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Warren Worthington, III - XMF 002

Angel from X-Men: The Last Stand.

Winged flight refers to the ability of an organism to fly within an atmospheric environment by way of natural or artificial wings. This is a natural ability of many animals such as birds and bats, but also of various alien races as well.

In the Star Wars film series, there have been at least two different races presented that possess winged flight. One are the Toydarians who have two wings upon their back that beat rapidly allowing them to fly short distances and maintain a sustained hover. Another race, also featured in the prequel trilogy are the Geonosians, who likewise have a pair of insectoid wings upon their backs. It is unclear who fast or far they can fly with these wings, but they appear to be able to climb a maximum ceiling greater than that of a Toydarian.

On the 2011 relaunch of the ThunderCats animated series, one of the recurring antagonists is a character named Vultaire. He is a pastiche of Vultureman, who appeared in the original 1980s series. Unlike his 1980s predecessor, Vultaire actually possessed wings similar to that of his namesake and could be seen flying about the floating city of Avista.

In comics[]

Namor 001

"Silence your mocking laughter! My wings are extremely macho!"

There are many superhero and supervillain characters who have appeared in various comic book properties who possess winged flight. In DC Comics, the Golden Age hero Hawkman and his partner, Hawkgirl wore a winged harness. Future retcons revealed that the propulsion system of the wings themselves was actually governed by an alien mineral known as Nth metal. The concept of Hawkman was re-tooled in the 1960s by artist Joe Kubert wherein he was presented as an alien police officer from the planet Thanagar. The Nth metal wings were a commonly used piece of equipment amongst Thanagarian wingmen.

Flying Deviants

Flying Deviants attack New York.

In Marvel Comics, the mutant superhero known as the Angel (Warren Worthington, III) possesses a pair of bird-like wings that grew upon his back in his early teen years as a result of genetic mutation. The Angel was a member of the X-Men as well as the Champions of Los Angeles, the Defenders and X-Factor. During his early stint with X-Factor, the powerful mutant villain Apocalypse captured Angel and amputated his wings. Converting him into one of his Four Horsemen, he replaced Angel's wings with bio-mechanical wings, which actually enabled him to fly farther and faster. The mechanical wings could also launch razor-sharp pinions that could slice a foe to pieces within minutes. Eventually, Worthington lost the mechanical wings as his own natural wings began growing back.

Another Marvel Comics character of some renown is the Sub-Mariner, also a mutant. He has two little wings on the ankles of each of his feet. Their functionality is actually quite limited, but the Sub-Mariner does possess the ability to fly, though most of his speed, heft and propulsion is governed by other mutant abilities.

Characters[]

Name Source
Buth Marvel Universe
Dawnstar DC Universe
Drxla DC Universe
Fin Fang Foom Marvel Universe
Flying Guy Kick-Ass
Iridia Marvel Universe
Kierrok Marvel Universe
M'dom Typ Marvel Universe
Namor Marvel Universe
Ningal Marvel Universe
Red Raven Marvel Universe
Warren Worthington, III Marvel Universe
Veronica Dultry Marvel Universe

Races[]

Name Source
Aerians Marvel Universe
Starhavenites DC Universe

Animals[]

Name Source
Aragorn Marvel Universe
Pegasus Greek mythology

Creatures[]

Name Source
Griffins Greek mythology
Hippogryphs Greek mythology
Winged horses Greek mythology

Appearances[]

Film[]

  • Kick-Ass - Some Armenian guy dives off a building to his death.

Television[]

Comics[]

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