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Characters / Marvel Comics: Kamala Khan

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WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on this sheet for all comics up to and including the July 2023 Hellfire Gala one-shot.

Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel Main Character Index
Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers | Kamala Khan)
Supporting Characters (Kamala Khan's Supporting Cast) | Rogues Gallery (Kamala Khan's Rogues Gallery)

Kamala Khan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ms_marvel_7.jpg
EMBIGGEN!
Click here to see her as a member of the X-Men 

Notable Aliases: Big M, Captain Marvel, Destined One, Giant Girl, Sword of Saffa, Shield to a Million Children

Editorial Names: Magnificent Ms. Marvel

First Appearance: Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #14 (September, 2013)note ; All-New Marvel NOW! Point One #1.NOW (March, 2014)note 

Kamala Khan is a nerdy teenage girl from a Pakistani-American family of Muslim faith living in Jersey City — not New York City, unlike most of the heroes who populate the Marvel Universe.

After being exposed to Terrigen Mist, Kamala discovers she has Inhuman DNA and her latent shapeshifting power become apparent. Inspired by her heroine Carol Danvers, who had recently abandoned the Ms. Marvel title to become Captain Marvel, Kamala decides to use her newfound abilities to protect her home and those in need.

Kamala is notable for being one of the most prominent (and heroic) Muslim characters in popular culture; she was co-created by G. Willow Wilson (a Muslim convert herself) and Marvel editor Sana Amanat — a Pakistani-American Muslim woman not unlike Kamala — who currently serves as their Director of Content & Character Development.

Kamala's presence outside of comics has been steadily growing since her introduction. She appears in a variety of Marvel's mobile games, and serves as the de facto protagonist of Marvel's Avengers. She also guest stars in the third season of Disney XD's Avengers Assemble and joins the team in season 4, and also stars in Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she's played by Iman Vellani in her very first acting role, starting from her own Disney+ live-action series. Vellani is also set to appear in The Marvels, opposite Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.

Kamala Khan has appeared in the following works:

Notable Comics

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Western Animation

Video Games

Kamala Khan provides examples of:

