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Merlin is a legendary character who has appeared multiple times throughout comic books especially in DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2020) |
Merlin is a legendary character who has appeared multiple times throughout comic books especially in DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
The first adaptation of Merlin first appeared in a King Arthur-based comic book story in the anthology comic book series entitled originally New Comics (later re-titled Adventure Comics ) in issue #3 (February 1936) by Rafael Astarita, kicking off a six-issue adaptation of "The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney". [1] He was also one of the earliest recurring characters in a DC Comics title, appearing after Doctor Occult and before Slam Bradley and Superman.
In a Superboy story, Merlin appears as a scientist of King Arthur's time who resembles Mr. Mxyzptlk. [2]
The modern version of Merlin is Etrigan's half-brother and bound him to the human Jason Blood. [3] He additionally gives Shining Knight his enchanted weaponry and the pegasus Winged Victory, and guides squire Brian Kent, who becomes the Silent Knight. [4] [5] [6]
Merlin has owned several artifacts, including a Runestone, the Book of Eternity, and the Philosopher's Stone. [7] [8] [9]
In the Vertigo Comics miniseries The Names of Magic, Timothy Hunter encounters an aspect of Merlin trapped in a cave in Cornwall. Merlin's spirit manifests in Tim's owl Yoyo and tutors him before being killed by the Brotherhood of the Cold Flame.
In The Trials of Shazam! , Merlin takes on a demonic appearance and goes by his Welsh name Myrddin. [10]
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Merlin is the founder of Stormwatch under the alias Adam One. [11]
Merlin is the name of multiple fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
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 acted as teacher, advisor, and defender of King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. Merlin warned King Arthur that his son, Mordred, would be responsible for the end of Camelot, but before Arthur could put the baby to death, he was rescued and raised in anonymity. Merlin was responsible for teaching magic to Morgan le Fay, though she turned against him and became one of King Arthur's greatest foes.
Knowing that Britain would need a champion to face the likes of Morgan and Mordred, he sought a boy to become the first Black Knight. He had this boy, Percy, trained in all known forms of combat, and when he grew up, Sir Percy was presented with the Ebony Blade. [15]
When Kang the Conqueror traveled back to the days of Camelot, Merlin was defeated and imprisoned by Kang, who planned to change history. Merlin defeated Kang, however, with the aid of time travelers the Human Torch and the Thing who the Watcher had transported back in time. [16]
Merlin cast a spell over the dying Sir Percy so that he would have successors in future centuries. [17]
Merlin was finally placed in suspended animation within an enchanted cave by the faerie sorceress Nimue. [a] His spirit continued to appear in astral form and advise the original Black Knight, but he was no longer seen in his physical body.
It was later depicted how Merlin magically imprisoned Morgan le Fay within her castle. [18]
Merlin allied with St. Brendan against the Darkhold 's power. [19]
Later, further information was revealed about Merlin's alliance with the original Black Knight and his imprisonment of Morgan. [20]
It was also depicted how Merlin banished Tyrannus to Subterranea. [21]
It appears that this Merlin [22] removed a shard of the Fury that had embedded itself into Merlyn, the physical amalgamations of all his interdimensional counterparts, while at the same time taking his other counterparts' madness out along with it. This allowed Merlin to take over control away from Merlyn. Merlin, who was imprisoned in a dimension used by the Otherworld fairy king Oberon to keep evil at bay, was freed by Pete Wisdom during the Skrull invasion of Earth. Magically reversing the effect of the shard of the Fury, Merlin used it to resurrect Captain Britain in Captain Britain and MI: 13 #3.
Merlyn returned in the 2019 run of Excalibur , now calling himself "the Great Hierophant Merlyn" as the ruler of "the Holy Republic of Fae", part of the Foul Courts of Otherworld. His daughter Roma runs "the Floating Kingdom of Roma Regina" in the Fair Courts [23] and, as shown in a story arc in New Mutants (vol. 4), the two aren't on speaking terms. [24] He becomes a major antagonist in the book's final story arc when it's revealed that he's working with pre-established villains Morgana le Fey and Coven Akkaba, and shares their hatred for "Witchbreed" (mutants). He was working with a returned King Arthur who wanted to take back control of Avalon from acting king Jamie Braddock with the ulterior motive of wanting to take over Otherworld. He achieves this goal by invading the Starlight Citadel and, after forcing Omniversal Majestrix Saturnyne to retreat with the Captain Britain Corps, renames it the "Lunatic Citadel". [25] In the final issue, it's revealed how his grudge against Saturnyne began. After Otherworld and the Captain Britain Corps were destroyed by the Mapmakers, Saturnyne escaped with a captive Mapmaker and they ended up in the future Otherworld province of Blightspoke. There, she was contacted by Merlyn and Roma in spirit form and made a deal with Roma that she would rebuild Otherworld with the Mapmakers' power and become Omniversal Magestrix in exchange for making the Fair Courts for her to rule and the Foul Courts for her father to rule. [26] Merlyn then becomes the main antagonist of the book's sequel series Knights of X, ruling Otherworld with an iron fist within the Lunatic Citadel.
Other beings have also claimed the name Merlin, besides the Merlin of Arthurian legend:
This being was apparently 10,000 years old, and apparently was a savage that came to possess some portion of the same Bloodgem that Ulysses Bloodstone would later possess, which gave him immortality and eternal youth. He later came to Britain during the time of Camelot, and impersonated the real Merlin while he was away. The Eternal Sersi exposed the impostor, and the real Merlin placed him in suspended animation.
