Superheroes Assemble!

A: Aurora

Aurora

Real Name: Jeanne-Maim Beaubier
Occupation: Former teacher of history and geography, adventurer
Identity: Secret known to certain Canadian government officials
Legal Status: Canadian citizen with no criminal record
Former Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Jean-Paul Beaubier (Northstar), brother
Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight
Base of Operation: LaVene, Quebec, Canada
First Appearance: X-MEN #120

History: Jeanne-Marie Beaubier and her twin brother Jean-Paul were separated in infancy after their parents were killed under circumstances yet to be revealed. Jean-Paul was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Martin, who were cousins of his mother. The Martins could not afford to adopt Jeanne-Marie as well, however, and so they arranged for her to be raised at Madame DuPont's School for Girls in LaVelle, Quebec, and a reactionary religious school. Soon afterward the Martins moved to Northern Quebec. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were killed in an accident several years later and Jean-Paul was placed in a foster home, unaware that he had a sister.

Extremely nervous and introverted, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier was miserable at Madame DuPont's School, and, at the age of thirteen, she attempted suicide by throwing herself from the roof of one of the school's buildings. Instead of falling to her death, however, Beaubier discovered that she could fly at great speed. Unaware that she was a superhumanly powerful mutant, the deeply reilgous Beaubier believed that her flight was the result of a divine miracle. The next morning she explained to the school's headmistress, Soeur Anne, what she believed had happened. Believing the young girl to be guilty of blasphemy, Soeur Anne had Beaubier severely disciplined through means including corporal punishment. This incident triggered schizophrenia in the young woman. A second personality, extroverted and far more uninhibited, emerged. Under the influence of this second personality, Beaubier secretly left the school that same night. On returning three days later, she had no memory of where she had been or what she had done, and she was again physically punished. The resulting trauma was so great that Beaubier repressed her second personality for the next five years.

At the end of that time, Beaubier's application to become a teacher at the school was accepted. By this time Beaubier had adjusted to life at the school, and her everyday personality was that of a prim, proper, repressed woman. But the same night that her application was accepted, her second personality re-emerged, and she left to enjoy herself in Montreal. Confronted by muggers, she knocked one unconscious by moving at superhuman speeds.

This was the first time that she had used her superhuman powers in five years. The second mugger was halted by Wolverine, who had witnessed the attempted assault. Recognizing that Beaubier had superhuman powers, Wolverine invited her to go to Ottawa to meet James MacDonald Hudson, who was organizing a team of superhumanly powerful agents for the Canadian government's Department H. Hudson accepted her as a recruit and reunited her with her brother. After a period of training, both Beaubier siblings joined the team that Hudson created, Alpha Flight, under the code names Aurora and Northstar.

Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, however, continues to have a split personality. She may unexpectedly shift from one of her personalities to the other. Each personality thinks of the other as if it belonged to an entirely different person. As Jeanne-Marie the teacher, Beaubier has little memory of her activities as Aurora. Each personality strongly dislikes the other. Fear or despair will sometimes cause Aurora to shift back into her Jeanne-Made / teacher persona.

Recently, Beaubier underwent still further personality changes. For a time her "Aurora" and "Jeanne-Marie" personae have each manifested traits of the other, while nevertheless remaining distinctly separate personalities. Most of the time now, she manifests a third personality, which is basically Aurora's, but with more of a sense of responsibility than before. Whether or not Beaubiers split personality will continue to evolve remains to be seen. Dr. Walter Langkowski, the physicist who as Sasquatch was a member of Alpha Flight, performed an experiment in molecular rearrangement upon Beaubier which altered her superhuman abilities. It brought about three specific changes. First, it enabled her to create a bright light without being in physical contact with her brother Northstar. Second, it greatly reduced the potential limits of her superhuman speed. Third, according to Langkowski, it made it impossible for present day technology to detect that she is a mutant.

Height: 5 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Aurora possesses the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height, and build who engages in regular intensive exercise.

Known Superhuman Powers: Aurora is a mutant who possesses the ability to propel her body at superhuman speed, becoming a living projectile. Through an act of concentration, Aurora can channel a portion of the kinetic energy of the atomic motion in her body's molecules in a single direction. This can accelerate her body in a velocity in direct proportion to the amount of kinetic energy she has tapped. It was once theoretically possible for her to reach 99% of the speed of light (286,272 miles per second in a vacuum), although she never traveled at anywhere near that speed since if she did, she would wreak great damage upon herself end her environment. Dr. Langkowski's actions in molecularly restructuring Aurora's body greatly reduced the potential limits of her speed. She now can move at speeds roughly up to the speed of sound (about 770 miles per hour at sea level). This reduction has made little difference in the use of her powers over short distances, since she can still move faster than the human eye can follow.

Aurora can generate from her body a bright white light equivalent at maximum intensity to half million-foot candles. Originally she could only generate light when in physical contact with her brother Northstar. However, Dr. Walter Langkowski's molecular restructuring of her body has enabled her to generate light on her own. She does so by varying the rate of acceleration of the molecules of her body out of phase with one another, thereby generating a cascade of photonic discharges. Should she link hands with Northstar, they could together generate a light equivalent to a lighthouse beacon (one million foot candles) by each sibling's varying the rate of acceleration of his or her own molecules out of phase with those of the other's. Aurora can project the light she generates in any direction for a number of offensive effects.

As a side effect of partially robbing her molecules of their atomic motion, the binding forces within and between the molecules increase. This enhances the sheer toughness of Aurora's entire body. This effect gives her skin enough durability to withstand the ravages of wind, friction and air turbulence. Aurora's costume is made of special materials to enable it to withstand these conditions as well.

Aurora can also move a portion of her body at superhuman speed at a time. Hence, she can overpower an opponent by hitting him repeatedly at superhuman speed with her fist. To hover in mid-air Aurora applies thrust downward in a carefully controlled manner.

When carrying another, unprotected human being aloft, Aurora does not move faster than 60 miles per hour in order that her "passenger" may be able to breathe easily (Aurora herself can breathe at somewhat higher rates due to training) and so that the "passenger" will not suffer harm from wind, friction, or air turbulence.

NOTE: Although she does not wear a mask, Beaubier is able to keep her identity as Aurora secret by not allowing herself to be photographed while in costume if she can help it, and by moving so swiftly in public that she cannot be positively identified.