I'm Inhuman... or I will be. I've got the gene, you know. Not that you would know! I found out myself. And you're... well, a dinosaur! But I've got to stop it from happening. I don't want to change. The change is what scares me. More than anything. More than... more than you. 
- —Lunella Lafayette[src]
History
Lunella Lafayette is a brilliant little girl living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her fellow students at Public School 20 Anna Silver frequently mocked her and called her names like "Moon Girl," because her superior intellect often caused her to daydream and invent strange gadgets.[5]
Devil on the Loose[]
Through her studies, Lunella became obsessed with the Kree and eventually built a device designed to uncover Kree technology, which she used to find an Omni-Wave Projector hidden beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in the Financial District. Elsewhere, long ago in Earth-78411, a New Folk named Thorn-Teeth was also revealed to be in possession of an Omni-Wave Projector they called the Nightstone. When one of Lunella's teachers, Coach Hrbek, accidentally activated Lunella's device, it opened a portal across space and time from Dinosaur World to Earth-616, allowing the Killer-Folk to cross over into present day New York City. Devil Dinosaur followed, looking to avenge the apparent death of his longtime companion Moon-Boy at the hands of Thorn-Teeth's tribe.[5]
The Devil-Beast clenched the strap of Lunella's backpack in his teeth, but she was able to utilize a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle therein to lure him away from the pursuing NYPD. Eventually leading Devil Dinosaur to a secluded part of the Lower East Side, she explained to him that she needed the Omni-Wave Projector because she had discovered that she was actually a NuHuman, a Human/Inhuman hybrid, and she believed that the Kree technology was the key to protecting her from the cloud of Terrigen Mist circling the Earth, and that if she could only study it further, then she would be able to prevent her latent Inhuman DNA from forcing change upon her through Terrigenesis, something she was terrified of. Instructing Devil Dinosaur to stay put, she set off to do just that; however, she was captured by the Killer-Folk, who claimed her Omni-Wave Projector as their own, shortly thereafter.[6]
Luckily Devil Dinosaur arrived to rescue Lunella from the Killer-Folk, though they were unable to recover the Omni-Wave Projector, as Gurf took it and dove into the East River. Seeing their daughter with what appeared to be a Tyrannosaurus rex on the news the next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette forbid Lunella from any more after-school activities and insisted that from now on she take the bus directly home from school. Lunella skipped out on her science class; however, and went to work in her secret lab located beneath the school where she'd hidden Devil Dinosaur in hopes of using him to find the Killer-Folk who'd stolen her Omni-Wave Projector. Her work was interrupted by the fire alarm soon thereafter, because Sasha, Lily, and another girl had been playing with matches in the girls' restroom and had set the school on fire. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur sprang into action, rescuing Eduardo and the other students of Ms. Dominguez's science class from the blaze before the FDNY arrived. Their heroics would go unrewarded; however, as the Hulk appeared, seeking to take Devil Dinosaur into custody.[7]
Hulk blamed Devil Dinosaur for starting the school on fire and, over Lunella's objections, attacked. A fierce battle ensued, with collateral damage resulting in many FDNY fire trucks and parts of the school, being destroyed. Moon Girl attempted to intervene with a spring-loaded boxing glove and taser gun, but Devil Dinosaur moved to protect her and was accidentally tased in the process. Hulk seized the advantage and repeatedly slammed Devil Dinosaur into the ground by his tail until he was incapacitated. He then reverted to Amadeus Cho, at which point Lunella pleaded with him to allow her to keep Devil Dinosaur, as she needed him to help recover the Omni-Wave Projector and prevent her potential exposure to Terrigen. Amadeus doubted her intellectual capability to resolve the issue and turned Lunella over to her parents, who promised to keep her under lock and key from then on, before subsequently chaining Devil Dinosaur with the intent of imprisoning him.[2]
_from_Moon_Girl_and_Devil_Dinosaur_Vol_1_5_001.jpg){kind=link}
Moon Girl
Embracing her Alter-Ego[]
After Devil Dinosaur was taken, Lunella spent some time thinking, pondering her father's advice, questioning what it meant to be normal, and debating if that were what she really wanted in life. Deciding that nobody seemed to understand that she wasn't just a typical little girl, rather was someone who had big ideas, Lunella set her mind to locating Devil and rescuing him from his captors. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, she returned to her secret lab beneath P.S. 20 and hacked into the NYPD where she discovered that Devil Dinosaur was being held at the American Museum of Natural History, by a top secret joint task force, operating in conjunction with the Bronx Zoo, known as the Department of Dinosaur Control. Suddenly alarms rang out in the lab indicating the imminent approach of the Terrigen Cloud. Following some quick calculations, Lunella determined that it would pass her by unscathed, and she then proceeded to suit up as the vigilante, Moon Girl -- donning a battle suit consisting of boxing headgear, goggles, suspenders, a computerized utility belt, backpack, her earlier weaponry, and a special pair of roller-skates -- before heading up town to rescue Devil.
