"My name is Cressida. Ever since I was a girl, I've had this... ability to make those around me better. Faster. Stronger. I've never understood it, but..."
AVENGER X (Cressida something)
Created By: Mark Waid & Barry Kitson
First Appearance: Avengers #1 (Jan. 2017)
Role: ANOTHER Retcon Superhero
Group Affiliations: The Avengers (sorta)
PL 16 (274)
STRENGTH 1
STAMINA 3
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6
DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 4
Skills:
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+5)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 3 (+6)
Advantages:
None
Powers:
"Born With Siphoning Powers" (All Powers Linked)
"Life Siphon" Weaken Strength 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2) [36]
"Power Siphon" Affliction 16 (Powers; Dazed & Impaired Powers/Stunned & Disabled Powers/Transformed to Powerless & Controlled Powers) (Extras: Extra Condition, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) [64]
"Empower Herself & Others" Variable (Boosting Herself & Others) 10 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) [110]
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Life Siphon +12 Area (+12 Weaken, DC 22)
Power Siphon +16 Area (+16 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5
Complications:
Secret (Kills Others)- Cressida's powers only work via absorbing the life-forces of nearby people.
Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 210 / Defenses: 11 (274)
Yet Another Retcon Character:
-YYYYYYYYYYYYYUP. Sure enough, despite years of the Sentry & Blue Marvel being around, and only a year before he'd co-create Voyager, Mark Waid introduced ANOTHER "Retcon Hero", this one named Cressida. He wrote a pretty-good mini-series about the "Cap's Kooky Quartet" era of
The Avengers, detailing their early failed attempts to get along (they were handily defeated by the Frightful Four), and there was Cressida, who was discovered in Thailand- her very presence made the Quartet stronger and faster that they'd ever been before, but at a terrible cost- she absorbed the life-force of others to do it. Her entire village had died to empower the Avengers, but they didn't realize it, and asked her to join them. She quickly helped them fight an army of miniature Amateur Androids, which had the Mad Thinker repeating his old phrase, calling her an "X Factor" (ie. the reason why his calculations never work out properly)- Hawkeye thus dubs her "Avenger X".
-Fearing that they would discover her true nature, Cressida tried to sow discord among the team (warning Cap that Hawkeye could turn back to thievery, and Quicksilver that Wanda was beign seduced by fame). She framed Hawkeye for robbery and had Quicksilver injured by the Enforcers (empowering Ox to do so), but Cap decided to trust Clint's insistence that he was innocent, and tried one last shot to unite the team- they got a revenge beat-down against the Frightful Four. Cressida empowered the Sandman to ensurer an Avengers loss, but Clint lured Quicksilver (who had sat out, being a pouty bitch) back into the fray with a clever trick (pretending he was going to hurt Wanda)- the Avengers thus came together "for real" and beat the villains. Cressida was then discovered, and drained her teammates to make her getaway. The Avengers faked their deaths to lure her out in the open, and with Hank Pym immunizing them against her powers, they easily defeated her. Tossed away from the battlefield, Cressida prepared to flee, but was found by the Four, who crushed her and buried her alive.
-The purpose of the Limited Series seemed to be to make her a modern theat, as Cressida was revived in modern times when Kang did some time-stuff, but she was trapped by Iron Man & Nadia Van Dyne in the Microverse, and was thus only trouble for a single issue.
So, Huh?:
-This one is a tricky one to unpack. "Retcon Adventures" of Marvel's heroes is a pretty old-school thing, and this was a fun nostalgic look at a mostly-ignored part of Avengers history (the Quartet didn't actually last that long before the "real" Avengers returned, though all four became big-name guys on the team). Sixties throwback tales are always fun. And the characterization is solid, and I enjoyed both how the Avengers argued (it IS Marvel, after all), and how they actually 100% came together on their own in the end- like Cressida enhanced the feelings that were already there, but even her manipulations failed to work and the team united DESPITE her infestation. And despite being an "Informal Avenger" I don't think she really counts- she was just a mole the entire time, and was only there for a second. I think this wouldn't bug me if the "Retcon Teammate" thing hadn't become such a weirdly over-done cliche since the 1990s.
-That the ENTIRE THING seems designed so that she could fight the Avengers for a single issue and then get removed so easily by two heroes comes off as a complete waste, as fun as the original Mini-Series was. I have no idea what they were really going for if they were gonna write her off so quickly, though.
Cressida's Powers:
-"Avenger X" is of course in no way balanced- she can wipe out entire teams of heroes by draining their life forces AND powers, doing so simultaneously as she empowers herself. Her only losses come from heroes immune to her powers, and being surprised by the Frightful Four.