WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent comics.
Characters who have been members of Beta Flight, the reserve team of superhumans supporting the Marvel Comics Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.Remember, except where the sheet states otherwise, this is only for characters and examples from the main Marvel Universe (referred to in-universe as Earth-616).
Please do not list characters or examples from shows, movies or alternate universe versions here. If you've thought of a trope that fits an alternate version of the characters, please take that example to its respective sheet.
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Original Team
Box
Box
Alter Ego: Roger Bochs
Notable Aliases: Omega
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (August, 1983)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Marrina
Marrina
Alter Ego: Marrina Smallwood
Notable Aliases: Leviathan, Marrina McKenzie
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (August, 1983)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Puck
Puck
Alter Ego: Eugene Judd
Notable Aliases: Belmont, Gene Judd, Geno
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (August, 1983)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Recruits
Second Team
Persuasion
Persuasion
Alter Ego: Kara Killgrave
Notable Aliases: Purple Girl, Purple Woman
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #41 (December, 1986)
Daughter of the Supervillain Zebediah Killgrave AKA The Purple Man, Kara Killgrave's childhood was without incident. She grew up in a normal suburban setting with her mother Melanie. However when Kara turned thirteen, at the onset of puberty, her body completely turned into a shade of purple. On seeing this Melanie reveals to Kara the identity of her father, and the circumstances of her birth. The shock of her changing appearance and her mother's startling revelations were too much for Kara to cope with and she fled. Realizing her power, she impulsively kidnapped Northstar and made him take her to a deserted island where she intended for them to remain. Fortunately he managed to regain his mental control and delivered her to Alpha Flight's headquarters where she promptly escaped by using one of their members. Fearing the team intended to harm her, she used her powers again, this time on the whole group. She escaped, taking Madison Jeffries with her. On the run, they fell for a time into the clutches of the Auctioneer. When rescued by Alpha Flight, Heather Hudson recruited Kara as the first member of the newly created Beta Flight. She will be a member of Clint Barton's heroic version of the Thunderbolts in May 2022.
- Age-Gap Romance: Kara was in a relationship with teammate Dr. Whitman Knapp, as she was around thirteen or fourteen at the time. Whitman's age was never revealed, but since he was a surgeon he had to be somewhere in his 20s.
- Appearance Angst: Suffers a significant amount of angst at age 13 over becoming a "freak" and turning purple.
- Alliterative Name: Kara Killgrave.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Just like her father, she has purple skin and dark purple hair.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Not in itself but it would be quite easy for her to use her powers to manipulate people into catering to her every whim but she very rarely does anything of the sort.
- Big Sister Instinct: Has this dynamic with Pathway and Goblyn, though she's not related to the twins.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Starts out as once, especially after having a meltdown after turning purple on her thirteenth birthday. She grows out of it.
- Butt-Monkey: In Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter, Kara is knocked out, drowned and thrown into the pavement by Jessica Jones in an ambush attack. Jones is looking for info on the Purple Man, is suspicious and lashing out. While they come to an understanding after that, Jones does joke about drowning her again. She is later knocked out and has her arm broken when attacking Jessica, while mind controlled.
- Civvie Spandex: When her skin turns purple at puberty, she dresses punk so people will think her purple skin is some sort of countercultural fashion choice as well.
- Claustrophobia: Suffers from this, along with Aurora. Do not trap her
◊; she will freak out◊. - Child by Rape: How Kara came to be, due to her father using his powers to control her mother. Kara ended up running away when she found out.
- Combat Parkour: She's very acrobatic, which makes sense as one of her trainers from Alpha Flight was Puck.
- Compelling Voice: Initially, her powers required a verbal command to put someone under her control. She eventually overcame this limitation, later extending to gestures.
- Daddy's Girl: Subverted. In a very twisted way, Zebediah adores his daughter, which his own sons will readily recognize, identifying Kara as their father's favourite. But Kara doesn't return this favoritism, see below.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Averted. If anything, she despises her father for what he did to her mother and for his plain amoral ways in general. She was briefly a villain because of The Master of the World's mind control however.
- Disappeared Dad: Her mother ran away from her father from the US to Toronto once freed from mind control and he was frequently in jail, so Kara didn't get to meet him growing up. Despite his atrocities, as a teen she longed to get to know him. By Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter, she's completely grown out of this and views him as an utterly irredeemable monster. She even aids her younger siblings, the Purple Children, in keeping him subdued so the authorities can arrest him.