Rappelling into the museum, Lunella found that Devil Dinosaur was extremely happy to see her and proceeded to lick her through the bars, causing her to drop her tablet, alerting the guards. The Mutant Devil Beast immediately sprang to her defense, breaking free of his confinement cell to once again clench the strap of Lunella's backpack in his teeth. This time Moon Girl was ready; however, and pressing a button on her belt, extended springs hidden within the roller-skates allowing her to touch the ground despite being nearly twenty feet in the air. As the pair looked to escape, they became surrounded by NYPD and Dinosaur Control officers who grabbed hold of the springs in an attempt to apprehend Lunella, but Moon Girl was prepared yet again, as another button retracted the skates while simultaneously deploying a collapsible back-mounted rotor, previously hidden within her backpack, allowing her to take flight. Devil Dinosaur then smashed a hole through the wall, and the two fled the scene, not stopping until they'd left the city across the Hudson River to New Jersey. There Lunella set Devil free, explaining that they'd each saved one another once, and so he should head north to Westchester County or south to the Pine Barrens, where he could hopefully avoid detection by law enforcement, But Devil refused to leave, and Lunella came to the realization that she was no longer alone, not just Moon Girl, because two heads were better than one, and together they had an Omni-Wave Projector to recover from the Killer-Folk as Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.[8]
The next morning her mother walked Lunella to school, because Yancy Street had become increasingly dangerous now that the Killer-Folk Gang were in charge, having run the Yancy Street Gang out of their own territory. On the way home she saw a newspaper with a picture of Moon Girl busting the Devil Dinosaur out of custody and returned to the school to confront her daughter over the previous night's reckless behavior. Meanwhile, the Killer-Folk were looking for Lunella in order to sacrifice her to the Nightstone during the upcoming full moon, and upon returning to the site where they first emerged into Earth-616, the quintet sighted Moon Girl on the playground. Distracted by her mother and their discussion about her Inhuman lineage, Tharg and Thok caught Lunella by surprise; however, Mrs. Lafayette immediately sprang to her daughter's defense, with nothing but the newspaper she'd purchased earlier as a weapon to intercede. When Rachacha threatened her mother, Moon Girl had seen enough, springing into action, and using a combination of booby traps and inventions from her back pack, she freed herself and forced the Killer-Folk to flee. Shocked at her daughter's fighting prowess and their earlier dispute forgotten, her mother then suggested that they go home, but Lunella insisted that she had to take care of things once and for all.
Meeting up with Devil Dinosaur in her secret laboratory, Moon Girl devised a plan and after once again donning her battle suit, together the two of them tracked the Killer-Folk to a rooftop. There, beneath the full moon, Lunella and Devil executed their plan and utilized the spring-loaded boxing glove to recover the Omni-Wave Projector. Believing the Nightstone to be cursed, Gurf prevented Thorn-Teeth from attempting to reclaim it, and the Killer-Folk Gang fled into the night. Excited over their victory, Lunella encouraged Devil to chase them all the way across the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn.
_from_Moon_Girl_and_Devil_Dinosaur_Vol_1_6_001.jpg){kind=link}
Devil guarding Lunella's Terrigen Cocoon
Suddenly an alarm began to sound from the device she had hoped would help prevent her transformation into an Inhuman, signaling the unexpected emergence of the Terrigen Cloud. Alone on the rooftop, with nowhere to run, Moon Girl instead attempted to plug her nose and hold her breath. Devil returned to find a Terrigen Cocoon, and carefully clutching it in his jaws, took it back to the secret laboratory beneath P.S. 20, where he curled up around it to protect her during the metamorphosis.[9]
Cosmic Cooties[]
Lunella emerged from the cocoon several days later to discover that her transformation had provided no noticeable physical alterations. Her parents had been worried sick during her absence forcing them to seek the help of the NYPD, and even the Hulk, to try and find her, but to no avail. Despite the lack of any apparent Terrigen-induced powers, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur resumed their vigilante activities, stopping thefts and bank robberies under the cover of night, while ensuring not to be caught out of her room while on house arrest during the day.
