Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Stephen Strange
Their family was noted to had lived on a farm in Nebraska where he lived with his parents and younger brother Victor Strange. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #11) When he was 8 year old, he was at his family home in Nebraska when he faced an encounter with the astral projection of Baron Karl Mordo who had implanted a psychic construct in the child's mind. This resulted in nightmarish demons plaguing him and tormenting him as Mordo had intended to prevent the prophecy that spoke of the boy inheriting the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme. However, the Ancient One appeared and banished the demons away with him wiping all memory of the incident from the young Stephen's mind. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #85)
The childhood wonderment of magic though came to be quashed by his father Eugene who was a no-nonsense businessman. He had often chastised his children for pursing activities that he considered to be a waste of time such as birthday celebrations. One day, Stephen tried to show off the ribbon he had won in a spelling bee but was instead punished by his father. Despite that, Stephen often sought Eugene's approval and had decided to become just like his father. This led to him considering anything besides the pursuit of money to be a waste of time. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
When he was 11 years old, he tended to an injury to his younger sister Donna where he decided that when he grew up he would become a doctor. (The Order v1 #6)
When he was 15 years old, he was noted to had fooled around with Laura Robson. (Excalibur v3 #14)
He later joined college where he thought nothing beyond showing himself to be successful to his father. This led to him not making any friends and his ony focus being his chosen career. The only comfort he came to find in a 100 proof bottle. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
Ultimately, Stephen came to graduate medical school at the head of his class. However, his father was no longer alive to see his son be successful. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
The death of his brother horrified Stephen who had Victor's body preserved in the hopes of one day finding a means of bringing him back to life with it remaining in stasis for decades. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #11)
Following the accident, others had tried to help Stephen but he was too bitter and fury to accept it. Though unable to operate, some had offered Strange a position as a consultant and assistant but his pride made him reject any such offer. In the aftermath, Strange had gone into seclusion as his fury raged with his fortune dwindling. Eventually, people stopped attempting to contact him with Stephen eventually losing his home. By this point, he became a drifter where he was directionless and purposeless in life. This was until one day where he overheard two sailors speaking about a person capable of performing magic. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
Whilst studying a sinister gem, a pair of burglars broke into the Sanctum where they intended to make off with valuables. At first, Strange dealt with them but they managed to return during his meditation where they found the gem and disturbed it. This transported them beyond the veil into the Purple Dimension that was ruled by Aggamon who had enslaved the two humans. Strange gave himself up for the captives and engaged in a mystical duel against the ruler of this realm. Though more powerful, the cowardly Aggamon surrendered as he feared his possible death allowing for Strange along with the burglars to return to Earth whereupon the two criminals surrendered themselves after this experience. (Strange Tales v1 #119)
Sorcerer Supreme
He was among the heroes that aided the Fantastic Four when a starving Galactus was drawn to Earth. Unable to stall his hunger, he was prepared to consume the planet leading to various heroes battling him. Strange was able to cast a spell that made the World Devourer experience the suffering of all his victims. This caused him to pause in his attack which allowed for the other heroes to help defeat him. (Fantastic Four v1 #243)
Strange worked alongside the Hulk, Namor and the Silver Surfer in fighting Shanzar who was the Sorcerer Supreme of another dimension. (Incredible Hulk v1 #371)
Later on, the Sanctum was invaded by Ygothic Cyclopeans that had taken on a human form to attack him. Their onslaught came to overwhelm him and in desperation he came to call on the Vishanti's aid who dispelled the creatures. They then told Strange of the War of the Seven Spheres being waged across the realms with the Cyclopeans being dispatched to prevent the Sorcerer Supreme's involvement in the conflict. Stephen also came to learn that the Vishanti were waging a cycling conflict against their opposites that were the Trinity of Ashes. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #48)
In the aftermath, Doctor Strange used aetheric magic to create the Strangers to operate on his behalf in the corporeal world. This included the masked mystical berserker Strange construct whilst the other was the human appearing Vincent Stevens who was a skilled manipulator. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #73)
Doctor Strange
