Origin[]

While Emma Frost was lay in a comatose state, Dr. John Sublime harvested eggs from her to begin experimentation. The Weapon Plus program then used the eggs to create thousands of identical mutant girls in the hope of developing a powerful weapon capable of killing every mutant on Earth by combining their telepathic abilities. The project was designated Weapon XIV, and girls were incubated and artificially aged inside the subterranean level of The World.^[3] While most girls remained dormant, five were sent to infiltrate the Xavier Institute as student sisters to hone their talents for Sublime's purpose.^[4][5]

Xavier Institute[]

After the Xavier Institute went public,^[6] Celeste and her sisters were enrolled as orphan quintuplet sisters.^[5] To protect their secret origins, the girls unconsciously placed mental blocks in the minds of the faculty, preventing them from investigating their background.^[7]

The girls quickly gained the moniker "The Stepford Cuckoos", though their chosen codename was the Five-In-One. Emma Frost took a special interest in the girls, and the Cuckoos became her protégés.^[8][9]

When Kid Omega led a rebellion of students at the X-Mansion, Sophie encouraged Celeste and the other Cuckoos to take action, and they covertly snuck into Cerebra. Using Kick to amp up her powers, Sophie and her sisters were able to stop Quire. Unfortunately, Sophie died in the process.^[10]

With the death of Sophie, the Five-In-One became the Four-In-One. The girls were furious with Emma Frost, whom they blamed for Sophie's death.^[11] This mourning and anger was multiplied when Esme attempted to murder Emma, fled the X-Mansion,^[12] and joined Xorn's Brotherhood. With the departure of Esme, the Four-In-One became the Three-In-One.^[13]

When the Institute was rebuilt under the leadership of co-headmasters Cyclops and Emma Frost, the students were organized into several training squads with an assigned mentor staff member.^[14][15] Celeste and her sisters were assigned to the Corsairs Squad under the tutelage of Cyclops with the girls serving equally as co-leaders of the squad.^[16]

M-Day[]

On M-Day the vast majority of the world's mutant population was depowered. Celeste and her sisters retained their powers, but they were three of only twenty-seven students to retain their powers. Fearing for the students' safety, Emma Frost ordered that the depowered students and staff leave the Institute. For their safety, the depowered students were brought through the Morlock Tunnels to an awaiting bus. Unfortunately, the bus of depowered students was bombed by anti-mutant zealot Rev. William Stryker, killing all forty-two of the former students on board.^[17]

The remaining students were placed by Emma Frost into an all-out brawl, and the ones deemed the best by Emma would become a group of New X-Men in-training. This entire exercise was met with disgust by the Three-In-One, who promptly informed Cyclops of Emma's actions.^[18]

Warsong[]

When an unstable fraction of the Phoenix Force sparked inside the girls, their dormant Weapon Plus nanotech inside their bones was activated. This nanotech briefly reanimated Sophie and Esme, who directed their sisters back to The World to activate Sublime's plan for the destruction of the mutant race.^[19]

The Phoenix and Sublime both wrestled for control of the Cuckoos when the X-Men arrived. While Mindee appeared consigned to her fate as part of Sublime's weapon, Phoebe fought to embrace the Phoenix. Soon Phoebe was captured and integrated into Sublime's machine, but the Phoenix was able to possess Celeste. When Celeste was finally merged into the machine, the Phoenix was divided between all the Cuckoos and trapped in their newly emerged secondary mutation, organic diamond hearts. This event finally activated the Thousand-In-One.^[19]

Celeste continued to resist the Phoenix and Sublime's machine long enough for the X-Men to forcibly disconnect them. In a rage, Phoebe triggered a power surge causing an explosion. However, Celeste was able take full control of the Phoenix, destroyed her sisters, and trapped the Phoenix fragments inside the Three-In-One's flawless diamond hearts rendering them emotionless.^[20]

Endangered Species[]

After returning to the Institute, the girls adopted a rebellious/mischievous streak. They helped Elixir telepathically gain a PhD-level knowledge of science and biology from Beast's brain.^[21] Along with the other students, they were pulled into Limbo, where they were rescued by Prodigy.^[22] To repay his kindness, the Cuckoos restored all of the knowledge he had previously gained with the use of his powers despite his powers being deactivated.^[23] Celeste and her sister were briefly considered as potential candidate recruits for the Initiative.^[24] After the birth of the Mutant Messiah, the Stepford sisters were stationed in Cerebra to search for the baby and act as central communication for the various X-squads.^[25][26][27]

Utopia[]

The Stepford Cuckoos rejoined the X-Men and the last of mutantkind in San Francisco. During the Skrull Invasion, they assisted in the evacuation of a San Francisco Hospital, and later offered remote support to Emma while bringing down the Skrulls' psychic blockade.^[28]

Once they relocated to Utopia, the Stepford Cuckoos frequently manned Cerebra.^[29][30] When Lobe, with Scalphunter, brought a group of Predator Xs to attack Utopia, the X-Men were forced to battle the mutant eating creatures. The Cuckoos served as telepathic communication for the team, but during the battle the Phoenix fragments that were contained inside their diamond hearts escaped, mysteriously returned to space, and left the girls unconscious.^[31] With the loss of the Phoenix, the girls fell into a depressive funk.^[32]

After Cyclops and Wolverine decided to part ways, Phoebe wanted to return to Westchester while Mindee wanted to remain on Utopia. The deciding vote fell to Celeste, and she opted to stay on Utopia, partly because of Quentin Quire's presence at the school.^[33][34]

Changes[]

