Cerebra's Files

Real Name: Jean Grey-Summers
Affiliation: X-Men
Previous Affiliations: X-Factor, Hellfire Club NY (her clone)
Aliases: Redd Dayspring, (Dark Phoenix, Black Queen I (her clone)), Marvel Girl
Status: Deceased (sort of)
Relatives: Dr. John Grey (father), Elaine (mother), Sarah Grey (sister, deceased), Joey (nephew), Gailyn (niece), Summers family
Alternate-X Versions "John" Grey (1602), Mutant Alpha (Age of Apocalypse), Firebird (Amalgam: merged with DC's Fire), Redd Dayspring (Askani), Phoenix-Angel (Earth X), "Shadow" Jean, Jean Grey (Crusader X World), Jean Grey (Mangaverse), Jena Pryor (Mangaverse), Jean Grey (Mutant X), Marvel Girl (Ultimate), Jean Grey (Evolution), Jean Grey (Movieverse), (TAS)
Codename Etymology: Pronounced fē'nĭks [From Greek phoinix]; A bird from Egyptian mythology that would burn in a fire only to rise from its own ashes.
Powers & History: Phoenix is one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, second only to Professor X. She also has telekinesis of an unparalleled level, capable of latching onto objects in orbit and manipulating hundreds of components in mid-air in complex patterns. Although her husband Cyclops was the first X-Man, Jean was Xavier's first student. As a young girl, Jean watched as her friend Annie Richardson was hit by a car. The stress of the event activated Jean's powers, and she was in contact with Annie's mind as she died, a traumatic experience for any telepath, let alone one who has just manifested. Jean went into a catatonia from which no one could extract her, save Professor Xavier, who, being a telepath himself, was able to enter Jean's mind and bring her back to the real world. Jean continued to study with Xavier and with Moira MacTaggert for a while, and was eventually brought to the School for Gifted Youngsters to complete the young X-Men team. When she merged with the Phoenix Force as the original and then Dark Phoenix, Jean could make her thoughts into reality, although her power usually manifested itself in terms of her telepathy and telekinesis. It should be noted that the original Phoenix was actually a construct created by the Phoenix Force to replace Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), who sacrificed herself to save her teammates as they were crash-landing in a damaged spacecraft. This clone actually believed herself to be Jean; in reality the real Jean Grey was in a healing cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Her telepathy was suppressed so that she couldn't cry for help while the Phoenix lived her life. Unfortunately, the Phoenix was immature and did not know how to deal properly with human emotions.

Eventually she was seduced by Mastermind, working for the Hellfire Club, and joined them as their Black Queen. Even though she broke free of Mastermind's control, the dark side of the Phoenix had been tapped, and she became Dark Phoenix. Dark Phoenix defeated the X-Men, and then went to the Shi'ar galaxy where she destroyed a sun to gain energy, but in the process killed the five billion inhabitants of its fourth planet. When she returned to Earth, Dark Phoenix was suppressed by Professor X, but returned when the Shi'ar forced the X-Men to hand her over for termination. The X-Men challenged the Shi'ar to a duel on the Blue Area of the Moon, feeling that Phoenix had been exorcised from Jean, but to no avail. As her lover Cyclops was struck down by the Imperial Guard, Phoenix returned. However, Jean's persona was dominant, and realizing that she was once again a threat to the universe, Phoenix activated an ancient weapon and killed her mortal body. The Phoenix tried to return the essence it had borrowed from Jean to her, but it also brought its memories as Dark Phoenix, full of evil and death, and Jean rejected it. Years later, Jean finally broke through the psi-damping of the cocoon she was in, and was rescued by the

Avengers and the Fantastic Four. She had lost her telepathy because of its constant suppression, but joined the other original X-Men in creating X-Factor anyway. During Inferno, Jean discovered that Madelyne Pryor, who had married Scott while Jean was "dead," was really her clone, and had received the memories of the Phoenix that she had rejected. Madelyne tried to kill herself and Jean, but the part of Phoenix that had been in Madelyne appeared and save Jean when she agreed to reaccept it. Madelyne died, but Jean survived, with both her memories and the Phoenix's memories. During the Dark Riders' attack on X-Factor's Ship, Psynapse telepathically assaulted Jean, reawakening her long-dormant telepathy.

