LIFEGUARD

BIOGRAPHY

Although the woman named Heather Cameron was born on Earth, her mother came from a distant planet deep within the galaxy. Cal’syee Neramani was the first born child of Shi`ar royalty and would have become Empress of her people despite her status as a genetic throw-back. However, along with the natural wings and talons that marked her as a genetic throw-back came a ferocious nature that earned her the name Deathbird. In a rage fueled by her ferocious temper, Cal’syee slew one of her sisters and her mother; a crime for which she was exiled from the Shi`ar Empire. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #156]

Deathbird found a new home for herself on Earth, where she operated as a super-powered mercenary for the likes of MODOK and other villains. [Ms. Marvel (1st series) #9-10] Presumably, Deathbird met Miles Warbeck, the Australian crime lord known as Viceroy, while in this line of work. Apparently the two were attracted to each other and got romantically involved, resulting in Deathbird giving birth to Warbeck’s perfectly human looking daughter, Heather.

[While never outright revealed as Lifeguard’s mother, there are four strong hints pointing at Deathbird as the only likely candidate. Her Shi'Ar facial markings indicate that Heather is of royal descent (X-Treme X-Men #14), Deathbird had been banished from the Shi’Ar Empire and was living on Earth for an unknown amount of time, two other children of Deathbird – Black Light and White Noise – sport golden metallic skin as well (X-Men: Spotlight On… Starjammers #2) and a cryptic entry in Destiny’s diaries depicts Deathbird and a female with Shi’Ar facial markings in an X-uniform, along with the line “mothered by War”, which happened to be Deathbird’s Horseman moniker while she was serving Apocalypse.]

In order to protect Heather from becoming a target for his many enemies, Warbeck put her in foster care with her younger brother, Davis, who may have been conceived by a different mother. Although the Viceroy kept close tabs on his children from afar, they never learned the truth about their parentage. They grew up happily under the last name Cameron in Surfer’s Paradise, a suburb located on the east coast of Australia. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #5]

At some point during adolescence, Heather discovered that she was a mutant, able to manifest a variety of abilities such as gills, strength or metallic armor, whenever a person was in danger. Her powers came in quite handy in her profession as a lifeguard. She and her brother, who liked to surf, spent quite a lot of time on the beach. Heather confided in Davis about her secret powers and he admired his sister for being a super hero. The siblings’ perfect world came to an abrupt end when Miles Warbeck was killed during a local gang war. As Gambit was being framed for the murder, the X-Men began to investigate thus learning of Heather and Davis Cameron and their connection to Warbeck.

Realizing that as heirs to Warbeck’s empire they would make good targets, Storm and Thunderbird AKA Neal Shaara went undercover to seek out the siblings.  Heather and Neal took an instant liking to one another, despite that fact that he was still grieving over the death of his former lover. Shortly after their arrival, the Camerons were indeed attacked by assassins. During the battle, Heather used her powers in public for the first time. Although Heather had little love for the father she never knew, she decided to help the X-Men end the gang war since innocent lives were at stake. Being a lifeguard was more to her than a profession - it also became her codename. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #6-7]

Eventually, the X-Men uncovered that Sebastian Shaw and Lady Mastermind were behind the gang war and defeated them with the help of the Camerons. However, Sage remained trapped within one of Mastermind’s hallucinations. Unsure how to help her, Lifeguard reached out to Sage and was suddenly pulled into her mind. On the astral plane, Sage mentally switched places with Heather, enabling her to beat Mastermind’s influence. In the process she made an enemy of Lifeguard, who felt used and violated. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #8-9]

Shortly afterwards, Earth was under attack by the other-dimensional Kahn and his troops, some of whom had kidnapped Lifeguard and Gambit. In order to reach and rescue them, the X-Men needed a means of teleporting, which is where Heather’s brother, Davis, came in. Sage had sensed him to be a latent mutant with the potential for teleportation. With his sister’s life at stake, the young man didn’t hesitate to accept Sage’s offer to jump-start his mutant abilities. Davis refused to listen to Thunderbird’s warnings that he didn’t know what he was signing up for. Riding Davis’ teleportation wave, the X-Men soon arrived in Madripoor where they managed to rescue Lifeguard. As she was helping some of the locals against the invading aliens, Sage also offered to stabilize Lifeguard’s fluid genome so that she could call up her powers at will. Heather refused, angry at what Sage had done to her brother. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #10-12]

Unlike Davis, Lifeguard was picked for a small strike force that would take the fight to Kahn himself by secretly entering his orbital force. The sensation of being in space triggered Heather’s dormant genetic memory  though. Once aboard the station, she found herself undergoing a strange transformation. Without her even realizing it, her body rapidly changed. Over several hours she grew fourteen inches in height, assumed certain saurian and avian elements such as talons, a beak and feathered wings. Her transformation stopped upon reaching the form of a royal Shi’ar along with the facial markings to prove her heritage.

These changes were more than skin deep. While Heather considered life sacred, in her new incarnation she was a predator and viewed the people around her as prey. She also discovered a wilder, ill-tempered side within herself, along with keen tracking senses. While this transformation was quite traumatic for Heather, it was a blessing in disguise for the X-Men. The crewmen aboard Kahn’s station assumed that the royal alien was one of Kahn’s many allies, allowing the X-Men free access to important areas of the base. Likewise, her ferocious nature made Lifeguard far more effective in battle than an untrained rookie X-Man with unpredictable powers might have been. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #13-16]

Eventually, the X-Men emerged victorious and ended Kahn’s invasion. When they returned to Earth, Heather didn’t revert to her human appearance and realized that she was now stuck in this alien form. Heather was already having a hard time adjusting to her new self and heart-broken when Davis did not even recognize her. When he learned the truth, he backed away from her in horror and quit the team entirely. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #17]

Still, Heather wanted to sort things out with him and decided to try tracking him down. Without a second thought, Neal volunteered to aid her in her journey. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #18-19] It is unknown whether Neal and Heather found Davis and, if so, how their meeting went.

Several weeks later, the pair joined the X-Corporation, an extension to the X-Men with various offices all over the globe. They were stationed in Singapore where Neal served as the head of the branch. [Excalibur (2nd series) #5] Shortly thereafter, about 90-95% of the world’s mutant population lost their powers on M-Day and X-Corporation shut down their offices. As far as is known, Neal and Heather both retained their mutant abilities but their current whereabouts and activities are unknown.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In at least one reality, Lifeguard eventually met her mother and accompanied Deathbird into outer space. It turned out that this version of Deathbird had one more daughter, Aliyah, fathered by the X-Man Bishop.  Apparently, Destiny’s prophecy was a reference to her and not Heather. Whenever Deathbird was away to plot her reclaiming of the Shi’Ar empire, Lifeguard watched over Aliyah on the planet that was Deathbird’s secret home base. Eventually, the place was targeted by their enemies. In the End, Heather sacrificed her own life to make sure that young Aliyah escaped in a shuttle to meet with the Starjammer.