Dryad (comics)

Dryad
Callie Betto as she appeared in New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook Special Art by Georges Jeanty and Don Hillsman
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men: Academy X #1 (July, 2004)
Created by	Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir
In-story information
Alter ego	Callie Betto
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Corsairs training squad Xavier Institute
Abilities	Plant manipulation

Dryad (Callie Betto) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, she first appeared in New X-Men: Academy X #1.

Dryad is a member of the former Corsairs training squad, along with Specter, Quill and the Stepford Cuckoos, who led the team. She appears in New X-Men: Academy X #2 as background character; she also appears in the party. She appears on the cover with Anole. She appears with the students that aren't fighting with the Blob.

After Scarlet Witch's actions of M-Day, Dryad is depowered and boards a bus with other depowered students leaving the Xavier Institute. She is killed when William Stryker fires a missile at the bus, blowing it up, killing the depowered students aboard.

Dryad had the mutant ability to communicate with plants much like a telepath can with people, which allowed her to manipulate plant life. It was not a particularly strong connection in that she had to actively maintain a link (a plant cannot simply call out telepathically to her mind) for communication to occur. It is for this reason that she rarely used the power, and tended to forget about it at times. In the explanation that she gave at one point, she explained that when a plant communicates, it is not like humans nor animals because plants do not have emotions. They cannot express fear, excitement, happiness, etc. Instead, Callie explained plants as “speaking” in senses. For example, if a plant needed water Callie would receive wetness. She wouldn’t feel wet, but because she knows what wetness is from prior experience she would be able to understand. The same holds true for when she spoke to them. She could only focus on one “thought” at a time; usually the ones she understands. When she didn’t understand (for example if the plant is being killed off by a certain chemical that she wouldn’t respond to) she could sometimes offer vague explanations about the general state of the plant, or she had simply no idea what was going on. Callie could accelerate, decelerate, or reverse plant growth in a twenty-foot radius. The type of growth that occurred depended on each plant. Smaller, less complex plants would grow very quickly (for example vines, weeds, flowers, etc.) while larger plants, such as trees, she could only control a section of. She could cause a branch of a tree to bend at an angle from the tree, whether that would be parallel to the ground or perpendicular to it, as well as causing leaves, flowers, and fruit to grow. Growing a full tree was possible with much time and concentration, and certainly not in one sitting. After Decimation, Dryad lost her powers.