In her early days with the X-Men, Kitty Pryde used her imagination to create a fairy tale world, complete with herself as a familiar marauding pirate.
Back when she went by “Kitty,” Kate Pryde served as a stand-in for comic book readers. The audience could relate to Kitty’s perspective as the wide-eyed teenager of the X-Men. Kitty’s unique perspective reached its creative peak in Uncanny X-Men #153 by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. In “Kitty’s Fairy Tale,” the X-Men were still recovering from a brutal attack on the X-Mansion by the Hellfire Club. Naturally, a young Illyana Rasputin was terrified. To soothe her fears, Kitty sat with Colossus and told Illyana a bedtime story. This story reshaped the X-Men’s world into a Fairy Tale. Kitty also lent her own personal bias towards this tale.
The first thing Kitty did was cast herself and Colossus as swashbuckling pirates. Piotr had magical powers that allowed him to turn to steel, just like his mutant power. During their adventures, Kitty and Colossus encountered a wizard, representing Professor X, and a warrior prince, standing in for Cyclops. The wizard told of his apprentice, Jean Grey, who had been corrupted into the Dark Phoenix.
Kitty and Colossus agreed to help the wizard and the prince in their efforts to save Jean, echoing the “Dark Phoenix Saga.” On their journey, Kitty summoned Lockheed, reimagined as a giant-sized dragon, rather than his smaller counterpart. The Fairy Tale X-Men also encountered “Bamf,” a goofy, impish creature resembling Nightcrawler. Colossus freed a genie from a crystal, calling herself “Wind-Rider” and resembling Storm. Wind-Rider had been sealed in her crystal by the Dark Phoenix, agreeing to help the makeshift X-Men. Finally, Wolverine was turned into a stout creature with no name, simply referring to himself as “Mean.” This fiend viciously devoured cans of beer and chomped on cigars.
With the whole team assembled, this strange iteration of the X-Men fought the Dark Phoenix. Eventually, the wizard used a crystal to restore Jean’s humanity. Jean and the warrior prince got married and everyone lived happily ever after. Although this world was initially fiction, these Fairy Tale X-Men returned in Nightcrawler #3 by Dave Cockrum. Kurt had been pulled into another dimension, battling the wizard known as Shagreen. Upon moving from one new dimension to the next, Nightcrawler met Bamf, from Kitty’s fairy tale. Moreover, Bamf introduced Nightcrawler to an entire species of Bamfs.
After learning that the Bamfs were real, Nightcrawler was rendered helpless as Shagreen abducted these creatures. Only Bamf, from Kitty’s fairy tale, remained free. Nightcrawler and Bamf teamed up with the other fairy tale X-Men, minus the warrior prince, Jean, and the wizard, to fight Shagreen. The heroes stormed Shagreen’s fortress, before being captured by the wizard. Shagreen confronted the fairy tale X-Men with “Dark Bamf,” a conglomerate of all the male Bamfs. Fortunately, Bamf freed all of the female Bamfs, who in turn freed Nightcrawler and the other X-Men. Wind-Rider also emerged, helping Nightcrawler defeat Shagreen. For a brief moment, the original Kitty, in an attempt to rescue Nightcrawler, teleported to this strange dimension. After freeing all of the male Bamfs, Nightcrawler returned home.
The Bamfs returned in Wolverine and the X-Men #1 by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo. When Beast was experimenting with inter-dimensional technology, a portal opened, flooding the Jean Grey School with Bamfs. These creatures pestered Wolverine’s school for the remainder of the series, helping the X-Men on occasion. At the time, Nightcrawler was dead. When Nightcrawler returned to life, he recognized the Bamfs as his “little brothers.”
This fairy tale realm also left an impact on Kate Pryde herself. Becoming captain of the Marauders, Kate did become the pirate which she imagined herself to be. Now, Kate travels the world, fighting against countries that don’t recognize the mutant nation of Krakoa and saving her fellow mutants. It would appear that Kate is living the fairy tale which she imagined for herself. Although the crew is different than in her original story, the concept remains the same. After years of dreaming, Kate Pryde is finally the pirate that she always dreamed to be.
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