Illyana Rasputin
This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Illyana Rasputin (disambiguation).
| Illyana Rasputina | |
|---|---|
 Portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy | |
| Codename: | Magik |
| Affiliations: | eXcalibur |
| Birthdate: | September 5th, 2001 |
| Journal: | xp_magik |
| Player: | Tink |
I don't know what people think, because everyone here is insane or at least not very bright.
Having spent time on Muir Island before a lead led her back to Limbo, Illyana is coming back to the mansion to hunt her missing bloodstones and possibly reunite with her older brother, Pyotr Rasputin.
Contents
Details
Character Journal: xp_magik
Real Name: Illyana Nicolaevna Alexandria Rasputina
Codename: Magik
Aliases: Illyana Rasputin (Anglicized version of her name), Darkchylde
First Appearance: May 5, 2015
Date of Birth: September 5th, 2001
Place of Birth: Ust-Ordynski Collective Farm near Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia.
Citizenship: Russian
Relatives: Parents: Nikolai and Alexandra Rasputin; Mikhail (presumed deceased) and Pyotr.
Education: Spotty, with a strong emphasis on the dark arts. She's good at abstract maths and languages with particular magical power (do NOT open magic tomes around her and start reading the Latin out loud, she will do a violence to you) and fairly garbage at everything else, although she likes to cultivate useful herbs and plants frequently used for magic. She did get a GED through Xavier's in 2019 and currently has no plans to get further earth education.
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: Queen of Limbo is an occupation, right. But something that makes her earth currency? No.
Team Affiliation: eXcalibur
Biography
Childhood
Illyana Nicolaevna Alexandria Rasputina - American version: Illyana Rasputin - was born on a struggling collective farm in Siberia in 2001, the last and very unexpected child of Nikolai and Alexandra. Her much older siblings were already out of school, and she was very much petted and cosseted - as much as any farmgirl on a working farm could be, in any case. The occasional gift from a family member working in a city or abroad sometimes made the difference during some of those hard years, but Illyana grew up relatively happy and healthy, participating in her school and the goings-on of the collective quite happily. She even learned some English, thanks to a Peace Corps volunteer who spent a few years helping their school set up an English language learning program.
One afternoon in 2008, when she was seven, Illyana didn't come home from school. Her parents didn't think much of it until night fell; when Illyana, who was afraid of the dark, didn't come in after that, they put out the search parties to scour the farm and the lakeshore for her.
She was never found.
A little girl disappearing in Siberia, no matter how tragic, doesn't exactly incite worldwide panic, especially since it seemed likely that she had indulged her curiosity too far and fallen victim to one of the many accidents waiting to happen on an antiquated farm next to a large body of water. Her family mourned and moved on.
Limbo
Unfortunately for Illyana, she wasn't dead. At least, not really. She had been chosen as a living sacrifice by the demon-wizard Belasco. To put it succinctly, Belasco needed an uncorrupted human soul to sacrifice in order to summon the Elder Gods to Earth. This being a tricky and not very desirable outcome (at least, not desirable for Earth), he had tried and failed with several other young women before selecting Illyana for the next attempt.
The sacrifice happens in five phases; Illyana must die each time, and, if the ritual is successful, she is revived without a portion of her soul. That portion is sealed into a bloodstone in a simple pentagram locket. The key to the ritual's success is keeping the remaining part of her soul uncorrupted by the new void; if the corruption spreads, the soul is worthless to the Elder Gods and not all that useful to the person it belongs to, either. But the corruption isn't sequestered away from the victim either; instead, it fights for influence against the uncorrupted soul.
The next seven years were pretty unpleasant, but they would have been worse if Belasco hadn't been fishing for sacrifice victims across many more dimensions than just Illyana's. Several survivors - such as they were - had not only survived Belasco's attempts on their lives, but had managed to eke out an existence on the fringes of Limbo, creating safe havens from Belasco and his demons. Throughout her time in Limbo, Illyana's life was a constant struggle to escape from Belasco to one of these safe havens, where she learned useful things like white magic, the English language, and basic combat skills. Illyana is also a mutant with the power of teleportation, which helped her to stay a step ahead of the demon horde.
