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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 13, 2016 21:29:31 GMT
Stephen Vincent Strange (First appearance Strange Tales 110 1963):Master of the Mystic Arts, serving as “Sorcerer Supreme, the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats.” Although he would not receive the title until adulthood, Strange was predestined to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, having been chosen as a child to receive the honor by a master sorcerer known as The Ancient One**, mystic protector of the Earth-realm as the acting Sorcerer Supreme. This was much to the chagrin of sorcerer-in-training Karl Mordo**, who “beset the child with demons from the age of eight through to adulthood, as he was jealous that a child would be better than him.” However, Strange received intervention in the form of Mordo’s former master: The Ancient One**. The Ancient One protects Strange and erases the encounters from the boy's mind, although Mordo does still succeed in ensorceling Strange by slapping on some weird mystic restraints that remained in place through his youth. (“Mystic restraints” – meaning like “chains”?) Recap: a past/future nemesis tried to subvert the ascension of the Chosen One by 1) sending him freaky nightmare demon-dreams that would lead him astray and 2) putting him in a magical bind, literally.Strange remains unaware of these magical bonds through his youth, and goes on to become a successful neurosurgeon…until, PLOT TWIST! “Around 1963, Strange was involved in a debilitating car accident. Though surgeons were able to save Strange, the nerves in his hands were severely damaged” thus abruptly ending his career and dreams of livelihood.
Uh-oh, guy survives a terrible accident but is left with a life-changing, future-altering physical injury…where have we heard that before. Now what?Hearing rumors of the Ancient One’s existence, Strange sells his possessions and leaves his home behind to travel to the East in search of the Ancient One’s palace. He finds him in Tibet, but the aged sorcerer refused to cure him, instead offering to tutor him in mysticism. Strange refuses and tries to leave, but is trapped due to a sudden blizzard. During the storm, skeletons mystically summoned by former pupil Baron Mordo attack the Ancient One, and the Ancient One easily defeats them.
After trekking to a reclusive mystic in hopes that he'll be healed, our hero instead encounters reanimated undead in the snow at the hideout of said mystic, sent there by an enemy yet unknown to the sorcerer-to-be, the same dude that sent him creepy dreams as a kid. ORLY.Strange is impressed by the abilities of the Ancient One and now also concerned about Mordo’s levels of power. The Ancient One explains that he has known of Mordo's treachery for some time but keeps him close for monitoring. Realizing that countermagic will be the only sure way to defeat Mordo, Strange accepts the Ancient One's offer of tutelage. Pleased by Strange's acceptance for unselfish reasons, he removes Strange’s mystical restraints.
So the supreme mystic dude, like, broke Strange’s chains so he could fly…interesting….The Ancient One had known of Strange and his potential to serve as the Sorcerer Supreme prior to even Strange’s first encounter with him, regarding his latent prowess so highly that he rejected Daimon Hellstrom** in favor of Strange as his pupil and future successor. Strange spent 7 years under the Ancient One's tutelage, learning to tap the innate mystic powers of himself and the world around him, as well as how to invoke the powers of the Principalities, powerful beings such as Dormammu** and the Vishanti**, who resided in their own mystic realms. Oh, so the supreme mystic guy rejected other candidates over the course of time because he was waiting on the Chosen One, and then trained the Chosen One on ways to jack into the matrix. Got it.
Let's get some backstory on all those names I just threw at you (exception being Daimon Hellstrom, who I will discuss in the Modern Arc).
Baron Karl Mordo (Strange Tales 111 1963):Apprentice sorcerer, master of black magic, nemesis of Dr. Strange. Karl Mordo was the son of a Transylvanian nobleman who defaulted rule of his kingdom and was demoted to “Baron” when his lands fell under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the World War I. Embittered by the defeat and the imposition of the ways of the Empire onto his people, Mordo’s father dreamed of regaining sovereign rule of his former lands and restoring his kingdom to glory (via black magic). Mordo began his tutelage under the Ancient One as an adult; residing in the Ancient One's lair during his apprenticeship granted Mordo reduced aging. The Ancient One realized that Mordo's lust for power made him dangerous but chose to tutor him anyway feeling that he could at least keep a watchful eye on him. Mordo was immediately resentful of Stephen Strange when he learned that Strange would become the Ancient One’s successor. A few years after Strange began his training, Mordo disappeared in anger and returned to his homeland in hopes of furthering his abilities via other means. Upon return to Transylvania, Mordo assumed control of his home village, sacrificing many residents in his quest for greater power. Mordo has many powers, derived from three major sources: personal powers of the mind/soul/body, the manipulation of the universe’s energies, and through use of “entities or objects of power existing in tangential mystical dimensions.” Skilled in astral projection, hypnotism, necromancy, mesmerism. “He was more than willing to use powerful black magic and invoke demons, both of which Strange was reluctant or unable to do, although both acts would sometimes backfire on Mordo.” So the guy was bounced as the Chosen One, became bitter and vengeful, and turned to dark magic in hopes of gaining power. He summons demons and uses magic objects as part of his repertoire. And he can astral-project and bend minds to his will. Even though he's creepy and powerful, he's still a human magician….although he doesn’t seem to age. He disappeared on walkabout for a while, only to return one day out of nowhere and take over rule of his hometown. Do we know anyone like that?Ed. - It should be noted that over Baron Mordo's long and extensive Marvel run, he has teamed up/been affiliated with numerous bad guys both in-world and out (some of whom we’re getting to) in various attempts to defeat Dr. Strange. Curious as to what he looks like? A few images from various eras:     HA! Did I get you with that last one? (Just to be clear, that's not Baron Mordo. It's his ASOIAF brother from another mother.) This is Mordo with one of those bad guys I mentioned. Anything strike you as familiar about that guy? As our dear Gurm likes to say, "Keep reading."  Here's a nice image of Strange v. Mordo, with Strange's boss looking on. Check out the swords. And the background. Oh my.  Next up for discussion is:
