Storm and Mother Nature

Mother nature is often described as fickle, with her anger coming through in bad weather and natural disasters. Of course, these are in reality the result of complex interconnecting systems, which can often be unpredictable in the same way as the emotions that were ascribed to the behaviors. The hero Storm herself represents a blending of the analogy and reality with her powers as seen in Storm (2014).

Storm thinks to herself about her growth in Storm (2014) #1

The 2014 Storm run opens with her thinking about how she's grown as a person and as a mutant. "I'm older. And I hope a little wiser." she thinks to herself as she plans how to protect a town from a tsunami. This mirrors how industrial society's understanding of nature has evolved over time since Storm's debut in Giant-Size X-Men (1975) #1. This new understanding places an emphasis on the interconnectedness of the various aspects of nature and how unpredictable the response can be to sudden changes. As she mentions, stopping a tsunami "would just [...] drown a thousand people a hundred miles north." Mother Nature, just like Storm herself, is only one system and can create out of thin air, rather they can only move the air and what's contained within it.

Storm losing her temper in Storm (2014) #1

Regarding nature's perceived anger, Storm's abilities flare up when she gets upset, in this issue angry, much like how nature has often been described. This can be seen mainly through spontaneous storms surrounding her, both when she's heckled by the paramilitary personnel and when she's called "a sellout" by one of the kids taken in by the school unwillingly. In this latter example it gets time to stew with her and we see rain pooling out of the cafeteria and actual storms following her after she storms off while claiming to not be bothered by the insult. (Oh come on it's at least a little funny!)

Storm lying to herself about her feelings in Storm (2014) #1

Storm mirrors aspects of nature that have been ascribed to it both scientifically and emotionally. While not a literal anthropomorphism of nature, she still acts to blend and represent nature as it exists in humanity's imagination. At the same time, her ability to experience emotions is what sets her aside from the way that nature is viewed by scientific humanity and allows her to be a force for good in people's lives.

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