Sorcerer Supreme
Sorcerer Supreme is a title that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
A Sorcerer Supreme was the title given to the most powerful magic wielding sorcerer charged with oversight over their respective dimension.
It was said that it was not known how many Sorcerer Supremes existed with even the Ancient One not knowing this information. (Doctor Strange v4 #4) The Earth dimension has had several Sorcerer Supremes, including Agamotto (the first), Salome, and most famously, the Ancient One and Doctor Strange. Other dimensions have Sorcerer Supremes as well, such as the alien Tiboro of the Sixth Dimension or the evil Dormammu.
In the age of Atlantis, the wizard Varnae once aspired to be the Sorcerer Supreme but instead fell to darker powers as he became the first of the race of Vampires. (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1 #18)
Merlin was noted to had once taken the title of Sorcerer Supreme. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
At the dawn of humanity, the Aged Genghis sought knowledge and was gifted this in exchange for him presiding over a contest of sorcery that was to be called once every hundred years to determine the Sorcerer Supreme. (Marvel Graphic Novel v1 #49)
Since the 1500's, a number of Sorcerer Supremes had confronted the Marrakant Hellguard but were incinerated by the entity. (Doctor Strange: The Oath v1 #4) In 1692, Reverend Hiram Shaw served as Sorcerer Supreme who had barred Dormammu from coming to Earth during this era. (X-Men: Hellfire Club v1 #1)
Later on, Sir Isaac Newton came to take the position of Sorcerer Supreme. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
A young mystic named Ian McNee came to learn magic and his ambition led to him desiring to become the Sorcerer Supreme. This saw him travelling to the Sanctum Sanctorum to challenge Stephen to a mystical duel. Strange agreed though he placed McNee under a powerful illusion that made him believe he had incidentally killed Stephen in the duel. Thus, Ian became the new Sorcerer Supreme where he was seemingly attacked by countless other sorcerers who desired the title with him being forced to kill each one leading to him being overwhelmed by his attackers. It was then that the illusion broke and Ian not only came to see how outclassed he was as a sorcerer but that the position of Sorcerer Supreme was fraught with challenges. As such, he came to accept the lesson that Doctor Strange had shown him and departed on good terms with him. (Marvel Fanfare v1 #6)
When certain stars were alignment, the Aged Genghis came to enact his sacred duty to the Vishanti where he made forth the call to Earth's sorcerers to take part in a contest for the position of Sorcerer Supreme. Doctor Doom came to be among those in the gathering where he came to work alongside Stephen Strange in the trial. Ultimately, Strange came to be the victor and the Vishanti crowned him the reigning Sorcerer Supreme where he was required to grant a boon to Doctor Doom. This turned out to be aid to help Doom free his mother Cynthia Von Doom's soul from the clutches of the demon Mephisto. (Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment v1 #1)
During the Dark Reign, Stephen Strange had been stripped of his position as the Sorcerer Supreme with him seeking out a worthy replacement to take over from him. At the same time, Dormammu who had bonded with Parker Robbin's intended for the Hood to take the title and urged him to quickly claim it before anyone else. (New Avengers v1 #51) A new Sorcerer Supreme was chosen after the Eye of Agamotto automatically displayed to Strange and the New Avengers at least thirty-five images of 'those who would replace' Strange, suspended in floating and shimmering blue bubbles of light, before the Eye itself vanished from Strange. At the end, after Dormammu, the Hood and their forces worked to attack the New Avengers, the Son of Satan, and Doctor Strange, the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe was revealed to be Brother Voodoo, the Haitian Houngan Supreme who has worked with Strange in the past, who now bore the Eye as a symbol of his new position and intervened with a potent display of his own firepower. (New Avengers v1 #54)
The Empirikul was a force that had been rampaging through the various dimensions in order to eliminate magic and the various Sorcerer Supremes. (Doctor Strange v4 #2) Strange stated he had to bury seventeen Sorcerer Supremes each of whom were the greatest magician of their respective dimension. To warn other such sorcerers, Stephen Strange cast a spell of summoning that had not been used in 5,000 years but none answered it. (Doctor Strange v4 #4)
Loki later came to believe that Stephen Strange was not fit to protect the world that endangered it. Thus, through trickery, he made it appear as if a new tournament had been called by the Vishanti who declared it that Loki was to be the new Sorcerer Supreme. They claimed that they were displeased with Doctor Strange's performance and that a mortal could no longer fulfil the role with a god such as Loki being deemed a more fitting replacement. Ultimately, the deception was revealed when the Void was released from the Sanctum Sanctorum. This caused the feuding Loki and Strange to end their hostility and work together where the Asgardian returned the position of Sorcerer Supreme to Stephen Strange. (Doctor Strange v1 #385)
Later on, Stephen Strange came to be murdered by an unknown assailant with the loss of the dimension's Sorcerer Supreme leading to various mystical disturbances occurring around the Earth. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #1) As a failsafe, he created a failsafe many years ago where an earlier version of himself from a week that he severed from his timeline manifested to help combat this threat until a new Sorcerer Supreme arose to take his place. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #2) With the aid of the temporal remnant of Strange, they were able to discover that Kaecilius was the murderer who had been supported by others in the goal to murder Stephen Strange. With his murder resolved, Death came to claim Stephen Strange who in his last moments said his farewell to his beloved Clea. He then passed to her the Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation claiming he trusted no one else more than her as she was designated his inheritor as the Sorcerer Supreme. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #5)
Overview
It was held by the most powerful practitioner of the sorcerous arts in a particular dimension. The title can be passed down from a previous Sorcerer Supreme to their student, or can be acquired (in the Earth dimension, at least) in a test of magical skill held by the Vishanti every eon or so.
