to perfect her physical prowess and unlock her latent psychic potential. She far exceeded the expectations and pushed her training to areas beyond her teachers' expertise without telling them. In a deep meditation state, she encountered the Dragon of the Moon, an evil entity responsible for the destruction of countless civilizations and who was now hoping to find a vessel to escape. With great effort, Douglas was able to confront it and, in her arrogance, thought she had put a full stop to his plans, but a portion of its being had actually seeped into her mind. Little by little, the Dragon of the Moon began corrupting Douglas and slowly she acquired a god complex. Upon finishing her formal studies, she took the name Moondragon in commemoration of her perceived victory. Later, when Thanos attacked Titan, destroying the monastery, Moondragon was once again the sole survivor. Seeking vengeance, she then escaped in her spaceship and fled to Earth.[1][16]
Avengers
Back on her homeworld, she began assessing Earth's defenses: Calling herself "Madame MacEvil", she forced Iron Man to battle Namor until her ship crashed into the ocean.[2][1]
Reading Daredevil's mind
Realizing she had an ally in Iron Man and the Kree Mar-Vell, both stationed in the US, Moondragon decided to stay there, studying the locals. In time, she came to believe that San Francisco was controlled by Thanos, and used Titanian technology to empower individuals that would help her "cleanse" the city, among them Angar the Screamer, but once she met Daredevil and read his mind, she realized the error of her actions.[1] The duo then fought to fix Moondragon's mistakes and, after enlisting the help of Black Widow and Mar-Vell, they succeeded in their endeavor.[17] During this time, Daredevil and Moondragon became infatuated with each other, but Douglas pushed him away, claiming they were on different levels from one another.[7]
Next in her ongoing search for allies against Thanos, Moondragon joined Mar-Vell to meet his hero friends, the Avengers, and soon after they got there everyone was transported by Thanos to Titan to avoid postponing their confrontation any longer. Thanos, who was at the time holding the reality-bending Cosmic Cube, easily defeated the heroes and ascended to godhood.[18] Nonetheless, the heroes kept fighting and thanks to Mar-Vell and Drax the Destroyer (actually Moondragon's father reborn), Thanos was defeated.[19] In time, Moondragon would also learn of Drax's origin.[20]
With the Avengers
Afterwards, Moondragon felt she was needed on Earth[21] and paid the Avengers a visit.[22] She soon found herself as one of the candidates to be the "Celestial Madonna", who was prophesied to give birth to a universal savior, but she ultimately lost to Mantis, much to her disgrace.[23] Afterwards, she remained with the Avengers in a probationary position,[24] eventually meeting Patricia Walker, who became the heroine Hellcat.[25] Even though Walker wanted to join the Avengers, Moondragon convinced her to accompany her to Titan and be trained instead, so neither woman joined the team, something which some members considered a blessing due to Moondragon's arrogance and attitude of superiority.[26]
Moondragon was later present when the Avengers confronted Korvac; her powers allowed her to see into his mind while they fought, and she sympathized with him, staying out of the battle until Korvac dejected and committed suicide.[27]
New Defenders
Moondragon left Earth with her father and found a planet immersed in war, so she decided to take mental control of all its inhabitants to force them to live in peace. This caused her to believe herself to be like a goddess. When Drax confronted her, she killed him with her mental powers. The Avengers intervened, and Thor took her before a real god -- his father, Odin -- to be judged.[14] Odin perceived within Moondragon a stalwart but tainted spirit. He condemned her to wear a magical headband that would reduce her mental powers until she had overcome her arrogance. He also assigned the Valkyrie to be her guardian.[28]
Wearing the headband
When Valkyrie rejoined the Defenders, Moondragon was forced to go along.[28] She soon discovered that the Dragon of the Moon had been influencing her all along. She managed to reject it fully, and for the first time, started to gain friends in the team; eventually, the headband came loose by itself.[29] Unfortunately, soon after she was infected with mutated spores and started to die; the Dragon appeared again and told her it could save her life, but only if she agreed to be its host. She accepted, and, now an evil being, battled the Defenders, until four of them sacrificed themselves to kill both her and the Dragon.[30][31]
Back to Life