    open/close all folders 

    A-G 
  • Achilles' Heel: A couple, in fact.
    • Her powers, particularly her Healing Factor, burn out her body's energy reserves very quickly, as she finds out the hard way in #9 when she's almost killed in a giant robot attack that wrecks her school; her healing factor is using up so much energy that she's basically only able to "embiggen" her hands, and she hits empty right after the robot goes down.
    • In addition, electrical shocks reduce the flexibility of her body's cells; see Kryptonite Factor, below.
  • Affectionate Nickname: The citizens of Jersey City call her Big M, and Miles Morales occasionally calls her "Marv".
  • Affirmative-Action Legacy: Kamala Khan is a Muslim Pakistani-American taking over the name from the white, blonde Carol Danvers. Unlike some cases where the replacement is sudden, the Marvel continuity had the "Ms. Marvel" name unattached for some time since Danvers had become Captain Marvel.
  • Against My Religion: She's not as devout as her brother but she still won't drink alcohol (although she's too young to drink legally anyway) or eat pork (although she finds the smell of bacon frustratingly tempting).
  • Alliterative Name: Kamala Khan, in true Marvel fashion.
  • Ascended Fangirl: Less than seven issues and she's already teaming up with some of her favorite supers. Then it goes through the roof when she becomes a member of The Avengers. Beyond that, she went from a fan of Carol Danvers to being her Legacy Character!
  • Audience Surrogate: Kamala Khan is in many ways a modern version of Peter Parker. She's obsessed with The Avengers and superheroes in general, and partakes in a number of common nerd activities like reading Shoujo manga and writing fanfiction.
  • A Villain Named Khan: Ms. Marvel (2014) aka Kamala Khan thoroughly averts this of course, being that she's a superhero born to immigrants from Pakistan where there is no stigma attached to that name at all.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: While she has quite the impressive shapeshifter powerset, being a nerdy and intelligent teenage girl, Kamala pretty much specializes in using the laws of physics to her advantage as part of her superheroing style.
  • Beta Outfit: A variation, in that Kamala's first, involuntary form after being exposed to Terrigen mist is what she thinks she wants to be as a superhero: Carol Danvers in her original Ms. Marvel outfit, to the point that her skin whitens, her eyes turn blue, and her hair emblondens. She soon finds out that she only feels like a hero when doing good deeds, not wearing a borrowed (and impractical) costume, and she goes through a series of more traditionally-defined, sometimes improvised Beta Outfits before embracing her heroic identity with a costume that balances her heritage and personality with her aspirations of being the new Ms. Marvel.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Kamala is generally a very nice, caring person, who subscribes to the "appropriate amount of force" doctrine when fighting her enemies. However, if they willfully threaten innocents or people she cares about, her attitude does such a 180 that's it's like flipping a switch, and she stops holding back.
  • Big Eater: Kamala's powers burn a lot of calories, and she tends to be ravenously hungry after fights or other situations where she makes extensive use of them.
  • Bollywood Nerd: She's Pakistani rather than Indian, but she probably still counts. She is a huge superhero nerd, having intricate knowledge of her universe's superheroes, and she is a keen MMORPG player and fanfic writer. Downplayed, though, because, while she is fairly intelligent, her best friend Bruno (as well as his girlfriend, Mike) are smarter and fulfill the role of The Smart Guy in her solo series.
  • Breakout Character: Kamala herself in the greater Marvel Universe. The sales of the comic far exceeded original expectations, even easily outselling the former Ms. Marvel's new series, and by the end of 2014 she was already showing up in major guest spots in other comics, such as The Amazing Spider-Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. With her cross-cultural appeal credited with drawing female Muslim readers into buying comics, many critics started calling her the new Spider-Man.
    • For comics as a whole. There are reports from store owners of first-time customers (especially Muslim women and girls) who only come in to buy Ms. Marvel, and nothing else.
    • Kamala also gained considerable popularity within the Marvel franchise itself, and after her debut went on to cameo in several other titles and star in a number of adaptations.
  • Broken Pedestal: During Civil War II, not only does Kamala suffer this due to backing a detention cell approved by Carol Danvers, but she ends up getting one towards Carol when she witnesses the death of Bruce Banner and she can only ask in a traumatized manner why she let it happen. Then Carol arrests Miles Morales for a vision. This trope is finally hit when she's forced to show Carol how flawed using Ulysses is using Hijinx as proof and all the heroine can see is that Kamala is working with a criminal. This, along with the fact that her best friend Bruno has effectively dumped her for her actions, leads her to walk off and dump the special pendant Carol gave her.
