25 Best Native American Superheroes (Ranked)
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The history of Native American characters in comic books, whether they’re from North, Central or South America, is quite diverse and extremely interesting. And while Native American characters have appeared in comic books, even European ones, the Native American superhero is a product of modern-day American comic books. These characters have most often appeared in publications by DC Comics and Marvel, although there are some Native American superheroes in stories published by other houses. Native American superheroes are certainly underrepresented in modern comic books, but they still have an important place in the evolution of modern comic books.
Now, as we decided to honor the legacy of Native American superheroes in comic books, we have decided to bring you a list of the 25 best Native American superheroes in modern comic books. We guarantee that all of them are really awesome and we are going to tell you a bit about them.
List of the best native American superheroes:
25. Wyatt Wingfoot
Alias: Wyatt Wingfoot
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Debut: Fantastic Four #50 (1966)
We start our list of best Native American superheroes with Wyatt Wingfoot. Wyatt Wingfoot is the son of Will Wingfoot, a famous American football player, and a woman, a member of the Keewazi Indian tribe. He left his reservation in Oklahoma to study at Metro College in New York. There, he becomes the friend of Johnny Storm, alias the Human Torch, with whom he shares his room.
It is with the Human Torch and Prester John that they will go together in search of the Inhumans. He accompanies the Fantastic Four on their first trip to Wakanda. He helps them escape from the prison where King T’Challa aka the Black Panther had locked them. He only wanted to test the powers of the Fantastic Four and since then he has become very friends with Wyatt.
After this adventure, he follows Johnny Storm who tries to save Crystal, a prisoner of the energy barrier erected around the city of Attilan. He later enlists the help of the Fantastic Four to drive the robot Tomazooma out of his stash. He stays with the Keezawis but often comes to lend a hand to the Fantastic Four, especially against Annihilus, Blastaar, Dr. Doom, or Klaw. When Terminus lands in his stash, he calls out Mr. Fantastic and Miss Hulk to help.
His grandfather, Silent Fox, dies in battle after appointing him as the head of the tribe. Before taking up his new duties, he returned to New York and began a romantic relationship with Miss Hulk. He fights with her and the Fantastic Four against different villains like Warlord or Psycho-Man.
24. Forge
Alias: Unknown (supposedly Dominico Callerm)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr.
Debut: Uncanny X-Men #184 (1984)
Known only as Forge, although his name is supposedly Dominico Callerm, this intuitive mutant inventor is a Cheyenne Indian, a ward of Naze, the shaman of his tribe. As a result of his training, Forge developed considerable mystical powers, in addition to his ability to invent mechanical artifacts.
While he was part of the army, his country claimed him to fight in Southeast Asia in the Vietnam War. Forge lost his left arm and leg during a B-52x bombardment. He fell into depression and attempted suicide without success. During rehabilitation, he used his mutant power to engineer an artificial arm and leg to replace the ones he had lost.
He could not use – nor did he want – his mystical powers. Forge vowed to abandon mysticism somewhere in the jungle in which he had fought. Later, Forge was hired to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Back home, Forge became an inventor and got an interesting contract from the defense department to create advanced weapons.
Among his many inventions was a neutralizer capable of eliminating the mutant powers of any powerful being. The device ended up in the hands of government agent Henry Gyrich, enraging Forge. The agent wished to use the device against the X-Men Rogue, but by accident, he ended up using it against his partner X-Men Storm, dispossessing her of her powers. Feeling guilty, Forge took the injured Storm to her home.
23. Snowbird
Alias: Narya
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: John Byrne
Debut: Uncanny X-Men #120 (1979)
Several thousand years ago, the great arctic spirit Tundra trapped the gods of the North in another dimension, rendering them unable to defend Earth. The Inuit goddess Nelvanna deceives Tundra and manages to incarnate for a short time. She appears to a man, Richard Easton, with the aim of giving birth to a hybrid child capable of defeating the Great Beasts of Canada.
Easton accepts and Nelvanna finds herself pregnant. Michael Twoyoungmen, the Shaman, helps the goddess to give birth. He names the child Narya, and uses a spell to bind her to the earthly world. He is raising her in the wild far north of Canada. Narya grows up there quickly and discovers her condition as a shapeshifter and demigoddess.