Heather's soul managed to survive, and, now free from the Dragon again, contacted a cousin of hers. Through her, she was able to obtain a new body for herself: a clone created on Titan. For a while, she and her cousin, who became the heroine Sundragon, adventured together in space.[32]
After Quasar was appointed Protector of the Universe, Moondragon insinuated herself into his life. She was convinced that, in time, Quasar would realize they were eminently qualified to be the universe's most cosmic coupling. Quasar, however, asserted that qualifications have nothing to do with feelings and rebuffed her. She eventually got the message and lost interest in him.[33]
When Adam Warlock sought people to help him safeguard the Infinity Gems, he chose Moondragon to keep the Mind Gem, but only after erecting safeguards so she could not exploit the gem's full power. Still, she agreed to join his team, the Infinity Watch.[34] The gem was eventually stolen by Rune.[35]
Helping Genis and Marlo
Moondragon later became an associate of Genis-Vell (the son of the late Mar-Vell), determined to help him control his cosmic awareness.[36] However, Genis proved to be very impulsive and impatient when it came to learning how to improve his control over his powers, so Moondragon secretly placed psychic dampers in his mind. Although, she did eventually come clean about it, in order to continue his training.[37]
During this time, she met Marlo Chandler, the wife of Rick Jones (whom Genis was bonded to),[38] and, after it was revealed that she had been merged with the entity Death, Moondragon told her she had nowhere else to go and asked her if she could stay with her. While, in reality she just wanted to monitor any effects of her time merged with Death, which as she expected eventually caused trouble that forced Moondragon to intervene.[39][40] What Moondragon didn't expect was that the two would grow emotionally close, something that resulted in the two sharing a passionate kiss.[41]
The unexpected kiss
When Rick found out about it, the couple decided to take a break as Marlo and Moondragon left together to try and figure out their feelings for one another.[8]
Marlo slowly realized that Rick was still the first person she thought of in times of need,[42] and eventually she and Moondragon broke up.[43] Heartbroken, Moondragon lied to her and Rick by telling them she had subconsciously used her telepathy to enamor Marlo, hoping that this would make it easier for them to patch things up. Genis' sister Phyla overheard the whole thing and, knowing the truth, told Moondragon she thought it was charming, proceeding to invite her to defend the galaxy by her side.[44] The two later attended the trial of Starfox together.[45]
Annihilation Wars
While Moondragon and Phyla-Vell were visiting the graves of Mar-Vell and Genis-Vell, Thanos appeared and kidnapped Moondragon, using her as a hostage to draw out Drax the Destroyer for an unknown purpose. He also used her to read Annihilus' mind, learning that the Lord of the Negative Zone intended to use the captive Galactus to destroy all life in both their universe and his dominion. This revelation prompted Thanos to decide to free Galactus and turn against Annihilus, but Drax killed him before he could do so. Thankfully, Drax was able to coerce the Silver Surfer into releasing his master. The Devourer of Worlds then teleported to safety as he destroyed a great portion of the Annihilation Wave.[46]
Quasar and Heather in her draconic form
Surviving the Annihilation Wave, and with her ear regrown by the Priests of Pama, Heather and Phyla (now Quasar) took on the mission to find "the savior" to free the Kree Empire from the Phalanx. During the adventure, the Dragon of the Moon changed Heather into a draconic form, intending to take full control of her body within weeks. Despite the fact that Heather would never be able to return to human form, Phyla remained by her lover's side.[47] Their time together was ultimately cut short as the leader of the Phalanx, Ultron, killed her by plunging his arm into her chest. Heather died in Phyla's arms[48] and her soul was sent to Oblivion inside the Dragon of the Moon.[49]
Guardians of the Galaxy
As part of a plan to give Death a new avatar, Maelstrom manipulated the former Drax and Phyla into taking interest in bringing Heather back to life. They sought Mentor's help and he killed them so their souls would be sent to Oblivion to rescue Heather's. In order to save her lover, Phyla accepted to become the new avatar of Death and rescued Heather from within the Dragon with her newfound powers. Heather was subsequently resurrected in a cloned body on Titan for the second time.[50] Drax and Phyla (now Martyr) later rejoined the Guardians of the Galaxy, bringing Moondragon with them.[51]
With the Guardians
