Titania (DC Comics)
Encyclopedia
Titania is a fictional character
, a comic book
faerie published by DC Comics
. She first appeared in The Sandman #19 (September 1990), and was created by Neil Gaiman
and Charles Vess
. She is inspired by, and implied to be the same Titania as the faerie
queen in William Shakespeare
's play A Midsummer Night's Dream
, .
planned a small arc involving William Shakespeare
entering a deal with the Dream King
to write plays that would live on after him. Having introduced Shakespeare, Gaiman then decided to tell the story of the first play that the writer wrote for Dream in payment of the bargain. He turned to his favourite of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream
creating analogues of the play's main otherworldly characters and inventing the fiction that Shakespeare wrote the play to Dream's instructions to ensure that humans never forgot Faerie
and its rulers, Lord Auberon
and Lady Titania. Having created her, Gaiman used Titania as a recurring character throughout the series, and when he was asked part way through his run on The Sandman to write a script to introduce DC's magical characters to a new audience he gave her a guest role in the resultant mini-series, The Books of Magic
.
One ambiguous scene written by Gaiman was interpreted by some to suggest that Queen Titania was the mother of the comic's main character, Timothy Hunter
, which ensured that the character would return when the mini-series became an ongoing series. Chosen as Gaiman's replacement, John Ney Rieber
discovered that a gaming guide to the DC universe had made this assumption, and worried that a key part of the Tim Hunter character - that he was a normal teenage boy - might be lost if this was true. Instead of simply denying the possibility of Titania being Tim's mother Rieber decided to use the idea as one of his ongoing storylines, while gently debunking it. This meant utilizing Titania - and her husband Auberon - as supporting characters for most of his run on the comic, which in turn meant frequent visits and explorations to Faerie. Such was the importance of Titania to Rieber's version of The Books of Magic that when its popularity caused DC to release a spin-off miniseries, they decided that a three issue mini-series about her rise to power would be most suitable - one that, ironically, reignited the possibility that she might be Tim's mother.
The character later returned for brief appearances in Dylan Horrocks' Hunter: The Age of Magic and Si Spencer's
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
, before author Mike Carey brought her back in the prestige format graphic novel God Save the Queen
. The graphic novel also introduced the character of Queen Mab, a name which The Sandman had established that Titania sometimes used as an alias.
established that Titania's true appearance was constantly hidden by a magical glamour, which may offer an explanation for the changing skin tone.
. When she was collecting wood in a nearby forest, she was tempted by a group of Flitlings to return with them to Faerie
. Once there, she became a favorite of Queen Dymphna, earning the nickname Rosebud to protect her true name: she also caught the eye of King Obrey, who - spurred on by his jester, the manipulative Amadan - magically transformed his wife into a tree and took Maryrose as his second wife. Maryrose took a gemstone glamour from Dymphna and used it to appear a pure-blood faerie at her coronation, taking the name Queen Titania.
Titania seemed truly flattered by the love and attention of the king, but this was short-lived: Obrey was killed in battle by the rightful King of Faerie, Lord Auberon
. Seeking to reunite the warring factions, Auberon took Titania as his wife when he reclaimed the throne, and urged her to quickly set about the work of producing an heir to make the union secure. Titania felt slighted by the loss of a loving husband and his replacement with one whose only interest in her appeared to be political, and soon began the first of many affairs with the human falconer Tamlin. Titania's infidelity later became notorious - even one of her lesser subjects was able to comment on how fitting it was that Auberon wore horns
- and she is rumoured to have had an affair with Dream of the Endless
(called "Lord Shaper" by the faeries) and was seen casually bedding her female servant Selwyn - unaware that the maid was Auberon in disguise. Perhaps because of her own infidelity, Titania was quick to assume that Auberon was equally unfaithful although no evidence of this was ever shown, and conversely Auberon was shown to maintain strong affection for his wife even in the face of her reputation, even regularly disguising himself as a maid to be with his queen without enduring her scorn.
Titania was shown to be a jealous lover, demanding unconditional adoration from her lovers even though she rarely returned the feelings herself: her affair with Tamlin ended when he realised what she was truly like and she was noticeably annoyed when Dream sent no secret message for her with a servant who returned to Faerie from his realm. However, she has also shown genuine affection and emotion, even if she tries to hide it: when her affair with Tamlin leaves her with a human son (possibly the powerful magician Timothy Hunter
), she is devastated to have to send him to Earth to keep the secret of her nature and her affair from the King and risks sending her entire realm to war against Hell to protect her son with Auberon from being kept in Hell as payment of Faerie's tithe to the demons.
