M, or Penance (Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix), is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is primarily depicted in association with the X-Men.
Monet St. Croix was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and is the second child of Afro-Monégasque ambassador Cartier St. Croix and his Algerian wife.[1] Monet was raised Muslim and grew up pompous and spoiled as a result of being the favored child of her father.[2] Monet's brother Marius, also known as Emplate, is banished from the St. Croix home shortly after his mother's death, but returns after learning dark magic and requests that Monet join him in conquering another dimension. Monet rejects Marius' offer, leading him to transform her into a creature dubbed Penance. Monet's younger twin sisters, Nicole and Claudette, banish Emplate to another dimension. Monet follows Emplate in an attempt to return herself to normal, but is enslaved, becoming a regular source of bone marrow for Emplate.[3]
Afraid their father would break down after the loss of his favorite child, Nicole and Claudette decide to impersonate her in their fused form. This version of Monet would have been identical to the original, but shares Claudette's autism, occasionally leaving her in catatonic stupors. While the twins are impersonating their sister, they are among the mutants captured by the alien Phalanx.[4]
Generation X
After being rescued from the Phalanx by Banshee and Emma Frost, the mutants form the team Generation X, with Banshee and Frost training them. Shortly after the school opens, Banshee, Synch, and Jubilee go to the airport to welcome Chamber, who has just arrived from London. The twins remain at the school and are reunited with Gateway, who they are glad to see and address as "Mentor". However, Gateway's return serves to warn them of the return of their evil brother. The twins convince Gateway to teleport them, Husk, Skin, and Frost to the airport, where Emplate has already managed to absorb the powers of Chamber and Banshee.
Rather than face the full might of Generation X, Emplate decides to retreat. The twins try to stop him from fleeing, but are forced to stop by Frost. Shortly after returning to the school, Gateway reappears on the front lawn with Monet, who is still trapped in the form of Penance.[5] Penance attempts to escape the school grounds, but is stopped by Chamber, who manages to calm her down.[6]
Claudette enters one of her trances during a xenobiology midterm given by visiting professor Beast. Beast is fascinated when Claudette re-emerges from the trance, having built a detailed origami structure out of her test paper, and recognizes that she is autistic.[7] Though Banshee and Frost discuss treatment options and try to talk Monet into seeing a doctor, she refuses to go. Banshee chases her into the sky, where she tearfully describes having been poked and prodded by numerous doctors as a child and begs him not to make her go through that again. Banshee agrees, though Frost insists that Monet simply manipulated him to avoid her problems.[8]
After the Generation X team is transported to a small island, Monet and Chamber try to protect their teammates, but Monet soon exhausts herself and falls into the ocean. The team is then transported to a world where their dreams are have been realized: Chamber's body is restored and he is dating Husk; Synch and Jubilee are in love and run a camp for kids; and Emplate is restored to the kind brother that Monet once knew. Skin, however, is tied to a pole because he will not make a request to Glorian, who rescued the team. Skin eventually convinces Glorian to send the team home, though Glorian assumes this means Skin's home of Los Angeles and sends the team there.[9]
M/Penance/M-Twins
Monet St.Croix, Art by Joe Madureira
Skin leads the team through East Los Angeles in search of his cousin Gil. Skin's ex-girlfriend Tores, tipped off by Operation: Zero Tolerance, corners the team in hopes of killing Skin. Prime Sentinels soon destroy the house, with Generation X, Gil, and Tores barely escaping. Meanwhile, Banshee, Emma Frost, and Penance intercept a distress call from the X-Men, who have been shot down by Operation: Zero Tolerance, and head to Frost's home. They are met by Emplate's henchman D.O.A., who arranges a deal: Emplate will reveal Monet's location in exchange for Penance.[10] After being attacked by Prime Sentinels, Synch synchronizes with Monet and learns her nature as a gestalt being. Gil sets off a huge explosion to destroy the hideout and the Sentinels, which separates Nicole and Claudette and leaves them comatose.[11]
Soon after, Emplate returns and fuses with the M-twins, creating a new persona called "M-Plate". When the three of them separate, the twins finally learn what their brother did to Monet. Synch convinces Nicole to reveal the truth to the rest of the team. The twins merge with Monet, restoring her human form.[3]
Returning to normal, the traumatized M becomes self-reliant and outwardly harsh and defensive to make up for her fear and insecurity, causing her to clash with many of her Generation X teammates. The only person she allows to see her vulnerabilities is Synch, with whom she starts a brief romantic relationship. When Emplate returns, Jubilee causes an explosion which separates the twins and makes Penance a separate entity.[12]
Final days of Generation X
Synch dies in Monet's arms
When Monet returns, she and Synch continue to grow close. Monet is devastated when Synch sacrifices himself to stop a bomb placed in the academy by Emma Frost's sister Adrienne.[13] After the incident, the team questions Emma's leadership abilities after learning that she has killed Adrienne in retribution for Synch's death. The school closes when the students decide that their instructors are no longer fit to teach them.
