Cassandra Nova

Cassandra Nova
Cover art for New X-Men #121. Art by Frank Quitely.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men #114 (July 2001)
Created by	Grant Morrison Frank Quitely
In-story information
Alter ego	Cassandra Nova Xavier
Species	Mummudrai
Team affiliations	Shi'ar Imperium X-Men (in Charles Xavier's body)
Notable aliases	Charles Xavier, The Immensity (by Shi'ar)
Abilities	Telepathy, Telekinesis, DNA Duplication, Spontaneous cell regeneration, Intangibility, Shapeshifting, Cosmic fire and infernal control, Immunity to magic and mimicry, Premonition, Mind and body exchange, Mind Control, Souls gathering, Dematerialization

Cassandra Nova is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, Cassandra first appeared in New X-Men #114 (July 2001). Cassandra is a "mummudrai," a parasitic life form born bodiless on the astral plane. The mummudrai that became Cassandra became telepathically entangled with the future Charles Xavier, who possesses vast mutant telepathic powers. This granted Cassandra some psionic powers herself, including the ability to exit the womb and create a body.

Cassandra is Xavier's ideological dark shadow, bent on destruction and genocide. She is most infamous for commanding an army of Sentinels to massacre 16 million mutants within the mutant homeland of Genosha. In 2009, Cassandra Nova was ranked as IGN's 50th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

Cassandra Nova began life at the same time as Charles Xavier. Conceived without a body, Cassandra improvised one by copying Xavier's DNA to make her own body, effectively becoming his twin sister. She grew with her brother until the time when Charles sensed her monstrous thoughts. Charles attempted to kill the creature, resulting in its physical body being stillborn. Despite this, the creature survived as chaotic cellular matter that clung to a sewer wall for decades, rebuilding its physical form and perfecting its effort to mimic human traits. During this time, she grew convinced that the womb in which she had fought Charles and the universe she now inhabited were one and the same, a universe in which only she and Charles were real, and that her purpose was to destroy every illusion Charles held dear: his dream, his X-Men, and his beloved Lilandra.