The Ancient One (Strange Tales 110 1963):Acting Sorcerer Supreme, predecessor to Dr. Strange. Began his training in magic as a youth, he was forced to defeat his own mentor, afterwards seeking out a nameless order of sorcerers known as the Ancient Ones “in order to devote his entire life to their goal of combating evil sorcerers. " The youth eventually became even more skilled than his colleagues, achieving such great power that he was the first Earth mortal to meet with Eternity, the sentient embodiment of the universe, who gifted him with the Amulet of Agamotto and declared him the Earth dimension's first Sorcerer Supreme. Pics just because - not a ton of commonality looks-wise with the other Ancient One of Westeros that's hiding out in his wintry tree cave, but at least you'll have a mental image.   The Ancient One remained in this capacity for countless years, outliving almost all other members of his order - The Ancient One himself had attained near-immortality over 600 years earlier. He finally settled himself in Tibet where he met Doctor Anthony Druid**. Posing as the High Lama, the Ancient One tested his abilities to pass on his abilities to a successor by granting some powers to Dr. Druid. **Dr. Druid (Amazing Adventures 1 1961):“A former psychiatrist, Anthony Ludgate sought to learn the ancient powers of his ancestral Druids. Knowing that the Druids kept no written records, he became interested in the Tibetan monks after hearing they had an oral tradition. Thinking that perhaps the secrets had been passed on, or that he could recreate them by learning the methods used by the monks, he sought out a lama who in actuality was the Ancient One.” He is a normal human man although well-trained in magic. Powers include voice manipulation, energy projection, ability to sense magic, body control “such as tightening his muscles to better resist bullets”, telepathy, and nature control/manipulation of plants, animals, and the elements. Also a skilled martial artist and proficient in staff combat. I.e., the Beta for Dr. Strange is a dude who sought the knowledge of the ancient Druids, so found a group of reclusive monks that he thought might be able to teach him the ways of the old magics and ended up being schooled by the Big Kahuna himself. He is a manipulator of nature and is ‘pretty good with a bo staff’. (Props to anyone who gets that ref.) Herp, derp, who could this be? Can we include “+5 Amphibian Trajectory” to his list of skills? (Poster Kingmonkey has a nice “frog to the face at TOJ” hypothesis if you are unfamiliar.)
Not the most imposing guy...go figure.
  
I will briefly return to Druid in the Modern arc, because through him we get some links to a really bitchin’ side story.
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 13, 2016 21:30:13 GMT
Now to the juicier meat of the Strange bone: The Ancient One, as "acting" Supreme Sorcerer, reports up to the Vishanti. Who are they? Vishanti (Strange Tales 115 1963; Marvel Premiere 5 1972):“The Vishanti is a trio of Principalities – god or demon-like magical beings that have ability to grant power to those who invoke them." They are ancient, very powerful, and have protected Earth's dimension for untold eons. The Vishanti can be either a single entity with three distinct aspects or personalities, or three separate entities. 1) Oshtur: Though technically genderless, Oshtur is considered a feminine entity - she is possibly the most powerful of the Vishanti and is referred to as “Omnipotent Oshtur”. Also known as the Gracious Lady and The Lady of the Skies. Oshtur takes form as a green or golden-skinned woman, sometimes bald, other times with long blue or auburn hair or ‘ hair’ of leaf-like tendrils resembling ivy. “ In this form she has blue-white eyes resembling stars.” 2) Hoggoth: “Hoggoth the Hoary”, presumably indicating that he is of great age; sometimes called "Lord of Hosts". Sorcerers speak of "the hoary hosts of Hoggoth", sometimes invoking the hosts themselves in casting spells. “Hoggoth usually appears as an old, bald man (or sometimes with silver hair) with blue or purple skin, pointed ears and whose multifaceted eyes have no pupils and burn with blue energy.” 3) Agamotto: aka “The All Seeing”, as he has spent much of his long life observing events throughout the multiverse and has the ability to monitor a seemingly unlimited number of events simultaneously. He is the Prime Sorcerer Supreme. Also known as the Light of Truth. “ Agamotto, when appearing as part of the Vishanti, usually takes the form of a lion or a tiger and in most cases only the head appears, with red eyes resembling flames and the image of an ankh on his brow.” All right, so now they are three, but one, but three again: a nature demigoddess with stars for eyes, a wizened demigod with glowing blue eyes, and a great beast of a demigod with a zillion red eyes and one.
 
And a variation on the theme, with Agamotto as a bug (based off The Smoking Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, it's said) with the red eyes, Oshtur with her Child-of-the-Forest do, and Hoggoth as the beast. These guys rotate through these forms depending on the series, I've found.
Working in unison, the Vishanti created the office of Sorcerer Supreme, the being possessing the greatest mystic skill and power in the universe. Thousands of years ago, the human now known as the Aged Genghis** sought out the Vishanti, asking for knowledge and mystical power. The Vishanti complied, requiring in return the Aged Genghis would gather the most powerful mages on Earth every century to test them for the title of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme who would be assigned to protect the Earth and its inhabitants from all mystic threats. And at the dawn of man, they partnered with an earthly “maester”…**Aged Genghis: Allegedly the oldest living human sorcerer, the future Genghis established a pact with the Vishanti shortly after the dawn of humanity. In exchange for knowledge, he would assemble the world's greatest mystics every century, presiding over a contest for the role of Sorcerer Supreme. Reportedly extending his life via the Pool of Blood, he performed his duty for untold millennia. For centuries he has dwelled in a Tibetan cavern in the foothills of the Himalayas, watched over by manservants. His mind long ago consumed by mystic forces swirling about reality, his original name lost to the eons, he became the Aged Genghis. …who is an old crazy guy from the days of the first men, and put in charge of the knowledge of all the world’s magics AND a centennial tourney of mystics! He’s locked himself away in a tower, I mean ‘cave’, and just keeps on ticking, thanks to a little nip o'blood here and there.Presumably around the time they appointed the first Sorcerer Supreme, the Vishanti also created or influenced the creation of several mystic artifacts that would empower this individual. These items include the Book of the Vishanti*, The Three Eyes of Agamatto ( the Orb*, the Amulet*, and the Eye*), the Moebius Stone*, the Hand of the Vishanti* and the Sword of Bone*. [The current Supreme Sorcerer possesses the Book and the Three Eyes.] Details of those items: *Book of the Vishanti: Foil to the Darkhold/ Book of Sins which contains all dark magical knowledge. In addition to housing every known Darkhold counterspell, the Book of the Vishanti is itself a deterrent to dark magic and those who practice it. A mysterious book of magic that counteracts bad juju…a 'compendium', perhaps?*Orb of Agamotto: The largest of the Three Eyes of Agamotto. The crystal Orb is used to view mystical events on Earth and in other dimensions, and is a portal to the realm of Agamotto. *Amulet of Agamotto: Talisman, “The Eye of Power”. “Amulet which can release a beam of mystical light that dispels illusions, reveals hidden truths, and can heal or enhance the abilities of a willing recipient bathed in its beam.”