X-Corps/X-Corporation
After Generation X disbands, M temporarily joins Banshee's militant X-Corps to keep an eye on him. However, the X-Corps are soon destroyed by Mystique, leaving M to join the X-Corporation's European branch in Paris.[volume&issueneeded]
X-Factor Investigations
M and Madrox
Following the events of House of M and the shutdown of X-Corporation, M joins X-Factor Investigations, a private detective agency run by Jamie Madrox. A comment made to Rictor seems to imply she no longer wishes to go by the name M. However, in a therapy session with Doc Samson, Monet states that she hides behind the "M" persona so that others will not see how vulnerable she has become after the long time she was held captive by her brother.[14]
During a trip to Paris with Siryn, Monet encounters an anti-mutant mob marching on Paris' Mutant Town and is arrested by the gendarmerie for breaking the riot up. However, Monet crucifies the mob leader and escapes prison with Siryn.[15][16][17]
Divided We Stand
M buys all the women of X-Factor Investigations an iPhone, but destroys Rahne Sinclair's phone when she finds out she is leaving. She tells Rahne about how she is always telling her to feel and claims that since Layla is not coming back, she will keep her iPhone in mint condition until Rahne returns. She leaves, telling Rahne to not be a stranger, or stranger than she already is. She then goes to a bar with Siryn, where Theresa reveals she is pregnant. Monet offers to be with her if she chooses to get it aborted, only to be told she is not taking that option. M also states that Theresa has embryos more mature than Jamie Madrox, and that "he would make a crap father." Later, Siryn tries to tell Madrox of her pregnancy, but Monet realizes Siryn still loves Madrox.[volume&issueneeded]
Operating out of Detroit and return to New York City
Shortly after the events of "Secret Invasion", Darwin's father sells him out to a group of people called the Karma Project. While he is in a coma, Monet is called in to read his father's mind, but finds nothing. Later, Longshot shows up to help and Monet shows an attraction to him. She then teams up with Madrox, Strong Guy, and Longshot in finding Darwin and is present at the birth of Siryn's child, Sean.[18]
Valerie Cooper sends Monet, Strong Guy, and Darwin to acquire a shipment of weapons designed to take out mutants, though instead they sink it to the bottom of the ocean.[19] In the aftermath of the battle with Cortex (an evil duplicate of Jamie Madrox), X-Factor unofficially splits due to tensions between Madrox and Siryn. Strong Guy and Madrox move back to New York while Monet, Darwin, and the others stay in Detroit to work under Siryn.[volume&issueneeded]
Monet is shown to be dying from a serious brain injury when she battles Pluto, who almost beats her to death until Wolfsbane's son Tier arrives and kills Pluto. M dies from her injuries,[20] but is resurrected by Strong Guy shortly afterward when he becomes Lord of Hell.[21]
All-New, All-Different Marvel
In the wake of the M-Pox crisis, Monet joins Magneto's team of X-Men, with the goal of protecting mutantkind at any cost. During this time, she developed a love-hate relationship with the reformed Sabretooth, whom she frequently teases.[22] While investigating a mysterious illness and series of abductions that befell the Morlocks,[23] M and Sabretooth encounter Emplate.[24] She tries to distract him long enough so he would fade away, but as he did, he manages to possess M, cursing her with the hunger he suffered. Sabretooth tells M that her secret is safe with him and that she can feed on him whenever she needs.[25] M eventually breaks free from Emplate's control, curing herself of her condition.[26]
House of X
M is later seen living in the sovereign nation of Krakoa, constructed by Professor X as a mutant homeland. She is among the X-Men selected to battle Orchis before they can bring the Sentinel Mother Mold online. During the battle, M is killed by Orchis soldiers.[27]
Elixir, Egg, Tempus, Proteus, and Hope Summers combine their powers, allowing them to resurrect deceased mutants. Monet is one of the first mutants brought back by the group, now known as the Five.[28]