  • Calling Your Attacks: When she was still trying to understand how her powers worked, Kamala shouted commands when using them. The commands themselves are not actually necessary, but she continues to use them out of habit — in particular, she tends to shout "Embiggen!" when she uses her powers to grow in size.
  • The Cameo: She appears in Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1, which shows her as a toddler as of the day that the Fantastic Four went to space.
  • The Cape: In an age when so many of Marvel's old guard heroes are being depicted as morally compromised for the sake of drama, Kamala Khan is one of the most stand-up and earnest heroes around, and the citizens of Jersey City are generally very proud of their hometown hero in a way that's rare in the Marvel Universe.
  • Cast from Calories: When using her shapeshifting to heal, Kamala becomes extraordinarily hungry and needs to eat to recharge her powers.
  • Cast from Hit Points: Kamala's powers, or at least her Healing Factor, come straight from her life force, so overusing them (like healing a potentially lethal wound and going on a rescue mission not long afterwards) leaves her ravenously hungry and so tired as if she skipped sleeping for days. When she embiggened her fists in a fight while already been mortally wounded, the strain of both (which was already preventing her from transforming her appearance into that of someone else) "pretty much uses up the very last little bit of my strength. I can't heal fast enough to get ahead of it. Whatever fuel my healing factor uses up is gone."
    Kamala: I'm hungry in a way I've never been hungry before. Ravenous. Starving. Seriously, I need a thesaurus. It's the healing I think, it feels like I skipped a night of sleep — like the healing power comes straight out of my life force.
  • Character Shilling: In a rare example of Tropes Are Not Bad for this trope, everyone loves Kamala in-universe, for good reason. She makes quite the impression on Wolverine, Carol Danvers quickly decides that Kamala is exactly the right person to carry on the Ms. Marvel name, Queen Medusa of the Inhumans takes a special interest in the young woman, Spider-Man states that she reminds him of himself as a teen and he thinks she's doing fine as a superhero and person, Tony Stark likes her enough to add her to the new Avengers roster and help her with her physics homework. Everyone says there's "something special" about Kamala Khan, and they're certainly right. She may not be the most powerful superhero around, but her high moral standards, amazing attitude, and pure heart make her someone easy to love, in-universe and out. The point is proven big-time in All-New Wolverine — in a story set thirty years in the future, it's revealed that Kamala was elected as President of the United States.
  • Character Tic: When she's mad, Kamala has a habit of grimacing and cutting her eyes to the side.
  • Chest Insignia: A lightning bolt across her chest.
  • Child of Two Worlds: Kamala was conceived in Karachi and born in New Jersey. Her Pakistani heritage and customs make her an outsider in America, but in an issue where she goes to Pakistan, she stands out by being too American. And then there's her latent Inhuman heritage...
    • And later, a mutant too. Kamala is a child of FOUR worlds!
  • Clark Kenting: Her mask doesn't really cover that much. Lampshaded once Josh finds out and points that it should be obvious in hindsight, but the idea that a shy, nerdy girl who doesn't like sports could be a superhero never crossed his mind.
  • Clueless Dude Magnet: Kamala herself is a fairly chaste hero and not the best at recognizing when other people are romantically interest in her, but a number of coetaneous male characters have expressed interest in her. These include her own crushes like Bruno, Kamran, and Laal/Red Dagger, but also a few fellow heroes in various team-up books such as Nova, Miles Morales, and Inferno.
  • Combat Stilettos: When Kamala's powers first kick in, she ends up transforming into Carol Danvers' iconic Ms. Marvel look and is excited to go out in the look. Unfortunately, the outfit has high heels and, in trying to foil a robbery, she ends up falling on her face.
  • Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle: Her parents named her Kamala because, in Arabic, Kamal means "perfection". In Finnish, however, the word "Kamala" translates to "horrible."
  • Culturally Religious: The Khans are Muslim, but, aside from Kamala's brother, are not shown to be particularly religious, although Kamala attends lectures given by her imam several times early in the series and she regularly goes to him with questions of morality. True to the trope, Kamala clearly takes the moral teachings of her faith as being of greater importance than the theology.
  • Depending on the Artist:
    • Kamala's mask varies a lot depending on who's drawing her. Sometimes it'll be seemingly adhered to her face or it'll be clearly tied on, sometimes it'll have lenses or cloth that obscure the eyes or it won't, and sometimes the eye holes will be just big enough to see out through or will be two to three times wider than her actual eyes.
