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Shadowcat
Kitty Pryde Art by Paul Smith.
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Uncanny X-Men #129 (Jan. 1980) Created by Chris Claremont John Byrne
Characteristics Alter ego Katherine "Kitty" Anne Pryde Species Human Mutant Team affiliations X-Men Excalibur S.H.I.E.L.D. New Mutants Gladiators Notable aliases Ariel, Sprite, Cat, Kate Pryde/Widget (Earth-811) Abilities Intangibility

Katherine "Kitty" Pryde, also commonly known by the codename Shadowcat, is a Marvel Comics mutant superhero and a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 (Jan. 1980). Pryde also used the names Sprite and Ariel briefly.

Shadowcat possesses a "phasing" ability that essentially allows her and objects or people she is in contact with to become "ghosts". This mutant power also disrupts any electrical fields she passes through, and lets her simulate levitation, literally letting her "walk on air". She possesses a genius level IQ, is an expert with computers, and has a significant proficiency in martial arts, such as Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Aikido and others.

At the time of her membership, Kitty was the youngest person ever to be invited to join the X-Men. During her early years, she is portrayed as a "kid sister" to many older members of the X-Men, filling the role of literary foil to the more established characters. In the years since her introduction however, she has aged and matured, and has become a main character on her own in various ongoing comic books, miniseries, and cartoons. In the most recent X-Men film, X-Men: The Last Stand, Kitty Pryde was portrayed by Ellen Page.

In 2006, IGN.com rated Kitty Pryde #3 on their list of the Top 25 X-Men from the Past 40 Years.^[1]

Contents 1 Fictional character biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Meeting The X-Men 1.3 Joining The X-Men 1.4 Ogun 1.5 Morlock Massacre 1.6 Excalibur 1.7 Back To The X-Men 2 Powers and abilities 3 Real-life Kitty Pryde 4 Other versions 5 In other media 5.1 Television 5.2 Video games 5.3 Films 6 In popular culture 7 Names in translation 8 Footnotes 9 References

Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde was born in Deerfield, Illinois to Carmen and Theresa Pryde. Of Jewish descent, her paternal grandfather, Samuel Prydeman, was held in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

Kitty started to have headaches at age thirteen, headaches which signaled the emergence of her mutant powers. She was approached by both the X-Men's Charles Xavier and the Hellfire Club's White Queen, Emma Frost, both of whom hoped to recruit her for their respective causes. Kitty was unnerved by Frost, observing that the White Queen had looked at her as if she were "something good to eat." She got along better with Xavier and the three X-men who escorted him to his meeting with her and her parents, becoming fast friends with Ororo Munroe. Ororo told Kitty who she really was and about the X-Men, which made the teenager even more enthusiastic about attending Xavier's school.

Their conversation was cut short, however, when they (along with Wolverine and Colossus) were attacked by armored mercenaries in the employ of Frost and the Hellfire Club. The X-Men defeated their assailants but were subdued by the White Queen's telepathic powers immediately after. In the confusion, Kitty had become separated from the X-Men and therefore was not captured along with them. She managed to contact Cyclops, Phoenix, and Nightcrawler. With the help of Dazzler and Pryde, those X-Men rescued their teammates and Xavier (who had also been captured).

The White Queen appeared to perish in the battle, which meant she was no longer competing with Xavier for the approval of Kitty's parents. Unfortunately, Kitty's parents hadn't heard from her in more than a day, because during that time she was first being pursued by the Hellfire Club's men and then working with the X-Men to save their friends. All they knew was that Kitty had left with Xavier's "students" to get a soda, there had been reports that the soda shop had been blown up, and that Kitty had been missing since. Understandably, they were angry at Xavier when he finally returned with Kitty in tow. At first it seemed like there was no chance of Kitty being allowed to attend the school and join the X-Men. Then Phoenix decided to use her considerable telepathic power to erase the memories of Kitty's parents and plant false ones, resulting in a complete shift in their attitude towards Xavier. Questions concerning the morality of tampering with minds in such a fashion aside, Kitty was then allowed to enroll at Xavier's school with her parents' blessing. She was the youngest person to join the X-Men up to that point.

