So Storm is a cult leader?

[Zelena]

Kinda joking, kinda not.

She's giving me cult leader vibes in this page. Has any writer worked on this angle of Storm?

And then Xavier came and told her she wasn’t a goddess but a mutant and that the world needs her. He offered her a life where she won’t be no more worshipped and Ororo followed the bald man in wheelchair. What a power of persuasion… Convincing a “goddess” that she wasn’t a goddess…

[Micabe]

They also worshipped her and saw her as the final authority

Where was it printed that the Kenyan people saw Ororo as the final authority? Title and issue please...

[OopsIdiditagain]

Where was it printed that the Kenyan people saw Ororo as the final authority? Title and issue please...

Right in the page posted in this thread where they ask her for permission to do things such as sacrificing or not.

[OopsIdiditagain]

And then Xavier came and told her she wasn’t a goddess but a mutant and that the world needs her. He offered her a life where she won’t be no more worshipped and Ororo followed the bald man in wheelchair. What a power of persuasion… Convincing a “goddess” that she wasn’t a goddess…

I mean he is a literal telepath.

[Lucyinthesky]

She is a cult leader, if not by choice in her earlier days, at least by the actions of those who formed her cult. She was there, they formed around her and became the cult. Flipped around though I'm also seeing her as the cult leader for the resurrection process (despite the Giant Sized stories showing her strength and determination not to die.) But who's to say she is the one that chose to be that. She's a natural choice, IMO, either her, Magneto or Nightcrawler. Magneto's already had a group of cultists, even though for some of that time he wasn't even around (how that actually works I'm not sure), and I'm thinking Nightcrawler would have had some initial internal conflicts with his beliefs and the resurrection process.

I would like an exploration of how Ororo seems to be the one to give a welcome to ressurrected mutants that choice for her seemed random to me tbh.

In Magneto´s case it´s more like Fabian Cortez used his image to develop a cult around Magneto as a champion for mutants, a quasi God figure for them and Exodus keep the tradition and the leadership of the Acolytes when Magneto was in coma. Magneto himself accepted them as members of Asteroid M and Avalon but he wasn´t their direct leader. After Exodus Amelia Vogh became their leader, at this time they were loyal to magneto but didn´t see him as a figure of adoration anymore especally since some of them were quite violent and often acted without magneto´s orders.

BTW being part of a cult isn't inherently evil. Much of religion could be viewed as a cult, despite much of it also having hope, faith and goodwill towards others. To me it's more of what the cult believes in, how they want to interact with others and their overall place in society, that would define them as "bad" or "good". The term cult classics, in terms of entertainment, are generally given towards works that did not gain mainstream appeal, but have developed a strong following for the outliers that do love them. And that term is usually used in a positive sense.

Agreed completely the word cult needs to be given it´s proper meaning.

On the topic I think Storm was too young when she became the godness of her tribe and she was without explanation for the things she could do so she began to help her tribe and they thought she was a godness. I would not call her a cult leader for this. More like she was too young and didn´t know who she was and that kind of admiration and adoration can get in your head. That´s how I see it. After she became an X-man and went back to her tribe knowing now she´s a mutant, people threated her as part of them without the adoration.

[Cville]

Kinda joking, kinda not.

She's giving me cult leader vibes in this page. Has any writer worked on this angle of Storm?

I thought this was day one information about the character?

[Steel Inquisitor]

Agreed completely the word cult needs to be given it´s proper meaning.

On the topic I think Storm was too young when she became the godness of her tribe and she was without explanation for the things she could do so she began to help her tribe and they thought she was a godness. I would not call her a cult leader for this. More like she was too young and didn´t know who she was and that kind of admiration and adoration can get in your head. That´s how I see it. After she became an X-man and went back to her tribe knowing now she´s a mutant, people threated her as part of them without the adoration.

Her being too young wouldn't not make her a cult leader, just someone who unintentionally became one under those circumstances. She was literally worshipped as a goddess and didn't refuse it, she only came down from that after she left with Xavier. Being oblivious didn't stop any of that being wrong, she just didn't know any better.

[Lucyinthesky]

Her being too young wouldn't not make her a cult leader, just someone who unintentionally became one under those circumstances. She was literally worshipped as a goddess and didn't refuse it, she only came down from that after she left with Xavier. Being oblivious didn't stop any of that being wrong, she just didn't know any better.

Agreed that´s why after she came back and she and them knew who she was they threated her as one of them she was happy for this because her adoptive mother also lived there.

[Zelena]

I mean he is a literal telepath.

Mind control? Digging in her brain to find the most effective words? No evidence of that at the time…

More that the “goddess thing” wasn’t rooted very deeply in Ororo’s brain back then… “So, I’m not a goddess? Ok, I’m not a goddess.”

[OopsIdiditagain]

Mind control? Digging in her brain to find the most effective words? No evidence of that at the time…

More that the “goddess thing” wasn’t rooted very deeply in Ororo’s brain back then… “So, I’m not a goddess? Ok, I’m not a goddess.”

You made it sound like Xavier would have no means to persuade Storm if she really thought she was a goddess. But we both know Xavier has used telepathic subliminals to convince people with much strong mental defenses to join his cause.

They worshipped Storm as a goddess and saw her judgement as absolute. Storm still sees herself as a goddess figure, just in a much more toned down way.

Doesn't make her inherently evil. I don't see why people are fine with the goddess narrative but aren't fine with her being a cult of personality for those minor characters.

[Lucyinthesky]

Because it makes it sound like Storm was just taking advantage of people and taking their things while she was at it and I symply don´t see that was the case at all given she didn´t even know who she was, I just find this an unfair take on the character given her circunstances

I don´t buy she´s a godness, at least not in the sense Thor, Loki or Hercules are supposed to be mytholigic gods, she just seems to come, acording to Claremont, from a group of people strong in magic and I have not been reading Black Panther but it seems something similar has been developed for her on Wakanda.

[OopsIdiditagain]

Because it makes it sound like Storm was just taking advantage of people and taking their things while she was at it and I symply don´t see that was the case at all given she didn´t even know who she was, I just find this an unfair take on the character given her circunstances

I don´t buy she´s a godness, at least not in the sense Thor, Loki or Hercules are supposed to be mytholigic gods, she just seems to come, acording to Claremont, from a group of people strong in magic and I have not been reading Black Panther but it seems something similar has been developed for her on Wakanda.

Whenever you have a character seen as god there's always going to be a power imbalance, whether the character the chooses to take advantage of others or not. The relationship between the "god" and worshippers will never truly be balanced because one side of the relationship sees the other as an overpowering figure. That's just the reality.

Wakanda seems to see her as another African deity figure or at least an Avatar for it.

[Lucyinthesky]

Yes there´s a power inbalance but I don´t see it the same when a young girl who doesn´t know who she´s develops strange powers she uses to help her tribe is the same as a person who presents he/she as a god/godness to manipulate people. That´s the difference I see.

[yogaflame]

Mind control? Digging in her brain to find the most effective words? No evidence of that at the time…

More that the “goddess thing” wasn’t rooted very deeply in Ororo’s brain back then… “So, I’m not a goddess? Ok, I’m not a goddess.”

There was a story in the early 90's where Ororo contemplates whether or not Xavier did use his powers to make her come with him. He could have put a suggestion in her mind when they first met in Cairo when she was still a young child. The story leaves the question somewhat unanswered.

Funny thing is, after all these years, turns out she is a literal goddess, so telepathy or no, he was lying to her, disrespecting her timeless culture, and really he just wanted to use her to clean up his mess.

[Devaishwarya]

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