Post by Bengal on Oct 1, 2013 9:54:46 GMT -5
Name/Code Name:
Scarlet Witch
Real Name/Alter Ego:
Wanda Maximoff
Notable Aliases:
None
Team Affiliations:
Avengers Unity Squad
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Avengers
Lady Liberators
West Coast Avengers
Defenders
Secret Defenders
Force Works
Abilities/Powers/Skills:
The Scarlet Witch is a mutant who had the ability to manipulate probability via her "hexes" (often manifesting physically as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts"). These hexes are relatively short range, and are limited to her line of sight. Casting a hex requires a gesture and concentration on her part, though the gestures are largely a focus for the concentration and despite this precision, the hexes are not necessarily guaranteed to work, particularly if Wanda is tired or using her powers excessively. If overextended, Wanda's hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes. Early in her career, her hexes were unconscious on her part, and would be automatically triggered whenever she made a particular gesture, regardless of her intent. These hexes would only manifest "bad luck" effects. She later gained enough control over her powers that her powers only work when she wants them to, and they are not limited to negative effects. She can use her hexes to light flammable objects, contain or remove air from a particular volume, deflect objects, stop the momentum of projectiles, open doors, explode objects, create force fields and deflect magical attacks, etc. The effects are varied but almost always detrimental to opponents, such as causing the artifact the Evil Eye to work against inter-dimensional warlord Dormammu,[85] the robot Ultron to short circuit,[27] or a gas main underneath the Brotherhood of Mutants to explode.[86] Wanda is an expert combatant having been trained by both Captain America and Hawkeye, as well as being an adept tactician due to her years of experience working as an Avenger and her experience in a variety of combat situations. The Scarlet Witch also has the potential to wield magic and later learned that she was destined to serve the role of Nexus Being, a living focal point for the Earth dimension's mystical energy.[87]
Writer Kurt Busiek redefined the Scarlet Witch's powers, and maintained that it was in fact an ability to manipulate chaos magic, activated when she was born. Busiek's redefinition upgraded Wanda's powers substantially, and she is shown as being capable of feats such as the resurrection of Wonder Man. She was described at this time as the "nexus being" of the Marvel Universe, capable of birthing children powerful enough to challenge avatars of Eternity.[88] Her probability-altering hexes would still serve her in battle, but with extra concentration and time, she was capable of larger magic spells.
In House of M, her power was depicted as sufficient to rewrite her entire universe,[89] and cause multiverse-threatening ripples.[90] In The Children's Crusade it was revealed that this omnipotence was not part of her natural power level, but the result of a cosmic magical source that increased a magic user's powers to god-like levels.,[52] By the end of the event she had returned to her previous power level, able to alter probability and work magic, but not able to change reality at will.[77]
She also has a degree of resistance to the Phoenix Force and can also cause pain to its hosts, such as Cyclops when he tried to stop Hope from going with her.[91] Although this becomes less effective as the Phoenix Force portions are divided among those who have not yet been defeated.[volume & issue needed] A vs X #12 confirmed that her powers involve chaos magic, and stated that she has "Mutant Magic", and the "primal source of her chaos" magic is cosmic.[
Weapons[if any]:
none
Personality:
She is the daughter of Magneto, the twin sister of Quicksilver, and the paternal half-sister of Polaris. This should say enough.
Appearance[of both alter ego and self] Note- either link image or imbed it:
History/Backround:
Magda — pregnant with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver — takes sanctuary at Mount Wundagore in Transia, the home of the High Evolutionary, after seeing her husband Magnus use his magnetic powers for the first time. The twins are born during a battle between the Knights of Wundagore and the Other, "the elemental host of Cthon"; Mt. Wundagore is the prison of the Elder God Chthon, and Magda had come to the mountain in the midst of a plot of his to escape the prison. Cthon altered Wanda and will later give her the ability to use magic in addition to her mutant abilities; Cthon had planned to use her as a vessel for his own demonic possession when she reached maturity, a vessel with both mutant and magical powers. Fearing that Magnus would discover the children, Magda leaves the sanctuary and dies of exposure to the elements. The twins are attended by Bova. Bova soon assists the World War II superheroine Miss America through labor, but the birth results in a stillborn child and Miss America loses her own life in the process. These complications are thought to be due to radiation poisoning deliberately caused by the villain Isbisa, the enemy of Miss America's husband Robert Frank, a.k.a Whizzer. Bova hides the truth from Frank and claims that only the mother has died, and that he now has twin children. Frank is shocked at the death of his wife and flees at super speed.[11] As Wundagore was no place for human infants, the High Evolutionary places them in the care of the Romani Django and Marya Maximoff, who raise the twins as their own children. The twins are forced to flee a mob when Wanda uses her powers to protect herself and accidentally causes a fire that kills their adoptive Roma mother.[12]
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants[edit]
