Characters / Marvel Comics: Monet St. Croix

Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix / M / Penance

^{Click to see her as Penance}

^{Click to see her in Generation X}

Notable Aliases: Penance, Hollow

Nationality: French, Yugoslavian, Algerian, Monacan, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Generation X #1 (November, 1994)

"I don't hate everybody, I think I'm better than everybody. It's completely different."

—Monet, X-Factor

Monet St. Croix, sometimes known by the codenames "M" or "Penance", was created by Scott Lobdell & artist, Chris Bachalo in 1994. She first appeared in the crossover, Phalanx Covenant, before starring in Generation X with her classmates & their mentors, Banshee and Emma Frost.

Monet St. Croix possesses a wide variety of mutant powers which represent a near-perfect human being. Her powers include superhuman strength, superhuman speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, coordination, and balance; self-propelled flight; nigh-invulnerability; night vision and enhanced hearing; an enhanced healing factor and the ability to read minds and perceive mutant auras. Her superhuman physicality, multi-hyphenate abilities, and arrogance have dubbed this French Algerian mutant to be the "perfect" mutant. She is also one of Marvel's first Muslim superheroes.

Over the years, she's worked with many teams since Generation X, such as Banshee's X-Corps, Multiple Man's X-Factor Investigations, Storm's X-Women, Magneto's X-Men, Sabretooth's Weapon X-Force.

With the founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Monet emerged as one of the co-CXO's of the reborn X-Corp, responsible for being the business face of mutantkind to the rest of the planet.

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Monet St. Croix provides examples of:

