- Name: Idie Okonkwo
- Code Names: Oya
- First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #528 (Nov ’10)
- Powers: Temperature Control
- Teams Affiliation: X-Men
About
When I was a wee lad, my parents were a bit overprotective about the intersection of religion and magic. I wasn’t allowed to see Pocahontas because of the spiritual themes. My mother had a sit down with me before I went to see Hercules so that I understood that I shouldn’t worship Zeus. Star Wars was alright though. The rules were inconsistent and irrational, as I got older my folks admitted as much. It did stop me from getting really into Harry Potter, which I am thankful for, but that small amount of censorship gives me the vaguest insight into the mindset of someone like Oya. Religion can tie someone to this idea that something innocent or out of their control makes them wicked. It can leave lasting scars that many struggle to overcome.
Idie Okonkwo was a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl and a devout Catholic. She would have led a normal life, had the return of Hope Summers not triggered the dormant X-Gene deep inside her. Idie had the ability to manipulate temperature, she held ice in one hand and fire in the other. What she lacked was control and the fire soon enveloped her whole house. It spread across her small village and killed her family, but Idie remained untouched. Others saw this, believing Idie to be a witch and calling her “The Child That Will Not Burn”. They called for a militia to kill this wicked girl, and surrounded Idie.
Hope Summers and Storm found their way to a small chapel where Idie holed herself up and tried the help the girl. Where Ororo was worship as a goddess for her mutant gifts, she was Idie demonized and a righteous fury welled up inside her. She reasoned with the child, let her know there was nothing she would feel guilty of because there was nothing wrong with Idie. Hope’s touch gave the girl the semblance of control over her powers and she asked Idie to come with her. She took the code name Oyo and became one of the Lights, the disciples of the mutant messiah.
Oya followed Hope and the other Lights as they tried to find the emerging mutants. Idie looked up to Hope, even though she was only a few years older. She still struggled with her nature as a mutant, believing herself to be some wicked creature and not a normal girl. Even on an island filled with mutants, Idie hated herself for being one. She didn’t make many friends, didn’t feel like she belonged, she just went from being an outcast in one world to another.
Things would only get worse for Idie as the X-Men torn themselves apart. San Francisco opened a Mutant History Museum and the X-Men were guests of honor. Idie felt horror when she saw a piece on William Striker, the reverend who led a campaign against mutants. She couldn’t find her place in this new world, but she wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. The Hellfire Club attacked the Museum and incapacitated the senior X-Men. Back up was on its’ way, but Idie didn’t know if they would reach her in time. Cyclops spoke to her through a telepath “You do what you feel you have to”. Idie made a choice then and there, she would be the monster she believed she was. She killed the soldiers of the Hellfire Club. She saved the day. And she feared that she had broken the X-Men.
Wolverine saw things a different way. He saw Idie’s actions as a reminder of what Charles Xavier envisioned for the X-Men and left Utopia with Idie and many of the X-Men. They returned to Westchester and formed the Jean Grey School, a place for mutant kids to be kids. Idie excelled as a student there, becoming fast friends with the alien Broo and the bad boy Kid Omega. Her commitment to her religion led to trouble as Idie began frequenting a small, mysterious chapel near the school. The pastor of the Church of the Everlasting Damnation planted seeds of doubt in Idie’s mind, he made her believe that if she was damned, she no longer needed to worry about being righteous. But it was all a plot by the new Hellfire Club to convert Idie to their cause. They shot Broo and sent Idie on a rampage for revenge. She thought she could outplay them, she thought she could infiltrate their ranks unnoticed. She was very wrong.
Idie joined the Hellfire Academy, a twisted version of the Jean Grey School and exceeded expectations there. Her disappearance caught the attention of Quentin Quire who followed her to the school, but Idie was unwilling to leave until she caught the person who shot Broo. Kade Kilgore, the teenage Black King of the Hellfire Club was impressed by Idie and offered the make her his Black Queen. This gave the world the deeply uncomfortable image of a fourteen-year-old girl drawn in fetish gear, but it also gave Idie to answer she sought. It was Kade who shot Broo and Idie unleashed her rage. She came close to killing Kade but chose love instead of hate. She and Quire confessed their love to each other and burned the Hellfire Academy to the ground.
They returned to the school, graduated, and continued their blossoming romance until Quire had a crisis of faith and left. Idie ended up joining the time-displaced original X-Men on their road trip around the world. After everything she had been through, she still felt angry with God, still struggled with her religion, but she wanted to find the good in it. She opened herself up to others, went on dates, stood up against oppression, and just tried to be the closest thing to normal that she could. She found a place of peace with herself, and a family with the X-Men.
Must Read
X-Men: Schism is a deeply flawed event, but not one without its good moments. Idie, epically is well served in this event. She is the fulcrum for the biggest changes in the book and is forced to make complex decisions. It is an interesting turn for the character and helps bring her to her lowest before building her back up. It adds an element of earned guilt to the characters moral dilemmas which makes her utterly fascinating. Go check it out!
Ranking
Oya is a character I like, but don’t absolutely love. I think she could be a solid, next-generation character but I don’t think she has been given the space to develop into that. She is very comparable to Wolfsbane and I think I like her just a bit more. However, I can’t call her better than Havok who is uneven but generally interesting. That makes Oya the new number 56 in the Xavier Files.
Oya was requested by Patreon supporter Katie Tregs. Thank you for your support! If you have a request for how about you send it below? If you want to cut to the front of the two-year long line, we have a Patreon you can support Xavier Files for just $1 to get a line cutting reward.
Make sure you check out my podcast BATTLE OF THE ATOM. It’s where Bish & Jubez creator Adam Reck and I talk about every single X-Men story that ever existed and rank them from best to worst. Episode 28 is up and we talk a ton about Sinister. Make sure you subscribe to any of the following platforms (or others, I’m not picky) Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS.
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Next week we talk about Oya! See you then!
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Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
