Stephen Strange - Phase 1

This page is about the Phase 1 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Stephen Strange (disambiguation).

PHASE 1

Stephen Strange - Deceased
Portrayed by Sam Neill
Known Aliases:	None
Affiliations:	X-Force

Socked By:	Rossi
Introduction:	April 2004

A former professor at Columbia University, the bookish magician has traded in his magical texts for a life battling cults, particularly those devoted to the vampiric witch Selene and the Elder God Chthon. He was killed trying to hold together reality as it broke apart in January 2015.

PhD of Anthropology, with another doctorate in Asian Studies, Strange also knows several languages, mostly from Asia. He seldom speaks of his family background, except to say it was unremarkable. From a young age he studied magic, eventually becoming a magician of some skill and considerable knowledge. He spent part of his post-college years travelling India and the surrounding countries and thus became interested in the magic and mythology of the region, as well as making several contacts and friends.

Returning to the States, Strange took on various college teaching positions, focussing on mythology and anthropology. He eventually got tenure at Columbia. His double life - that of academic and magician - continued at Columbia; whilst he taught, he was also researching rumours of a dark power centered in New York, who later was identified as Selene, Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.

After the events of Lost In The Woods, Strange has travelled the world, again predominantly Asia, seeking out cults devoted to Selene - and later, more generic evil - and doing his best to see them thwarted. He remains in regular contact with Wanda Maximoff and Amanda Sefton and has been known to seek X-Force's help. His relationship with Wanda Maximoff continued, until early 2007, when the strain of their dangerous lifestyles and the separations pushed them to breaking point. He does remain in contact, on a strictly 'business' basis.

In February 2008 he abruptly appeared on Amanda's doorstep with warnings of something dangerous in the astral plane. He assisted the Snow Valley people in their failed attempt to flush the psychic parasite out of the plane with an overload of magic, burning out his powers in the process. As they slowly return, he has removed himself from his 'mission' in order to recover and to continue his research.

He has since resurfaced, appearing to help catalogue Agatha Harkness' collection of occult items following the events of House of Wolves. Upon discovering completing the task, he alerted Wanda and Amanda, who joined him in England, only to realise the leader of the Cult of Chthon who had been trying to kidnap or kill Wanda was Nicholas Harkness, Agatha's son. Unfortunately, Agatha herself was abducted, and Stephen joined Wanda in the search for her, rekindling their relationship in the process. After an almost a year of fruitless searching, Wanda surprised Strange by suggesting they remain in New York for a time while she returned to her work with X-Force and he tackled the search from a more academic standpoint. He was greatly amused to find his former pupil gathering three students of her own over 2012, and offered his assistance whenever her job took her away from her duties with them. In 2013, after Amanda failed to return from rescuing a kidnapped group from faux Limbo, he enlisted the help of Topaz to open a portal into the other dimension to send a team of X-Men and Billy Kaplan over to save them. He was killed in January 2015 while helping Wanda try to keep reality together after the Dark Phoenix tried to rip it apart.

Powers/Abilities

Strange is a magician, having studied from a young age. As a rule his knowledge exceeds his power - research is his life and he has an extensive library of magic texts, for now in the care of Wanda at the Snow Valley Memorial Center for Mutant Affairs. However, he does have some abilities of his own. Predominantly of the more 'mental' side of magic - astral projection, astral travelling, illusions and the like. He can manage a shielding spell but it takes a lot of effort and has a limited life span. Offensive spells cause him physical pain and so generally he avoids them.

Speaks Romany, German, Hindi, Vietnamese and Cantonese fluently. Can make himself understood in several other languages.