Four weeks later, Lunella still hadn't uncovered the nature of her Terrigenesis despite genetic sequencing. That morning Ms. Dominguez introduced a new transfer student named Marvin Ellis to the class. Marvin was secretly a young Kree from Nova Hala IV who had come to capture Lunella, after determining she was the least threatening Inhuman in his database, in order to curry favor with the Kree Empire. When the two argued over who would lead the new class science project, Lunella lost her composure and, as her anger began to rise, Ms. Dominguez suggested the pair work together. Just then something triggered within Moon Girl and her body was suddenly inhabited by the consciousness of Devil Dinosaur, who was confused by being unexpectedly thrust into a confrontation with Marvin; meanwhile, in her secret lab, Lunella found her mind trapped within the body of Devil Dinosaur.[10]
After wreaking havoc on both her science class and secret laboratory thanks to the mind-switch, Lunella in Devil's body fled to East River Park, where the NYPD responded to their presence. Lunella and Devil eventually switched back to their original bodies, but not before Coach Hrbek brought Lunella's restrained body with Devil's mind to Nurse Imelda. Lunella then tried to make nice with Marvin in the cafeteria, but when she got hungry, she ended up unexpectedly switching with Devil yet again. This time they managed to find each other, when Lunella brought Devil's body back to the school, and together they left to minimize damage. After losing the police pursuit in an isolated part of Alphabet City in the East Village, the pair rested while Lunella tried to figure things out. They managed to switch back once more, and Lunella remarked that although it was destructive, it was also fun to rampage in Devil Dinosaur's body, and she hoped he enjoyed it as well.[3]
The next day, the P.S. 20 science class started their FIRSTⓇ LEGOⓇ League projects for an upcoming citywide contest. Lunella was paired with Zoe, Eduardo, and Marvin, prompting her to butt heads with the latter yet again before Lunella got to work on the assignment. That night Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur hit the streets and encountered Captain Kree taking down her usual criminals. Mel-Varr then told them that he would be taking Lunella back to Nova Hala IV to stand trial. Moon Girl laughed in his face and the two engaged in a battle, which Lunella gained the upper hand when Devil kicked Captain Kree away from the battlefield, and the two retreated back to the lab beneath P.S. 20, where Moon Girl checked on her secret project.
Lunella and Marvin bickered the entire following day in nearly every class and that night Captain Kree ambushed Lunella and Devil once more, causing damage to the Q Train tracks near the Manhattan Bridge. After they teamed up to save the passengers before the train could derail, the two were about to engage in battle yet again when they were separated by Ms. Marvel.[11]
Expedition to Attilan[]
While frustrated over being forced to attend Ms. Dominguez's fourth grade science class, Moon Girl decided she could literally build a rocket to the Moon.[11] Thus she began to scavenge parts and assemble an interstellar craft in an empty lot on Yancy Street in order to conduct a voyage to the ruins of Attilan in the Blue Area of the Moon. When Forge discovered her research into Terrigen Mist, he came to the Lower East Side to attempt to persuade her to allow him to assist her by supplying a modified X-Men Blackbird. She refused, insisting to do things her way, when suddenly Manhattan was beset upon by the Terrigen Cloud, whose exposure threatened to induce M-Pox in the mutant. When her Fan-Cannon proved ineffective, Lunella rushed Forge into the unfinished Moon Rocket, which blasted off only to splashdown soon after into the East River, with Moon Girl having sacrificed her dream for the life of a friend.[12]
Monsters Unleashed[]
When the swarms of Leviathons began to fall to Earth, Lunella vowed to help resolve the problem with science.[13] To this end she developed a device which translated the monsters' shrieks and howls, revealing they were in fact coordinating in an effort to cleanse the planet as an offering to their ruler.[14] When her partner, Devil Dinosaur, was drawn by Kei Kawade as a demonstration of his powers, Lunella was instantly summoned to his location at Parker Industries, New York Headquarters as well. She took an immediate liking to the fellow NuHuman, in part due to their closeness in age, and shared with him her findings regarding the Leviathon Tide's intentions.[15] Lunella then miniaturized her decoder into a Translation Helmet, which she patched into the building's intercom, in order to allow everyone present to hear what the invaders were saying,[16] while she encouraged Kid Kaiju to explore his powers in order to combat the Leviathon Mother.[17]
Inhumans vs. X-Men[]
After Iso contacted Ms. Marvel to gather NuHumans to aid the New Attilan Security Force in an attempt to retake the occupied Inhuman capital of New Attilan from the mutants, Lunella and Devil were two of those Kamala recruited.[18]Attributes
 |
Powers
Abilities
The Banner B.O.X., a supergenuis test that not even Mister Fantastic can solve
