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    Karolina Dean

    Character » Karolina Dean appears in 249 issues.

    Karolina is a member of The Runaways. She's the daughter of Pride members Frank and Leslie Dean, aliens who gain their power from exposure to solar energy. Karolina is notable for being one of Marvel's few LGBTQ characters.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Karolina Dean last edited by pikahyper on 12/21/19 12:51AM View full history

    Origin

    Karolina Dean is the only child of two famous Hollywood actors, Frank and Leslie Dean. She grew up living a normal life up until the day she discovered the truth about her parents. Like the rest of the Runaways, Karolina discovered that her parents were part of the Pride, an evil organization aiming to end the world.

    Creation

    Karolina Dean was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona and first appeared in Runaways #1 (2003).

    Mayor Story Arcs

    On Their own

    Lucy in the Sky
    Lucy in the Sky

    Along with her friends, she ran away from home, stealing weapons and resources from their parents in the process. It was around that time that Karolina discovered that she was an alien and that she had superhuman powers. Together, the Runaways decided to both atone for the evil deeds their parents committed and overthrow the Pride. When the kids finally did take on the Pride, their parents died in an explosion. Afterwards, the group remained together for some time, even fighting a young group of former superheroes named "the Loners" whom wanted to stop them from making the mistakes they made. Among this group was Julie Power, the former teenage superhero from Power Pack. Karolina and her had an instant attraction to one another, perhaps because of their look-a-like powers. The two of them told each-other they where very pretty. Luckily, the Runaways manaeged to convice the Loners to let them be. The team then went to New York City, but there they encountered some superheroes of the Avengers. The Runaways were then sent to separate foster homes by the Avengers.

    Love and Leaving Earth

    A few weeks later, Karolina organized a group meeting during which the Runaways decided to stay together and run from the authorities. Karolina stayed with the group for a short while during which she confessed her love for Nico, then minutes later an alien Skrull, named Xavin, came to Earth seeking his fiancée, Karolina. The team fought the Skrull but when he announced that their union would stop a war between their homeworlds, Karolina agreed to leave with him to stop the conflict. She then spent some time in space with Xavin, during which she discovered more about her powers, learned about her people, the Majesdanians, and wed Xavin, whose shape-shifting abilities allowed him to become a woman for Karolina.

    Return to the Runaways

    Karolina has since come back to Earth after her and Xavin's peoples clashed again, around which time Majesdania was destroyed. She and Xavin returned to the team right before the death of Gert. When the Runaways accidentally ended up in the time period of 1907, Karolina meets Klara Prast, and convinces everyone to accept her onto the team after finding out that the girl had an abusive husband. The team remained together but the romantic relation with Xavin did not last very long after their return.

    Avengers Academy

    Karolina joined her group to the Avengers Academy where she once again met with Julie Power, whom was now attending the Academy. The two apparantely remained in contact afterwards, because later they are seemingly in a romantic relationship. Julia Power had just admitted to a friend she was bi-sexual. The two of them where seen flying at rocket-like speed and where kissing. Karolina remained with the Runaways for some time, untill strangely enough Nico and Chase told the group they would leave. This turned out to not be true, but a ruse by the villain Arcade whom had kidnapped Nico and Chase. Without Nico and Chase, soon the group started to drift apart.

    Runaways Disbanned and Reunited

    After Karolina's friends Nico and Chase went missing, the group fell apart. Karolina left the Runaways and started dating Julie Powers. She also picked up her colleague and studies. Everything however changed when Chase and Nico once again stood on Karolina's doorstep, right next to Gert, one of the group's teammembers whom died during one of their missions. When they asked Karolina to again join them, she told them she could not just drop colleage and that she made a new life for herself. While saying this, she could not keep away from her friends and eventually rejoined them again while still attending colleage.

    Powers and Abilities

    Karolina's Identity Crisis
    Karolina's Identity Crisis

    Karolina has powers due to her alien (Majesdanian) physiology. She is able to absorb solar radiation and convert it into a unique energy type which she can manipulate for various uses (an aide of the Kingpin has described her energy as "some sort of cosmic energy"). She is able to store the solar energy in every cell of her body, even her blood. In her natural state, her skin and hair fluoresce with shimmering, rainbow-colored light.

    She is able to fly, leaving behind a contrail of the same energy surrounding her. The upper limits of her speed have yet to be determined. She is able to carry others while flying, at one time surrounding her fellow Runaways (minus Chase and Old Lace) in an energy field and flying them to a distant building.

    Karolina can also project the energy in a beam of variable intensity and diameter, from a wide concussive blast to a thin cutting beam. She can control the projected energy to a limited degree, forming defensive barriers, enfolding shields, or restraining people. Her degree of control and definition is still unrefined, being far less than more accomplished heroes with similar abilities (like Susan Storm).

    Excess use of her powers drain her stored energy reserves. In daylight, the depletion is negligible (given that she is constantly replacing the used energy). At night, it is possible for her to completely use up her stored energy and not have access to any special abilities till she is again exposed to sunlight.

    Karolina has a special bracelet given to her by her parents. It is made of a metal with the ability to suppress her powers and even the visible multi-colored radiant aura surrounding her. She uses it primarily to walk unnoticed among normal humans. She prefers to remove it in the presence of her fellow Runaways.

    Characteristics

    Height: 5'9"

    Weight: 115 lbs

    Eyes: Blue

    Hair: Blonde

    Status

    Known Relatives: Frank Dean (father), Leslie Dean (mother)

    Citizenship: USA

    Place of Birth: Hollywood, California

    Occupation: Adventurer

    Other Media

    Games

    Marvel: Avengers Alliance

    MAA
    MAA

    Karolina is a recruitable character in the game and can be purchase via regular command points.

    Her bio says: Karolina Dean used to think she was allergic to penicillin because of the medical identification bracelet her parents forced her to wear. It turned out she was actually an alien from outer space and her parents used the bracelet as an inhibitor of her true Majesdanian energy manipulating powers. It also turned out her parents were evil space invaders and members of a supervillain group called The Pride. Not wanting to be part of her parent's plans, Karolina joined with the Runaways to fight against The Pride's plans for world domination.

    Marvel: War of Heroes

    Marvel: War of Heroes
    Marvel: War of Heroes

    Karolina appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:

    • [Alien Runaway] Karolina Dean

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