WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Marvel’s Mystique

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters.

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<v Speaker 2>In time, We're going to continue our look at various

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<v Speaker 2>monsters from Marvel comics in this episode. Though today's pick

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<v Speaker 2>is probably better described as a human mutant. It's none

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<v Speaker 2>other than Raven Darkholme aka Mystique, the blueskinned, red haired

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<v Speaker 2>shape shifter whose various affiliations have cast her at times

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<v Speaker 2>as a supervillain and other times as an antihero in

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<v Speaker 2>the Marvel universe. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cochran

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<v Speaker 2>back in nineteen seventy eight, she has a long history

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<v Speaker 2>in various X Men media. Mystique's most obvious mutant power is,

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<v Speaker 2>of course, her ability to alter her appearance and morphology,

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<v Speaker 2>taking on the likeness of anyone in her path, often

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<v Speaker 2>in order to carry out dastardly plots and assassinations. In

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<v Speaker 2>the excellent book Marvel Anatomy by Mark Sumarac and Daniel Wallace,

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<v Speaker 2>with illustrations by Jonah Loebe, the authors point out that

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<v Speaker 2>her shape changing occurs at a molecular level, enabling her

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<v Speaker 2>to even reproduce the semblance of clothing and additional appendages

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<v Speaker 2>as needed to enhance a disguise or to aid in combat.

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<v Speaker 2>She is, in short, the ultimate infiltrator and the ultimate deceiver.

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<v Speaker 2>Now on the shape shifting front, attempting to compare her

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<v Speaker 2>to the natural world's own shape shifting expert, the mimic octopus.

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<v Speaker 2>But I've discussed that particular species on the monster fact already,

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<v Speaker 2>And besides, I was even more intrigued by something else

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<v Speaker 2>that the authors mentioned concerning mystiquees abilities so advance is

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<v Speaker 2>her ability to manipulate her own form. She can actually

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<v Speaker 2>move vital internal organs around within her body to avoid

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<v Speaker 2>fatal injuries. Now, this would seem to include sliding her

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<v Speaker 2>heart out of position and into say her upper thigh,

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<v Speaker 2>or squeezing her brain down partially into her neck or

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps even into her arm. Thus, coupled with accelerated healing,

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<v Speaker 2>she can plot to evade certain death blows, either in

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<v Speaker 2>disguise or out of it, and this has fooled her

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<v Speaker 2>would be killers many times over the years. This ability

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<v Speaker 2>really intrigued me. I was asking myself, are there species

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<v Speaker 2>in the natural world that can match or exceed this?

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<v Speaker 2>And I suppose it depends on how you choose to

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<v Speaker 2>compare it. Certainly we can think of various amorphous bodies

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<v Speaker 2>and start there. We can also think about metamorphosis. During metamorphosis,

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<v Speaker 2>most of a caterpillar's brain is broken down and ultimately

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<v Speaker 2>rebuilt into its adult form, which is one of nature's

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<v Speaker 2>stunning shape shifting feats. But this is almost too extreme

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<v Speaker 2>to compare to Mystique's shell game of sensitive organs. We've

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<v Speaker 2>already discussed the shrew's ability to shrink their brains during

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<v Speaker 2>the winter, though they don't exactly reposition them. However, during pregnancy,

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<v Speaker 2>a mother's organs will shift to accommodate the growing fetus.

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<v Speaker 2>The heart in particular is shifted during human pregnancy, though

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<v Speaker 2>the exact details vary depending on the individual. Beauterus grows,

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<v Speaker 2>elevating the diaphragm and pushing the heart upward and kind

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<v Speaker 2>of to the left. It may also push it forward

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<v Speaker 2>a little. While the heart itself does not enlarge, the

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<v Speaker 2>shift in position can lead to a misdiagnosis of an

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<v Speaker 2>enlarged heart. Likewise, the resulting distortions, and the detectable sounds

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<v Speaker 2>of the heart may require further analysis by a specialist.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's one perfectly natural way that the human body

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<v Speaker 2>can and does go moving its heart around. It's not

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<v Speaker 2>as extreme as the exploits of a human mutant from

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<v Speaker 2>the Marvel Universe, but it's still absolutely amazing. One final

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<v Speaker 2>note on Mystique is that, according to Sumarak and Wallace,

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<v Speaker 2>her cellular manipulation of her own body actually rejuvenates her

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<v Speaker 2>cells with each transformation, vastly extending her lifespan or even

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<v Speaker 2>providing her a form of biological immortality. While rare and

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<v Speaker 2>still very much an area of interest and exploration for

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<v Speaker 2>natural world scientists, we seem to see something similar in

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<v Speaker 2>certain varieties of jellyfish and plenarian flatworms, though we always

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<v Speaker 2>have to remember there's a difference between what is likely

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<v Speaker 2>under ideal lab conditions and what is likely given the

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<v Speaker 2>challenges of the wild. Mystique has already lived a long life,

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<v Speaker 2>but the Marvel universe is a dangerous place much like

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<v Speaker 2>the natural world, and she's made no shortage of enemies

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<v Speaker 2>over the years. But it would be a mistake to

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<v Speaker 2>underestimate her abilities. There will be even more Marvel Monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in the weeks ahead, with a particularly slippery one lined

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<v Speaker 2>up for next week, so don't miss that. You can

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<v Speaker 2>tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week,

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<v Speaker 2>and as always, you can email us at contact at

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<v Speaker 2>stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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