#-H

• Absurdly Sharp Claws: In her Penance form, her fingers become sharp claws so sharp that they can damage Black Panther's vibranium armor.
• Action Fashionista: Monet has a very glamorous wardrobe and sometimes likes to wear fancy clothing during combat.
• Action Girl: A female heroine, her Flying Brick powers have her be a great front-line fighter.
• Act of True Love: Emplate thought she did this for Sabretooth in Uncanny X-Men. She attacks when he feeds on Creed & Callisto, telling him to deal with her & leave them alone. After she left with him, he was surprised how quickly she came just to save the others & sensed affection when it came to Creed◊.
• Alpha Bitch: In Generation X she functions as the snobby Rich Bitch popular girl of the academy, even having a rivalry with Jubilee (the closest thing the book has to a protagonist).
• Amazonian Beauty: Depending on the Artist. She's always considered attractive and some artists give her a muscular body to illustrate she's a Flying Brick. In X-Factor (2006), she has noticeable abs during her Full-Frontal Assault under Cortex's Mind Control, and many characters notice how toned her legs are.
• Ambadassador: More so in X-Factor (2006) where she was instantly violent when it came to making any kind of case about anything.
• Ambiguously Brown: Monet is the daughter of a dark-skinned French father and mother of Algerian citizenship and indeterminate ethnicity. She is always depicted as brown-skinned, with the precise hue varying from issue to issue. Whenever it gets too light, there's an outcry that Marvel is trying to make her "less black" for nefarious purposes, and when it gets too dark, there are cries that she was never black in the first place, but it was never stated that she is or isn't. She and her siblings (who are more consistently dark-skinned, the few times we see Emplate's human form) are most likely mixed, though colorists should settle on a tone and stick to it.
• Amicable Exes: Despite a disastrous one night stand with Madrox (Where she was furious with him when he reveals his dupes slept with her and Siryn on the same night) she didn't hold a grudge against him for long and their friendship only deepened with time, with her later becoming a Shipper on Deck for Siryn and Madrox.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Nicole & Claudette from time to time. In New Mutants #1, they are seen in their Penance forms & Monet is shown to be yelling at them.
• Arch-Enemy: Her brother Marius / Emplate is her personal nemesis. He greatly resents her for having the Parental Favoritism and Superpower Lottery as well as having to endure her smug and arrogant personality his whole life, and is now completely dedicated to ruining her life.
• Been There, Shaped History: More recent than most, but according to Monet, she had a part in the Marvel universe's versions of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie getting together.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Sabretooth in Uncanny X-Men (2016). During their snark-off in issue one, Psylocke cuts in to ask if they are still bickering & why they don't just Get a Room!.
• Berserk Button:
  • Monet hates being under the mental thrall of others due to her time under the control of her brother, Emplate, and transforming her into the identity of Penance. She punches Cortex through his chest after he takes control of her for a couple of issues and is furious with Pip the Troll when he transfers his mind into her body to escape death.
  • Don't hurt anyone she actually cares about. She might not kill you then.
  • Mentioning Heaven after her resurrection is also a very bad idea.
• The Beautiful Elite: Monet is the daughter of a Monégasque ambassador and the granddaughter of a French aristocrat. Between her beauty, which makes her the Lust Object of numerous men; wealth; fame; and winning of the Superpower Lottery, it is little wonder she has an ego the size of a continent.
• Betty and Veronica:
  • In Generation X she was the Veronica to Jubilee's Betty for Synch's Archie, being the arrogant, stuck-up beauty — and she won without much contest.
  • It's reversed in Uncanny X-Men (2016) with Sabretooth where she may have been the Betty to Mystique's Veronica. Bunn noted that they wouldn't get along well, and with Mystique being a former off & on lover to Creed, that may have come up later. Monet is far from a teddy bear, but she's an angel compared to Raven.
• The Beautiful Elite: She was born into a wealthy, elite family and blessed with such great beauty that it's theorized In-Universe that it might be part of her Superpower Lottery.
• Big-Breast Pride: She enjoys flaunting her beauty in whatever way she can, which is why so many of her outfits expose a lot of her cleavage.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Monet is very loving toward Nicole & Claudette. Nicole says she's the only one who doesn't treat them like freaks. When they were inside Penance, Monet made sure they were as comfortable as could be.
  • Zigzagged with Emplate, who declares his love for Monet. He admits feeding on her wasn't his finest moment but he has to feed to stay anchored to the world. He mocked her affection for Creed and later warned her that he would eventually kill her.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Reveals she hides a lot of her trauma behind her egomaniac attitude during a therapy session with Doc Samson. She has to be the superior jerk because she's still suffering from her time as Penance. Every day, she has to make the choice not to kill herself and gets her strength from the arrogant "M" persona.
• Brainy Brunette: She's a highly intelligent woman with long brown, or black, hair.
• Broken Ace: Monet is a Superpower Lottery winner, beautiful, intelligent, and acts as if nothing ever fazes her. But during her therapy sessions, she confesses her "M" persona is mostly a front and she suffers from severe trauma due to what her brother Emplate did to her during the time she was stuck as Penance.
• Bunker Woman: An extreme when she's trapped in the Penance body by Emplate, where she was imprisoned for years, unable to have her cries for help heard.
• Butt-Monkey: X-Factor (2006) has a lot of fun putting the prideful Monet into a lot of comical situations, usually taking advantage of her Super-Toughness to take the brunt of attacks that would be fatal to other characters. She never ends up truly hurt, but it annoys her to no end and they often have comical side effects on her appearance, like leaving her hair a mess or ruining her clothes.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Her voluptuous proportion is one of the things that make her a Dude Magnet. During her Alpha Bitch phase in Generation X, she was often put into contrast with the flat-chested Jubilee, who is implied to resent Monet due to it. Even Shatterstar, who's openly gay, would often admit to being distracted by her breasts.
• Cain and Abel: She's a heroine whose greatest personal enemy is her brother Marius St. Croix / Emplate.
• Came Back Wrong: Her first death & resurrection in X-Factor (2006) leaves her depressed and numb. She didn't want to hear anyone mentioning a Heaven that she didn't see & sneered that Darwin just saw her as something Hell spat out. She's still recovering from the experience when she joined Storm's X-Men.
• Celebrity Superhero: Monet is a heroine with an open identity who is quite famous and popular for a mutant and has even posed for Vanity Fair twice.
• Character Death: Like any superhero, she's had a few of these.
  • In X-Factor (2006), she's critically injured during her encounter with Pluto and is dying when she fights Strong Guy, who finishes her off. When he becomes the new King of Hell he brings her Back from the Dead and expels her from hell.
  • She dies again in X-Men, digging her way out of some rubble, making a note to herself to stop dying.
  • In House of X, she gets killed off-panel when she takes on numerous enemies to protect Jean.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: If Monet has eyes for a guy, she won't take kindly to other girls getting too cozy.
  • When Jubilee wanted to spend time with Synch, Monet shows a literal case of the trope when making it clear that it's not gonna happen.◊
