Paige Guthrie - Phase 1

This page is about the Phase 1 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Paige Guthrie (disambiguation).

PHASE 1

Paige Guthrie
Portrayed by Kate Bosworth
Codename:	Husk
Affiliations:	X-Men, Xavier Institute - staff
Birthdate:	August 23, 1986

Journal:	x_husk
Player:	(Former) Aisy

Born in Kentucky, Paige came to the school on the heels of her older brother Sam, intent on becoming an X-Man as soon as she was able. Along the way she found the price of ambition is sometimes too high to pay, and has spent the last two years taking a much lower profile. She was lost during the Dark Phoenix Saga in 2015, having traded her life for the safety of three students.

Having fulfilled her debt to the Fates, this version of Paige Guthrie fully ascended to become Valkyrie.

Details

Character Journal: x_husk

Real Name: Paige Elizabeth Guthrie - Deceased

Codename: Husk

Aliases: "Sterling" (used during an undercover assignment)

First Appearance: June 1, 2003

Date of Birth: August 23, 1986

Place of Birth: Cumberland County, Kentucky

Citizenship: US

Relatives: Guthrie Family: Lucinda (mother), Thomas (father - deceased), Sam Guthrie (older brother), Jay Guthrie (younger brother), Melody (younger sister), Elizabeth (younger sister), Joelle (younger sister), Jebediah (younger brother), Lewis (younger brother) and his twin sister, Meg (younger sister)

Education: Graduate, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters(2004)

Relationship Status: involved with Jonothon Starsmore

Occupation: medical assistant to Moira MacTaggart

Team Affiliation: X-Men (on leave)

Biography

Childhood

Growing up, Paige was her father’s daughter in every way, right down to their twin dark blue eyes, and would take feeding the chickens or mucking stalls to tending the garden or helping with dinner any day. She balked under the expectations of a proper girl and grew up constantly getting into some kind of trouble or another. School helped ease her wicked streak, giving her books to read, facts to memorize.

Losing her father hit Paige hardest of the group; not only had her father died, but she was forced to replace Sam as the oldest sibling when he stepped up as man of the house. Even with Jay’s help, getting an army of munchkins up in the morning and in bed at night, as her mother and Sam tried to keep their small, already failing farm alive, chaffed and left Paige raw. She couldn’t do this with the rest of her life, her teachers told her she had too much potential, but there was just no way out.

Her escape plan ended up appearing in the form of her brother’s manifestation; who could blame her for going away to train to use her powers? After all, Sam had. She spent the next few years studying hard, waiting for the moment where she too would be revealed to be the mutant that she knew she just had to be.

Living At The X-Mansion

Paige came to the mansion in June 2003, ready to begin training in her powers and determined to excell. She proved popular at the school, making several close friendships within her first few months: Alison, Scott, her roommate Sarah, Piotr and Warren, as well as being drawn to the loner Jono. This latter friendship deepened into something more, although it was not without its problems - an impulsive kiss from Paige caused Jono to lose control of his powers, resulting in her being in a coma for three days. A further complication arrived in the shape of Angelo, to whom Paige was also attracted. Unable to chose, the boys frustrated and jealous (which occasionally erupted into violence), it wasn't until Alison stepped in and took the three of them (plus Bobby Drake) on a beach holiday in Mexico did things begin to improve. Paige remained torn, however, unable to decide between either of her two boyfriends. The issue created problems with her family also, Sam not impressed with either beau and saying as much to his sister, who took the talk extremely badly and refused to talk to him for some time. In May 2004, with the intervention of several friends such as Shinobi and new roommate Amanda, an agreement to 'share' was reached.

Amongst her peers, Paige was something of a leader, involved in several dangerous incidents in which she proved herself capable and level-headed. Looking for a distraction from her complicated personal life, she threw herself into her powers and school work, bonding with the other resident girl genius Kitty Pryde. Barely back from Asgard a day, she went to Scott and asked for - and received - permission to become a trainee, something she had looked forward to since arriving at the school.

Stigmata

Just when it seemed she had everything she wanted, disaster struck - Jono began losing control of his powers, his body gradually disintegrating. Not even a trip with Emma Frost to various experts world-wide could help, and Jono returned to the school resigned to losing his humanity and in November 2004 had a training accident with Nathan during which he became a discorporeal ball of psionic energy. Paige dropped into her usual not-coping method - she refused to acknowledge there was anything wrong and that she was having any issues. However the cracks in her veneer became increasingly obvious, resulting in several confrontations with those concerned for - or frustrated with - her.

Under the continued pressure of refusing to let herself show she wasn't coping, Paige's hostility became full-blown paranoia and self-loathing, reflected by her powers. Well-meant but clumsy attempts by her friends to help (such as the Suitemates of Guthries) exacerbated the issue. When Scott removed her from the team for her own sake, it was the final straw from her beloved 'Captain' and she left, claiming to be going to Havard University and leaving behind brutal break-up letters for Angelo and Jono. Jono never saw his - Angelo read to him an 'edited' version - but the damage was done. Paige was eventually recovered from the Morlock Tunnels when it became clear she wasn't attending school and she spent several months in isolation rebuilding her sanity. When she came out, her relationship with Angelo was over.

