In addition to Storm, from Kenya, the new X-Men included Cyclops (United States) alongside the newly created Colossus (from the Soviet Union/Russia), Nightcrawler (from West Germany/Germany), and Thunderbird (a Native American of Apache descent), and three previously introduced characters: Banshee (from Ireland), Sunfire (from Japan), and Wolverine (from Canada).

[4] Since the creative team did not want the X-Men to have an all-male lineup, editor Roy Thomas suggested that Cockrum make his character Typhoon, designed as a male, into the woman of the group.

In The Uncanny X-Men #173 (October 1983), Claremont and artist Paul Smith created a new look for Storm, replacing her old costume with a punk fashion aesthetic: A black leather top and pants with spikes and a mohawk.

Comics scholar andre m. carrington views this incident as a challenge to the stereotype of Black women as universal caregivers, demonstrating unconscious expectations of race and gender.

[52] Also that year, the miniseries Ororo: Before the Storm by writer Mark Sumerak retold her backstory in greater detail, concentrating on her relationship with surrogate father figure Achmed el-Gibar during her childhood.

[59] The series establishes that Black Panther and Storm are both well-known and respected political leaders and celebrities worldwide; real-life figures such as George W. Bush, Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, and Oprah Winfrey are depicted as attending the wedding, as well as many Marvel superheroes.

Hudlin, the writer, responded that the event was set up by earlier storylines and that some of the criticisms may have been motivated by the desire to see Storm in a relationship with a character of long-standing popularity, such as Wolverine.

Written by Brian Wood with art by Olivier Coipel, X-Men features a roster of Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey and Psylocke.

[88] In 2016, Storm re-appears a supporting character for Black Panther in the series written by well-known journalist and public intellectual Ta-Nehisi Coates, A Nation Under Our Feet.

[92] Storm features in the ensuing Marauders series written by Gerry Duggan, along with Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Emma Frost, Bishop, and Pyro.

[100] Ramzi Fawaz argues that Storm is defined by a capacity to "balance collective intimacies with her need for personal autonomy" and that this mirrors her superpowers' connection to the unpredictability of the natural world.

Storm's mother, N'Dare, was the princess of a tribe in Kenya and descended from a long line of African witch-priestesses with white hair, blue eyes, and a natural gift for sorcery.

According to Reginald Hudlin's Black Panther series, David Munroe's mother, Harriet, was an aide to Malcolm X who accompanied him on his journey throughout African, including Wakanda.

[103] In late 2000s storylines, however, writers like Ed Brubaker and Christopher Yost have indicated that Storm had largely conquered her claustrophobia,[107] and can freely move in tight spaces, even over long periods of time.

[108] After the death of her parents, Ororo wanders Cairo's back-alleys for a few weeks, until she is picked up by the benign street lord Achmed el-Gibar and becomes a prolific thief;[53] among her victims is her future mentor Professor X who is there to meet the Shadow King.

[120] In a storyline that began in 1984, Storm is deprived of her superhuman powers by an energy weapon fired by Henry Peter Gyrich; unknown to her, this device was designed by the mutant inventor Forge.

[127] During the "Fall of the Mutants" storyline, she is reunited with Forge,[128] regains her superhuman powers,[129] and dies with the X-Men in giving her life force to defeat the Adversary; she is resurrected by Roma.

She can create precipitation at higher or lower altitudes than normal, make whirlwinds travel pointing lengthwise in any direction, channel ambient electromagnetism through her body to generate electric blasts, flash freeze objects and people, coalesce atmospheric pollutants into acid rain or toxic fog, and summon wind currents strong enough to support her weight to elevate herself (or others) to fly at high altitudes and speeds.

[159] For some unknown reason, since the dawn of Atlantis, this line of African women has been given distinguishing features of white hair, blue eyes, and powerful magic potential.

As part of her paraphernalia, Storm carries a set of lock-picks (with which she has an extraordinary ability at picking locks, including her teeth while her physical coordination was reduced to the level of an infant[112]) and her ancestral ruby, which allows inter-dimensional transportation with the help of her lightning.

[168][169][170] Storm is among the most famous Black female superheroes, and as a result has been widely viewed as an icon of third wave feminism and intersectionality, conceptual innovations that address the intertwining of race and gender.

[171] Gladys L. Knight, author of Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video games, Film, and Television (2010) wrote that "two defining aspects of her persona are her racial identity and her social status as a mutant.

[173] Carol Cooper also views the early appearances of the character as emblematic of "the mythic earth-mother/matriarch figure critiqued by many black feminists as both unrealistic and racist in its glib projection of inhuman perfection.

"[174] While Storm has always been presented as a Black woman, she is also often drawn with more European features and canonically has blue eyes; some have criticized these choices as concessions to aesthetic standards of white Americans.

[175] However, Ramzi Fawaz writes, "Ororo is a character with few, if any, genuine antecedents in American superhero comic books: a superpowered black woman, who grew up a vagabond.

"[177] Fawaz interprets Storm as embodying the "black female disco diva" that dominated gay and African American visual culture" by means of her costume and "hyperbolic performance of an 'African goddess' persona.

"[176] Fawaz is particularly interested in Storm's bond with Jean Grey in the mid-1970s, which he sees as a representation of "radical political attempts to articulate cross-racial alliances and mutual recognition between women.

"[178] Storm also unites African-American and continental African notions of Black identity, particularly in the storyline which she takes a leave of absence of the X-Men in order to return to her homeland for a year, titled Lifedeath II.

In DC Comics, she was also preceded by Teen Titans member Mal Duncan who debuted in 1970, Green Lantern wielder John Stewart (1971), and Mister Miracle protégé Shilo Norman (1973).

In a time when the majority of superheroes were only white men in capes, Ororo broke the mold and proved that diversity in comics was possible and lucrative with the X-Men starring in several pop-culture landmarks, including the popular '90s animated series.