Alpha Flight

Origin

Jean-Paul and his twin sister, Jeanne-Marie were orphaned almost immediately after their birth. Taken in by their mother's cousin, they soon found themselves separated due to finances. Jean-Paul was placed in a foster home and was unaware he even had a sister.

During his teen years, Jean-Paul took to stealing and was caught by Raymonde Belmonde. Raymonde took him in and became his mentor and helped Jean-Paul come to terms with his mutant powers of speed. Jean-Paul also spent some time in a circus, becoming a trapeze artist and later joined a separatist movement. Realizing that the organization was basically a terrorist group and innocents were endangered, Jean-Paul left the group.

Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie

He then used his mutant powers and became an Olympic world ski champion. This fame brought him to the attention of James Hudson. Hudson worked for the Canadian government and was the founder of a team of superhumans. Hudson had already recruited Jeanne-Marie and had noticed a resemblance with Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul was thrilled being reunited with the sister he didn't know existed. Adding to the surprise was the intense blinding light generated when the two touched.

Northstar's X-Men costume

As Northstar, Jean-Paul fought on many missions with his sister in Alpha Flight. Unfortunately their relationship had its ups and downs. Later Jean-Paul discovered an abandoned baby girl. She had been born with AIDS and Jean-Paul decided to adopt her himself. She died a few weeks later. This gave Jean-Paul the idea to publicly announce his homosexuality. It was his hopes as a former Olympic medal winner and Canadian superhero, the public would take more interest in HIV prevention. Jean-Paul ended up leaving Alpha Flight and even wrote a book on his life as a mutant and homosexual.

He was persuaded by Jean Grey-Summers to help the X-Men save Professor Xavier and then became a teacher in economics at the Xavier Institute. Shortly after, the X-Man Wolverine was captured by the terrorist organization Hydra. Working with a mystical cult, the Dawn of the White Light, Hydra was able to brainwash Wolverine into being an assassin of superhumans.

When Wolverine attacked the X-Men, Northstar was killed. The government organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. took possession of Northstar's body while they attempted to contact his family. His body was taken by Hydra and Jean-Paul was resurrected as another super assassin. S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to capture and deprogram Wolverine. Wolverine was able to defeat Northstar and bring him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. where they made their attempts to deprogram him. The process wasn't going as well as it did for Wolverine, perhaps due to the fact that Wolverine possesses a healing factor.

Northstar as a Hand Assassin

Northstar was recently brainwashed and used as a pawn along his sister by a new group of beings called Children of the Vault to attack the X-Men. The twins' powers were increased, giving them increased speed and a flash of light that can now generate concussive force and incredible heat. While attempting to assassinate Sabretooth, Northstar encountered his pupil Anole, whose unaware conversation caused Jean-Paul to nearly waver in his mission. However, he knocked Anole unconscious and resumed his task. Northstar was eventually knocked unconscious by Cable before he could kill Rogue or carry out his mission to terminate Sabretooth.

Rogue and her team of X-Men took the unconscious twins to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to attempt to undo the brainwashing through a technological/psychic process in which they would relive their lives in an accelerated rate. Before the process could be completed, the mutant Exodus attacked the building causing the program to malfunction and Northstar and Aurora's minds to meld. Shocked awake, the twins sped off attempting to run from one another until they realized they had nothing to fear anymore. Taking hold of one another's hands, their minds were separated again and they assisted Rogue in defeating Exodus' minions.

Northstar was later sent on a mission by Cyclops to seek out Anole following the school's (and the X-Men's) disbanding. Northstar apologized to Victor for assaulting him during his period of being brainwashed and tried to relate to Victor's brooding attitude following his own violent experiences as a student and New X-Man. Furious at the way he felt the X-Men had used and then abandoned him and the other students, Anole told Northstar not to have any of the X-Men or his former teammates contact him and punched him out before leaving home.

Northstar's current activities are unknown.

Powers

Northstar, like his sister Aurora, has complete control over the speed of the atoms within his bodies molecules. He normally uses that power to travel at superhuman speeds and to fly.

Northstar can move at speeds up to 99% of the speed of light. He has never gone faster than that, as he would potentially damage himself. Northstar can move just one part of himself at superhuman speeds, and has used that to strike opponents repeatedly in fractions of a second. This tecnique has been shown to even hurt the Hulk.

Northstar also has superhuman reflexes, and has demonstrated the ability to still dodge items while moving at Mach 18.7. Northstar's reflexes even allow him to do complex tasks at high speed, and he can read and understand large documents in seconds.

In addition, by using his atomic control to generate thrust, Northstar can fly at the same speeds he can move. His body is made more durable due to the atomic motion, and he can withstand the atmospheric stress at the high speeds he moves. Northstar is durable enough to fly through a Sentinel unharmed.

Another usage of his atomic motion control is the ability to compensate for G-Force. He is unaffected by it, as was demonstrated when the X-Men's plane began dropping, and everyone inside the plane except Jean-Paul was sent flying.

Originally, when making physical contact with his sister Aurora, the two would create a blinding flash. Later, after Aurora was genetically altered, the two making contact canceled out their powers, and Jean-Paul was able to create this light alone. He can use this light to create concussive blasts as well.

After their alteration by the Children of the Vault, it appears that both Northstar and Aurora have enhanced abilities. Both have demonstrated super-strength, as well as the ability to cause an explosion when in contact, but the extent of these new abilities is still unknown.

Creators

Northstar was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

Status

Characteristics

Age of Apocalypse

Ultimate Universe

House of M

Alternate Realities

Northstar is a member of Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow. He also has a heretofore unrevealed connection to the Ultimate Alpha Flight team who arrived and kidnapped him, claiming that he belonged with them.

Northstar was a member of Mr. Sinister's Elite Mutant Force.

Northstar Trigger was an outlaw, a part of first The Alpha Outsiders then Generation Hex, in this Earth's version of the Old West. With his sister, he formed the Twins Trigger.

In the House of M reality, Northstar is a members of the S.H.I.E.L.D.