*Eye of Agamotto: The Eye from the amulet can be released by the wearer and affixed to the wearer's forehead to create a "third eye", allowing mystical mental probes of persons and objects. Fun Fact: The colors aren't particularly consistent over time, but in most depictions the "Eye" is.....RED.  *Moebius Stone: mystic item created by Agamotto that had a limited ability to manipulate time. The Stone was able to raise the dead, absorb the life-force of another and accelerate or reverse the passage of time within a confined area, though sometimes random time-related side effects occurred. Doctor Druid eventually destroyed the artifact because he felt it was too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. Haven’t seen an exact counterpart to this one, but stone is of course a natural substance. Have we seen another natural substance that seems to possess mystical/magical properties? Something black and shiny, maybe? Or even black and greasy? That can "absorb the life force of another", so to speak, and/or perhaps enable some cross-world communication, like with the dead? I’m also very intrigued in the ‘destroyed by Dr. Druid’ aspect of this.* Hand of the Vishanti: a giant hand conjured from a shadowy dimension. I can't really find what this is used for beyond "locating people" and "focusing great psychic power to deliver intense force." You mean like a giant hand that could be called upon and, I dunno, fistpound the shit out of a land mass and break it apart? HAND SMASH! lol Seriously though, I don't really know.* Sword of Bone: a powerful weapon wielded by an agent of the Vishanti known as the Fist of Agamotto/the Pale Horseman/ Cadaver**. The blue aura allows the blade to penetrate things that usually are impenetrable. Cody Fleisher was a human man who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – he was drained of his life force by an evil sorceress during the War of the Seven Spheres (!?!?!!), but was reanimated by Agamotto of the Vishanti using the Moebius Stone. He began his second life as a walking corpse and became known as “The Champion of Agamotto”. As Cadaver, he is 6’2, has grey hair, and black eyes with white pupils. His undead body is made of a mystical blue flame with healing properties, and he can pull a rib from his chest that becomes the Sword of Bone – a mystical weapon that can harm even superhumans. Mmmmm. Does he also occasionally serve as errand boy for the Ancient One ? Why yes! Yes he does.This is about all I could get image-wise for Cadaver, but oh, he's awesome. Looks rather familiar, too. And check out his sword!  That sums up the Vishanti and their arsenal. Now why are the Vishanti important, you ask? Because via Dr. Strange’s tutelage with the Ancient One, they are going to empower him in epic battles with this next guy. |
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 13, 2016 21:35:34 GMT
On to bigger and badder dudes... Dormammu (Strange Tales 126 1964):Dormammu is the ruler of the Dark Dimension. Thousands or even millions of years old, he once belonged to a group of powerful energy-entities known as the Faltine until he became too powerful and was exiled from the Faltine along with twin sister Umar. Dormammu and Umar found their way to a Dark Dimension, a mystic realm riddled with natural warps into pocket universes within the dimension itself. At the time of their arrival, the Dark Dimension’s multi-species society had been at peace for 28000 years and was in the third millennium of the rule of wizard-king Olnar. Olnar ignored the warnings of his sorceror advisors and offered Dormammu and Umar sanctuary and power in exchange for the knowledge of how to break through dimensional barriers and bring other realms under his domain. After striking this bargain, Dormammu betrayed King Olnar by leading him to the dimension of the Mindless Ones**, who then poured into the Dark Dimension and slew Olnar along with many other denizens. Once Olnar was dead, Dormammu and Umar repelled and confined the creatures, used the confusion to also murder Olnar's sorcerer allies. Surviving denizens, not knowing of the treachery, believed Dormammu and Umar to have saved them from the Mindless Ones and therefore did not protest when Dormammu and Umar assumed regency of the Dark Dimension. Dark Dimension…you know, like a… shadowy...land? Also, note the presence of a sister, and a dark lord committing a betrayal in ancient times. Some folks may get all giddy over that one.*Mindless Ones (Strange Tales 127 1964): Indestructible rampaging dreadnoughts /”virtually unstoppable engines of destruction; when a rival was deemed to be becoming too powerful, the Mindless Ones would be loosed in the rival's realm, tying up the rival's resources trying to contain them. …When Dormammu was expanding his Dark Dimension, one of his new acquisitions contained Mindless Ones, who rampaged through the Dark Dimension until Dormammu managed to drive them back into a small region which he then enclosed with a magical shield to keep them out of his domain and fighting amongst themselves.” The Mindless Ones have an unknown level of superhuman strength. Indestructible dreadnaughts banished from the realm of a dark overlord to another place where they are contained by a magical barrier? Whaaaat? Pictures, for the heck of it:
  
So back to their shadow overlord, Dormammu.
