Nightingale (Characters)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Created by: John Byrne, Roger Stern

1st appearance:  Marvel: The Lost Generation #2 (February 2000)   

Nationality: Haitian

Team Affiliations: The First Line

Legal Status: Unknown

Height:  5’5                   Weight: 130 lbs

Eye color: Yellow             Hair color: Black (Worn bald)

Relatives: Unknown

Skills and abilities:

Powers: Nightingale has exhibited remarkable powers to heal others. She could also sense the emotions of others. Albeit rarely, she could sense danger in upcoming events.

Biography

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Not much has been revealed regarding the history and origin of the being known as Nightingale. At some point during the 1950s, the heroic Yankee Clipper was on a mission in the Caribbean Sea where he encountered the mysterious woman.

The Yankee Clipper then called upon her to help heal his friend, who became the hero Effigy upon recuperating. Nicknamed “Nightingale” by the Clipper’s allies in remembrance of Florence Nightingale, she was invited to join the formative hero team, the First Line. Nightingale served with the First Line throughout its tenure, going on many missions with the team. However, after many years, she would appear only as a team associate on an as-needed basis.

In November 1963, she had a vision of the president being killed by an unknown assailant. The team traveled to Dallas to stop the attack but mistaken Chimera and Howler as the attackers not aware of Lee Harvey Oswald’s plans.

Nightingale was present during the First Line’s final mission, defending the Earth against an invasion by the alien Skrulls. The team was slowly decimated during the battle, and Nightingale overtaxed her healing abilities. The last person she was able to heal was the time-traveler, Cassandra Locke, investigating a type of Skrull invasion from her own timeline. With her healing abilities exhausted, Nightingale died, growing instantly old and disappearing.

The origin and nature of the powers possessed by Nightingale remain unknown. Others have noted her voice sounds like several women speaking at once, and occasionally when using her powers, ghostly images of others surround her. This, and the fact Nightingale always used the plural “we” when speaking, suggested her powers have to do with her acting as a vessel for others.