Circe (DC)

Latest revision as of 07:04, 4 July 2023

Circe in Wonder Woman v5 #20.

Circe is a female comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Pre-Crisis

Circe in Wonder Woman v2 #19.

Circe was a blonde haired female enchantress who was an ancient sorceress who resided on the island of Aiaia that was known to had changed anyone unlucky enough to encounter her into animals. She was known to had encountered the Amazons where Queen Hippolyta came to banish her to an island in deep space known as Sorca. This was to be a punishment for her cruel misdeeds and to prevent her from harming anyone else by leaving her all alone on that planet. She remained there for countless years until the modern age until a space expedition from Earth that included Steve Trevor arrived on the planet. Unaware of its sole inhabitant, they came to explore the world where they drank from the metamorphosis pool with them being unaware of its unique waters. This cause them to be turned into animals and become playthings to Circe but Professor Owler escaped to their rocket ship where he returned to Earth to enlist the aid of Wonder Woman. Using her Invisible Plane, she travelled to Sorca where she confronted the sorceress as she attempted to drink the Amazon Princess into drinking from a goblet. However, Diana was aware of Circe's trickery and attempted to capture her causing the enchantress fleeing into the forests. She was caught by Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth but then Circe using magic commanded the trees to rain the magical liquid that turned the Amazon into a deer. Though powerless, Diana managed to escape from Circe who was in pursuit of her and seemingly managed to catch her quarry but this turned out to be an ordinary deer. In the mean time, Wonder Woman came to find the Molu antidote that resided on the highest mountain which reversed her transformation. She then turned the other human explorers back to normal before capturing Circe where she believed that exiling the sorceress was the wrong decision to make as it simply isolated a problem instead of curing it. Thus, she decided to take Circe back to Earth to Transformation Island where she would be taught the Amazon ways of love and discipline. (Wonder Woman v1 #37)

Once, Circe came to court the hero Achilles but her advances were spurned by him. When Achilles went to battle a dragon, she warned him he would die if he did not marry her and let her use magic to make him fully invulnerable. Her prediction proved false due to the interference of the time-traveling Lois Lane, who saved Achilles from death. Achilles then proposed to Lois and in a fit of jealousy Circe used her magic to return Lois Lane to present day Metropolis. (Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane v1 #40)

The Sea Devils went diving, with Judy bickering with her male companions, who thought no men could become as helpless as a woman smitten in love. They were caught in a maelstrom, and delivered to the underwater lair of the legendary Circe. Circe enraptured the men, who started fighting over her, and even Judy could not get them to stop. Circe demanded the men bring her gifts from the deep-sea, with the best treasure being rewarded by a kiss. The men risked their lives to find treasure, and Dane won the contest with an antique mirror encrusted with pearls. Circe beckoned him for a kiss, and he removed his breathing mask and scuba tank, sealing his doom. Judy got a hold of him, and used the buddy breathing system to save his life. This heroism snapped the Devils out of their euphoria, and they fled. Circe was angered by the men leaving, and set a sea serpent on them, but their teamwork allowed them to survive. (Sea Devils v1 #3)

Post-Crisis

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Circe was a female human who was born the daughter of Hyperion and Perseis where she was the Princess of Colchis. At some point, she was married and took a husband but she was responsible for killing him leading to her subjects turning against her. Thus, she was forced to flee to the island of Aeaea where she took refuge with her swearing to avenge herself against all those she considered her to be her inferiors that dared to oppose her. At first, her sorcery was ineffective beyond the confines of the island and Circe used the seductive songs of sirens to draw wayward seafarers to Aeaea. Those that survived the jagged rocks fell to Circe's machinations where they came to beg for death but despite this she longed for even greater power. This drew the attention of Hecate who wanted Circe to be her instrument of revenge against the Olympian Gods that had wronged her and also to punish the humans that worshipped the Greek gods. The pair traded souls where Circe came to gain Hecate's and thus becoming immortal, eternally beautiful as well as incredible magical power as a result. Her first act was to attain her personal revenge against Colchis where she crushed the puny mortals that had once rebelled against her. By this point, she had developed the art of Beasitmorphism where she could turn men into animals where those that offended her were prey to her loyal Beastiamorphs that hunted and devoured them for their mistress. The terror she spread grew to such infamy that men came to fear that any woman they took on as a mate was Circe in disguise and would turn on them. This created distrust between the sexes that went in line with Circe's goals of sowing suspicion, fear and violence in humanity. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