When Twoyoungmen’s friends, James and Heather Hudson (Guardian and Vindicator), learn of Narya’s existence, they offer her to join the Canadian team. She accepts and obtains the agreement of her tutor Shaman. Narya then takes the name of Snowbird, and the civil name of Anne McKenzie. During her life in the Alpha Division, she fell in love and married a Canadian soldier, Douglas Thompson, with whom she had a child.
In Alpha Flight #44, she is possessed by Pestilence, who tries to drain the life energy from her teammates, after killing her family. To defeat her, Guardian is forced to kill Snowbird. The spirit of Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch), at this time without a body, is transferred into the physical body of Snowbird. Narya’s spirit passes into the Inuit spirit world, but she refuses to enter Heaven without her husband and child, and the Gods accept.
22. Black Crow
Alias: Jesse Black Crow
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: J.M. DeMatteis, Paul Neary
Debut: Captain America #292 (1984)
Jesse Black Crow, a member of the Navajo Nation, was tutored the traditional way by his great-grandfather, a healer. Jesse left the New Mexico reservation when he was sixteen years old after her grandfather’s death. He moved to New York City and eventually became a skyscraper construction worker.
One day while working on 20 floors, the scaffolding gave way and Jesse fell to the ground. He survived the fall but was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Jesse received a vision of the spirit of the earth at the hospital that showed him the plight of the Native Americans. If necessary, the ghost transformed Jesse into Black Crow, a mystical warrior, and protector of his people.
But Jesse doesn’t know that his body will be used as a host for the Black Crow entity. When Jesse transforms into Black Crow, he is just an unconscious passenger with only vague memories that appear delusional to Jesse, and he thinks he is slowly going insane.
The Earth Spirit first sent Black Crow to challenge Captain America to an attempt at combat, as Captain America as a symbol of modern America must perish in order to appease the spirit. After a hard-fought battle, Captain America made a gesture of appeasing the earth spirit. This ended the conflict and created a spiritual bond between the two American heroes.
A few weeks later, Black Crow appeared at Captain America’s bedside. The captain had been poisoned by the red skull and was on the verge of death. Black Crow increased Captain America’s will to live and the poison burned out of his system. Months later, the Earth Spirit sent Black Crow to watch Daredevil encounter a mysterious danger that never occurred.
21. Owlwoman
Alias: Wenonah Littlebird
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: E. Nelson Birdwell, Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis
Debut: Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (1986)
Wenonah Littlebird was a Cherokee gifted with enhanced senses and the ability to fly. As an Owlwoman, she was the only American citizen to join the global superhero team, Global Guardians. After the Global Guardians retired, Wenonah and her former teammate Daniel Cormac were brainwashed by the queen bee and helped carry out a coup against Bialya’s military dictator Rumaan Harjavti.
She and Cormac later staged an ingenious ploy to create public distrust of Justice League Europe. This strategy led to the destruction of the Global Guardians’ headquarters, the Dome. Owlwoman possesses enhanced senses as well as the ability to see in the dark with perfect clarity. She also possesses the ability to fly by riding on existing wind currents.
Although it was not one of her natural abilities, Owlwoman received a performance boost from Queen Bee, which granted her retractable, razor-sharp claws that were capable of cutting through solid steel.
20. Black Condor
Alias: John Trujillo
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Daniel Acuña
Debut: Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3 (2006)
Up next on our list of best Native American superheroes we have Black Condor. In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3, a new Black Condor named John Trujillo was introduced, whose territory is the Arizona desert. John received the hereditary powers of the Black Condor from Tocotl, a Mayan spider goddess. Trujillo sees himself as a protector of the universe.
He first appears when he only rescues Uncle Sam and the other freedom fighters who had been defeated by agents of S.H.A.D.E. . Trujillo is very serious and seems somewhat uncomfortable interacting with other people. In issue #6, he rejects Phantom Lady’s romantic advances, correctly (as he later realizes) assuming she really doesn’t mean it. The full extent of the new Black Condor’s powers remains undisclosed.
He can fly at extremely high speeds, control winds, and may possess moderate superhuman strength and speed.