During her teen years, Kitty fostered a number of close relationships with others at the school and in the X-Men. She developed a crush on Colossus and became close friends with his little sister Illyana Rasputin. Initially uneasy around Nightcrawler and other mutants with physical deformities, Kitty finally overcame her fears and became close friends with him. Kitty also befriended Lockheed, a highly intelligent alien resembling a dragon, who followed her home after a mission in outer space. Lockheed is extremely loyal to Kitty, and the two of them share a psychic bond. Wolverine became something of a mentor to Kitty despite his usually gruff personality.

Kitty was later assigned to the New Mutants, a team of younger mutants established in the absence of the X-Men while they were in outer space. Kitty convinced Professor Xavier to allow her to remain a full member of the X-Men on the basis of her high intelligence, maturity, and the fact that she was already a fully-trained member of the team. During this time, Kitty began to date Colossus, but this did not last long as Colossus developed feelings for an alien woman named Zsaji whom he met on the Beyonder's planet in the first Secret Wars. Colossus' feelings toward Zsaji were primarily a side effect of her own unique healing abilities, which she had used on him after he became injured. Regardless, Colossus' feelings were real and he returned to Earth consumed with grief after Zsaji's death. He admitted to Kitty that he had cheated on her, which hurt her deeply and ended their relationship. Kitty had made good friends with a with local boy from Salem Central named Doug Ramsey around this time, but her feelings for him never went as deep as his for her, and they never actually dated, though they remained close, even moreso after Doug's status as a mutant was revealed and he joined the New Mutants under the codename Cypher. They remained friends until his death some time later.

During the 1985 Kitty Pryde and Wolverine miniseries, Kitty is possessed by a demon, the ninja Ogun. Ogun psychically bestows upon Kitty a virtual lifetime of martial arts training. Kitty is able to resist Ogun's influence with Wolverine's help and the two form a strong teacher/student bond. Kitty returns to the X-Men, no longer the innocent they once knew, and officially adopts the codename Shadowcat.

Kitty was badly injured by Harpoon during the Mutant Massacre story arc, with the result that she lost control of her power and was stuck in an intangible state. She was rushed to Muir Island along with other surviving casualties of the Massacre to be tended to by Moira MacTaggert. MacTaggert was able to keep Kitty's condition from deteriorating to the point where she completely lost physical substance and ceased to exist, but wasn't able to do any more to help her. At this time Kitty's natural state was to be intangible. Where she once had to make a conscious effort to phase, she now had to make a conscious effort to solidify and stay solid. She was saved by Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, but not without trouble. The X-Men had gone to Richards for aid, but he had initially refused because he was not sure he would be able to help. (Reed was in a struggle with the rest of the Fantastic Four about their origins. They thought that Reed deliberately caused their accident which turned them into the Fantastic Four, thus making him very uncertain about his personal motives and abilities.) Having no where else to go, the X-Men turned to Richards' enemy Dr. Doom. This created a moral dilemma for both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Both teams fought each other because the Fantastic Four were trying to stop the treatment while the X-Men were determined to save Kitty's life. In the end, both the personal crisis of the Fantastic Four and the life of Shadowcat were saved. It was Franklin Richards, with the help of Lockheed, who brought both teams to their senses. Kitty has since recovered from this state and now has full control over her power again.

Among the others injured and brought to Muir Isle were Colossus and Nightcrawler, although Colossus left the United Kingdom shortly after being released from MacTaggert's care to join the rest of the X-Men on their mission to battle the Adversary. The X-Men sacrificed their lives to defeat the Adversary, and the battle was televised and broadcast across the world. The X-Men were resurrected later, unknown to the world at large, but chose to keep a low profile and perpetuate the belief that they were still dead. This strategy was enforced to more effectively fight their enemies. This meant avoiding contact with friends and family, including Kitty. Thinking the X-Men were dead, Kitty and Nightcrawler joined Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, and Meggan to form the Britain-based team Excalibur. During her time with Excalibur, Kitty developed a crush on Professor Alistaire Stuart which went unreciprocated since Alistaire was attracted to Rachel. Later, she was romantically involved with former Black Air agent Pete Wisdom, but they ended their relationship a short time before Excalibur disbanded.

After Excalibur's dissolution, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus returned to the X-Men. But as soon as they returned, they faced a group of imposters following Cerebro, in the guise of Professor X. During the six-month gap, Kitty visited Genosha. Whatever she experienced there is unknown (although presumably connected to her father, living on Genosha at the time) but it had a profound effect on her. She cut her hair and began to act rebelliously, also using one of Wolverine's bone claws broken off during battle as a weapon. Kitty remained with the X-Men for a while before leaving after the apparent death of Colossus. Trying to give herself a normal life, she attended the University of Chicago. During this time, her father was killed when Cassandra Nova’s sentinels destroyed Genosha. She was also kidnapped by William Stryker, but the X-Treme X-Men team helped her escape and she assisted them on several missions.