Once Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (The Scarlet Witch) reach adolescence, they discover that they are in fact mutants. Pietro possesses superhuman speed, while Wanda learns that she can control probability. When the pair display their powers in public, and are again attacked by a superstitious crowd, they are saved by their father — now the supervillain Magneto — although neither Magneto nor his children are aware of their connection. Magneto then recruits the pair for the first incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Brotherhood battles the X-Men on several occasions,[13] and the twins become reluctant members of the Brotherhood and only remain because of their obligation to Magneto. When Magneto and his lackey Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity Stranger, the Brotherhood dissolves and the twins declare that their debt to Magneto has been paid.[14]
The Avengers[edit]
Soon after Magneto's abduction, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are recruited by the hero Iron Man to join the Avengers. Along with Captain America as leader, and former villain Hawkeye, the four become the second generation of the Avengers and are later dubbed as "Cap's Kooky Quartet".[15]
Wanda becomes close friends with Hawkeye and a loyal member of the team until she is accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister.[16] The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base,[17] and Wanda spends the next few weeks recovering from her wound. She watches as Magneto captures the X-Men[18] and Pietro skirmishes with Cyclops, one of the X-Men,[19] and later Spider-Man.[20] After these encounters, the twins finally realize that Magneto is the true villain. Wanda and Pietro are then kidnapped along with several other mutants by the Sentinels, but are subsequently freed by the X-Men.[21]
Quicksilver later returns to the Avengers and advises them that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon.[22][23] After being rescued, Wanda — together with Pietro — rejoins the team. The Scarlet Witch then falls in love with teammate Vision, an android originally created as a weapon by the Avengers' foe Ultron. Before long, the two develop a romantic relationship.[24] Their relationship has a tumultuous start as both Quicksilver and Hawkeye object — Quicksilver cannot accept the idea that his sister loves a robot while Hawkeye loves Wanda himself.[24] Despite this, the pair eventually marry with the blessing of the entire team.[25]
The Scarlet Witch begins to become frustrated with the fluctuating level of her mutant ability, and is tutored by a true witch, Agatha Harkness. The training allows Wanda even greater control over her hexes[26] and this proves invaluable in battle against foes such as Ultron.[27] Wanda and Pietro also meet Robert Frank, who briefly joins the Avengers, believing them to be his children.[28] This is later disproved when Wanda and Pietro are abducted by Django Maximoff and taken to Wundagore. Wanda is temporarily possessed by the demon Chthon, but after being released is advised by Bova that neither Frank nor Maximoff is their biological father.[11] Soon after, while trying to track down Magda one last time, Magneto learns that he is the father of the twins. He immediately informs them of their relationship shortly after the birth of Pietro's daughter Luna.[29] The Scarlet Witch and Vision take a leave of absence from the Avengers,[30] settling in the town of Leonia, New Jersey,[31] and courtesy of Wanda's enhanced power conceive twin boys named Thomas and William.[32] Wanda gives birth,[33] and, with Vision, eventually leaves the east coast to join the West Coast Avengers,[34] needing some time away from the main team after Vision becomes unbalanced and tries to take over the world's computers.[35]
Their relationship is almost ended when fellow Avenger Mockingbird unwittingly betrays the team and helps a coalition of the world governments kidnap and dismantle Vision, having viewed him as a threat to humanity. Although rebuilt, Vision is recreated as a colorless, emotionless synthezoid. Wanda's agitation is increased when Wonder Man - whose brain patterns were the model for the Vision - refuses to repeat the process and "humanize" Vision, as he is secretly in love with the Scarlet Witch and sees an opportunity for himself.[36] Now desperate, the Scarlet Witch consults a Dean of Robotics in the state of Texas, who secretly manages a mutant research facility. The Scarlet Witch is bonded with a sentient symbiotic substance, with the Dean intending to use Wanda as a prototype to replace mankind. Wanda is, however, rescued by her teammates with the assistance of Captain America and She-Hulk.[37]
Another personal setback follows when it is revealed that Wanda's children are in fact two (of five) missing shards of the soul of the demonic entity Mephisto that were previously scattered in an ill-fated encounter with the powerful mutant child, Franklin Richards.[38][39] Absorbed back into Mephisto, Wanda's mentor Agatha Harkness temporarily erases Wanda's memories of her children from her mind in order to ensure that she can temporarily disrupt Mephisto's physical form.[39] Combined with Wanda being captured and mind controlled as a bride of the serpent god Set,[40] Vision announcing his intent to relocate to the East Coast Avengers,[41] and Magneto seeking to recruit Wanda into a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,[42] Wanda begins to go into and out of various catatonic states. It is then ultimately revealed that Immortus was behind these attacks on Wanda, as he sought to destroy Wanda's life so that he could steal her away and transform her into a power source, tapping into the temporal nexus energy she possessed. The Avengers ultimately rescue Wanda, who regains her memories of her children in the process
