Loa (comics)
| Loa | |
|---|---|
 Loa by Skottie Young | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | New X-Men: Academy X #5 |
| Created by | Michael Ryan |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Alani Ryan |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | Xavier Institute The 198 Alpha Squadron |
| Abilities | Ability to "swim" through solid matter causing it to crumble afterwards |
Loa (Alani Ryan) is a fictional character found in the Marvel Universe. A mutant, Loa is a student at the Xavier Institute. She made her debut in New X-Men: Academy X #5.
Fictional character biography
Alpha Squadron
Born in Hawaii, Alani Ryan quickly developed a talent for surfing. She is a student at the Xavier Institute, and has adopted the codename, Loa (named for a type of worm, which moves the same way she does when she uses her powers), and along with her fellow students, Anole, Rubbermaid, Kidogo, Network, and Indra, was assigned to Alpha Squadron, the training squad advised by former Alpha Flight member, Northstar. When Northstar was apparently killed by Wolverine, advising duties for Alpha Squadron were taken over by Karma. Of her classes at the Institute, she dislikes Chemistry the most and was voted "Most Laid Back" in the New X-Men: Academy X: Yearbook Special.[volume & issue needed]
Post M-Day
After the Decimation, Alani was one of the 27 students to retain her powers. She was also one of the students Emma Frost placed in the fateful all-out brawl that would determine who would become the new X-Men trainees, but lost. Before the fight, she was seen threatening to "crumble" Anole's tongue if he touched her with it. Despite this, Loa is close friends with Anole, as well as Rockslide.[volume & issue needed]
Quest for Magik
She is seen as one of the students listening to Blindfold's tale about Illyana Rasputin and is sucked down into Limbo along with many of the other students. After the students land on a rocky outcrop, they are soon attacked by a huge number of demons, and Loa is, for the first time, shown using her powers. A demon attempts to punch her in the stomach, and his hand goes straight through, but is sliced to ribbons on the other side. She then moves to protect Anole as Magik decides she needs to take one of their souls to make a new Soulsword. When Magik goes to confront Pixie, Alani jumps to attack her, but Magik blasts her to the ground with her powers.[volume & issue needed]
She participated in the final fight against Belasco, survived, returned to the school with the rest of the students.[volume & issue needed]
Children of X-Men
In the aftermath of Quest for Magik, and overcome with stress, Loa has shown an interest in Elixir and successfully initiates a physical relationship with Elixir.[volume & issue needed]
Manifest Destiny
Alani relocated to San Francisco along with other former students.[1] She is later seen trying to help cheer up Colossus who is still trying to come to terms with his loss of Shadowcat.[2] It's been confirmed in X-Force that she and Elixir are still romantically involved as well.[volume & issue needed]
Utopia
Loa, along with fellow students Mercury and Onyxx, was tasked with keeping peace at the riots on Telegraph Hill after the mutant-hate group "Humanity Now!" marched from Sacramento to San Francisco to promote "Proposition X", displeasing many citizens of San Francisco, mutant and non-mutant alike. After the riots subsided on Telegraph Hill, Cyclops came and picked them up, taking them to City Hall.[3]
Necrosha
During the Necrosha Event Loa stumbled across Deadpool who was playing with dolls inside her room and indicates he even read her diary. Together both fight the revived Acolytes Delgado, Cortez and Mellencamp. The two succeed in temporarily killing the Acolytes, when Loa uses her power on one, prompting Deadpool to use her as a weapon on the other two. She expressed a reluctance to use her powers. [4]
Powers and abilities
Loa possesses a molecular distortion power that allows her to move through solid matter by disabling binding forces. This causes the matter to crumble, or break down around as she passes through it. It is unknown if the markings on her body are part of her mutant nature, or man-made tattooing.
Loa is very reluctant to use her powers unless absolutely necessary. This stems from the destructive nature of her powers and past experiences.[5]
Despite having very little field experience and never being sent on any X-Men missions. Loa has proven herself capable in battle, surviving the Purifiers assault on the Xavier Institute, defending herself against demons when sucked into Limbo, combating the reanimated dead during Necrosha alongside Deadpool during the attack on Utopia, holding her own against nimrod sentinels, and single-handedly defeating a full sized sentinel in combat.