In the Astonishing X-Men, written by Joss Whedon, at the insistence of Cyclops and Emma Frost, Kitty once again rejoined the X-Men, despite having extreme reservations about working with the former White Queen, given their history. However, this was the primary reason why Frost herself wanted Kitty on the team, as a sort of "safety" should Frost ever revert to type. Frost reasoned that the person who trusted her the least would be most likely to spot such behavior.

On one of the new Astonishing team's first missions, Shadowcat discovered Colossus was alive. After some initial awkwardness, Kitty and Peter resumed dating. In the next arc, the mansion came under attack by an old damaged Sentinel. Cyclops ordered her to take all the students down to the Danger Room. There, they found a dead student called Wing. It was revealed that the Danger Room was alive and Wing came back to life but was possessed by the Danger Room.

Eventually, The X-Men got into the Danger Room and Kitty and the students were released, but then the Danger Room took form as a robot which attacked the X-Men but easily defeated them after having fought them a million times in The Danger Room. Kitty was seriously injured during the fight when Danger threw Colossus at Kitty. He turned back to human form, but then Danger threw a spike towards the two and Kitty could not phase, so it impaled the couple. Fortunately, a student called Elixir healed them both and saved them from death.

Cyclops's team then went to Genosha to defend Professor X from Danger. Danger raised the Wild Sentinel that exterminated Genosha from the depths of the sea but Colossus threw Kitty towards the Sentinel and Kitty phased through it and destroyed the Sentinel. After learning that Professor X knew that the Danger Room was alive all along, Kitty, along with the other X-Men, were disappointed in their former mentor and left Genosha.

In the next arc, the latest incarnation of the Hellfire Club begin an assault on Xavier's School. Kitty fulfilled the role that Emma Frost envisioned, personally taking down Frost and imprisoning her, only to fall under a telepathic delusion created by Hellfire member Perfection, who claimed to be the true, unreformed Emma Frost. Under this delusion, Kitty was made to believe that she and Colossus had conceived a child, which was later taken away by the X-Men because its potential mutant abilities were supposedly dangerous. Kitty reacts in the delusion by attempting to rescue the child from a near-inescapable "box" in the depths of the school, unaware that in reality she is freeing an alien entity, "Stuff," who contains the trapped consciousness of Cassandra Nova, the apparent ringleader of this new Hellfire Club. Kitty collapses immediately afterward, driven to unconsciousness by either Perfection or Nova, as Nova's stated intention was to transfer her mind into Kitty's body. A newly awakened Cyclops revealed that the new Hellfire Club, including Perfection and Nova, are actually mental projections created by a piece of Cassandra Nova's consciousness, which became lodged in Emma's mind during the X-Men's last confrontation with her. As Cyclops killed the mental projections, Emma tried to force Kitty to kill her to get rid of Nova. Undeterred, Cassandra Nova switched her focus to attempt to transfer her mind to Hisako Ichiki.

It appears that Nova did not succeed, as the team was transported to S.W.O.R.D.'s air station en route to Ord's Breakworld - a world that considers Colossus to be the person responsible for its future destruction and wish to kill him by destroying the Earth. S.W.O.R.D. with the help of Cyclops's team wants to strike preemptively against the Breakworld so that they do not get that chance. Enroute, however, S.W.O.R.D.'s spaceship is surrounded by the Breakworld Armada and the team initially splits up as the spaceship crashes to Breakworld. Shadowcat and Colossus, after having to fight their way from a populated area of Breakworld (with the entire populace well aware of who Colossus is) eventually are approached by a Breakworld woman who wants to help them (representing a faction of Breakworld that seeks a departure from Breakworld's gladiator type lifestyle). She takes them to her hideout and gives them a room to stay in as they wait to be contacted by the rest of the team.

Kitty has the ability to pass through solid matter by passing her atoms through the spaces between the atoms of the object through which she is moving. In this way she and the object through which she is passing can temporarily merge without interacting, and each is unharmed when Shadowcat has finished passing through the object. This process is called phasing, and it renders her almost completely intangible to physical touch.