When the Phoenix Force returned to Earth searching for a new host leading to the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, the Stepford Cuckoos were among the younger X-Men detained in the Avengers Compound with the Avengers Academy.^[35] Afterword they were reluctantly recruited to the new Jean Grey School where they manned Cerebra and witnessed the death of Professor X and the reemergence of mutantkind.^[36][37][38]

The girls were very displeased with the new school.^[39] Celeste attempted to telepathically reach out to Emma Frost and when she couldn't contact her, she became extremely angry.^[40] When Cyclops and his X-Men came to the school looking for recruits to their mutant rebellion, the Stepford sisters and Angel volunteered to go.^[41]

At the New Xavier School, she participated in the trip to Limbo^[42] and the encounter with the Blockbuster Sentinel, alongside her sisters.^[43]

While both her sisters died their hair, Celeste always remained blonde.^[44][43][45]

X-Men Disassembled[]

Celeste was one of the many mutants that opposed the crazed X-Man from remaking the world in his image. When X-Man realized that his vision of the world would never come about with the X-Men around, X-Man made his enemies vanish in an instant, including Celeste.^[46]

Celeste and the others were transported to another plane of existence by X-Man created in an attempt at a utopia where they and all other mutants would be at peace, altering their memories so they wouldn't resist.^[47] Celeste was made a producer and a professional assistant for Studio X. She and her sister, Irma, made sure that the studio was running smoothly and she also handled the needs of stars like Nightcrawler and Meggan Puceanu. She attended an after party for one of Kurt's movies where she and Celeste helped out a little girl named Tiffany who wanted to attend the party also.^[48]

While not observed, Irma was presumably returned to the real world when X-Man decided to release the mutants he forced to live in his plane of existence.^[49]

House of X[]

Celeste and her sisters joined the mutant-only nation of Krakoa. One of their duties was escorting a group of human ambassadors in the Jerusalem Habitat through a Krakoan Gateway so they could meet with Magneto and Emma Frost to discuss potential recognition of Krakoa as an official nation.^[50]

Celeste is a mutant with psychically based powers similar to her biological mother, Emma Frost. Celeste's powers are identical to that of her sisters.^[9][51]

• Telepathic Hive Mind: Celeste has a linked hive mind with her sisters, which allows them to share thoughts and maintain a continuous telepathic connection. This mental phalanx also allows for increased telepathic strength and shared intellect.
  • Telepathy: Celeste can read minds and project her thoughts to others. Though she individually possess her own telepathy, her telepathic abilities are greater when the girls join together.^[52] The sisters have stated that together they can block even very talented telepaths from reading their minds.^[53]
    • Illusions: She can create realistic psychic illusions and cause people to experience events which are not actually occurring.^[54][32]
    • Mind Alteration: She is able to alter the minds of others by force of will. This can be restoring memories^[23] or transferring knowledge.^[21]
    • Telepathic Tracking: Celeste's psionic senses enable her to detect and track other sentient beings by their unique psionic emanations or thought patterns. This ability is highly sensitive to proximity, but can be enhanced with the use of Cerebra.
    • Astral Projection: Celeste is capable of sending astral projections, astral travel, and communicating with others astrally through her own will, or through contact with the thoughts and memories of others.
    • Paralysis: She is able to effect certain areas of the brain to induce temporary mental or physical paralysis.
    • Memory Erasure and Restoration: She can erase any awareness of particular memories or cause total amnesia.^[53] She can also restore memories.^[23]
    • Mental Triangulation: Due to her hive mind, Celeste has the perspective of multiple directions and is able to triangulate on individuals' minds.^[55]
  • Gestalt Psychic Link: Celeste and her sisters share ability to merge their psionic engrams together and merge individual telepathic powers as one enables the acquisition of far greater psychic capability than the sum of its parts.^[9][51]
    • Hive Intelligence: Celeste's intelligence gradually increases when she is in close proximity of one another, mainly when they are in the presence of another Cuckoo.
• Telekinesis: Like her sisters, Celeste possess psychokinesis of an undefined degree.^[56]
• Flawless Organic Diamond Form: Like their biological mother, Celeste has the ability to transform her body into a flexible, translucent, organic diamond-like substance while retaining mobility. In this form, her skin is as hard as real diamond.^[57][23]
  • Superhuman Strength: In diamond form she can lift 85 tons.^{[citation needed]}
  • Superhuman Stamina: Her diamond form grants her the ability to sustain peak exertion for up to a day.^{[citation needed]}
  • Superhuman Durability: Celeste's diamond form augments her skin, bone, and muscle to become stronger and harder than human. She is completely impervious in her diamond form.
  • Compartmental Diamond Transformation: Unlike Emma, Celeste and her sisters can selectively transform discrete parts of their bodies. Once, to trap the Phoenix Force fragments, the girls transformed their hearts into a flawless diamond prison.^[20]

Those of her her sisters.

• Celeste was initially the most timid and affectionate of the Cuckoos.
• According to her sisters, Celeste has begun to think she's "better" than them.^[32]
• Since the Phoenix Warsong miniseries, Celeste has taken more of a leadership role, including casting the deciding vote to remain on Utopia,^[33] and later speaking for the Three-In-One as a whole.^[40]

• Celeste felt some very overt physical attraction to Agent Jake Oh.^[19]
• Celeste has shown some romantic interest in Hellion.^[29]
• Celeste was the only Cuckoo powerful enough to take control of the Phoenix.^[19]
• Celeste has urged her sisters to watch something a bit more self-improving than Glee.^[30]