Raven Darkholme was an American Mutant who possessed the ability to shapeshift, being able to take on the appearance and voice of others, as well as increase her body or add extra fingers or arms. In this timeline, Raven's actions caused the rise of the Sentinels and the necessity to create the New Timeline.
Biography[]
Mutant and Proud[]
As a young child, Raven was feared by her parents, who constantly abused and nearly killed her. Due to her rejecting her true blue reptilian appearance, caused by a mutation that developed early, Raven feared going to school. One day she got tired of the abuse and ran away to North Salem, where she attempted the steal from the Xavier Estate. Disguising herself as Sharon Xavier, Raven was confronted by Charles Xavier and convinced to show her true form. Being the only two mutants in the area, Charles convinced his mother and stepfather to allow Raven to stay with him, letting her feel like there was somebody for her in the world.
Raven often clung to Charles, travelling to Oxford University with him where she found employment as a waitress. Disgusted by Charles' womanizing ways, Raven sometimes used her powers to lessen his chances with women while also taking up the mantra "Mutant and Proud". After Moira MacTaggert approached Charles for help, Raven travelled with the two to the CIA headquarters and displayed her powers to John McCone and the Man in Black. After Charles first failed attempt at finding Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club, Raven was introduced to their latest ally, Erik Lehnsherr. Travelling with them to the CIA's Division X site, Raven met Hank McCoy and the two became smitten with each other. Deeply interested in Hank's scientific mind, Raven agreed to give him a sample of her blood so that the two could look normal while retaining their powers.
After Charles and Erik recruited Angel Salvadore, Armando Muñoz, Alex Summers and Sean Cassidy, Raven discovered a newfound camaraderie with the mutants. They all went so far as to give each other codenames, with Raven taking Mystique. After the Hellfire Club attacked the CIA, Raven and the remaining members of Division X relocated to the Xavier Estate. Here, Raven began to grow closer to Erik, who validated her true form as beauty, and further away from Hank. Finding her views aligning with those of Erik's as opposed to Charles, Raven rejected Hank's serum.
As the Cuban Missile Crisis began, Raven and the rest of Division X were shocked by Hank's altered bestial appearance. Raven and Erik, though, regarded it as his true form, much to Hank's discomfort. Although initially ordered to stay out of the conflict by Charles, Raven joined to help Hank take down Azazel. After Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club were defeated, Erik himself turned on the humans, forcing Raven in a tough position. After Charles was accidentally paralyzed by Erik, Raven stayed by her convictions and left Charles with Erik, joining the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Truly Mystique[]
The ranks of the Brotherhood of Mutants, however, were thinned by Project WideAwake and Mystique was left alone when Erik was arrested after being falsely incriminated for the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. Continuing Erik's work on her own, Raven's trail led her to Trask Industries, who were sponsoring the T-313 Security Squadron in the Vietnam War.
Travelling to Saigon, Raven disguised herself as a colonel and found the T-313 Security Squadron, of which Alex Summers was a member. Easily defeating William Styrker, Raven was stopped from killing him by Alex. Getting the T-313 Security Squadron to safety, Raven returned to the USA. Disguising herself as Bolivar Trask, Raven infiltrated Trask Industries and learned of the Sentinels. Travelling to Paris for the Peace Accords of the Vietnam War, Raven disguised herself as a Vietnamese general and intercepted a meeting with Bolivar Trask.
During the meeting, Raven was exposed, prompting her to quickly shift into her true form and assassinate Bolivar Trask. Almost immediately, however, she was captured by William Stryker and brought in for experimentation. Under Stryker, Raven went through countless inhumane torturous experiments, changing her as a person completely. Truly becoming Mystique, by the time Raven escaped, she only resembled her previous self in appearance only.
Mystique later met up with Erik again, joining the new Brotherhood of Mutants alongside Victor Creed and Toad. Impersonating Henry Guyrich, Mystique infiltrated the operation of Senator Robert Kelly to try and bring an end to the Mutant Registration Act. Kidnapping Senator Kelly, Mystique brought him to Erik so that Guyrich could undergo experimentation. After the X-Men openly began to oppose Erik's plans, Mystique returned to the Xavier Estate for the first time in years, walking on the ground that now belonged to the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Disguising herself, Mystique convinced Rogue to run away from the school before heading down to the chamber of Cerebro. There Mystique once again betrayed Charles by placing a poison in the machine designed to turn the first man who believed into her comatose. During the Battle of the Statue of Liberty, Mystique fought and was defeated by the Wolverine. Although she escaped, Mystique grew sexually obsessed with the animalistic man.
While continuing to disguise herself as Senator Kelly, Mystique ended support for the Mutant Registration Act. Mystique's disguise as Kelly continued to bear fruit as she eventually learned William Stryker was preparing for an attack on humans. Wanting nothing more than to defeat her former torturer, Mystique disguised herself as Lady Deathstrike and was horrified when she learned the true depth of Stryker's crimes against mutants.
Freeing Erik from his prison, Mystique later joined his uneasy alliance with the X-Men. Met by Kurt Wagner, Mystique affirmed her "Mutant and Proud" mantra to him, telling him that mutants shouldn't have to hide. Mystique used this opportunity to pose as Jean Grey in a failed attempt to seduce Wolverine. During the Battle of Alkali Lake, Mystique was willing to let Charles die so long as all humans in the world died as well. Escaping Alkali Lake with Erik, Mystique was also joined by Pyro, beginning a third Brotherhood of Mutants.