More powerful than Hell-lords such as Satannish, Mephisto, and Hellstorm (Daimon Hellstrom), Dormammu is one of the most powerful users of magic in the Marvel universe. He is immortal having transformed his body into mystic energy - his body may be dissipated but he will always reform. “Dormammu's power also derives from the worship he receives in the Dark and other dimensions. The form that this worship takes is unknown, but is speculated to involved sacrifice. Dormammu drains spiritual energies from his worshippers, thereby increasing his own power. Also, some of Dormammu's power appears to be derived from the " flames of regency" that engulf his head. These flames originated when Dormammu merged with the great mystical flames of the Dark Dimension, thereby converting his own body to pure mystical energy. Dormammu can confer mystical power upon beings who call upon him through spells and invocations, but he never does so without requiring the requestor to pay some kind of price that will increase Dormammu's own power.”  “When ruling the Dark Dimension, Dormammu commands its armies and various mystical beings living within it; in dimensions other than his own, Dormammu commands a host of intangible wraiths who carry out his orders.” Intangible wraiths…in other words, shadows?Little is known of Dormammu’s early rule, and since denizens of the Dark Dimension have millennia-long lifespans within a universe whose time passage may not be equivalent to that of Earth, the duration of his early rule is unknown. He apparently observed the Earth dimension for several millennia, supposedly even manipulating the creation of the demon Satannish in Earth’s ancient pre-history. He often clashed with Agamotto of the Vishanti, the first Sorcerer Supreme – Agamotto wielded the immensely powerful Eye of Agamotto amulet against Dormammu to no permanent avail, and in time became a near-deity whose patronage was beseeched by mortal sorcerers. All right, so this evil entity who now has domain over his own evil little realm, has a history of spatting with the “All-Seeing” Vishanti….and oh yeah, he has now achieved godhood status to some in the mortal coil.Finally, prompted by events that remain unrevealed, Dormammu targeted the Earth dimension for conquest in 1666, causing London’s Great Fire and using the life-force of its victims to link Earth and his Dark Dimension via Stonehenge. However, Dormammu suffered his first defeat when forced back to the Dark Dimension by the Ancient One, Earth’s then-Sorcerer Supreme. Other earthly foes came and went over the centuries, but the Ancient One became his true obsession, for the Ancient One’s influence spread throughout the multiverse and protected other realms from Dormammu’s grasp. Blocked by mystical barriers established by the Ancient One, Dormammu would instead select mortal pawns to carry out his plots in the Earth Dimension.
A “great fire”in the area that claimed the lives of many, and supported creation of a “hinge of the world” in a nearby area known for its mysticism – but then this ‘god’ gets bitchslapped back to his own realm again and hasn’t been able to return since, though not for lack of trying. Now what place in the Westerosi north was known for a mysterious great fire long ago that took lives of many inhabitants…?
One of these pawns was Baron Mordo, former disciple of the Ancient One and enemy of Dr.Strange. Mordo sacrificed his own mother and grandfather to Dormammu in exchange for power (the "price") and Dormammu accepted Mordo into his service; a year later, the Eye of Agamotto was stolen, possbily via Mordo's treachery. With Dormammu's backing, Mordo began to slowly chip away at the power of the Ancient One - until Dr. Strange officially became the Ancient One's student successor-in-training and assisted in foiling Mordo's plots. However, Mordo continued to curry favor with Dormammu by providing human sacrifices in trade for magical strengths. Strange’s continued interventions in Mordo’s plots intrigued Dormammu, who wondered if the Ancient One’s power was now failing. NOW we start tying some loose ends. The jealous magician apprentice who is out to get the pupil and his master kills members of his family in order to team up with the Bad Guy. A powerful mystical artifact goes missing and supposedly is in possession of said jealous magician apprentice, and more human souls are donated to the cause, even! Dormammu taunted the Ancient One with his plan to conquer the Earth dimension, hoping to roust him from his cave for personal battle. However, Dr. Strange responded on behalf of the Ancient One, traveling to Dormammu's home realm of the Dark Dimension instead. Dormammu unleashed his minions to dispose of Strange, but Dr. Strange bested all comers. Dormammu then challenged him in mystic combat - despite Dormammu's advantage, Strange held ground and proved stronger than anticipated. The battle between the sorcerers depleted much of Dormammu's energies, which weakened the mystical barrier to the dimension of the Mindless Ones. As they swarmed the Dark Dimension, Strange joined forces with Dormammu to repel the Mindless Ones and re-seal the barrier so as to protect the innocents of the Dark Dimension. Now indebted to Strange for his help in securing his realm, Dormammu conceded the fight and Strange extracted a vow from Dormammu to never to threaten the Earth dimension again. Feeling humiliated and tricked by the bargain, Dormammu swore vengeance against Strange and cultivated a grudge which even outweighed his hatred of the Ancient One. (Strange Tales 127)
WIZARDBOWL, GET HYPE. Except oh shit, who let the ‘naughts out? Woop, woop woop… (That was awful. Sorry.) The two kiss and make up while they get the wights under control, then they stop feeling the love and become mortal enemies again.Bound by his vow, Dormammu instead granted increasing power to his pawn Baron Mordo, hoping that Mordo would ultimately kill Strange and negate the pact. Unsuccessful at tempting Strange in combat, Mordo finally kidnapped the Ancient One as a bargaining chip to lure Strange to the Dark Dimension. Unhappy with Mordo, Dormammu instead summoned powerful lords of magic to a neutral realm to witness a battle of physical, not magical, prowess between himself and Strange. However, when Strange began to overcome Dormammu in hand-to-hand combat, Mordo felled Strange with a mystic blow from behind. His sense of honor offended, Dormammu was outraged with this sneak attack from his minion and exiled Mordo to another dimension. Dormammu faced Strange in a rematch, but was again bested by Strange. “Before the gathered Lords, Strange forced Dormammu’s vow to menace Earth no further even by proxy, cementing the Dread One’s humiliation.” (Strange Tales 139-141) Hey, wanna know what Dormammu looks like? Remind you of anyone you know? Fire...man....wreathed in....fla...oof, it's right there on the tip of my tongue...      Oh, but wait…Dormie has a twin sister, as mentioned earlier. After she and her bro murdered former King Olnar and took over the Dark Dimension, she later had a weak moment and hooked up with that king’s son Orini (the legit heir to the DD, spared because he was just a babe at the time), and had a child with him…a daughter named Clea**. Umar went temporarily mad over her 'unwise' relationship with Orini, and abandoned Clea to be raised by him. Prince Orini never revealed Clea's true origins, though he himself became a devoted follower of Dormammu and raised her in the Dark Dimension.
(So again, forbidden love, blood betrayals, yadda yadda. I will leave further discussion and that comparison to the subject matter experts - you know who you are.)
