Indra (comics)

Indra
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men: Academy X #7 (2004)
Created by	Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir
In-story information
Alter ego	Paras Gavaskar
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Xavier Institute The 198 Alpha Squadron
Abilities	Retractable armored plates

Indra (Paras Gavaskar) is a fictional character who currently appears in Marvel Comics. A teenaged mutant, Indra attends the Xavier Institute. He first appeared in New X-Men: Academy X #7.

Fictional character biography

Alpha Squadron

File:Indra1.jpg

Indra using his original armor exoskeleton powers.

Paras Gavaskar is an Indian mutant teenager. After enrolling at the Xavier Institute, Gavaskar was assigned to Alpha Squadron, a training squad mentored by Northstar; he was a top achiever in his classes. Indra and his fellow team members Anole, Loa, Rubbermaid, Network and Kidogo suffered a great loss when they were told that Northstar had been killed in the line of duty. The Alpha Squadron was unaware of Northstar's resurrection. Following the assumed death of Northstar, Karma was their advisor.

M-Day

Following the events of House of M, almost all of the Institute's students were depowered, which led to the dissolution of the school's training squads. Indra was one of only twenty-seven students not to have lost his mutant abilities.

He participated in Emma Frost's Battle Royale which determined who will train to be an X-Man. Later, forty-two of Indra's former classmates died when their bus was attacked by William Stryker, an anti-mutant crusader.

Quest for Magik

Indra was captured by Belasco and was held in Limbo with most of the other students. When X-23 orchestrated an attempt at escaping, Indra was beaten badly by the demon S'ym when the attack failed.

After returning home, Indra discovers that he is the youngest mutant on the planet, and may become the last mutant on the planet, excluding Franklin Richards, Molly Hayes, Tito Bohusk and (technically) the Stepford Cuckoos, and the most likely to be targeted.

Messiah Complex and Utopia

When Predator X attacks the Institute, Surge leaps to the defense of Indra, Trance and Wolf Cub, protecting them from the beast.

Paras later relocates to San Francisco along with all the other X-Men. Soon, the city goes into a state of chaos due to the anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements. Cyclops sends Rogue, Gambit and Danger to find any missing students, Paras being among them. Rogue finds some beaten H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and after absorbing their memories to see if they know where Paras is, it is revealed they attacked him when he was trying to go home to check on his friends. In self defense, he attacks them and knocks them out.

This act of self defense causes Paras to have an internal crisis, believing that he violated the most important tenet of his Jain faith—absolute nonviolence. Attempting to access his powers causes him great pain, which Paras believes is divine punishment for betraying his beliefs. Rogue attempts to counsel him, suggesting that his inability to access his powers is psychosomatic. Rogue confronts him with the fact that he chose the codename Indra, the Hindu god of war, despite his pacifist beliefs, and states that she believes he did so out of belief in his own potential. She further states that rather than embrace that potential, he is choosing to back away from it. This causes Paras to lose control, claiming that his Indra form is "not him" before his powers fully remanifest, now as a sophisticated full suit of armor and weaponry.

In the aftermath of Second Coming, Indra appears in the Collision story in X-Men: Legacy. He joins Rogue, Magneto, Loa and Anole on a trip to Mumbai.

Powers and abilities

File:Indraadvancedarmor.jpg

Indra using his advanced armor and weaponry powers.

Indra possesses retractable sectional armored plates that he uses to cover himself in protective armor. His skin is indigo and his hair is red; he has a red tilak-like marking on his forehead, though this marking may be cosmetic and not part of his mutation.

Initially, his armor was scaled and plated, similar to a pangolin exoskeleton. Though he religiously believes in absolute non-violence, he is later forced to act in self defense and attack a corrupt military officer, resulting in an internal struggle that causes him to lose access to his powers. When trying to access his armor plating, he experiences great pain and believes this to be a punishment from the Yakshas for his transgression. After receiving mentoring from Rogue, who believes that Paras chose to name himself after the Hindu god of war for reason, Indra's powers return significantly changed and stronger than before. His armor takes the form of a full-body, Hindu-stylized suit of armor. He is also able to generate similarly stylized weaponry, such as swords and daggers, around him for offensive use. The armor and weaponry he generates is indigo like his skin.

Bibliography

• New X-Men: Academy X #7, 13, and 14 by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir.
• New X-Men: Academy X: Yearbook Special by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir.
• New X-Men #20, 23, 25, 27, 38, 39, 42, 43, and 46 by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost.
• Astonishing X-Men #13 by Joss Whedon.
• World War Hulk: X-Men #2 by Christos N. Gage.
• X-Men: Legacy #230, 231 by Mike Carey.
• Nation X Limited #4 (March 2010) by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Harvey Tolibao.

See also

• Alpha Squadron (comics)

External links

• UncannyXmen.net-Yearbook Entry on Alpha Squadron