Wounded, in desperation he sought power from the demon Zom just as the Warbound Hiroim uncovered the Sanctum with him defeating the Sakaaran Shadow after which he confronted the Hulk. (World War Hulk v1 #3) The pair battled with their fight taking them into the city whereupon Strange began to lose control to his anger. After nearly killing some bystanders, he faltered allowing for the Hulk to defeat him and leading to his capture. He was then placed alongside the other heroes that had sent the Hulk into space and implanted with Obedience Disks where they were forced to eventually fight each other to the death. (World War Hulk v1 #4) Their captivity ended with the arrival of the Sentry who battled the Green Scar Hulk where the two fought each other until their expended energies led to them reverting to their respective human forms. Afterwards, it was discovered that the Sakaaran Native Miek was the one responsible for the destruction on his home planet that caused the death of the Hulk's wife leading to an end to hostilities. (World War Hulk v1 #5)
Incursions
He was later called in a new gathering of the Illuminati when the Black Panther called them together to discuss the threat of the Multiversal Incursions that was destroying universes. (New Avengers v3 #1)
When each member of the Illuminati dispersed and searched for Thanos' Inhuman son it was the Doctor who found him. However, Maw wiped Strange's mind of his findings and kept his location to himself. (Infinity v1 #3) The search was interrupted by another incursion and Strange and the rest of the Illuminati traveled to the other universe, where they encountered the Builders of that universe, who revealed to Stephen and the Illuminati that his memories and mind had been manipulated. Upon returning, Stephen joined the Illuminati in liberating their headquarters at the Necropolis from Thanos' forces. (Infinity v1 #6)
The continued threat of the Incursions saw Stephen seeking out greater magic in order to handle the coming crisis. Thus, he travelled to the Lost Lands for access to the Sinner's Market in order to barter his soul for the power to change worlds. After meeting various people, he was led to the Resolute Throne who dealt in degrees of godhood where she dealt in degrees of fifth though Stephen bartered the entirety of his soul for the magic. (New Avengers v3 #14)
At some point, he came to leave the Earth-616 universe and found himself among the Black Priests when he came to master their magic to manipulate reality. They then worked on helping halting the decay of the Multiverse and fought in the 'Game of Worlds' being waged in he conflict between Rabum Alal and the Ivory Kings. (New Avengers v3 #27)
Last Days of Magic
He then noticed an increase in mystical threats to which he responded where he met rarely encountered beings that warned of a coming danger. When he returned to his home, he encountered a librarian named Zelma Stanton who wanted his help as a mystical parasite had lodged itself on her head and she wanted his aid to remove it. (Doctor Strange v4 #1) The Mind Maggots managed to escape her into the Sanctum Sanctorum where he attempted to restrain them but discovered that his magic was failing him. After gathering the creatures, he had them move from Stanton to himself where his mental defences meant that the parasites would eventually starve to death. Zelma came to thank him for his help with Stephen asking her to help him as his librarian and to help sort out his mystical tomes to which she accepted the offer. (Doctor Strange v4 #2) Earth was then beset upon by a large horde of starving mystical slugs that fed on magic with Strange attempting to send them to the dimension of Fandazar Foo that was a wellspring of mystical energy. However, he when he opened the door to there, he found it devastated and in ruins where he came to learn that some force in the cosmos was destroying all magic. (Doctor Strange v4 #3) He then conducted a spell of summoning to gather all the Sorcerers Supreme to consult with them but none answered the call and he determined that their ranks were being decimated by this unknown force. He then gathered the various magicians from around the Earth to gather at the Bar With No Doors to warn them of the coming danger. He then investigated the Temple of Watoomb that was situated deep beneath the Indian Ocean only to find it dead and devoid of magic. He was then attacked by the entities responsible for destroying magic with these being machines that had already begun their onslaught against Earth. (Doctor Strange v4 #4)
Loki: Sorcerer Supreme
While possessing Stephen's body, the Void revealed the location of the Exile of Singhsoon. Loki excised it from Zelma and used it to consolidate all of Earth's striving magic into himself. He first separated Stephen from the Void, and then used the power boost to jump-start magic itself all over Earth, so to provide a temporary fix to the Empirikul's ravaging, his true objective behind his search for the spell. Strange and Loki joined forces and locked the Void back into the Sanctorum. When the dust settled, Loki saw himself forced to reveal his ploy regarding the Vishanti's illusion and the passing of mantle. After disclosing his intentions behind the ploy, Loki relinquished his role as Sorcerer Supreme back to Strange. Before being teleported away, Loki apologized for Bats' death, revealing he had returned the hound as a spectre. (Doctor Strange v1 #385)
Damnation