  • She also showed a slight case of this with Sabretooth during Uncanny X-Men (2016). The two of them seemed to have something building over the series. After Monet is possessed by Emplate, her negative emotions are amplified by his influence. She murders Inhumans in cold blood due to the grief of losing Maddrox to Terrigen mist. Sabretooth finds her and they talk briefly, with him telling Monet that Rachel Grey came with him. Monet wonders where she is -sarcastically saying she'd love to catch up. Creed explains that he sent Rachel back in order to speak with Monet alone. She asks if he's protecting his new friend, being quick to question him & show disapproval about his partnership with Rachel, saying that she doesn't like it◊
• Civvie Spandex: For the first half of X-Factor (2006), up until the renumbering, Monet's outfit tended to be whatever she was wearing at the time.
• Close-Call Haircut: Deadpool tied napalm bombs to her hair & when they exploded, they left a large bald spot on the right side of her head.
• Combat Stilettos: Monet often wore high-heeled boots during X-Factor (2006).
• Combo Platter Powers: Flying Brick powers, the ability to merge with any mutant member of her family encountered thus far, with different combinations having an entirely different personality and powers. This goes, in fact, for all of the St. Croix siblings except for Nicole (who hasn't displayed solo powers just yet.) Also, Telepathy, telekinesis, and heightened intelligence. However, she may just have Psychic Powers, her Flying Brick powers being a manifestation of that, like the 'Psionic Superman' theory that was popular in the 80s and 90s.
• Comic-Book Time: One of the beneficiaries. See, since she's one of the Generation X crop, she should logically be around the same age as her classmate Jubilee. Except Jubilee's been a perpetual teenager, while during her X-Factor (2006) days Monet is depicted as being in her mid-twenties or around the rest of the cast, presumably to cause less raised eyebrows about relationships with characters such as Madrox, Strong Guy, Darwin, and Sabretooth who all have a good few years on her as a character, as well as age when she first came on the scene.
• Condescending Calmness: She enjoys speaking in an overtly polite and calm manner even when arguing or insulting others, to show off her "rich upbringing" and how superior she is. She especially liked doing this in her interactions with Jubilee in Generation X, as it would eventually annoy the temperamental teen.
• Cool Big Sis: Monet's younger twin sisters think highly of her, calling her the only person who never treated them like freaks due to their spell-casting powers and Claudette's autism. After Monet is restored to human form, they have a happy reunion.
• Covers Always Lie: Many cases in X-Factor & Weapon X where she's black◊ on the covers but white◊ in the interiors.
• Critical Hit: She was dying from brain hemorrhaging before taking on Guido in Hell & when he got serious, all it took was one good hit to finish her.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: With her temper and brawler nature, she's received a few of these, such as being kicked into space by Hulk, rag-dolled by Pluto, then clobbered and killed by Strong Guy.
• Deadpan Snarker: One of her main traits is her snarky lines delivered with Condescending Calmness or passive-aggressive insults.
  • In Generation X, she often engaged into Snark-to-Snark Combat with Jubilee, who would complain Monet usually got the "last dig".
  Monet: [after saving Jubilee from falling debris] That was certainly a valid attempt at a rescue. Though I don't understand what you were planning to do without the use of my superior strength.
  Jubilee: Way I see it, M - if you can press that slab and pat yourself on the back at the same time... how heavy could it be?
  Monet: Should I drop it? Then we'll find out for sure.
  • An X-Factor (2006) example is when the team is waiting for Siryn to have her baby.
  Guido: How long's it been now?
  Monet: About three minutes later than the last time you asked.
• Daddy's Girl: She grew up being her father's favored child, and they became very close, to the point he's one of the few people she's openly affectionate with.
• Death Is Cheap: Like many Marvel characters, she's died a few times but won't stay dead. Her first death and resurrection in X-Factor (2006) did at least make her traumatized for a while.
• Defiant to the End: Her sacrifice in House of X #4. She sends Jean off of the Orchis base in an escape pod before turning to face them. Despite being outnumbered & overwhelmed.
• Depending on the Artist: Her skin color varies wildly from artist to artist, usually varying from various shades of brown and black, but she sometimes was so light-skinned she looked like a caucasian woman. Her hair color also tends to flip-flop from brown to black.
• Depending on the Writer: Many writers downplay many of her Superpower Lottery abilities so she won't have a Story-Breaker Power.
• Did They or Didn't They?: She & Synch shared a passionate kiss one night in the school library before she suggested going someplace private. After this, they're not seen again.◊ In the next chapter, they're shown holding hands, which is their first public couple-display.◊
• Disappointing Older Sibling: Monet has noted on a good few occasions that Emplate is a pathetic disgrace to their family legacy.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Due to her Pride and Inferiority Superiority Complex, she dislikes when people (such as Jubilee or Sabertooth) show concern for her and gets defensive and snappy.
• Dude, Not Funny!: In X-Factor (2006), Pip the Troll winds up hijacking Monet's body via Brain Uploading to save his own life after his body is shot. Polaris and Rictor find the situation hilarious until Shatterstar points out how a horrible violation it is, prompting both to shut up. When Monet does get control of her body back, she's absolutely livid with them for laughing at her, with the exception of Shatterstar.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Synch, Guido, Darwin, Madrox, and Longshot have admired her looks. In return, she herself isn't above noticing the male form, notably Sabretooth whom she volunteers to watch lift heavy stuff from their aircraft.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: Due to being a Flying Brick, she's easily able to carry her male teammates, and seems to enjoy doing so to emasculate them.
• Everyone Can See It: When it came to her & Sabretooth, a total of seven characters have suspected more to their relationship.
  • Psylocke was the first in Uncanny X-Men (2016) #1 when she notes how much they bicker, suggests they Get a Room!, and thinks they may be flirting. In the finale, she compared them to Starkweather & Fugate.
  • Callisto was next, mockingly calling Monet Creed's "little girlfriend" at first, and later during a spat, she cuts in to warn them of the situation but wryly apologizes for interrupting "whatever's going on" between them.
  • Emplate says he detected affection from Monet when it came to Creed before guessing that she's bored with handsome, cultured men. Much later, he threatens to gut her with a warning that Creed will do it eventually which causes Monet to snark at him looking down on the guys she hangs around.
  • Deathstrike in Weapon X (2017). When Creed is briefing them on Monet and the mission to save her, she instantly notes Monet as his ex-girlfriend, which makes Creed defensive.
  • Domino becomes a Shipper on Deck as soon as she hears Deathstrike's comment, thinking it adorable. When she sees Creed shyly trying to speak with Monet, she gushes, tells Monet about how he wanted to save her, and how nobody believed his protests.
  • After hearing Domino's Love Informant ramble, Deadpool promptly asks if they're going to kiss which causes Creed & Monet to tell him to shut up.
  • Finally, Omega Red tells everyone to focus on love after they finish with war. But later when Creed & Monet finally talk about what happened between them, Omega Red is watching them with a grin.
• Exaggerated Trope: Her Rich Bitch nature in X-Factor (2006) is dialed up, sometimes bordering on hatefulness. As seen in her debate with Siryn.