Clea (Strange Tales 126 1964) has her own long and involved plot arc that involves going back and forth between Earth and the Dark Dimension to battle Dormammu, help Strange battle Dormammu, help rebel forces battle Dormammu and/or Umar (that is, her uncle and her mother), find her real father and help HIM battle Dormammu and Umar, etc. She is basically a confused little wannabe-world conqueror struggling with her identity over whether to be a normal person or a righteous warrior bringing justice to the multidimensions by battling the sins of her forebears. Here’s a quote so you can feel the depth of her angst: “The shadows, my love... the shadows always surround us! Can we not leave this house... this life... and make our own bright world?” I will come back to her another time. Hey, wanna know what Clea, the offspring of this forbidden affair, looks like? Wait for it... Lulz! Oh, George.  _0001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130930235041) .jpg/revision/latest?cb=20061215142632) _000.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/185?cb=20061107132146) .jpg/revision/latest?cb=20071127135659) 
Bonus Fun Fact: Clea becomes lover and eventually wife of timelord Dr. Strange. That last pic shows that Nuncle Dorm clearly does not approve.    So after all that, the nutshell is that Dr. Strange, predestined from birth to become the next guardian of the realm against magical threats and catapulted into the role after a disfiguring accident that negated his options for the future, has completed a quest to find an ancient mystic and train in the old powers in order to battle many foes – some who covet the role of Sorcerer Supreme, some who want to conquer the world, some who want to conquer ALL worlds. Dr. Strange has a few pseudo-predecessors, some for good and some for not so good, that also play an important part in his future. Coincidentally, or not, the tales have half-breed devils, benevolent protective entities, masters of dark lands, warding eyes, rare important books, alternate realities, hordes of mindless killing machines, and supercharged blue swords wielded by corpses. The good doctor has a long-running on-again, off-again relationship with Dormammu The Dread One and his human henchman, with other minor skirmishes occurring here and there that always end in the same way – Dormammu being punched back to his own dimension. Dormie’s story isn’t over, however….he is going to come back later and tie into the Modern Arc. This being said, I do want to interject something that pertains to ASOAIF. GRRM had this to say in July 2015: Dormammu, as portrayed in the comic, is the “dark mirror” to Dr. Strange –both vastly powerful beings, skilled in sorcery/time travel/psychic manipulation, arrogant, whatever, who use their similar abilities to opposite ends. However, there is still considerable opposition between the characters: Dr. Strange is a mortal while Dormammu is a humanoid entity; Dr. Strange has only recently acquired his powers through training whereas Dormammu has possessed his for millenia and acquired them through subjugation; Dr. Strange’s goal is to defend Earth and its inhabitants from mystical evil while Dormammu seeks total dominion; Strange puts his own life on the line for innocents while Dormammu remains completely unconcerned with them. If this arc is repeated through a Bran/Jon/Red God/Fire showdown, the character opposition is even greater - a young human boy/boys who can warg into the minds of beasts and men against an elemental magic, a formless god of flame and shadow? Get outta here! It’s perfect! Just the kind of opposition our dear Gurm wants. Still skeptical? Determined to be dubious? I again direct you to Not A Blog - July 21 2015 and discussion of Marvel movies. Read the comments, and note two GRRM responses in particular:
And what could possibly be a more Lovecraftian horror than a character created by a different author who was directly inspired by H.P. Lovecraft? While the Lord of Darkness is off licking his wounds in his shadowy world, I will cut over to another threat that is brewing ….a GREATer threat, from a whole OTHER realm. |
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 13, 2016 21:37:38 GMT
Now that I’ve provided this hella-long setup, let’s move on to the next part of this Great Arc. Recall that Dr. Strange stayed hidden away in a cave with the Ancient One for 7 years. (Five-year gap, anyone?) During that 7 years he encountered all sorts of bad peeps doing all sorts of bad shit, and during this period he warped and portaled and time-traveled everywhere as part of his training. The above confrontation with Dormammu went down during this time, but then while Dormie is in hibernation ….the plot thickens. In the course of my clicking, I was particularly intrigued by the plot synopsis of the Marvel Premiere #3-14 (July 1972 – March 1974) – HOW Strange ascended to Sorcerer Supreme. Ooh, okay…so let’s talk about that a bit. We’ll rub elbows with Origin Arc while we’re here.
Shuma-Gorath (Marvel Premiere #5 1972):Before all was, I was. Before time was, I waited. I fed on the screaming souls of the Universes. I drank the spoiled milk of dead stars. I am the emptiness outside all understanding. I am Shuma-Gorath.Shuma-Gorath (also Chtma-Gorath or Cthuma-Gurath) - aka The Great Old One, The Void Made Flesh, He Who Sleeps But Shall Soon Awake - is first mentioned in the Robert E. Howard** short story "The Curse of the Golden Skull," in The Howard Collector #9 Spring 1967. **Robert E. Howard – creator of Conan the Barbarian and of the entire genre known as sword and sorcery, i.e. historical fantasy. I don’t think I need to go into the influence this man had on our dear Gurm. There are several threads from Westeros alone that detail the similarities between ASOIAF and the world of Conan, so no shortage of analysis material there for your perusal. Obviously Stan Lee and his cronies were fans too, as they pulled in a character for use in their own stories. Beware, some Conan mythology ahead, served to us on a Marvel platter.In Other words, the demoniest demon that ever demoned, a GREAT demon that is even MOAR powerful than all of the other malevolent hell-lords. (But what the heck is aura-pressure?) A bit of hilarity: Appearance-wise, Shuma –Gorath is a giant alien creature with a central “body” of a single monstrous blood-red eye to which eight enormous tentacles are attached. Yep, that’s right, you read that correctly – the Great Other is a big, ugly, bloody-irised spider-kraken.
