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 of Salem 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.[2]
Nori becomes a student of the Xavier Institute and, when the school adopts a squad system, is assigned to the New Mutants squad led by Danielle Moonstar. She is forced to share a room with Dust; the two young women disagree upon the role of women and the Muslim traditions that Dust follows.[3] Though initially hostile to the mutants who took her off the street - David Alleyne, Josh Foley, Sofia Mantega, and Laurie Collins - she soon comes to accept them as her friends.[4][5]
David asks Emma 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.[6]
Noriko retains her powers after the events of House of M. With only 27 students retaining their powers, Emma Frost orders the depowered students and staff, including Nori's advisor Danielle Moonstar, to leave the institute. As it departs, one bus of depowered students is bombed by anti-mutant zealot Reverend William Stryker, killing all on board. Though depowered, David is not killed, and he and Nori further their romantic relationship.[7] Most of the remaining students are organized into a melee fight to determine who would become a member of Emma Frost's X-Men-in-training. Nori is chosen by Frost to be the team's leader. Soon afterwards, Nori receives new, lighter, and more effective gauntlets from Forge.[volume&issueneeded]
Caught in an argument over the rescue of Cessily, Surge and Hellion are the only students that are not teleported to Limbo. Trance uses her powers to get a message to the two, informing them that the Institute students had been taken into Limbo by Belasco, and that Belasco killed David. Coordinating with O*N*E*, Surge and Hellion discover that Amanda 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.[8] 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 by Pixie and Darkchild. The institute is returned to Earth, at Santo's insistence.[volume&issueneeded]
After their return from Limbo, Surge finds out from X-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.[9] After confronting her of the incident, she insists that she doesn't love him anymore 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 the Stepford Cuckoos. David decides to both stay at the Institute and end their relationship.[10]
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 doesn't know how to cope. Nori realizes that her fear of being hurt has affected her judgment and driven her actions over the past months.[11] She later officially joins the X-Men based out of San Francisco: she is seen working on one of the street crime patrols.[12]
Surge is later kidnapped along with Boom Boom and Hellion by the Leper Queen and her Sapien League. The Leper Queen injects her with a modified version of the Legacy Virus.[13]X-Force rescues their friends after completing their mission. Elixir is able to cure Surge before she could destroy the UN.[14]
We next see Surge defending the Golden Gate bridge during the 'Second Coming' event in which Bastion 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 during the initial Nimrod attack, destroying the hands of Hellion. Plunged into the waters of San Francisco Bay by Bastions last ditch attack, Nori witnesses Hope Summers emerge as the Mutant Messiah.[15]
Powers and abilities
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 all the time 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.
Her blue hair is not related to her mutation. According to Nori, it came in a bottle labeled "electric blue" (and, indeed, she debuted with black hair).
Personality
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,[16] and challenging Cyclops' assertion that the students are safe at the institute (this taking place immediately after a series of devastating attacks by the Purifiers).[17] 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 doesn't have to take responsibility for what she did as part of that team, in comparison to her own mounting responsibilities.[18] Chris 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."[19]
Other versions
House of M
An alternate universe variant of Nori appears in the House of M tie-in New X-Men: Academy X as 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 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.[20]
Ultimate Universe
An alternate universe variant of Noriko Ashida from Earth-6160 appears in the 2024 relaunch of Ultimate X-Men.
During the "Ultimate Invasion" storyline, Maker visited Earth-6160 and started remaking it into his own image. Noriko Ashida was seen having recorded the footage of Hisako Ichiki using her powers. With her mobile phone not having been zapped by Mei Igarashi, Noriko uploads the footage a few days later.[21]
Shinobu Kageyama was later approached by Noriko who asked if he can fix her computer. She was turned down by Shinobu and Noriko left to go to work.[22]
As a member of the Children of the Atom, Noriko was checked on by one of their doctors and is told that Shinobu is not accepting visitors at this point.[23]
After a talk with a fellow Children of the Atom member, Noriko secretly live-streams Maester's speech to the Children of the Atom.[24]
In other media
Surge appears in Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, voiced by Kokoro Kikuchi in the Japanese version and Stephanie Sheh in the English dub. This version's hair is naturally blue and is initially a student of Techno Isle’s International Academy. After briefly becoming romantically attracted to Hikaru Akatsuki, she leaves for the Xavier Institute with Wolverine to receive protection from Magneto.
The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, subsequent stories have depicted the characters as adult superheroes or as teachers and mentors to younger mutants.
New X-Men is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise.
Wolfsbane is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly associated with the X-Men. A Scottish mutant, Wolfsbane can transform into a wolf or a transitional state somewhere between human and wolf, similar to a werewolf. She honed her powers to shift between human and wolf characteristics but must keep her feral instincts at bay when she does.
Samuel Zachary Guthrie is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, the character first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4. Guthrie belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. He possesses the power to fly at jet speeds while encased in an impenetrable force field. He is known under the codename Cannonball.
Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, originally codenamed Psyche and later Mirage, is a Northern Cheyenne superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in the graphic novel The New Mutants, created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod. The character is usually depicted as associated with the New Mutants, but also as a member of the Valkyries of Asgard.
Illyana Nikolaievna Rasputina is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in the Giant-Size X-Men #1. llyana Rasputin is a member of a fictional species of humanity known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She is known under the codename Magik.
Several fictional groups of mutants have used the name the Hellions in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Hellions have always been portrayed as rivals of various teams of younger mutant heroes in the X-Men franchise, initially as actual villains and later on a team that was more of a school rival than actual enemies of the X-Men.
Amanda Sefton is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in X-Men #98. The character has also been known as Daytripper and Magik at various points in her history. She is the foster sister and former lover of superhero Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler of the X-Men.
Dust is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character usually appears in X-Men-related comic books. Sooraya is a mutant with the ability to transform her body into a pliable cloud of dust.
Sofia Elizabeth Mantega, also known as Wind Dancer and formerly known as Renascence, is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. One of the student body in the Xavier Institute, she is a member of the New Mutants squad therein. Her first appearance was in New Mutants, vol. 2 #1. At the beginning of New Mutants vol. 2, she is 16 years old.
Mercury is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant, the character first appeared in New Mutants vol. 2 #2. Mercury is a teenage member of the student body at the Xavier Institute and a recurring member of the X-Men.
Hellion is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was a member of the student body of the Xavier Institute before its closing and is a member of the X-Men's training squad.
Pixie is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Hailing from Wales, Pixie belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities, and to the species of humanoid magical beings named fairies, who are born with supernatural powers. Her hybrid mutation grants her pixie-like eyes, colorful wings that allow her to fly, and "pixie dust" that causes hallucinations.
Trance is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A mutant, Hope attended the Xavier Institute before its closing. She retained her powers after M-Day and is a member of the X-Men's training squad.
Gentle is a fictional mutant character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as a member of the student body of the Xavier Institute.
Hela is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is based on the goddess Hel from Norse mythology, and was first adapted by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery #102. Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death who serves as the ruler of Hel and Niflheim. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the superhero Thor.
Prodigy is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant, the character first appeared in New Mutants #4. Prodigy was a student at the Xavier Institute. The character has also been a member of the X-Factor, the New X-Men, and the Young Avengers at various points in his history. Prodigy is one of the main characters of the second volume of NYX in July 2024 where he is now a professor at Empire State University (ESU).
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