- Who is M?

- Who is Penance?

- Who is Monet's family?
    - More on the twins
    - More on Marius
    - More on Ambassador St. Croix

- What happened to Monet's mother?

- Is Bishop Monet's son?

- What is Monet's connection to Gateway?

- Were the powers the twins had when they were Monet the same powers as the real Monet's?

- Isn't an advanced intellect another of Monet's powers?

- Who is "Know-It-All"?

- What's up between Monet and Jubilee?

- What's up between Monet and Everett?

- Who is M-Plate?

- What was M doing in the Swiss Alps?

Who is M?

"M" is the nickname of Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix, the mutant Native Algerian who was formerly enrolled in the Massachusetts Academy, also formerly known as Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. As a student at the exclusive school, Monet was also secretly a member of the young "superhero" group, Generation X. Monet is "blessed" with many mutant powers, including super-strength, super-speed, flight, invulnerability, photographic memory and telepathy -- and those are just the ones she's revealed! Monet feels she is singled out among her peers because of her impressive intelligence, maturity, and sophistication. However many people, including her own friends, consider Monet to be rude, arrogant, and intimidating.

For more information on Monet, read her Biography.

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Who is Penance?

Penance was originally Monet. Confused? When Emplate approached Monet and asked her to try to take over the world with him and got rejected, Emplate became angry and transformed Monet into a mute, diamond-hard, razor-sharp skinned creature he called "Penance". As mentioned, the Penance body had razor-sharp, diamond-hard skin throughout her body, and she had long, extremely sharp claws as hands. Penance was extremely agile, and dangerous. As Penance, Monet was a captive of Emplate for what seems to be years, where she acted as Emplate's "meal", having her genetic marrow supped upon. It was Gateway who rescued Penance from Emplate, and brought her to Generation X. Upon arriving there, however, Penance was confused and out of touch with the world, and she acted more like an animal than a human. She stayed this way for quite some time, until Nicole and Claudette learned from Emplate that she was really Monet. When the twins learned this, they merged bodies to become Monet, and then switched bodies with Penance, leaving Monet in Monet's rightful body, and the two of them trapped inside Penance. The twins' captivity in the Penance body did not last very long, however, as an explosion caused by Jubilee seperated the twins from each other, leaving the Penance body as its own being. Currently, it is unknown how the Penance body is still alive without Monet, Nicole, or Claudette inside of it. However, in the six months that occured between issues #62 and #63, Penance has disappeared. As of this moment, there is no word on what happened to her or where she went.

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Who is Monet's family?

From what we know now, Monet's family consists of Ambassador Cartier Louis (Louis Cartier?) St. Croix (father), an unnamed mother (referred only as "Mere"; deceased), Marius St. Croix (oldest child; brother), Nicole St. Croix (younger sister; Claudette's twin), and Claudette St. Croix (younger sister; Nicole's twin).

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More on the twins:

Nicole and Claudette are, as mentioned, Monet's younger sisters. Like Monet, they are mutants with incredible power... Much more, in fact, than Monet herself has shown. They are capable of merging bodies, thereby creating a single body for themselves. (So far, the only body we have seen the twins can merge to become is Monet. However, because when the twins merged with Emplate to become M-Plate, it is theorized that the twins can merge with anybody, creating a whole new persona.) Claudette, however, has autism, and has never been shown to speak aloud. Other than merging bodies, their exact powers have never really been determined. While impersonating Monet, they exhibited super-strength, telepathy, flight, and night-vision, but it is not known which of the twins' powers that was. (It's been said by some that Nicole is responsible for the physical powers, while Claudette is the owner of the psionic powers.) Claudette, however, has been shown to be able to open up teleportational gateways by "drawing" it on the floor with chalk. (This has not been confirmed as to whether or not this is a mutant power, or if it is mystical by nature.) The twins are no longer enrolled in the Academy. The reason why or their current whearabouts is presently unknown.

For more on the twins' background, read Monet's Biography.

