Domino is the name of a famous pizza chain and the name of a print magazine, but it’s also the name of a series of games involving a set of flat, thumbsized rectangular blocks that are each bearing on one side an arrangement of from one to six dots or pips. Twenty-eight such pieces comprise a complete domino set. Traditionally, the tiles are made of ivory or bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother-of-pearl), or dark hardwoods such as ebony. The pips are inlaid or painted black or white; in modern sets they are usually formed of polymer, but historically they have been made of metals, ceramic clay, stone, wood, and other natural materials, as well.
The word domino comes from the Latin dominium, meaning “dominant rule”; it later came to mean a kind of domino game. The first use of the term in English was in 1750, though it had earlier denoted both a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask at carnivals and masquerades, and a playing piece of the type used by priests over their surplices.
During her time with the mercenary group the Six Pack, Domino helped to track down and destroy the Cyberdyne system, a machine designed to harvest body parts from living mutants for their synthetic DNA. During this mission, she clashed with a Sentinel named Ekaterina Gryaznova, who later had her implanted with a neural blocker that essentially disabled her powers and made it impossible for her to coordinate with the team. This left Domino so shaken that she went on her own, but she later returned when Cable invited her to rejoin the X-Men.
Aside from her mutant abilities, Domino has a reputation for being lucky, and she is often referred to as the “Lucky Lady.” She has even had this name applied to her in the past, when she was employed by the CIA and part of a covert team hunting down a mutant terrorist called the Vanisher.
In her subsequent work with X-Force, Domino clashed with the mutants Donald Pierce and Lady Deathstrike over their attempt to download Milo Thurman’s mind into a computer. She saved him in the process, but her luck ran out during a confrontation with The Right that left her critically wounded.
Domino has also worked on an unofficial basis with Wolverine and the new X-Force, leading the group during a battle to save mutants from a terrorist cell known as the Third Species. During this fight, Domino saw the Red Hulk transform and was knocked out, but she was able to prevent him from telling anyone of her knowledge, which allowed the team to thwart the attack. Following this, Domino was recruited into X-Corporation, an organization designed to monitor mutant rights violations. She was sent to Hong Kong, where she uncovered the truth behind John Sublime’s “Third Species” movement and freed a mutant named Xorn in the process. This led to the creation of the new black ops team Code Red, which included Domino.