Celsius (Arani Desai) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

in the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

series ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...

''. She first appeared in '' Showcase'' #94 (September 1977), and was created by

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

and

Joe Staton Joe Staton ( born January 19, 1948) is an American comics artist and writer. He co-created the Bronze Age Huntress (Helena Wayne), as well as the third Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Kilowog and the Omega Men for DC Comics. He was the artist o ...

. She is among the very few superheroes of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

heritage, and may be the first ever such hero created by DC Comics. Celsius appeared in her first live adaptation on the first season of the ''

'' television series for

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

played by Jasmine Kaur and

Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey Order of the British Empire, CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-born British-American actress, cookbook and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the weste ...

Background and creation

Celsius was created for the new, rebooted Doom Patrol which debuted in ''Showcase'' #94-96. Inspired by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler (character), Nightcrawler, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Colossus (character), Colos ...

's "New

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

", writer Paul Kupperberg wanted to have some heroes of different nationalities in the group. Artist Joe Staton used photos from ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' articles about India as the model for Celsius.

Fictional character biography

Arani Desai was born in India into a life of wealth and privilege. After her mother dies in childbirth and her father Ashok goes insane, Arani is rescued by Niles Caulder, who she later marries. After Caulder abandons her in the Himalayas, Arani trains with Buddhist monks and gains the ability to manipulate temperature.Following the death of the original Doom Patrol, Celsius forms a team to search for Caulder and discovers that Robotman and

Negative Man Negative Man (Lawrence Michael "Larry" Trainor) is a superhero from DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Haney, Arnold Drake, and Bruno Premiani and made his first appearance in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963). Negative Man has a ...

survived. However, Negative Man is kidnapped by Ashok, who has become a demonic

metahuman In the DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with the terms '' mutant'', '' inhuman'' and '' mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In ...

, before the Doom Patrol defeat him. In '' Invasion!'', Celsius is killed while stopping a Gil'Dishpan ship from escaping the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. In ''

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in i ...

'', Celsius is temporarily resurrected as a

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

. In ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' continuity reboot, she is permanently resurrected and becomes the leader of the Doomed, India's sanctioned superhero team.

Powers and abilities

Celsius is a superior martial artist due to her monastery training. She has minor levels of ancient mysticism taught to her due to her monastery training in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monks. These same Buddhist monks taught Arani to control and manipulate her core temperature, projecting fire and ice from her left and right hands respectively.

In other media

Celsius appears in the ''

'' episode "Doom Patrol Patrol", portrayed by Jasmine Kaur as a young woman and

as an old woman. This version was a member of a 1950s incarnation of the Doom Patrol before they were defeated and rendered mentally ill by Mr. Nobody.

References

External links

DCU Guide: Celsius
{{Doom Patrol Characters created by Jim Aparo Characters created by Paul Kupperberg Comics characters introduced in 1977 DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics martial artists DC Comics metahumans DC Comics superheroes Indian superheroes Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Fictional immigrants to the United States