Modred the Mystic
Encyclopedia
Modred the Mystic is a fictional
magician
in the Marvel Comics
universe
who has alternated between being an anti-hero
and an outright supervillain
. He first appeared in Marvel Chillers #1. He was created by Bill Mantlo
, Yong Montano and Marv Wolfman
.
. However, Merlin had been replaced by an imposter
(who would later go by the names of the Mad Merlin, the Maha Yogi, and Merlin Demonspawn), and Modred and Gervasse knew that "Merlin" needed to be stopped. In order to gain the power necessary for this feat, Modred sought out to master the mystic tome called the Darkhold
, the book of black magic
created by the Elder God Chthon
, in order to use its power for good. The Other, an emissary or avatar of Chthon, offered Modred great power at the cost of his soul. Modred refused until the Other targeted Julia; in order to protect her, Modred offered himself up to Chthon. His soul was corrupted, and Gervasse placed him in suspended animation, where he lay for centuries.
Modred was awakened in the modern day by archaeologists Janet Lyton and Grant Whitaker, who led him to London. There, he was shot by the police and then attacked by the Other, which he defeated. However, he was unwittingly possess by Chthon. He later assisted the superheroes Spider-Woman
and the Thing
in battling creations of the false Merlin, who was also active in the modern day. Modred, Thing, and Spider-Woman battled elementals at Stonehenge. At some point afterwards, Modred's mind and soul fell under Chthon's influence again. He took the Scarlet Witch
to Chthon's prison under Mount Wundagore
under the pretext of revealing her origins to her, for she had been exposed to Chthon's chaos magic upon her birth at Wundagore. Upon reaching Wundagore, Modred subdued the Scarlet Witch and used her as an Earthly host for Chthon. Modred was defeated and his master was exorcised, but only at the cost of the life of the Witch's adoptive father, Django Maximoff. Modred battled the Avengers at Wundagore Mountain, and with Chthon's defeat Modred was mentally damaged by the battle, and was left with the intellect of a child. He lost his sanity and knowledge of magic, and was left in the care of the High Evolutionary
's servant Bova, the cow-woman. He later regained his magical powers, and reduced the Thing and the Puppet Master
, who were visiting Transia
, to doll-size and attacked them with animated toys.
Modred witnessed Magneto
's destruction of Bova's cottage. When Bova, was injured, Modred wandered away, subconsciously seeking his native England. As he approached his homeland, his mind and power returned, as did his desire to defeat Merlin. Not knowing that the Merlin that he had sought to overthrow was an imposter, he instead targeted the real Merlin's servant on Earth: Captain Britain
. He defeated the hero, donned his costume, and then used the costume's power in combination with his own to defeat the visiting Captain America
. The two Captains defeated Modred, who was taken to the Otherworld
by Merlin. Modred later escaped from Merlin and psychically dominated Phoenix
, Captain Britain's teammate in Excalibur
, and used her to battle Quasar
and Excalibur. Modred and the possessed Phoenix were defeated by Excalibur and Quasar, and Modred was hurled into another dimension by Widget.
After the battle, Modred was exiled from the Earth's dimension, but he eventually regained his self-control and returned to Earth in order to confront Chthon and regain his soul. Back on Earth, he observed the Darkhold Redeemers, a group of normal humans and mystics who were seeking out fragments of the Darkhold. He joined them as their "leader", and defended the group from actual and potential foes, including the N'Garai
demons, the Scarlet Witch
, and Doctor Strange
. Doctor Strange bound Modred to the island of Maui
during their battle, leaving him unable to protect his teammates from the Darkhold's "Demogorge" spell. The spell was used by Blade
, who was transformed into the Switchblade, a killer of mystical heroes and monsters alike. Switchblade killed Modred, among others, but his victims were restored when the Darkhold Redeemer Louise Hastings cast the Demogorge's counter-spell from the Darkhold and returned Blade to normal.
After Modred's resurrection, the Other's servant, the Dwarf, offered him a chance to regain his own soul if he would obtain a pure soul for Chthon. Modred agreed, and found that soul in an abbey in Bath in the form of an ancient holy woman who had been blinded by age. He offered to return her youth and her lost love to her in exchange for her soul. When she agreed, he saw her now-youthful face and realized that she was his long-lost love Julia, and she could see him and realized that he was Modred. The Other appeared to take her soul, but Modred gave his own soul up to save hers, although Julia died in his arms while resisting the demon's power. Modred returned to the Darkhold Redeemers and began training Louise Hastings' son Jinx in the magical arts.