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)
On Earth, certain stars fell into alignment every century with this being a sign given for the Time of the Vishanti. In this time, a chosen individual was assigned a sacred duty where they made a call to all masters of the mystic arts that could be heard by those skilled in magic. The summons caused all sorcerers to gather at the Temple of the Three where a contest of sorcery was waged that tested the skill of the people gathered with the winner being acknowledged as the new Sorcerer Supreme. In addition, any other sorcerer left standing was offered a boon by the Sorcerer Supreme that had to be granted. (Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment v1 #1)
A key master spell maintained by the Sorcerer Supreme was the Barrier which strengthened the boundaries between the dimension and the outer planes. Travel between dimensions was still possible but the barrier prevented these other realms from travelling en masse. As such, it remained a vital part of a planet's defences. (Death of Doctor Strange v1 #1) It was not known how many Sorcerers Supreme existed in the vast Multiverse though a spell of summoning could be enacted to call them all together. (Doctor Strange v4 #4) If a Sorcerer Supreme was ever corrupted, then a special spell known as the Gu Baodao was to be conducted in order to slay them. Performing the spell killed the caster with hellfire consuming their organs thus leading to their death alongside the target. It was designed to be a spell of last resort and only used in the more direst of events. (Doctor Strange Annual v3 #1)
Members
- Agamotto :
- Zhered-Na : became the Sorcerer Supreme in the 17th millennium before the common era, but was killed before she was fully trained and ready to assume full duties. Agamotto was so angry over her death, he withdrew himself from humanity for the rest of the millennium. (Marvel Tarot v1 #1)
- Salome :
- Mekri Ra : a bald-headed male who was the Sorcerer Supreme of the Hyborian Age who was sought out by Kulan Gath with the dark wizard slaying him in order to claim his power. (Savage Avengers v1 #11)
- Ancient One :
- Aggamon :
- Tiboro :
- Shanzar : the Sorcerer Supreme of the ‘Strange Universe’ who grew tired of his charges in his dimension and thus destroyed all its inhabitants in order to be more at peace. However, he grew to become lonely at his existence and thus sought new dimensions to escape to where he briefly took possession of the Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v2 #371)
- Makeen : male Sorcerer of the Vishanti phase XIIDII in the six hundredth and sixteeth Age of Man who died along with Papa Legba by using their living souls to stop Ogoun the Slayer from invading the Earthly realm. (Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural v1 #3) The petrified remains of his body still lay at the doorway to Bondye. (Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural v1 #4)
- Isaac Newton : a male scientist who had become the Sorcerer Supreme of his era. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
- Hiram Shaw :
- Nina : a female Brazilian from the 1950s who was known as the Conjuror and was Sorcerer Supreme in her time. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #4)
- Kushala : a female Native American who was the Sorcerer Supreme of her era and was also host to a Spirit of Vengeance making her the Demon Rider. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
- Stephen Strange :
- Jericho Drumm :
- Wiccan : male human, Billy Kaplan in the future had become Doctor Strange's successor as the Sorcerer Supreme of his era. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
- Loki : (Doctor Strange v1 #381)
- Szandor Sozo : a male Sorcerer Supreme of the Thirteen Dimension where the magister wielded the Eye of Thelema until he was killed by the Empirikul. (Doctor Strange v4 #1)
- Zelatrix Lavey : a female Sorcerer Supreme of the Lower Aether who was killed by the Empirikul whose corpse was hung on a tree in devastated Fandazar Foo. (Doctor Strange v4 #3)
- Magister Miracle : a Sorcerer Supreme of the Eighteenth Dimension who was killed by the Empirikul whose corpse was hung on a tree in devastated Fandazar Foo. (Doctor Strange v4 #3)
Notes
Alternate Versions
- In Guardians of the Galaxy Annual v1 #1 (1991), an alternate version of the Sorcerer Supreme appeared in the Marvel 3000 reality designated as Earth-691 in the Multiverse. It was held by Doctor Strange who came to live into the 31st century where he came to taken an apprentice from the planet Lem with this being the extraterrestrial Krugarr. Strange came to take the name of Ancient One for himself whilst his student became that era's Sorcerer Supreme.
