Ghost

Real Name: Elisa Cameron

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First Appearance: Arcadia: Ghost (Dark Horse)

Powers/Abilities: Ghost can turn herself and anything she touches intangible. In fact she has to concentrate to become solid. She is also normally invisible, and can pass this on to others while touching them.

History: Ghost’s first clear memory was finding herself nude and floating above the floor in the men’s room of a seedy nightclub with no recollection of who she was or how she had died. She soon discovered that her name was Elisa Cameron, and that in life she had been a crusading journalist who had been investigating the criminal underworld of Arcadia, a city with the largest concentration of mutants and paranormals in the U.S. She had come to close to some dark secret, and had been murdered as a result. Filled with burning rage and an inexplicable hatred of men, Elisa became the phantasmal figure known as Ghost and set out to discover the truth behind her murder, and who was responsible. In the course of her quest she became a protector and avenger of victimized women, and a nemesis to the criminal underworld, uncovering many old enemies somehow linked to her past, and making many new ones as well. Yet, every time she thought she had found a piece of the puzzle, it invariably led to new mysteries and more unanswered questions. Finally, while battling to stop a powerful demon from entering our world, Elisa came into contact with the godlike alien being known as Vortex. He restored her memories, and in doing so revealed truths more shocking than she could ever imagine.

Elisa was born with the ability to jump space into an alternate dimension, the result of a genetic nano-virus inadvertently unleashed by Vortex back in the 1940’s. The sole inhabitant of this dimension was the entity Cameron Nemo, who until Elisa’s arrival had existed in solitude. Delighted to have a companion, he shaped the dimension in Elisa’s image, creating an idyllic playground for them both. As she grew, he changed to match her development, and for a long time they were close playmates. However, as Elisa aged her life became darker, and this was reflected in the landscape of Nemo’s dimension, which changed from beautiful to nightmarish. Nemo, obsessed with the need for her companionship, convinced himself he was in love with her, and he grew resentful as her visits became less and less frequent. When she finally rejected him outright, he became consumed with hatred. He populated his world with demons of his own making, and Elisa suppressed her memories of his existence. This was not the first memory Elisa had suppressed. When she was just a young child, she watched as her mother’s lover murdered her real father. She buried the memory and came to believe that her stepfather was her real father, but the incident left her filled with a rage that would come to dominate her psyche.

Elisa was recruited while she was in college by a clandestine government team known as "The Furies." Comprised solely of women with psychic abilities, The Furies picked out Elisa for her dimension-hopping abilities. They trained her in the use of firearms, martial arts, and a variety of skills, and she became one of their best operatives. However, her dimension-hopping began to take a toll on her well-being, until finally she refused to do it any longer. Eager to remain useful to the team, Elisa volunteered to be a test subject for the agent. Invented by the scientist Dr. Trouvaille, the agent was synthesized from the spirits of the dead, and it transmuted Elisa into her current, ghostly form. The effects were only supposed to be temporary, but Elisa’s unusual genetic structure somehow made it permanent. It also enhanced its effects, allowing her to ghost other people and objects by touching them as well.

Delighted with her new abilities, Elisa continued to serve the team, until the sent her to infiltrate the compound of a cult-like figure known as Archibald Scythe. Scythe possessed the ability to completely manipulate the mind of any woman, and he used his powers to utterly dominate Elisa and make her into his thrall. He altered her memories and made her believe she was vulnerable to jade, and then he sold her services out as a hired killer. One of his clients was a criminal mastermind named Crux. A psychic as well, Crux further altered Elisa’s memories and used her to ferret out informants in his own organization.

Scythe and Crux eventually offered up Elisa to the Shades, extra-dimensional entities who were attempting to infiltrate our world. The Shades themselves were in league with Dr. Trouvaille, who had invented a machine which expelled human spirits from their bodies, allowing a Shade to occupy it. He almost succeeded in using this on Elisa, but at the moment her soul was about to be expelled, the process opened a gateway for Cameron Nemo into our world, causing Elisa to instinctively jump space into his dimension and disappear.

What Elisa wouldn’t discover until much, much later was that Jessica, the leader of the Furies were present at the experiment, though she would claim it was to ensure Elisa’s safety. When the Furies finally discovered Elisa, her mind was a wreck from all the tampering. The Furies decided to suppress her memories completely and give her a new identity. They implanted the idea that her cover identity – that of a journalist – was who she truly was, and they let her believe that she had been murdered. They then planted her in the bathroom of the nightclub, and subtly directed her to take out her wrath on Arcadia’s criminal underworld.

When Vortex restored Elisa’s memories, and removed her vulnerability to jade, he also offered to eliminate all of her paranormal abilities, granting her a normal life. Elisa, however, refused, saying that she needed them to help the spirits who had been displaced by the shades. A lot of this had to do with her younger sister Margo. Margo had been a wild girl all her life, often getting into trouble. She was also born with the same nano-virus, which allowed her to create phantasmal creatures known as "tear demons." However, as Ghost’s sister she became a target, and Trouvaille succeeded in capturing her and expelling her spirit from her body, which was now occupied by a particularly malevolent and powerful shade known as Silhouette. Elisa took it upon herself to restore Margo to her body, and as such she became the reluctant champion of all the displaced spirits.

Ghost has a number of powerful enemies bent on her destruction, the foremost of which is Cameron Nemo. Nemo has a variety of supernatural abilities, and in his own dimension he has incredible power. He has escaped into our world a number of times, and he continually tries to lure Ghost back into his realm as well. Silhouette is also bent on Ghost’s destruction, and her abilities match those of Ghosts. Other recurring enemies include Dr. Trouvaille, Cameron Scythe, Crux, and the hideously scarred and completely insane Dr. October. Ghost has battled these enemies several times, often leaving them for dead, only to have to face them again. The Furies also linger in her background, though whether they are friend or foe is uncertain. Fortunately, Ghost has acquired a number of allies as well. Included among them are the medium Concordia Leveche, the demon-hunting martial artist King Tiger, the bounty hunter Barb Wire, and the masked avenger known only as X.

Through the course of her adventures, Elisa Cameron has grown, changed, and matured. Once filled with an all-consuming anger, she has learned to let go of it, and in doing so has lost much of the hatred she has felt towards men. She has also grown past her need for simple vengeance, and has taken it upon herself to be Arcadia’s protector. She is still coming to grips with her past, and she still has a lot of anger and resentment inside her. She has been betrayed so many times that she finds it difficult to trust anyone, and she often feels regret at the choices she has made. Yet, with the return of her memories, and the understanding that she is not truly a ghost, she also feels a sense of hope once again.

Comments: Easily the most successful character to come out of Comic's Greatest World.

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