19. Puma
Alias: Thomas Fireheart
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz
Debut: The Amazing Spider-Man #256 (1984)
Puma’s real name is Thomas Fireheart, and he is a descendant of Native American people. The tribe to which he belongs (located near Hartsdale, New Mexico; Marvel Westerns: Western Legends suggests that the tribe is the Kisani, as one of Puma’s ancestors belonged to that tribe and lived at Lost Mesa) had an ancient prophecy of the coming of a powerful being who would destroy the world for generations.
Sometime later, they began to make preparations for his impending punishment. They used magical ceremonies and selected hatchlings to create the perfect warrior. Thomas Fireheart is the latest in this line of these men. Although he never believed the prophecy, he took his job as protector of his tribe seriously and dedicated his entire life to being the best he could be, enhancing his ability to become a powerful tiger man.
He has also trained in martial arts in Japan under a man named Master Muramoto. Being very smart, and with good business sense, he became CEO of Fireheart Enterprises. Located near his tribe in Hartsdale, Arizona, it is a multinational corporation that participates in various fields, with regional offices around the world. Getting bored with corporate life, he began to seek greater challenges and put his skills as Puma up for sale.
He was operating as a mercenary and had been hired by the Rose to kill Spider-Man, but was thwarted by the Black Cat. He tried again to attack Spider-Man, but changed his mind and left when he witnessed Spider-Man saving innocent people.
18. Manitou Dawn
Alias: Manitou Dawn
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: Joe Kelly, Darryl Banks, Wayne Faucher, Yvel Guichet, Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen, Mark Propst
Debut: JLA #75 (2003)
Dawn and her late husband Manitou Raven date from the Obsidian Age of Atlantis, around 1000 BC. They were born in North America to a tribe that would one day become the Apache tribe. Few details are known about Dawn’s early life. However, Raven once suggested that when she was thirteen she was called “The Goat” because, unlike other girls, she would resist when she was pushed.
As she matured, she attracted the attention of the chief of her tribe, the Great Father. He bought her from her family, but things ended badly. Ultimately, she found a dynamic and related spirit in Raven. The two actually fell in love the night Dawn burned down his house.
Raven was enlisted by the rulers of Atlantis – Rama Khan and Gamemnae – to join heroes from around the world (and from rival societies) and form a multicultural “League of the Ancients”. During this time, Dawn did not play an active role, but after the Justice League defeated Gamemnae, Raven changed his alliance and they decided to join the JLA in the future.
Raven became a member of the Justice League, and after an initial culture shock, Dawn quickly entered the 20th-century culture. In her first interaction with the JLA, she offered herself up to Superman sexually. She soon set out to study English with the help of her new friend Firestorm. In the meantime, Manitou became more immersed in his work and moved further and further away from it.
17. Manitou Raven
Alias: Manitou Raven
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke
Debut: JLA #66 (2002)
Manitou Raven and his wife Dawn hail from the Obsidian Age of Atlantis, circa 1000 BC. They were born in North America, from a tribe that would one day become the Apache Tribe. Few details are known about Raven’s early life. It is also unclear whether his command of mystical forces was learned or innate.
Raven was recruited by the rulers of Atlantis—Rama Khan and Gamemnae—to join heroes from across the globe (and from rival societies) and form a multicultural “League of Ancients”. When Gamemnae had a prophetic vision of a “seven-headed hydra” from the future that would threaten Atlantis, Raven and a super-powered Aztec warrior called Tezumak journeyed to the 21st century to battle the threat.
While there, they concluded that the “hydra” was the Justice League, but they were unable to defeat the League and barely managed to return to Atlantis to alert the Ancients that the JLA were en route. The JLA ultimately traveled back to the Ancients’ time and was slain. During the fight, Raven witnessed Green Lantern Kyle Rayner’s bravery; Rayner turned his attention from the fight to save innocent Atlanteans simply because they were in danger, even after they had shown him and his friends nothing but fear.
Raven also tested Batman with his father’s tomahawk, which has an enchantment that prevents it from piercing the skin of a good man. These events caused Raven to question the prophecy condemning the Justice League.
Confronting Gamemnae, he learned that her vision was a lie; an Atlantean outcast, she had raised the city to the surface and restored the inhabitants’ ability to breathe air with the intention of turning them into a world-conquering empire with herself as ruler, but when Aquaman and his people arrived from the future, she learned that her plans were destined to fail, and resolved to kill the Justice League when they came to rescue Aquaman in order to prevent their future.
