Margali Szardos
Margali Szardos is a female comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Margali Szardos
At one point, she was conducting a magical ritual where she accidentally summoned Azazel from his prison dimension. She came to believe that she had called forth a demon with the Mutant deciding to indulge this belief as the two became allies and even lovers. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #433) At some point, she came to settle with the Der Jahrmarkt circus in Winzeldorf, Germany, where she acted as the circus' fortune teller, all while continuing to practice her own magical powers. (Nightcrawler v3 #8) Margali later came to gain possession of a mystical wand that would grant her incredible mystical power but would begin to corrupt her mind. (Doctor Strange v2 #57) A disciple of the Winding Way, she came to join a witches coven that became the most powerful in Europe and consisted of other sorceresses that included Lilia Calderu and Maria Russoff. In this time, they came to learn the existence of a young girl that would become a powerless sorceress who would straddle the line between magic and science. The group looked to recruit the girl into their coven and activate her powers. The girl was Wanda Maximoff who was with her gypsy parents Django and Marya. However, their actions drew the attention of Chthon who had set his sights on the Maximoff girl and demanded she be left undisturbed until the time was right for him to control her. During the confrontation, Margali moved to protect the young Wanda and was later told that she would bear a child of her own that would be of occult significance. (Mystic Arcana: Scarlet Witch v1 #1)
She gave birth to two children one of whom was her son Stefan Szardos and the other was a daughter named Jemaine Szardos. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4) Years later, he had a child with the shapeshifter Mystique though Raven Darkholme came to abandon the child when she was persecuted after her true form was shown to the inhabitants of the German town. Thus, the young Kurt Wagner was abandoned by a river to die but was saved by his father Azazel where he had Margali take care of his son where Szardos hid the true nature of his parentage from him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #433) He was raised alongside her own children as Kurt Wagnar where the three became to be very close to one another. Unknown to her, her son Stefan was plagued by evil and felt he would succumb to darkness in the future. He confessed this to his adoptive brother Kurt where he extracted a promise from Wagnar to kill him if he ever turned evil. Years later, outside the Bavarian village of Winzeldorf the time came and Stefan attacked Kurt who unintentionally caused his adoptive siblings neck to snap. Margali came to learn of her son's death but not of the true nature of the circumstances and she in an anger swore revenge against Kurt. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4)
Margali sent her daughter Jimaine to Doctor Strange in the hope that her child would grow in the sorcerous arts. When Dr. Strange called a meeting to talk to the many would-be disciples, he told them that he was not seeking a new student. This caused Jimaine to lash out at Strange for not accepting her as his student. Margali, calling herself the Sorceress Supreme, then finally revealed herself, confronting Strange for denying Jimaine the chance to further her mystical abilities. Margali, Jimaine, Dr. Strange and the would-be disciples were transported to another realm, where Margali battled Strange. Even as Strange cast a spell to counter Margali and the giantess size she presented herself in, she was able to stand her ground and eventually defeat him. However, Dr. Strange may have been faking his defeat, as he grabbed the mysterious wand from Margali and cast it into a circle of Cyttorak to protect it. With her current source of power gone, Margali's weakness exposed itself and she reverted to her true form, seemingly grateful to Dr. Strange for freeing her. (Doctor Strange v2 #57) Free from the wand's corruption, Margali and Amanda left Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum and returned to Amanda's Manhattan apartment, where apparently Margali remained for a few days before she returned to Winzeldorf. (Doctor Strange v2 #58)
Margali spent the next few years maintaining an extremely low profile, but remained in contact with Amanda, who eventually joined the European super hero team, Excalibur, of which Nightcrawler was a founding member. At a low point of power along the Winding Way, Margali was captured by the Fear-Lord, D'Spayre, whose power was growing, strengthened as he fueled the discontent that was growing within Germany. Unable to act against D'Spayre, Margali was counting on the help of her children. However, after Amanda collected Nightcrawler and teleported him to Germany, she was unable to go any further, as D'Spayre would sense her. Forced to search for their mother alone, Kurt was attacked by an angry mob and knocked out, all of which Margali helplessly watched through a scrying pool. D'Spayre laughed at the rescue attempt, but Margali was given strength by Kurt's arrival and cast a spell through the scrying pool, though D'Spayre prevented it from succeeding. Kurt eventually recovered on his own and was able to confront D'Spayre, just in time before Margali withered to a husk and D'Spayre claimed her power for his own. D'Spayre was defeated and Margali freed, no real harm having come to her. However, she was concerned about how Nightcrawler would react to her after he recently learned about his birth mother, Mystique. Although Kurt was furious with Margali, this fury could not replace the love that the gypsy woman once gave him. (Excalibur v1 #77)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In reality, her form and youth was only maintained by her magical wand with her reverting to her true form if it was taken from her. (Doctor Strange v2 #57) She was known as Margali of the Winding Road and as She Who Walks the Winding Road. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4)
She came to find herself cursed by the wand that she claimed had warped her mind and resulted in her son becoming a murdering maniac. (Doctor Strange v2 #57)
Her first-born son was Stefan and she had a daughter named Jimaine. Margali later came to adopt the abandoned Mutant child Kurt Wagner who was raised among her own children. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4)
Powers and abilities
Originally, she worked as a fortune teller but at night she secretly began to practice the darker arts of magic. It was said that she was self-taught in the ways of magic as she became a sorcerer. According to her, she was descended from a bloodline of magic users with this trait being present in her entire family. (Nightcrawler v3 #8)
As a witch queen, Szardos was skilled in the arts of magic with her aware of many mystical relics such as the Eye of Agamotto which she could summon to aid her with a gesture. According to her, she walked the path of the winding way allowing her to perform numerous magical spells. Her magic was strong enough to match and in some cases even overpower that of Doctor Strange. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4) In fact, her power led to her being considered the Sorceress Supreme with her claiming that her strength was second to none. In reality, her power stemmed from her wand that came to corrupt her mind. Her power caused her to disguise her true form allowing her to become gigantic in size and make her seem young whilst hiding her elderly mortal form. (Doctor Strange v2 #57)
Her magic allowed her to create a facsimile of Hell such as one based on Dante's Inferno. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4)
Notes
- Margali Szardos was created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. where she made her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4 (January, 1980).
In other media
Television
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men Annual v1: (1980)
- Uncanny X-Men v1:
- Doctor Strange v2:
- Excalibur v1:
- X-Men v2:
External Links
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