She then decided to adopt a human identity and hid her personality behind a fake persona that hid her true nature underneath it. This was because she intended to use this identity to get close to Diana Prince and Ares who had adopted the guise of Ares Buchanan. This was with the intention of getting close to them in order to earn their trust and then spring her trap. Thus, she came to adopt the guise of Donna Milton who was a mortal lawyer in the city but even this persona was unaware of her true nature. Furthermore, she did not count that this identity would make friends and fall in love with Buchanan who operated as a mob boss. The two began to sleep together where she became pregnant with his son with Donna unaware of his true nature. (Wonder Woman v2 #100)

Circe would later return to make a Faustian deal with the demon lord Neron in exchange for increased magical power, but managed to keep her soul by planning with other villains to destroy the soul jar which contained it and was spirited away. (Underworld Unleashed v1 #2)

Circe came to be a member of Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang who began targeting the Justice League. Disguising herself as a human, she spied on Green Arrow Connor Hawke and Green Lantern Kyle Rayner at a diner where she claimed to be a psychiatrist and used her abilities to affect their confidence in being superheroes. (JLA v1 #11)

Circe later appeared again to torment Wonder Woman by brainwashing her mother, Queen Hippolyta, into thinking she was the dead housewife of a widower and his son as revenge for convincing her to help Diana during her stint as Donna Milton. Using a special herb spell, Circe brainwashed Hippolyta and her new family, and decided to break the spell after confronting Wonder Woman by giving her the cure, mocking the fact Hippolyta would be crushed and traumatized by losing the chance to have a husband and child as she always wanted. (Wonder Woman v2 #138)

The new Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman v3 #7.

She approached the White House with her turning the guards into animals as she met with President Luthor where Circe offered herself and her resources to him as his wife where they could rule the world with her daughter Lyta by their side. However, Luthor scornfully rejected her causing Circe to depart where she was approached by a figure who offered her great power. (President Luthor Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)

Later on, Circe gave two would-be sorceresses the mission of finding a blood relative of Adolph Hitler and sacrificing him. Hitler was the last person to control the Spear of Destiny, and through a blood sacrifice Circe could to locate the Spear. Circe’s lackeys were foiled by the Justice League Elite, as was Circe when she made a desperate attempt to open up a magical gateway to the Spear by spilling her own blood. (JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004 v1 #1)

Circe began to mystically empower Wonder Woman's enemies and giving them power greater than their wildest dreams. This was in order to draw Diana out where she battled her with the sorceress using her magic to turn people into Beastimorphs. After capturing Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark, Circe fought against Diana and successfully defeated her. She then revealed that she intended to replace the Amazon Princess as an avenger of wronged women. (Wonder Woman v3 #3) This saw her transforming herself into a superpowered form where she came to be the new Wonder Woman who freed women from around the world whilst killing men for wrong doings. (Wonder Woman v3 #4)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Circe was a princess of Colchis in the Caucasus region. It was said that she was the daughter of the Sun himself and that her radiance was a gift to man. That her beauty had no parallel. She was wedded to the heir to one of the wealthiest kingdoms in the Caucasus, but he was a brute, drunk, and liar man, so she saw him as an animal, and finally killed him. This resulted in her being chased by the prince's family forcing Circe to flee Colchis. After sailing alone for days and nights, she managed to survive hunger and thirst with her landing on an island where she met the goddess Hecate, who revealed that she had come to her answering her prayers full of spite. (Justice League Dark v2 #17)

She achieved the pinnacle this world could offer in the 2nd Century BCE, over two thousand years ago. The planet's colors would fade gradually ever after. She was empty, no matter what new beauty was offered. And she swore to regain that which she had lost. She used her magic to open portal after portal where she searched for centuries. She knew that somewhere out there, a portal existed that would offer her soul back to her with her simply needing to find it. No matter how she has tried over millennia, she has never been able to break through the barrier to regain it. The Pandora Pits were that barrier, and she was willing to sacrifice the world to breach it. She wanted what she could not have via corporeal means but magic could break any barrier eventually, if the sacrifice was large enough. (Trinity v2 #14)

Circe later confronted Wonder Woman in Al-Doha, Qurac. She spoke in Diana's native Amazonian language, which surprised the warrior. After killing several soldiers, Circe tricked Wonder Woman into wrapping her lasso around the witch, enabling her to complete the ritual to bind Phobos and Deimos into the forms of dogs. Circe then teleported back to Veronica Cale and Doctor Cyber, Cale's ally. Circe then revealed to Cale that her daughter's soul was not in the soulstone as she previously believed. Circe communicated to Phobos and Deimos in their animal forms, discovering that Isadore's soul had been taken by Ares, who was imprisoned on Themyscira. Circe refused to help Cale any further, as she realized to free Cale's daughter would involve freeing Ares from his prison. (Wonder Woman v5 #20)