However, Immortus's actions leave Wanda's hex power drained and highly unreliable as far as not working most of the time.[43] Turning to Agatha Harkness and Doctor Strange for help, Wanda eventually discovers a way to reignite her powers.[44] Wanda is ultimately nominated as leader of the Avengers West Coast team [45] and during a fight with Satanish and the Hangman, Mockingbird (in truth a Skrull impostor) is killed, taking a blast meant to kill Wanda.[46]
When the West Coast team is dissolved by the main team due to internal disputes[47] Wanda goes on to lead a breakaway team called Force Works.[48] The team suffers several setbacks, including the death of Wonder Man on the first mission.[49] When the team splinters after the last mission involving Kang the Conqueror,[50] the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye return to the main team.[51]
As Wanda attempts to reconcile with Vision, the Scarlet Witch sought out help from Doctor Doom to see if he can help her restore her children to life. To do so, they summon a mysterious cosmic entity which merges with Scarlet Witch and resurrects her children into new bodies. However, the entity opts to hide the children from Wanda as it hides within her body.[52]
Vision and Scarlet Witch reconcile shortly before sacrificing themselves with the other Avengers and the Fantastic Four to stop the mutant villain Onslaught.[53] Due to the intervention of Franklin Richards, Scarlet Witch and her teammates exist in a parallel universe for a year,[54] until being returned to the mainstream universe by Franklin.[55]
Shortly after the heroes return, Scarlet Witch is kidnapped by the sorceress Morgan le Fay, with the intention of using Wanda's powers to warp reality in le Fay's image. Although successful, Wanda retaliates by restoring Captain America's memories, who in turn is able to restore several Avengers' memories. Wanda also accidentally resurrects Wonder Man, who assists in her escape. Although the Avengers defeat le Fay, Vision is damaged in the final battle when Le Fay destroys the lower half of his body. Vision is placed in a surgical repair device, and via hologram communicates with Wanda and asks her not to visit him while he heals.[56][57][58][59]
An upset Wanda visits Agatha Harkness and learns that she is now able to channel chaos magic, which will allow her to change reality. In truth though, the entity that resurrected her children has boosted her magical powers to the point that she can now rewrite reality itself as well as harness the unstable chaos energy.[52] After much deliberation and still hurting from the Vision's rejection, Wanda resurrects Wonder Man and the two become lovers.[60] Vision is eventually repaired and once Wonder Man breaks up with Wanda,[61] Vision resumes a relationship with her.[62] Her ability to channel chaos magic culminates when the villain Scorpio splits the cosmic entity the In-Betweener into his separate order and chaos personas and Wanda has to reassemble the entity.[63][64][65]
Avengers Disassembled[edit]
Main article: Avengers Disassembled
The entity inside Wanda slowly begins to dominate her mind, as it tries unsuccessfully to begin a relationship with Captain America.[66] The entity later overhears Wasp mock Wanda's ambitions for motherhood, which drives her to confront Agatha Harkness to find her resurrected but missing children. Murdering Harkness for being unwilling to help her, Wanda (under the influence of the entity) launches a campaign of terror against the Avengers for their failure to save her children. In the end, Vision is destroyed and Hawkeye is killed (Scott Lang is presumed to be killed too, but is saved by Wanda's future self, who arranges for him to be teleported to the future seconds before dying) before Doctor Strange and the Avengers defeat Wanda, by way of using the Eye of Agamotto to cause Wanda to fall asleep. However, Magneto arrives and asks the Avengers to turn his daughter over to him.[67]
House of M and Decimation[edit]
Realizing that the Avengers and the X-Men are seriously contemplating killing his sister, due to her unstable powers, Quicksilver convinces Scarlet Witch to use her powers to create a world where everyone has their heart's desire fulfilled, complete with a world ruled by Magneto and one where the entire Maximoff family is together.[68] Although the reality warp succeeds, several heroes (Hawkeye, Wolverine, and Layla Miller) regain their memories and gather Earth's heroes to stop the "House of M".[69] When the heroes (who think Magneto is responsible for the warping of reality) and Magneto discover what Quicksilver did, Magneto murders his son only for Wanda to resurrect him and denounce her father and his dreams as causing nothing but misery for his children and the people he claims to want to help. As a result, Wanda uses her powers to depower 90% of the mutant population, with the proclamation of "No More Mutants".[70] For added insult, Wanda also depowers her father and brother as she retires to Wundagore to live a normal life away from everyone.[71] Her final act though is to resurrect Hawkeye, who begins a frantic search for Wanda as the mysterious entity within Wanda claimed her body for itself, plunging Wanda into an amnesiac state. Hawkeye ultimately finds Wanda but after having sex with her, opts to keep her true identity a secret from her.[72] The mutant Beast later finds Wanda and seeks her help to deal with the aftermath of Decimation, but she has no memory of him.[73] Young Avengers members Wiccan and Speed attempt - unsuccessfully - to find her, though the issue depicts her continuing to lead a normal and secluded life in Wundagore.[74] Loki has masqueraded as Scarlet Witch to form and subsequently manipulate a new team of Avengers.[75]
