Lorna Dane (Joint Venture)

Polaris is a mutant, a mainstay of the X-Men and several of their satellite teams, most notably X-Factor. This is the Joint Venture Universe version of the character.

Unusual Origins
The mystery of the woman who may be Magneto's youngest daughter begins in San Francisco in the 1980s. Susannah Dane and her husband Arnold were deeply depressed at their inability to conceive a child, so they went to the Arnold Bocklin Fertility Clinic for aid. One year later, Susannah gave birth to a healthy baby girl -- whose hair just happened to be bright emerald green.

Despite being thrown off by their daughter's hair color, the Danes raised Lorna and gave her the best life they could, encouraging her to dye her hair frequently, to throw off suspicion. Sometimes it would be its natural green hue, sometimes a normal color like blonde or brown, and sometimes she would dye it even more outlandish colors. Only Lorna and her parents knew her hair's true shade. However, even they could not have guessed that the differences in thier daughter went far beyond simple hair color.

Around the time Lorna turned 15, the Bocklin Fertility Clinic was forcibly shut down, after it was revealed that it was in fact a laboratory for illegal experiments, both on humans and on their genetic offshoots, which would eventually come to be known as mutants.

This unsettled Lorna's parents greatly...had something been done to their daughter?...but they tried to hide their worry from her and live normally. Lorna was perceptive, though, and while she could not guess the specifics, she knew something about her unsettled her parents gravely. The problem only grew worse as time passed, and Lorna ended up becoming distant from her parents as a result, eventually running away from home shortly after her 17th birthday.

Zaladane
It was on the streets of San Francisco that Lorna met a woman who would change her life forever. Introducing herself as Zoe, the young woman took Lorna in and gave her a home for a year, allowing her to finish high school and prepare for college, where she planned to major in geology.

However, shorltly after her graduation, Lorna finally learned the harsh truth behind Zoe's seeming kindness. One night shortly after her 18th birthday, Lorna woke up strapped to a mysterious machine in a basement somewhere, with Zoe at the controls. Zoe referred to herself as "Zaladane", and, in a display of hatred and green unlike anything Lorna had ever seen out of her, said that she had waited long enough. She revealed that she had been waiting for Lorna to develop true mutant powers, and if those powers would not come out omn their own, she would force them. Then Zaladane threw a switch, and thousands of volts of electricity surged through Lorna's body, the stress and agony catalyzing her latent power and activating it with a vengeance.

Mistress of Magnetism
Zaladane got more than she bargained for with Lorna's powers, which manifested as mastery over the forces of magnetism. Supercharged with electricity and fueled by betrayal, pain, and rage, Lorna destroyed the machines holding her captive and turned the shrapnel against Zaladane. Unprepared for the ferocity of her would-be victim's attack, Zaladane barely survived the initial onslaught, and fled, leaving Lorna alone again, but more powerful than she had ever dreamed herself capable of being. Rather than a victim, she decided, she would be a victor, a survivor.

Designing a costume for herself, Lorna took the name "Polaris" (after a few embarrassing initial attempts at code names) and began to fight against injustice in her home city. However, as time wore on, she began to realize that as a superhero, she could only treat the symptoms of the problems that lead to crime and suffering. She needed to find a way to solve the problems before they escalated into violence, she needed to get at the root causes of the suffering she witnessed, and she needed to answer questions, not least about her own past. This decision was catalyzed for her when she saved a young man named Jamie Madrox from drowning in the San Francisco Bay.

Madrox and X-Factor
To Be Disclosed

Powers
Polaris is a mutant, genetically-altered in the womb, with powers similar to the man whose DNA might have been responsible for her birth.

Magnetokinesis: Like Magneto, Polaris has comprehensive control over magnetic fields, and therefore all forms of magnetism. She typically utilizes that control to manipulate ferrous metals and achieve a variety of effects, though not to the same scale or degree as her "father". Whether this is due to a power limit or conscious choise is unknown. However, Polaris can completely assemble or disassemble a complicated machine within seconds through her powers alone. It is unclear whether Magneto's powers, and therefore those of Polaris, are psionic or purely physiological in nature; however, it is known that they can both use their magnetic powers in more than one way simultaneously.
 * Magnetic Force-Fields: Polaris can raise a personal force field that she can quickly expand to protect large groups of people. This shield is completely immune to bullets and msot conventional weapons, though it has not been tested by more substantial stressors. Polaris can also use her force fields to strike or entrap an enemy, and levitate objects and beings in the air, even non-ferrous ones.


 * Magnetic Armor: In addition to the external force fields, Polaris has designed a special costume for herself, with metallic fibers reinforced by magnetic fields, making her clothing like armor, with a durability approaching adamantium. With this enhancement, she can take considerably more punishment with no ill effects.


 * Magnetic Rays: Polaris has the ability to shoot powerful rays and electromagnetic pulses, and has used ability to destroy both metallic and nonmetallic objects. She can also use this ability to seriously injure er enemies by affecting the delicate electromagnetic balance of the central nervous system.


 * Magnetic Flight: Polaris is capable of sustaining flight for very long distances and at varying speeds. She achieves this by warping the magnetic field lines in her immediate surroundings, rather than simply traveling along them, though like Magneto, she can do that as well if necessary, and in fact prefers to on longer flights.


 * Geomagnetic Link: Polaris possesses a powerful psionic perception of Earth's electromagnetic field. This trait remains even when her active powers are hindered or removed. As Earth's EM field is affected, so is she. She is aware of anything that happens to Earth's EM field thanks to this link.


 * Electromagnetic Sight: By concentrating, Polaris can perceive the world around herself as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. She can perceive the natural electromagnetic auras given off by living beings.

Electrokinesis: Polaris is capable of generating and projecting powerful bolts of electricity, due to the close relationship electricity and magnetism possess with each other. She is capable of both firing bolts of electricity and absorbing electrical energies directed at her, such as the electricity generated by Zaladane's machine, to increase her power. In addition, she can project an electrical aura around herself, and power nearly anything that requires electricity to run by sheer force of will alone.

Weaknesses
Physical Condition: Like Magneto, Polaris' ability to wield her superhuman powers effectively is dependent upon her physical condition. When severely injured, her body is unable to withstand the strain of manipulating magnetic energy. When her body is not at its peak, she also appears to have greater difficulty utilizing her magnetism for great feats. Physical and mental fatigue can ultimately affect his ability to adequately use her powers, especially if she overuses or overextends them in a short amount of time.

Techbane: The use of Polaris' powers around complex machines, especially technology that relies on data transfer or electrical impulses, can corrupt the data, or scramble electronic circuitry, shorting it out or worse, making it permanently unusable.

Mental Stability: Polaris' powers, and the trauma of their awakening, left her with serious mental health issues, which can be made worse by extended use of her powers affecting the electromagnetic signals in her brain. The heightened instability can subside if she refrains from using her powers for a period, though her PTSD is permanent.