Origin

Born on Mercury in 2997, Nikki's parents were administrators on a mining colony. Genetically altered so that they could survive on the harsh planet, Nikki inherited their altered genes. When the Badoon attacked her planet Nikki was the only survivor. At the time of the attack, Nikki was just 11 years old, watching the Badoon kill her parents in front of her eyes. Escaping in a spacecraft she lived there for seven years until the Guardians Of The Galaxy found her. During her time alone, she educated herself within her ships library and traveled from planet to planet for food and resources.

Creation

The fictional character called Nikki is a young woman in the Earth-691 timeline of the fictional Marvel Universe. Nikki first appeared in Marvel Presents #4, and was created by Steve Gerber. She was first referred to in FOOM #12.

Major Story Arcs

A New Guardian

Nikki would become the youngest member of the Guardians. Often the brashest and most "hot-headed" of the team, she often had to be kept in check by Martinex. On her first mission, she and the Guardians faced the Karanada and eventually her rash actions guided their ship directly at it. It was there that she was chosen by Mother Superior of the Convent of Living Fire to transcend her physical form and save the galaxy from the true threat - the Topographical Man. Merging with the will of Vance Astro, she grew light years in size and woke the Topographical Man, making him feel love, causing his destruction. She was able to return to her body (that was saved by Yondu and Martinex) due to her strong sense of singular identity.

She grew close with Charlie-27, referring to him as 'Chunky' and he wished to proceed with a relationship with her. For the time being, she wished to remain friends. Being more of her type, she had a crush on Firelord, but as a former herald of Galactus and current Protector of the Universe, he did not wish to have any relationships.

Nikki has a hatred for all reptilian species because of the Badoon, a prejudice that has gotten her into trouble on several occasions. This includes failing one of Main Frame's tests when she nearly killed Scanner and her mistreatment of Replica once she found out she was a Skrull.

After a battle with the Universal Church of Truth, Nikki changed her costume (to appear more like the old Western tales Vance Astro spoke of) and began carrying dual pistols, as her wrist blasters had been taken by the Church. In battle with the Punishers, she enjoyed the use of one of their flying transports and after a quick paint job, began using it regularly on missions.

She quickly switched to knuckle blasters for ease of use with her acrobatics. She grew a crush for the newest member of the team Talon, but he rejected her and wished to be just friends much like Firelord. By this time she began trying to respark the relationship with Charlie, but he too only wished to be friends.

Nikki would develop a close relationship with Yellowjacket during her stay with the team, although she did not like having another flirt to compete with, especially when Rita would flirt with Charlie. Eventually, the team began to question the leadership of Major Victory when he chose to side with the serial killer Ripjak, and the team voted to go on sabbatical while they decided who should lead the team. During this time, she and Chunky finally formed a long awaited intimate relationship.

Guardians 3000

More recently, Nikki was forced to investigate a time-flux that had started to appear in the galaxy, causing many things to 'happen again', though with different outcomes. This caused her team of fellow Guardians to fight some battles that they already fought as well as not remembering her.

Powers & Abilities

Nikki can withstand intense heat and ultraviolet radiation. Her skin temperature is about 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Since Mercurians shed heat through pores on their scalp, her "hair" is actually a low-temperature flame. She can increase the intensity of this flame, creating violent blasts of fire and intensely bright luminosity, capable of blinding opponents.

Nikki is a skilled gymnast and marksman. Originally she wore wrist blasters but later changed to pistols, followed by blasters on her gloves. Nikki is often armed with a neuronic frequency stun gun, or a laser pistol, and has armed herself and been adept at various handgun-type weapons.

In Other Media

Video Games

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

In the 2021 video game, Nikki's genetic background was altered to fit the story. In this game's universe, Nikki is a half-breed life form. Half of her is Kree, and the other half unknown. In this game, she's the adopted daughter of Nova Corps Captain Ko-Rel of the Hala's Hope and is portrayed as a talented and rebellious cadet-in-training for the early chapters of the game. She is later victimized by the Universal Church of Truth, while the Guardians operated under the assumption that she is actually Star-Lord's child. This sets up her later transformation into the fire haired version we are accustomed to.