Return[edit]
The Children's Crusade[edit]
The Scarlet Witch resurfaced in the 2010-2012 miniseries Avengers: The Children's Crusade. In the series, it is revealed that the Scarlet Witch that has been seen was actually a Doombot, which prompted the Young Avengers and Magneto to journey to Latveria with the Avengers and Quicksilver following behind him. Wiccan eventually finds the real Wanda, apparently devoid of her powers, amnesiac and engaged to be married to Doctor Doom.[volume & issue needed]
With Wolverine and the Avengers behind them in pursuit, the Young Avenger Iron Lad rescues the team and Wanda, teleporting them into the past where Wanda slowly regains her memory as she witnesses the corpse of Jack Of Hearts (who she reanimated into becoming a suicide bomber) approach Scott Lang, ultimately distracting the creature long enough for her children and their teammates to rescue Lang and bring him into the future. When the group returns to the present, Scarlet Witch is shown in a depression where she thinks that she killed her father, her brother, and the Avengers. She vows to kill herself with Kree ships and Ultron clones which the Young Avengers destroy.[volume & issue needed]
During that time, Beast and X-Factor Investigations arrive, and Beast learns that the Scarlet Witch he previously encountered was actually a Doombot. Wiccan tells her that her father, her brother, and her "sons" are still alive. Wanda acknowledges Wiccan and Speed as her children as she recruits them to undo the damage she caused to the mutant community.[volume & issue needed]
Beast asks her if she can reverse the "No more mutants spell". She is unsure a reverse spell would work. They meet up with X-Factor Investigations, who have many clients who are depowered mutants. Rictor volunteers and has his powers restored. The X-Men show up and Wanda tells X-Factor Investigations that she will give the X-Men whatever they want.[76] However, a battle ensues between the X-Men and the Avengers over what to do with Wanda, forcing her and the Young Avengers to flee back to Doctor Doom.[volume & issue needed]
It is revealed that Wanda's enhanced powers were a result of her and Doctor Doom's combined attempt to channel the Life Force in order to resurrect her children. This proves to be too much for Wanda to contain and it overtook her. With Wiccan and Doctor Doom's help, they seek to use the entity that is possessing Wanda to restore mutantkinds' powers.[volume & issue needed]
This is stopped by the Young Avengers (who are concerned at the fall-out that would ensue if the powerless mutants are suddenly repowered) only to find out Doctor Doom's real plan: to transfer the entity into his own body and gain Wanda's god-like powers for himself.[52] Doctor Doom becomes omnipotent with powers surpassing those of beings such as the Beyonder or the Cosmic Cube. The Young Avengers confront him, but Doctor Doom kills Cassie just before Wanda and Wiccan steal his newfound powers.[77]
With the immediate crisis resolved, and the Young Avengers having convinced the other heroes that further blaming Wanda will accomplish nothing, Cyclops agrees to leave her alone, but states that he will kill Wanda if she turns against the heroes again. Rejecting the offer to rejoin the Avengers or her family, Wanda departs stating that after years of defining herself as Magneto's daughter, Pietro's sister, or the Vision's wife, she wants to find out who she is on her own before she decides what to do with her life.[78]
Avengers vs. X-Men[edit]
Scarlet Witch returns to the Avengers during the events of Avengers vs. X-Men.[79] Found by Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman, Wanda is offered back her place among the Avengers, and despite her initial reluctance, upon Ms. Marvel insisting on taking her, she accepts and follows them to Avengers Mansion. However, despite both heroines pleading her case, the Vision angrily snaps at Wanda, blaming her again for having manipulated and killed him, and telling her to leave. Despite both Ms. Marvel and Iron Man rushing to Wanda's defense, the Avengers ultimately defer every decision to the Vision, who elects to stand by his point, even if obviously pained by the situation: thus, Ms. Marvel has to carry away a crying Wanda.[80] When the Avengers go to extract Hope Summers from Utopia and are nearly defeated by a Phoenix Force-empowered Cyclops, Scarlet Witch arrives and saves them. Hope agrees to go with the Scarlet Witch, and Wanda causes physical harm to Cyclops when he touches Wanda's arm when he tries to stop her from taking Hope.[81]
Though hunted by the Phoenix-powered X-Men, Wanda's return to the team provides the Avengers a much needed boost as many teammates are captured by the X-Men. Hawkeye ultimately is severely injured rescuing Wanda from being teleported away by Magik and White Queen, the former of which sees Wanda as a monster for depowering mutantkind. However, Wanda's power provides the X-Men with a threat that not even the Phoenix can face down as the Avengers employ magical illusions to trick the X-Men into thinking Wanda is with the various Avengers groups. Further investigation meanwhile links Wanda's powers to the Phoenix Force. When Cyclops goes Dark Phoenix, Wanda and Hope Summers, who is mimicking Wanda's powers, defeat him and cause the phoenix force to leave him. After Hope inherits the Phoenix Force, she and Wanda combine their powers to apparently destroy the Phoenix by saying "No more Phoenix". This results in the repowering of mutants, undoing Wanda's actions on M-Day.[82]
Uncanny Avengers[edit]
Following the war, Captain America selects Scarlet Witch to join the Avengers Unity Squad, a new team of Avengers composed of both classic Avengers and X-Men.[83] After that, she asked her close friends Janet Van Dyne and Wonder Man to join and sponsor the new team