Shadowcat passes through objects at the same rate of speed at which she is moving before she "enters" them. Since she is unable to breathe while "inside" an object, she can only continuously phase through solid objects (as when she travels underground) as long as she can hold her breath.

Using her power began as an optional ability, but for a period (over ten years of published comics, approximately two years in-continuity) Kitty existed in a naturally "phased" state, and had to consciously choose to become solid. However, she has now returned to her original form; i.e. she is now naturally solid and must choose when to use her power. While phasing, she does not physically walk on surfaces, but rather interacts with the molecules of air above them, allowing her to ascend and descend. While phased, she is immune to most physical attacks, and has a high resistance to telepathy. The density of some materials ( such as adamantium) can prove deleterious to her phasing, causing her to be severely disoriented or experience pain if she tries to pass through them. Energy attacks also prove problematic with Shadowcat; an energy blast fired by Harpoon, a member of the Marauders, caused her to lose her ability to become fully tangible for months. Magic and magical beings also prove to be an enigma in regards to Kitty's phasing, as proven in a battle with a N'Garai demon that showed it could cause physical harm to Kitty even while in her phased state, as well as the Soulsword. The use of her abilities also interferes with any electrical systems (including, in some stories, the bio-electric systems of the human body), as she passes through by disrupting the flow of electrons from atom to atom.

Kitty can also extend her powers to phase other people and objects. Currently, she is able to phase at least a half a dozen other people (or objects of similar mass) with her, so long as they establish and maintain physical contact with her. She has trained herself to go automatically, by reflex, into a phasing state at any indication of danger, such as a loud noise like a gunshot, in order to protect herself.

Kitty also shares a sort of mental or empathic connection with Lockheed; both she and the alien dragon can 'sense' each other's presence at times.

Besides her mutant powers, Kitty is a genius in the field of applied technology and computer science. Since her possession by Ogun, she has been consistently shown to be an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, having since been trained in the arts of aikido, karate, ninjutsu, and Krav Maga. She is a professional level dancer.^{[citation needed]}

John Byrne named Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde after a classmate he met in art school in Calgary in 1973. He reportedly told her that he liked her name and asked permission to use it for his first original comic character. The real-life Pryde agreed, thinking nothing would ever come of the agreement, but was later so overwhelmed by Shadowcat fans after the publication of the X-Men comics that she abbreviated her name to K.D. Pryde to avoid association with her fictional counterpart. She has since stated that she has mixed feelings about her fame, saying that she values Byrne's comics for their entertainment and artistic value but wishes that more people would appreciate her as more than just Shadowcat's namesake.^{[2] [3]}

Chris Claremont said several elements of Kitty Pryde's personality were derived from those of Louise Simonson's daughter, Julie.^[4]

Main article: Alternate versions of Kitty Pryde

In addition to her mainstream incarnation, Kitty Pryde has been depicted in other fictional universes.

• Shadowcat appeared as Sprite in "The X-Men Adventure" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends which guest-starred the X-Men. She was voiced by Sally Julian.

• Kitty Pryde (voiced by Kath Soucie) was a viewpoint character in the animated television one-shot Pryde of the X-Men, as the newest member of the team.

• Shadowcat holds significance as being the only member of the X-Men (at that point) to never have appeared in the X-Men animated television series, for example, her role as the youngest member of the team is taken by Jubilee. As well, the guest starring Bishop travels back in time to stop the assassination of Senator Kelly and prevent the Days of Future Past timeline from occurring, assuming her role from the comic version of this tale.

• In the animated series X-Men: Evolution, Shadowcat is a main character and voiced by Maggie Blue O'Hara. In this continuity, she is a bright and carefree teenage girl who comes from a loving Jewish family. Her love interest is Avalanche, though they start out as antagonistic. She is also pursued briefly by Evolution's Nightcrawler, and following the precedent of the comics, Kitty is initially repulsed by his appearance, but grows to accept him as her best friend. Shadowcat speaks with a strong valley girl accent early on in the series, which later fades away completely. Her character heavily matures throughout the course of the series.

• In the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, Kitty Pryde will appear and she'll be voiced by Danielle Judovits.

• Kitty Pryde appears in Konami's 1992 X-Men video arcade game, as a non-playable character (NPC). In this game, she is not known as "Shadowcat;" instead, she plays the "damsel in distress" role.

