Storm

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Born Ororo Munroe to a tribal princess of Kenya and an African-American photojournalist father, Storm was raised in Harlem, New York City and Cairo, Egypt. She was orphaned after her parents were killed when a plane crashed into their house, an incident that also traumatized her with claustrophobia she struggled with for decades. Under a master thief's tutelage, she became a skilled pickpocket. By coincidence, she met the powerful mutant Professor X, who convinced her to join the X-Men. She later acted as the team's leader in the 1980s after Cyclops took a leave of absence in The Uncanny X-Men #139 (November 1980). During Claremont's 16-year run, Storm appeared in 4,155 panels and on 97 of 182 issue covers. In The Uncanny X-Men #173 (October 1983), Claremont and artist Paul Smith gave her a punk look with a black leather top, pants with spikes, and a mohawk. She was also married to Black Panther, becoming queen consort of Wakanda, though the marriage was later annulled.

In Their Own Story

In Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), Storm first appeared in a battle against the living island Krakoa that replaced the first-generation X-Men with the new team. In the early 1980s, Storm fought parasitic beings called the Brood and was infected with a Brood egg, contemplating suicide before being saved by Acanti aliens. Later, she was rendered sick by the Morlock called Plague and challenged the Morlocks' leader Callisto to a duel to the death for leadership of the Morlocks. Despite her illness, Storm defeated Callisto by stabbing her with a knife, and Callisto was saved by the Morlock Healer. Storm then became leader of the Morlocks. A short story in Marvel Team-Up #100 (December 1980) established that when Storm was 12, she saved a young Black Panther from racist thugs, later becoming the basis for their deeper relationship.

Reader's Guide

Storm is a member of a fictional subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities known as mutants. She can control the weather and atmosphere. She has been a member of teams such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, as well as the X-Men. She is the first Black leader of a Marvel superhero team and the first female leader of a Marvel superhero team. She is the second Black female superhero for Marvel, after Misty Knight, who was created two months earlier. In media, Alison Sealy-Smith voiced Storm in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) and reprises the role in X-Men '97 (2024–present) and What If…? (2024). Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp portrayed adult and young versions of Storm in 20th Century Fox's live-action X-Men film series (2000-2019).

Did You Know?

• Storm was created as an amalgam of two Dave Cockrum characters: The Black Cat and Typhoon.
• Editor Roy Thomas suggested making Typhoon, originally male, into the woman of the group to avoid an all-male X-Men lineup.
• Storm's punk look with a mohawk in The Uncanny X-Men #173 was inspired by Walt Simonson shaving his beard and mustache.
• Storm appears in 4,155 panels and on 97 of 182 covers during Chris Claremont's 16-year run on X-Men.
• Storm is the first Black leader and first female leader of a Marvel superhero team.