- Good Parents: Her mom, Melanie Killgrave, loves her and comforts her following the trauma of turning purple at thirteen. Melanie's even an Open-Minded Parent, both willing to let Kara join Beta Flight and let Goblyn and Laura stay in her Etobicoke high rise apartment during some of the many dissolutions of Alpha Flight. Kara's dad, however, is still a monster who has no relationship with her. He is proud of her, but in a sinister way twisted through his psychopathy.
- I Am Not My Father: Makes it a point to not be like the Purple Man and to use her powers to help people, not for her own amusement.
- Irony: Her main power is mind control, but she's been mind controlled herself a few times. In her first story arc, she's caught by villain and brainwashed, leading her to the realization that mind controlling others is very bad. In the Fear Itself story arc, the Unity Government of Canada brainwashes her after she's caught trying to steal a server to expose the Unity Party's totalitarian conspiracy. In Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter, her brother Benjamin mind controls her using a special serum derived from her father's blood.
- Lamarck Was Right: She developed the exact same powers as her father (more or less), right down to his purple skin. That's despite the fact that he was hit by a rapidly-escaping nerve gas.
- Love Is in the Air: Kara exudes pheromones that have this effect.
- Made of Iron: The amount of damage this girl has taken is amazing, as she has been kicked down the stairs by Box, who just moments earlier casually smashing through walls. She also wasn't bothered much by a flesh wound on her back caused by an explosion◊, was sent flying by a missile's explosion and is fine (though her teammate was in great pain), and was hit by one of Vindicator's plasma blasts with little effect on her, though Heather said she was holding back.
- She falls a good distance from a crashing ship into water, and is sent flying back by a gasoline explosion Jessica Jones herself stated that Kara is hard to kill like her father, who once got ran over by a train.
- She falls a good distance from a crashing ship into water
- Mind Control: Her main ability.
- Mind Meld: Kara has the ability to enter the minds of others and see their life story even before they're born. It can get pretty trippy, though◊.
- Papa Wolf: Madison Jeffries acts as this to her. Speaking of which...
- Parental Substitute: Kara sees him as one to◊ her◊.
- Psychic Link: She's able to telepathically sense people who had been affected by her powers and what their emotional state is◊.
- Puberty Superpower: She gains her mind control powers and her skin turns purple at age 13.
- Purple Is Powerful
- Superheroes Stay Single: Despite a brief romance with Dr. Knapp, she's mostly stayed single throughout her publication history.
- Sympathy for the Devil: She had empathy and compassion for some foes. Particularly Goblyn, who starts out with the Alpha Flight enemies the Derangers and is the only surviving member. After Kara spares Goblyn by taking a blast from Vindicator, she joins the team. Kara reflects that it was dumb luck preventing her from ending up in the place of the Derangers. She's also, less justifiably, somewhat sympathetic and longing to meet her dad early one. By Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter she seems to have lost any desire to have a familial relationship with The Purple Man, however.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In her initial appearances as an adolescent, she could be prone to selfish and impulsive decisions at times, but ultimately was a deeply caring and empathic person. In Fear Itself, while pursuing the noble end of exposing the totalitarian conspiracy of the Unity Party in Canada, she does brutal things like order law enforcement under her mind control to fire at Alpha Flight members and order civilians to form together into a giant person to fight Alpha Flight. When in jail, she mocks Northstar as a pathetic cheater for supposedly competitively skiing with his superpowers after he refuses to free her due to aforementioned shooting orders. By Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter, she seems to have Taken A Level In Kindness as she helps Jessica Jones track down the Purple Man even after Jones sucker punches and drowns her without provocation. Kara is also on friendly terms with an organizer for a support group for people who have been mind controlled by her father.
- Trauma Button: Unfortunately for Kara, her power set and purple face serve as this for Jessica Jones. In Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter, she's ambushed, sucker punched, drowned and thrown to the pavement by Jessica Jones. Jones is trying to find the Purple Man because her daughter has suddenly turned purple and thinks Kara might be involved. She's not.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Kara accidentally ordering a girl to jump off a cliff once she got her powers results in Northstar having to blow his cover at an exhibition ski event. He uses his superspeed flight to save the girl, but is outed as Northstar, a mutant with superhuman speed powers. As a result, he eventually has to give back all his Olympic medals. This, in addition to her mind controlling him, may go some way towards explaining Northstar's cold interactions with Persuasion in Alpha Flight.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Her powers can be nullified if she's completely sealed off from her surroundings in some way◊, or if she (or whoever is under her control) is put in a large body of water (pool, lake, ocean, etc.).
