- Delphine Courtney
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Delphine Courtney 
Publication information Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Alpha Flight #8 (March 1984) Created by John Byrne In-story information Alter ego MX39147 Team affiliations Omega Flight Notable aliases James MacDonald Hudson, Guardian Abilities super-strength, flight Delphine Courtney is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe, an enemy of the super-team Alpha Flight.
Contents
Publication history
Delphine Courtney first appeared in Alpha Flight #7 (February 1984), and was created by John Byrne.
The character subsequently appears in Alpha Flight Vol. 1 #11–13 (June–August 1984), #22 (May 1985), and #25–28 (August–November 1985).
Delphine Courtney appeared as part of the "Omega Flight" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #9.
Fictional character biography
Delphine Courtney was a servitor robot, built by the Roxxon Energy Corporation to serve Jerry Jaxon. The robot initially had a feminine shape and fully human appearance, and was referred to as "she" by its creators, to the point that Jaxon himself was unaware of "her" true nature.[1] Courtney acted on Jaxon's behalf to recruit several superhumans that were former members of the Canadian government's training teams, Gamma Flight and Beta Flight, that were dismissed after the government shut down Department H, the division that oversaw Gamma, Beta, and the primary team, Alpha Flight.[2] Jaxon intended to form his own super-team, Omega Flight, in order to revenge himself on James MacDonald Hudson, founder of Department H and leader of the still-active Alpha Flight as Guardian, and through an "influencer" device built into its systems, Courtney was able to manipulate the already-disenfranchised recruits into seeking their own revenge on Alpha.[3] However, Courtney was unable to influence Roger Bochs, inventor of the Box robot, who was still loyal to Hudson and the Flight program, forcing Jaxon to directly involve himself by taking control of Box.[1]
Luring James Hudson and his wife Heather to America with an offer of employment at Roxxon's New York City holdings, Jaxon and Omega Flight executed an ambush of Guardian while Heather was detained by Courtney. When Heather made an attempt to escape and scuffled with Courtney, the robot's fleshlike facial covering was damaged and its true nature revealed. While Omega Flight's goal of revenge was attained with Guardian's apparent death, Courtney was witness to Jaxon's own death due to feedback from Box's destruction,[1] and the remaining members of Omega were turned over to the New York City authorities.[4]
Escaping capture, Courtney freed Omega Flight from jail and employed them in a new plot against Alpha Flight. Having its appearance reconfigured and incorporating facsimiles of Guardian's battlesuit technology into its systems, Courtney infiltrated Alpha Flight posing as a returned Guardian (using a cover story that was later revealed to be the actual fate of the real James Hudson), and eventually lured them into a second encounter with Omega Flight, using Alpha's trust of "Guardian" to ambush them.[5] However, Omega Flight's victory was foiled by the arrival of the Beyonder,[6] and Courtney and its team were forced to flee.
Their escape was blocked by Madison Jeffries, a former Flight trainee whom Courtney had avoided recruiting, fearing his ability to control machines and his loyalty to James Hudson. When Jeffries attacked with a construct created from an automobile, Courtney used one of the future duplicates of Omega Flight member Flashback as a human shield, resulting in its death (and the mental breakdown of the original Flashback, now condemned to violent death in his future). This enraged Jeffries, who used his powers to destroy Courtney, forcing its internal circuitry out of its mouth.[7]
Roger Bochs and Madison Jeffries later salvaged portions of Courtney's second incarnation to construct a new battlesuit functionally identical to James Hudson's original,[8] which was used by Heather Hudson under her husband's former identity of Vindicator.[9]
Powers and abilities
Delphine Courtney possessed superhuman strength, and had a high degree of resistance to physical damage. Its sight and hearing were sharper than a human being's. It also possessed a device called an "influencer" that could affect pre-existing psychological conditions in the human mind, allowing Courtney to manipulate individuals with judicious use of the influencer combined with verbal interaction; however, it could not absolutely control human beings, as Roger Bochs' loyalty to James Hudson allowed him to resist its manipulations.
Courtney was also able to disguise itself as a human being with a fleshlike outer covering. It could masquerade as either gender by altering its underlying structure, and could even impersonate specific individuals convincingly enough to fool those close to the person imitated. While impersonating James Hudson/Guardian, Courtney also contained technology that could replicate the properties of Guardian's original battlesuits, granting it all of Guardian's super-powers.
References
- ^ a b c Alpha Flight vol. 1 #12, July 1984
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #7, February 1984
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #11, June 1984
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #13, August 1984
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #25–27, August–October 1985
- ^ Secret Wars II #4, October 1985
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #28, November 1985
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #31, February 1986
- ^ Alpha Flight vol. 1 #32, March 1986
External links
- Delphine Courtney at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
Categories:- Characters created by John Byrne
- Comics characters introduced in 1984
- Fictional robots
- Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
- Marvel Comics supervillains
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