During her work for the Brotherhood, however, Mystique was captured by the US military. While being taken away on a military transport, Mystique was freed by Erik and Pyro, allowing her to reveal to them the origin of the Leech Cure. Ironically, Mystique herself was shot by the Leech Cure. Dropping to the floor, Mystique lost all of her powers and turned into a naked, human, Raven Darkholme.
Realizing she was no longer a mutant, Raven was betrayed by Erik and left to fend for herself. Scorned, Raven later turned over all information she had about Erik to the US Government before the Battle of Alcatraz.
Powers[]
Mystique possessed the ability to metamorph, being able to change her appearance and body cells at will. She can create almost any kind of clothing for herself to wear as well. Though she will not weigh as much as a bigger or smaller person, she can still metamorph into them. She can change her vocal cords and gain extra limbs or fingers as well. Due to her powers, her aging has been slowed down.
| “ | We've come for you, Erik and I. Together! | ” |
—Charles Xavier | ||
Raven Darkholme was an American Mutant who possessed the ability to shapeshift, being able to take on the appearance and voice of others, as well as increase her body or add extra fingers or arms. In this timeline, Raven's actions were able to prevent the rise of the Sentinels.
Biography[]
As a young child, Raven was feared by her parents, who constantly abused and nearly killed her. Due to her rejecting her true blue reptilian appearance, caused by a mutation that developed early, Raven feared going to school. One day she got tired of the abuse and ran away to North Salem, where she attempted the steal from the Xavier Estate. There she was encountered by a young Charles Xavier, who too felt different. Convincing Raven to stay with him, he, despite his age, taught her how to stay in human form, allowing his mother and stepfather to adopt her.
Raven often clung to her brother, traveling and studying at Oxford University with him. There they were both encountered by Moira MacTaggert, who wanted their help against the Hellfire Club. Getting involved with Division X, in the CIA Raven met Hank McCoy and Erik Lehnsherr. Erik taught her to love her true form and not be ashamed of it. Growing to believe in Erik's supremacist ideologies, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Raven abandoned Charles and left with Erik, joining the Brotherhood of Mutants. However, Raven was separated from Erik after the latter was falsely incriminated for assassinating John F. Kennedy.
Leaving to fight mutant threats on her own, Raven caught wind of illegal experiments being conducted by William Stryker during the Vietnam War on the behalf of Bolivar Trask. Rescuing several mutants in the T-313 Security Squadron, including former teammate Havok from Stryker, Raven went about to learn more on Trask. Learning that he had taken almost all of her teammates from Division X and the Brotherhood, killed and experimented on them, Raven set out to kill him. However, she was stopped by Charles and Erik. She later once again joined up with Erik who attempted to get her to join him in wiping out the government of the United States. Charles nonetheless managed to convince Raven to not kill Trask and escape. Later posing as Stryker, Raven fished the Wolverine out of the Potomac River.
Much like she did for Wolverine, Raven began to help mutants out around the globe. However, she found that being in her natural form brought her unnecessary attention and began to disguise herself more and more often. Eventually, Raven ironically found herself posing as a human so as to not reveal her identity to other mutants. She did, however, occasionally work alongside Caliban, who aided in the transport of mutants to safe locations.
Heading to Berlin, Raven infiltrated a mutant fight club where a match was going on between Angel and Kurt Wagner. Rescuing Kurt, Raven took him to Caliban to send him to America. After learning that Erik went on a rampage in Poland, however, Raven decided to take Nightcrawler with her to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters instead.
Arriving at the school with Kurt, Raven found herself reunited with Hank. Realizing that they were both continuing to hide their true mutant identities, she learned of his desire to form the X-Men. Agreeing with Hank, Raven broached the topic with Charles but was quickly brushed off due to the militancy of the concept. Accompanying Charles to Cerebro, Raven was present when En Sabah Nur hijacked the network and disarmed the world of nuclear weapons. Quickly leaving Cerebro's chamber to get Charles to safety, Raven found herself face to face with Erik, who had arrived with Nur and the rest of the Four Horsemen.
Unable to stop En Sabah Nur from taking Charles, Raven was nearly killed in the ensuing explosion but was rescued by Peter Maximoff. The rescue was in vain, however, as Raven, Peter, Hank and Moira were neutralized and taken to Alkali Lake by William Stryker. After refusing to give up Charles' location to Stryker, Raven and the others were freed by Scott Summers, Jean Grey and Nightcrawler. Heading off to stop En Sabah Nur, in the Battle of Cairo, Raven and Peter tried to convince Erik to turn against the godlike mutant. After Nur was about to execute Peter, Raven tried to rescue him but was herself choked out and left for dead.
After Jean Grey used the full extent of her abilities to destroy Nur, Raven finally returned to the mansion where she grew up. This time, however, she and Hank led the team of Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Kurt Wagner, Peter Maximoff and Ororo Munroe as the X-Men. With the school rebuilt, Raven and Hank led the X-Men in training in Charles' newly constructed Danger Room.