  
Ed. - This next bit was all observed by Doctor Strange, who had traveled back in time in hopes of defeating Shuma-Gorath in the past in order to save the Ancient One in the future. Totally clear, right? No such thing as a paradox, right?Shuma-Gorath came to the Earth-Realm over 1,000,000 years ago, along with the other Old Ones [of Lovecraftian Legend]. There he ruled the ancient Earth and commanded numerous human sacrifices (on which he would feast) from ancient civilizations in order to cement rule. (Note: The Vishanti and Shuma-Gorath became known to each other some time after the formation of the mystic trinity and over time have each fought to no avail to destroy the other.) He and the other Old Ones were banished from the Earth-Realm by the time-traveling sorcerer Sise-Neg*. Though banished in the distant past by Sise-Neg, Shuma returned to Earth in what would be Cimmeria [homeland of Conan and his barbarian race, equivalent in the real world to ancient Ireland and Scottish Highlands], during the Hyborean Age [about 18,000 to 8,000 BC per Conan mythology; roughly equivalent to the Dawn Age of Planetos] and established himself as a god, again fed by blood sacrifice. ( *Sise-Neg: Interesting stuff here too - “Englehart and Brunner created another multi-issue storyline featuring sorcerer Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) going back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Dr. Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation.” Fascinating though this is, I’m leaving it out of the current discussion but reserve the right to bring it up again if we meet some new time-traveling wizard in TWOW. I wondered if this might be something we see as a Bran-the-Timelord type thing, so I won't rule it out.)
So this very old demon was once part of the Nameless Old Gods Beyond Count, and just so happened to demand blood sacrifice from his subjects in homage, until he was rousted from the mortal domain long ago by a powerful sorcerer. But, he returns to terrorize the counterpart to Westeros’ Northern lands in about the same time period as the First Men were thought to have crossed over from Essos in ASOIAF…“The Old One fed himself on blood through ritual sacrifice at his altar and standard tribal warfare but also devoured any priest or worshipper who sought his favor. Greedy bastard, this Shuma-Gorath…he wants blood from everyone, including his biggest fans. And ritual sacrifice, huh?After Shuma-Gorath’s return to torturously rule Earth about 1,000 years prior to the sinking of Atlantis [approx 10,000 BC][see: Broken Arm of Dorne], his subjects pleaded to the newly risen god Crom**.
**Crom: The Cimmerian* God of Storms/ Lord of the Mound in the Hyborean Age. Possibly the sacrificial god of death and rebirth. Grim, savage, and severe, answers no prayers of his worshippers but can gift power to mystics and sorcerers if invoked properly. * "According to Homer, the Cimmerians were an ancient race that occupied Northwestern Europe but were wiped out by 7 BC. Homer referred to it as a land of perpetual mist, cold, and gloom which might go a long way to explaining the dour nature of its people and the grimness of their god." (I. love. this.)
He certainly looks like a Northman.
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Crom sent a great storm to the Northlands, and with it three iron-bound books and a key to unlock them. He then led a shaman of the Northmen to the books and instructed him to summit a nearby mountain. The Northman first read the books aloud to his kinsmen, then departed for the mountain. Thus armed with the magical tomes, the shaman there confronted Shuma-Gorath, again read aloud from the books, and was incinerated by the demon near completion of the third volume. Before he perished, however, a “flame-headed cloud” rose from the tomes to seal Crom's spell - the cloud destroyed all minor demons, and imprisoned Shuma-Gorath beneath the mountain. The three books became known as the Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath, and the mountain known as Mount Crom. Mount Crom:  A great demon entity. Three magic books, bound with iron. A savage Northern god. A Northern tribe whose surviving members know the secrets of the books. The great demon trapped by magic in the land of the Northmen. Gods, could this get any better?Shuma-Gorath tried several times to escape his subterranean prison. One notable attempt occurred somewhat later in the Hyborean [Dawn] Age [approx 10,000 BC], when he used his mental power to recruit sorcerer Kulan Gath and the sorceress Vammatar to his aid. Vammatar claimed to have the Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath, while Kulan Gath had the key to open them. (“I am the Key Master.” “I am the Book Keeper.” LOL ) Vammatar proposed an alliance sealed by marriage, which would allow them to work together to release Shuma-Gorath and gain mutual empowerment. "Marry me, Kulan Gath--and let your key turn in my lock."  ; "They were wed in a hidden temple dedicated to gods they both acknowledged." Before the newlyweds could ascend Mount Crom to retract the binding spell, Vammatar turned on Gath, and while their armies battled at the base of the mountain the god Crom triggered an avalanche with a bolt of lightning. The books were buried and the newlywed sorcerers were separated, each believing the other had been killed. Hmm, a man and woman from the early ages of man join their powers through nuptials for dark purposes. They are defeated again by the savage Northern storm god, parted from one another, and their magics are lost when “giants are woken from the earth.”
The Night's King and his Corpse Queen (or vice versa, if you go by the images) for your perusal. No real similarity in appearance...story only. Interestingly, Vammatar was known as the Witch Queen of Hyperborea..she lived in the dark Fortress shown below, a castle reknowned for the evil deeds that occurred within.
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Here's a modern take on Vammatar - not the Marvel version, the real, actual Finnish god . Read the text, look at the picture. LOOK AT IT.
Moving on.
The Iron-bound books not opened and the spell not broken, Shuma-Gorath was again defeated in his attempt to return to Earth, and he remained sealed in Mt. Crom for many millennia.