With Phyla's apparent death at the hands of Adam Magus,[52] Moondragon took it upon herself to become a field agent for the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, she became host to an alien parasite originating in a parallel universe across the Fault, a time-space tear created by Black Bolt's Terrigen Bomb. She was biometrically cuffed by Cynosure, who intended to have the creature tried for killing one of her fellow Luminals. To make things worse, members of the Universal Church of Truth kidnapped Moondragon and Cynosure, seeing the parasite as a god whom they intended to birth. Luckily, the Guardians and Luminals mounted a joint rescue attempt and extracted the two. With the help of Knowhere's medical staff, they were able to remove the organism from Moondragon. During these experiences, Moondragon had visions of a cocoon and Phyla being alive.[53] Sadly, Phyla was killed by a resurrected Thanos, which caused Heather to lash out at him before Star-Lord subdued the Mad Titan with a Cosmic Cube.[54]
Despite wanting Thanos dead, Moondragon assisted Mantis in keeping the Mad Titan in check while probing his mind to find out why he had returned to the world of the living. After Adam Magus detonated the Church converted worlds to open the Fault further, Thanos managed to escape captivity and attacked the Guardians,[55] but was soon subdued again. Afterwards, the Guardians decided to take Thanos to the universe on the far side of the Fault in order to stop its invasion of their reality.[56] They ultimately succeeded in their endeavor, but it cost them the lives of Drax, Star-Lord, and Nova.[57]
Knowhere Corps outfit
Moondragon, Mantis, and Bug left the Guardians and eventually joined a new team called the Knowhere Corps. They apprehended Yotat the Destroyer after the Guardians had dealt with him.[58] The team seemingly disbanded with the destruction of Knowhere,[59] which the Black Order stole in order to attack the reading of the last will and testament of Thanos.[60]
Not long afterward, Heather came to learn that a more heroic alternate counterpart of herself from Reality-18897 had become displaced to her reality. In addition to having joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, Heather discovered that this Moondragon was accompanied by her world's own version of Phyla-Vell. Fueling Heather's feelings of abandonment and inadequacy, the Dragon of the Moon corrupted Heather and pushed her to seek out this other version of herself.[61] When the Guardians of the Galaxy split up over Star-Lord's aparent death during a mission against the Olympians, Gamora formed her own Guardians team to return to their mercenary ways, and Moondragon joined it.[62]
The team's first mission, an assignment for Castor Gnawbarque III, pitted the two Guardians teams against each other.[62] Moondragon took advantage of this clash to personally confront her counterpart out of spite and out of jealousy. The heroic Moondragon was victorious in their duel of the mind, but she decided to merge with her counterpart as a way to console her by sharing everything she had.[61]
Two Heathers in One
This gesture caused the other Moondragon's Phyla-Vell to become distant toward the composite Moondragon, since she felt uncomfortable that her wife's soul had merged with somebody that was virtually a stranger to her,[63] and didn't know where "her" Heather ended and the other one began.[64] During the Guardians' final fight against the Olympians, who were heralded by the returned Star-Lord, Moondragon was telepathically attacked by Hermes. Managing to enter into Moondragon's mindscape, Phyla professed that she wished to know and love the entirety of the new Moodragon, both patching up their relationship and giving Moondragon the necessary boost to defeat Hermes.[65]
Attributes
 |
Powers
Psionics: Heather Douglas is an extraordinary telepath, most notable during her complete mental enslavement of an entire warring planet of people.[66] Douglas' mental psionic powers include:
- Telepathy: Douglas possesses the ability to contact sentient minds both organic and mechanical based, as well as cosmic beings such as Galactus. Her telepathic abilities include mind-control, mental attacks, mental shielding, personality alteration, memory erasure, memory modification. Douglas telepathic range is almost limitless, as she is able to contact minds across a solar system without enhancement devices such as Xavier's Cerebro.[citation needed]
- Telekinesis: Douglas's telekinetic range is low to moderate as she can only demonstrated the ability to levitate herself and a few others at the same time. Douglas can "push" her telekinetic ability on herself to attain flight or use it offensively as powerful concussive blasts.[citation needed]
- Dragon Form: For a time, Moondragon gained the ability to assume the form of her namesake: A superhumanly strong and durable dragon, capable of faster-than-light speed travel and surviving in outer space without air.[67] It is unknown whether or not she retains this ability.
