Karma, whose real name is Xuân Cao Mạnh (previously rendered as Xi'an Coy Manh), is a mutant superheroine in Marvel Comics, primarily associated with the X-Men and New Mutants. Created by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, she first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #100 (December 1980), where she debuted as a young Vietnamese refugee using her psionic abilities to possess minds in order to rescue her younger siblings from her criminal uncle, General Nguyen Ngoc Coy. In this story, she briefly controlled Spider-Man and collaborated with the Fantastic Four, earning her codename "Karma" from a discussion of karmic balance. Subsequently, she became Professor Charles Xavier's secretary and the first recruit for the New Mutants, serving as a founding member and initial leader of the team due to her relative maturity and responsibility as guardian to her siblings.
As a core member of the original New Mutants lineup, Karma participated in early adventures involving threats such as the Brood and Demon Bear, demonstrating her possession powers to control enemies or gather intelligence. However, a significant turning point occurred when she vanished while searching for her missing siblings, Leong and Nga, who had been kidnapped. In reality, she was possessed and controlled by the malevolent entity Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King, who exploited her body for years, leading to physical changes including significant weight gain from his influence. Upon her rescue by the New Mutants, she struggled with the aftermath but eventually regained control, marking a period of absence from active heroism as she rebuilt her life.
In later developments, Karma rejoined mutant teams, retaining her powers post-M-Day and serving on Utopia with the X-Men. She suffered the loss of her left leg during the "Second Coming" storyline against Cameron Hodge, later using a prosthetic. Karma emerged as one of Marvel's earliest openly lesbian characters, with her sexuality explored in stories including a romantic arc in the 2022-2023 Love Unlimited Infinity Comic series, which also canonically corrected her name to reflect authentic Vietnamese naming conventions. More recently, following the Krakoan era, she participated in the Crucible to enable her twin brother Tran's resurrection and appeared in the 2025 "One World Under Doom" event as part of revised team affiliations, continuing her role as a resilient and compassionate figure in the mutant community.