The Exploration of Kitty Pryde's "Star-Lord" Narrative in Marvel's "Future Fight" Game

During the pandemic lockdown, I discovered various non-cosplay activities to keep my mind engaged. These included reading comics, writing, watching shows on Disney+, and playing Marvel's Future Fight, a mobile game.

The game allows players to become their favorite Marvel characters from movies, comics and shows. It immerses players in the characters' world and tasks them with "training" them to take part in a storyline involving the collapse of dimensions. The Avengers investigate these occurrences, battling alternate versions of themselves and protecting their world from Ultron and other villains.

My most frequently played characters were Star-Lord, Gamora, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Minn-Erva, Drax, Rocket, Groot, Mantis, Nebula, and Kitty Pryde.

Over time, Kitty became my favorite character to play. This preference stemmed from two reasons: first, Kitty is one of my favorite X-Men characters, and I've cosplayed as her since 2019; second, I admire how the game incorporates her abilities from both the comics and animated shows.

As a former zoo and aquarium worker, I relate to Kitty's ability to confront seemingly insurmountable challenges and find solutions while acknowledging her limitations. I also appreciate her comedic and badass moments, which add humor to the story, particularly when she's in a leadership role.

While the game offers a second uniform for Kitty based on her "pirate" attire from the Krakoa storyline, I believe more uniform options would enhance the gaming experience. One notable underrated uniform is Kitty's "Star-Lord" outfit from a 2015-2017 comic book run of Guardians of the Galaxy. Ignoring this uniform, or the storyline behind it, would be a significant oversight.

Kitty Pryde as Star-Lord?

During the "Black Vortex" storyline in 2015, Kitty Pryde gained cosmic powers and phased the planet Spartax out of its encasing amber prison. This resulted in her brief engagement to Peter Quill (Star-Lord), who was crowned king of Spartax. Despite her support, Kitty confronted his absence by joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and assuming the mantle of "Star-Lord."

As "Star-Lord," Kitty encountered the Knowhere Corps and engaged in conflict with Yotat the Destroyer. Later, the Guardians returned to Spartax with an artifact from a Chitauri vessel but were met with hostility by the rogue Kree accuser, Hala. Hala accused the Guardians of destroying the Kree Empire and captured Peter. However, the Guardians defeated Hala and the Spartax council removed Peter from his position as king, rendering him a wanted fugitive. Kitty facilitated his escape, enabling him to reunite with the Guardians.

After their unconventional trial, which strengthened their resolve to remain together, Kitty and Peter faced new challenges. The Collector inadvertently trapped them, leading to their isolation in a non-operational spaceship.

Later, Kitty and the Guardians learn about the enslavement of aliens on the planet Badoon. Despite Peter's unfortunate capture, the Guardians embarked on a mission to liberate the planet.

At the request of Captain Marvel, the Guardians got involved in a civil conflict between Earth's heroes. However, Peter's concealment of Thanos's capture led to a sense of betrayal among the Guardians. Consequently, Kitty left both the team and Peter, choosing to reunite with the X-Men after the conflict.

Future Fight’s Potential Fresh Take on Kitty Pryde

To captivate Marvel's Future Fight enthusiasts, the game could introduce Kitty's "Star-Lord" uniform, offering a striking visual departure from her classic X-Men attire. This uniform incorporates elements from her spacefaring adventures, providing an engaging experience for fans of both Kitty and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Additionally, this uniform shines a spotlight on a lesser-known period in Kitty's comic book history, opening the door to discovering a unique array of powers and related storylines, enriching the overall gameplay experience.

In-Game Storytelling Potential

The Black Vortex storyline offers an interesting narrative arc, featuring Kitty Pryde's possession and dramatic conflicts. Integrating this storyline into Future Fight would create an engaging in-game event with challenging battles and rewarding prizes while also introducing Kitty's Star-Lord uniform. This could open up new missions and opportunities for cooperation with other Guardians characters, fostering exciting team dynamics. Furthermore, exploring these cosmic-themed storylines would highlight Kitty Pryde's leadership qualities and adaptability, showcasing a more mature version of the beloved X-Men heroine.