But not for long! Not long for an immortal demon entity, anyway. HE’S BAAAAACCCCCKKK…-- Editor’s Note: In the comics, Shuma-Gorath (through mind manipulation of his earthly pawns) makes multiple attempts to bust outta mountain jail – these attempts are spread out in time (like weeks/months/years apart in-world) and span multiple real-world volumes over the course of two decades: Shuma first appears in Marvel Premiere 9-14 1973-74, but the final confrontation with Strange – which has elements I believe are very pertinent to ASOIAF – did not occur until Strange Tales II 13-15 1987, and did not fully resolve until the publication of Marvel Knights 4:26 2006. That last one is not particularly relevant to the ASOIAF story, so will not be mentioned here. I'm operating under the completely unsupported hypothesis that GRRM was still somewhat following Dr. Strange in the late 80s, since the Doc was kindof his jam. HOW.EV.ER. Bear in mind that the battles between Strange and whoever may rage hundreds to thousands of years in the dimensions in which they are fought, but in “earth-time” this may be a very short period, like even the blink of an eye. (Sound familiar?) Time operates differently in other realms, so while Strange may be duking it out with Shuma-Gorath in a time that merges with/leads into Origin Arc, other events are taking place in the Modern Arc that will coincide with events happening in/resulting from the Great Arc. Yeah, I know. Think reading it is bad? Try the research. My head aches just typing that. -- Ok, so…..Shuma slumbers deep in his mountainous prison, but now in the modern era, the Old Powers have awakened once again. First, he summons other demonic emissaries to attack Dr. Strange and remove him from the picture, to no avail. However, he bids another, The Living Buddha**, aided by the Shadowmen under his command, to kidnap the Ancient One – acting Sorcerer Supreme and mentor of Dr. Strange. Shuma-Gorath planned to use the mind of the Ancient One as a gateway to Earth. Desperate to find his master, Strange tracks an energy trail to the legendary sunken city of Kaa-U**. He is allowed inside by the treacherous Living Buddha (who has betrayed Strange and his master to Shuma-Gorath for power), and finds the Ancient One who is now under spell of the demon. **Kaa-U - Marvel Premiere 9 1973: burial grounds of the Ancient Ones (!!!), where they go to die at the end of their mystical service. **Living Buddha – aka “Lord of the Crypts” of Kaa-U. An immensely fat being who is physically unable to leave his ‘throne’ in the Crypts, he controls a group of minor demons known as Shadowmen who serve to ‘shepherd’ the souls of the Ancient Ones into the crypts (in some awful way, it is hinted). Yes, you read that correctly: Crypts in the realm of the Northmen, guarded by Lord-Too-Fat. This plot segment is the origin of my private crackpot that Wyman Manderly will somehow betray House Stark in the end. You read it here first.
Strange summons the powers of the Vishanti, opens the Eye of Agamotto, and uses his third sight to enter the Ancient One’s mind - he encounters Shuma-Gorath in an endless abyss and engages in a battle felt by mystics around the world. [Old Dormammu even makes a guest appearance here!] Even empowered by the Vishanti, Doctor Strange could not match the strength of the demon within the Ancient One's mind. Feeling himself losing control, the Ancient One instructed Strange with the last of his power “to destroy that portion of his mind which constituted his ego or sense of self, thus ending his corporeal existence, allowing his spirit to become one with the Universe, i.e. Eternity.” The fate of Earth at stake, Strange was forced to comply, so he summoned all of his mystical will and killed his mentor. When the Ancient One died in the Crypts of Kaa-U (!!!) Shuma-Gorath was trapped in the dead brain, blocked from entering the Earth dimension, and was forced to return to his home realm. As Shuma-Gorath retreated to his own reality, the city of Kaa-U, along with Buddha and the Shadowmen, collapsed in ruins and sealed the crypts for all time.
A link to some pages from the original issue, if you’re interested in this saga.
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Years later, Strange's talismans [the artifacts of the Vishanti] and scrolls are are almost completely destroyed during a battle with another sorcerer. This weakens the mystic barriers to the dimension imprisoning the Old Ones, allowing them - including Shuma-Gorath - to enter the Earth dimension again. Strange has little option but to enter Shuma-Gorath's dimension and fight the demon in his own plane. He is forced into the choice to utilize black magic for this endeavor, and through various confrontations with powerful sorcerers he requisitions their dark powers, eventually growing stronger than his former mentor the Ancient One. During the journey to Shuma-Gorath's territory, Strange begins absorbing the surrounding chaos power of the rulers of those planes as well - although this increases his power to match that of the demon, his identity splinters and his "black" ego takes over. Shuma-Gorath taunts Strange by putting the Earth in peril* and forces him to choose between sparing the Earth and slaying the demon - Strange can become Protector or a Destroyer; he cannot be both. "You cannot be the preserver and the destroyer in one aspect, Strange! You cannot be Vishnu and Shiva with the same sweep of the hand! There is simply no way you can win!”
This is the part of the arc that I believe will be taken on by Jon Snow....regardless of what bad guy is to be dealt with, I think he may take the black in more than just his Night's Watch oath. GRRM has said that Jon has a dark road to walk, and I will not be surprised should that road 1) put him in conflict with Bran, and 2) require him to abandon the core principle of the Watch and actively choose a side.To the demon's surprise, Strange opts to become a Destroyer - he sacrifices much innocent life on Earth with this choice, but this embrace of his "dark" self causes him to merge energies with Shuma-Gorath and 'become' the demon. Now partially under Strange's control, Shuma-Gorath impaled himself on one of his own tentacles and was temporarily destroyed….as was Strange's own ego in the process. Though he was successful in preventing the demon's passage and further harm to the Earth-realm, Strange killed his "self" in the same way that he killed his master the Ancient One years before. Strange's soul was slowly resurrected and purified (and Shuma-Gorath slowly re-formed from the remnants of chaos energy) but he suffered the consequences of his dark actions for some time. Earth in Peril Fun Fact - ShumaG pulls this off by creating a replica Earth in his own plane and then screwing with the replica, which ravages the real Earth too - basically an Earth voodoo doll, yeah. How? He puts a "halo of fire" around the Earth and turns the sky to flame. (Remember some of the crazy visions ASOIAF characters have had with dragons wheeling in a sky filled with fire, etc?)
This recap was the TL;DR version of the final epic battle between Strange and the Great Other, I mean, Shuma-Gorath. The full detail is much cooler, but waaayyy longer, and quite frankly I’m tired and just want to post this damn thing already.  Some fun pages from the strip, much irony in a few. Note in particular the loss of one eye (an interesting theme in ASOIAF that's been covered by LmL and others), the notable "hair transformation", and some of the waxing philosophical. Good stuff, even with the cheesy action dialogue.            So that's that! Hope you enjoyed Great Arc in all its high-color balloon-quoted glory - I realize that this is pretty dense, so please take some time to digest and work up your courage to go further down the rabbit hole. Comments, questions, ideas absolutely welcome. |
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Post by Melifeather on Feb 14, 2016 2:02:04 GMT
And a variation on the theme, with Agamotto as a bug ( based off The Smoking Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, it's said) That is so weird. I was surprised at how many parallels can be drawn from Alice in Wonderland. it's right there on the tip of my tounge... Just helping out with a typo. Here's a nice image of Strange v. Mordo, with Strange's boss looking on. Check out the swords. And the background. Oh my. I wasn't going to post anything until we were officially open, but I couldn't resist! I can delete this post later....but OH MY GOD! That picture! |
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 14, 2016 2:07:01 GMT
Dangit! I thought I fixed that one in one of the 200 edits already. Oh well, thank you! If you see more, just give a shout.