Her island of Aaeae was visited by the Justice League Dark where she turned most of them into animals for daring to approach uninvited. This was until Wonder Woman revealed the witch-mark of Hecate on her forehead with Circe embracing Diana and telling her that she was so sorry for the coming events. They offered her a unicorn as payment for aid as she explained the nature of the threat of Hecate and her witchmarks placed on various women around the world of magic. (Wonder Woman v5 #56)

Overview

Personality and attributes

For a time, she had taken the identity of Donna Milton who was a blonde haired woman that was a lawyer in the city. This persona was unaware of her true nature as Circe that was hidden deeply inside her mind as part of her scheme. (Wonder Woman v2 #100) In one instance, she came to claim the identity of Wonder Woman for herself. (Wonder Woman v3 #4)

It was said that she had a first-rate intelligence with her schemes being like symphonies with buried harmonies and movements within movements. (Wonder Woman v2 #100) Such were her talents for manipulation that it was said that she could turn supermen into mere men. She did this by stripping their purity of purpose and the unflinching courage as well as dedication to their duty that set them high above. (JLA v1 #11)

At first, she desired for greater power and was willing to sell her soul for it. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

She claimed that she and Diana of Themyscira were kindred spirits. However, she felt that the Amazon's very existence was a threat to her own existence. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

Circe considered herself to the favoured of the moon goddess Hecate. Her patron was noted for feeling betrayed by both sexes and wanting revenge on all. Thus, both had to suffer to the point that distrust between man and woman woul prevent any peace from developing in the world. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

Powers and abilities

Circe's power was drawn from the moon goddess Hecate who was an offspring of the Titans and though she was not of the Twelve Olympians it was said that she was respected even by Zeus. She was one of the Trinity of the Moon where she represented the Crone whilst Artemis embodied the Maiden whilst Demeter was the Mother. (Wonder Woman v2 #19) Though Hecate was claimed to her patron, Circe herself that the relationship between her and the witch-goddess was much darker. (Wonder Woman v5 #56) A bargain was strong between the sorceress and goddess whereby Circe was to gain immortality along with eternal beauty alongside incredible power if she traded souls with Hecate. Their respective bodies were burnt to ashes where the death of Hecate's form allowed Circe to claim possession of her soul thus gaining great magical power as a result. (Wonder Woman v2 #19) It was said that she was a sorceress of nearly limitless power. (Wonder Woman v2 #100)

She was able to fire bolts of magical energy strong enough to cause physical pain to powerful beings like Wonder Woman. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

She could freeze temporal reality for a bit and pull her and others out of the moment. (Justice League Dark v2 #9)

Upon acquiring her power, she developed the art of beastiamorphism that transformed men into beasts. Such individuals became prey to her loyal Beastiamorphs that could morph between their human and animal forms. (Wonder Woman v2 #19) She was said to be one of the few people strong enough to turn the likes of Hercules into a beast. (Wonder Woman v3 #3)

Circe was known to possess a grimoire that contained a list of spells for her. (Wonder Woman v3 #4)

She continued to operate from her island of Aeaea that served as her home even into the modern age. (Wonder Woman v2 #19)

Notes

• Circe was created historically by Robert Kanigher and Harry G. Peter with her first appearance being in Wonder Woman v1 #37 (September/October, 1949) whilst her modern incarnation was made by George Pérez where she debuted in Wonder Woman v2 #18 (July, 1988).
• She was based on Circe from Greek Legend.

Alternate Versions

• In Captain Marvel Adventures v1 #66 (1946), an alternate version of the mythological Circe appeared in the world of Earth-S. It was shown that 3,000 years ago that the beautiful woman was pursued by the god of magic Oggar who wanted her for himself. However, she spurned his advances and in anger he cursed her with long life but one where she would visibly age and lose her beauty. The two then became bitter enemies and Circe came to hate all men as a result of her experience with Oggar.

In other media

Television

• In Justice League Unlimited, Circe appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where she was shown in the episode "This Little Piggy" and was voiced by Broadway actress Rachel York.
• In Justice League Action, Circe appeared in the animated television series episode "Luthor in Paradise" where she was voiced by actor Laura Post.

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, Circe appeared in the MMORPG setting where she was voiced by actor Michelle Forbes. Circe operated as the leader of the magical side of the villain faction.
• In DC: Unchained, Circe appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Wonder Woman v1: (1949)
• Wonder Woman v2:
• JLA v1:
• Amazons Attack! v1:
• Wonder Woman v3:
• Superman/Wonder Woman v1:
• Trinity:
• Wonder Woman v5:
• Justice League Dark v2:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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