The false Merlin was revived in modern times after his coffin was found, attacked Washington, D.C., and fought Thor. [27] Thor imprisoned him back inside the coffin that he was found in after pretending to be a powerful shapeshifter and ordering Merlin to go back into suspended animation. He later took the name Warlock, and fought the X-Men. [28] He later fought the Beast, the Hulk, and the Iceman under the name Maha Yogi. [29] During his encounter with the Hulk, his fragment of the Bloodgem was destroyed and he rapidly aged into helplessness.
He claimed to be a mutant, [28] later retconned as having been altered by aliens [30] and had the ability to control the minds of others, create illusions, project force bolts, levitate objects, teleport himself, create force fields and alter his own appearance.
Another being posing as Merlin was sent by Immortus to fight the Avengers. This being was revealed to be a shapechanging Dire Wraith with absolutely no connection to the real Merlin.[ volume & issue needed ]
The being Merlyn also claims to be the real Merlin and appears to be a gestalt of the various other Merlins within the Marvel Multiverse.[ volume & issue needed ]
Peter Hunter, the British costumed champion known as Albion, a member of the Knights of Pendragon, is alleged to be the current reincarnation of Merlin.[ volume & issue needed ]
Merlin also appeared in the Marvel UK Doctor Who comic appearing first in "The Neutron Knights" [31] story and later in the longer "The Tides of Time". [32] This Merlin was one of the High Evolutionaries of the Cosmos, a group that also includes Rassilon, the founder of the Time Lords, which guarded the timestream.
Excalibur is a superhero group appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as an offshoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, they first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition #1 (1987), also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn. Stories involving this team have featured elements of both the X-Men and Captain Britain franchises, frequently involving cross-dimensional travel.
Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in Captain Britain #1 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, and is currently held by Brian's twin sister, Betsy Braddock.
Etrigan the Demon is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, Etrigan is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied with the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound. Etrigan is commonly depicted as a muscular humanoid creature with orange or yellow skin, horns, red eyes, and pointed, webbed ears, who frequently speaks in rhymes. The character was originally based in Gotham City, leading to numerous team-ups with Batman.
The Black Knight is the alias of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Morgaine le Fey is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, based on Morgan le Fay, the mythical sorceress and half-sister of King Arthur. She debuted in The Demon #1, and was created by Jack Kirby.
The Black Knight is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #47. Dane Whitman is the third character to use the codename of Black Knight. He is the descendant of the original Black Knight and is the nephew of the supervillain Black Knight. He inherited a mystical sword which carried a curse and took the Black Knight mantle to help restore honor. The character has also been a member of the MI-13, Avengers, Defenders, Ultraforce, and Heroes for Hire at various points in his history.
Opal Luna Saturnyne is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis for their Captain Britain stories. Formerly the servant of Roma, she is currently the Omniversal Majestrix and rightful Ruler of Otherworld, charged with the safety of the Omniverse.
Roma is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is the daughter of Merlyn. Roma is the Omniversal Guardian, charged with the safety of the Omniverse. She is assisted in her task by Saturnyne, and the Captain Britain Corps.
Avalon, also known as Otherworld, is a fictional dimension appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is based on the mythical Avalon from Celtic and, more specifically, Irish and Welsh mythology.
Dreadknight is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Morgan le Fay is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely, is based on the Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. In this version of the character, Morgan le Fay belongs to the species of humanoid magical beings called fairies, who are born with supernatural powers, and is the half-faerie half-sister of the mythic King Arthur. Her elven heritage granted her immortality, and she used this time to master the mystic arts. She occasionally tries to take over the world. She has been an opponent of The Avengers, and in the 1970s, she appeared in the original Spider-Woman comic acting as a foe of Jessica Drew, while opposed by a reincarnation of her "ancient foe" Magnus. She is a former lover of Doctor Doom, and was a member of the Darkholders for a time.
Camelot 3000 is an American twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Mike W. Barr and penciled by Brian Bolland. It was published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1985 as one of its first direct market projects, and as its first maxi-series. It was also the first comic book series to be printed on Baxter paper instead of newsprint.
Mordred the Evil or Modred the Evil is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based loosely on the Mordred of Arthurian legend.
Sir Percy of Scandia, also known as the original Black Knight, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was a medieval knight created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely.
Stories involving the mythical wizard Merlin have been popular since the Renaissance, especially with the renewed interest in the legend of King Arthur in modern times. As noted by Arthurian scholar Alan Lupack, "numerous novels, poems and plays center around Merlin. In American literature and popular culture, Merlin is perhaps the most frequently portrayed Arthurian character."
Demon Knights is a DC Comics title launched in 2011 as part of that company's line-wide title relaunch, The New 52. It is a team title featuring Etrigan, Madame Xanadu, Shining Knight and others. Its main difference to other team titles, such as the Justice League, is that this team is based in the Medieval period of the DC Universe history. Its initial writer is Paul Cornell, with art by Diogenes Neves.
Eitri is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Eitri is a Dwarf who lives on Svartalfheim and is the King of the Dwarves. He is a weapons forger and is notable for being the creator of Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Eitri has also occasionally aided the New Mutants.
King Arthur(Arthur Pendragon) is a legendary figure used commonly in comic books.
Shining Knight (Ystina) is a fictional character from DC Comics. He is the third character named Shining Knight and appears as a major character from Seven Soldiers. In The New 52 reboot, the character is reimagined as transgender.
Brian Braddock is a superhero appearing in British and American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created in 1976 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, with later contributions from Alan Moore and Alan Davis, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly #1. He is the first character in publication to use the Captain Britain moniker, later adopting the title Captain Avalon.