16. Thunderbird
Alias: John Proudstar
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Len Wein, Dave Cockrum
Debut: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)
Young Apache John Proudstar joined the US Army because he wanted to see the world. Joining the US Marine Corps, he was one of the youngest recruits during the Vietnam War. In a helicopter crash caused by a tropical storm, he saw a firebird in the heart of the storm. He returned after two years of active service with his family at the Camp Verde Apache Reservation in Arizona.
It is believed that it was around this time that his mutant powers first appeared (they usually appear in puberty, but Proudstar did not immediately discover his strength). He then found out that his mother had been irradiated in her youth during nuclear tests.
Sometime later, he went to a traveling funfair with his brother James (the future Warpath) as a child. On this occasion, he overpowered, with his bare hands, a tiger that had just escaped. Her brother accidentally entered a tent, and Destiny, disguised as a clairvoyant, did not reveal to her the image of her brother John’s death that she saw.
When Professor Xavier came to find him at Camp Verde to recruit him, John was having fun running over a bison and knocking it down. Xavier recruited him along with other mutants to form the X-Men (second generation) team whose mission was to find, along with Cyclops, the original X-Men who had disappeared on Krakoa Island.
Along with Cyclops, he explored the west coast of the island, which turned out to be a gigantic mutant. Wounded, he participated in the victory against the creature. Having a difficult character, the proud Apache got angry with Cyclops, the latter blaming him for his recklessness in the Danger Room, but also when he asked him not to participate in the second mission, in order to heal the wound he had contracted. But Proudstar stayed with the group and his partner, the Howler (Sean Cassidy).
15. Silver Fox
Alias: Kayla
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Chris Claremont, John Buscema
Debut: Wolverine#10 (1989)
Silver Fox is a Native American mutant, belonging to the Blackfoot tribe. In the early 20th century she met young Logan and she fell in love with him. The two lived together for a short time in a remote cabin in the Canadian Rockies until the day Sabretooth assaulted and raped the young woman, leaving her apparently dead.
Logan then confronted Sabretooth to avenge his lover but was defeated and fled the area where the two had lived, convinced that Silver Fox was dead. In modern times Silver Fox becomes a member of Weapon X, along with Logan, now known as Wolverine, and Sabretooth, although, due to memory alterations to which all members of the project were subjected, it is not clear how much the three remember previous events.
During this time Silver Fox betrays his new companions, apparently kills the professor at the head of the project, and finally joins the terrorist group known as HYDRA. Later, for unclear reasons, Silver Fox allies himself with Matsu’o Tsurayaba and the ninja group of the Hand, who in turn work for the powerful Yashida Clan.
During this time she hires the Japanese killer Reiko to poison the woman loved by Wolverine, Mariko Yashida. Finally, when one of Weapon X’s former members, Mastodon, dies from accelerated aging, the Canadian mutant reunites with Wolverine, Sabretooth, and the other former comrades to seek answers to the experiments they all have been victims of.
In the course of this quest Silver Fox is brutally murdered by Sabretooth, and Wolverine returns to the mountains of Alberta to bury her ex-lover near the place where the two had lived a century earlier.
14. Man-of-Bats
Alias: William Great Eagle
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: Ed Herron, Sheldon Moldoff
Debut: Batman #86 (1954)
Bill Great Eagle is a Native American doctor from South Dakota. After serving in the American Army in Iraq, he was inspired by Batman to become a costumed vigilante and joined the Club of Heroes. His sidekick was his son Little Raven, who had been modeled after Robin. After the Club broke up, Great Eagle lived with his family in San Francisco until he and his wife separated.
Great Eagle returned to his extended family in South Dakota with his son, took back the Man-of-Bats cowl, and worked as a social activist. Despite his heroics, his talents blossomed more in medicine and healing than in crime fighting. During Final Crisis, he helped take care of the wounded during the Battle of Blüdhaven. Great Eagle rejoined the Club of Heroes and traveled to Gotham City to assist Batman in his fight against the new organization called Black Glove.
After Batman Incorporated was founded, Man-of-Bats and Raven Red were murdered by the Leviathan Crime Organization on their Sioux reservation. Batman intervened and the father-son team defeated their attackers and suffered moderate injuries. Batman offered to “Man-of-Bats Inc.” the funds for additional vehicles but was politely informed that whatever Man-of-Bats received would go directly to his community work.