After Las Vegas was eradicated by the Hydra Helicarriers during the Hydra takeover, Doctor Strange used his reclaimed magic to resurrect the people who had died. However, Mephisto opposed Strange, since he had already claimed the souls of those people. Mephisto then orchestrated the events which causes his demons to bring Strange into his Hotel Inferno. After Mephisto claimed the last remnants of Las Vegas, before its restoration, and the Hotel started to affect the people, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Falcon, Hawkeye, and Thor, who were turned into Ghost Rider-like creatures. Doctor Strange then fought Mephisto in a game of blackjack, in which if Strange won Mephisto would release the souls of those people and return them to Las Vegas, or if Mephisto won he would claim Strange's soul. Doctor Strange won, however by cheating, which was discovered by Mephisto and had Strange tortured. (Doctor Strange v1 #386) Wong was then contacted by the ghost of Strange's dead dog Bats, who told him to help Doctor Strange, and Wong in return then summoned Blade, Doctor Voodoo, Elsa Bloodstone, Johnny Blaze, Iron Fist and Man-Thing who then reformed the Midnight Sons. (Doctor Strange: Damnation v1 #1) After Wong and Bat's ghost were separated from the Midnight Sons, they were then confronted by Doctor Strange's body now turned Ghost Rider, but Bat's ghost was able to possess Strange's body. (Doctor Strange: Damnation #3) He then assisted the Avengers and the Midnight Sons in fighting Mephisto and preventing him from returning to his throne, which claimed by Johnny. Doctor Strange was able to defeat Mephisto, but the demon went anyway to his realm and was again defeated by the different Ghost Riders and sent him back to Earth where he was trapped at the top of the hotel. Then Strange and the other heroes left the now normal Las Vegas, while Wong remained in order to keep Mephisto at bay. (Doctor Strange: Damnation v1 #4)
Herald Supreme
At some point, after an encounter with an Elder God X'axal, Strange began experiencing a magical withdrawal. This ultimately resulted in a complete burnout, rendering Stephen unable to tap into the Earth's magic supply. After a meeting with Tony Stark, Strange took to the stars in search for alternative sources of arcane powers. (Doctor Strange v5 #1) Early in his journey, he became a prisoner on the planet Grynda, where he met a young arachnologist called Kanna and the two decided to roam the galaxy together after folding the Gryndans invasion plans. (Doctor Strange v5 #2) Eventually, the two landed on Tarnax II where they've encountered the Super-Skrull experimenting on the newly-restored Time Stone. Strange took the Stone from the Skrulls and concealed it from Kanna, using a memory-wipe spell. (Doctor Strange v5 #3) During their journey, Strange and Kanna came into conflict with the Majesdanians, as they tried to save a dwarf from Nidavellir named Eoffren. At this point, Strange had recovered his connection to magic enough to summon the Cloak of Levitation back to his side. The rescue resulted in Kanna becoming the Majesdanian prisoner, as they were preparing to invade the Earth. To save her, Eoffren gifted Strange his own Mystic Forge and taught him the art of mystic craftsmanship. With a new suit and a new weapon, the Scalpel of Strange, Stephen teleported onto the Majesdanian ship, quickly dispatching of the crew and freeing Kanna. The two later stopped the launched Majesdanian missile from reaching Earth, by conjuring a colossal seal of the Vishanti to shield the planet. (Doctor Strange v5 #4)
He then learnt from his old master that a mysterious figure was responsible for his return to the physical plane that was targeting people close to Stephen. Strange used his magic to confront the individual in his own realm where he found a mystical room filled with accountants trading in magic. He then met the head accountant who went by the name of T. Hothran who was the person responsible for the string of attacks on Doctor Strange. Hothran revealed that he was responsible for balancing the books of magic and ensuring no mystical debts were unpaid. However, he found that Stephen Strange was the worst abuser of the system and that many of his mystical benefactors were reining on his unpaid use of magic. Thus, they were looking to collect on the debt with Hothran attempting to manage this by first removing Strange's magic but Stephen came to learn new magic in response. Hothran then took his friends hostage as collateral in an effort to stop Stephen but Strange managed to defeat him. After revealing his true intentions, Hothran revealed that for Doctor Strange's unpaid debt that the Faltine themselves had waged an attack on Earth itself as a result of not paying for the magic he had used as Sorcerer Supreme. (Doctor Strange v5 #10)
Strange was approached in the Sanctum Sanctorum by the alien sorcerer Zoloz, whose home planet of Zarax was under threat from Galactus. After finding Strange's advice unhelpful, he stole all of Strange's magical artifacts and used them to banish Galactus to another dimension. (Doctor Strange v5 #12)
Strange made it so that he had imprisoned Zoloz until he was able to convince him to save his planet by becoming Galactus's herald. After this, he was confronted by Mephisto, who made him pay for his help by erasing himself from Clea's memories. (Doctor Strange v5 #17)
Surgeon Supreme
As a result, he resumed his career as a surgeon but continued operating as a superhero. During this time, he fought against the Wrecker whose bar had been enhanced to the point that it could shatter reality itself. Strange battled him and Thunderball where he was nearly killed but ultimately was able to defeat the two supervillains. However, Stephen came no closer to finding out who was responsible for enhancing the weapons of the two criminals and began an investigation into the mastermind behind these new dangerous armaments. (Dr. Strange v1 #2)
He then encountered a pair of demons called Mr. Smile and Mr. Sulk both of whom were armed with 'black artifacts'. After defeating them, he imprisoned the pair in the Dungeon Dimension whereupon he found that his ally the dwarf Eoffren was murdered. Vowing to avenge him, he was later joined by Doctor Druid where the pair took part in the investigation into the reality damaging 'black artifacts'. From a troll, they learnt of a black market illegal magical weapon sale in another dimension at the Infinite Bazaar where the person heading it was Madame Masque. The two heroes then decided to infiltrate the sale in order to stop further weapons from falling into the wrong hands. (Dr. Strange v1 #5)
He then brought together a magical faculty headed by the Ancient One that saw to train mystics from across dimensions with this being Strange Academy. (Strange Academy v1 #1) As part of this plan, he petitioned the Vishani to allow him to create a space where magic could be used freely. They accepted his proposal where Hoggoth would bear the mystical cost and eat the debt incurred in the process. (Strange Academy v1 #7)
With the wounded Emily Bright in his arms, he decided to take her to Hoggoth so that she could use magic to heal her. In his realm, the Vishanti grew angry at the arrogance of Strange's request but decided to grant it thus healing his student of her mystical injuries. This allowed her to recuperate and regain consciousness back at Strange Academy though she was angry at the mystical cost being hidden from her as this led to the chain of events that caused the seeming death of Doyle Dormammu. (Strange Academy v1 #7)
Death of Doctor Strange
Strange's body was later found by Zelma Stanton, Wong, and Doctor Voodoo. Baron Mordo also appeared and complained that someone robbed him of the chance to kill Strange. When extradimensional threats began overwhelming Earth due to Strange no longer maintaining a magical barrier that kept them at bay, a simulacrum Strange created in case something happened to him appeared and asked what year was it. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #1)
His temporal duplicate later managed to resurrect him by using a regenerative healing spell on Kaecilius, who had foolishly given himself both Strange's soul and his hands, and he assisted his past counterpart in defeating the Three Mothers and Peregrine Child. This resurrection, however, would not last as Death chose to reclaim his soul. Before he disintegrated, Stephen told Clea after she regained her memories that he was a fool for ever letting her go and made her the new Sorcerer Supreme, claiming there was no one else he could trust. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #5)
Overview
Personality and attributes
His younger brother at times was known to had called him Steverino. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #11) At one point, he came to lead the Black Priests and was known to them as the Eye. (New Avengers v3 #27) After his death, he came to be claimed by Death as her Sorcerer Supreme and operated under the identity of the Harvestman. (Strange v3 #5)
As a child, Stephen was noted to had been so happy, well-adjusted and loving. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
In his adult years, Stephen had become like his father as he was proud and successful. Money came to be all he cared about with the problems of others meaning nothing to him. By this point, he was only willing to listen to others if they could pay for his services. He had a fixation at being the best in his profession and his pride dictated that he would never work for anyone else. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
Stephen as a child looked to his father for approval and always wanted to spend time with him. However, Eugene Strange saw trivial pursuits to be a waste of time and even ignored his children's attempts at celebrating his birthday. He even shouted and got angry at his children for disturbing him when he was working. This was because he felt any act that did not make money was wasteful. According to him, the making and keeping of money was the only real measure of a man. Later on, Stephen looked to emulate his father and similarly disparaged things such as celebration of birthdays as being a waste of time and money. By Stephen's college years, he thought of nothing but to show his father how successful he had become and had no friends with his only focus being his chosen career. He had sacrificed everything that had once meant to him in an effort to gain his father's love and respect. The end result was Stephen gaining a lucrative medical practice and an abiding taste in alcohol along with him being haunted by his own personal demons. On 30th June, he often reminisced about his life and the actions of his father who had been responsible for shaping Stephen's life. This saw him talking to a portrait of Eugene Strange as they talked about the ghosts of their past. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
He had a younger brother who was called Victor Strange who he had not seen since he went to medical school. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #11)
It was known that he came to refer to the Ancient One as 'little father' with this being a term he genuinely meant to his mentor. He said that in the Ancient One he got everything he had never gotten from his own father with these being respect, guidance and love. Similar, his mentor referred to Stephen Strange as his son and he saw him as his favoured disciple. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12)
He had a number of students over the years including:
- Rintrah :
- Casey Kinmont :
- Zelma Stanton :
Kanna even stated that she had come to love Stephen though did not want to admit it out loud to others. (Doctor Strange v5 #7)
A favourite locale that he would visit was the Bar With No Doors that was a magicians only lounge which was locate deep in the bowels of New York City. (Doctor Strange v4 #1)
Powers and abilities
The nerve damage in his hands never healed which was the reason why his handwriting was atrocious. (Doctor Strange v4 #1)
Under Wong, he came to learn a degree of martial arts and was capable of hand-to-hand fighting to a certain degree. (Doctor Strange: The Oath v1 #5) His skill as a brown belt could sometimes allow him an advantage against certain opponents. (Defenders v6 #1)
Strange was knowledgeable of magic where he was able to form a number of mystic spells. (Strange Tales v1 #116) During his tutelage under the Ancient One, he was noted to had excelled in his studies as no other student before him. (Uncanny Origins v1 #12) Being a magician meant that he did not conjure magic from thin air but rather channelled magical energy that existed from around him. (Doctor Strange v4 #3)
It was said that exposure to magical energies had changed his body over time where he could no longer gain sustenance from normal food. Instead, he had to eat a range of specially prepared mystical food that would kill an ordinary human. There was no joy in eating this food as it was simply a requirement and part of the price he paid for casting his spells. (Doctor Strange v4 #4)
The office of the Sorcerer Supreme was recognition of magical primacy of the person. They were granted access to great wellsprings of power unavailable to other practitioners of the mystic arts. This power came with a great number of duties as the Sorcerer Supreme was part of a planet's natural defences. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #1)
Among the spells he could cast included:
- True Sight : could be used to enchant objects such as glasses allowing a non-magical person to view the mystical that hid their true appearances. (Strange v2 #1)
- Vanishing Spell : a spell of transference that transported objects to a particular dimension. (Strange v2 #2)
- Translation Spell : a spell that translated the language of another person to be understandable with this capable of being made on animals. (Doctor Strange v1 #382)
- Hand of Hoggoth : a dread and deadly spell that created fire that leapt from the hands whereupon the flames transformed into an unstoppable clawed metal hand that gripped onto its targets. (Doctor Strange v2 #43)
- Protection of Nivalor : a spell that could be used to preserve a persons life. (Doctor Strange v5 #10)
- Haunted Halls of Hallorenn : a powerful spell that worked for a short time that gave spirits back their mortal forms for a time. It was said to had been cast from a place of purity for goods reasons and was located within a dark grimoire. (Doctor Strange Annual v3 #1)
- Crimson Crystals of Cyttorak : creating a number of sharp red crystal shards around the user. (Ironheart v1 #8)
- Cask of Cyttorak : a crimson coated crystalline container that could be used to entrap dangerous magic. (Tarot v1 #1)
- Bolts of Balthakk :
- Demons of Denak :
- Images of Ikonn :
- Shifting Sands of Ikonn :
- Chains of Krakkan : conjured up physical chains to restrain an adversary. (Doctor Strange v2 #47)
- Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon :
- Light of Nirvalon : a spell able to generate powerful mystical light. (Doctor Strange v2 #46)
- Mists of Morpheus : a spell able to place people into a sleep-like state. (Doctor Strange v2 #47)
- Mists of Munnopor :
- Winds of Watoomb : calling upon the Whirling Winds of Watoomb allowed him to call upon wind currents from the nether regions that were able to carry people on wind currents. (Doctor Strange v1 #173)
- Obscuring Mists of Valtorr : a spell that could conceal the caster and others from magical or even technology means of tracking them. (Avenging Spider-Man v1 #8)
- Mist of Hoggoth : a doorway that allowed entry into shadow worlds with the power of Hoggoth creating a narrow path for the caster to follow into other dimensions. (Strange Tales v1 #116)
- Pentagram of Farallah : a simple but effective teleportation spell that required five people in order to cast it. The caster then spoke the words, "By the fangs of Farallah, we do implore ye grant us passage through thy door." (Avenging Spider-Man v1 #8)
- Golden Gaze of the Gorgon : a spell whereby a target could be turned to stone with this being in effect so long as the caster remained alive. (Strange Academy Presents: Death of Doctor Strange v1 #1)
- Incantation of Oblivion : a powerful spell that only the Living Tribunal could cast at full power which had the ability to shatter worlds. However, even lesser incantation was enough to make a person feel the effects of nothingness of a void or black eternity. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #18)
- Exile of Sinshoon : a powerful spell that could take all the magic in the world and give it to the user with this being given to Stephen but felt it was too powerful for use even for emergencies and thus he hid it in the souls of his close friends to prevent it from being used as it could devastate the planet. (Doctor Strange v1 #382)
To protect his mind, he could surround himself with a psychic shield to prevent him from falling into madness. (Doctor Strange v1 #173) Strange was able to cast spells whereby with a gesture he could cause cosmic beings to experience terrors that made them scream. (Fantastic Four v1 #243) Stephen could use his magic to also summon elementals for various purposes. (Doctor Strange v2 #46) He could cast spells of restoration to return people to full health and also spells of forgetfulness to make them lose memories of particular events. (Doctor Strange v2 #47) Strange could devolve linear time causing it to move concentrically around people allowing time to slow outside those affected. (Sentry: The Void v1 #1) He could also craft a null space parallel to time and space that was his own creation. He came to use this as a new Sanctum Sanctorum for a time and operated within this space. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #63) Strange was also able to use the cantrips of the Onyx King that were short-lived and potent spells some of which could nullify magic in a set area that affected himself as well. (Defenders v6 #1) He could tap into other realities as alternatives for magical power. This realm of aspects was a plane of magic where every form of mystical force could be embodied such as techno-magic, bio-magic, geo-magic and others. (Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme v1 #83) Strange was shown to be capable of cutting parts of his timeline from his lifespan and enchanting it so that this version of himself manifested if he were to die in order to settle any outstanding matters. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #2)
