Who the Clix? Destiny

Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.

The blind seer who has cheated death a handful of times: Destiny

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Appearances in Heroclix: X-Men Rise and Fall, X-Men Days of Future Past, Universe, Xplosion
First Appearance:  The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981)
Team Affiliations: Brotherhood of Mutants, Freedom Force, HYDRA, Quiet Council of Krakoa
Powers/Abilities: Precognition
Created by: Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Artwork and character is copyright/trademark Marvel; used under Fair Use

Irene Adler, the woman who would become Destiny, is born in Salzburg, Austria. When young Irene’s powers first manifest, she seeks out a detective who is in her part of the world. This detective is actually Mystique in disguise and while Mystique attempts to help Irene decode her prophetic diary entries, the pair fall in love.

In twelve months, Irene produces thirteen volumes of prophecies around the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This period leaves her physically blind and haunted by the spectres of days yet to come. In their youthful romance, Irene asks Mystique to help her in two ways. One, to decipher the diaries and learn what they mean. Two, to work to prevent the worst of them from coming to pass. These missions lead them to a life together full of love and danger. Though they eventually spend time apart over the decades, having other relationships and families, they retain a bond that cannot be broken.

In the 1940s, Irene Adler is a part of Project: Black Womb under the authority of the United States government. Headed by Amanda Mueller and Alexander Ryking, Dr. Nathan Milbury, actually Mr. Sinister, Brian Xavier and Kurt Marko, and Irene research genetics and mutation. Sinister experiments on thousands of mutant babies at this time, including a young Toad, Charles Xavier and Cain Marko.

Later, Irene and Mystique reunited and raise young runaway Rogue together. Eventually, they form the second Brotherhood of Mutants and embark on a series of terrorist attacks in mutant-kind’s name. Destiny personally tries to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly but is stopped by the X-Men before being taken into custody. She is temporarily rescued from Ryker’s Island only to battle the Avengers and be returned. She warns Mystique that Rogue will eventually leave her custody. Before that occurs, Rogue and Mystique both plan an escape for the Brotherood. Rom the Space Knight interferes in said escape but Destiny, Rogue and Mystique are still able to succeed. They then help Rom defeat the mutant Hybrid.

After years on the run, Mystique’s Brotherhood is offered full pardons and protection from anti-mutant agencies if they work for the United States government. They accept and are renamed Freedom Force. Destiny, together with Freedom Force, arrests Magneto, takes the Avengers into custody at the Vault and even attempts to arrest the X-Men. During the latter, Destiny has a vision of the X-Men’s death, which ends up coming to pass when they are sent to the Australian Outback.

Freedom Force travels to Muir Island to battle the Reavers and while there, Destiny is killed by Legion, who is under the control of the Shadow King. After her death, Mystique scatters her lover’s ashes at sea. Even after death, some astral portion of Destiny seems to remain. She regularly appears to Legion and even gives him a message to give to Mystique. She also urges Legion to forgive himself for her death, as she believes his guilt will lead to a threat to all of reality.

The diaries that Irene and Mystique had spent so much time working on and protecting become highly sought after artifacts after her death. A team of X-Men as well as Mr. Sinister believe the books’ knowledge is an incredibly powerful resource. The Xtreme X-Men seek to protect them from being used while Sinister attempts to use them to resurrect the mutant race after the Decimation at the hands of the Scarlet Witch. Gambit eventually finds them and burns them, “saving” the world from them.

Irene is temporarily resurrected by Selene after the former black queen takes control of the Technarch transmode virus. Selene seeks to hear her future and Desinty tells her exactly what she wants to hear. She also tries to contact Rogue but instead sets off a chain of events that leads to the young mutant Blindfold being freed from the control of Proteus.

The Moira MacTaggar that is resurrected by Amatsu-Mikaboshi is actually a corpose possessed by Destiny’s ghost. She uses this Moira shell to reveal the secret to defeating the Chaos God before again being returned to rest.

After the establishment of the Krakoan nation, Mystique undergoes multiple dangerous missions in order to “earn” Destiny’s resurrection. When she is refused one last time, Mystique accepts the time has come to fulfill one of Destiny’s prophecies. Either ensure her resurrection or burn Krakoa to the ground. Moira X’s aid to Krakoa was predicated on no precognitive mutants being resurrected. The future is ever changing and in her efforts to save mutantkind, the timeline may veer close to its destruction. It is also revealed that Moira X was able to either copy Destiny’s diaries or replace the originals before Gambit burned them. Something that she could have accomplished during her years acting in the shadows.

Moira grows more concerned with Destiny’s resurrection and it is soon shown to be too late. Mystique and Destiny conspire to place themselves on the Quiet Council and are able to steal a kidnapped Moira away from Orchis. This also leads to a confrontation between Magneto, Xavier, Nimrod and Karima the Omega Sentinel. Destiny and Mystique use Forge’s old power neutralizer to make Moira human. Just as they are about to kill her, Cypher intervenes. As Moira is now human, Krakoan laws prohibit the two women from murdering her. In that moment, Destiny realizes that the best future is one in which Moira lives. Moira is allowed to leave Krakoa via a gate but before she goes, Destiny warns her that she will be hunted by many parties.

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