Claudette and Nicole St. Croix appear as citizens of Krakoa, both having assumed forms similar to Penance.[29]
Powers and abilities
Monet exhibits superhuman prowess in virtually all aspects. She boasts superhuman strength, enabling her to lift heavy objects such as automobiles and boulders. Her other physical attributes include invulnerability, agility, dexterity, speed, swift reflexes, and impeccable balance. X-Men's Bishop highlighted that Monet holds a "superior rating" across all human physical categories. She is almost invulnerable, capable of enduring direct hits from firearms at a distance and even powerful strikes from characters like Hulk. Much like Hulk, Monet has enhanced healing abilities, allowing her to rapidly recover from injuries. She also displays a heightened resistance to toxins, diseases, and aging. Additionally, Monet has telescopic and night vision, complemented by heightened auditory senses.
Monet possesses an eidetic memory and demonstrates intuitive skills. An instance showcasing this ability is when she rerouted one of Arcade's robots to trace the signal back to its origin, even without knowing the robot's exact specifications. Psionically, she can levitate and propel herself through the air, achieving supersonic flight speeds close to Mach 3. She has occasionally displayed telekinetic abilities, such as deflecting bullets and emitting thought waves as concussive blasts.[30][31]
As a telepath, Monet can read minds, project her thoughts into others, and shield her mind against telepathic intrusion.[32] Offensively, she possesses limited capabilities such as mind control and memory manipulation. However, the range of her telepathy spans only a few feet around her. She can also perceive mutant auras.
Monet and her siblings have the unique ability to merge, forming different combinations with varied powers. The twins, Nicole and Claudette, find this merging process particularly seamless.
In addition to her powers, Monet is adept in hand-to-hand combat and possesses a genius-level intellect.
Superhuman durablity Powerful claws Enhanced agility and dexterity
Hollow (formerly called Penance) is a character associated with the St. Croix family who first appeared in Generation X #1 (November 1994), and was created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo.[33] It is a mindless body in which three members of the St. Croix family have been trapped in for some time. Hollow has red skin and rarely speaks.
The powers of the different hosts/prisoners of the Penance form vary, but commonly include durable skin and large claws. Hollow also possesses superhuman agility, as she usually moves around by crouching and padding and leaping on all fours; she has been shown on occasion to use her feet to grab and grip objects and people.
The original creative team behind Generation X, Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo, intended Penance to be named Yvette and originate from Yugoslavia.[34] This was never directly revealed in the comic and links to Monet St. Croix were made by the subsequent creative team.
Reception
In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked M/Penance 72nd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[35]
In 2018, CBR.com ranked Lady Penance 18th in their "Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World" list.[36]
Alternate universe versions of Claudette St. Croix, Nicole St. Croix, and Emplate appear in "Age of Apocalypse", where they are part of Apocalypse's Elite Mutant Force.
A girl referred to as "Claudia" (who may be one or the two merged St. Croix twins) is known as Know-It-All and is part of Generation Next, having merged with the team's computer system.[volume&issueneeded]
Additionally, Monet St. Croix appears as Penance. Following her death, Monet is resurrected by Prophet to aid his cause. Monet begins rallying mutants to her cause which was to seek forgiveness for their past crimes and to rebuild their world.[volume&issueneeded]
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