Oya (comics)

Oya (Idie Okonkwo) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #528, in the third chapter of the "Five Lights" storyline, and was created by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen.[1] She is one of the "Five Lights"—a group of mutants who manifested their abilities after the events of "Second Coming".

For the female deity in Yoruba mythology see Oya.

Oya
Generation Hope #2 variant cover Art by Greg Land
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #528 (September 2010)
Created by	Matt Fraction Kieron Gillen
In-story information
Alter ego	Idie Okonkwo
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	The Lights X-Men Jean Grey School Students Hellfire Academy
Notable aliases	The Girl Who Wouldn't Burn, The Girl Who Wouldn't Freeze, The Third Light
Abilities	Temperature manipulation

Publication history

Oya first appeared in Uncanny X-Men as newly manifested mutant who is deeply conflicted about her powers. Following her introduction, she, along with Hope Summers, Velocidad, Transonic, Zero, and Primal, began to feature in the series Generation Hope.[2] She made appearances in Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men, and is currently featured in All-New X-Men.

Fictional character biography

The Third Light

Idie is a fourteen-year-old girl from Delta State, Nigeria when her powers manifest. The first manifestation of her powers causes her village to burn down, and when she starts to freeze things as well, she is considered by the locals to be a witch.[3] By the time Storm and Hope arrive, Idie's family and friends have been killed. Hope stabilizes Idie's powers, and Idie uses her new abilities to drive away the paramilitary group that was attempting to kill her.[3]

From her introduction, Idie is shown to have deep religious reservations with respect to her status as a mutant. She has viewed herself as a "monster" and has wished her mutation was as obvious as Laurie's, so that her "sin" would be just as obvious.[4] When deciding not to be called "The Girl Who Wouldn't Burn," Idie describes herself as "a witch child," "a blasphemy," and "a heretic." She states that if she cannot burn in this world, she will burn in the next.[5] She later tells Wolverine that she has made peace with the fact that she is a monster.[6]

Schism

As he returns from an obviously tiring mission, Wolverine encounters Hope and the Lights, including Oya, awaiting his return so they can start Combat Training class. Wolverine cancels the class he had no knowledge of, and instead asks them if they should not be doing something more age appropriate; specifically, he asks Oya if she had a doll or something to go play with. Oya states that she had a doll, but it was destroyed when her village people came to kill her. Later, Wolverine solicits Shadowcat to retrieve a new doll for Oya, which he gives while they share some ice cream.[7]

Oya is one of the X-Men to attend the opening of a Mutant History Museum, a group that includes several adult and younger mutants. When the Museum is attacked by the new Hellfire Club, most of the X-Men are quickly defeated as Oya hides. Both Wolverine and Cyclops rush towards the museum, but the Hellfire grunts begin setting up a bomb within the museum. To Wolverine's protest, Cyclops gives Oya the go ahead to do anything she thinks necessary, and Oya "murders" most of the Hellfire grunts. Outside the museum, she is comforted by Hope and the other Lights, but Oya simply wants to return to Utopia to get some sleep.[8]

Oya doesn't have any remorse for killing the Hellfire grunts. She tells Wolverine, that once you accept being a monster, being a murderer isn't so bad. Laurie is furious at Hope for letting her be part of the Sentinel battle on Utopia. She went as far as to point a gun at Hope. Hope realizes that she didn't do a good job taking care of her. She tells Wolverine to take Oya with her to the new school which will be The Jean Grey Academy, and take better care of her than she could. Oya and Hope share a heart-felt good bye. When Wolverine and his new crew of teachers and students land in Westchester, Oya asks Wolverine if she is responsible for breaking up the X-Men, Wolverine replies: "No, darlin'. You led us home."[9]

Regenesis

Oya is no longer part of Generation Hope and she is now part of the Wolverine and the X-Men. During a visit from Deathlok to the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning, it is suggested that Idie has a high probability of eventually becoming leader of the X-Men.[10]

Powers and abilities

Idie has the mutant power of temperature manipulation. This power allows her to move heat from one area to another, producing various effects, as well as rendering her body completely immune to temperature extremes. To date, Idie's use of her powers has only been limited by the amount of heat available to her within her immediate environment. She is consistently able to move enough heat to create fire in one area and ice in another. While she often creates fire as she creates ice, and vice versa, this is not a necessity. Idie can create ice by absorbing heat into herself without releasing it as fire. Idie can then store the heat she has absorbed into herself as a resource for a later time. At will, Idie can release the stored heat in her body as fire, without requiring to simultaneously create ice. When using her powers her right eye glows blue, and her left orange.

References

1. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/kieron-gillen-introduces-generation-hope-101103.html
2. Generation Hope #1 (2011)
3. Uncanny X-Men #528
4. Generation Hope #1
5. Generation Hope #8
6. X-Men: Schism #2
7. X-Men: Schism #1
8. X-Men: Schism #3
9. X-Men: Schism #5
10. Wolverine and the X-Men #4