  Siryn: I've had it with your holier-than-thou attitude..
  Monet: You're lecturing me about being Holy? You're the one who thinks God is out to get you because you lost your baby.
  Siryn: Don't you dare bring that up!
  Monet: Too late. What are you gonna do? Scream at me?

• Face–Monster Turn: After she's merged with Emplate in Uncanny X-Men (2016) & later became the villain of Generation X (2017).
• Filler Can arguably go into this territory with recent interview from Bunn. According to him, Hickman was in talks before he started on Uncanny, he was told not to change too much regarding the X-Men, and that many of the books around this period going forward were placeholders. That being the case, Creed & Monet's relationship was something that happened during a transitional point and won't be acknowledged going forward. We already saw some of his developments fizzle such as Monet being White Queen of the Hellfire Club which has been forgotten ever since and Emma is very much still White Queen in Hickman's run.
• First Love: Synch, her first serious Love Interest in Generation X. After his death, she yells at Jubilee that he was the first person she ever had romantic feelings for.
• Flying Brick: A super strong and super tough heroine here who's capable of flying.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Under Cortex's Mind Control, she strips naked in front of Darwin to seduce him, but when he doesn't fall for it Cortex has Monet try to kill him instead, leading to several issues with Monet fighting completely nude. (Cortex's Mind Control gives her some purple techno skin that makes her have a Barbie Doll Anatomy or has some Scenery Censor cover up her nudity). When the Mind Control is eventually severed, Monet is so furious at Cortex she attacks him without bothering to put some clothes back on.
• Fusion Dance: Largely unexplored but she and her siblings can fuse with each other and create a unique person, such as M-Plate. Her young twin sisters can also fuse into an exact copy of her and impersonate her for years.
• Good Is Not Nice: Monet is a legitimate heroine who risks her life to save people, but she's also an abrasive Rich Bitch with a huge ego who often seems incapable of being nice, but it does take her a wind-up. And if you upset her... you're screwed. Just ask Ballistique, if she ever recovers from what Monet did to her.
  Monet: [as she tears Ballistique's mind to shreds] Go on. Say I "can't". It'll be funny. I'll laugh like this: Ha. Ha.
• Hates Being Touched: She's not an affectionate person and dislikes being touched by others.
  • When Layla tries to check on her after she's threatened by Polaris. Monet defensively says she is fine & tells Layla not to touch her.
  • In Uncanny X-Men (2016), Storm has a brief reunion with her & Psylocke where the latter hugs her but she's promptly snubbed when she puts supportive hands-on Monet.
  • In House of X 5, Storm reaches out for her & asks that she prove she's the real deal after her resurrection. Monet instantly withdraws & tell her "No touching", which was all the proof Storm needed.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Played up in X-Factor (2006) when she was prone to a violent disposition & temper whenever she gets displeased, in contrast to the snarky and condescending politeness she usually has.
• Head-Turning Beauty: She's often described as being beautiful by other character and narrators, and often causes a physical reaction on people when they first meet her. Even her bitter rival Jubilee admits Monet is drop-dead gorgeous and even referred to her as "Miss Perfect". Some characters even though her beauty was part of her power set.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: She's snobbish, arrogant and often acts self-absorbed, but she does want and enjoy working as a heroine and cares deeply about her loved ones and fellow mutants, even if she doesn't like to show it.
• Hypocrite: X-Factor (2006) had this as a major flaw of hers.
  • She's a reckless hothead who prefers solving things violently but is quick to point out the recklessness of others. At one point, Layla calls her out by saying she's is the last one who should tell anyone how to act when she just got done getting clobbered by Pluto.
  • She admitted to Doc Samson that she's still traumatized by her brother's abuse & chooses not to kill herself daily. However, she mocked Siryn for the way she grieved the death of her father & child.
  • She expressed the belief that the dead shouldn't be revived & only those who can't let go tamper with such things. She seemed touched after Guido resurrected her, ignoring her earlier rants about the dead.
  • After learning Guido was resurrected without a soul, she calls him a freak & monster in his presence. When Darwin reacts the same way after her resurrection, she takes great offense and punches him.
  • Monet's Berserk Button is having her mind messed with. That hasn't stopped her from using or threatening to use her telepathy in ways that cause severe and sometimes permanent harm, like when she put Ballistique in a coma as retribution for shooting Guido.
  • When Pip the Troll accidentally had his consciousness transferred into Monet's body, Monet is furious at Lorna and Rictor for finding it funny. However, Monet herself is often insensitive to the plight of other people, as seen when she mocked Siryn's grief over her dead baby.
• Home Nudist: Early on in X-Factor (2006)', Monet is in the privacy of her room, shrugging off her robe and dancing to the tune of "I'm Too Sexy" naked. Naturally, Rictor barges at that moment and gets a full-frontal view while the viewer sees her Toplessness from the Back. She promptly gets a Naked Freak-Out and tosses Rictor out of her room.
• Honor Before Reason: Subverted. Mordo abducts Monet's father Cartier to lure her into a trap so he can drain her energy and put his cancer into remission. When they are attacked by the Mutant Response Division, Mordo agrees to create a portal so they can escape but notes that doing so would be taxing on his body. Monet offers to let him drain her in exchange for saving them. Despite Guido, Darwin, and Cartier pointing out that Mordo had kidnapped her father and would likely never keep any promise he made to her, Monet seemingly still insists on fulfilling her end of the bargain. However, Monet doesn't actually let Mordo drain her and uses her telepathy to make him think she did. Guido thinks that Monet got the idea from Layla when she mentioned the old and weak Doctor Doom from the Bad Future she and Jamie went to but Monet insists she came to the idea herself.
• Hulking Out: How her transformations into Penance work — she tends to transform whenever she loses her temper and turning into Penance makes telepathy more difficult.

