Noelle Meinhardt[1] is a member and the former leader of the Travelers.
Personality[]
Prior to gaining her powers, Noelle struggled with anorexia.[2] She claims to be very bad at remembering names.[3]
She is described as a natural tactician and led her gaming group to multiple victories. As Echidna, she is shown to be a clever opponent, though as the fight went on she became more feral.[4]
Appearance[]
Noelle was a young woman with straight brown hair.[5] Several people found her attractive.
Abilities and Powers[]
Noelle has the ability to consume people and make clones out of them. If someone touches her, clones of that person will emerge that are stronger, of a twisted disposition, and loyal only to Noelle herself but otherwise impossible to control. If she maintains contact with the original, she can continuously produce clones of that person. These clones, along with vomit, are her only excretions; she eats only meat and it adds directly to her mass. She is capable of manipulating the created limbs of this mass to devastating effect.
Any clone created from a parahuman gives the clone parahuman a variation of the original's abilities. This is done through a process similar to budding.
All the above powers are fueled through a seemingly bottomless resource of potential mass stored in the core of her lower half; this also allows her to grow and regenerate at an alarming rate.
It is likely that her power was affected by the fact that she was administered only half a dose of Cauldron's superpower serum; her unstable temperament and monstrous lower body were probably not in the intended spectrum of effects. Oliver, who drank the second half of the dose, may have received the portion of the power intended to moderate and control these effects.
History[]
Background[]
Noelle was the captain of a professional-level video game team on Earth Aleph.
Migration[]
When the Simurgh attacked Madison, Wisconsin, on Earth Bet, she took several buildings from Earth Aleph - including the building Noelle was in - which left Noelle stranded on Earth Bet with her friends. After Francis found a suitcase full of Cauldron formulas, they each took one except for Noelle and Oliver who took half each of the same dose.
Story Start[]
Noelle is the reason why the Travelers are constantly shifting from place to place. The group is on a search to find a solution to fix the defects in Noelle granted by the incorrectly administered dose, and this, along with Noelle's unpredictable temperament, is inimical to their lingering in any given place for long.
Post-Leviathan[]
With the Slaughterhouse Nine active in Brockton Bay, the Travelers felt it prudent to reinstate Noelle as the team leader, due to her tactical acumen.[6] Her advice significantly influenced the Traveler's actions during this period.
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine[]
Noelle's condition worsens. When Coil's underlings turn and Coil himself is killed, Noelle escapes confinement from his headquarters.
Echidna[]
Having escaped, Noelle subdues and kidnaps Vista, keeping her in stasis within Noelle's lower half. She eventually contacts the Protectorate and PRT, claiming she had killed Vista and talking about how the Undersiders had robbed her of her greatest chance of a return to normalcy. She then gives an ultimatum: If the authorities kill the Undersiders, or give the Undersiders over to her, or at least allow her to kill them, she will submit to attempts to execute her. Otherwise, she will continue her rampage. Just before dawn Noelle encountered Eidolon, having prepared an ambush of clones for him. They talk, with Eidolon mentioning Coil's connection to Cauldron to a skeptical Noelle. Both agree that they are each prepared to die, but Noelle mentions that a second consciousness within her disallows her from accepting death by flooding her with emotions that would lead her to reject it.
They battle, moving through several sections of the city in the process. The battle is joined by the Travelers, come to claim responsibility for, and see to the execution of Noelle. Noelle herself blames them, especially Trickster, for her condition. This leads Trickster to begin to sabotage Eidolon's efforts at fighting Noelle. Noelle grows as more heroes and villains join the battle, eventually capturing several members of the Undersiders while semiconscious.
Trickster's sabotage eventually leads Eidolon to create a lingering electric effect that keeps Trickster's interference to a minimum. Noelle, reflecting on how her condition was her fault as much as it was anyone else's, runs through these powers to get to Trickster, noting that even their great intensity failed to kill her. There, as heroes gathered at range, Noelle surrenders to her other consciousness.
When she wakes, she notices Eidolon partially subdued in front of her. She offers the same deal as before, and Eidolon resignedly accepts to let her be and orders his reinforcements not to engage her, revealing that Noelle had been designated by the PRT as Echidna.
(This summary is incomplete.)
Chapter Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Migration 17.8
- ↑ Hydrargentium
I’m inclined to disagree with the bulimia diagnosis, and go with anorexia instead, based on this clue: “The way she picked at her food, the way Marissa got on her case about eating?”
Bulimics don’t pick at food. They eat it. Then they throw it up to get rid of it, so it can’t make them “fatter”. Anorexics don’t want to eat food at all, so that it can’t make them “fatter”. The quote above implies that Mars was getting on her case about needing to eat more, not eating in general. Hence, the anorexia diagnosis.
And, of course, anorexia is all about control as well — the same as bulimia, since controlling one’s food intake is not just about trying to keep from being “fat”, but actually having something, anything to control at all.
Also, as JGuy pointed out, she did try to starve herself to gain control of her situation.
wildbow
There we go. - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 18 - ↑ The space-warper. I’m so bad with the names. So many names for you capes. I only ever paid attention to the powers - Excerpt from Queen 18.4
- ↑ - Excerpt from Queen 18.5
- ↑ - Excerpt from Migration 17.1
- ↑ Plague 12.3
[]
| Leader | Noelle Meinhardt † • Trickster ‡ |
|---|---|
| Members | Ballistic ‡ • Genesis ‡ • Oliver ‡ • Perdition ‡ • Sundancer ‡ |