- In Earth X, On Earth-9997, Clea had taken that role after she was corrupted by Loki and slew Doctor Strange's physical body.
- In Marvel Versus DC v1 #3 (1996), a variation of the title appeared in the Amalgam Comics setting during the crossover between Marvel Comics and DC Comics. The Mage Supreme was a title held by the magic user who took the mantle of Lord Supreme of Order which had previously been Nabu the Ancient One. He came to take on an apprentice who was a meta-mutant named Charles Xavier. In time, Xavier came to succeed his master and gained the mantle of Lord Supreme of Order where he went by the name of Doctor Strangefate.
- In What If? Magik v1 #1 (2018), an alternate What If world was shown where Magick was taken in by Doctor Strange to be trained as the next Sorcerer Supreme.
- In All-New X-Men Annual v1 #1 (2014), an alternate version of the Sorcerer Supreme appeared in the reality designated as Earth-TRN591 in the Multiverse. On this world, the mantle came to be taken by Tony Stark after he and a group of individuals convinced the leaders of the world's governments to give them the money allocated to their military. After making the world a better place, including inducing global peace with a World Energy Shield, Stark became the Sorcerer Supreme of the entire galaxy by the year 2099 A.D.
- In Infinity Wars v1 #3 (2018), a variation of the title appeared in the setting of the Warp World that was created after reality and its various souls were merged into a universe within the Soul Stone. During World War II, the U.S. Army employed the scientist Morgan Erskine to create a Super-Soldier Serum to make a supersoldier for the Allied forces. The serum though was a fradulent cover for mystical rituals that were used on the weak volunteer Stephen Rogers that enhanced his strength and physicality. Erksine was shot and killed after Rogers transformation by a Nazi spy which resulted in the true nature of her experiments. Despite disappointment at the supersoldier program, the U.S. army believed that Stephen Rogers would be an asset as a mystical commando titled the Soldier Supreme where he was tasked with heading a specialised field unit called the Howling Commandos of Hoggoth.
- In King Thor v1 #4 (2019), the Sorcerer Supreme appeared in the alternate future reality of King Thor set on Earth-14412 in the Multiverse. Many millennia from the present, the position came to be held by Daimon Hellstrom following the eradication of humanity at the hands of Loki. During the 1000 Nights of Ragnarok, Daimon was assisted by Thor the Thunder World to fight the Neo-Daemons from Arganaal 5 that possessed the stars of a whole galaxy.
In other media
Television
- In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the Sorcerer Supreme was referenced in the setting of the 2022 live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wong held the mantle where he resided in the remote temple at Kamar-Taj.
Films
- In Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme was referenced in the live-action film that was set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first Sorcerer Supreme was Agamotto who created the Masters of the Mystic Arts to defend the world from magical threats. By the modern day, the Ancient One had served as the reigning Sorcerer Supreme until she was killed by Kaecilius under the direction of Mordo.
- In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Sorcerer Supreme was referenced in the setting of the 2022 live-action film sequence. Wong held the title of the Sorcerer Supreme and served as the leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts based at Kamar-Taj.
Video games
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, the Sorcerer Supreme was referenced in the setting of the mobile video game. Doctor Strange was referred to as the Sorcerer Supreme in his background where he gained the position after training under the Ancient One. An alternate universe version of him existed in the Battlerealm with this being the Symbiote Supreme who was Stephen Strange bonded with a Symbiote and controlled other Symbiotes through magical symbiomancy. A new character named Kali was another Sorcerer Supreme where she was born into poverty and collected stray dreams on the outskirts of the Nightmare Realm before she found her way into the Temple of the Vishanti. She was taken in after her potential for the mystic arts was discovered and she quickly rose to the most brilliant student at the Temple. The Ancient One called on her to fight in a larger more dangerous game where Kali used her all her skills alongside her cunning, daring and mastery over both the Book of Vishanti as well as the Crimson Orbs of the Cosmos.
- In Marvel: Realms of Champions, the Sorcerers Supreme were a class of playable character in the setting of the mobile video game. They were said to reside on the Isles of Agamotto at the Temple of the Vishanti in the Battlerealm where they came to be one of the many factions in that dimension.
Appearances
- Marvel Fanfare v1:
- Doctor Strange v4:
- Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme v1:
- Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment v1:
- Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural v1:
- New Avengers v1:
- New Avengers v2:
- Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1:
- Savage Avengers v1:
- Death of Doctor Strange v1: (2021)
External Links
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