PHOENIX_HISTORY

Although Jean Grey was the fifth of Xavier's recruits into the X-Men, she was actually the first of his mutant students.Originally code named Marvel Girl and now known as Phoenix,Jean possesses both telepathic powers, enabling her to read minds and communicate mentally, and telekinetic powers, allowing her to levitate and manipulate objects by mental force.Jean's story is inseperable from that of her teammate Scott Summers, alias Cyclops, who is now her husband; the love between these two spans the entire history of the X-Men.When Jean was ten years old, her best friend, Annie Richardson was struck by an automobile.It was then that Jean's mutant powers first awoke, and she psychically felt Annie's own emotions as she died. The experience left Jean deeply depressed, and the following year her parents sought out Charles Xavier for help. Jean was too young to control her telepathic powers.Hence Xavier psychically blocked her ability to use them until she grew more mature, teaching her to use her telekinetic powers instead.Xavier tutored her for years and finally inducted her into the newly formed X-Men, giving her the code name Marvel Girl.

Jean and Scott quickly fell in love with each other, although years would pass before the shy teenagers admitted their feelings.Following a battle in space, Jean was piloting the space shuttle transporting the X-Men back to Earth when she exposed to lethal radiation from a solar storm.Jean encountered a cosmic entity of pure energy called the Phoenic Force, which gave itself a human form identical to hers, even incorprating a portion of her consciousness.The Phoenix Force saved her life by casting her into suspended animation in a pod at the bottom of a bay off New York City.This being, calling herself Phoenix, then took Jean's place among the X-Men while Jean's body slowly healed from the radiation. Phoenix had psionic powers that were virtually unlimited.

But Phoenix soon fell victim to Mastermind, who brainwashed her into becoming the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. By awakening the evil side of Jean Grey's personality, Mastermind released a force he could not control. The Black Queen turned vengefully against him, filling his mind with a vision of the cosmos that overwhelmed his sanity, and leaving him in a catatonic state. Then before the other X-Men's eyes, Jean transformed into the insane Dark Phoenix and flew off into the depths of space.
Hurtling into a distant galaxy, driven by hunger for even more power, Dark Phoenix consumed energies from the core of a star, oblivious to the potential for disaster. The ravaged star exploded into a supernova, obliterating its planets and an entire alien race. The planetary system was under the rule of the Shi'ar, and a nearby Shi'ar battle cruiser attacked Dark Phoenix, seeking to avenge the slaughter. Despite the bravery of its crew, the ship was quickly annihilated.

Returning to Earth, Dark Phoenix easily overpowered the attacking X-Men. But then Charles Xavier unleashed the full power of his mind against Phoenix, and Jean's true personality struggled back into control. Phoenix collapsed unconscious and awoke in Cyclops' arms as Jean, her dark side exorcized--for the moment. Suddenly, the X-Men were teleported into a starship, where the Shi'ar Empress Lilandra demanded that Jean be destroyed lest she someday become Dark Phoenix once again. Invoking Shi'ar law, Xavier insisted on a trial by combat to determine the fate of Phoenix. The next day, the X-Men faced the Imperial Guard in this trial by combat amid ancient alien ruins on the moon.
In the midst of battle, Jean began reverting to Dark Phoenix. Xavier telepathically ordered the X-Men to stop her before she reached full power. When Colossus struck her hard, Jean's personality surfaced once more. Courageously clinging to her sanity, Jean realized that the only way to free herself of the Phoenix Force was to die. Desperately, she pleaded with the X-Men and Cyclops, the one man she loved, to kill her. But they could not bring themselves to do it.

Jean fled into a building amid the ruins. Bidding Scott a last farewell, she telekinetically triggered an ancient energy cannon. As Cyclops watched helplessly, the blast annihilated her body. Dark Phoenix was destroyed, and the Phoenix Force was released back into the cosmos.
By somehow obtaining a sample of Jean Grey's cells, Mister Sinister created an adult clone of her. When the original Phoenix committed suicide, Scott Summers beleived he had lost Jean forever, unaware that she lay in suspeneded animation at the bottom of the sea. Sinister grew his clone in his laboratory. He named her "Madelyne Pryor" and programmed her with false memories and the desire to fall in love with Cyclops. Sinister then planned for the Madelyne to bear a child, which would possess the superhuman genetic potential of both Scott and Jean.The evil mutant would then capture the child and control him as he grew up. When Phoenix died, its portion of the real Jean's consciousness traveled back to Earth. It first tried to rejoin with Jean. Flooded with images of destruction, Jean rejected it. The Phoenix force then sought out the closest replacement, Madelyne. This part of Jean's psyche endowed it with consciousness for the first time. Sinisters scheme started successfully; Cyclops married Madelyne, and they had a son, Nathan, who was destined to become Cable.