    • The precise form and color of her hair also tend to vary. The original run of the comics has it as a solid brown with a slight wave, but depending on the specific comic and artist it ranges in color from hazel to black and from curly to wavy to straight. The only consistent traits are that it's some shade of brown and a little over shoulder-length.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Her college years are marked by her undertaking any internships that seem promising to figure out what she wants to do when she grows up, even going so far as to work on the scientific staff of a reformed Oscorp.
    • It's actually The Infiltration - her first internship, at Roxxon, was just an undercover operation for the Champions, and the Oscorp one was just her spying on Norman Osborn. After being killed and resurrected, she learns Spider-Man's secret identity and realises that he's already watching Osborn anyway, so she doesn't need to go back there. Her next one after that is a mission for the X-Men.
  • Domino Mask: Kamala's facial concealment is a simple figure-eight blue cloth mask. In Issue #22 of the second run, after Kamala reveals her identity to Josh/Discord, the latter comments that in hindsight a part of them had always known, since a domino mask isn't exactly heavy-duty concealment.
    "That mask doesn't exactly cover a whole lot, you know?"
  • Do Wrong, Right: Kamala can't resist smelling bacon ("Delicious, delicious infidel meat") even though she is Muslim. Her friends think she should either eat it or stick to her principles. "Chow or chow not, there is no smell."
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Kamala Khan was retroactively identified as a foreground character in Captain Marvel #14 before the official announcement that she was the new Ms. Marvel. Captain Marvel #17, which was published after the announcement, concludes with an unnamed appearance as she uses her transformation powers.
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In Kamala's first appearance in Captain Marvel #14, she looked markedly different, appearing older, having a different hairstyle and fashion sense, and even wearing lipstick. According to Wilson, the Captain Marvel artists were working off of a generic description of the character and didn't yet know what her finalized design would look like.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: In her cameo in Captain Marvel #17, Kamala's powers are depicted as a form of Hulking Out rather than shapeshifting or stretching. This is because the Captain Marvel artists thought her becoming more muscular would be a more serious and realistic approach, while the more cartoonish and surreal nature of her powers wouldn't be nailed down until Adrian Alphona came aboard.
  • Everygirl: Kamala has been repeatedly described as the true successor to Spider-Man for the millennial age. She's dorky, connected to the internet, constantly being underestimated by her conservative family for being unruly, ultimately wants to do some good in the world, and is a fan of all the heroes who have come before her.
  • Extradimensional Power Source: In issue #34, this is revealed to be how Kamala's powers work whenever she gains or loses mass when she shapeshifts. All Kamalas through time and space are connected to a nexus dimension that binds each other at a molecular level. Whenever she stretches or enlarges, she's essentially borrowing mass from some point in the past, future, or parallel present that she's shrunken herself.
  • Fangirl: Into the Avengers, Carol Danvers, Spider-Man, 616-My Little Pony, video games, writing fanfic...
  • Fluffy Tamer: Not that Lockjaw needs much taming, but her reaction to a dog the size of a car that has everybody else freaking out and running away is to Squee and call him the cutest thing ever.
  • Future Badass: Kamala is pretty badass in her own right as a teenage superhero, but various adult versions of her Alternate Universes have also appeared:
  • Gamer Chick: In her words, she's been playing video games since she was a kid and has the thumbs to prove it. The experience proves handy when Kamala first fights The Inventor's robotic minions. Also referenced when she describes the reveal of her powers' limitations as "like when you get a really good build going, then the devs decide to nerf your class."
  • Giant Hands of Doom: Enlarging her fists to gigantic proportions is one of the most frequent applications of Kamala's stretching powers.
  • Giant Woman: Kamala has various shape/size-shifting abilities and prefers embiggening herself when it's combat time. Unlike other examples, this appears in conjunction with Noodle People proportions - either a limitation of her power or simply reflecting a lack of experience.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Gets this way when she finds out Bruno is dating someone new while she was too busy to notice.
  • The Grinch: In the 2015 Gwenpool Christmas special, she cannot stand Christmas. This is because her family doesn't celebrate it but she's practically forced by the school to engage in Yuletide activities.
    "What're you looking at?" (punches a snowman in the face)