When Illyana was fourteen, she had survived the ritual twice more, losing two more parts of her soul as well as her mentors. In desperation, she did something pretty stupid and used another sliver of her remaining soul to create a Soulsword. This is sort of a manifestation of magical power, and it's dangerous because it creates a physical way for your soul to be harmed, but because of this it's also very effective against magical entities. Using this Soulsword, she challenged Belasco for her freedom.
While she did defeat Belasco, she was too afraid of losing herself to her corrupted side to kill him; she left him in Limbo, finally able to use her mutant powers combined with her magic to get home. It was all she had wanted for seven years.
Back to Earth
Only - home wasn't home anymore. She realized the second she set foot on the farm that she couldn't go back to her parents' home the way she was; she hadn't realized until then that she could be a danger to them, and to everyone around her, until she literally fixed her soul. So that was what she set out to do - wandering the world, trying to survive and dig up information of how to fix her rather unique problem. Using her mutant powers or any magic in this world is exhausting and dangerous, so she didn't have a great 'out' from any situation. Eventually she came to the attention of Social Services, and via a contact with the Mutant Underground, she was brought to Xavier's.
Her introduction to the mansion was interesting, to say the least. Technology immediately became her enemy, when Xavin Majesdane joked about her computer, leading her to throw it out the window. The world she came back to was confusing, to say the least. Meeting Wanda Maximoff was a bit of a mind screw, considering the version she had killed in Limbo, but that could have been worse. Over time, she became friendly with her fellow students, even if they were all a bit bemused by her, and slowly she adjusted to the world, even if she did have several thousand questions or so. During a field trip at the end of 2015, she found herself assisting Amadeus Cho and Topaz with roadside emergency surgery. She then had to carry Amadeus back to the bus when he fainted. He was heavy.
In August 2017, she was, for some reason, recruited to help with some Asgard problems that had spilled over to Earth. She didn't understand her role in any of it, and going to actual Hell was weird, but she had done stranger things. She was sad the awesome Valkyrie lady didn't come back with them though. The next month she was hijacked again, this time by Amanda Sefton for a mysterious ritual involving the Shadow King. It definitely did not improve Illyana's impression of the witch.
The next year, things got messy. An accident while teleporting some chocolate bars resulted in Illyana stranding herself and six others in Limbo for several days, with them escaping only after they'd fought the demon Carnage and drained the last of Illyana's garden, the last positive magic in the realm. It signalled an end of sorts, although Illyana would never admit it. Or talk about it. Two months later she was once again recruited by to help free Topaz from the Destine Clan. Illyana, true to form, appeared uneffected by the mission, which had resulted in a blood curse, the loss of Marie-Ange's eye and a crisis of faith for Domino.
Warren Worthington's actions in Limbo months before came back to bite him in November 2018 when he was possessed by a demon as a result of having sex with a succubus. Illyana gave Felicia Hardy a (very brief) run down of the event and of Limbo as a plan was hatched to save him. These incidents only cemented Illyana's decision to keep as much out of the way of those crazy mansion people as possible. When her (possibly only) friend Rahne Sinclair left the mansion in January 2020, Illyana ultimately decided to join her at Muir Island.
A Healing Respite
When Illyana arrived at Muir, she was somewhat disappointed to find the magical and occult contacts to not be quite what she was looking for. Mostly paths she’d already examined. While Rahne settled into island life comfortably, her missing soul-parts and battle to keep the full corruption of her remaining soul at bay chafed Illyana, and six months later when a lead appeared she invited the other woman to travel back to Limbo with her. Rahne’s “no” stung, though she had rather expected it, and Illyana bade her a somewhat misty farewell instead before trudging back into Limbo to chase leads and tie up some of her loose ends.
When I Am Queen
One of the first things she did was get Limbo firmly under her thumb. The trembling S’ym, once her chief tormentor, fell into line easily, and with their acquiescence many of the other denizens of Limbo were quick to retreat back to the petty games and easier torments, rather than challenging her rule or power. The missing Bloodstones, however, did not pan out, two of them hidden and taken out of Limbo soon after rumors started spreading that the magic-child, the once-and-future-sacrifice, defeater of Belasco had returned. She managed to recover one, however, and stayed in Limbo to hone her magical powers and secure her grip on the plane.