Incorporating Kitty Pryde's Star-Lord uniform and storylines into Future Fight would add character variety with new costumes and power sets, provide fresh content based on her comic history, and create synergy with existing characters, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.

What Could Her “Star-Lord” Gear Look Like?

This hypothetical gear set explores potential options for Kitty Pryde's "Star-Lord" uniform in the "Future Fight" game. The gear set draws inspiration from both Kitty Pryde's and Peter Quill's existing equipment and weaponry.

Gear Set Proposals:

1. Star-Lord's Helmet:

• Bonus: +25 Energy Attacks

• Secondary Bonus: +HP or +Critical Rate
• Reasoning: The helmet replaces the X-suit, emphasizing offensive power over physical defense. Energy attacks complement Star-Lord's blasters. The secondary bonus offers survivability or enhanced critical hits.
• 2.Quantum Gauntlets:

• Bonus: +25 Skill Cooldown Reduction
• Secondary Bonus: +Critical Damage or +Ignore Defense
• Reasoning: Similar to the Intangible Body, this gear reduces cooldowns for Kitty's Star-Lord abilities. The secondary bonus increases damage output.

3. Celestial Tech Chest plate:

• Bonus: +25 Dodge
• Secondary Bonus: +Movement Speed or +Energy Defense
• Reasoning: Maintains the X-Men Belt's focus on dodging but replaces Movement Speed with Energy Defense for improved protection against ranged attacks.

4. Universal Translator:

• Bonus: +25 All Resistances
• Secondary Bonus: +HP or Recovery Rate
• Reasoning: A new gear piece inspired by Star-Lord's connections with alien species and people, providing a well-rounded defense against various attack types. The secondary bonus offers additional survivability.

This hypothetical gear set prioritizes energy attacks and cooldowns for Kitty Pryde as Star-Lord, enhancing her combat effectiveness and agility. The Bonus Options offer customization based on the player's preferred play style.

What About Her Skills?

In a hypothetical scenario where Kitty Pryde assumes the mantle of "Star-Lord," her skill set would blend her existing abilities with those of the cosmic outlaw, Peter Quill.

Leadership: Star-Lord's Inspiration: Kitty Pryde's leadership skills, inspired by Star-Lord, enhance the energy attack and critical damage of her allies.

Active Skills:

1. Celestial Blaster: Kitty unleashes a powerful energy blast from her blasters, dealing energy attack damage and inflicting Plasma Burn (damage over time).
2. Phase Dodge: She phases through attacks, temporarily increasing her dodge rate.
3. Astral Assault: Kitty phases behind the enemy, delivering a potent energy attack that ignores targeting and applies a bleed effect (damage over time).
4. Cosmic Fury: Kitty unleashes a barrage of energy blasts, dealing massive damage and inflicting Plasma Burn on all enemies. While using this skill, she gains invincibility and ignores enemy dodge.

Passive Skills:

1. Master Tactician: Enhances skill damage and reduces cooldown for all of Kitty's skills.
2. Elemental Infusion: Grants a chance to apply Plasma Burn or Burn on enemies through basic attacks.

• Bonus: Channeling the Black Vortex's Power:

1. Effect: Upon taking fatal damage, Kitty triggers a Black Vortex infusion, granting temporary invisibility, a powerful cosmic energy blast, enhanced stats, and cooldown reduction.
2. Activation Rate: When HP falls below a set threshold.
3. Cooldown: A lengthy cooldown of 60 seconds after the infusion ends.

This potential skill set emphasizes energy attacks, phasing, and leadership, creating a unique and versatile character that showcases the possibilities for character development in the Marvel Universe.

Artifact Concept?

• Artifact: Nova Centurion's Helmet
• Description: A powerful helmet imbued with the energy of the Nova Corps.

• Stats:
• Increases energy attack by 15%.
• Increases critical rate by 10%.
• Increases energy defense by 10%.