Scarlet Witch
Real Name/Alter Ego:
Wanda Maximoff
Notable Aliases:
None
Team Affiliations:
Avengers Unity Squad
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Avengers
Lady Liberators
West Coast Avengers
Defenders
Secret Defenders
Force Works
Abilities/Powers/Skills:
The Scarlet Witch is a mutant who had the ability to manipulate probability via her "hexes" (often manifesting physically as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts"). These hexes are relatively short range, and are limited to her line of sight. Casting a hex requires a gesture and concentration on her part, though the gestures are largely a focus for the concentration and despite this precision, the hexes are not necessarily guaranteed to work, particularly if Wanda is tired or using her powers excessively. If overextended, Wanda's hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes. Early in her career, her hexes were unconscious on her part, and would be automatically triggered whenever she made a particular gesture, regardless of her intent. These hexes would only manifest "bad luck" effects. She later gained enough control over her powers that her powers only work when she wants them to, and they are not limited to negative effects. She can use her hexes to light flammable objects, contain or remove air from a particular volume, deflect objects, stop the momentum of projectiles, open doors, explode objects, create force fields and deflect magical attacks, etc. The effects are varied but almost always detrimental to opponents, such as causing the artifact the Evil Eye to work against inter-dimensional warlord Dormammu,[85] the robot Ultron to short circuit,[27] or a gas main underneath the Brotherhood of Mutants to explode.[86] Wanda is an expert combatant having been trained by both Captain America and Hawkeye, as well as being an adept tactician due to her years of experience working as an Avenger and her experience in a variety of combat situations. The Scarlet Witch also has the potential to wield magic and later learned that she was destined to serve the role of Nexus Being, a living focal point for the Earth dimension's mystical energy.[87]
Writer Kurt Busiek redefined the Scarlet Witch's powers, and maintained that it was in fact an ability to manipulate chaos magic, activated when she was born. Busiek's redefinition upgraded Wanda's powers substantially, and she is shown as being capable of feats such as the resurrection of Wonder Man. She was described at this time as the "nexus being" of the Marvel Universe, capable of birthing children powerful enough to challenge avatars of Eternity.[88] Her probability-altering hexes would still serve her in battle, but with extra concentration and time, she was capable of larger magic spells.
In House of M, her power was depicted as sufficient to rewrite her entire universe,[89] and cause multiverse-threatening ripples.[90] In The Children's Crusade it was revealed that this omnipotence was not part of her natural power level, but the result of a cosmic magical source that increased a magic user's powers to god-like levels.,[52] By the end of the event she had returned to her previous power level, able to alter probability and work magic, but not able to change reality at will.[77]
She also has a degree of resistance to the Phoenix Force and can also cause pain to its hosts, such as Cyclops when he tried to stop Hope from going with her.[91] Although this becomes less effective as the Phoenix Force portions are divided among those who have not yet been defeated.[volume & issue needed] A vs X #12 confirmed that her powers involve chaos magic, and stated that she has "Mutant Magic", and the "primal source of her chaos" magic is cosmic.[
Weapons[if any]:
none
Personality:
She is the daughter of Magneto, the twin sister of Quicksilver, and the paternal half-sister of Polaris. This should say enough.
Appearance[of both alter ego and self] Note- either link image or imbed it:
History/Backround:
Magda — pregnant with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver — takes sanctuary at Mount Wundagore in Transia, the home of the High Evolutionary, after seeing her husband Magnus use his magnetic powers for the first time. The twins are born during a battle between the Knights of Wundagore and the Other, "the elemental host of Cthon"; Mt. Wundagore is the prison of the Elder God Chthon, and Magda had come to the mountain in the midst of a plot of his to escape the prison. Cthon altered Wanda and will later give her the ability to use magic in addition to her mutant abilities; Cthon had planned to use her as a vessel for his own demonic possession when she reached maturity, a vessel with both mutant and magical powers. Fearing that Magnus would discover the children, Magda leaves the sanctuary and dies of exposure to the elements. The twins are attended by Bova. Bova soon assists the World War II superheroine Miss America through labor, but the birth results in a stillborn child and Miss America loses her own life in the process. These complications are thought to be due to radiation poisoning deliberately caused by the villain Isbisa, the enemy of Miss America's husband Robert Frank, a.k.a Whizzer. Bova hides the truth from Frank and claims that only the mother has died, and that he now has twin children. Frank is shocked at the death of his wife and flees at super speed.[11] As Wundagore was no place for human infants, the High Evolutionary places them in the care of the Romani Django and Marya Maximoff, who raise the twins as their own children. The twins are forced to flee a mob when Wanda uses her powers to protect herself and accidentally causes a fire that kills their adoptive Roma mother.[12]
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants[edit]