Soon afterwards, the demon-goddess Lilith, her consort Zarathos
and their Lilin offspring attacked the Redeemers and the other Midnight Sons
. Louise Hastings was killed in the battle by Morbius the Living Vampire, and Modred was falsely accused by his teammates of having set up the attack. Modred and Jinx rendered one another unconscious in the battle, but were able to escape from the Lilin. They led the Redeemers to the home of the Truthsayer, who revealed to Modred that Chthon was about to enter the Earthly realm. Modred was attacked by Metarchus, a relative of the Truthsayer who took on Modred's form in the battle. Modred took advantage of the confusion to kill the Truthsayer, preventing his allies from learning that his true master was about to be reborn on the Earth via the womb of another Darkhold Redeemer, Victoria Montesi. Following Louise's funeral, Modred left Jinx and the other Redeemers.
Modred next took on another disciple, Kyllian, a former apprentice of Doctor Strange who now called himself Wildpride. Modred took mental control over Morbius and the Werewolf by Night
, and the four attacked Strange's foe Salome. Modred offered an alliance with her, but she rebuffed him and rendered him unconscious. He was soon abducted by the extra-dimensional Clave alongside Doctor Strange's mystical doppelganger and the Scarlet Witch, but the trio was freed by Blade, and they assisted the Clave in their departure from Earth. Afterwards, Modred sent Wildpride to attack Strange, then followed the sorcerer to his new sanctum in search of Victoria Montesi, who was still pregnant with the incarnation of Chthon. Strange defeated Modred, temporarily negating his mystic power, and teleported him to Thailand. Doctor Strange later exorcised Chthon's presence from Montesi's unborn child.
Modred eventually manages to gather all the pages of the Darkhold, beating the Knights of Wundagore's emissary, Quicksilver, to them. He then returns to Mount Wundagore, kills all the knights and captures Quicksilver. Reading the Darkhold, Modred transferred Chthon into Quicksilver's body, as his soul was trapped within the Darkhold itself, all the while, causing a massive chaos cascade that engulfed the Earth. Once the ritual was complete, the very power of the Darkhold was transferred into Modred's very being and Chthon was resurrected. Outside, they see a new team of Avengers, led by Henry Pym. Though Chthon didn't regard the ragtag team as a threat, Modred was not willing to take any chance. While his master ran around the Earth, altering the effects of the cascade to his will, Modred ambushed the Avengers inside Wundagore. However, he was knocked unconscious by Iron Man.
Modred is trained in magical lore, and has an extensive knowledge of magical lore, especially spells contained in the Darkhold, the repository of mystical lore compiled by the demon Chthon.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
magician
Magician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
who has alternated between being an anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
and an outright supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
. He first appeared in Marvel Chillers #1. He was created by Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...
, Yong Montano and Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
.
Fictional character biography
Modred was born outside London, England in the 6th century, somewhere near Camelot. He was a sorcerer who served as an apprentice in magic to the wizard Gervasse. Modred was engaged to Gervasse's daughter, Julia, and was set to become the apprentice of the wizard MerlinMerlin (Marvel Comics)
Merlin is the name of multiple fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.-Fictional character biography:The first Merlin of the Marvel Universe is apparently the figure of Arthurian legend, hailing from 6th century A.D. Britain. He was born in Carmarthen, Wales. He was a powerful sorcerer who...
. However, Merlin had been replaced by an imposter
Maha Yogi
Maha Yogi is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.-Fictional character biography:This being was apparently born 10,000 years ago in what is now Central Europe. He apparently was a savage that came to possess some portion of the same Bloodgem that Ulysses Bloodstone would later possess,...
(who would later go by the names of the Mad Merlin, the Maha Yogi, and Merlin Demonspawn), and Modred and Gervasse knew that "Merlin" needed to be stopped. In order to gain the power necessary for this feat, Modred sought out to master the mystic tome called the Darkhold
Darkhold
The Darkhold, also known as The Book of Sins, is a fictional book in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:The Darkhold was co-created by Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog. The Darkhold was first mentioned in Marvel Spotlight #3 but first shown in Marvel Spotlight #4...
, the book of black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
created by the Elder God Chthon
Chthon (comics)
Chthon is a fictional character, a demonic Elder God in the Marvel Comics Universe. His name derives from chthon, the Greek word for "earth" and "earthly", especially pertaining to earth that was not life giving soil, but dark like that of the grave or the underworld...