13. Thomas Kalmaku
Alias: Pieface
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: John Broome, Gil Kane
Debut: Green Lantern #2 (1960)
Thomas Kalmaku was introduced as a young Inuit engineer with Ferris Aircraft, the employer of pilot Hal Jordan. During the Silver Age, he was referred to as Pieface, however that alias has not been used for a long time. In his early appearances, Thomas had a girlfriend named Terga. They married, but later separated. Thomas was one of the few people to learn of Hal Jordan’s secret identity and kept a journal of all the Green Lantern adventures, which he later published as a biography of Hal Jordan.
In many stories, he also helped the hero or was there in time of need. As a sidekick without a costume, he played a role similar to that of Jimmy Olsen, except that Jimmy doesn’t know Superman’s real identity. During the Millennium crossover, it was discovered that Thomas was one of the “Chosen”, who would form the New Guardians. He had the superpower to bring out the best in people. He stayed with the team on an island for some time.
When Guy Gardner appeared on a boat to take the position of team leader, Tom attempted to calm the situation, as he and the team wanted to help Guy with his anger issues. The situation escalated and Guy was forcibly removed from the island by Gloss’s power. Later, Tom left the team to be with his family. The Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan comic focused on Tom, and his immense difficulty with the problems caused by Hal Jordan’s anger and subsequent deaths.
In the comic, Tom goes on a mission on Hal’s behalf, in order to rebuild the planet Oa and the Great Central Power Battery and to fix relations with his wife, his son, and his daughter, whom he had poorly raised. It was later discovered that he was about to become Carol Ferris’ partner in Ferris Aircraft. He also said that the Guardians once offered him a ring of power, but that he didn’t want it by declining it with a simple “Naw”.
Originally, it was revealed on Legacy that Tom was Hal Jordan’s choice for his eventual replacement. Tom had a brief appearance in the story “Secret Origins”, which evoked some old stories of the myth of the Green Lanterns. In these new origins, Tom hated being called “Pieface” by an arrogant pilot and was defended by Hal, who had just been hired into Ferris Aircraft.
12. Warpath
Alias: James Proudstar
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema
Debut: New Mutants #1 (1984)
James Proudstar is the brother John Proudstar, aka Thunderbird, a member of the X-Men who died in action. He lives at the Apache reservation of Camp Verde in Arizona when his brother, John, is killed in an X-Men fight against Count Nefaria. James steals his brother’s body to give him an Indian burial and swears revenge on Professor Xavier, whom he holds responsible for John’s death.
With his mutant powers manifesting, he resumes his brother’s costume and code name. He was recruited by Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Club of the Damned, in the Hellions team. He later meets the New Mutants. He captures the Howler in an attempt to eliminate Xavier, and fights Kitty Pryde and Wolverine. Leaving them poisoned, however, he returns to save them. Finally, he faces Xavier but changes his mind once more, and makes peace with him.
After leaving the Hellions, James Proudstar is approached by Cable, but declines the invitation to join the New Mutants’ new mentor. Upon his return to the reserve, he discovers that his tribe has been slaughtered, apparently by the Club of the Damned. He then agrees to help Cable if the latter helps him in his revenge. He takes the code name Warpath and becomes the “muscle man” of X-Force.
11. Talisman
Alias: Elizabeth Twoyoungmen
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: John Byrne
Debut: Alpha Fight #5 (1983)
Elizabeth Twoyoungmen was born in Calgary, Canada. She is the daughter of Doctor Michael Twoyoungmen, the Shaman of the Alpha Division. Following her mother’s death, she blamed her father for failing to save her. During her archaeological studies, she discovered a skull at the Fort Calgary site. When she touched him, she saw an evil apparition. She asked for her father’s help. Both ended up facing Ranaq.
One day, she pulled out of Shaman’s medicine bag an enchanted tiara. She kept it and called herself Talisman, then joined the Alpha Division. She later found out that she couldn’t remove the tiara without suffering excruciatingly. Still haunted by the death of her mother, and eaten away by her own power, Elizabeth was corrupted and attempted to kill her father during Snowbird’s delivery. The spirit she released was called Pestilence.
