Danielle Moonstar is a Marvel Comics character who appeared in The New Mutants. She is a Native American mutant who can cast illusions.
Danielle Moonstar was created by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod.
Background
Danielle "Dani" Moonstar is a Native American girl of Cheyenne descent. Since she was little, her father William Lonestar, had told her that everyone has two bears inside them. "One is love [and] trust. The other, shame and self-destruction". Dani grew up with this knowledge frightening her until one day, her reservation was attacked by a entity known as the Demon Bear. Her father perished while she continued to run until she was knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she found herself in the care of Dr. Cecilia Reyes, but her troubles were far from over.
Dani managed to befriend each of her fellow patients. The rude Illyana Rasputin, the quiet Sam Guthrie, the humorous Roberto da Costa and the kind Rahne Sinclair. Dani would eventually fall in love with Rahne and enter a relationship with her. Dr. Reyes continued to experiment on Dani to find out what her abilities are. To everyone's surprise, Dani seemed capable of entering a person's psyche and taking their deepest fears or insecurities and projecting them as illusions. This ability accidentally harms her new friends.
Dani soon found herself at odds with Dr. Reyes who took her and revealed her true colors to her as the recruiter for the sinister Essex Corporation. Dani was rescued by her friends, but the Demon Bear returned and mauled Reyes and then set it sights on the New Mutants. While Dani was unconscious, her friends fought for her. It was only through the spiritual intervention of her father William that Dani summoned the courage to defeat the Demon Bear by calming it down. Now in control of her gifts and in good company, Dani finally left the hospital.
Abilities
- Illusion casting: Dani has the power to create illusions. Based on how much she can control, these illusions can physically affect people.
- Empathic psi powers: Dani can see into people's minds and affect their emotions; again, based on how much she can control.
Trivia
- In the comics, Danielle's sexuality was specified as straight in New Mutants Vol 2 #7. While she was close with Wolfsbane, they two were nothing more than friends.
- Danielle and Wolfsbane are the fourth and fifth LGBT characters in the X-Men Cinematic Universe, the first three being Deadpool, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio.
- Danielle's creator, Bob McLeod, was unhappy that the character did not possess her braids like in the comics, though he did like Blu Hunt's performance.
- Danielle is listed as subject number 203. This implies that prior to the other four, there were 198 other mutants that came before them.
Gallery
