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| Surge | |
|---|---|
 Surge as depicted inNew X-Men #43 (December 2007). Art bySkottie Young. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | New Mutants (vol. 2) #8 (January 2004) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Noriko "Nori" Ashida |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | |
| Abilities |
|
Surge (Noriko "Nori" Ashida) is asuperhero appearing in theAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is depicted as amutant, a member of the student body of theXavier Institute, and a member of the formerNew Mutants squad. She maintained her powers postM-Day and was the leader of theNew X-Men.
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Surge was created byNunzio DeFilippis,Christina Weir,Keron Grant and first appeared inNew Mutants, vol. 2 #8 (January 2004).[1][2][3]She would become a main character in the monthly seriesNew X-Men Volume 2, appearing in the series from 2004 to 2008.
Surge became a member ofX-Force for theFrom the Ashes relaunch of X-Men, joining in the first issue until her death in the fifth issue.[4] In issue #10, she is resurrected as an energy being.[5]
Noriko Ashida was born in Japan. She was close to her brother, Keitaro, but she ran away from home after her powers manifested when she was thirteen years old; she claimed that her father "doesn't believe in mutants." How she came to the United States is unknown, but she ended up homeless on the streets ofSalem Center, reduced to buying illegal drugs using stolen money. With no training or practice in the use of her powers, Noriko's body automatically absorbs all nearby electricity and, once fully charged, releases it in a storm of electrical bolts. Additionally, her acceleration ability forces her to speak so quickly that no one can understand her. Though she finds no treatment for most of these problems, the drugs sedate her body enough that she can control her outbursts of electrical power. Keeping herself regularly supplied proves impossible, however, and during a robbery, Noriko accidentally hits the young owner of a coffee shop with an electric bolt. A group of young mutants finds her and brings her back to the X-Mansion. There,Beast designs gauntlets that regulate her absorption of ambient electricity and discharge as required to prevent further mental overloads.[6]
Nori becomes a student of the Xavier Institute and, when the school adopts a squad system, is assigned to theNew Mutants squad led byDanielle Moonstar. She is forced to share a room withDust; the two young women disagree upon the role of women and theMuslim traditions that Dust follows.[7] Though initially hostile to the mutants who took her off the street -David Alleyne,Josh Foley,Sofia Mantega, andLaurie Collins - she soon comes to accept them as her friends.[8][9]
David asksEmma Frost to remove a mental block in his mind inhibiting him from recalling all the information and skills he has acquired. David sees a possible future in which he becomes the world's foremost genius, marries Noriko, and leads to her death. Disturbed, David begins to avoid her. Annoyed at such treatment, Nori ultimately confronts David, which leads to the two becoming an active couple.[10]
Noriko retains her powers after the events of "House of M". Withonly 27 students retaining their powers, Emma Frost orders the depowered students and staff, including Nori's advisorDanielle Moonstar, to leave the institute. As it departs, one bus of depowered students is bombed by anti-mutant zealot ReverendWilliam Stryker, killing all on board. Though depowered, David is not killed, and he and Nori further their romantic relationship.[11] Most of the remaining students are organized into a melee fight to determine who will join Emma Frost'sX-Men-in-training. Nori is chosen by Frost to be the team's leader. Soon afterwards, Nori receives new, lighter, and more effective gauntlets fromForge.[volume & issue needed]
Caught in an argument over the rescue ofMercury, Surge andHellion are the only students that are not teleported toLimbo.Trance uses her powers to get a message to the two, informing them that the Institute students were taken into Limbo byBelasco, and that Belasco killed David. Coordinating withO*N*E*, Surge and Hellion discover thatAmanda Sefton has been expelled from Limbo and is in a coma in Germany. Surge becomes impulsive and angry at David's death, threatening the O*N*E* troopers when they attempt to block her from seeing Sefton, using her electrical powers to revive the sorceress despite the risks.[12] At the behest of Lexington, Megaton's pilot, Surge and Hellion stop fighting demons and head for the castle. Surge leads the united Xavier Institute students against the demonic hordes, engaging the twisted sorcerer in single combat before Belasco is killed byPixie and Darkchild. The institute is returned to Earth, at Santo's insistence.[volume & issue needed]
