The X-Men's Kate "Kitty" Pryde has a secret mutant power - but Marvel has forgotten all about it. Introduced during the iconic "Dark Phoenix Saga," Kate Pryde - formerly nicknamed Kitty - is one of the most popular X-Men of all. In large part that's because an entire generation of readers grew up with her, with the teenager becoming their viewpoint character into the world of the X-Men. She's left an indelible mark on popular culture, even inspiring Joss Whedon to create Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Most readers - and, indeed, even Marvel writers - assume they know Kate's powers pretty well. She has the mutant ability to turn intangible, and can turn anything she touches intangible as well. It might seem like a pretty defensive power, but it literally saved the world during Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, when Kate phased a planet-shattering bullet. What's more, Kate has learned to use it offensively too, and she's pretty much Kryptonite to Iron Man because her phasing power disrupts electrical systems.
But even Marvel Comics writers have forgotten one aspect of Kate's powers. In New Excalibur #2, writer Chris Claremont revealed Kate's abilities actually make her harder to be affected by psychics. Under attack by a twisted version of Charles Xavier - actually a pawn of the Shadow King - Kate's body instinctively begins to phase both herself and her fellow X-Man Rachel Grey. "She's phasing," Nightcrawler explains to the befuddled doctors who've just watched Kate collapse. "It's Kitty's defense mechanism. By making herself and Rachel intangible, Kitty protects them both from physical and psychic attack."
The protection is only partially effective, and the Shadow King's Xavier is still powerful enough to have a profound effect on both Kate and Rachel Grey. But it does clearly disrupt him, because the Shadow King's attempt to corrupt the two X-Men is protracted enough to give the rest of the Excalibur superhero splinter-group an opportunity to distract the malevolent psychic entity.
It's just a shame this aspect of Kate's power has been forgotten, because it could potentially be tremendously effective when going up against rogue psychics. Indeed, the Shadow King now lives on the mutant island of Krakoa, and he's up to his old tricks - so a mutant who possesses a degree of psychic resistance to his influence could be very useful if the X-Men are to prevent the Shadow King causing chaos on Krakoa. That's assuming the current group of writers remember this particular power, of course.