He took possession of Snowbird’s baby body and attacked the Alpha Division. In the fight, the tiara was torn off and Elizabeth regained her humanity. Shaman manages to scare the spirit away. Months later, Talisman reclaimed the tiara from Shaman and regained his powers. She confronted Dreamqueen. She resumed a normal life by living her life as a North Indian. Talisman was part of the new Omega Division when it was formed. She has since returned to live with her tribe.
10. Mirage
Alias: Miriam Delgado
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: Marv Wolfman
Debut: The New Titans #79 (1991)
She was originally one of the Teen Titans who came from the future to kill Donna Troy before giving birth to her son who, in Mirage’s future, became the evil dictator Lord Chaos. After Donna sacrificed her strength to prevent that future from becoming a reality, Mirage and the team’s other Titans moved to Donna’s farm in New Jersey. She had to grapple with Killowat’s intense crush on her and another man’s more malevolent intentions.
Mirage was raped by her former lover Deathwing, which resulted in her becoming pregnant with her child. For a while, she tricked her friends and used her powers to make it look like she had lost the child. Mirage is part of the honor guard that escorts Superman’s body to his grave. During the Zero Hour Crisis, she discovered that she wasn’t coming from an alternate timeline, but from this one.
Indeed, she was a street kid on the run from Brazil whom the Time Trapper had removed and had fake memories implanted in her mind. Mirage remained a member of the Arsenal Titans roster. During this time, his strength wavered. She experienced uncontrolled illusions. She discovered that she could project an image into a place she wasn’t and was still hidden. Eventually, she gave birth to a daughter, Julienne, and left the Titans to spend time with her.
She helps the Titans save the ancient titan cyborg in the story of Technis Imperative. During a confrontation with the Justice League during this incident, she deceived Martian Manhunter with a picture of his deceased wife and was forcibly overpowered. She reappears with other former Titans to help the new incarnation of the Titans defeat Doctor Light in the three-part storyline of Lights Out. Mirage was one of the Titans featured in Infinite Crisis #4 and Teen Titans #32. She also briefly joined the Titans during the “one-year gap”. In Teen Titans #99, she was one of the ancient titans who came to help the Teen Titans in the battle between Superboy-Prime.
9. Aztek
Alias: Curt Falconer
Publisher: DC Comics
Created By: N. Steven Harris, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison
Debut: Aztek, The Ultimate Man #1 (1996)
Up next on our list of best Native American superheroes we have Aztek. In the series, we discover the hero, Uno, as he arrives in Vanity City. There, he adopted the civilian identity of Curt Falconer and established himself as a local superhero, under the name Aztek. We discover throughout the stories that he belongs to the Q Foundation, a secret society of religious outcasts and renegade scientists who planned the return of the first Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl, and the final battle between him and his brother Tezcatlipoca, supposed to have held at Vanity.
In preparation, the base has created war costumes that must be worn by particularly skilled individuals. At the same time, he meets superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. These are actually schemes by Lex Luthor, who funds the Q Foundation in order to have a hero infiltrate the Justice League of America; Aztek eventually did just that as he passed the interviews organized by the League. He joined the team during the Rocks of Age saga, but will leave the team at its end, after discovering Luthor’s involvement in the Q Foundation.
8. Excalibur
Alias: Ian Nottingham
Publisher: Image Comics
Created By: Marc Silvestri, David Wohl, Brian Haberlin, Michael Turner
Debut: Witchblade #1 (1995)
Formerly a Captain of the British Special Air Service, Ian subsequently joined MI5. He underwent behavioral modifications for the purpose of infiltrating the Yakuza. Afterward, he forgot his past and became Kenneth Irons’ bodyguard. Ian has phenomenal skill with both ancient and modern weapons. Ian kills Sara’s partner Michael Yee. For a time he underwent a great change, allowing him the capability to absorb great quantities of energy and to drain energy from entities, even going so far as to temporarily host both the Witchblade and the Darkness.
He also temporarily wielded Excalibur, the Witchblade’s twin, but it was revealed that Excalibur was merely a shard of the Witchblade, which quickly reabsorbed it. After he lost Excalibur and was defeated by Sara, Ian was taken to prison, only to be freed later by Aphrodite IV. He then retrieved the Blood Sword from Michael Finnegan, gravely wounding the wielder of the Glacier Stone in the process, and left him in the river to die.