The time in Limbo–so much faster than on Earth proper–grew her abilities massively, such that she can now wield some magic on earth, albeit at a much reduced ability than she can in Limbo. This increased use of magic has built her magical muscles up, so to speak, making manifestations of the Soulsword and associated Eldritch armor quicker and easier.
Eventually her scrying efforts were a success, showing her both clear glimpses of family–her parents still in Russia, older brother Pyotr amusingly enough at Xavier’s–as well as tantalizing hints that at least one of her missing soul pieces was somewhere on earth, partially obscured from even her own abilities. Limbo stable (and pockets of white magic encouraged along the edges, a rebuilding of some of the safe havens she’d had as a child) and goal acquired, Illyana prepared to make her way back to Earth and recapture her missing Bloodstones… and perhaps reclaim some bit of family along the way, if Pyotr would hear her story and still consider her his little snowflake.
A Return Topside
Physical Characteristics
Illyana is a deceptively pretty blonde, a natural beauty in the tradition of underfed Eastern European models who make it big in Paris at Fashion Week. She was a really cute kid and she is an attractive young woman - it's in the job description for would-be human sacrifice - but it's not something she cares about except insofar as it might get her what she wants in some circumstances. She knows she looks fragile, and she's not afraid to exploit that either. Now that she's working for Warren, her fashion is deliberately designed to portray specific imagery, everything from naïve girl fresh off the boat to deadly competent and unafraid to stomp on others to climb the ladder of success. In her everyday clothing she tends to go for comfort, although it's a bit more high-end than just making whatever is available work.
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 115lbs or so
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Other Features: Illyana is slender and average in height, but her shift towards the demonic form turns her eyes an electric light blue without a visible iris, she gains claws, and her skin flushes, taking on a pale red tinge. When she draws the Soulsword or uses magic, she manifests Eldritch armor that currently covers her right arm and shoulder, and as Darkchylde she’ll have horns, a tail, and the cloven hooves. If she's particularly riled, the demonic form will manifest as a visual light overlay, giving the impression of horns and tail without them manifesting in a fully physical manner.
Soul Count: Currently Illyana possesses just under two parts of her soul in body, the sliver contained within Soulsword, and one piece as a bloodstone in her locket. The other two bloodstones are missing.
Powers
Illyana’s mutant power is teleportation via stepping discs. Originally she had to stop in Limbo as a midway point, but now as acknowledged queen of Limbo she can slide through the edges of Limbo to the space she’d like to go. For short distances, this is so fast that it’s incredibly hard to notice, but for long distances the stop in Limbo first is still easiest and fastest.
In Limbo, Magik is on her way to becoming the dimension’s supreme sorceress, and her power is a unique mix of black and white magic taught to her by Belasco and an alternate reality Storm, respectively. On Earth her powers are greatly limited, primarily tuned to scrying, sensing magical presences, and casting simple spells. Pulling a helper from Limbo enhances these powers, as she’s able to harness a small portion of their demonic energies to boost her spells and accessible magic.
Although she now has good control over her access to the Soulsword, she prefers to save it for actual needs, and is more likely to use basic magic and her teleportation as assistance instead. The Soulsword disrupts magical energies, constructs, and creatures, and with practice and control may be able to disrupt some psychic beings/entities (such as Legion’s personalities).
The more frequently Illyana uses her magical power and the stronger she becomes, the more of the Eldritch armor appears to cover her skin. Currently it covers her right arm and shoulder, and with time will spread to be full body armor. The armor grants her limited super strength while active, and the amount of strength she gains is based on how much armor is covering her. Full body armor strength caps out at roughly 1 ton. Current strength (shoulder and arm armor) is about 300-350 lbs.
She’s got exceptionally strong psionic shields that make her almost impossible to read and difficult to manipulate mentally, mostly due to her time in Limbo.
Equipment
Soulsword.
Trivia
External Links
Plots
2015
Roadside Assistance - event
2017
2018
Tales of Magik: Imus ad Infernum
2023
Meta
Player: Tink
Player Icon Base: Anya Taylor-Joy
Meta Trivia
Lauren played the Phase 1 version of Illyana from October 2003 until February 2011. She returned in May 2015 with the Phase 2 version, and played her until December 2021. Tink then successfully apped her in September 2022.
