Indra (comics)

Indra
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men: Academy X #7 (Jan. 2005)
Created by	Nunzio DeFilippis Christina Weir
In-story information
Alter ego	Paras Gavaskar
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Alpha Squadron training squad Xavier Institute X-Men in training Jean Grey School Students
Abilities	Retractable armored plates Psionic matter manifestation

Indra (Paras Gavaskar) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Indra attended the Xavier Institute and was member of Alpha Squadron before its closing. He first appeared in New X-Men: Academy X #7. He became an X-Men trainee in X-Men: Legacy #238.

Fictional character biography

Paras Gavaskar is an Indian mutant. As a teenager, he enrolled in the Xavier Institute. Gavaskar chose the codename Indra and was assigned to Alpha Squadron, a training squad mentored by Northstar. He was a top achiever in his classes. Indra and his fellow team members Anole, Loa, Rubbermaid, Network, and Kidogo suffered a great loss when they were told that Northstar had been killed in the line of duty, unaware of Northstar's resurrection. Following the assumed death of Northstar, Karma became their advisor.

Following the events of House of M, almost all of the institute's students were depowered, which led to the dissolution of the school's training squads. Indra was one of the only twenty-seven students who retained their mutant abilities. He participated in Emma Frost's battle which determined who will train to be an X-Man. Later, forty-two of Indra's former classmates died when their bus was attacked by William Stryker, an anti-mutant crusader.

Indra was captured by Belasco and was held in Limbo with most of the other students. When X-23 orchestrated an attempt at escaping, Indra was beaten badly by the demon S'ym when the attack failed. After returning home, Indra discovers that he was the youngest surviving mutant and most likely to be targeted. When Predator X attacked the institute, Surge leaped to the defence of Indra, Trance and Wolf Cub, protecting them from the beast.

Indra later relocated to San Francisco along with all the other X-Men. Soon, the city went into a state of chaos due to the anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements. Cyclops sent Rogue, Gambit, and Danger to find any missing students, Indra being among them. Rogue found some beaten H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and after absorbing their memories to see if they know where Paras is, it was revealed they attacked him when he was trying to go home to check on his friends. In self-defense, he attacked them and knocked them out. This act of self-defense caused Paras to have an internal crisis, believing that he violated the most important tenet of his Jain faith—absolute nonviolence. Attempting to access his powers caused him great pain, which Paras believed was divine punishment for betraying his beliefs. Rogue attempted to counsel him, suggesting that his inability to access his powers is psychosomatic. Rogue confronted him with the fact that he chose the codename Indra, the Hindu god of war, despite his pacifist beliefs, and stated that she believed he did so out of belief in his own potential. She further stated that rather than embrace that potential, he was choosing to back away from it. This caused Paras to lose control, claiming that his Indra form is "not him" before his powers fully remanifest, revealed as a suit of armor and weaponry.

Following Second Coming, Rogue and Magneto brought Indra along with fellow students Anole and Loa to Indra's home in Mumbai to visit his family. Unknown to anyone at the time, Indra's parents planned for him to take his comatose brother's place in an arranged marriage. The X-Men and students visited a local market where strange storms had been placing people. During one such storm, the mutants come across a young girl who told them her name is Luisa and that she is a new mutant with the ability to paint with light. They did not have time to question her before Sentinels arrived to capture her. Anole and Loa managed to finish the Sentinels off, and the X-Men took Luisa back to Indra's family home, where while flirting with Indra, infuriates his father by creating a light painting of her and Indra in a nude embrace and kissing Indra in his room.

After being questioned by Magneto, Luisa revealed her name was really Luz, she is not a mutant, and she was from somewhere called Quitado; a high-tech floating city where she was a student meant to be a part of a device called Angelfire. At that moment, the Children of the Vault attacked Indra's family home. Indra was attacked by a member of the Children of the Vault who entered his body and causes him severe pain. After Luz gave herself up, the Children of the Vault took Rogue and Magneto back to Quitado. Indra planned on going after them but his father demanded he stay and marry instead. Indra then asked for Vaipala to marry him that day to which she agrees so he could go save his friends afterwards. During the ceremony, Vaipala revealed she was actually Luz, having switched places with her during the attack.

Suiting up, disobeying his father and leaving Luz behind because she did not want to go; Indra, Loa and Anole went after the Children of the Vault when Luz changed her mind and caught up, together forming a plan. Sneaking into Quitado, Luz handed herself over while Indra, Loa and Anole got away with Rogue, Magento and an unconscious Vaipala. During the escape, Indra attacked Olvido to protect Rogue. When she went to point it out to him, he told her not to talk about it because he had sinned. Returning home, Indra turned his back on his family and religion because the path of non-violence was not the way of fighting against evil. Later, Indra left Utopia with Wolverine to enroll as a student at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.

Powers and abilities

Indra possesses retractable armored plates that he uses to cover himself in protective armor. Though he religiously believes in absolute non-violence, he is later forced to act in self-defense and attack a corrupt military officer, resulting in an internal struggle that causes him to lose access to his powers. When trying to access his armor plating, he experiences great pain and believes this to be a punishment from the Yakshas for his transgression. After receiving mentoring from Rogue, Indra's powers return significantly changed and stronger than before. His armor takes the form of a full-body, Hindu-stylized suit of armor. He is also able to generate similarly stylized psionic weaponry.

Reception

Indra was highlighted as forgotten character on CBR's Emma Singer as well as George Elsemere listed him among forgotten X-Men. The Comics Vault website listed Indra as an example of a teenager going through crisis of faith as depicted by his struggles being Jain.