Ancient One
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The Ancient One is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He was the mentor of Doctor Strange.
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[edit] History
The man who would one day become the Ancient One was born in Kamar-Taj, Tibet, over 500 years ago. He was a peaceful farmer, but his friend Kaluu discovered the power of magic. Kaluu shared his knowledge, but the two friends disagreed on how they would use it. The Ancient One wanted to protect his village and help others. Kaluu also wanted to protect his village, but his method was to organise the village into an army and conquer the neighbouring villages, building a large empire. The Ancient One and Kaluu cast a spell, eliminating sickness, disease and age from Kamar-Taj and shortly afterwards Kaluu was crowned king by the villagers under Kaluu's mind-control spell. The Ancient One tried to stop Kaluu and in their battle the village of Kamar-Taj was wiped out. Kaluu was banished to an alternate dimension, but the Ancient One lost his immortality, though he would still age far slower than any regular human.
Over the next few centuries, the Ancient One travelled the Earth, battling demons and evil spirits, banishing many from the Earth. He increased his own knowledge, while gathering books with dangerous knowledge and guarding them. He encountered the being Eternity through his meditations who gave him the Amulet of Agamotto, a powerful mystical artifact. In Babylonia he defeated a griffin guarding the Book of the Vishanti, taking the tome of mystical knowledge with him.
He finally settled down in the Himalaya Mountains, building a palace as his home with an order of monks to protect and assist him. In a tournament organised by the sorcerer Aged Genghis, the Ancient One won the title of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He took a student, who would one day become Mister Jip, but banned him from his home when he found out the student had been studying the forbidden books to increase his own power.
In London, during the Great London Fire, the Ancient One battled Dormammu and forced him to retreat. This was only one of his many battles with Dormammu. While the Ancient One kept Earth safe, he never completely defeated Dormammu and Dormammu would return again and again.
Feeling himself getting older and weaker, the Ancient One set out to find a student. He approached Anthony Luddgate, a psychiatrist with mystical talents. Posing as the High Lama, the Ancient One trained him to become Doctor Druid. He was also approached by Baron Mordo, a Transylvanian nobleman who wanted to become his student. The Ancient One saw the corruption within Mordo's heart, but hoped that his teachings would redeem the man. The Ancient One accepted and began to teach Mordo. Mordo seemed to change at first, but grew jealous when the Ancient One began to protect a boy called Stephen Strange, claiming that this boy had incredible magical talents and would become the new Sorcerer Supreme. Mordo began to plot against Strange, sending demons and nightmares to plague the boy, though the Ancient One kept protecting him and erasing the encounters from the boy's mind. Mordo's torture nevertheless affected the boy and Strange became a self-centered surgeon. The Ancient One was aware of Mordo's actions, but decided to limit the damage and keep Mordo close where he could keep an eye on him.
After a car crash, Stephen Strange came to the Ancient One to cure the nerve damage in his hands. The Ancient One accepted him as his student when he tried to warn the Ancient One of Mordo's dealings with Dormammu. Mordo soon left the palace and Stephen became the Ancient One's successor as Doctor Strange. The Ancient One would often assist Stephen, but when the extradimensional monster called Shuma-Gorath tried to invade Earth through the Ancient One's mind, Strange was forced to destroy the Ancient One's ego. This blocked the way for Shuma-Gorath and killed the Ancient One's physical body, but allowed his soul to achieve transcendence. Stephen inherited the Ancient One's title as Sorcerer Supreme and the power that came with it.
[edit] Strange (2005)
Art by Brandon Peterson
In J. Michael Straczynski's Strange-series, Doctor Strange's origin was adapted. In this series, the Ancient One differs slightly from the established Ancient One:
He is an ancient magician, physically frail from old age, but spiritually and psychically powerful. He is depicted as an old, bald man with a long, flowing, white beard and moustache. He is usually shown sitting cross-legged, immersed in prayer or meditation, dressed in nothing but a simple white robe. He retreated from human society more than a thousand years ago, preferring to live alone in the depths of a dark cavern, sustaining himself through prayer and meditation, having otherwise no need for food or drink.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Notes
- In the Guardians of the Galaxy timeline, Doctor Strange ceded the role and title of Sorcerer Supreme to his own pupil and became known as the Ancient One himself.
- The Ancient One recently played a role in the series Dead Girl, but as this series is humorous and satirical in nature, its position in continuity remains unclear. In this series, the Ancient One is one of the dead Marvel characters stuck in Hell, wanting to escape. This brings him and his allies in conflict with Dead Girl and Doctor Strange.
- On Earth-311, although only mentioned, Stephen Strange, was trained by an "Ancient One". First mentioned in 1602 #1
- On Earth-938, an Ancient One trained Dr. Doom. However his body was destroyed in the attempt to revive Cynthia von Doom. He appeared in What If? vol. 2 #52
- There was an Ancient One who was imprisoned in the ancient past by wizards. He was later freed in the modern era by Mordred and sent to kill the Black Knight, however he ended up fighting both Whitman and Captain Britain and sank into quicksand. He appeared only in Hulk Comic #4
- There is a mystic order known as the Ancient Ones that formerly included the sorcerer who would become the Ancient One.
[edit] Bibliography
- Amazing Adventures vol. 1 #1
- Strange Tales vol. 1 #111, 148
- Epic Anthology #1
- Strange Tales vol. 2 #7, 11, 111, 114-115, 117, 124-127, 129-130, 132, 134, 136-142, 144, 146-150, 153, 155-157, 166-169
- X-Men vol. 1 #33
- Defenders vol. 1 #59, 107
- Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #62, 503
- Dr. Strange vol. 2 #51, 75, 170, 174, 177-178
- Wolverine vol. 2 #113, 193-197
- Captain America/Fury: Otherworld War
- Marvel Feature vol. 1 #1-2
- Alpha Flight vol. 1 #6
- Avengers Spotlight #37
- Amazing Adventures vol. 1 #1
- Dr. Strange vol. 2 #4-13, 19, 26-2884-85
- Untold Tales of Spider-Man: Strange Encounters
- Dr. Strange vol. 3 #6-13, 87
- Marvel Premiere #4-6, 8-10
- Dr. Strange Annual #1
- Dr. Strange: What is it that Disturbs You, Stephen
- US1 #3
