As one of the most powerful sorceresses in Earth’s history, Morgan le Fay shows no mercy to those who stand in her way of Britain’s throne, including her own family. She learns magic from the legendary sorcerer Merlin, becomes Queen of Gorre and leads the Darkholders, all to conquer the world.
Half-Human, Half-Faerie
Morgan le Fay is half-faerie, an ancient magical race originating from Otherworld who access Earth via Britain and Ireland. They are closely related to the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Worlds of Asgardian Cosmology. Morgan is said to be the daughter of Gorlois, Duke of Tintagel, and his wife Igraine, but at least one of her parents must have been part faerie.
Britain’s King, Uther Pendragon, wars for many years against Gorlois and becomes greatly attracted to Morgan’s mother, Igraine. The sorcerer Merlin, knowing that a great ruler was destined to be the son of Uther and Igraine, agrees to unite Uther with her in return for the care of their firstborn child. Merlin uses his magics to grant Uther Gorlois’ appearance, and in this form Uther travels to Tintagel and seduces Igraine; earlier that same night, the real Gorlois was killed in battle.
Uther soon marries Igraine, who gives birth to Arthur. Though Morgan is raised in a nunnery along with her sisters, Merlin trains her in sorcery, becoming his lover in exchange. Morgan’s sister Morgause has an affair with Arthur, resulting in the bastard son Mordred. Morgan initially served as beloved priestess to Gaea, helping bring about bountiful harvests, and healed ill followers. It is believed that Morgan empowers the Green Knight, who becomes Gaea’s powerful agent. As Morgan feels faith in Gaea unraveling, she becomes angry with Merlin as he turns away from Gaea. One Samhain (Summer’s end), Morgan fights fiercely to prevent Merlin from entering Avalon’s altar of sacred trees. She drags burning rock from within the Earth to assault him, and he tears shooting stars from the sky hurling them down at her. Their battle lasted for six days, burning down a thousand acres of sacred forest. Morgan later tutors Nimue, AKA Vivienne, in sorcery.
Most Powerful Sorceress in Earth’s History
Morgan is one of the most powerful sorceresses in Earth’s history, thanks to extensive training and her faerie heritage. Her abilities include flight, shape-changing (typically into other people or animals, real and mythical), mind control, astral projection, healing, illusion casting, energy projection, forming shields, manipulating her environment, removing spirits from their bodies and controlling them, and transportation across time, space and dimensions. In astral form, her spells and blasts can affect physical beings and objects. While her spirit is trapped on the astral plane, she creates a giant body composed of rock-like material derived from the plane itself.
Morgan can cast various spells invoking magical entities (such as the Earth goddess Gaea or the angel of death, Azrael). Her faerie heritage amplifies her powers, allowing her to access both Celtic and Asgardian magic, but it also renders her vulnerable to “cold iron” or steel, even in her astral form. Otherwise, Morgan is virtually immortal, having survived physical death and destruction of her astral form.
Morgan often augments her power with magic items, such as the Darkhold, the Ebon Rose, the Ebony Blade, the Evil Eye, the sword Excalibur, Norn Stones, Tapestry and the Twilight Sword. There may be an upper limit to how much energy Morgan can control as when she tapped into the latter two’s energies to restructure reality, she did so through Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch.
Empowered by Gaea, the Ebon Rose enables the manipulation of vegetation, with even simple vines being sufficiently strong to bind mystic beings of immense power. Tapestry is a sentient cloth surrounding a mirror through which Morgan can view distant events or summon beings to her.
Morgan creates a false Excalibur through which she channels her own Knight’s spirit to possess, transform and control another. She also creates a monstrous form patterned after the legendary “Wicker Man,” imprisoning others within it and drawing power from their life energy.
Forever Foes
Morgan seeks to rule Britain over her half-brother King Arthur and opposes him at every turn— despite Arthur giving her a castle of her own, Castle le Fay in the Valley of the Wailing Mists on the Northern Irish Coast, and allowing Morgan and Mordred, his illegitimate son, to remain within Camelot. Sewing discord, Morgan reveals the love affair between Arthur’s wife Queen Guinevere and his Knight of the Round Table Lancelot which leads Britain into civil war. During this time, Morgan aids Mordred’s armies with her magic until the end of Arthur’s reign.
The sorcerer Merlin teaches Morgan sorcery in exchange for being his lover, though when Merlin turns away from their Earth Goddess Gaea and allies himself with Arthur, Morgan’s anger towards him grows. Morgan empowers the Green Knight to be an agent of Gaea, but some of the Green Knight’s Pendragons bond to Merlin, Arthur and several Knights of the Round Table further distancing her relationship with Merlin, who later often binds her and her magic until it leads to his undoing.
Magnus is one of Morgan’s occult assistants that help her bind the Darkhold scrolls into one book. He becomes her lover until he sees the evil within her, and betrays her by stealing the Darkhold. She slays him, though his spirit survives on the astral plane where he defeats her many times over, sometimes teaming up with Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, and the Avengers.
Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman, is a powerful heroine that is known to defeat Morgan’s minions. Even when Morgan separates Spider-Woman’s spirit from her body leaving her on the astral plane, she does not anticipate that Magnus would sacrifice his life to save hers.
Dark Allies
Morgan repeatedly plots with her nephew and ally Mordred against Arthur, Merlin, Sir Percy of Scandia, AKA Black Knight, the legendary Knights of the Round Table and the rest of the forces of Camelot, Arthur’s castle and the surrounding village.
Morgan and Mordred’s relationship often seems more than familial, and some texts portray Morgan as Mordred’s mother or wife.
After Morgan’s Green Knight’s bannermen side with Merlin and Arthur, Morgan in turn affiliates with their enemies, the Bane: malevolent spirits associated with Bodb Derg, AKA Red Lord.
Victor von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom, time travels to the 6th Century, he allies with Morgan to save his mother’s lost soul in exchange for him to lead her army against Arthur. He often travels back and forth between his time and hers and she teaches him the dark arts, while they share a romantic dalliance. They also have a daughter together, Caroline le Fay.
Morgan leads the 6th Century cult of the Darkholders who worship the Elder God Chthon. She gathers occult students to assist her in assembling Chthon’s magical scrolls into a bound book called the Darkhold. Though Chthon when summoned is too powerful and Morgan imprisons him and Merlin adds his power as well, sensing the God’s evil.