Magique

Magique is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Publication history

The character first appeared in X-Men #107-109 (October 1977-February 1978), and was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. She was not named on-panel initially.

The character next appears as Magic in Rom Annual #4 (December 1985), and X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers #2 (June 1990). The character subsequently appears as Magique in Quasar #32 (March 1992), JLA/Avengers #1 (September 2003), Uncanny X-Men #479 (December 2006), #485-486 (June-July 2007), and X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #5 (March 2008).

Magic appeared as part of the "Imperial Guard" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #6.

Fictional character biography

Magique is a founding member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. She has been present in many of the team's appearances, but has often remained in the background throughout most of the Guard's long history. She was present at the Guard's first battle with the X-Men.^[1] She was also involved in the Guard's attack upon the Starjammers and Excalibur.^[2] During the Kree-Shi'ar War, Magique and two of her teammates were sent to thwart the heroes Quasar and Starfox. During this encounter, she used her power to create illusions of nearly every other member of the Imperial Guard.

She appeared with the Imperial Guard during the crowning of Vulcan as emperor of the Shi'ar.

War of Kings

During War of Kings, Guardians of the Galaxy member Adam Warlock fights with Emperor Vulcan in Guardians of the Galaxy #15. Later some Imperial Guardsmen, including Magique, are seen helping Vulcan. Magique is ordered by Mentor to attack Adam Warlock and after a short but heavy fight Magique seemed to have lost the battle and Warlock escapes. However, not all was lost, as Magique was able to put a 'witchmark' on Adam, without him knowing. Adam was followed by the Imperial Guard (via Magique's 'witchmark'). The Imperial Guardsmen attacked the Guardians of the Galaxy while Magique follows Adam Warlock, who somehow is able to transport the 'witchmark' back on her and therefore the Shi'ar soldiers shoot her instead of Adam Warlock.

Powers and abilities

Originally described as a powerful sorceress, Magique's only confirmed superhuman ability is the creation of extremely realistic visual illusions. She can generate and maintain multiple animate illusions at once with no apparent strain, and can also use her power to render herself invisible at the same time. It is unknown if her illusions can affect senses other than sight, or if this power is but one facet of her supposed magical ability.

Magique is apparently either immortal or possesses an extremely long lifespan, as she was seen in a flashback as one of the founding members of the Imperial Guard formed over four hundred years ago.

Inspiration

Several of the members of the Imperial Guard are at least partly based on members of the DC Comics team Legion of Super-Heroes. (Dave Cockrum, co-creator of the Guard, also had a long run as artist on the Legion.) Magique is based on LSH member Princess Projectra.

References

External links

• Magique at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe