Ancient One
The Ancient One is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Yao
Around 500 years ago, he was born the city of Kamar-Taj that was also home to Kaluu where they lived among the gentle folk of the city who did not know the meaning of war. (Strange Tales v1 #148) In 1496, he was living in the city of Lang Kah at Tibet where he had a wife named Leung who he loved greatly. During this time, he was a lowly apprentice to a Doctor named Sho but secrelty he protected the settlement from danger as the Spirit Leopard. One day, soldiers serving Emperor Kai Tong sought tribute from the villagers and started beating them when they could only offer water. Thus, the Spirit Leopard arrived at the scene to fight off the soldiers and humiliated them where he sent them back to the emperor. (Epic Anthology v1 #1) In his youth, Yao did not believe in magic until he had met Kaluu who opened his eyes and showed him the path where he became a conjurer. (Doctor Strange Annual v2 #1) As they grew to adulthood, he and Kaluu sought out the secrets of the supernatural. However, where he sought to benefit others - Kaluu sought to use his newfound powers to dominate. Initially, they brought peace to their village but Kaluu desired conquest where he intended to turn the people of Kamar-Taj to war to invade the neighbouring villages. The Ancient One intended to stop him but in the midst of casting a spell he was frozen in place by Kaluu's magic. Kaluu then rallied an army from the people of Kamar-Taj that were under his mental domination. They conquered other villages with the village growing in power but the Ancient One's magic had unleashed a pestilence that killed the people of Kamar-Taj. The magic that had trapped the Ancient One protected him where he freed himself and Kaluu fled to the dimension on the edge of the universe where he vowed revenge. Unable to do anything for the people of his home, the Ancient One vowed to aid others by vowing to combat evil magic. (Strange Tales v1 #148) Following his battle with Kaluu, both Yao and his rival were stripped of their immortality leading to him following a map to find the Well of Longing where he could drink from the cup of Eternity to become immortal with him being assisted by other time displaced Sorcerer Supremes. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #12)
Shortly afterwards, he encountered a traveller who had come to Kamar-Taj in a quest for knowledge with him accepting the individual as his first student. However, this pupil of his had dark reasons as he had sought forbidden knowledge with the Ancient One eventually discovering this and banishing this person from his service where he came to be known as Mister Jip. (Strange Tales v2 #11) Hundreds of years ago, the mystic travelled to the lands of Choson that would eventually become known as Korea in order to journey to the temple of the demon Cyttorak. Within the shrine, he found the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak and wanted to observe as well as learn from it. However, he was confronted by the gem's demonic guardian Xorak who battled the ancient mystic. Xorak was unprepared for the power of the Ancient One who defeated the demon by banishing him into the timeless dimension within the mystical ruby. (X-Men v1 #33) At an unknown point, he battled the First Sorcerer of Chaos named Moorwen who managed to banish her. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #503) In 1666 A.D., the Himalayan-born mystic sensed the actions of the Dread Dormammu who had caused the Great Fire of London in order use the human lives lost to create a bridge to Earth. A great occult battle was waged at Stonehenge where Dormammu was forced back into the Dark Dimension to recover and heal his wounds. He plotted against the Ancient One but was unable to pass through the mystics barriers over Earth and thus waged conflict through unwitting pawns. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #23) During the era of the Wild West, he was known to had been in Chinatown where he helped stop some of the crime there by gangs and it was then that he met the famed vigilante known as the Black Rider. (Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider v1 #1)
Many years ago, a man named Karl Mordo after a great tragedy sought out redemption and had heard of the Ancient One leading to embark on a seven year long trek to find the ancient mystic. Approaching before him, the master accepted Mordo as his chief disciple and helped him in his quest to steer away from the corruptions of his past. At some point, the Ancient One following a meditation called upon Mordo and informed him that he had seen a vision of his heir who would take the mantle of being the new Sorcerer Supreme. Mordo was tasked with serving as the boys mentor when the time came to pass with him accepting the duty entrusted to him by his master. Though in reality, he rejected the idea of someone else gaining the mantle and instead sought to remove this potential heir. Through the use of his astral form, he went to the home of the boy in Nebraska who was an 8 year old child named Stepehn Strange. He called forth nightmarish demons to terrorise the child in the hopes that this would steer him away from his appointed destiny. The Ancient One discovered this act and appeared to the child where the demons were banished with all memory of the encounter wiped from Stephen Strange's mind. Afterwards, Mordo begged his master for his forgiveness for his actions with the Ancient One accepting him back in his good graces. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #85) In 1944, he continued the training of his disciple Baron Mordo and was tended to by his servant Hamir. During this time, the world was in the grip of World War II with Nazi Germany looking for mystical weapons for their arsenal. They discovered the existence of the Ancient One with Baron Mordo betraying his master allowing the Nazi's to drug he Ancient One and Hamir leading to their capture. The pair were brought before the Red Skull who sought to learn how to use the Amulet of Agamotto when they were ambushed by U.S. forces led by Captain America and Bucky. At that moment, Dormammu abducted the Red Skull as the ruler of the Dark Dimension sought the Amulet of Agamotto in order to conquer Earth. The Ancient One was freed by the Howling Commandos where he aided them against the schemes of Dormammu. (Captain America - Nick Fury The Otherworld War v1 #1) Many years ago, the Ancient One found a dying man by the name of Sen-Yu who was grateful towards his genius. He then attempted to become a disciple of the Ancient One but lacked the ability in magic. Despite not being an apprentice, the grateful Sen-Yu continued to service his master and was responsible for guarding the Ancient One's wealth. (Strange Tales v1 #130)
After Stephen departed, the Ancient One was visited by a new traveller named Nicodemus West who had approached the elderly man for instruction as he felt guilt for failing to repair Stephen Strange's hands. Initially, the Ancient One refused as he stated that he had trained his final pupil but after peering into West's mind he decided to instruct him in the mystical arts as he was not entirely sure whether Stephen would succeed as his student. Though he went through an initial period of studies, West quickly grew tired of his instructions and left his master as he instead sought to apply the new knowledge to the world. (Doctor Strange: The Oath v1 #4)
Upon facing the threat of Umar, the Ancient One advised Doctor Strange to free the demon Zom from his imprisonment by Eternity as he deemed the creature could only fight the Faltine. (Strange Tales v1 #156)
The demon Shuma-Gorath attempted to enter Earth through the conscious mind of the Ancient One at the Crypts of Kaa-U that housed the dead remains of previous Ancient Ones. (Marvel Premiere v1 #9) The Ancient One was made to serve as a gateway for bringing the demon to Earth, but he retained enough power to make his own mind the only conduit through which Shuma-Gorath could travel. Knowing likewise that he had long outlived his own natural life expectancy, he prompted his disciple, Doctor Strange, to "kill" him by destroying the portion of his mind which constituted his ego, his sense of self, and thus to end his corporeal existence. This Doctor Strange did, even though he was racked by guilt over having had to do so; the death of Yao the Ancient One instantly freed his astral form and allowed him to will it to become one with the Universe, i.e. one with Eternity, which he immediately did. The Ancient One thus died in the Crypts of Kaa-U, in his native Tibet, where the bodies of all the deceased Sorcerers Supreme of the Earth continuum are interred, thereby preventing the rise of Shuma-Gorath. Once the Ancient One's spirit had unified with everything, he came to Doctor Strange, assuaging the doctor's guilt over having had to end his own master's life, and bestowing on his pupil the mantle of the realm's new Sorcerer Supreme. (Marvel Premiere v1 #10)
Following his demise, Hamir began to serve as his spiritual successor and continued managing the Ancient One's ashram. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #84)
The spirit of the Ancient One appeared before Stephen Strange after he confronted Death and unknowingly completed the trial that made him immune to disease thus giving him the power to live potentially forever. (Doctor Strange v2 #4)
A mystical image of the Ancient One appeared in the Eye of Agamotto when it chose Brother Voodoo to be the new Sorcerer Supreme where he offered Drumm the responsibility of this new role. (New Avengers v1 #54) During the attack from the Empirikul, magic from around the world was destroyed leaving few trace of it on Earth. As a result, Stephen Strange began searching for these remaining scraps of magic leading to him to defile the tomb of his master the Ancient One to claim the remaining power within his remains. (Doctor Strange v4 #9)
Whilst in the astral plane, Yao of Kamar-Taj was dragged out of that realm by a mystical being that served as an accountant to the debts towards magic. He was called in to deal with the accumulated debt by Doctor Strange with this being brought forth by the Faltine. Thus, the accountant attempted to settle the death but faced frustration when Strange sought new sources of mystical power. This then led to the being pulling Yao from his heavenly plane and called forth a creature that mystically removed the former Ancient Ones magical knowledge from his mind. He was then abandoned with old age and a lack of magic causing Yao to slowly die. The Ancient One then sought his old student Stephen Strange to teach him once more the mystical arts in order to sustain his own life with the Sorcerer Supreme agreeing the teach his old mentor. (Doctor Strange v5 #10) Strange later learnt that the attack orchestrated against him at the time was arranged by Dorammu so that the Faltine could conquer Earth and when they were weakened he would defeat them. To stop him, his allies liberated the severed piece of the Ancient One's mind containing his knowledge of magic and used it to help stem back the attacks of the Faltine. However, continued exposure to magic that was not learnt was toxic and it dissipated from them but returned to the Ancient One. He then helped defeat Dormammu and banish the Faltine from Earth with him restored completely to the world of the living. Zelma Stanton was amazed at the magic he possessed with the Ancient One offering for her to accompany him in setting up a library so that his knowledge would be retained for future generations which was an offer she gladly accepted. (Doctor Strange v5 #11)
He was later called to aid in the establishment of Strange Academy that was a mystical school tasked with training the new generation of magic users. (Strange Academy v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In his youth, he was a masked vigilante where he was known as the Tsan Saa and as the Spirit Leopard. (Epic Anthology v1 #1)
Even from a young age, he sought to aid others as he intended to end poverty and erase pain. It became among the reasons for his study into the secrets of the supernatural to gain benefits for his people. Whilst intending to use magic to end sickness and strife, he believed that there were laws that they dare not violate. (Strange Tales v1 #148) It was said that the Ancient One forgave all sinners even those that had betrayed him. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #85)
Kaluu said that he had always known that his old friend the Ancient One would make a better teacher than him. (Strange Tales v2 #11) It was also said that he had been never known to lie. (Strange Tales v2 #8)
The Ancient One had always said that the place of his Tibetan ashram whether with or without his physical presence had the power to set the soul right. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #85)
He had kept a private journal that detailed his thoughts such as those on his student Stephen Strange. (Strange Tales v2 #8)
Powers and abilities
In his youth, he was noted for his incredible skill at martial arts and being highly nimble where he could evade weapons with apparent ease. He was said to be able to move with the silence of a whispering breeze. (Epic Anthology v1 #1)
The Ancient One completed a trial where he confronted his mortality against Death herself. Completion of the act meant that his life was touched by Eternity and he need not fear Death again. From that moment on, he did not age with Death only coming from without in battle and not from within. This allowed him to live for 600 years with the potential of living forever. (Doctor Strange v2 #4) As such, he aged slowly (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #12)
There were many individuals that served him each in different ways. (Strange Tales v1 #130)
Notes
- The Ancient One was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Strange Tales v1 #110 (July, 1963).
Alternate Versions
- In What If? V1 #18 (1979), an alternate version of the Ancient One was shown in the story. Unlike the main Earth, this world's Doctor Strange became a disciple of Dormammu after the demon through his apprentice Baron Mordo healed the surgeons hands. The Ancient One was mortified at his prospective student falling under the demons influence and gathered a group of mystics to battle Dormammu. After Stephen Strange encountered Eternity, he decided to turn against his evil master and sided with the Ancient One after which he became the old mystics student.
- In Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #46 (1992), an alternate version of the Ancient One was shown to had resided on the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth. This version followed many of the events of his mainstream counterpart except that he was killed earlier by Baron Mordo. Mordo himself was killed by the Ancient One's student Stephen Strange in his rage with this version of Doctor Strange becoming the Necromancer that was less mature than his mainstream counterpart due to lacking the training of his mentor. From this version of the Ancient One's scrolls, the Necromancer learnt the mystic arts to become the Sorcerer Supreme of his world.
- In Future Imperfect v1 (2015), an elderly Rick Jones operated as the Ancient One on Battleworld where he resided in the realm of Norseheim. Jones as the Ancient One was simply the custodian of the Destroyer armor that resided in a cavern where he served as its guardian as assigned by God Emperor Doom.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, the Ancient One appeared in a non-speaking flashback sequence in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "The Sins of the Father". He was mentioned by Doctor Strange who recounted his origin where the Ancient One was a mystic that was the master of Mordo. At his temple, Stephen Strange sought him out for a cure for his damaged hands but when the Ancient One told him to seek the spiritual answer then Strange departed. However, on the way out, he saw Mordo unleashing magic to kill his monster but the Ancient One was prepared for him and defeated him. Strange became the Ancient One's apprentice and eventual successor whilst Mordo had escaped to plot revenge.
Films
- In Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One appeared in the animated movie where he was voiced by actor Michael Yama.
- In Doctor Strange, the Ancient One was a causcasian woman who appeared in the live-action film set in Marvel Cinematic Universe where she was portrayed by actor Tilda Swinton. She was a bald woman of unknown age who was of Celtic origin that had lived for many years where she led other Masters of the Mystics Arts to protect the world from magical threats. At an unknown point, she had discovered to draw her power from the Dark Dimension to extend her life but hid this knowledge from her disciples where she proclaimed that such a technique was forbidden. Since that time, she had fought many threats such as Dormammu and had taught numerous disciples in her life including Mordo, Kaecilius and Stephen Strange.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Ancient One appeared in a minor role in the third person fighting video game where he was voiced by actor James Sie.
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, the Ancient One appeared as a playable card Master of Magic Ancient One in the video game.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Ancient One was a playable character in the video game who was available in the comic skin or the Marvel Cinematic Universe skin.
Appearances
- Strange Tales v1:
- Marvel Premiere v1:
- Doctor Strange v2:
- Epic Anthology v1:
- Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider v1:
- Doctor Strange v4:
- Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1:
- Doctor Strange v5: (2019)
- Strange Academy v1: (2020)
External Links
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