I-N

• Iconic Outfit: She has two iconic hero costumes, the first being the blood-red skintight suit she wore in Generation X (which gets many variations) and the other being her second X-Factor (2006) costume, which is a black-and-white suit with red outlines.
• I Gave My Word: She'll keep her word, even if she makes a deal with a super-villain, but only Emplate has made her drop this.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: She uses her arrogance and ego to hide from her own insecurities.
  • In Generation X she loathed her time stuck as Penance and particularly resented how Jubilee treated her during that time because she felt "like a pet", which is why she acted more hostile to Jubilee after she came back to normal.
  • Her therapy session in X-Factor (2006) reveals she has been constantly suicidal after the torture her brother inflicted on her, having daily recurring nightmares, and putting up an insufferable arrogant cover to keep herself from being Driven to Suicide day after day.
• Insufferable Genius: During Generation X, she was portrayed as one of the most academically accomplished students, and would be so arrogant and smug about it that even her teachers would get annoyed.
  Monet: As I've said in the past, there is precious little I don't know.
• It's All About Me: She's very self-absorbed and often worries about herself at the expense of others. When Guido catches a villain during their date, she was pissed that he'd be focused on anything but her company.
• It's All My Fault: When Guido is mortally wounded by Ballistique, she blames herself since she was the one who helped return Ballistique's memories in the first place. Later, she's told by Layla that in the future she knows where Guido died, Monet drives herself almost mad from the guilt, and one of the reasons Layla decided to go against destiny and bring Guido Back from the Dead was to spare Monet from that.
• Karmic Transformation: Courtesy of Emplate when he becomes fed-up with her superior attitude.
• Kid Hero All Grown-Up: She was first introduced as part of a mutant teen in Generation X, but after that has usually been consistently portrayed as a young adult, which contrasts with her classmate Jubilee who is a perpetual teenager.
• Lack of Empathy: In X-Factor (2006) Issue #2, a Mutant who has lost his powers chews out Monet for showing off hers when many of them had just been depowered. Her response, as usual, is arrogant indifference.
• Logical Weakness: Flying Brick she may be, but Monet still needs to breathe. Chloroform will knock her out the same it does anyone else.
• Leg Focus: When her clothes get ruined & she has to wear Madrox's shirt, Guido & Longshot take notice of her legs. The latter goes into detail that they're very toned & her calf muscles are well-developed.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: She has long black hair, which was used to emphasize her maturity feminity in contrast to short-haired tomboyish Jubilee in Generation X.
• Love Hurts: She usually ends up hurt whenever she falls in love with someone.
  • Synch was murdered in an explosion at the school.
  • Her night with Madrox was a one-night-stand by one of his dupes, tainting what she considered the happiest thing in her life at the time.
  • Her relationship with Guido takes a turn for the tragic when he dies and Came Back Wrong, becoming The Soulless, and starts doing awful things for "her" sake.
  • Creed was a villain morally inverted by a non-permanent spell. She reunited with him after their first fallout only to lose him again when he was killed, sent to Hell, and reverted to his evil self.
• Lust Object: She's often the subject of the lust of her male classmates and teammates, as even when they're turned off by her abrasive and arrogant demeanor, many still end up physically attracted to her good looks, which just feeds her ego. In X-Factor (2006), all of her male teammates end up lusting after her, particularly Darwin and Guido, who both have her Vanity Fair spread. Rictor and Shatterstar are also notable given they're both gay yet still find her extremely attractive. This is Played for Laughs when one of Madrox's clones seduces and sleeps with her, meaning Madrox ends up with the knowledge that she's amazing in bed but he wasn't the one who lived the experience.
• Male Gaze: Issue #200 of X-Factor (2006) has a top panel shot of her ass.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Her and Sabretooth, as he's a Long-Lived old man while she's a young woman in her twenties.
• Meaningful Rename: As of House of X, she can transform into her Penance form at will, and as such she now goes by the alias Penance again rather than M.
• Most Common Superpower: She's a busty Flying Brick superheroine and she'll flaunt her figure whenever she sees fit.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's a Proud Beauty whose ego is well-earned, having a curvaceous and toned figure that's often emphasized by Male Gaze panels and the form-fitting and revealing outfits that she wears. This gets played up in X-Factor (2006) where she ends up naked in many scenes (with Toplessness from the Back or Censor Shadow), suffers from Clothing Damage, commonly sunbathes on the roof in a tiny bikini, and wears a skintight costume with a Navel-Deep Neckline.
• My Sibling Will Live Through Me: When Nicole & Claudette think she's dead, they merged to form a lookalike. When the truth is revealed, they feel guilty for taking their sister's life and freeing her from Penance by switching places with her.
• Naked on Revival: Like the rest of Cyclops' team in House of X #5, she's naked when she gets revived into a new husk body after her death.
• Navel-Deep Neckline:
  • Her X-Factor outfit◊ had a plunging neckline until Pip the Troll insulted her about it and she adjusted it. It returned in Weapon X (2017) and Uncanny X-Men (2018).
  • One of her Hellfire Gala costumes had a plunging neckline that showed off her Sideboobs.
• Neck Lift: Was on the receiving end of a psychic one from a ticked Polaris until the latter was calmed down by Layla.
• Non-Idle Rich: She comes from an extremely wealthy family and doesn't need to work a day in her life, but decides to work as a heroine with other mutants just for her own ideals.
• No Romantic Resolution: With Creed as of Weapon X (2017). They had a heartfelt convo while a giant heart loomed behind them◊ as Creed prepared to tell her something, but doesn't get the chance. The book ended with lobotomized Creed running into the Saskatchewan woods and Monet in Aspen wondering what happened to him, which is the last we see of their relationship. We also never learned what Creed wanted to tell her earlier.
• The Nothing After Death: When asked about her experience of being dead, she describes it as just being nothing. According to her, there's either this or Hell if you're lucky.
  Monet: Shut up!! There's no Heaven! Okay? There's no nothing! I know because I didn't see anything! That's what's waiting for you when you die! The emptiness of nothing! No puffy clouds! No angels! Just blackness and eternity, unless you're lucky enough to wind up in Hell so you can suffer forever! You got that?