    H-Z 
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Hellfire Gala 2023 reveals that Kamala is part Inhuman and part mutant. Xavier believes her being in the Terrigen Mists prevented her mutant powers from awakening, so no one had any idea what she might have.
  • Healing Factor: Her wounds (like those from gunfire) heal very quickly when she's in her normal form... but it's shapeshifting or healingnote . It also leaves her very tired and hungry afterwards, and in extreme cases greatly weakens her ability to shapeshift.
  • Hero Insurance: Kamala takes a lot of steps to try and avoid collateral damage, a trait more noticeable during her period on the Post Secret Wars Avengers team.
  • Heroes Love Dogs: Kamala doesn't have her own dog. But when Lockjaw, the big friendly Inhuman dog, gets sent to help her out for a bit she falls in love with him. It helps that not only is he adorable, but he is the size of a small car and can teleport, great assets in a fight.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She disguises herself as Mary Jane Watson to prevent an interdimensional creature from killing her.
  • Heroine With Bad Publicity: In the first story arc of her comic's second run, Ms. Marvel's image is used by the Hope Yards project without her permission while she's too busy getting used to her role as an Avenger to notice. Even after exposing Hope Yard's sinister agenda and putting a stop to it, she's considered a sell-out who had only opposed Hope Yards once it was revealed to be headed by an actual supervillain. This got worse during Civil War 2, though her reputation began to recover afterwards.
  • Hero-Worshipper: Kamala is a massive fan of the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel. She thinks that being more like Carol Danvers, the blonde, beautiful superhero, would make her life so much better. But she quickly finds out that it's better to be herself.
  • How Do I Shot Web?:
    • Kamala has a lot of difficulty in first understanding her powers. They start off tied to her emotional state (shrinking when she feels small, turning into Carol Danvers when she thinks of Captain Marvel) and she is unable to control them willingly at first.
      Kamala: I wonder if I can do it again, this time on purpose. TRANSFORM!
      [beat panel]
      Kamala: Nope.
    • She also goes through a literal version of this trope in Marvel Team-up, when a "Freaky Friday" Flip puts her mind in Peter Parker's body. Learning his spider-powers takes her most of an issue.
  • Hypocrite:
    • An odd variation — she's oh-so-cool with knowing the identities of her Avengers teammates, but trying to get her to open up about hers is like trying to pull teeth. Miles Morales calls her out on this when she drops in on his home while he's under trouble.
    • She's a great fan of reading and writing what — in-universe — is Real-Person Fic of superheroes. When such fanfics start popping up about her, she's much less appreciative.
  • Identical Ancestor: In the flashback sequence in #36, her thirteenth-century ancestor, Kamilah of Samarkand, looks identical to her outside of her clothing.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: She claims that her hours playing video games have given her superior reflexes.
  • Immigrant Parents: Her parents, Yusuf and Aisha, are from Pakistan.
  • Immune to Mind Control: She's somehow naturally resistant to Mind Manipulation and possession. Maximus the Mad has so far proven to be the only person powerful enough to forcibly control her mind.
  • I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: When Kamala meets Lockjaw, she goes into Freaky Is Cool Cuteness Overload, then takes him home with her and asks her parents if she can keep him.
  • In My Language, That Sounds Like...: Her first name, Kamala, is derived from the Arabic word "kamal" which means "perfection". However, "Kamala" is also a name in Sanskrit that means "lotus", and is a variation on the name of Kamalatmika, the Hindu goddess of wealth. Less flatteringly, in Finnish, her name would mean something along the lines of "dreadful".
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Scott Summers. Technically, they were roughly around the same age when they became friends but it became this due to the time-traveling teen Scott going back to his original timeline and his adult self gaining his memories.
  • Invocation: Kamala tends to shout "Embiggen!" when she uses her powers to grow in size. She doesn't tend to do it for shrinking or other shapeshifting stunts.
  • Involuntary Shapeshifter: When she first emerges from her Terrigenesis cocoon, she ends up looking like her idol Carol Danvers.
  • It's Not You, It's Me: Kamala's reason for turning down Bruno after his Anguished Declaration of Love. She acknowledges that she has feelings for him in return, but feels that her being a superhero is more important than her personal happiness.
  • Jumped at the Call: The girl agreed to being part of the All-New, All-Different Avengers before Tony Stark even asked the question.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Her reaction to meeting heroes like Wolverine, Spider-Man, and her hero Captain Marvel for the first time is usually a stream of excited gushing. She almost faints from excitement when Spider-Man ashes to do a combo attack with her.
  • Kryptonite Factor: Electric shocks reduce the elasticity of her cells, nullifying her many of her shape-shifting powers for a few moments. The Inventor predicts and exploits this, and Kaboom's attacks trigger it at least once (though oddly, not every time).
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: As a longstanding fan of superheroes, Kamala frequently comments on the situations she is in, in terms that are quite logical in context but sound exactly like a comics fan.
    Kamala: Oh! My! Gosh! I'm in a Spider-Man team-up!
  • Legacy Character: Kamala decides to become Ms. Marvel, having idolized Carol Danvers, who left the identity to become Captain Marvel. They finally meet during Secret Wars.
  • Leotard of Power: Kamala wishes for the classic costume when her powers first manifest, but learns quickly how uncomfortable it is. Opting later for one made from a re-purposed swimsuit.
  • Meaningful Name: The name Kamala's name is based on "kamal", an Arabic word for "perfection" though in Urdu-Hindustani (which is the language in Pakistan, not Arabic) it usually means, colloquially, "awesome". Orthographically, the word Kamala makes as much sense as Marvel's usual word choices (which runs on Rule of Coolnote ) since Kamala is a separate Sanskrit word that refers to the Lotus flower, and is usually the name of a girl born to a Hindu background, which implies that Ms. Marvel's mother is quite a good deal more syncretic than she lets on. The name Kamal does exist among Muslim communities but it doesn't have a feminine form in that context.