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More on Marius:

Marius is the demented older brother of Monet. When his mutant powers of being able to "sup" on other mutants' genetic marrow surfaced, he had dreams of taking over the world. Marius apparently travelled to another dimension (teleportation may be another mutant power he possesses), where he gained some mystic powers, along with, however, some physical transformations (most notably, blue skin). After getting a taste of power in the other dimensions, he came back to Earth to try to "recruit" his sister Monet, only to be rejected. Tired of his sister's arrogance, he transformed Monet into the being called "Penance" through powers he gained in another dimension. He kept Penance for quite some time, feeding off her genetic marrow. When Gateway rescued Penance from Emplate, and brought her to Generation X, Emplate has been a sworn enemy to the team since. Emplate is almost always accompanied by his lackey, DOA, and, on occassion, other mutants who are, unfortunately, under his control. Emplate's powers include being able to "sup" on the genetic marrow of mutants, siphoning other mutant powers and using them as his own, mind control, "knowledge at a glance", sensing the mutant aura of others, and teleportation, among others. It is unclear as to which are mutant powers, and which he gained through mystical means.

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More on Ambassador St. Croix:

In his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #305, Ambassador St. Croix was portrayed as an elderly, white American man. In the issue, it was revealed that he has been a member of the Mutant Underground from its start, though he and Charles Xavier have only met face to face twice. He was a mutant-rights activist, even willing to risk his own political career for mutants. He told Storm that he fights for mutant rights because his wife, Lenore, died at an early age from a car accident. When she was dying, her mutant powers manifested, turning half her body into some sort of black crystal-like form. Afraid to touch her, the paramedics refused to help, and Louis held her in his arms as she died. Since Generation X, the Ambassador has gone through some changes, specifically a change of name (from Louis to Cartier) and race. In his recent appearance in Generation X #58, Ambassador St. Croix was portrayed as a middle-aged, black man (similar to how the twins drew him in their diary, in the Generation X '95 annual). And because we know that Marius killed their mother, it is possible that the mother of Monet was the Ambassador's second wife. However, Cartier St. Croix and Louis St. Croix *are* one and the same, as both are ambassadors and members of Xavier's Mutant Underground. It is assumed that either Cartier or Louis is a middle name.

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What happened to Monet's mother?

In Generation X #24, Emplate seemed to think that Nicole (and/or Claudette) holds some accountability for their mother's death, while Nicole and/or Claudette blamed Emplate for it. (Note, at the time of this event, the twins were still impersonating Monet, although Emplate made it clear he already knew that it was not the real Monet he was talking to.) When "Monet" (the twins) were accused of being responsible for the death of their "mere", she responded by saying, "Mere made her own choice! Just as we did! She did it so her children could live! Don't you dare sully the sacrifice she made on our behalf!"

However, Emplate finally revealed all to his family in Generation X #58, and admitted that he was fully responsible for their mother's death. When his mutant powers first manifested, and their mother tried to help Marius, he seemed to have "supped" and drained her energy, effectively killing her. This seems to contradict what "Monet" said earlier, about their mother sacrificing her life for *all* her children. This was neither their mother sacrificing her life, or her being killed for the sake of her children. We may have to wait even more to see if this will ever be cleared up.

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Is Bishop Monet's son?

No, Monet never has and never will be Bishop's mother. Ever. The rumors of Monet being Bishop's mother in the future began when a disillusioned and dazed Bishop saw the blurred figure of Monet and called her "Mother" in Generation X #14. However, this does not at all mean that Monet is really Bishop and Shard's mother. In fact, Scott Lobdell (then writer of Gen X) said himself that he was just teasing the fans with that line. So there. =p

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What is Monet's connection to Gateway?

Gateway seems to have some very close connections with the St. Croix family. As explained above, it was Gateway who rescued Monet (as Penance) from Emplate's clutches, and brought her to Generation X. And while the twins were impersonating Monet, they (or just Nicole) repeatedly called Gateway "Mentor", and received private training from him. It was also said that Gateway used to train "Monet" (the twins) himself, before being enrolled to Xavier's School.

For more on Gateway's relationship to Monet, see the Relationships page.

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Were the powers the twins had when they were Monet the same powers as the real Monet's?

Apparently, yes. The powers the twins displayed while in Monet's body included flight, super-strength, telepathy, invulnerability, and night-vision - all powers the real Monet possesses (although night-vision has not been confirmed yet). However, it is unclear as to whether or not Monet is, in fact, as powerful as her twin sisters combined. (Jay Faerber has hinted that the combined twins are much more powerful than Monet alone.) But also note that just because the twins displayed certain powers while imitating Monet does not mean those are the only powers they have. Remember that the twins had to use certain powers (like flight and telepathy, for example) while they were posing as Monet because they did not want anybody to find out they weren't the real deal. As we have seen, the twins have an amazing assortment of powers, many of which, I'm sure, they have not even displayed in the comics yet.

