WOLFSBANE

Rahne Sinclair was born in Scotland and was delivered by Dr. Moira MacTaggert, a close friend and professional associate of Professor Charles Xavier. An orphan, Sinclair was raised by the devout minister Reverend Craig, but she was befriended by MacTaggert, whose ward she later became.

Rahne's mutant power emerged at puberty. One night when she was thirteen, she fled in wolf form from a mob led by Reverend Craig, who believed her to be possessed by the devil. One member of the mob shot at Sinclair, inflicting a flesh wound. In wolf form Sinclair ran past MacTaggert, fell, and reverted to human form before her eyes. Recognizing Sinclair, MacTaggert took her under her protection, saving her from the mob.

MacTaggert brought Sinclair to Professor Xavier in America. There Sinclair became one of the first members of Xavier's new team of young superhuman mutants, the New Mutants. Sinclair remained a member of the team almost for its duration, and has come to regard her guardian, MacTaggert, as her surrogate mother.

In her earlier days as a member of The New Mutants, Rahne had a crush on the much older Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball. Her feelings were never returned, however, leading to more feelings of guilt and shame for the young Scots girl. These feelings were helped by her close relationship to Dani Moonstar. Not only did the two share a psychic bond when Rahne was in wolf form, but they quickly became best friends, as Dani took Rahne under her wing like a younger sister. Rahne was also the first to trust the alien Warlock, gaining her the nickname "First-Friend" from him.

Later, Rahne began her first romantic relationship with her teammate Doug Ramsey, a.k.a. Cypher. Rahne thought Doug was wonderful, but their relationship would be short lived, as Doug sacrificed his life to save Rahne from the bullet of a villain called The Ani-Mator. Rahne blamed herself, and has never completely gotten over Doug's death. Later, she began to date a new teammate, Rictor, but this romace was also short lived.

During one of the New Mutants last missions, Rahne was captured by Magistrates in Genosha, who began the process of transforming her into a mindless mutate. Rahne escaped before the transformation could be done completely, but the Magistrates did succeed in creating an unnatural bond between Rahne and Alex Summers, a.k.a. Havok. Due in part to his bond, Rahne left the New Mutants to become a member of the government sanctioned X-Factor, a team organized by the United States government and led by Havok.

Wolfsbane is a mutant metamorph who can, through mental concentration, transform herself into a wolf, while retaining most of her human intelligence, or into a transitional form which combines both human and lupine aspects. She cannot adopt any other form but these, nor can she take the form of different kinds of wolves. Her wolf form always has the same physical characteristics, which are those of a wolf a few months short of adulthood. Presumably when Wolfsbane herself becomes an adult, her lupine form will be that of an adult wolf.

Although Wolfsbane can transform herself into a wolf, she is not a werewolf; in other words, there is nothing supernatural about her power. Her transformations are not dependent on the phases of the moon, and she has the same vulnerabilities to injury, as does a normal wolf when she is in lupine form. Wolfsbane's transformations are brought about only as a conscious act of will on her part, although it is possible that she might turn into a wolf without willing to do so if she were sufficiently frightened.

In lupine form, Wolfsbane's strength, speed, reflexes and senses are similar to those of a wolf's, but are also heightened beyond those possessed by a real wolf. She retains virtually all of her human intelligence when she is in lupine form. However, as a wolf she might have difficulty at pattern recognition, or in comprehending particularly complicated concepts which she could understand somewhat more easily as a human. She does not possess a wolf's instincts, and therefore must learn how to use her lupine abilities. However, when she is in lupine form, since she then has a wolf's vocal organs, she cannot speak. But as a wolf she can achieve a degree of telepathic communication with her fellow New Mutant Moonstar, Dani Moonstar.

Wolfsbane's "transitional form" combines elements of her human and lupine forms. In it she retains her full intelligence and is capable of speech. In transitional form Wolfsbane is less agile than she is as a wolf, but she is stronger than she is as a human being. She can stand erect and use her front "paws" as hands. She is still covered with fur in her transitional form, but the coat is thinner.

Since leaving the New Mutants, the mutate process made it difficult for Rahne to transform back to human form. Eventually, Rahne was able to break away from her bond to Alex and left X-Factor. Wolfsbane then returned to the only place she could really call home, Muir Island, and was reunited with Moira MacTaggert. She then joined Excalibur, the superhuman champions who primarily operate within the United Kingdom, where she remained until that team was disbanded

During her stay with Excalibur, Rahne met Douglock, a techno-organic being who resembled Doug Ramsey. Though Douglock turned out to be Warlock re-born, he had Doug's memories, and that included feelings for Rahne, feelings which Rahne somewhat returned.