History: Born into turbulant times in the heart of Africa, Ororo Munroe had an eventful early life. Her father, David Munroe, was a prominent diplomat and his wife, N'Dare, was a renowned ecologist. While originally born in Kenya, Ororo traveled about with her parents for much of her childhood. She saw many parts of Africa from the untamed savannahs to the bustling cities of Cairo and Cape Town. While traveling she was homeschooled at an early age. She quickly grew fond of nature and had a keen fascination of plants and various wildlife. It was a fascination her mother, N'Dare, nurtured even though it got her into trouble at times when she would wander off to explore. One fateful incident at a zoo in Cairo garnered special attention when she slipped into a cage with an unruly lion inside. At first her parents were fearful that she would be harmed, but remarkably the lion grew fond of her. It baffled many witnesses, but N'dare speculated that she had a special connection with nature and a keen ability to connect with others.

But before this ability could be explored, tragedy struck Ororo's family in the form of an unexpected disaster. When she was 10-years-old, a massive earthquake struck Morocco where she and her family were staying. The quake caused the restaurant they were in to collapse and her parents were killed almost instantly from falling debris. Young Ororo managed to avoid being crushed, but she stayed trapped under a pile of rubble for hours on end. The enclosed area took a major toll on her physically and mentally. Paralyzed by fear and grief, she was overwhelmed by many powerful emotions. In the process her mutant powers started to manifest. In a sudden surge she kicked up a small tornado that freed her from the debris she was buried under. She was then taken to a hospital by rescure workers, but the grim news about her parents struck her hard. As a result of the experience, she developed severe claustraphobia.

Confused and distraught, she was sent to live at a missionary in Egypt that was run by a friend of her father's. While there she continued her schooling, but became isolated and withdrawn. She frequently wandered off to be alone in nature, often finding peace in trees and near rivers. While on these excursions she would experiment with her newfound powers, refining them and utilizing them. Her mother's belief in her connection with nature stayed with her and over time she drew strength from nature. However, when she was caught using her powers by others at the missionary she drew less friendly scrutiny. Some called her a witch while others called her a monster. When they tried to perform an exorcism on her, Ororo ran away and never looked back.

Having left the missionary, Ororo lived on the streets for a while. In time she found that her only means of survival was through theft. She became a pick-pocket and often used her powers to steal food and money so she could survive. Along the way she fell in with various groups of thieves. They not only helped her refine her craft. They also helped her develop her powers. But while Ororo became a very adept thief, she never truly fit in with the criminal underworld. She was eventually offered an opportunity to get away from it when she crossed paths with Professor Charles Xavier.

With his help, Ororo was able to get away from thieving and left Africa for the United States. She started a new life in New Orleans, Louisiana where she went to college and eventually got a degree in teaching. As soon as she graduated, Professor Xavier offered her a teaching job at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. She graciously accepted and became a full-time instructor. And thanks to her training in both thieving and survival, she became a regular on the X-men where she quickly embraced the aspirations of the X-men.

Character Breakdown: Ororo Munroe's personality is strongly tied to the connection she has with nature. Through both the workings of her mutant abiliites and her early fascination with the natural world that her mother encouraged, her entire world was built around a strong appreciation for how nature workd. While traveling with her family, she saw a certain beauty in nature. She saw how the animals lived, how the plants and rivers thrived amidst a complex landscape, and how they all related to one another. Where some would see an endless cycle of survival and struggle, she saw a certain harmony and peace. This kind of harmony is something she would later take comfort in while dealing with the loss of her parents.

Her mutant abilities strengthen her appreciation of nature. It is because that she understands it that she is able to wield her powers so effectively. This understanding is also coupled with an acceptance of the chaos that comes with nature. The earthquake that killed her parents was a natural event and where some would curse the forces that they had no control over in the first place, Ororo is able to accept it and push through the pain. This gives her a strength and a spirit that can endure hardship and not lose sight of her humanity.

Beyond nature, there is also her relationship to the human world that plays a part. Watching her father as a diplomat early in life showed her the complexities of human affairs in relation to the seeming simplicity of the natural world. Being in a missionary and later living as a thief, she learns to approach other people in the same way nature would approach them in a warm but commanding way. This dual understanding is what allowed her to resort to stealing while not falling pray to the world of crime. To her it was about survival in nature. Later on this approach would also make her ideal for confronting and reaching out to others with a strength and grace that earned her great respect.

At her core, the forces of nature guide her. For better or for worse, she often finds herself at the mercy of nature. Just as the weather can bring life, it can bring destruction as well and it shows in her willingness to use her powers in big ways like when she rescued herself. Like nature, Ororo can be unpredicable and impulsive at times. She tends to respond more to emotional pleas that speak to her own inner nature than sound, logical arguments. Later on when she met Charles Xavier, that willingness to use her powers and fight with emotion helped guide her in the path that led her away from a world of crime and into a more promising world with the X-men. Seeing herself as a force of nature, she is ideal for the difficult tasks the X-men face. To her fighting for peace is less about politics and more about enforcing the harmony of nature she has come to appreciate so deeply.