Xara Hammersmith

Previous Name: Madelyne "Maddie" Pryor
Myth: Marvel Comics
Past Life Information: Maddie Pryor was a redheaded Alaskan pilot, so it was pretty much a done deal that she'd catch Scott Summers' attention. In fact, this was entirely by design—she was actually the unknowing clone of the recently deceased Jean Grey, created by Mr. Sinister to attract Cyclops and have a child by him. And it totally worked! Scott introduced her to the world of the X-Men, she was cool with it, and they got married and soon had a son, Nathan.

Things started to unravel with OG Jean returned, prompting Scott to abandon his family. This was a great opportunity for Sinister to snatch baby Nathan and for Maddie to start to lose her grip on reality. The turning point was when she finally realized Scott had left her for Jean, leading Maddie to accept a demon's offer of powers and become the Goblin Queen. And this was before she even found out she was Jean's clone, which really set her off the rails. Long story short, she ended up dead for a long time, her son whisked off to the future to be raised without her, and her history reduced to an embarrassing footnote in Scott's past. She's returned a few times and has, rightfully, been very pissed off.

Current Name: Xara Hammersmith
Age: 32
Occupation: Reality show star
Personality: After years on TV, the lines between genuine and constructed personality sometimes get blurred. On the show, she's cast as a slightly more practical, if occasionally air headed, mother hen, thanks to being the oldest sister. She doesn't date much and is quick to put her late husband on a pedestal as the love of her life, particularly heartbroken that they never had a chance to have a baby before his death.

The truth is, though, that Xara is smarter than she acts, and above all is a survivor. Her childhood and adolescence were terrible and she got the hell out as soon as she could, and when her husband died she made that best out of that too. Her primary emotional ties are to her sisters, but if it hadn't been convenient, it's unclear if she would have risked her situation to save them. She doesn't like to think about that.

Background: Xara was barely out of her teens and working as a desk clerk at a Beverly Hills luxury hotel when she suddenly married a well-known actor more than twice her age, Ogden Hammersmith. Though Ogden's career had been waning for a while, his abrupt marriage to such a young, gorgeous unknown got him a lot of media attention. This, of course, was the intent. The marriage was in name only, though the couple had a warm friendship that predated the wedding. It was win-win for them—Ogden, a deeply troubled man, got the career boost he'd been hoping for, while Xara, whose home life had been tumultuous, got financial security and a safe relationship to hide in (and the attention was kind of fun too).

Along with the gossip articles, People cover stories, red carpet appearances, and low-level endorsement deals came their own reality show XO: In Love, which was a middling success (not unpleasant, but not terribly scintillating) when Ogden suddenly died after just a few years of marriage. Xara's grief and shock were genuine, but she also saw no need to put a stop to the gravy train. The reality show was retooled to follow her life as a young widow, and a few of her little sisters came on board as regulars to fill out the cast. This, surprisingly, finally made the show a genuine hit, as viewers tuned in out of morbid curiosity and then stayed when the sisters' relationship turned out to be delightful.

Xara's now been in the public eye for more than ten years. The show's waxed and waned over the years, with various reboots and overhauls, and the newest idea is to relocate to New Orleans for a change in scenery. So far, she's liking it more than she thought. Especially since she's just remembered some very interesting things about her past.

Current Status: Aware