Sprite (Eternal)

Sprite is a fictional character appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. Although physically a child, Sprite is an Eternal, a member of an ancient and extremely powerful race. He was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in The Eternals vol. 1 #9.

Fictional character biography

Sprite is an incorrigible trickster and practical joker, and has been for centuries. It is rumored that in Marvel continuity, he was the inspiration for William Shakespeare to write the character of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He revels in what he sees as "playful" behavior, seemingly mindless of the sometimes deadly consequences of his pranks, especially to fragile mortal Humans. Though he has been punished time and again for his actions, he always returns to his preferred way of life after a while.

During the Fourth Host of the Celestials, when Zuras calls for the Uni-Mind to examine the Celestials' Mothership, Sprite remains behind with Domo's Central Processor. Then he convinces the imprisoned Forgotten Eternal to help stop an attack to the Celestial ship.

While trying to improve Olympia's systems, Sprite accidentally sends Olympia into the Negative Zone once, but the Eternals are able to restore it to its proper place. Sprite later advocates the appointment of the Black Knight as Sersi's Gann Josin (sharing a mental bond) as compromise with Ikaris, who wants her killed.

The Eternals (2006)

In the new Eternals series by Neil Gaiman, Sprite, under the "real name" of Colin, is the star of "It's Just So Sprite", a sitcom on the Tweenie Channel. Although he seems to be unaware of his past or abilities, he's also a spokesman for Hero Registration (the series is set during the Civil War event).

Ikaris, who seemed to be the only Eternal with any memory of their past, saw Sprite on television and told Mark Curry that Sprite was another Eternal. Later, after Ikaris disappeared and the remaining Eternals started to recover their powers, Mark Curry contacted Sprite, seeking advice. Sprite reveals that he has always known who they are and takes them to the Dreaming Celestial. There Sprite tells him that it was him who made all the Eternals forget who they were, took away their powers, and removed all record of them, as revenge for a million years of them treating him like a child - to the extent that they created him as an Eternal 'who would never grow up', trapped in the form of a prepubescent boy (he would later use this form to, in the Marvel Universe, inspire J. M. Barrie to create Peter Pan). Using the Uni-Mind powered by the Dreaming Celestial, Sprite uses his powers to warp reality, making him a normal human, so that he can finally age. He and Makkari are attacked by Deviants, but he escapes. He is later seen in issue 7, boarding a train to run away from the problems he caused that led to the awakening of the Dreaming Celestial, and was ultimately found by Zuras. Sprite has no apologies for causing the current situation, and then Zuras kills Sprite by snapping his neck.

Powers and abilities

Sprite, like all Eternals, has total control over his body's life force and molecular structure, making him virtually immortal. He does not age and is immune to all known diseases and toxins, radiation, and extremes of temperature. His old Eternal body had the appearance of a pre-adolescent child (and against his will, according to him), but he is in fact hundreds of thousands of years old.

Sprite is able to channel cosmic radiation into blasts of heat or force, levitate himself or others, and create illusions that fool the senses. He has superhuman strength, though because of his small size and childlike anatomy it is less than that of most Eternals. He can rearrange atoms and molecules in such a way as to radically restructure objects (he once created a working ground-to-orbit spacecraft in seconds), and in fact is second only to Sersi in the art of molecular reconstruction.

If Sprite's story is to be believed, he has successfully used the reality-warping powers of the Dreaming Celestial to give himself a human body that will age to adulthood normally (or would have, if not for his demise).

Bibliography

• Avengers vol. 1 #246-248, 299, 308-310, 355, 361, 374-375
• Avengers Spotlight #35
• Contest of Champions vol. 1 #1-3
• Eternals vol. 1 #9-10, 13
• Eternals vol. 2 #1-12
• Eternals vol. 3 #1-7 (June-November 2006)
• Eternals: Herod Factor #1
• Fantastic Four Unlimited #10
• Thor vol. 1 #287-289, 291, 300

References