Illyana Rasputin - Phase 1
This page is about the Phase 1 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Illyana Rasputin (disambiguation).
| Illyana Rasputin - Replaced in Phase 2 | |
|---|---|
 Portrayed by Amanda Seyfried | |
| Known Aliases: | |
| Affiliations: | X-Force |
| Socked By: | Retired |
| Introduction: | May 14, 2003 (referenced) |
I don't actually know why he picked me, he wasn't big on the demon-kidnappee heart-to-hearts, but there I was. He did the first ritual almost immediately after everyone had gone.
A Russian national, younger sister to Piotr Rasputin and magically aged eight years during her time in Limbo, Illyana is sarcastic, suspicious and not easy to get to know. Illyana was lost in the Dark Phoenix Saga.
Contents
Details
Character Journal: x_magik
Real Name: Illyana Nicolaevna Rasputin
Codename: None.
Aliases: None.
First Appearance: May 8, 2003 (referenced)
Date of Birth: September 7, 1996
Place of Birth: Ust-Ordynski, Siberia, Russia
Citizenship: Russian, American
Relatives: Piotr Rasputin
Education: Currently finishing high school.
Relationship Status: Single.
Occupation: Student; currently employed at the Snow Valley Memorial Center for Mutant Affairs.
Team Affiliation: X-Force.
Biography
Childhood
Illyana Nikolaevna Rasputin was born on the Ust-Ordynski collective in Siberia, Russian Federation, on September 7th, 1996, the youngest Rasputin child and daughter of two farmers. Her brother, Piotr Rasputin, was substantially older than she was, and Illyana was very much the pampered baby of her family.
Living At The X-Mansion
The Russian economy took a downturn in early 2002, and Illyana's parents' farm soon began to fail. When Illyana was six, she was sent to join her brother at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where she was meant to get a Western education and to learn English. She was there for Stryker's attack on the school in May, 2003. Like her brother, she showed an interest in art, and she worked hard to improve her communication skills in English. She spent Christmas, 2003, in New York City with her brother, Warren Worthington and Jake Gavin.
At the end of January, 2004, Illyana was taken hostage by the Japanese yakuza to blackmail her brother, acting on orders from Shiro Yoshida's uncle. Though she recovered from the incident quickly, Illyana discovered that her parents had been killed, and withdrew from her brother, turning instead to Kitty Pryde for support. The rift may have healed in time, but before it could, disaster struck.
Belasco, a demon who controlled a dimension called Limbo, had been stalking Illyana for some time, hoping to use her as a human sacrifice in the bloodstone ritual, which would have allowed him to summon elder gods to Earth via the corrupted soul of a human. In late February, 2004, he kidnapped Illyana and took her there through a portal. Despite the best efforts of Kitty Pryde, Amanda Sefton, Remy LeBeau, Shiro Yoshida, Jubilation Lee, Sarah Morlocke, Cain Marko, Shinobi Shaw, and Jake Gavin, the portal closed, and Illyana was trapped in Limbo for eight years.
Limbo
Immediately after the portal closed, Belasco performed the first bloodstone ritual.
Illyana was not, however, alone in Limbo. Ten months after she arrived, she was rescued from Belasco by Cat, a mutant who had been magically transformed to resemble a wildcat, with ears and fur as well as some human features, leaving her with a strong resentment and distrust of anything magical. After some time together, Illyana discovered that Cat was a version of Kitty Pryde from an alternate dimension - and that the Illyana Rasputin of that dimension had died. Cat taught Illyana to survive in Limbo's inhospitable wilderness, as well as how to defend herself. However, after two years, Cat identified what she saw as the 'weakest' point in Limbo, where she might be able to phase herself and Illyana back to Earth. When she and Illyana attempted this plan, Belasco revealed that he had been tracking them all along, and used magic to turn Cat completely feral. Illyana was forced to kill her in self-defence, a fact which she has never shared with anyone since. Shortly thereafter, Belasco performed the second bloodstone ritual.