  • Mistaken for Terrorist: Kamala doesn't want to go public with her superhero identity because she fears this could happen to her friends, family, and mosque.
  • Mistaken Identity: Kamala's first shapeshifting in public wound up looking like Carol Danvers herself, so when she immediately leapt into heroism a lot of bystanders thought she was Captain Marvel, although they were confused as to why she had seemingly gone back to wearing her old costume... much less had a giant hand. As she continues to look like Carol Danvers in later issues, the people she encounters do not seem sure how to address her, backtracking over calling her "Ms." and "Captain".
  • Moe: Kamala Khan is usually perky and upbeat the majority of the time.
  • More Popular Replacement: Kamala was not the first Ms. Marvel - that would go to Carol Danvers, now known as Captain Marvel, Kamala's idol. There were also multiple Ms. Marvels running around now and then. However, Kamala has eclipsed all of them in terms of modern popularity. In fact, before Carol got her own movie, Kamala's book would consistently out-sell hers.
  • Most Common Superpower: Lampshaded and subverted. Kamala spent much of her life idolizing Carol Danvers and fantasized about looking as good as she does in Carol's most well-known outfit. When Kamala's Shapeshifting abilities first appear, she subconsciously forces herself to look somewhat like Carol, but quickly comes to realize that she doesn't have the body type, doesn't like the hair, and the outfit is uncomfortable. The outfit she comes up with later is far more modest, being a modified burkini. As she is a sixteen year old girl, this is probably for the best. Not all the cover artists got the memo, though.◊
  • Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls: Kamala is an avid fanfic writer and reader, mainly writing Avengers and X-Men fanfics, specifically, about the Avengers' adventures on "Planet Unicorn", and Wolverine's and Storm's in space (where they fight worm hole farting monsters for example). The trope is subverted in All-New All-Different Avengers Annual, however; not only is the author of a fanfic shipping Ms. Marvel with her friends, Miles Morales Spider-Man and Sam Alexander Nova, actually Miles himself but the admin Kamala contacts about it is Phil Coulson.
  • Mushroom Samba: Kamala thinks this is happening to her after her Inhuman transformation shows her a vision of Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man. She thinks it was caused by the small amount of vodka she was tricked into drinking at the party.
  • My Beloved Smother: Kamala has this problem to contend with in addition to getting her powers out of the blue: having grown up in a Muslim household, Kamala has problems trying to juggle her family life and coming to grips with her new skill set. Since she is too frightened to outright tell her family what happened, her mother immediately assumes she's becoming a degenerate and is constantly reaming on her shirking her responsibilities. Her father is more understanding (as he thinks she just feels stifled at her age), but no less strict, and her brother, while being fervently religious to the point of openly denouncing the father's profession as a banker, just prefers to remain neutral. Eventually, however, Kamala's mother figures out her secret and accept it, since they know she is out doing good for the people around her.
  • Nanomachines: In Magnificent Ms. Marvel, Kamala obtains a new Kree nanotech suit that allows her to interface with computer systems and can shapeshift into additional tools or weapons. It can also shapeshift into objects such as a bookbag for when she doesn't want it to be seen. However, it also has a tendency to use excessive force when not needed, and it doesn't like it when Kamala doesn't let it finish off her foes, prompting it to become its own entity so she can't restrain it.
  • Nice Girl: She is a very compassionate person that avoids unnecessary violence and seeks peaceful resolutions at any reasonable opportunity. Any strain on her relationships is usually due to conflicting responsibilities because she wants to be there for everyone.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Post-Secret Wars, Kamala's life is in so much overdrive that not only does she not notice that Bruno is dating another girl, but that a real estate agency has co-opted her image to promote destroying buildings.
  • Old-Timey Bathing Suit: Kamala's costume is partially constructed from a burquini. "I thought you swore you would never wear that." "Never wear that to swim."
  • Perfectly Cromulent Word: "Embiggen" itself is the Catchphrase of Kamala when she activates her Sizeshifter and Partial Transformation powers (she also uses "disembiggen" to shrink).
  • Personality Powers: Kamala is a shapeshifter, but unlike most examples she's honest and genuinely heroic. Rather, it factors into her being a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin. The lesson she has to learn in her first story is that she has to accept herself for everything she is, rather than try to be a watered-down version of someone else. As she turns into other people less frequently, she instead primarily uses her powers to change the proportions of her body, emphasizing her teenage playful streak and her intelligence as she uses the laws of physics to her advantage.
  • Real-Person Fic: Kamala, as part of her Audience Surrogate characterization, is a devoted superhero fan and an avid writer and reader of superhero fanfic — with the catch that these superheroes are all very much real and public figures in her world. This leads to a number of comedic incidents when she discusses these with their subjects (Wolverine in particular was not pleased to learn that a story about him got third place in popularity to "Cyclops and Emma Frost's romantic vacation in Paris"), and she's less than pleased when shipping fanfics start popping about her.
  • Real Women Have Curves: Kamala originally fantasized about being like Carol Danvers, who fits conventional beauty standards, including weight. After using her powers to look as close to Danvers as possible, she realizes how uncomfortable the uniform is and how her natural body shape is incompatible with that ideal.