O-Z

• Oblivious to Love: Guido & Darwin had obvious feelings for her but she didn't know until they confessed. Especially clueless with Guido whose kiss left her confused at how weird he was acting.
• Official Couple: With Synch and Sabretooth
• Old Flame: What she is for Creed in Weapon X (2017). Many assumed they had a Secret Relationship in Uncanny X-Men (2016), but it's ambiguous. Here, Deathstrike follows that thought, calling her Creed's ex. Even though he got defensive at the insinuations, the Ship Tease very heavily implied lingering feelings, despite them not seeing each other in a few months to over a year.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During X-Factor (2006), Darwin has a blatant and unrequited crush on her, so when she suddenly starts making moves on him, he realizes something's tremendously wrong. She's being controlled by Cortex and tries to murder him.
• Overly Long Name: Her full name is Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix.
• Parental Favoritism: She is the favored child of their father. When Nicole & Claudette thought she'd been killed, they merged and assumed her identity since their father wouldn't be able to bear losing Monet. This is partly why her brother has a grudge against her.
• Partial Transformation: As of 2019, she can shift part-way between her regular appearance and her Penance form, usually just going with the massive razor fingers.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: She likes to insult others while keeping a veneer and politeness and Condescending Calmness.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Do not make Monet mad, because the last thing needed is a telepathic Flying Brick with a desire for revenge.
  • When a man in Paris led a pogrom against some Mutants than apparently left a young girl orphaned, Monet broke into his jail cell and impaled him to the wall with the bars, via his hands.
  • After Ballistique caused the death of Strong Guy, she used her telepathic powers to Mind Rape her into oblivion.
• Pet the Dog: At one point in X-Factor (2006) (during her most Jerkass phase), she buys a new iPhone, and after noticing Terry staring jealously at it, buys one for her as well, along with one for Layla Miller and Rahne (both of whom she really doesn't like)... and then crushes Rahne's in an act of spite for Rahne leaving.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: With Synch after he gets killed, and the cover for Weapon X (2017) 27 gave off this vibe with Creed◊.
• Politeness Judo: In Generation X, despite being unbearably smug and arrogant, she'd often get away with her behavior by acting politely with headmaster Sean and pretending she didn't know what she was doing.
• Pride: Her entire character is centered around the immense ego she acquired thanks to her privileged upbringing, great beauty and her vast powers.
• Privileged Rival: In Generation X, she was the privileged Alpha Bitch rival to Jubilee, who was the protagonist and relatable viewpoint character of the book.
• The Proud Elite: She was born into wealth and status, leading to her becoming haughty and arrogant. The fact she was born beautiful and with a Superpower Lottery only heightened her ego, to the point she's one of the few mutants with little angst over her mutant status and past.
• Proud Beauty: Monet is hot and she knows it. A lot of her ego seems to come from her beauty.
  Rictor: [about the X-Factor Investigations office] What a dump. Kind of a come-down for a high-toned girl like Monet St. Crox.
  Monet: Actually I've done wonders with beautifying the interior. To begin with, I moved in.
• Public Exposure: X-Factor (2006) shows she's posed nude for a Vanity Fair cover & taken at least one topless photo which Guido secretly carried around. Godiva Hair preserves her modesty in both of them.
• The Punishment: Emplate trapped her inside of Penance as punishment for her high-handed attitude towards him. The name even comes from him saying that the new form will be her penance for her attitude.
• Race Lift: Goes back & forth between black◊ & non-black◊. Her father is black in most depictions◊ but has been white in two cameos, adding to the confusion.
• Rich Bitch: She was born to a rich family and grew up being pampered and spoiled, which is the source of her abrasive and arrogant personality as a woman. She could be so entitled and unpleasant that she'd make Emma Frost (her teacher) look humble in comparison.
• Same Character, But Different: On two separate occasions. During X-Men vol 4 in 2014 and Pak's Weapon X (2017). Both books depicted her as a much nicer & more openly caring person, contrasting her typical Rich Bitch nature.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: She's not above throwing her considerably large bank account at a problem if need be.
• Second Love: Sabretooth was an arguable case when the relationship existed. She was with Synch, Madrox, Strong Guy, and Darwin prior to him. Madrox ended as a short fling, Darwin was a one-night stand, and Synch is her First Love -leaving him & Guido.
  • Guido was too shy to confess his feelings until his death & resurrection, which left him with no soul. Monet renounced him for being a monster but went on a date with him after heavy persuasion on his end. The Bad Date began their descent into enemies but an alternate future shows that they could have become lovers if Monet had been understanding of Guido's actions on the date.
