| Dr. Kavita Rao | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #1 (July 2004) |
| Created by | Joss Whedon (writer) John Cassaday (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | X-Club Benetech |
| Partnerships | Ord of the Breakworld |
| Notable aliases | Vita |
| Abilities | Genius-level intellect, Master geneticist |
Dr. Kavita "Vita" Rao is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Kavita Rao first appeared in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #1 (July 2004), and was created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. She is an accomplished human geneticist that developed a "cure" for mutants. She later assists the X-Men as a resident scientist in the X-Club, becoming a major human ally of mutants. [1]
Shohreh Aghdashloo portrays Rao in X-Men: The Last Stand. [2]
Kavita Rao first appeared in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #1 (July 2004), and was created by Joss Whedon [3] and John Cassaday.
Kavita Rao is a world-renowned geneticist from India who developed a serum (later called "Hope") to "cure" mutants, removing their powers. She explains that she regards the mutant gene as a 'corruption' of healthy tissue, and justifies her research by looking at mutants who committed suicide or hurt others because of their powers, such as a female mutant with a butterfly-like appearance or Tildie Soames (a child whose nightmares can manifest into monsters). [4] [5]
Hundreds of mutants immediately sign up for the procedure at Benetech, Rao's corporate backer. The X-Men debate the merits of the cure and the significance of labeling the mutant condition a disease. The chance at shedding his "beastly" appearance and avoiding any further secondary mutations is appealing to Hank McCoy (aka Beast), who considers taking the serum. Wolverine objects, stating that an X-Man taking the serum would be the equivalent of admitting that there was something to 'cure' in the first place.[ volume & issue needed ]
It is later revealed that Rao has been working for the alien Ord, who has been holding Colossus captive. The X-Men defeat Ord and Benetech, and Ord is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. Rao's work is destroyed by Wolverine, leaving Hank with the last sample of the Hope serum.[ volume & issue needed ]
Rao is among the individuals to whom Beast offers to 'sell his soul' for a means to undo the effects of M-Day, when the Scarlet Witch removed the powers of most mutants on Earth. [6] When Beast proposes they go back in time to obtain the DNA sample of the parents of a mutant, Rao questions why they must all go when Beast says it is one of the perks of the job. She travels back with the rest of the X-Club and Psylocke to the year 1906. [7] During the events of Utopia , Rao helps raise Asteroid M from the bottom of the ocean. [8] [9]
When Cable and Hope Summers return to the present, Bastion begins to set his plan in motion in exterminating the mutant race. Thanks to the New Mutants, they discover he has erected towers in certain points around San Francisco. Cyclops sends the X-Club to investigate. [10] Upon arriving on one of his oil platforms where one of these towers is located, they come across a timer which goes off. [11] When the timer hits zero, the group is transported to a dystopian future. They meet a now human Hank McCoy, who warns them to keep Rao safe at all costs. Hank reveals that Hope's powers grew out of control and he needs Rao to recreate her Hope serum to change the past. After some convincing, Rao reveals she kept an encrypted copy of the formula on her Mala bracelet and they go to Utopia to take out Hope. However, it is revealed that the dystopian future is a lie created by Graydon Creed using holographic technology. Rao reveals that she knew of the deception and created an unstable pyrovirus to destroy the oil platform. [12] [13] [14]
Following the events of Second Coming , Rao is seen with Doctor Nemesis checking on Jubilee after she becomes a vampire. [15] While the rest of the X-Men meet to discuss the vampire problem, Rao goes to check on Jubilee, only to be knocked unconscious. [16]
She chaperoned the young mutants of Utopia to the Avengers Compound during the Avengers vs X-Men event. [17] After the dissolution of Utopia and the X-Club, Kavita became a staff member of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
Rao at one point examined Cindy Shears (Rhinoceress) a girl with a mutation "adjacent but legally distinct" from the X-Gene. Rao dubbed this the "Rao Factor". [18] [19]
In the "Age of X" reality, Kavita Rao is branded as a traitor to humanity for allying with the mutants, helping Wolverine eliminate an anti-mutant toxin. [20]
The dream and the voice belong to a young girl named Tildie Soames - a mutant whose horrifying power manifested when she was just a child. Tildie's mutant power is that her nightmares come to life. She sat inside the monster her own imagination created as she killed first her sleeping mother, then her father, and finally a police officer who had been called to the scene. The nightmare images in the opening pages of the story are merely a memory. Dr. Kavita Rao has cured the child with her newly developed Hope Serum.