Contributed by Ronald Byrd
A sentient nebula, destined to evolve into a star within the next thousand millennia, Cloud came to Earth as a condensed human-sized nucleus to seek superhuman aid when the stars in its region of space began to mysteriously disappear. Arriving upon Earth, Cloud attempted to rescue two teenage lovers, Carol Faber and Danny Milligan, from an automobile accident, but a telepathic link was inadvertently forged between the two humans and Cloud, who became an amnesiac teenage girl identical to Faber. Brainwashed by the Secret Empire, Cloud clashed with the super-team known as the Defenders, eventually rebelling against her masters and joining the team.
When she fell in love with Moondragon, Cloud was tormented by these “inappropriate” feelings until her subconscious enabled her to change into male form (identical to Milligan); however, her/his love was not enough to prevent Moondragon from falling prey to the evil influence of the Dragon of the Moon, and Cloud, still troubled by this new ability and unsure of what it meant regarding her/his true nature, later turned her/his attention to another fellow Defender, Iceman. Eventually regaining her/his memories and, with the help of the Defenders, returning to the vanished stars, Cloud returned to her/his original state as a nebula; appearing briefly in Solo Avengers to help the recovering Moondragon, Cloud evidently prefers her female manifestation, since she uses it to interact with humans on this occasion. Presumably Cloud continues to exist somewhere in the further regions of space, doing whatever it is that nebulas do.
In addition to being able to assume both male and female identities, while in mortal form Cloud could change into a gaseous cloud-like state, in which condition she could engulf opponents, discharge lightning, communicate telepathically, and fly. As a nebula and future star, Cloud possesses vast cosmic power whose limits are unclear.
Cloud is outed in Defenders #134. Created by J M DeMatteis and Don Perlin.
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