  • Creed was trickier due to different writers in Uncanny X-Men to Weapon X, along with cancellations. But he seems to be in the lead. They had a Belligerent Sexual Tension in Bunn's Uncanny with some insinuating there was more going on. Monet sometimes egged on the insinuations, as noted above with Psylocke. Pak took a comedy route & removed the belligerence, making them more awkward. However, when they finally address their fall-out, a giant heart loomed behind them◊, seemingly confirming their feelings.^note Bunn has called them a torturous love, which confirms the romantic insinuations were deliberate & that he saw them having feelings of love for each other. It's unknown if he was going for Ship Tease to a Relationship Upgrade or Subtext to a Relationship Reveal. An interview linked above in Filler points to the latter when he said it was a hinted romance.^note When Monet first comes up in Weapon X (2017), Deathstrike tells everyone she's Creed's ex-girlfriend which ran with the narrative of them being a couple in Uncanny. Due to Pak's more comedic take, Creed & Monet are more awkward with each other and get defensive about their relationship. Meanwhile in Uncanny, as noted, neither of them ever denied any insinuations. So while takes were different, Pak & Bunn combined did seem to write Monet and Creed as having serious feelings for one another.
• Sex for Solace: Slept with Darwin at the end X-Factor (2006) because she was numb after being brought back from the dead and used him as a way to feel something again.
• Sex Goddess: After an incident where at the same night Madrox slept with Siryn while a clone of his seduced Monet, Rictor became curious and asked Madrox how they compared, and Madrox admitted Monet was wilder and better in bed than Siryn -comparing the latter to an ocean wave washing over you while Monet is the monsoon. Monet herself is smugly aware of her sexual prowess and later tries to trick Madrox into admitting that she's better in bed than Siryn.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: During the first third of Generation X, she actually locked in her Penance form, courtesy of her brother. And since she's mute, she can't tell it to anyone.
• Ship Sinking:
  • She has a lot of Ship Tease with Guido / Strong Guy in X-Factor (2006), but it all came to an end during a bad first date which is summed up during their argument◊. It also officially ends whatever cordial relationship they had left. That soon after he killed a kid to become the Lord of Hell just to save her didn't help her opinion of him.
  • Darwin confessed his love at the end of 'X-Factor (2006) & was coldly rejected. Monet slept with him but it's made clear sex was all she wanted, and Darwin admitted to himself she didn't love him after their night together.
  • Sabretooth getting reverted to his evil self put a lid on anything he & Monet could have had. It doesn't help that she also doesn't know where he is or whatever happened to him after seeing him get killed in Weapon X (2017).
• Ship Tease: A long one with Sabretooth in Bunn's Uncanny X-Men (2016) & Pak's Weapon X (2017). The biggest fuel was Everyone Can See It, as shown above. However, other teases are as follows.
  • Monet has two instances of Eating the Eye Candy when it comes to him◊. As we see in one instance, she openly admits to doing so.
  • When he finds Monet in limbo, he mentions working with Rachel whom he sent back so he could talk with her alone. Monet asks if he's protecting his new friend, then gives a threatening grin while admitting she doesn't like it.
  • The extent of Creed's protectiveness of her, which he's only shown with lovers. Not counting his mother.
  • When talking about Emplate, Creed says it seems like she feels sorry for him. Digging at him slightly, M flippantly admits to having a soft spot for monsters before nudging him aside while mockingly calling him "frail", a name he used with her against her wishes.
  • A debatable moment comes up which is similar to the above. Creed talks about Psylocke dancing across a midfield dealing with Archangel. Monet smirks & comments that he of all people should appreciate someone having a soft spot for the dormant killer.
  • After her Emplate curse, Creed goes to her room to speak with her, kneeling down & tenderly cupping her face as he does so◊, which is usually a more intimate gesture in fiction.
  • Weapon X (2017) has a possible Interrupted Declaration of Love from Creed, who just wants to say -but he's cut off by Omega Red. Also, during the scene, there's a giant heart behind them◊, which only adds to the romantic insinuation.
  • After Creed tells everyone of the mission to save Monet, Yuriko concludes that she's Victor's ex-girlfriend, which Domino instantly finds adorable.
  • Domino ships them & gushes at Victor's apparent feelings for M. The only reason she stayed on the team was to save M when she learned of her history with Creed.
  • She later has a somewhat Love Informant ramble to M when telling her how Creed wanted to save her and nobody believed his flustered argument that she was just a friend.
  • Finally there's the aforementioned Weapon X (2017) cover in Please, Don't Leave Me.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Madrox, Synch, Strong Guy, and Inverted Sabretooth.
• Skewed Priorities: Shows this on occasion, which money & Super-Toughness can do. One example in 'X-Factor (2006) is when she was shot by an assailant & more concerned about the damage to her shirt than the fact someone was shooting at her.
• Smash Sisters: In X-Factor (2006), she and Siryn often end up pairing and fighting together and Siryn is her closest friend in XF-Investigation and refuses to let their brief Love Triangle with Madrox damage their relationship. When Siryn disbands the Detroit branch of X-Factor in depression, Monet is the only one to accompany her to Ireland.
