Arclight's power is a miserable thing to face underground. She can deliver shockwaves through physical force, and the people around her are surrounded by walls and ceilings that…

Arclight's power is a miserable thing to face underground. She can deliver shockwaves through physical force, and the people around her are surrounded by walls and ceilings that can become weapons without warning. In the Mutant Massacre, she helps make the tunnels themselves part of the attack. A collapse can separate rescuers, block a route or bury people who were trying to escape. The Morlocks don't just have to outrun somebody. They have to get through a home that is being broken around them. She's physically imposing before the shockwaves even enter the picture. The broad shoulders and heavy punches give her a very different silhouette from Harpoon or Scrambler. You can understand her place in the group before anybody stops to explain what she does. But treating her as only the strong one misses why she fits this team. The Marauders need to keep their victims from finding a clean way out. Arclight can change the space where the fight is happening, leaving the others to work through the confusion. It's an ugly use of a power that could just as easily have been useful clearing wreckage or opening an escape route. The early stories don't give her a long personal introduction before showing her at work. There isn't a stretch where the reader gets to meet her away from the job and decide whether she might be misunderstood. Her first impression is built from what she does to the people in front of her. That is enough to make her presence uncomfortable. When Arclight winds up for a hit, the person directly in her way isn't necessarily the only one in danger.