She was stated to have a "planetary" threat level by the Nova Corps.[68]
Abilities
Genius Scientist: Douglas is an expert in various advanced Titanian sciences as well as Earth human sciences. She was able to give powers to Ramrod and Angar the Screamer,[1] and was able to give Daredevil his eyesight back.[69]
Master Martial Artist: Douglas is a superb alien hand-to-hand combatant, trained by the Titanian monks of Shao-Lom who were veteran practitioners in martial arts. Having trained herself to be as strong as one of her size and weight can be without having superhuman strength, Douglas is well versed in pressure points. And she has even defeated Mantis,[70] Psylocke,[71] and Captain America[72] in hand-to-hand combat.
Aviation: Douglas is a skilled starship pilot.[2]
Nervous System Control: Mental and physical disciplines gave her improved control over her autonomic body functions, including those of heartbeat, bleeding, breathing, and pain reception.[73]
Weaknesses
Most of Douglas' superhuman abilities are based on her ability to concentrate.[74] If Douglas is distracted or unable to focus her mind to accomplish an event, she can be rendered completely mentally powerless, as shown when Rick Jones held her captive with a pair of headphones pumping heavy metal tracks.[75]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
At one point, Moondragon was charged with protecting one of the Infinity Gems: the "mind gem". The artifact enhanced her psionic powers by an undefined degree.[34]
Weapons
Douglas uses conventional weapons such as staffs and bullet guns as well as exotic weapons such as plasma weapons.[citation needed]
Transportation
Various including the Starship Sensia.[citation needed]
Notes
- Heather's hair color as a child was originally blonde,[1] although more recent retellings have her origin have depicted her hair with a darker tone.[76][77]
Trivia
- Douglas is not naturally bald. Douglas shaves her head preferring to be bald, though has worn short hair in the past.[citation needed]
- Just like Mantis, Heather was also a candidate to become the "Celestial Madonna", but failed, since she didn't live as a true human.[23]
See Also
- 322 appearance(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 22 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 50 minor appearance(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 29 mention(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 15 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 175 image(s) of Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
- 14 quotation(s) by or about Heather Douglas (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Daredevil #105
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Iron Man #54
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #10
- ↑ Avengers #211
- ↑ Annihilation #4
- ↑ She-Hulk Vol 2 #12
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Daredevil #108
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Captain Marvel Vol 4 #35
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #4
- ↑ Quasar #11
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Avengers Vol 3 #2
- ↑ Solo Avengers #16
- ↑ Annihilation #2
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Avengers #219-220
- ↑ Captain Marvel #32
- ↑ Defenders #138
- ↑ Daredevil #106-107
- ↑ Captain Marvel #31
- ↑ Captain Marvel #32-33
- ↑ Thor #314
- ↑ Avengers #133
- ↑ Avengers #134-135
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Giant-Size Avengers #4
- ↑ Avengers #137-138
- ↑ Avengers #144
- ↑ Avengers #151
- ↑ Avengers #176-177
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Defenders #125
- ↑ Defenders #138-139
- ↑ New Defenders #140-144
- ↑ New Defenders #151-152
- ↑ Solo Avengers #16-20
- ↑ Quasar #11-29
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2
- ↑ Rune/Silver Surfer #1
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #4-7
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #20
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #15
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #23
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #31
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #32
- ↑ Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel #1
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 5 #19-24
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 5 #25
- ↑ She-Hulk Vol 2 #12-13
- ↑ Annihilation #2-6
- ↑ Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar #1-4
- ↑ Annihilation: Conquest #3
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #11
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #11-12
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #13
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #19
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #20-24
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 #25
- ↑ Thanos Imperative: Ignition #1
- ↑ Thanos Imperative #1
- ↑ Thanos Imperative #2-6
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 4 #5
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 5 #6
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 5 #1
- ↑ 61.0 61.1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #5
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #3
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #7
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #11
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 #12
- ↑ Avengers #220
- ↑ Annihilation: Conquest #2
- ↑ Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files #1
- ↑ Daredevil #106
- ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #25
- ↑ Infinity War #4
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #27
- ↑ New Defenders #143
- ↑ Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ Captain Marvel Vol 4 #6
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #11
- ↑ Infinity Wars: Fallen Guardian #1
- ↑ Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 7
