- Name: Megan Gwyenn
- Code Names: Pixie
- First Appearance: New X-Men #5 (Nov ’04)
- Powers: Flight, hallucinogenic dust, soul dagger, teleportation spell
- Teams Affiliation: X-Men, The Lights
About
An important aspect of character design is the silhouette. You want the shape of your character to identify them before anything else. You can see how this works in practice by looking at the New X-Men kids of the mid-2000’s. The ones that stuck around all have a unique look, a physical mutation or some gear that is always on them. Since they would often be used in large group scenes it was important to make sure there was variety. Because many of them wouldn’t get much attention, it was critical that their silhouette convey a ton of information about the character. The design informed the character, and that is nowhere more evident than with Pixie.
Megan Gwyenn started as wallpaper. She was a design and a nationality. A Welsh mutant who looked like a fairy, with the bubbly personality to match. She was one of Wolfsbane’s (later Magma’s) Paragons and was amicable with everyone. Things began to change after M-Day. She was one of a handful of mutants to retain her powers, but she wasn’t skilled enough to join Emma’s X-Men in training. She was content being a sweet innocent girl enjoying her wings.
That all changed when the children of the Xavier Institute were sucked into the demonic realm of Limbo. Pixie, like the others, was surrounded by demons only to be rescued by Magik. The Darkchild saw that Pixie was a pure, innocent child, and knew that the soul of an innocent could save them. She told Pixie that the only way to escape was to sacrifice part of her soul, and though she was scared, Pixie did just that. She only gave up a portion, but black magic filled in that hole. Pixie could now manifest a soul dagger and cast spells. Magik taught her an incantation, Sihal Novarum Chinoth, which allowed her to teleport and eventually the kids escaped the hell dimension. Pixie, however, resented that which was stolen from her and vowed to get it back.
After this power boost, Pixie began training as an X-Man and followed the team to San Francisco. She began a close relationship with Dazzler and Northstar as they explored their new home. The three became inseparable with Pixie often joining Dazzler on stage to enhance the show with her pixie dust. Megan was attacked by anti-mutant bigots but was determined not to let it break her spirit. She took a more active role within the field, even leading her own squad during the Skrull invasion.
No amount of joy could fill the part of her soul that was missing. Nightcrawler tried to help mentor her but when Pixie manifested her soul dagger it forced itself into Kurt’s chest, revealing Magik’s soul sword. This summoned Magik and Pixie went into a rage seeing her. She followed the Darkchild into Limbo, determined to retrieve the missing part of her soul. There she was captured by Witchfire, the ruler of Limbo who stole yet another portion of Pixie’s soul in a plot to unleash the Elder Gods on the world. The X-Men were able to save the day, but not Pixie’s soul. She felt even more lost.
Megan was captured by the demon Saturnine (not to be confused with the Excalibur characters of the same names), a pawn in some ancient scheme for the demon to get a soul sword. Pixie was mind controlled by Saturnine and her mother, alongside her secret half-sisters, came to her side. After the X-Men broke the demon’s hold on her, Pixie learned some hard truths. Her father was actually revealed to be Mastermind, and her mother an actual fae. She wanted to learn more, to go with her mother, but her mother left Pixie to her new home with the X-Men.
During Bastion’s attack on Utopia, Magik was trapped in Limbo and the X-Men needed someone to lead a rescue. They asked Pixie, her being their only link to the hell dimension, but she refused. For anyone else she would help without question, but not Illyana, not the monster who stole her soul. Her friend Anole reached out to her, he too lost something in Limbo. He told Megan that she was better than this, that no matter what, she was a good person, she was his hero. Pixie was angry, Pixie was scared, but Pixie was determined to live up to that.
In Limbo the demon N’Astirh offered Pixie a trade, her soul for Illyana’s life. It seemed like an easy trade, Megan got revenge and what she most desired and for a moment she considered it. She followed N’Astirh to Magik but turned her soul dagger on the demon because that’s what X-Men do. She started to understand Magik, how she was corrupted, how she was turned into this. She didn’t like the witch, but she learned how to forgive her.
Megan stayed on Utopia after the schism and began working closely with Hope Summers team. She had a fling with Velocidad but nothing much came out of it. After the war with the Avengers, she made her way to the Jean Grey School where she eventually graduated. Now she isn’t seen much. She still hangs out at the mansion but she had faded into the background, waiting for her time to shine.
Must Read
Pixie has been in a bunch of fun stories, but often in service to someone else. Even in the mini-series named after her, she is a bit player. When she gets a bit more focus in New X-Men: Quest for Magik, it is a ton of fun. This is the run that pretty much gave her a character arc that has driven her for most of her existence. It isn’t even a well that has run dry. You get the Kyle & Yost duo doing their best work on the series and Skottie Young getting a chance to flex his muscles by drawing things that aren’t babies. Check it out!
Ranking
Pixie is never as good as you want her to be. She is absolutely full of potential, but no one has really tapped into it in a satisfying way. She is a blast when she appears, but her only arc has been the Limbo stuff that suffers from less than perfect writing. I want her to be better than she is. End of the day she isn’t as good as Armor, another character who suffers the same issues of unrealized potential. She is better than Cecilia Reyes, if only for her great design, but I can’t justify ranking her above Quicksilver. That makes Pixie the new number 63 in the Xavier Files.
Pixie was requested by Patreon supporter TalkinSnikt. 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 31 is up and we talk to Christina Strain about Generation X. 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 rise like a Phoenix! 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.