After returning to the X-Men, Jean was almost killed by Sentinels, but survived by transferring her mind into the seemingly-lifeless body of Emma Frost. The X-Men rescued her and Xavier put her mind back. Since then, Jean has married Cyclops, and journeyed with him to the far future to raise his son Cable as Redd. She has now accepted the name Phoenix (as a tribute to her "daughter" Rachel, who died as an elderly Mother Askani 2000 years in the future) and also appears to have accepted its power once more. Jean left the X-Men after Scott was injured during Operation: Zero Tolerance, taking a vacation in Alaska to help him recover. While there, however, Jean lost her telepathy to the Shadow King's telepathic shockwave, and was having difficulty coping. However, slowly but surely her power returned, and she along, with Cyclops and some other X-Men, agreed to protect the Mannites when it seemed that the core X-Men had disbanded.

Then Apocalypse made his return and the X-Men discovered the prophecies regarding The Twelve. Phoenix and the rest on the legendary group were abducted and place in a machine intended to fuel Apocalypse's transfer into Nate Grey's body. In the final battle, Cyclops scarificed his life to save Nate, but he was absorbed into Apocalypse himself. Jean and the others were taken to warped pasts and futures in which Apocalypse tried to recreate the power charging by having the 12 attack him, but twice Jean stopped the X-Men because she could sense Scott fighting from within, indicating that he was still alive inside Apocalypse. Unfortunately, no one, not even Xavier, could sense Scott's presence, and Jean left the X-Men, despondent and grieving. Fortunately, she returned to the team, but something happened between her and Psylocke that transferred all of Jean's telekinesis to Betsy, and added Betsy's telepathy to Jean's. Jean became an incredibly powerful telepath, and had to learn to fight physically rather than mentally.

Recently, Jean (and Cable) were contacted by Ozyamandias and told that Cyclops and Apocalypse were still alive. Jean and Cable eventually tracked Scott down and fought his Apocalypse persona. Finally, Jean used the mindlink she shared with Scott to physically rip Apocalypse out of Scott, freeing him from a terrible destiny. Shortly thereafter, Jean gathered a team of neo-mutants to help rescue Charles Xavier from Magneto's clutches. At around the same time, she was recruited by Prosh to serve as one of his "Cataclysm Keys" to save humanity from being dominated by The Stranger. During this mission (see the X-Men Forever LS), Jean was re-exposed to the Phoenix Force and regained her telekinesis.

She returned to the team full-time, and was learning to know her husband again. Recently, however, Jean began to re-experience more of the Phoenix force's abilities, and that again distanced her from Scott. She was actually able to store all of Professor X's mind inside her own, then break it up among millions of people and recombine it into his own body. Professor X then tested Jean's abilities and wound up speaking to the Phoenix itself, which has again taken up residence in Jean.

The Phoenix augmented Jean's telepathic range, and her telekinesis to the point where she could feel the touch of another person on an object she was levitating. This manifestation of the Phoenix was sensed by the Shi'ar, who came to Earth to destroy it, but never actually got to Jean. During the course of this evolution, unfortunately, Jean's marriage to Scott took a turn for the worse, as Scott worried that Jean would turn evil, and he himself could not be intimate with her. Then Jean found Scott and Emma Frost engaged in telepathic role-playing intercourse, and she was livid. However, when Emma was later shot and her diamond body shattered, Jean used the Phoenix to re-assemble her.

Soon afterwards, Magneto IV (the false X-Man "Xorn") revealed himself, and Jean and Wolverine unknowingly were trapped on Asteroid M as it fell into the sun. Wolverine couldn't stand to see Jean suffer and die, so he stabbed her in the chest when the temperature and pressure threatened to overcome them. Jean, however, was resurrected by the Phoenix Force and healed both herself and Logan, then created a spaceship which she used to rescue other stranded X-Men. Jean seemed to be consciously communicating with the Phoenix, noting that she felt she was living on borrowed time.

Jean returned the X-Men to New York, where Magneto IV was taking over the city and trying to eliminate the humans. While the X-Men defeated Magneto through a coordinated attack, Magneto IV grabbed Jean and sent a lethal electromagnetic pulse into her body that killed her.

Months later, the Phoenix Force returned to Earth and resurrected Jean, but Jean fought off the influence long enough to allow Logan to kill her repeatedly, until the Phoenix was weakened enough to allow Jean to bury herself in ice. The Phoenix escaped and it came after the X-Men again, but this time, Scott had Emma telepathically link all the X-Men's thoughts to the Phoenix, and they overwhelmed it with their memories and love for Jean, and Jean was able to reassert control and leave the earthly plane. For now...
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