Celsius (comics)

Celsius
Celsius in costume from Doom Patrol vol. 2 #1, artist Steve Lightle
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Showcase #94, (September 1977)
Created by	Paul Kupperberg (writer) Joe Staton (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Arani Desai Caulder
Team affiliations	Doom Patrol Black Lantern Corps
Notable aliases	Arani Caulder
Abilities	Elemental control of fire and ice. Black Power Ring

Elemental control of fire and ice.

Celsius is the superhero alias of Arani Desai, a fictional character in the DC Comics series, Doom Patrol. She first appeared in Showcase #94 (September 1977), and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton. She is among the very few superheroes of South Asian heritage, and may be the first ever such hero created by DC Comics.

The following account is the result of a mind probe on Arani by General Immortus (Showcase #95, October–November 1977), Arani Desai was born in India into a life of wealth and privilege. Due to the death of her mother while giving birth to Arani, her father Ashok rejected her even though she possessed an excellent intellect and athleticism. Arani ran away from home after her father went insane. Life on the streets in Calcutta made her deathly ill until she was rescued by young American Dr. Niles Caulder. He gave her immortality on their wedding and left her in the Himalayas while he tried to evade General Immortus. Arani waited and realized that the serum augmented her powerfully, so that she could control her core temperature and project quantities of heat and cold. This ability coupled with the mysticism and monastery training made her a formidable martial artist.

Discovering the death of the Doom Patrol, she created her own team initially to search for her husband, whom she refused to believe perished with the rest of the original Patrol in an explosion. Cliff Steele had survived by virtue of his mechanical nature as Robotman (just enough of his body had been left intact, including his head, to keep his brain alive, and he was found by Will Magnus who built him a new form), and upon returning to Doom Patrol headquarters, found the new team holding a meeting there. They were interrupted and captured by Immortus, who momentarily restored his youth by using the mind-probe on Arani to get the immortality formula from her. As the treatment she had been given was prepared specifically for her metabolism, it soon backfired on him.