Once Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (The Scarlet Witch) reach adolescence, they discover that they are in fact mutants. Pietro possesses superhuman speed, while Wanda learns that she can control probability. When the pair display their powers in public, and are again attacked by a superstitious crowd, they are saved by their father — now the supervillain Magneto — although neither Magneto nor his children are aware of their connection. Magneto then recruits the pair for the first incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Brotherhood battles the X-Men on several occasions,[13] and the twins become reluctant members of the Brotherhood and only remain because of their obligation to Magneto. When Magneto and his lackey Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity Stranger, the Brotherhood dissolves and the twins declare that their debt to Magneto has been paid.[14]
The Avengers[edit]
Soon after Magneto's abduction, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are recruited by the hero Iron Man to join the Avengers. Along with Captain America as leader, and former villain Hawkeye, the four become the second generation of the Avengers and are later dubbed as "Cap's Kooky Quartet".[15]
Wanda becomes close friends with Hawkeye and a loyal member of the team until she is accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister.[16] The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base,[17] and Wanda spends the next few weeks recovering from her wound. She watches as Magneto captures the X-Men[18] and Pietro skirmishes with Cyclops, one of the X-Men,[19] and later Spider-Man.[20] After these encounters, the twins finally realize that Magneto is the true villain. Wanda and Pietro are then kidnapped along with several other mutants by the Sentinels, but are subsequently freed by the X-Men.[21]
Quicksilver later returns to the Avengers and advises them that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon.[22][23] After being rescued, Wanda — together with Pietro — rejoins the team. The Scarlet Witch then falls in love with teammate Vision, an android originally created as a weapon by the Avengers' foe Ultron. Before long, the two develop a romantic relationship.[24] Their relationship has a tumultuous start as both Quicksilver and Hawkeye object — Quicksilver cannot accept the idea that his sister loves a robot while Hawkeye loves Wanda himself.[24] Despite this, the pair eventually marry with the blessing of the entire team.[25]
The Scarlet Witch begins to become frustrated with the fluctuating level of her mutant ability, and is tutored by a true witch, Agatha Harkness. The training allows Wanda even greater control over her hexes[26] and this proves invaluable in battle against foes such as Ultron.[27] Wanda and Pietro also meet Robert Frank, who briefly joins the Avengers, believing them to be his children.[28] This is later disproved when Wanda and Pietro are abducted by Django Maximoff and taken to Wundagore. Wanda is temporarily possessed by the demon Chthon, but after being released is advised by Bova that neither Frank nor Maximoff is their biological father.[11] Soon after, while trying to track down Magda one last time, Magneto learns that he is the father of the twins. He immediately informs them of their relationship shortly after the birth of Pietro's daughter Luna.[29] The Scarlet Witch and Vision take a leave of absence from the Avengers,[30] settling in the town of Leonia, New Jersey,[31] and courtesy of Wanda's enhanced power conceive twin boys named Thomas and William.[32] Wanda gives birth,[33] and, with Vision, eventually leaves the east coast to join the West Coast Avengers,[34] needing some time away from the main team after Vision becomes unbalanced and tries to take over the world's computers.[35]
Their relationship is almost ended when fellow Avenger Mockingbird unwittingly betrays the team and helps a coalition of the world governments kidnap and dismantle Vision, having viewed him as a threat to humanity. Although rebuilt, Vision is recreated as a colorless, emotionless synthezoid. Wanda's agitation is increased when Wonder Man - whose brain patterns were the model for the Vision - refuses to repeat the process and "humanize" Vision, as he is secretly in love with the Scarlet Witch and sees an opportunity for himself.[36] Now desperate, the Scarlet Witch consults a Dean of Robotics in the state of Texas, who secretly manages a mutant research facility. The Scarlet Witch is bonded with a sentient symbiotic substance, with the Dean intending to use Wanda as a prototype to replace mankind. Wanda is, however, rescued by her teammates with the assistance of Captain America and She-Hulk.[37]
Another personal setback follows when it is revealed that Wanda's children are in fact two (of five) missing shards of the soul of the demonic entity Mephisto that were previously scattered in an ill-fated encounter with the powerful mutant child, Franklin Richards.[38][39] Absorbed back into Mephisto, Wanda's mentor Agatha Harkness temporarily erases Wanda's memories of her children from her mind in order to ensure that she can temporarily disrupt Mephisto's physical form.[39] Combined with Wanda being captured and mind controlled as a bride of the serpent god Set,[40] Vision announcing his intent to relocate to the East Coast Avengers,[41] and Magneto seeking to recruit Wanda into a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,[42] Wanda begins to go into and out of various catatonic states. It is then ultimately revealed that Immortus was behind these attacks on Wanda, as he sought to destroy Wanda's life so that he could steal her away and transform her into a power source, tapping into the temporal nexus energy she possessed. The Avengers ultimately rescue Wanda, who regains her memories of her children in the process