7. Jake Red Cloud
Alias: Jake Red Cloud
Publisher: Red Cloud Comics
Created By:
Debut: Red Cloud #1 (2012)
Jake Red Cloud was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to a Quechua father and a Lakota mother. Jake’s father took on the Red Cloud name as a translation from his Quechua name and in honor of his wife’s family and their great warrior traditions. Jake was brought up in an isolated and rural part of the reservation.
They had very little money even for the necessities. Growing up on the reservation the conditions were substandard, and only the strong survived. On the reservation, there was much-buried ordnance and hazardous materials from closed US nuclear bomb ranges on the reservation. Being constantly exposed to these materials residents either became very sick with high levels of cancer or showed genetic mutations which were difficult to explain.
Jake early on showed an amazing resiliency to physical harm along with a sixth sense about events before they would occur. When Jake reached the age he entered the US Army where he served for several years in an Airborne Ranger unit before qualifying for Special Forces selection. After doing several tours as a Delta Force operator he decided to retire so he could go back to the reservation and help take care of his parents there.
6. Scout
Alias: Emanuel Santana
Publisher: Eclipse Comics
Created By: Timothy Truman
Debut: Scout #1 (1985)
By the end of the 20th century, the United States was cut off from most of the world as the great nation’s erstwhile allies exhausted its resources and turned their backs on it. Now, in a third-world country where ration cards are issued and poisoned farmland produces toxic food, only the few abundant dishes are plentiful while the majority starve and waste. In the mountains of Arizona, former Apache Army Ranger Emanuel Santana is contacted by a spirit guide named “Gahn”.
The Gahn explains to Santana that he was chosen to rid the world of the legend of the four Apache monsters who live disguised as humans with strong political influence. Santana sets out for the gritty American countryside to end her quest by waging an individual war against the corrupt and failing American government.
5. Talon
Alias: Derek Maza
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Unknown
Debut: “Her Brother’s Keeper” (1995)
Derek was born in 1970. After studying African American Studies at Columbia University, Derek joined the NYPD like his father and sister Elisa. He became a helicopter pilot. He was not entirely satisfied with the profession, however, and when Xanatos offered him a job as a personal pilot and bodyguard, Derek eagerly accepted it. The alarmed Elisa did everything possible to urge Derek not to do so but actually encouraged Derek to accept (mostly because of her anger at his implicit attitude that she knew better than him what suited him).
Elisha’s concerns were not unfounded, however, as Xanatos had brought Derek into his service to turn him into a transfer. He chose to make Derek one of his victims for his Mutate project, partly because Derek had the leadership skills to take command of the other mutants, partly to neutralize a possible threat from Elisa. Xanatos knew that if her own brother was serving as a bodyguard, she would think twice before attacking him.
Xanatos and Sevarius then made sure that Derek was injected with a mutagenic formula and that Goliath accidentally destroyed the “cure” Sevarius had made for the young man. Derek, who was convinced that he could never become human again, took command of the other mutants and used the pseudonym “Talon” to (for a short time) hide his fate from Elisa.
4. American Eagle
Alias: Jason Strongbow
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Doug Moench, Ron Wilson
Debut: Marvel Two-in-One Annual #6 (1981)
Jason Strongbow, a Native American from the Navajo tribe, tries to prevent the exploitation of a mine on a mountain sacred to his people. He discovers that supervillain Klaw is associated with this mining company. Klaw indeed needs uranium to fuel his power. Descending into the mine with his brother Ward, the two are victims of radiation, coupled with sonic fire from Klaw’s weapon. This causes the appearance of superpowers in both brothers. Jason takes the nickname of the American Eagle, a sacred symbol of his people.
The brothers track Klaw and join forces with The Thing and Wyatt Wingfoot. Ward is eventually gunned down by Klaw’s men in the Savage Land. Jason returns home and is recognized as the champion of the Navajo. Later, the American Eagle is recruited during the Tournament of Champions (organized by the Grandmaster) and then helps the Knight of the Rom space to defeat the Dark Wraiths (Dire Wraiths). During Civil War, the American Eagle, opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act, fights the Thunderbolts. Because of his membership in the Navajo Nation, he is exempt from registration.