Illyana might have died, but Limbo had another unexpectedly familiar face: a powerful sorceress who, despite the loss of her mutant powers, still went by the name Storm. She spent several years teaching Illyana all the good magic she could. During this time, Illyana manifested as a teleporter, and struggled to control her abilities; though she could not leave Limbo, due to Belasco's control over it, she did gain increased mobility. However, when Belasco sought to destroy the alternate Storm's soul using magic that she couldn't fight, enlisted Illyana to take her life, rather than have her soul corrupted and destroyed forever. Though she tried to escape, Belasco was able to perform a third bloodstone ritual, but, in a fit of anger, threw Illyana into the wilderness afterward, where she nearly died. Belasco's control over Limbo made it perpetual winter - nearly a year of it - but Illyana's growing grasp of magic allowed her to survive, at first, and then start to think of getting herself out. She used the creation magic Storm taught her to create the Soulsword. When she challenged Belasco with it, eight and a half years after entering Limbo, she was able to use it to strip him of his powers and send him out of Limbo, though she could not kill him without dramatic repercussions. This confrontation transferred 'ownership' of Limbo to Illyana.
Having won, Illyana teleported back to Earth, but to her surprise, she found that time passed differently in Limbo than on Earth: while she had been in Limbo for eight years, only five minutes had gone by on Earth. She reunited with her brother, Piotr, and was sent to the medlab for injuries.
Back Home: Skippy and Piotr
The adjustment period was difficult for Illyana, and she spent several months in the medlab, acclimatizing to Earth and its many viruses. However, she had changed fairly dramatically in her time away: Limbo made her suspicious, sarcastic, and very secretive, which did not endear her to some of her classmates, or to her brother, Piotr. She did not discuss what happened to her in Limbo, and, when pressed on the matter, either diverted attention away from the topic, or actively refused to disclose any information. When Jamie Madrox' duplicate, Skippy kidnapped Artie Maddicks and other children at the mansion, Illyana used her teleportation for the first time on Earth, rescuing Artie from harm before he could be harmed. Her ability to teleport was not known in the mansion, and the rescue put her under the suspicion of certain mansion residents, particularly Amanda Sefton, who felt that Illyana was hiding something important and possibly dangerous. Finally, Illyana admitted to being a teleporter and to having a knowledge of magic, although she still did not discuss the bloodstone rituals or what had transgressed in Limbo with anyone. These admissions finally culminated in a heated discussion with her brother, who, frustrated by his failed attempts to get to know his sister, and amid suspicions that she was not who she said she was, disowned her in July 2004. Though Illyana claimed not to care, she was hurt and angry.
Asgard
Illyana was transported to Asgard with other students and staff in August of 2004, where she was indentured as a servant to the goddess Hel. During her time serving Hel, and looking for a way back home, she met with Amanda Sefton, whom she believed to be the Enchantress's daughter. Later, Alison Blaire found her doing some of Hel's dirty work, and Illyana used the Soulsword to unbind herself from Hel's service. The time in Asgard reinforced to Illyana that she could fend for herself, in cases of dimensional difficulty, and brought her closer to Alison, who remained a tentative friend.
S'ym; the Repodemon
In early October 2004, Illyana, hot off an argument with Kitty Pryde regarding her dragon, Lockheed, went for a run to clear her head, unaware that in Limbo, Belasco's former right-hand demon S'ym was waiting for an opportunity to wrest control of the hell dimension from Illyana. He attacked her on the lawn, and although she was finally able to defeat him, she suffered fairly severe injuries - a badly-broken arm and a gash in her stomach that required surgery. She spent two weeks in the medlab, recovering, during which time she finally confessed the secret of the bloodstone rituals to Kitty. Later, when she was able, she gave Alison Blaire a fairly heavily edited version of her history for Alison to share with the staff. She still refused to tell anyone about Cat or Storm.