However, Immortus's actions leave Wanda's hex power drained and highly unreliable as far as not working most of the time.[43] Turning to Agatha Harkness and Doctor Strange for help, Wanda eventually discovers a way to reignite her powers.[44] Wanda is ultimately nominated as leader of the Avengers West Coast team [45] and during a fight with Satanish and the Hangman, Mockingbird (in truth a Skrull impostor) is killed, taking a blast meant to kill Wanda.[46]
When the West Coast team is dissolved by the main team due to internal disputes[47] Wanda goes on to lead a breakaway team called Force Works.[48] The team suffers several setbacks, including the death of Wonder Man on the first mission.[49] When the team splinters after the last mission involving Kang the Conqueror,[50] the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye return to the main team.[51]
As Wanda attempts to reconcile with Vision, the Scarlet Witch sought out help from Doctor Doom to see if he can help her restore her children to life. To do so, they summon a mysterious cosmic entity which merges with Scarlet Witch and resurrects her children into new bodies. However, the entity opts to hide the children from Wanda as it hides within her body.[52]
Vision and Scarlet Witch reconcile shortly before sacrificing themselves with the other Avengers and the Fantastic Four to stop the mutant villain Onslaught.[53] Due to the intervention of Franklin Richards, Scarlet Witch and her teammates exist in a parallel universe for a year,[54] until being returned to the mainstream universe by Franklin.[55]
Shortly after the heroes return, Scarlet Witch is kidnapped by the sorceress Morgan le Fay, with the intention of using Wanda's powers to warp reality in le Fay's image. Although successful, Wanda retaliates by restoring Captain America's memories, who in turn is able to restore several Avengers' memories. Wanda also accidentally resurrects Wonder Man, who assists in her escape. Although the Avengers defeat le Fay, Vision is damaged in the final battle when Le Fay destroys the lower half of his body. Vision is placed in a surgical repair device, and via hologram communicates with Wanda and asks her not to visit him while he heals.[56][57][58][59]
An upset Wanda visits Agatha Harkness and learns that she is now able to channel chaos magic, which will allow her to change reality. In truth though, the entity that resurrected her children has boosted her magical powers to the point that she can now rewrite reality itself as well as harness the unstable chaos energy.[52] After much deliberation and still hurting from the Vision's rejection, Wanda resurrects Wonder Man and the two become lovers.[60] Vision is eventually repaired and once Wonder Man breaks up with Wanda,[61] Vision resumes a relationship with her.[62] Her ability to channel chaos magic culminates when the villain Scorpio splits the cosmic entity the In-Betweener into his separate order and chaos personas and Wanda has to reassemble the entity.[63][64][65]
Avengers Disassembled[edit]
Main article: Avengers Disassembled
The entity inside Wanda slowly begins to dominate her mind, as it tries unsuccessfully to begin a relationship with Captain America.[66] The entity later overhears Wasp mock Wanda's ambitions for motherhood, which drives her to confront Agatha Harkness to find her resurrected but missing children. Murdering Harkness for being unwilling to help her, Wanda (under the influence of the entity) launches a campaign of terror against the Avengers for their failure to save her children. In the end, Vision is destroyed and Hawkeye is killed (Scott Lang is presumed to be killed too, but is saved by Wanda's future self, who arranges for him to be teleported to the future seconds before dying) before Doctor Strange and the Avengers defeat Wanda, by way of using the Eye of Agamotto to cause Wanda to fall asleep. However, Magneto arrives and asks the Avengers to turn his daughter over to him.[67]
House of M and Decimation[edit]
Realizing that the Avengers and the X-Men are seriously contemplating killing his sister, due to her unstable powers, Quicksilver convinces Scarlet Witch to use her powers to create a world where everyone has their heart's desire fulfilled, complete with a world ruled by Magneto and one where the entire Maximoff family is together.[68] Although the reality warp succeeds, several heroes (Hawkeye, Wolverine, and Layla Miller) regain their memories and gather Earth's heroes to stop the "House of M".[69] When the heroes (who think Magneto is responsible for the warping of reality) and Magneto discover what Quicksilver did, Magneto murders his son only for Wanda to resurrect him and denounce her father and his dreams as causing nothing but misery for his children and the people he claims to want to help. As a result, Wanda uses her powers to depower 90% of the mutant population, with the proclamation of "No More Mutants".[70] For added insult, Wanda also depowers her father and brother as she retires to Wundagore to live a normal life away from everyone.[71] Her final act though is to resurrect Hawkeye, who begins a frantic search for Wanda as the mysterious entity within Wanda claimed her body for itself, plunging Wanda into an amnesiac state. Hawkeye ultimately finds Wanda but after having sex with her, opts to keep her true identity a secret from her.[72] The mutant Beast later finds Wanda and seeks her help to deal with the aftermath of Decimation, but she has no memory of him.[73] Young Avengers members Wiccan and Speed attempt - unsuccessfully - to find her, though the issue depicts her continuing to lead a normal and secluded life in Wundagore.[74] Loki has masqueraded as Scarlet Witch to form and subsequently manipulate a new team of Avengers.[75]
Return[edit]