Titania was acutely aware of her status as queen, and the respect and attention she felt she was due because of it. She nearly caused the destruction of her entire realm by cursing Molly O'Reilly
to turn her into the "Burning Girl" for no other reason than her attendants' fascination with the girl's efforts to grow real vegetables, and frequently grew enraged at Timothy Hunter's casual disregard for the possibility that she might be his mother. However, rarely, she can show something like humility, for example apologising to Molly for the trouble she caused the girl and acknowledging that she had done wrong. Despite her faults, Titania was a strong and able queen, whether riding out to face down the forces of Hell at the head of her army or subtley politicking to ensure that Faerie's best interests were met in the wider worlds.
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...
, a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
faerie published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. She first appeared in The Sandman #19 (September 1990), and was created by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and Charles Vess
Charles Vess
Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...
. She is inspired by, and implied to be the same Titania as the faerie
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
queen in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, .
Publication history
As part of his comic The Sandman, writer Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
planned a small arc involving William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
entering a deal with the Dream King
Dream (comics)
Dream is the fictional protagonist of DC Comics' Vertigo comic book series The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. One of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, all that is not in reality...
to write plays that would live on after him. Having introduced Shakespeare, Gaiman then decided to tell the story of the first play that the writer wrote for Dream in payment of the bargain. He turned to his favourite of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
creating analogues of the play's main otherworldly characters and inventing the fiction that Shakespeare wrote the play to Dream's instructions to ensure that humans never forgot Faerie
Faerie (DC Comics)
Faerie, The Fair Lands or The Twilight Realm is one of two fictional otherdimensional homelands for the Faerie, as published by DC Comics. The Vertigo Comics realm of Faerie is an amalgam of the mythological realms of Álfheimr, Otherworld, the Fortunate Isles, Tír na nÓg and Avalon. This mix is...
and its rulers, Lord Auberon
Auberon (comics)
Auberon, is a character who appears primarily in DC Comics' adult-oriented Vertigo line. He is inspired by the faerie king Oberon from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.-Background:...
and Lady Titania. Having created her, Gaiman used Titania as a recurring character throughout the series, and when he was asked part way through his run on The Sandman to write a script to introduce DC's magical characters to a new audience he gave her a guest role in the resultant mini-series, The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...
.
One ambiguous scene written by Gaiman was interpreted by some to suggest that Queen Titania was the mother of the comic's main character, Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...
, which ensured that the character would return when the mini-series became an ongoing series. Chosen as Gaiman's replacement, John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer. He has been writing for the comics The Books of Magic, Captain America, G.I. Joe and Tomb Raider.-Bibliography:Comics work includes:*Shadows Fall Issues #1-6...
discovered that a gaming guide to the DC universe had made this assumption, and worried that a key part of the Tim Hunter character - that he was a normal teenage boy - might be lost if this was true. Instead of simply denying the possibility of Titania being Tim's mother Rieber decided to use the idea as one of his ongoing storylines, while gently debunking it. This meant utilizing Titania - and her husband Auberon - as supporting characters for most of his run on the comic, which in turn meant frequent visits and explorations to Faerie. Such was the importance of Titania to Rieber's version of The Books of Magic that when its popularity caused DC to release a spin-off miniseries, they decided that a three issue mini-series about her rise to power would be most suitable - one that, ironically, reignited the possibility that she might be Tim's mother.
The character later returned for brief appearances in Dylan Horrocks' Hunter: The Age of Magic and Si Spencer's
Si Spencer
Si Spencer is a British comic book writer and TV dramatist and editor, with work appearing in British comics such as Crisis, before moving to the American comics industry...
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime is a fantasy comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 2004 and 2005 that was discontinued after fifteen issues....
, before author Mike Carey brought her back in the prestige format graphic novel God Save the Queen
God Save the Queen (graphic novel)
God save the Queen is a 96-page graphic novella published in 2007 by Vertigo DC Comics. It was written by Mike Carey and painted by John Bolton....
. The graphic novel also introduced the character of Queen Mab, a name which The Sandman had established that Titania sometimes used as an alias.