Later that month, on Halloween, Illyana was involved in the Repodemon incident, during which she was unable to use her Soulsword to defeat the demon. Though she was ineffective, her attempts to help others during the attack helped to ease the tension between Illyana and Amanda.
Bad Blood
When Alison Blaire was nearly murdered by Sabretooth in the summer of 2005, Clarice Ferguson pulled her to the scene so that Amanda could access Limbo's power. Illyana and Amanda attempted to take Limbo's power out of Limbo twice, but realized that it was impossible: magic from Limbo dispersed the moment they got back to Earth. Instead, they took Alison and Haroun al-Rashid to Limbo, where Illyana thrust the Soulsword through Amanda's hand, giving her access to the power that she needed. Although Alison was healed, the consequences of this action, if any, are still unclear.
The next year, Illyana allowed Cain Marko access to Limbo, where he defeated the elder god Cyttorak.
Our Hell & Cruel Country: The Road to X-Force
In late 2006, Illyana lost control of Limbo to a demon called N'astirh. She spent months battling on her own to regain access: her increasing fatigue and missed classes did not go unnoticed by others, but Illyana refused to ask for help and continued her researches alone. This nearly led to disaster when she was apprehended in the secret archives of the Russians by Alexei Vazhin. She was used as a lever against X-Force, and the team had to take on a mission of Vazhin's in order to secure Illyana's life and freedom. The job in Uganda was a disaster, with the team being psionically tagged and having to split up, barely escaping with their lives. Both Remy LeBeau and Sofia Mantega-Barret were shot, with Remy almost being left to die by Sarah Morlocke for his part in the Morlock Massacre. Illyana, for her part, found herself manning the comms, safe and secure in New York thanks to her teleporting. Having to listen to various members of X-Force risking their lives for her sake was something of a wake up call for her.
In the aftermath, it was arranged with the school that Illyana be taken under the wing of X-Force, who would be better able to supervise her wanderings and prevent her endangering herself and the school again. In return, they would do what they could to help her regain control of Limbo. She was given a job in the office of the Snow Valley Memorial Center for Mutant Affairs and continued her studies with the school until she completed her high school education and moved into the brownstone full time. Faced with having to work with some of her old school mates, Illyana did her best - in her very own special way - to bury the hatchet, at least in the case of Amanda, where she finally disclosed the truth of her experiences in Limbo.
Over the next year, Illyana became one of the "occult team" of X-Force, joining Amanda and Wanda in their researches of "weird magical woo woo shite". When Amanda herself was abducted by Candra, it was Illyana's researches that discovered what the young witch was going to be used for and she accompanied the team in rescuing her. Almost gunned down and saved by an unusually-protective Sofia, Illyana was moved to later send the older woman a rather idiosyncratic thank you card. The bond between Sofia and Illyana increased over time, with the psychologist claiming Illyana as 'her' assistant when she wasn't involved in work for the occult team. Over time, Illyana proved herself as much part of the team as anyone else, participating in several missions at risk of her personal safety.
The year also saw some odd powers interactions. Cross-training with Amanda and Wanda, an accident sent Illyana into the alternative dimension the island of Attilan had vanished to, enabling her to take messages back to those mourning the 'deaths' of several friends and reassure them that all was well, if on a different time than the real world. During the party that followed X-Force saving New Orleans from a hurricane, Illyana and Amanda combined their powers at Tante Mattie's behest, enabling the witch to heal Marie-Ange Colbert of a serious gunshot wound and enabling Illyana to 'port with a passenger for the first time since losing Limbo and its stepping disks. The larger challenge came when the Shadow King attacked Cain, with Illyana using her powers and the magic of Amanda and Dr. Stephen Strange (who she still disliked on a visceral level), to gain access to the astral plane to bring back information and then, with Amanda, to unsuccessfully 'reboot' things by flooding the plane with magical energy.
Part Of The Team?