• Smug Super: Why, yes, Monet does know she's a super-strong, gorgeous, rich woman, and she's not about to hide it from anyone. She is also known as the girl who had everything (including being so good-looking that some people thought it was a mutant power) and being arrogant with it. It was especially galling during the time after House of M when so many mutants lost their powers. Monet still had her multiple powers and would go around showing off her flight. Depowered but still grotesque Dreg-level mutants in Mutant Town would yell at her to stop flaunting as it offended them, but she'd tell them off and keep on showing them up.
• Suddenly Ethnicity: In X-Factor (2006), she defends her religion at an anti-Muslim protest. She openly identifies as Muslim, saying her mother was Algerian and most Algerians are Muslims. Other than this, she shows no Muslim practices or beliefs.
• Super Mode: During House of X #4, she prepares to fight off the Orchis by transforming into Penance! She then proceeds to slash her way through the army.
• Supermodel Strut: She's described as walking as if she was on a catwalk, fitting with her being a Proud Beauty.
• Superpower Lottery: She has Flight, Super-Strength, Super-Speed, Super-Toughness, Telepathy, telescopic vision, enhanced hearing, genius intellect and in later stories full-on telekinesis. She can merge with her siblings or her siblings could merge to form her, and the siblings had powers of their own. Most recently she has displayed the ability to freely transform into Penance, the razor-sharp, clawed body. Domino calls out this when she says it's like Monet was caught in an explosion at a super-power factory.
• Super-Toughness: Bullets bounce off of her, but if she faces something strong enough, she can be injured such as the internal damage she suffered by Pluto, and when Strong Guy got serious in their battle, his blows finished her off.
• Tangled Family Tree: By X-Men standards, the St. Croix family tree isn't that tangled - there's Monet, her creepy evil brother, and their little sisters (where ever they've gotten to). Of course, some materials have suggested she's related to Bishop somehow, and he's got his own tangled family tree...
• Team Prima Donna: During 'Generation X'', she was such a Spoiled Brat she'd frequently question the teaching methods and knowledge of her own teachers Banshee and Emma, much to their irritation.
• Tears of Remorse: When Guido is shot during an anti-mutant protest, a horrified Monet flies him to the hospital, shedding a few tears. While in the waiting room, she completely broke down, telling Siryn it was all her fault.
• Time-Delayed Death: After being clobbered by Hades, she's revealed to be dying from brain hemorrhaging.
• Token Flyer: In Generation X, Monet was the only one of the kids who could fly.
• Toplessness from the Back: Twice in X-Factor (2006). The first time is when she is stripping naked in her room while dancing to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy". The second is when she, while under Cortex's control, is trying to seduce Darwin, stripping down to nothing.
• Tsundere: Type A, as shown in Hidden Heart of Gold. Also when she cries to Jamie after empathizing with an abuse victim & threatening to clobber him if he told anyone about her weak moment.
• Ultimate Lifeform: She has been called "the perfect human/mutant" by various parties, including Professor Charles Xavier, due to her mix of Flying Brick, Telepathy, and other powers, in addition to her beauty, intelligence, and physical fitness, With all of her physical attributes superior to humans and even other mutants. Jubilee would mockingly say that Monet's power was "being perfect", something that Monet matter of factly agreed with.
• Undying Loyalty: For all her faults in Generation X, she actually became fairly close and loyal to her mentor Banshee / Sean, to the point she only got involved again in X-Men business for his sake after her father almost convinced her to leave that type of life behind.
• Vanity Is Feminine: Her entire character is centered around being proud, egocentric, and vain, so it's no coincidence she's a fairly feminine woman.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Has a bickering dynamic with the majority of her friends, such as Jubilee, Siryn, and Madrox, as she's Rich Bitch who has a hard time showing affection to anyone but close family.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: She learned how to control her Penance form during the Krakoa era, and since then she's been able to freely shapeshift into her Penance form at will.
• Walk on Water: Does this at one point after she declares herself a Muslim, using her flight powers. It doesn't escape the notice of the Presbyterian Wolfsbane, who asks if she's doing so to deliberately offend.
• Wardrobe Wound: It's a Running Gag that since she's a Flying Brick with Super-Toughness, many attacks usually seriously harm her, but they do destroy and ruin her clothes whenever she's not wearing her hero costume.
• Women Prefer Strong Men: As noted above, she eats the Creed eye candy when he's unpacking the Blackbird, even telling him to come on so she can continue to do so while he's doing the heavy lifting.
• Woman Scorned: When she finds out Madrox was with her and Siryn simultaneously (via Self-Duplication), she clobbers the messenger dupe and then demands Madrox bring out the one who seduced her. Since he couldn't will certain dupes into existence, she clobbers him to force out more dupes and beats them all until she can get the right one.

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