Super-Genius Intellect: Lunella possesses remarkable intelligence, even as a child.[5] Based upon the limited data available, Kid Kree's analyzer rated her intelligence as a 100% threat to a Kree.[10] Amadeus Cho later declared Lunella the "smartest person in the whole world" after giving her a device with a competence test, which she quickly completed,[19] despite the fact that no one else had ever, not even its inventor and previous owner, Dr. Bruce Banner. This assertion was then verified by the staff of Rockefeller University.[1]
Skilled Inventor & Engineer: Despite her youth and limited resources, Lunella has devised and created many contrivances, such as the Kree detector that she used to uncovered an Omni-Wave Projector,[5] as well as the various contraptions that augment her battle suit.[8]
Skilled Hacker & Computer Programmer: Lunella is a gifted hacker, as she was able to locate Devil Dinosaur by hacking into the NYPD from a computer in her secret lab. She has also demonstrated an aptitude for programming by developing an early warning system, which utilizes an advanced algorithm for detecting and tracking the Terrigen Cloud, based on local weather conditions.[8]Additional Attributes
- Lunella is nearsighted to the point that she is legally blind,[20] requiring glasses with corrective lenses.[5]
- Lunella was terrified that undergoing Terrigenesis would turn her into a freak, making life an even greater struggle for her to fit in.[6]
- Lunella is uncoordinated, untrained, and inexperienced.[5] Based upon the limited data available, Kid Kree's analyzer rated her offensive capabilities, dexterity, defensive efficacy, and experience each as 1% threats to a Kree.[10]
- While Lunella's consciousness is in the body of Devil Dinosaur, his consciousness is placed within her body, making it appear as if Lunella has become feral,[10] a situation which she attempted to mitigate with the Dyno-byte Prototype.[19]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- 4D Glasses
- Avengers Communicator
- Banner B.O.X.
- Cerebro
- Cold-Air Blasters
- "Doom-Head"
- Environment Suits
- Fan-Cannon
- Fantastic Four Uniform
- Gravy of Giant-Sizing
- H.E.R.B.I.E.
- Internet-Sifting Device
- Inversion-Gravity Boots
- Micro-Richter Scale
- Moon Girl's Suit
- Moon Sketch
- Moonbots
- M.O.O.N. Bugs
- Omni-Wave Projector
- Pseudo-Matrix
- Quasi-Quantum Energy Probe
- Sneeze Powder Gun
- Strobe Globe
- Time-Out Machine
- Translation Helmet
- Force-Field Hand
Weapons
- Lunella wears a battle suit consisting of boxing headgear, goggles, suspenders, a computerized utility belt, and numerous other gadgets, as well as carries assorted weaponry including a spring-loaded boxing glove and a taser gun,[2] in addition to a sneeze powder launcher,[22] and even a hand crank air raid siren; meanwhile, her backpack is booby-trapped with a modified Simon, which discharges soda when she yanks upon drawstrings hidden within the shoulder straps.[9]
Transportation
- Lunella made use of retractable roller-skates as her primary method of transportation.[5] They were retrofitted with springs, which extended to allow the nine-year-old to stand at a height of roughly twenty feet,[8] and were later upgraded into more advanced boots;[21] meanwhile, her backpack housed a rear-mounted rotor, providing for sustained flight.[8]
- Dyno-byte Prototype
- Moon Mobile
- Moon Rocket
Notes
- Lunella was nine years old as of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #2.
Trivia
- Lunella has applied to the Future Foundation on multiple occasions, and although they determined she tested in the Top 3% of the population, her applications have been repeatedly rejected for unspecified reasons.[5]
- The New York Bulletin's headline the day Sarah Dewey and David Menard's child custody case was finalized read: Lower East Side's Mysterious "Moon Girl" Saves J Train, Slows Morning Commute.[23]
- Lunella is a member of the Forums social media network.[24]
See Also
- 150 appearance(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 18 minor appearance(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 9 mention(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 294 image(s) of Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 46 quotation(s) by or about Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
- 13 item(s) used/owned by Lunella Lafayette (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #13
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #4
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #8
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #2
- ↑ Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #3
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #5
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #6
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #7
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #9
- ↑ Extraordinary X-Men Annual #1
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ IVX #3
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #12
- ↑ Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #25
- ↑ Secret Warriors (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Unstoppable Wasp #2
- ↑ Kingpin (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Secret Warriors (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #25, Trading Card Variant
- ↑ File:Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Vol 1 25 Trading Card Wraparound Variant.jpg