After their return from Limbo, Surge finds out fromX-23 the torture David went through in Limbo. In hopes of driving him away from the school and out of harm's way, Surge kisses Hellion in front of David and the other students.[13] After confronting her of the incident, she insists that she no longer loves him and pleads that he should leave the institute. This backfires, as David regains his memories of the knowledge he once had and copied up until he lost his power with the help of theStepford Cuckoos. David decides to both stay at the Institute and end their relationship.[14]
Following the dissolution of the X-Men, Surge runs to Colorado, seeking help from Dani Moonstar. Nori is overwhelmed by the pain she has endured as a New X-Man and does not know how to cope. Nori realizes that her fear of being hurt has affected her judgment and driven her actions over the past months.[15] She later officially joins the X-Men based out of San Francisco: she is seen working on one of the street crime patrols.[16]
Surge is later kidnapped along withBoom-Boom and Hellion by theLeper Queen and her Sapien League. The Leper Queen injects her with a modified version of theLegacy Virus.[17]X-Force rescues their friends after completing their mission. Elixir is able to cure Surge before she could destroy the UN.[18]
The reader next sees Surge defending the Golden Gate bridge during the 'Second Coming' event in whichBastion assaults the X-Men, who is in search of the 'Mutant Messiah'Hope Summers. Once again Nori is devastated when yet another teammate is injured duringNimrod's attack, destroying the hands ofHellion. Plunged into the waters ofSan Francisco Bay by Bastion's last ditch attack, Nori witnesses Hope emerge as the Mutant Messiah.[19]
InX-Force (2024), Surge joins the eponymous group. The team comes into conflict withNuklo, who disrupts the Nexus of All Realities and forces Surge to sacrifice herself to stabilize it.[2][4][20][21] Shortly afterward, she is resurrected as an energy being composed ofplasma.[5]
Surge absorbs electricity continuously, from sources like static in the air, electrical appliances, and outlets, often causing lights to flicker. She can't control the absorption, requiring her to wear specially designed gauntlets to regulate it. Surge can discharge the energy through powerful lightning-like blasts or channel it into bursts of superhuman speed. If she absorbs too much energy, it causes mental overloads, making her speak too fast, scatter her thinking, and worsen her control over the blasts.[3]
Very forthright and strong-minded, Nori often clashes with her peers and superiors, from nearly getting into a brawl with Hellion after he insulted Prodigy's baseline status post-M-Day,[22] and challenging Cyclops' assertion that the students are safe at the institute (this taking place immediately after a series of devastating attacks by thePurifiers).[23] Nori also considers herself a feminist, attacking Dust's choice of garb as a betrayal of women's rights when the two are roomed together.
Regardless, Nori is a loyal figure, dedicated to her friends and increasingly feeling the responsibilities placed upon her as the leader of the New X-Men. Surge was particularly incensed by Hellion's decision to rescue Mercury from the Faculty without backup, taking it upon herself to mold the team into an effective unit capable of defending the rest of the students. She has trouble welcoming X-23 back to the team after the latter's involvement in X-Force, possibly due to how the latter seemingly does not have to take responsibility for what she did as part of that team, in comparison to her own mounting responsibilities.[24]Christopher Yost has stated that, "Surge is the right candidate, because she wants it the least. And you'll see, it's taking a big toll on her. Being a leader when you're doing team sports and field day exercises is one thing, but leading when the stakes are life and death is another thing."[25]
An alternate universe variant of Noriko Ashida from Earth-58163 appears in theHouse of M tie-inNew X-Men: Academy X. This version is a member of the Hellions, a group of junior S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the daughter of a human terrorist father, who she was separated from at a young age. Due to his involvement during one of the group's missions, Nori is ousted from the Hellions and replaced with Magic. Nonetheless, she recruits help from students of the New Mutant Leadership Institute in traveling to Japan, where they encounter Project Genesis.[26]
An alternate universe variant of Noriko Ashida fromEarth-6160 appears inUltimate X-Men (2024).[27][28][29][30][31]