• Shadowcat also appears as a NPC in the X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, in a cameo when the player reaches the ruins of the X-Mansion. Her relationship with Colossus remains intact in this version of her character: If the player speaks with her using Colossus, this triggers a humorous occurrence wherein Shadowcat scolds him for hypothetically flirting with the Scarlet Witch. Unlike most of the other Ultimate Marvel game characters, Shadowcat wears her mainstream-Marvel costume. There is also an item in the game X-Men Legends called Shadowcat's Touch.

• Shadowcat was one of the X-Men that got taken out by Dr. Doom in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Doom's Day cut-scene.

• Shadowcat is a playable character in the game X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants. Although she does not demonstrate any of her phasing abilities, she attacks with her martial arts. However, she did not appear in the Fall of the Mutants storyline.

Shadowcat has appeared in the three X-Men films. In each one she has been portrayed by a different actress. She has not been shown to "walk on air" in any of her film portrayals, but is able to raise and lower herself through solid objects on several occasions.

• In the film X-Men, she has a small cameo, played by Sumela Kay. She is referenced as "the girl who can walk through walls" by Senator Kelly. She is shown in Xavier's class when Wolverine walks in; she returns for her forgotten books, grabs them, and phases through the wall on her way out. Xavier responds with a cheerful "Bye, Kitty".

• In X2: X-Men United, she has a brief appearance played by Katie Stuart. She is shown phasing through walls and people to escape William Stryker's military forces during their attack on the X-Mansion. One scene even shows her falling through her bed (a possible reference to her origin story). She is also briefly mentioned towards the end of the film when Xavier explains how he got the files from "a girl who can walk through walls."

• In X-Men: The Last Stand, she is portrayed by Ellen Page and has a much larger role than in the two previous films. She serves as a rival to Rogue for the romantic attentions of Iceman. She also joins the X-Men in the battle on Alcatraz Island, breaking off from the battle to save Leech from the Juggernaut. Also, during the final battle at Alcatraz, Wolverine glances at her before the battles begins, as if to quell her fears. This moment was confirmed by Brett Ratner, the director of the film, in an interview, as referencing the well known "buddy" relationship between the two characters in the comics. Before Page was announced as the actress portraying Shadowcat, it was rumored that the character was going to be portrayed by Maggie Grace.

• Kitty Pryde is mentioned in the Weezer song "In the Garage".
• Shadowcat is also mentioned in the song "Missing Link" by Dinosaur Jr and Del tha Funkee Homosapien from the soundtrack for the movie Judgment Night.
• In Spike Lee's film 25th Hour, Edward Norton's character expresses his desire to avoid prison by stating he wishes he was "that girl from X-Men... the one who can walk through walls."
• Kitty Pryde and the Shadowcats was the name of an all-female band that existed for several years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]}
• Kitty Pryde is mentioned in the ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead song, "An Ounce Of Prevention".
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has acknowledged that Kitty Pryde was an inspiration for Buffy Summers.^[5]
• In Genesis, the first episode of the TV series Heroes, the character of Hiro Nakamura specifically mentions Kitty Pryde travelling through time. However, he erroneously cites the issue number as X-Men #143 whereas the actual time traveling storyline takes place in X-Men #141-142. He is later corrected on this by a fellow Hero, Charlie Andrews, who has the power of eidetic memory.
• In the Monopoly game My Marvel Heroes, Kitty Pryde's surname is misspelled "Pride."

Kitty's code name "Shadowcat" is translated differently in foreign languages. In French, Kitty was called "Etincelle" (sparkle) while she was named Sprite in the comic, though she is now known as Shadowcat as well, "Gata Sombra" (shadow cat) in Spain, "Sombra" (shadow) in Latin America, "Varjokissa" in Finnish (shadowcat), "Hatulit" ("kittiess") in Hebrew, "Lince Negra" (black lynx) in Portuguese and in Russian, she has had several names in the many variations of the X-Men series; as Sprite - Фея "Feya" (fairy), as Shadowcat - Призрачная Кошка / Теневая Кошка "Prizrachnaya Koshka / Tenevaya Koshka (ghostly cat / shadowy cat)", and in the X-Men: Evolution series, she is known as Химера "Khimera" (chimera;i.e. an illusion).

• UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Shadowcat
• Open directory listing for Shadowcat