Rebuilding

Paige kept a low profile following her release from isolation, preferring to retain a room down in the medlabs than to return to the mansion proper, a decision prompted by the revelation she had been keeping her own secret files on the weaknesses of her fellow X-Men and how to take them down. She and Forge established a close relationship, the younger boy developing a crush on her that she kindly rebuffed in favour of her relationship with the still-discorporeal Jono. In October 2005, in a gesture of friendship, Forge came up with a plan for Jono to rebuild himself and against all odds, it was successful; Paige was thrilled to have her boyfriend returned to her, completely whole. Not everyone shared her joy - former roommate and now rival, Amanda, was disgruntled about Paige's lack of feelings for Angelo and let her know in no uncertain terms.

Eventually Paige was deemed fit to rejoin the team and she participated in several missions. Most of her time was spent, however, down in the labs, where she worked as assistant to Moira, even more so once the doctor returned to Muir Island Research Facility on a part-time basis. It was becoming clear that Paige felt far more comfortable and useful in the labs than with her fellow teammates.

In November 2005 Jono had an accident, touching new student Kevin Ford and losing his body again. Paige accompanied both boys back to Muir in order to help both understand what had happened. She remained there until Jono was able to partially rebuild himself, returning to the form he'd had when he'd arrived at the school, and then they both came back to take on their jobs at the school as researcher and teacher, sharing a suite. A brief foray by Jono into independent life in Salem Center and arguments between him and Forge were only small bumps on Paige's road to becoming a functioning adult. She gradually began to rebuild her family relationships with Sam and Jay, who had returned to the school also, and used her unique powers to assist in some extremely difficult situations, such as the terrorist act in India and the offensive against Taygetos. She continued to prove her ability as an X-Man through 2010, with missions in India, Chicago, Madipoor (where the team was lucky to escape an ambush by a resurrected Lady Deathstrike and her team) and, most recently (and to the amusement of the male members of the team) undercover at a roller derby event, using the name 'Southern Hell'. She also works with Garrison Kane in programming Danger Room scenarios, especially for the trainees, and has become known for her evil sense of humour in that regard.

At the moment, Paige spends most of her time between Muir Island and in the mansion's labs, experimenting and writing articles for prominent science magazines. Given a reason, she will casually retort scathingly and with much distaste, especially in regards to the X-Men and its trainees, but equally comfortable rolling her eyes silently.

Genosha and Beyond

The events of 2012 brought Paige out of the comfort of the lab for a while. It started in March when she helped the X-Men take down a mutant trafficker, and following the disappearance of a group of Xavierites and associates from a protest at the Genoshan embassy, she joined a team to help rescue them, infiltrating the prisons. The plan fell apart, however, and Paige was rescued along with almost everyone else. She was put on a train with several other prisoners to be put through the mutate process, but was rescued and freed by the Genoshan resistance. She later helped take down the monster Moreau.

The downtime following these events didn't last long, however - in November she helped Garrison investigate a supposed Thor who had appeared in a small Minnesota town. And finally Paige was able to return to her quiet life.

The End

Following the destruction of Muir Island and the genocide of over two million India citizens by someone who appeared to be Jean Grey, Xavier recruited Paige to help build a powers suppressor for Jean, which she finished with the help of Sarah Vale and Sue. Not long after the mansion was destroyed by the Dark Phoenix, and in the midst of the destruction Paige found Tyrone Johnson, Tandy Bowen, and Molly Hayes, and took it upon herself to get them out. The plan backfired when Dark Phoenix attacked them, however, and in the moment right before her death Brunhilde appeared, and Paige convinced her to save the kids by taking them to Asgard.

This act fulfilled her debt to the Fates and her sacrifice allowed Paige to fully ascend into her role as Valkyrie. While Valkyrie retains the memories of Paige's mortal life, she also has her own life in Asgard and the cumulation of those new experiences. Her previous life is a memory — the total of feelings for some people and places; like a favourite book one has reread many times.

Due to her past life and understanding of how mortals live, this version of Valkyrie is the face for her sisters on Earth when the need to intervene arises.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 5'5"

Weight:

Eyes: blue

Hair: blonde

Other Features: None - Paige's powers mean her skin is essentially flawless.

Powers

Paige is a molecular metamorph, capable of transforming her body into any homogenous molecular structure that she can conceptualize. Her body instantly converts all her living tissue into a different molecular configuration, leaving one thin layer of dead skin to 'husk' out of, revealing her new form.

Due to the nature of Paige's powers, she has been able to transform into substances that would normally be radioactive, but were stable under her control. This backs up her research that her power allows her to subconsciously control the subatomic particles in her own molecular structure as she shifts from element to element.

Paige's transformations have a safe limit of approximately one hour before she needs to return to a regular human form, otherwise she is liable to suffer adverse health effects. When husked into an inorganic material, her normal bodily functions such as respiration and digestion are suspended, and prolonging this suspension past one hour has on occasion impacted negatively on her health.

Depending on the form she transforms into, Paige can display certain degrees of enhanced strength, resilience, and agility. In addition, when in an inorganic form she does not suffer from fatigue, and does not need to breathe.

Equipment

Paige's X-Men uniform was specially designed by Forge out of a memory fabric that would regain its shape if cut or torn. This allows her to 'husk' into various forms while on a mission without destroying her uniform or having to carry spares.

External Links

Phase 1

xp_communication posts

xp_journal posts

xp_logs posts

x_team posts

Trivia

One of Paige's most prized possessions is a pair of riding boots given to her by her father before his death. She has little tolerance for interference with them, as Illyana Rasputin discovered.

Paige has been known to indulge in harmless practical jokes to try and shake people out of being too serious.

Paige refused to have a trainee X-Man name, having picked out "Husk" as her super-hero name at the same time she manifested. She was kind of stubborn about it.