Talk about Multi-Armed and Dangerous.
There's a reason why my people call her kind tricksters. Raven Darkholme may be able to alter her appearance a million times a day...but she never really changes.
— Forge, Mystique #1
Mystique was a Marvel comic published from 2003 to 2005. It was written by Brian K. Vaughan, with art by Jorge Lucas. Issue #14 through #24 (the final issue) were written by Sean McKeever.
Raven Darkholme is and has only ever been out for herself. But when Professor Xavier saves her from certain death, he requests that she be one of his secret agents and go on missions too top secret even for the X-Men. And it's really not a request.
So Mystique is stuck doing Xavier's dirty work, but this time she has backup in the form of her former lover Forge and her handler Shortpack. Now, all they need to do is find out what happened to Professor Xavier's other secret agent and how to stop this new mutant terrorist called the Quiet Man.
Good thing Mystique is up for the job.
Tropes in Mystique:
- Acid Attack: Jura can secrete acid powerful enough to burn through walls.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Shortpack was secretly in love with Prudence.
- Bad to the Last Drop: As Mystique put it:Mystique: This coffee tastes like someone wrung it out of the Blob's unitard.
- Big Bad: The Quiet Man. Who is Prudence inhabiting Steinbeck's body.
- Body Surf: Agent 16, Prudence Leighton, can psi-jump into other women. When Steinbeck kills her, she manages to jump into him. However, since her powers didn't really work on men, her consciousness was corrupted and she started acting the part of the bad guy.
- Breath Weapon:
- Steinbeck can breathe fire.
- Shepard can spit a black bile-like substance.
- Chrome Champion:
- Luc can shapeshift into a spiked, razer sharp metallic form.
- Tanya can shapeshift into a sleek, metallic golden form.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Helena Carlson, the CEO of DermaFree, who tests her cosmetic products on mutants.
- Energy Weapon: Tanya can fire beams of light when powered up.
- Enfant Terrible: Spencer Bronson. His mutant ability was a third eye that allowed him to control anyone he sees. And since Kids Are Cruel, he used it to get whatever he wanted, making his father "kidnap" him because his mother didn't let him do everything and then trying to get Forge to kill Mystique when they were going to return him.
- Fusion Dance: Markita and Vanessa can fuse into a single being with two heads and four arms and legs.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Mystique. "I haven't beaten a man with his own leg since Carter was in office...but I still remember how."
- Mercy Kill: Lazaro kills Evangelina to prevent her from being used by either the Cuban government or Sentinels.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: At one point, Mystique shapeshifts so that she has six arms and two faces. She says she can only do this for a short period of time, as it hurts.
- Plaguemaster: Host, a mutant who can communicate with and control pathogens. She is a freedom fighter for the "rights of all viruses everywhere."
- Rubber Man: Ralf can stretch his arms.
- See You in Hell: Mystique says a very interesting variation of this. To fight a small army of well-armed soldiers, she uses her powers in an admittedly dangerous way. (She sort of splits her head in two, forming two heads... It's kind of hard to describe.) After defeating most of the soldiers, the final one is horrified and calls her a demon. She replies by pointing her gun at him and saying, "Sure I am. See you in my hometown," right before letting him have it.
- Shout-Out:
- The second story arc is called "Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy."
- issue #13 is called "Nevermore." Also appropriate since Mystique's first name is Raven.
- Helena Carlson's bodyguards are called Hans and Franz.
- SizeShifter: Shortpack has the power to shrink to eight inches tall.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Viktor is a nightclub owner who sells fellow mutants into slavery.
- Technically Naked Shapeshifter: As Mystique explains:Mystique: Kid, my clothes are just an extension of my body. I'm always naked.
- Technopathy: Evangelina Rivera can animate and control any machinery more mechanically sophisticated than a revolver.
- Telepathy:
- Shortpack is able to read minds at a close distance.
- Sasha has this power, which generates multi-colored sparkles of light when she uses them.
- Tentacle Rope: Viktor can extend 5 psychic tentacles from his back, which he can control at will.
- Third Eye:
- Spencer Bronson has one in the center of his forehead. It lets him control anyone he sees.
- Viktor has a psychic version of this that grants him mind-reading and mind-erasing abilities.
- Tracking Device: Forge implanted a tracking device in Mystique so that she can't just run away or betray them. The Quiet Man offers to remove it.
- Villainous Incest: Shepard refers to the Quiet Man as "beloved." Since it later turns out the Quiet Man's body was possessed by Shepard's sister, Prudence, this trope is in play.
- Worthless Treasure Twist: Mystique burgles the home of The Richest Man In The World (as a favour for her friend Fantomex) and steals his Most Treasured Possession; when she opens the box containing it, it is revealed to be... one of Spider-Man's discarded old costumes. Her reaction is, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!"