3. Echo
Alias: Maya Lopez
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: David Mack, Joe Quesada
Debut: Daredevil #9 (1999)
While still a young child, Maya Lopez’s father, Willie “Crazy Horse” Lincoln, is killed by the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), a competing underworld boss. While he is dying, Crazy Horse leaves the imprint of his bloody hand on Maya’s face and asks the Kingpin, her former crime partner, to raise as if she were his own daughter.
Diagnosed as mentally handicapped, she was sent to an expensive specialized school treating people with learning disabilities. There, she manages to perfectly reproduce a song on a piano, which leads her to be transferred to a school for prodigies. She would soon become a gifted pianist.
As she walks to her father’s grave accompanied by Fisk, Maya asks him how he died. Fisk tells him that it was Daredevil who killed him. She later assumes Echo’s identity to hunt down Daredevil. On her face, she paints a white handprint, similar to the bloody one left by her dying father. Having watched videos of fights between the Shooter and Daredevil, she proves to be an opponent to her measure.
Alias: Danielle Moonstar
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod
Debut: The New Mutants (1982)
Danielle Moonstar was born in Boulder, Colorado. Her powers are manifested for the first time in horrific nightmares in which she sees her parents being killed by a bear. Shortly after, her parents disappear and she believes them dead. His grandfather contacts Professor Xavier to help him master his powers, Donald Pierce then kills his grandfather and this is how Dani leaves for the Xavier Institute and becomes a member of the New Mutants under the name by Psyche.
Within the New Mutants, his powers develop to the point where his illusions become tangible. It then takes the code name Mirage. She also finds her parents, who were not dead but changed into bears, and returns them to their true appearance. When along with the New Mutants she is brought to Asgard, Danielle Moonstar is chosen to be a valkyrie, which grants her new abilities like smelling death.
She leaves the New Mutants and goes to live in Asgard. Much later, back on earth as an agent of SHIELD, she joins the Mutant Liberation Front, a team of terrorist mutants, to spy on their then-leader, Reignfire. Her powers are still developing and she is now able to shoot arrows of psionic energy.
1. Elisa Maza
Alias: Elisa Maza
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created By: Greg Weisman
Debut: “Awakening, Part 3” (1994)
We finish our list of best Native American superheroes with Elisa Maza. Elisa, a second-grade detective with the 23rd Precinct of the NYPD, first encountered the gargoyles while investigating a series of riots in the castle on top of billionaire David Xanatos’ skyscraper. Goliath’s sudden appearance as she sniffed around shocked her to fall over the city walls, and he fell to save her. The two developed a bond almost immediately, initially through their shared duty to “protect and serve,” and over time an attraction developed.
This soon made Elisa the avowed enemy of Goliath’s ex-companion Demona, whom Elisa “met” for the first time when she thwarted Demona’s attempt to thwart Goliath’s life. Elisa has widely referred to herself as the protector of protectors, although on several occasions she has shown some reluctance to share her secret (the existence of gargoyles) with anyone, even her friends and family. She convinced the clan to leave David Xanatos’s home and settle in the bell tower above the police station where she works.
She then did everything to make them feel at home, bringing them food and even providing them with a television and an old armchair. It was thanks in part to Elisha’s role as a police officer that the Manhattan clan saw what their new role in the world was when they moved on to defend the people of Manhattan. Elisa is most closely associated with Goliath. His relationship with the noble gargoyle, despite its diverse species, was the backbone of the series, and Hudson noted it was built from the episode “Awakening: Part 3”.
Even so, the relationship was never rushed: for much of the series, only Demona, Goliath’s estranged and genocidal ex-lover, acted as if he were aware of Elisa and Goliath’s unspoken bond. Demona’s jealousy and hatred of humanity would make her fixate on Elisha. A major turning point in the series was the episode “The Mirror”. In this episode, a spell briefly turns Elisha into a gargoyle. Elisa, who by this point has realized her own feelings for Goliath, sees this as destroying the only barrier preventing their relationship.
For Goliath (who later turned into a human for a moment), the transformation is all he needs to finally understand that he also has romantic feelings for Elisa.
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And that’s it for today. We hope you had fun reading our list of best Native American superheroes. See you next time and don’t forget to follow us.
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