After losing ties to the Gaian Aura, Strange sought a new form of magic and learnt it from the Vishanti's library where he became familiar with catastrophe magic. From scrolls, he learnt the mathematics needed to develop the art when the solar system entered the Syzygy where he learnt to manipulate chance, change and probabilities to accomplish his feats. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #80) This changing magic was derived from change and altered coincidence allowing him to transform objects from one state to another such as a gun to a swarm of flies. Though having learnt it, he had not mastered its use and proved difficult to use compared to other magic. It could be used to empower his mystical relics such as the Eye of Agamotto that he could open by sending the power of Syzygy into it. Stephen could surround himself with untapped potential for change that pervaded the world around people. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #81)
For a time, he used a vanishing spell where he caused objects to be sent to an alternate dimension which he presumed was empty. However, it had a single powerful resident named Baroshtok who grew angry at all the objects being displaced into his realm. Thus, an agreement was to be made that no more objects were to be transferred to this dimension with any breach of this pact demanding someone be accountable. The entity was capable of being lenient but when angered he could be forceful and wrathful. (Strange v2 #2) After a further breach in the terms, Baroshtok decided he could no longer trust Strange with the spell and sealed the dimensional bridge between the two realms. (Strange v2 #4)
He once used aetheric energies to craft two personas based on himself to operate in the world with these being the Strangers. One was a masked mystical berserker simply known as Strange and the other had a human-like form called Vincent Stevens who was clever like his creator. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #73) Typically, magic had a cost and pain that needed to be paid for use though Strange had circumvented this rule with the misery being channelled away. Eventually, the debt and dark magic manifested into a living being composed of all the misery and pain in Strange's life where for a time it was known as the Thing in the Cellar. (Doctor Strange v4 #10) After taking a life of its own, the entity decided to contrast himself against his maker where he took the name Mister Misery. (Doctor Strange v4 #12) A sorcerer of his power shed dreams, thought and forgotten ideas like dead skill cells with these discarded aspects being filled by magic that they manifested as entities called Strangelings. These misshaped creatures appeared with Stephen Strange's face where they had small dwarfish forms and could be dangerous to mortals. (Black Cat v1 #2)
It was said that chanting the name of a higher being by name was their power being borrowed by Strange. Each lending required a cost to be paid for the magic. (Doctor Strange v5 #10) A consequence of the use of spells was that there was a mystical toll that needed to be paid. Thus, any magic had to have something offered to pay its use otherwise consequences would be incurred elsewhere. (Doctor Strange v4 #1) He was taught by the Ancient One that the harder a mystical spell used then a greater toll was paid on the body. (Doctor Strange v4 #4) The cost of spells could manifest as nightmares, ulcers and infections of both a spiritual as well as a physical nature inflicted on his body. (Doctor Strange v4 #5) Not balancing the costs of magic could result in incurring the wrath of the head accountant of the mystical who was a being that went by the name of T. Hothran who went to have the debt paid off. As a kind of head accountant, he was capable of removing magic from a person as a consequence in an effort to balance the books. (Doctor Strange v5 #10)
Strange was taught the art of crafting mystical objects by Eoffren the Dwarf from Nidavaeller. This allowed him to create a number of relics that drew on his own power from the forge. With them, he could craft relics that produced magical effects without him having to recite an incantation. (Doctor Strange v5 #5)
Relics and items available to him included:
- Scrolls of Watoomb :
- Book of the Vishanti : He was said to possess the only known copy of this tome that contained every known counter-spell in the mystic arts that were inscribed on its pages. (Strange Tales v1 #116)
- Serum of the Seraphim : said to be the most potent medicine known to the occult. (Strange Tales v1 #149)
- Grimoire of Watoomb : a tome of magic that was tied to the magical being Watoomb. (Doctor Strange v4 #3) When opened, it could release a hurricane with its power being linked with the temple of Watoomb. (Doctor Strange v4 #4)
- Cloak of Levitation :
- Axe of Angarruumus : a very ancient and very powerful mystical relic that was stored in a witch's crypt in the centre of the Moon. (Doctor Strange v4 #3)