The Children's Crusade[edit]
The Scarlet Witch resurfaced in the 2010-2012 miniseries Avengers: The Children's Crusade. In the series, it is revealed that the Scarlet Witch that has been seen was actually a Doombot, which prompted the Young Avengers and Magneto to journey to Latveria with the Avengers and Quicksilver following behind him. Wiccan eventually finds the real Wanda, apparently devoid of her powers, amnesiac and engaged to be married to Doctor Doom.[volume & issue needed]
With Wolverine and the Avengers behind them in pursuit, the Young Avenger Iron Lad rescues the team and Wanda, teleporting them into the past where Wanda slowly regains her memory as she witnesses the corpse of Jack Of Hearts (who she reanimated into becoming a suicide bomber) approach Scott Lang, ultimately distracting the creature long enough for her children and their teammates to rescue Lang and bring him into the future. When the group returns to the present, Scarlet Witch is shown in a depression where she thinks that she killed her father, her brother, and the Avengers. She vows to kill herself with Kree ships and Ultron clones which the Young Avengers destroy.[volume & issue needed]
During that time, Beast and X-Factor Investigations arrive, and Beast learns that the Scarlet Witch he previously encountered was actually a Doombot. Wiccan tells her that her father, her brother, and her "sons" are still alive. Wanda acknowledges Wiccan and Speed as her children as she recruits them to undo the damage she caused to the mutant community.[volume & issue needed]
Beast asks her if she can reverse the "No more mutants spell". She is unsure a reverse spell would work. They meet up with X-Factor Investigations, who have many clients who are depowered mutants. Rictor volunteers and has his powers restored. The X-Men show up and Wanda tells X-Factor Investigations that she will give the X-Men whatever they want.[76] However, a battle ensues between the X-Men and the Avengers over what to do with Wanda, forcing her and the Young Avengers to flee back to Doctor Doom.[volume & issue needed]
It is revealed that Wanda's enhanced powers were a result of her and Doctor Doom's combined attempt to channel the Life Force in order to resurrect her children. This proves to be too much for Wanda to contain and it overtook her. With Wiccan and Doctor Doom's help, they seek to use the entity that is possessing Wanda to restore mutantkinds' powers.[volume & issue needed]
This is stopped by the Young Avengers (who are concerned at the fall-out that would ensue if the powerless mutants are suddenly repowered) only to find out Doctor Doom's real plan: to transfer the entity into his own body and gain Wanda's god-like powers for himself.[52] Doctor Doom becomes omnipotent with powers surpassing those of beings such as the Beyonder or the Cosmic Cube. The Young Avengers confront him, but Doctor Doom kills Cassie just before Wanda and Wiccan steal his newfound powers.[77]
With the immediate crisis resolved, and the Young Avengers having convinced the other heroes that further blaming Wanda will accomplish nothing, Cyclops agrees to leave her alone, but states that he will kill Wanda if she turns against the heroes again. Rejecting the offer to rejoin the Avengers or her family, Wanda departs stating that after years of defining herself as Magneto's daughter, Pietro's sister, or the Vision's wife, she wants to find out who she is on her own before she decides what to do with her life.[78]
Avengers vs. X-Men[edit]
Scarlet Witch returns to the Avengers during the events of Avengers vs. X-Men.[79] Found by Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman, Wanda is offered back her place among the Avengers, and despite her initial reluctance, upon Ms. Marvel insisting on taking her, she accepts and follows them to Avengers Mansion. However, despite both heroines pleading her case, the Vision angrily snaps at Wanda, blaming her again for having manipulated and killed him, and telling her to leave. Despite both Ms. Marvel and Iron Man rushing to Wanda's defense, the Avengers ultimately defer every decision to the Vision, who elects to stand by his point, even if obviously pained by the situation: thus, Ms. Marvel has to carry away a crying Wanda.[80] When the Avengers go to extract Hope Summers from Utopia and are nearly defeated by a Phoenix Force-empowered Cyclops, Scarlet Witch arrives and saves them. Hope agrees to go with the Scarlet Witch, and Wanda causes physical harm to Cyclops when he touches Wanda's arm when he tries to stop her from taking Hope.[81]
Though hunted by the Phoenix-powered X-Men, Wanda's return to the team provides the Avengers a much needed boost as many teammates are captured by the X-Men. Hawkeye ultimately is severely injured rescuing Wanda from being teleported away by Magik and White Queen, the former of which sees Wanda as a monster for depowering mutantkind. However, Wanda's power provides the X-Men with a threat that not even the Phoenix can face down as the Avengers employ magical illusions to trick the X-Men into thinking Wanda is with the various Avengers groups. Further investigation meanwhile links Wanda's powers to the Phoenix Force. When Cyclops goes Dark Phoenix, Wanda and Hope Summers, who is mimicking Wanda's powers, defeat him and cause the phoenix force to leave him. After Hope inherits the Phoenix Force, she and Wanda combine their powers to apparently destroy the Phoenix by saying "No more Phoenix". This results in the repowering of mutants, undoing Wanda's actions on M-Day.[82]
Uncanny Avengers[edit]
Following the war, Captain America selects Scarlet Witch to join the Avengers Unity Squad, a new team of Avengers composed of both classic Avengers and X-Men.[83] After that, she asked her close friends Janet Van Dyne and Wonder Man to join and sponsor the new team