IKR? I found that pic by happy accident. Love.
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Post by Melifeather on Feb 17, 2016 22:29:35 GMT
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 17, 2016 22:55:38 GMT
LOL. Papa Crow is going to have your head for that. I don't think he likes my theory much.  But thanks for the props! Maybe it will interest others. |
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Post by Melifeather on Feb 17, 2016 23:21:59 GMT
He liked the Black Knight essay and now talks about there being white and black knights. I was also hoping to spark some interest, and maybe people will check back on Friday or Saturday to see if I post a link to this site? I thought about posting a link to your stuff on Last Hearth for like, two seconds, and thought why should they get the traffic?
P.S.... I'll delete my posts by Friday here so people don't see this conversation.
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Feb 18, 2016 17:58:26 GMT
 Saw BC's reply. About what I figured!
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Post by Melifeather on Feb 20, 2016 17:54:25 GMT
Just finished rereading this...the blond one-eyed Dr Strange is more Bloodraven than Bran, no?
So many parallels with ASOIAF it's boggling.
Can you expand on Wyman Manderly? haha, expand! Unless I read it incorrectly it sounded like he was a Stark protector?
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Post by Ser Duncan on Feb 24, 2016 19:36:11 GMT
The youth eventually became even more skilled than his colleagues, achieving such great power that he was the first Earth mortal to meet with Eternity, the sentient embodiment of the universe, who gifted him with the Amulet of Agamotto and declared him the Earth dimension's first Sorcerer Supreme. Brilliant! That was a long, but good read!  Have interject one of my own theories here, even though it's not original, Wolfmaid (back in the day) and a few other Heretics believe this too, but that sounds awfully like the Cold. A sentient being that meets with the most powerful sorcerer in the world? That, right there, is the Cold and whoever/whatever is making the dead rise again. You cannot be the preserver and the destroyer in one aspect, Strange! I'm with you here. This is both Jon and Dany's arc. Probably more Dany than Jon. She needs to be the dragon and not be the dragon, in order to get anywhere. She's not found that balance yet, and therefore is still stuck in learning how to rule. Jon too, though for him, it cost him his 'life' because he can't be the LC and Jon Stark at the same time. If you see where I'm going with this. |
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Post by Weasel Pie on Mar 16, 2016 13:46:03 GMT
I.e., the Beta for Dr. Strange is a dude who sought the knowledge of the ancient Druids, so found a group of reclusive monks that he thought might be able to teach him the ways of the old magics and ended up being schooled by the Big Kahuna himself. He is a manipulator of nature and is ‘pretty good with a bo staff’. (Props to anyone who gets that ref.) Herp, derp, who could this be? Can we include “+5 Amphibian Trajectory” to his list of skills? (Poster Kingmonkey has a nice “frog to the face at TOJ” hypothesis if you are unfamiliar.) Can we ask km if we can link to his "frog to the face"? Actually I'm looking for it right now. |
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Post by Melifeather on Mar 28, 2016 22:59:32 GMT
Apprentice sorcerer, master of black magic, nemesis of Dr. Strange. Karl Mordo was the son of a Transylvanian nobleman who defaulted rule of his kingdom and was demoted to “Baron” when his lands fell under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the World War I. Embittered by the defeat and the imposition of the ways of the Empire onto his people, Mordo’s father dreamed of regaining sovereign rule of his former lands and restoring his kingdom to glory (via black magic). Mordo began his tutelage under the Ancient One as an adult; residing in the Ancient One's lair during his apprenticeship granted Mordo reduced aging. The Ancient One realized that Mordo's lust for power made him dangerous but chose to tutor him anyway feeling that he could at least keep a watchful eye on him. Mordo was immediately resentful of Stephen Strange when he learned that Strange would become the Ancient One’s successor. A few years after Strange began his training, Mordo disappeared in anger and returned to his homeland in hopes of furthering his abilities via other means. Upon return to Transylvania, Mordo assumed control of his home village, sacrificing many residents in his quest for greater power. After commenting back and forth with min on her Hinges essay, and after beginning work on The Drowned Man, your summary of Mordo is crystal clear. Euron Greyjoy was embittered that the Driftwood Crown would never last very long before another king would knock them back down again. Through his apprenticeship with Bloodraven, and after learning dark arts in the far east of Asshai, Euron returns to the Iron Islands with a dragon horn, but first...some time in the past Euron was able to flip a hinge or unweave spells that hold the warding on the Wall in place causing the hinge to flip Westeros upside down...like Patchface says. Aeron Greyjoy aka Damphair, has a memory that he associates with Euron about a squeaky iron hinge and he's terrified whenever he thinks of it. It gives him nightmares. The opening of this hinge has caused north to become south, and west to become east, so the Iron Islands are now where Dragonstone used to be...in relationship to the ward anyways. I don't think Euron did this to let out the Others...I think he just wants to take Westeros by conquest using Daenerys dragons, and he's got the dragon horn to bind them to his will, except they have to enter Westeros from the Iron Islands in order to be successful like Aegon the Conqueror. |
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Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Mar 29, 2016 15:02:51 GMT
When did all these replies come in? How did I miss them?  Will come back to this when I have more free time. |
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; "They were wed in a hidden temple dedicated to gods they both acknowledged." Before the newlyweds could ascend Mount Crom to retract the binding spell, Vammatar turned on Gath, and while their armies battled at the base of the mountain the god Crom triggered an avalanche with a bolt of lightning. The books were buried and the newlywed sorcerers were separated, each believing the other had been killed.
Saw BC's reply. About what I figured!