Appearance
In her first appearance, Titania was depicted as a regal woman who looked almost entirely human save for pointed ears. While her physical appearance remained consistent regardless of the artist depicting her during her time in The Sandman, her skin colour varied from green back to normal human tones and then back to a consistent green whenever she appeared in The Books of Magic. The Books of FaerieThe Books of Faerie
The Books of Faerie was a series of three mini-series spun off from Vertigo Comics' series The Books of Magic written by Bronwyn Carlton and John Ney Rieber...
established that Titania's true appearance was constantly hidden by a magical glamour, which may offer an explanation for the changing skin tone.
Fictional character biography
Titania was born a normal human girl called Maryrose living in poverty with her grandmother during the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. When she was collecting wood in a nearby forest, she was tempted by a group of Flitlings to return with them to Faerie
Faerie (DC Comics)
Faerie, The Fair Lands or The Twilight Realm is one of two fictional otherdimensional homelands for the Faerie, as published by DC Comics. The Vertigo Comics realm of Faerie is an amalgam of the mythological realms of Álfheimr, Otherworld, the Fortunate Isles, Tír na nÓg and Avalon. This mix is...
. Once there, she became a favorite of Queen Dymphna, earning the nickname Rosebud to protect her true name: she also caught the eye of King Obrey, who - spurred on by his jester, the manipulative Amadan - magically transformed his wife into a tree and took Maryrose as his second wife. Maryrose took a gemstone glamour from Dymphna and used it to appear a pure-blood faerie at her coronation, taking the name Queen Titania.
Titania seemed truly flattered by the love and attention of the king, but this was short-lived: Obrey was killed in battle by the rightful King of Faerie, Lord Auberon
Auberon (comics)
Auberon, is a character who appears primarily in DC Comics' adult-oriented Vertigo line. He is inspired by the faerie king Oberon from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.-Background:...
. Seeking to reunite the warring factions, Auberon took Titania as his wife when he reclaimed the throne, and urged her to quickly set about the work of producing an heir to make the union secure. Titania felt slighted by the loss of a loving husband and his replacement with one whose only interest in her appeared to be political, and soon began the first of many affairs with the human falconer Tamlin. Titania's infidelity later became notorious - even one of her lesser subjects was able to comment on how fitting it was that Auberon wore horns
Cuckold
Cuckold is a historically derogatory term for a man who has an unfaithful wife. The word, which has been in recorded use since the 13th century, derives from the cuckoo bird, some varieties of which lay their eggs in other birds' nests...
- and she is rumoured to have had an affair with Dream of the Endless
Dream (comics)
Dream is the fictional protagonist of DC Comics' Vertigo comic book series The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. One of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, all that is not in reality...
(called "Lord Shaper" by the faeries) and was seen casually bedding her female servant Selwyn - unaware that the maid was Auberon in disguise. Perhaps because of her own infidelity, Titania was quick to assume that Auberon was equally unfaithful although no evidence of this was ever shown, and conversely Auberon was shown to maintain strong affection for his wife even in the face of her reputation, even regularly disguising himself as a maid to be with his queen without enduring her scorn.
Titania was shown to be a jealous lover, demanding unconditional adoration from her lovers even though she rarely returned the feelings herself: her affair with Tamlin ended when he realised what she was truly like and she was noticeably annoyed when Dream sent no secret message for her with a servant who returned to Faerie from his realm. However, she has also shown genuine affection and emotion, even if she tries to hide it: when her affair with Tamlin leaves her with a human son (possibly the powerful magician Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...
), she is devastated to have to send him to Earth to keep the secret of her nature and her affair from the King and risks sending her entire realm to war against Hell to protect her son with Auberon from being kept in Hell as payment of Faerie's tithe to the demons.
Titania was acutely aware of her status as queen, and the respect and attention she felt she was due because of it. She nearly caused the destruction of her entire realm by cursing Molly O'Reilly
Molly O'Reilly
Molly O'Reilly is a fictional character created for the Vertigo comic book series The Books of Magic by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Peter Gross. She proved to be very popular with the readership, who repeatedly asked for her return when she was written out of the main series...
to turn her into the "Burning Girl" for no other reason than her attendants' fascination with the girl's efforts to grow real vegetables, and frequently grew enraged at Timothy Hunter's casual disregard for the possibility that she might be his mother. However, rarely, she can show something like humility, for example apologising to Molly for the trouble she caused the girl and acknowledging that she had done wrong. Despite her faults, Titania was a strong and able queen, whether riding out to face down the forces of Hell at the head of her army or subtley politicking to ensure that Faerie's best interests were met in the wider worlds.