- Tarot of the Secret Flame : a magical deck that drew an ally to the casters side where a summoned hero caused fate to be diverted with the magic enacting a price later on as a result of such an action. (Defenders v6 #1) Doctor Strange had used it in times to summon allies to his side where they were mystically chosen by the cards themselves. (Secret Defenders v1 #1)
An issue Strange had was being unable to be everywhere at once. To rectify this, he invested a small piece of himself in 47 figurines modelled on him. These were given to trusted allies around the world. When needed, Stephen was able to astral project himself into them which allowed him to interact with the physical world in a way that he could not with his astral form. (Captain America v11 #3)
After defeating the demon Zom, Strange kept the box holding the creature in his possession. In times of desperation, he was capable of taking out the box and evoking the magic to break the bindings in it. He could then ingest the demon and gain the power of Zom giving him incredibly raw magical power. (World War Hulk v1 #3)
For a time, he lost his position as Sorcerer Supreme and sought a new source of magic to supply his depleted power. This involved going to the World Tree Yggdrasill that was an infinite source of magic that was not fully tapped by the Asgardians. After making a trade, the tree gave him more magic than he had ever known or could be contained in his body making him a god of magic. He wielded a wooden staff in this form where he had the power to transmute entire dimensions though there was a mystical cost that needed to be taken by someone or something. (Doctor Strange v1 #383) The Yggdrasil Staff contained old wild magic that wanted to be burn freely, brightly and beautifully across creation but required a conduit in order to do so with them having to offer their consent. Mystics were then approached by a representation of the staff taking on a familiar form where they offered them their hearts desire in exchange for giving themselves freely to it thus allowing them to circumvent the normal rules that governed the use of magic. (Black Cat v2 #3)
Under the tutelage of the Dwarf Eoffren, he managed to craft his own mystical blade that was referred to as the Sword of Strange which Stephen referred to as a scalpel and through a slash could open dimensional portals to any destination. (Doctor Strange v5 #5)
From Eoffren, he came to possess his own forge that he could access at any point and served as his magical laboratory. It contained equipment such as a Faltine Furnace and a Wall of Infinite Elements that could be used to craft other mystical tools. (Doctor Strange v5 #7) He referred to this place as his Sanctum Machina where he could craft artifacts and weapons to fight his enemies. (Dr. Strange v1 #2)
Wong came to train and manage a group of monks in service to the Sorcerer Supreme with these being the Secret Disciples of Strange. (Doctor Strange v4 #5)
Notes
- Doctor Strange was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Strange Tales v1 #110 (July, 1963).
Alternate Versions
- In Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #19 (1991), an alternate version of Stephen Strange was shown in the reality of Earth-691 in the Multiverse. He was shown to had left Earth during the Martian conquest and left for the planet Lem where by the 31st century he went under the name of the Ancient One. He came to find Krugarr who he trained to be his replacement as the Sorcerer Supreme.
- In Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #46 (1992), an alternate version of Stephen Strange was introduced who was an inhabitant of the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth. This version of Strange followed many of the events of his mainstream counterpart but when the Ancient One was killed by Baron Mordo this Stephen killed the evil sorcerer. Afterwards, he learnt magic from the Ancient Ones scrolls and adopted the name of the Necromancer where he demonstrated less maturity than his counterpart due to having less counsel with his mentor.
- In Defenders v3 #3 (2005), an alternate version of Doctor Strange was shown as an inhabitant of the Dormammuverse that was designated as Earth-5113. This universe was created by Dormammu of Earth-616 after he claimed the power of Eternity and made a world in his own image. In this reality, Doctor Strange was a bald mystic and loyal follower of Dormammu.
- In Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #304 (2018), an alternate version of Doctor Strange was shown in a timeline that branched off in an attempt to stop the Vedomi invasion of Earth. On this Earth, Norman Osborn ruled the world with the planet's superheroes either being killed, detained, worked for him or were in hiding. Strange was part of the resistance with his astral sanctum being used as their headquarters and was protected by the Door of Istorium that only allowed entry to those with good intentions into the place. He came to work alongside with Steve Rogers, Riri Williams and others in seeking to end the Osborn regime.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Doctor Strange appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Little Superheroes" where he was voiced by actor John Stephenson.
- In X-Men, Doctor Strange made a cameo appearance in the animated television series in the "Dark Phoenix Saga".
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Strange made multiple appearances in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor John Vernon.
- In The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Mind Over Anti-Matter" where he was voiced by actor Maurice LaMarche.
- In Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, Doctor Strange made multiple appearances in the anime series where he was voiced by actor Yasunori Masutani.
