Ancient One

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caption=The Ancient One as re-envisioned in the "Strange" Mini-Series.
Art by Brandon Peterson
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Ancient One
real_name=unknown
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Strange Tales" #110 (July, 1963)
creators=Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status=Deceased
alliances=Ancient Ones
previous_alliances=ally of Doctor Strange, Baron Mordo, Kaluu, Mister Jip, Doctor Druid
aliases=The Master, the High Lama
relatives=none
powers=Magic,
Energy blasts,
Teleportation,
Illusions generation,
Astral projection

The Ancient One is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He was the mentor of Doctor Strange.

Fictional character biography

The man who would one day become the Ancient One was born in Kamar-Taj, Tibet, over 500 years ago. In his youth he was a peaceful farmer, but his friend Kaluu discovered the power of magic. Kaluu shared his knowledge of the mystic arts, 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 organize the village into an army and conquer the neighboring 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. ["Strange Tales" Vol. 1 #111]

Over the next few centuries, the Ancient One traveled 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 organized 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 of black magic to increase his own power. ["Strange Tales" Vol. 3 #11]

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 Ludgate Druid, a psychiatrist with mystical talents. Posing as the High Lama, the Ancient One trained him to become Doctor Druid. ["Avengers Spotlight" #37] 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. ["Strange Tales" Vol. 1 #115] The Ancient One would often assist Stephen, but when the extra-dimensional monster called Shuma-Gorath tried to invade Earth through the Ancient One's mind while he was in the Crypts of Kaa-U, the Ancient One prompted Strange to destroy the portion of the Ancient One's mind which constituted his ego, or sense of self. This blocked the way for Shuma-Gorath, trapping him within the Ancient One's mind, and killed the Ancient One's physical body. This ended the Ancient One's corporeal existence, but allowed his soul to achieve transcendence and become one with the universe and with Eternity. ["Marvel Premiere" #8-10] Stephen inherited the Ancient One's title as Sorcerer Supreme and the power that came with it.

The Ancient One has since demonstrated his existence by manifesting himself as an avatar of Eternity, intervening in a struggle between Doctor Strange and Eternity. ["Doctor Strange" Vol. 2 #12-13] He also briefly regained his corporeal form when the Creators caused the universe to reject him, during which time he lived as an alcoholic derelict in the Bowery section of Manhattan.cite book | last = Sanderson | first = Peter | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City | publisher = Pocket Books | date = 2007 | location = New York City | pages = 18 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1-14653-141-6] He resumed his oneness with the universe upon Doctor Strange's defeat of the Creators. ["Strange Tales" Vol. 2 #26-28]

The Ancient One reappears in the Dead Girl mini series as an opponent of Dr Strange. By committing increasingly evil acts in the afterlife, the Ancient One is demoted to Hell. There, he becomes an ally of the Pitiful One and other banished characters seeking to become alive again. In a climactic battle, Strange defeats his former teacher.

trange (2005)

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.

Powers and abilities

In his prime, the Ancient One was a master of the mystic arts, with a vast knowledge of magical lore. He had the ability to manipulate the forces of magic for a vast number of effects. He was able to tap into extra-dimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in dimensions tangential to Earth's through the recitation of spells. He was capable of astral projection, levitation, interdimensional teleportation, and a large number of other effects.

He also possessed a variety of mystical objects, including the Book of the Vishanti, the Orb, Amulet, and Eye of Agamotto, and various mystical objects and devices gathered throughout his lifetime.

His abilities after becoming one with Eternity are unknown.

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.
*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. The order of sorcerers has no name; only its elder members are known as the Ancient Ones.

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

Other media

Television

* The Ancient One appears in the third season "Spider-Man (1994 TV series)" episode "Doctor Strange". He has no dialogue and is shown only in a flashback detailing Doctor Strange's origin.

Film

The Ancient One appears in "" voiced by Michael Yama.

Video game

In "", the Ancient One (voiced by James Sie) is seen in a void within a blurry mirror in Sanctum Sanctorum. There is special dialogue between him and Doctor Strange as well as Deadpool (who mistakes the Ancient One for his "Grampy").

References

External links

*http://marvel.com/universe/Ancient_One