Passive Effects:

• Cosmic Power Surge: When Kitty Pryde's health falls below 50%, she gains a surge of cosmic power for 10 seconds. Effects include:

• Additional 20% increase in energy attacks.
• 30% increase in movement speed.
• Chance to fire homing energy blasts at nearby enemies.
• ISO-8 Set Bonus:
• Nova Force Empowerment (Full ISO-8 Set):
• Further increases energy attack by 10%.
• Grants a chance to ignore enemy dodge when attacking.

Reasoning: This artifact provides a general boost to energy attack, critical rate, and energy defense, aligning with Star-Lord's energy-based attacks.

The Cosmic Power Surge passive reflects the influence of the Black Vortex by granting a temporary buff when Kitty Pryde's health falls below a specific threshold.

The ISO-8 set bonus complements the artifact's focus on energy attack and enhances offensive potential.

Team Bonus Strategies for Kitty Pryde as Star-Lord

Guardians of the Galaxy (3-Character Bonus):

• Bonus:
• Increased Attack: 5.4%
• Enhanced Energy Attack: 7.5%
• Critical Damage Boost: 4.7%

Rationale: Emphasizes Kitty Pryde's connection to the Guardians, enhancing her offensive capabilities, especially through energy-based attacks, which align with Star-Lord's weaponry.

Suggested Teammates: Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax

Galactic Renegades (3-Character Bonus):

• Bonus:
• Attack Enhancement: 5.4%
• Increased Defense Bypassing: 4.9%
• Enhanced Dodge: 4.7%

Rationale: Emphasizes an aggressive play style, boosting Kitty Pryde's ability to bypass enemy defenses and evade attacks while maintaining overall offensive power.

Suggested Teammates: Gamora, Nebula, Star-Lord (Peter Quill)

Black Vortex Legacy (3-Character Bonus):

Bonus:

Enhanced Attacks: 5.4%

Reduced Skill Cooldowns: 4.7%

Rationale: Increases the likelihood of triggering the potent infusion given by the Black Vortex, improving Kitty Pryde's offensive capabilities, reducing cooldowns for quicker skill usage, and potentially activating the infusion more frequently.

Suggested Teammates: Ronan the Accuser (Anti-Hero Version), Gamora, Angel

Cosmic Guardians (3-Character Bonus):

• Bonus:
• Increased Attack: 5.4%
• Improved Energy Attack: 8.0%
• Enhanced Critical Rate: 5.2%
• Rationale: Emphasizes Kitty Pryde's leadership role within the Guardians team, amplifying her energy-based attacks and enhancing her overall damage output through increased critical rate.
• Suggested Teammates: Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Groot, Rocket Raccoon

Lovers in the Cosmos (2-Character Bonus):

• Bonus:

• Attack Boost: 5.4%
• Improved Energy Attacks: 7.0%
• Increased Probability of Triggering Leadership Effects for Both Kitty Pryde and Star-Lord (Peter Quill)

• Rationale: Celebrating the romantic relationship between Kitty Pryde and Peter Quill, as depicted in the comics. It also enhances their energy attacks and raises the likelihood of activating their leadership effects, potentially leading to a synergistic buffing strategy.
• Suggested Teammates: Star-Lord (Peter Quill)

Renegade Romance (3-Character Bonus):

• Bonus:
• Enhanced Attacks: 5.4%
• Increased Critical Damage: 5.0%
• Improved Defense Bypassing: 4.5%

• Rationale: Explores a more aggressive playstyle for Kitty Pryde, inspired by Peter Quill's current canonical romance with Gamora in various iterations of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Amplifies critical damage and defense bypass abilities, making them a formidable offensive force.

• Suggested Teammates: Gamora, Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Mantis

Conclusion

Marvel's Future Fight has the potential to explore a captivating chapter in Kitty Pryde's comic book history: her lesser-known "Star-Lord" storyline. This presents a substantial opportunity to showcase character development and storytelling within the Marvel Universe. By incorporating Kitty's "Star-Lord" uniform, storyline, related gear, abilities, artifacts, and team bonus strategies, the game could provide players with a fresh and engaging interpretation of this beloved mutant.

Moreover, it would show the game's ability to expand characters' abilities and narratives through creative adaptations, enriching the overall gaming experience