- In Marvel Future Avengers, Doctor Strange appeared in the anime series in the episode "Out of Time" where he was voiced again by Japanese actor Yasunori Masutani and actor Liam O'Brien in the English dub.
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Strange appeared in the setting of the 2018 animated television series starting from the episode "Amazing Friends" where he was voiced again by actor Liam O'Brien.
Films
- In Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange appeared in the 2007 animated film where he was voiced by actor Bryce Johnson. Stephen Strange was shown to had a younger sister named April Strange suffered from a brain tumour that caused painful headaches. To save her, he decided to perform an operation on her but she died during the procedure with Stephen always blaming himself. He then dedicated himself to becoming the best surgeon in the world where he began to only treat patients that profited him or cases that attracted his interest.
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Doctor Strange, Doctor Stephen Strange appeared in the 2017 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. On February 2nd, 2016, continuing his neurosurgeon career, Strange performed another operation while at Metro-General Hospital, where he had watched a team of students who were all taking notes. While he was operating, Strange requested Billy to play music and have Strange use his impressive memory to guess the song, artist and year it had been released, which he was able to do each time, much to the great frustration of Billy and all of the other nurses. Once he had completed yet another successful surgery, Strange was asked by his friend Christine Palmer to help with a patient who had been shot in a firefight. Leaving his nurses to finish with the operation without him, Strange met with Palmer outside the operating room where she presented the x-ray of her patient. While Strange joked that clearly, the issue she was having was that the patient had a bullet inside his head, Strange suddenly realized there was something wrong. Despite Nicodemus West's objections, who wanted to start recovering the patient's organs immediately, Strange found a perfectly intact bullet and realized that it had been hardened by a poison that caused the patient to fail reflexes tests and enter a death-like state. Realizing Doctor West misdiagnosed brain death in the patient, Strange and Palmer rushed to stop West and prepared to perform immediate surgery to try and remove the bullet. Although West requested to assist Strange in the operation, he refused the offer and instead told Palmer to come to assist him. As the operation went underway, Palmer thanked Strange for believing her. He prepared to remove the bullet freehand without the use of a machine, as there was such little time. Demanding absolute silence, which included West being told to cover his watch, Strange eventually managed to find and remove the bullet. Immediately following the successful surgery, Palmer questioned if Strange really needed to humiliate West in front of all of the other doctors, although Strange confidently noted that he did not have to save West's own patient either, but sometimes he just could not help himself. When Palmer continued to defend West and called him a great doctor, Strange asked Palmer if she and West were sleeping together, claiming that the mere concept disgusted him. Palmer then denied the accusation, stating it was against the "Strange Policy," a policy against dating coworkers, which she named after him, which still pleased Strange to have something named after him.
- In Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Stephen Strange returned in the 2018 live-action film where he was once more portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
- In Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Stephen Strange appeared in the 2019 live-action film where he was again portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. He was one of the many heroes resurrected when the Avengers went back in time to collect the Infinity Stones and used them to restore the people killed by Thanos.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Doctor Strange appeared as a playable character in the video game where he was voiced by actor James Horan
- In Marvel Heroes, Doctor Strange appeared as a playable character in the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Nick Jameson.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Doctor Strange became a playable character in the iOS and Android video game. An alternate version of him bonded with a Symbiote and became known as the Symbiote Supreme where he used special symbiomancy magic to control other Symbiotes in battle.
- In Marvel: Realm of Champions, Doctor Strange appeared in the setting of the mobile video game. One was a resident of the Battlerealm who adopted the moniker of the Ancient One and headed the Temple of the Vishanti on the Isle of Agamotto that were one of the factions that emerged from the death of the Maestro.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, Doctor Strange appeared as a playable character in the iOS and Android video game.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Doctor Strange appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where actor Liam O'Brien reprised voicing the character.
- In Marvel: Future Revolution, Doctor Strange appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Novels
Appearances
- Strange Tales v1: (1963)
- Doctor Strange v1:
- Doctor Strange v2:
- Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme v1:
- Strange v1:
- Defenders v1:
- Fantastic Four v1:
- The Order v1:
- Uncanny Origins v1:
- New Avengers v1:
- World War Hulk v1:
- Defenders:
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Doctor Strange:
- Doctor Strange and the Sorcerer Supremes v1:
- All-New Wolverine v1:
- Doctor Strange v5:
- Avengers v8:
- Black Cat v1:
- Ironheart v1:
- Doctor Strange Annual v3:
- Dr. Strange v1:
- Tarot v1:
- Savage Avengers v1: (2019)
- Strange Academy v1: (2020)
- King in Black v1:
- Black Cat v2: (2021)
- Death of Doctor Strange v1:
- Strange v3:
- Doctor Strange v6:
External Links
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