Despite her work with X-Force, Illyana remained emotionally distant from her teammates, often viewing them with thinly-veiled (if that) contempt. She bonded with Jennie Stavros through bitchy emails, and caused several upheavals on the journals with particularly inflammatory posts. It was unclear, however, how much of her rudeness was deliberate and how much was simply a lack of social education, despite her devoted watching of Dr. Phil and her habit of espousing his wisdom - certainly she wasn't sure what to do in situations where someone displayed an interest in her, such as a local barista giving her his phone number (she gave it to a homeless person).
This distance was tested when, following the theft of an old Russian weapon, Illyana was presented with the chance to 'clear' her debt with Vazhin and be able to go her own way. The price, however, was that she would have to be directly involved in the assassination of an informant - not kill him herself, as X-Force was aware of the danger that posed in terms of Illyana's demon-tainted soul, but to ensure that it happened. Reluctantly, Illyana complied, and chose to remain with X-Force after the deed, even though the emotional aftermath proved difficult for her to deal with, revealed in various incidents on the journals which smacked of her old days at the school. At the same time, however, she also began trying to reach out, in her own way, to those she trusted, going shopping with Mark and attending a party where Jubilee got her drunk, to hilarious results. She also accompanied Wanda to Cambridge with Jake and Mark, when Wanda's mentor Agatha Harkness was attacked in her own museum. It proved to be a traumatic experience, as Illyana (and the others) were shown their worst fears by an out-of-control mutant; upon finding out later that Jake had slept with Wanda, she reacted in a rather childish fashion with a MS Paint picture of the two of them. She did eventually declare a truce with Jake (by hitting him in the face with a cake), but she bedcame even more withdrawn after the incident.
In February 2011, with Wanda's assistance, she relocated to England, to continue her education under the eye of some of Wanda's friends.
In December 2013, X-Force found the location of Illyana's missing bloodstones, and went to Madripoor to recover them from the Mandarin. At the same time, the mansion was attacked and several residents were kidnapped. When Amanda discovered it was Belasco behind it, Illyana returned to deal with him once for and all.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 140lb.
Eyes: Blue.
Hair: Mid-blonde.
Other Features: Some minor scarring from fights; freckles rather than tans in the summer.
Powers
Illyana is a teleporter who uses 'stepping disks' or portals to travel from place to place. Previously, her powers were somewhat unique in that she had to pass through Limbo on her way to somewhere else - Limbo acted like a junction, so she teleported in, and then teleported out wherever she wanted. Her range was at least intercontinental.
After the events of Our Hell, Illyana lost control of Limbo, and her powers reverted back to the way they would have been, if she had manifested normally on Earth. While her range is still mostly intact, she now struggles with two difficulties related to her power: First, her control has diminished greatly, and, for the time being, she can only teleport herself. Second, because her powers have shifted back to their originally-intended setting, the dimension through which Illyana teleports causes a time lag - teleportation is no longer instantaneous, so while her range remains intact, it takes a substantial amount of time for her to get from one place to another, and the greater the distance, the greater the time lag.
Illyana also has an intellectual knowledge of magic, but cannot use it except in Limbo. On earth, her access to magical power is extremely limited, such that the smallest of spells is almost too much for her.
Equipment
Illyana has access to the Soulsword, which destroys magic but is otherwise harmless.
External Links
Phase 1
Trivia
After her return fro Limbo, false identity papers had to be obtained for her to cover the fact she was no longer seven years old.
Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the bloodstone ritual, Illyana is 'immune' to psionic mutations - she just doesn't register for psions of any type.
Plots
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2013
Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart (as an NPC)
2020
Operation: Siege Perilous (fictional universe version)
Meta
Player Icon Base: Amanda Seyfried
Meta Trivia
Lauren played Illyana from October 2003 until she left the game in February 2011. The character was retired as a modsock when Lauren left the game. In 2015, Lauren returned and introduced a Phase 2 version of Illyana.