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Isn't an advanced intellect another of Monet's powers?

No. Contrary popular belief, Monet's high IQ level is just the result of studying hard and paying attention in class. :) The idea of Monet having "knowledge-at-a-glance" was probably due to her brother Emplate, who does that power. But, like I said, this is not true.

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Who is "Know-It-All"?

Know-It-All was the "Age of Apocalypse" universe's counterpart for Monet. However, Know-It-All could very well be Monet's sister, Claudette, rather than Monet, as Know-It-All's real name was Claudia. In that other reality, Know-It-All seemed to only exist inside of computers. Despite living only inside of computers, Claudia had great psionic powers, which she often used to "psi-surf" Apocalypse's files.

However, before Know-It-All's existance, both Nicole and Claudette were allied with Marius, and the three of them worked for Apocalypse. At the time, Nicole and Claudette were only referred to as "The Monets". (An obvious reference to Monet herself.) Strangely enough, though, the real Monet was never seen in the AoA. As interesting as the AoA St. Croix's were, no more were revealed about them, not even how Know-It-All came to be and how she joined the X-Men.

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What's up between Monet and Jubilee?

For as long as they've known each other, Monet and Jubilee have been at constant odds. When Monet was asked why she hates Jubilee so much - even when Jubilee took good care of Monet when she was Penance - Monet told Jubilee that it was her nature. Monet just can't help but NOT like Jubilee. Monet also stated that Jubilee treated her like a pet when she was trapped in Penance's body.

For more on their relationship, see the Relationships page.

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What was up between Monet and Everett?

As seen in Generation X #50, Monet seems to be after Everett's affections. And if it weren't for a member of Gene Nation attacking, the two of them would have even shared a kiss. In Gen X #57, Everett told Jubilee - his "date" for that night's school dance - that Monet looked beautiful, adding even more complexity to the Monet/Everett/Jubilee love triangle. After Everett's death which took place between #62 and #63 (see issues #67-71 for details), Monet has become very unfocused and unstable. Even though all the others seems to have moved on already, Monet is still in mourning -- proving to all the doubters that Monet really did have feelings for Ev, and she wasn't just going after him to get Jubilee mad. And as we learned in the "Come On, Die Young" storyline (again, issues #67-71), Monet and Everett did "hook up" with each other, even if it were only for a short time.

For more on their relationship, see the Relationships page.

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Who is M-Plate?

The creature known as "M-Plate" is the result of Nicole and Claudette merging to become Monet, and then merging with their brother, Emplate. M-Plate is basically a female version of Emplate (without the need for the respirator). The three siblings were seperated from each other when Dirt-Nap swallowed M-Plate whole, which caused the seperation. Since we did not see M-Plate for very long at all, her powers, if any, are unknown.

M-Plate's appearance was fairly short, and she did not have a very big impact on the St. Croix's. The only result from the twins merging with Marius worth noting was that the three of them learned each other's secrets while sharing the same body, which led to the twins finding out that Penance was, at the time, really their sister, Monet! And because when the twins merged with Emplate to become M-Plate, this supports the theory that the twins can merge with just about anybody to create a whole new persona.

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What was M doing in the Swiss Alps?

In Generation X #58, Cartier - Monet's father - visited his children at the Academy after having learned news that Marius was severely inured (re: Jubilee blowing up Proudstar Hall in #57). In the issue, he also wanted to make ammends with Monet for having neglected her wants and needs for so long. He felt so guilty that he did the only thing he could think of to make Monet happy: transfer her out of the Academy. Apparently, Monet had been complaining to her father about how she hated being in the Massachusetts Academy, so he finally listened up and did was she wanted, and transferred her to another exclusive boarding school nestled in the Swiss Alps. Monet shared a room with a blonde-haired girl with glasses, named Charlene. It is not believed that Nicole and Claudette went along with Monet to that new Academy, as they were not seen anytime during Monet's stay there.

Shortly after arriving in her new school, there were a number of deaths occuring there. Monet quickly discovered that her headmaster of the school was really a vampire, and he was the one responsible for killing those students. Monet destroyed the headmaster and the other vampires, and when it was all over, the school was burned down. M had a choice to go to any school she wanted, but she chose to go back to the Massachusetts Academy.

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This FAQ was written by Koolaid (koolaid@x-men.com) solely for this site's use. No unauthorized reproduction - electronic or print - is allowed without my expressed written permission.

Special thanks to Dark Claw and Grendel for the extra help with Know-It-All.