In order to compensate for her lack of a body, she copied the DNA of Charles Xavier, her brother, in order to create her own body. This has granted her various mental and physical abilities, in addition to her natural mummudrai abilities.

She is best known for having caused the Genoshan Genocide, in which over 16 million mutants were killed.

Torn

Nova recently re-appeared as a member of the new Hellfire Club, in the arc of Astonishing X-Men, Torn. At the start of the arc, we see inside Emma Frost's mind, where Noca and Emma are talking in Genosha, and it is implyed that Nova created Emma's Secondary Mutation so Nova could have a mole inside the X-Men. When the new incarnation of the Hellfire begin they're attack, Nova attacks Beast telepathically, reducing him to a feral/animal form, then attacking Wolverine making him think that he's a young school child.

It is later revealed that Nova had planted part of her mind in Emma Frost's, and has been using Frost to manipulate and attack the X-Men. Nova uses Emma's telepathic prowess to trick Kitty Pryde into thinking her son was being kept in a box in the basement, when actually it was Nova's mind trapped within Stuff's (they needed Kitty to phase into the protected box). Luckily, Cyclops shows up and shoots the psychic projections, and Kitty realises what she's doing. Nova was going to overtake Kitty's body, but then saw Armor and began transferring her mind into Armor's, but they are all teleported away before it is confirmed if the transfer was successful.