, in order to use its power for good. The Other, an emissary or avatar of Chthon, offered Modred great power at the cost of his soul. Modred refused until the Other targeted Julia; in order to protect her, Modred offered himself up to Chthon. His soul was corrupted, and Gervasse placed him in suspended animation, where he lay for centuries.
Modred was awakened in the modern day by archaeologists Janet Lyton and Grant Whitaker, who led him to London. There, he was shot by the police and then attacked by the Other, which he defeated. However, he was unwittingly possess by Chthon. He later assisted the superheroes Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Spider-Woman is a fictional character, a superheroine in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 , and 50 issues of an ongoing series titled Spider-Woman followed...
and the Thing
Thing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
in battling creations of the false Merlin, who was also active in the modern day. Modred, Thing, and Spider-Woman battled elementals at Stonehenge. At some point afterwards, Modred's mind and soul fell under Chthon's influence again. He took the Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
to Chthon's prison under Mount Wundagore
Wundagore
-Fictional history:Wundagore is a mountain in the fictional Eastern European nation of Transia. The history of Chthon and the Darkhold are strongly tied to the mountain of Wundagore. In the Sixth Century, a cult of Darkholders led by the sorceress Morgan le Fey attempted to summon Chthon but found...
under the pretext of revealing her origins to her, for she had been exposed to Chthon's chaos magic upon her birth at Wundagore. Upon reaching Wundagore, Modred subdued the Scarlet Witch and used her as an Earthly host for Chthon. Modred was defeated and his master was exorcised, but only at the cost of the life of the Witch's adoptive father, Django Maximoff. Modred battled the Avengers at Wundagore Mountain, and with Chthon's defeat Modred was mentally damaged by the battle, and was left with the intellect of a child. He lost his sanity and knowledge of magic, and was left in the care of the High Evolutionary
High Evolutionary
The High Evolutionary is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The High Evolutionary was first mentioned in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #133 , and first appears in The Mighty Thor vol. 1 #134 , and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
's servant Bova, the cow-woman. He later regained his magical powers, and reduced the Thing and the Puppet Master
Puppet Master (comics)
The Puppet Master, real name Phillip Masters, is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Fantastic Four comics. His first appearance was in Fantastic Four volume 1 #8...
, who were visiting Transia
Transia
Transia is a fictional European country on the Earth of the Marvel Universe. It is located between Transylvania, Romania and Serbia. More than 90% of its people live in one large town and a number of smaller villages located at the base of Mount Wundagore.Transia was a former section of...
, to doll-size and attacked them with animated toys.
Modred witnessed Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
's destruction of Bova's cottage. When Bova, was injured, Modred wandered away, subconsciously seeking his native England. As he approached his homeland, his mind and power returned, as did his desire to defeat Merlin. Not knowing that the Merlin that he had sought to overthrow was an imposter, he instead targeted the real Merlin's servant on Earth: Captain Britain
Captain Britain
Captain Britain , briefly known as Britannic, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly, #1...
. He defeated the hero, donned his costume, and then used the costume's power in combination with his own to defeat the visiting Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
. The two Captains defeated Modred, who was taken to the Otherworld
Otherworld (Marvel Comics)
Otherworld is a fictional dimension in the Marvel Comics Marvel Universe. It is more commonly known as, and based on, the mythical Avalon from Celtic and more specifically Welsh mythology....
by Merlin. Modred later escaped from Merlin and psychically dominated Phoenix
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
, Captain Britain's teammate in Excalibur
Excalibur (comics)
Excalibur is a Marvel Comics superhero group, an off-shoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition , also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn.The...
, and used her to battle Quasar
Quasar (comics)
Quasar is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the . He is one of Marvel's cosmic heroes, a character whose adventures frequently take him into outer space or other dimensions...
and Excalibur. Modred and the possessed Phoenix were defeated by Excalibur and Quasar, and Modred was hurled into another dimension by Widget.
After the battle, Modred was exiled from the Earth's dimension, but he eventually regained his self-control and returned to Earth in order to confront Chthon and regain his soul. Back on Earth, he observed the Darkhold Redeemers, a group of normal humans and mystics who were seeking out fragments of the Darkhold. He joined them as their "leader", and defended the group from actual and potential foes, including the N'Garai
N'Garai
The N'Garai are a fictional race found in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:The N'Garai first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #96 , and were created by Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum....
demons, the Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
, and Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
. Doctor Strange bound Modred to the island of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
during their battle, leaving him unable to protect his teammates from the Darkhold's "Demogorge" spell. The spell was used by Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
, who was transformed into the Switchblade, a killer of mystical heroes and monsters alike. Switchblade killed Modred, among others, but his victims were restored when the Darkhold Redeemer Louise Hastings cast the Demogorge's counter-spell from the Darkhold and returned Blade to normal.