  • Rebuilt Pedestal: In issue #28, Kamala and Carol reunite for the first time since that incident with Kamala admitting she was afraid Carol truly hated her (and even worse, she was afraid she hated Carol), but Carol reassured her that she'd never hate Kamala, but she just gave her her space because she felt she was growing up and she didn't need to be around her all the time.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Kamala can shift her clothes along with herself when she changes shape or size. However, this is stated to take more effort, to justify giving her a costume and domino mask.
  • Rubber Man: She can stretch her limbs, increase the size of her limbs or entire body, and flatten herself to almost paper-like dimensions. Vol. 4, issue 19 shows that she's improved her stretching skills to bend and elongate her body, allowing her to easily dodge attacks.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: Kamala's costume incorporates a long red scarf. Her nanosuit adds blades to the tips of the scarf, which can also turn into grabbing claws and computer scanners.
  • Secret Identity: Kamala is an interesting variation in that she is fiercely protective of her secret identity, but she's more than happy to hang around with her friends in their secret identities while she's in costume. She's also told her friends that revealing their identities to her was a bad idea, and they shouldn't just assume that fellow superheroes can automatically be trusted with that information.
    • When in-costume, she only identifies herself as Kamala when talking to an adult superhero she trusts, such as Wolverine, Medusa, Carol Danvers, and Iron Man.
    • Early in her solo comic, she freaks out that, if anyone besides Bruno learns her true identity, they'll "sell [her] to science".
    • As a member of the All-New, All-Different Avengers, she takes great pride in teasing both Miles and Sam, the two other members of the team her own age, because they both revealed their real names to her while she has kept hers secret from them. When Miles (in his own book) suggests that, since he trusted her with his identity, she should do the same, Kamala tells him that that just means that she's smarter than him. Nowadays, all three of them know each others' secret identities (Miles worldlessly figures it out in Ms. Marvel #7, and Kamala reveals herself to Sam as part of a "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight when he falls under Blackheart's Hate Plague spell in Champions Vol. 3 #9).
  • Secret-Keeper: She knows Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man, but keeps it to herself. Miles is peeved that he doesn't actually know who Kamala is under the mask.
  • Sexily Modest: Kamala Khan's costume as Ms. Marvel is based on a burkini, a modest swimwear outfit designed for Muslim women. Some artists draw the suit to be formfitting akin to Sensual Spandex, which has been criticized as Kamala is a teenager and faithful to her religion.
  • Shapeshifter Baggage: Her ability to shapeshift and change size is eventually explained as working by shunting her mass back and forth along her timestream (including alternate futures and maybe even the multiverse) to when she needs it.
  • Shapeshifter Identity Crisis: This happens to Kamala when she first gets her powers; left in a state of confusion, she transformed into her hero, Carol Danvers, and thus wound up taking Carol's old "Ms. Marvel" title.
  • Shapeshifting: Her main ability, which gives her several other abilities as well.
  • Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Averted; notably her clothes are shifted when she emerges from Terrigenesis. She notes she can shift her clothes as well but it takes concentration that would be distracting during heroics so she wears specially treated stretchy fabric to ease the effort.
  • Shapeshifting Heals Wounds: Kamala has a limited healing factor which seems to be both connected to her morphing powers, because she can't use them while she's healing, and Cast from Calories, because she becomes utterly ravenous as well. It hasn't come up much after introduction though, only referenced after saving her from a gunshot wound when she squees over working with Wolverine.
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • During her first team-up with Spider-Man, she has no hesitation in gleefully telling him she ships him with Carol Danvers and pestering him for details on a date they went on together.
    • When Tyesha, Amir's not girlfriend, makes a reference to Dune, Kamala's response is "please marry my brother".
  • Signature Headgear: Kamala's ushanka (the correct name for a "Russian furry hat") is starting to become iconic. It can be seen cropping up other places in the comic, such as on a pigeon during her Inhuman transformation.
  • Sizeshifter: She can grow her entire body or just parts of it, such as her fists. She can also shrink to insect-size.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: One Avengers annual saw Kamala read a fanfic where she took over the Captain Marvel mantle from Carol...only for the original Captain Marvel to show up and espouse this view, which she readily accepts. The story ends with the fanfic Kamala planning on baking muffins for the male Avengers and the real Kamala absolutely seething with rage.
  • Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Kamala of course has to do this as a Superhero, since Kamala's parents are very strict in all aspects of her life. However, when Kamala finally tells her mother about her secret identity, she revealed that she already knew and was pleased that her daughter's darkest secret was sneaking out to help others.
    Muneeba: If the worst thing you do is sneak out to help suffering people, then I thank God for having raised a righteous child.
  • Super Window Jump: Kamala does an undignified belly-flop version of this through a villain's skylight, with a comically dismayed expression. She lampshades it with "Man. That is way harder than it looks in the movies."