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: During the Alpha Flight Fear Itself tie in, Kara tries to expose the totalitarian conspiracy of the Unity Party running for office in Canada. But she uses extreme measures, including ordering law enforcement in her thrall to fire at two Alpha Flight members and ordering a crowd to form into a giant being to fight off Alpha Flight. She's captured and latter brainwashed by the Unity Party to join Alpha Strike and fight Alpha Flight.
Manikin
Manikin
Alter Ego: Dr. Whitman Knapp
Notable Aliases: Whit, Proto, Apeman, Prime Unit, Highbrow
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #43 (February, 1987)
Dr. Whitman Knapp was born with the ability to shapeshift into 3 distinct beings in varying stages of Human Evolution. Each being has its own set of super powers, making Knapp a force to be reckoned with.
- Age-Gap Romance: He was in a relationship with Persuasion, who was at least a few years his junior.
- The Bus Came Back: He hadn't appeared in 26 years when he was recruited b Jane Foster and Dr. Strange to their team of Combat Medics.
- Cool Shades: Highbrow has a pair of goggles.
- Dumb Muscle: Being a caveman or a Homo Erectus, Apeman has enhanced strength and agility although it's less smart than the other forms.
- Multi Form Balance: His Apeman form has a lot of strength, his Highbrow form is even more intelligent and can even float, while his Proto form can float and dissolve matter.
- Shape Dies, Shifter Survives: His Proto form ends up dying during the mission to save Death with Valkyrie.
Goblyn
Goblyn
Alter Ego: Goblyn Dean
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #48 (July, 1987)
Goblyn was an unborn mutant whose life was saved when her twin sister Laura (Pathway) teleported her to the Dream World ruled by the Dream Queen. Rescued by Alpha Flight, she would come to be a valued member of Beta Flight, alongside her sibling.
- Fish out of Water: Living with Melanie and Kara Killgrave and her sister in an Etobicoke high rise neighbourhood is this for her.
- Heel–Face Turn: Starts off with the Derangers, antagonists to Alpha Flight. Attacks Alpha Flight members even after the rest of the Derangers are dead, but turns friendly after Kara Killgrave saves her from a Vindicator energy blast.
Pathway
Pathway
Alter Ego: Laura Dean
Notable Aliases: Goblyn
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #48 (July, 1987)
One of the mutant Dean twins, Laura tried to learn how to use her dimension crossing abilities as a member of Canada's Beta Flight Team, alongside her sister, Goblyn.
- Extradimensional Shortcut: Able to create portals to other dimensions and parts of the world. Is also able to use this ability to swap places with her twin, Goblyn.
- Hollywood Autism: Kara Killgrave sees here and Goblyn's births through a Mind Meld. Laura's anti-mutant parents were planning to have the visibly different Goblyn killed in the womb and used her dimensional powers to save her. Kara claims this explains why she "withdrew completely" from the world. In subsequent appearances after being reunited with her sister, Laura is more responsive and verbal.
Third Team
Talisman
Talisman
Alter Ego: Elizabeth Twoyoungmen
Notable Aliases: Princess, "Pocahontas"
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #5 (December, 1983)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Ghost Girl
Ghost Girl
Alter Ego: Lilli Stephens
First Appearance: Alpha Flight Vol. 2 #2 (September, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Ouija
Ouija
Alter Ego: Bill Astin
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #14 (September, 1998)
Ouija is a recruit for Alpha Flight who was seemingly being held against his will by Department H. A new administrator, Mr. Gentry granted him freedom but Ouija apparently still wishes to be a member of Alpha Flight. He has the unusual habit of occasionally spelling out words, rather than just saying them.
- All There in the Manual: His real name was revealed in the Marvel Atlas #2.
Fourth Team
Vindicator II
Vindicator II
Alter Ego: James Hudson (Clone)
Notable Aliases: Guardian, James Hudson, Mac
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #1 (August, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Flex
Flex
Alter Ego: Adrian Corbo
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #-1 (July, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Manbot
Manbot
Alter Ego: Bernie Lachenay
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #1 (August, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Murmur
Murmur
Alter Ego: Arlette Truffaut
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #1 (August, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
Radius
Radius
Alter Ego: Jared Corbo
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #-1 (July, 1997)
See Alpha Flight for more info.