After Modred's resurrection, the Other's servant, the Dwarf, offered him a chance to regain his own soul if he would obtain a pure soul for Chthon. Modred agreed, and found that soul in an abbey in Bath in the form of an ancient holy woman who had been blinded by age. He offered to return her youth and her lost love to her in exchange for her soul. When she agreed, he saw her now-youthful face and realized that she was his long-lost love Julia, and she could see him and realized that he was Modred. The Other appeared to take her soul, but Modred gave his own soul up to save hers, although Julia died in his arms while resisting the demon's power. Modred returned to the Darkhold Redeemers and began training Louise Hastings' son Jinx in the magical arts.
Soon afterwards, the demon-goddess Lilith, her consort Zarathos
Zarathos
Zarathos is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics series Ghost Rider. He is a demonic being who tortures and devours souls. He first appears in Marvel Spotlight #5 .-Fictional character biography:...
and their Lilin offspring attacked the Redeemers and the other Midnight Sons
Midnight Sons
The Midnight Sons is fictional team of supernatural superheroes in the Marvel Comics Universe. The team first appears in Ghost Rider The Midnight Sons is fictional team of supernatural superheroes in the Marvel Comics Universe. The team first appears in Ghost Rider The Midnight Sons is fictional...
. Louise Hastings was killed in the battle by Morbius the Living Vampire, and Modred was falsely accused by his teammates of having set up the attack. Modred and Jinx rendered one another unconscious in the battle, but were able to escape from the Lilin. They led the Redeemers to the home of the Truthsayer, who revealed to Modred that Chthon was about to enter the Earthly realm. Modred was attacked by Metarchus, a relative of the Truthsayer who took on Modred's form in the battle. Modred took advantage of the confusion to kill the Truthsayer, preventing his allies from learning that his true master was about to be reborn on the Earth via the womb of another Darkhold Redeemer, Victoria Montesi. Following Louise's funeral, Modred left Jinx and the other Redeemers.
Modred next took on another disciple, Kyllian, a former apprentice of Doctor Strange who now called himself Wildpride. Modred took mental control over Morbius and the Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night is a fictional character, an antiheroic werewolf in the Marvel Comics universe. The Werewolf by Night first appeared in Marvel Spotlight vol...
, and the four attacked Strange's foe Salome. Modred offered an alliance with her, but she rebuffed him and rendered him unconscious. He was soon abducted by the extra-dimensional Clave alongside Doctor Strange's mystical doppelganger and the Scarlet Witch, but the trio was freed by Blade, and they assisted the Clave in their departure from Earth. Afterwards, Modred sent Wildpride to attack Strange, then followed the sorcerer to his new sanctum in search of Victoria Montesi, who was still pregnant with the incarnation of Chthon. Strange defeated Modred, temporarily negating his mystic power, and teleported him to Thailand. Doctor Strange later exorcised Chthon's presence from Montesi's unborn child.
Modred eventually manages to gather all the pages of the Darkhold, beating the Knights of Wundagore's emissary, Quicksilver, to them. He then returns to Mount Wundagore, kills all the knights and captures Quicksilver. Reading the Darkhold, Modred transferred Chthon into Quicksilver's body, as his soul was trapped within the Darkhold itself, all the while, causing a massive chaos cascade that engulfed the Earth. Once the ritual was complete, the very power of the Darkhold was transferred into Modred's very being and Chthon was resurrected. Outside, they see a new team of Avengers, led by Henry Pym. Though Chthon didn't regard the ragtag team as a threat, Modred was not willing to take any chance. While his master ran around the Earth, altering the effects of the cascade to his will, Modred ambushed the Avengers inside Wundagore. However, he was knocked unconscious by Iron Man.
Powers and abilities
Modred's powers are a result of the manipulation of the forces of magic, and possession by the demon Chthon. Modred has superhuman stamina and durability. He has the ability to manipulate magical forces for a variety of effects, including levitation, control of the elements, creation of mystic shields and energy projection. He can also cast any spell contained in the Darkhold. Modred loses both his sanity and his knowledge of magic when no longer possessed by the demon Chthon.Modred is trained in magical lore, and has an extensive knowledge of magical lore, especially spells contained in the Darkhold, the repository of mystical lore compiled by the demon Chthon.
External links
- http://www.marvel.com/universe/Modred_the_Mystic