  • Superhero Paradox: Kamala deals with this a bit during her post Secret Wars run. A number of citizens comment that Ms. Marvel's activities have led to problems and 'crazy New York sh*t' to come to Jersey City. However, what isn't noted is that a lot of the problems Ms. Marvel fights do not originate in direct response to her: The Inventor was already there, and the Inhuman and Hydra villains were either created at the same time she was, or were long existent. While a few incidents were caused by her presence, many of the issues the people are upset about would have been a thing regardless of if she had or hadn't taken up the mantle. Heck, many of the issues the (right wing) citizens put at her feet originate from Loki, who, while he did come to the city after she took up the mantle, was sent in response to the Inventor's actions, not Kamala's.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: Following a string of bad moments since Civil War II, Red Dagger accidentally stealing the spotlight has caused her to up and run off. The only one who knows where she is is her brother and she made him promise not to tell anyone where she is. Issue #28 revealed that she ended up in a private school, determined to leave her entire old life behind and just blend into the crowd. She's convinced otherwise.
  • The Adjectival Superhero: The Magnificent Ms. Marvel.
  • The Hero's Idol: Kamala has a great of admiration for Carol Danvers, to the point that she transformed into Carol when her powers manifested. After Carol officially changed her alias to "Captain Marvel", Kamala took on the Ms. Marvel moniker for herself.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Kamala is beside herself with glee, going into doge speak, squeeing, and half incoherent blabbering about her fanfic featuring him (in this order), when she first meets Wolverine (who is less than impressed by this). When she gets saved by Spider-Man, she squees over being in a Spidey team-up, and tells Spidey she ships him and Carol Danvers, her predecessor as Ms. Marvel. And when she met Carol Danvers... oh gosh. Reached its peak when she was asked to join the Avengers, although she did have a minor moment afterwards when she met the original Nova shortly after his resurrection (although she notes that some of his online fans put even her to shame in this department).
  • Token Religious Teammate: As a reasonably devout Muslim whose beliefs inform her moral behavior, Kamala is likely to be this when she participates in a team.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: She loves some halal gyros. It's even (part of) how she bonded with Tony Stark.
  • Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Deliberately averted, where Kamala Khan gains her powers through a peaceful communion with the Terrigen mists, and it's treated as an almost religious experience. G. Willow Wilson wanted to dispel the notion that all superhero origins have to be tragic or horrifying.
  • Triple Shifter: Kamala, like many teen heroes before her, runs into this. It's especially a problem post-Secret Wars, as she now has to juggle high school, solo heroics and being an Avenger. It's costing her a lot of sleep and time with her friends, to the point that she's the last person to learn about her best friend dating someone. It really doesn't help that her powers drain a lot of stamina.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Kamala is female, Pakistani-American, and has Inhuman (alien species) genes. She is also the first Muslim to headline a Marvel comics series.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Kamala's primary superpower. She has been shown to be able to change the size and shape of her body, the color of her skin and hair, and even the clothing she's wearing. By issue #2, her shapeshifting can even have different parts of her upper body showing different outfits simultaneouslynote , and she's revealed in #2 and #3 to have Super-Strength when she's "embiggened" herself or even just her handnote . Issue #5 expands this even further by having Kamala transform into a store mannequin. By #6, she can transform into completely non-humanoid shapes such as a sofa, or flatten herself to be almost as thin as paper (seen in S.H.I.E.L.D. #2).
  • Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Kamala tries hard to balance her normal teenage life with her superheroing. The difficulties this causes her are brought up a number of times: she doesn't get enough sleep, her school performance starts to slip as a result of her constantly missing classes, and her relationships with her friends and family start to suffer due to her duties and actions as Jersey City's superhero interfering with her social and family life to the point of completely destroying her friendship with her closest friend.
  • Watched It for the Representation: Kamala gained a lot of positive press and immediate popularity for being a teenage, Pakistani-American Muslim female superheroine. This made her popular amongst a multitude of different minority groups, and she proved to be an interesting and refreshing character within her own right, due to her Fun Personified personality combined with tackling various real-life issues like body image and bigotry. Anecdotal accounts from comic book stores remarked how her introduction lead to people (specifically young Muslim girls) who had never once read a comic coming in to check out the character, which is virtually unheard of actually happening beforehand. Her success sparked a a new wave of female and/or minority heroes, including Silk, Ironheart and America Chavez, as well as pushing others into the spotlight, such as Jane Foster and Amadeus Cho.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Turns out Kamala's actually weak against electricity. And she never bothered to ask Tony Stark to insulate her costume.
  • Weak to Magic: She's weak to magic - a cursed dagger caused her Heroic Sacrifice in Amazing Spider-Man #26. She assumed she'd just heal, but her healing factor failed to trigger, she died, and had to be resurrected by the X-Men.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Hotness: Subverted. When Kamala first gets her shapeshifting powers, she uses them to look like her idol, Carol Danvers (in her "swimsuit" Ms. Marvel costume). She quickly learns changing your outside doesn't change anything about who you are inside. . . along with many practical downsides of a typical superheroine outfit.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: She copied Carol Danvers's most well-known costume, the one with the leotard, thigh-high boots, and opera gloves. As she is not a Flying Brick with energy absorption and projection powers and the ability to switch outfits instantaneously, running around (let alone actually attempting to fight) while dressed like that was beyond awkward and uncomfortable, to say the least.
  • You Are Grounded!: Kamala's parents use grounding as their go-to disciplinary method, and use it liberally when her grades drop or her adventures as Ms. Marvel cause her to behave suspiciously or stay out late.

Alternative Title(s): Kamala Khan

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