Morgan le Fay is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely, is based on the Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. In this version of the character, Morgan le Fay belongs to the species of humanoid magical beings called fairies, who are born with supernatural powers, and is the half-faerie half-sister of the mythic King Arthur.Black Knight Vol 2 #1 Her elven heritage granted her immortality, and she used this time to master the mystic arts. She occasionally tries to take over the world. She has been an opponent of The Avengers, and in the 1970s, she appeared in the original Spider-Woman comic acting as a foe of Jessica Drew, while opposed by a reincarnation of her "ancient foe" Magnus. She is a former lover of Doctor Doom (the father of her daughter Caroline), and was a member of the Darkholders for a time.
Morgan le Fay has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female villains.
The character was portrayed by Jessica Walter in the 1978 television film Dr. Strange. Elizabeth Hurley portrayed the character in the third season of the Hulu streaming television series Runaways.
Publication history Morgan le Fay first appeared in Black Knight #1 (May 1955) from Atlas Comics, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Joe Maneely. After the Black Knight series ended in 1956, she was eventually reintroduced into Marvel Comics in Spider-Woman #2 (May 1978).
In addition Morgan le Fay appeared in the following comics:
IRON MAN (1968) #150 Published 1st September 1981 MYSTIC ARCANA (2007) #2 Published 18th July 2007 THE MIGHTY AVENGERS (2007) #9 Published 20th February 2008 DARK AVENGERS (2009) #1 Published 21st January 2009 WEIRDWORLD (2015) #1 Published 10th June 2015 WEIRDWORLD (2015) #1 Published 16th December 2015 WEAPON H (2018) #9 Published 17th October 2018
Fictional character biography Medieval times Morgan Le Fay was born in Tintagel Castle, in Cornwall, England, in the days of Camelot, in the Sixth Century A.D. She became a high priestess, and the leader of the Sixth Century cult of the Darkhold, as well as Queen of Gorre (a section of Britain). She and the rest of the cult used the Darkhold to summon its author Chthon. When they found they could not control him, they sealed the dark god away in Wundagore Mountain.The Avengers #187. Marvel Comics. By this time - convinced that Morgan was thoroughly corrupted by evil - her apprentice and lover Magnus the Sorcerer stole the Darkhold from her.The Avengers #241. Marvel Comics. Along with her lover Mordred she was the nemesis of the original Black Knight.
During this time, Morgan Le Fay was visited by a supervillain from the future named Doctor Doom to enlist her in helping wrest his mother Cynthia Von Doom's soul from Hell. Le Fay agreed on the condition that Doom become the general of her army, undead warriors of those slain by the sword Excalibur against her half-brother King Arthur. Iron Man defeated Le Fay causing her to flee to another realm. Doom swore vengeance on Iron Man for this, vowing to see the hero dead.Iron Man #150. Marvel Comics.
Conflict with the modern era Morgan Le Fay first projected her astral form from her physical body in the Sixth Century A.D. to the present day. She mentally dominated "Slapper" Struthers, transforming him into the superhuman Excaliber, and directed him to retrieve the Darkhold from Magnus.Spider-Woman #2. Marvel Comics. When he failed, she sent her astral form to get the Darkhold from the Werewolf, and was defeated by Spider-Woman and Magnus.Spider-Woman #5-6. Marvel Comics. Impressed by her mettle in battle, Morgan attempted to enlist Spider-Woman into her eternal servitude, but was denied.Spider-Woman #41. Marvel Comics. Seeking revenge, she began tormenting Spider-Woman with hallucinations, but Magnus came to her aid, and Le Fay's physical body was destroyed in combat with Spider-Woman's astral form. She was able to lock out Spider-Woman's astral form from her physical body,Spider-Woman #50. Marvel Comics. and attempted to possess it for herself. She was thwarted by the Avengers, Magnus, Doctor Strange and the Shroud in a battle on the astral plane.The Avengers #240-241. Marvel Comics.
Morgan then attempted to possess the body of Lisa Russell, but was repulsed by Iron Man.Iron Man #209 Morgan then allied with Mordred the Evil. She dispatched Dreadknight, Balor, and other Celtic netherworld monsters against the Black Knight and Doctor Strange. She attempted to turn Earth into a dimension ruled by black magic.Black Knight #2-4. Marvel Comics.
Avengers assemble again Using the monsters of Norse mythology, she and Mordred lured the Scarlet Witch (and a team of Avengers) to Tintagel in Cornwall. There, she kidnapped the Scarlet Witch and used her reality-warping powers to 'bridge the gap' between her elven magic and an Asgardian doomsday device known as the Twilight Sword.The Avengers vol. 3 #1. Marvel Comics. Using the Sword, she remade reality: the world was now a Middle Ages equivalent of itself, except that she ruled the world, and had done so for some time.The Avengers vol. 3 #2. Marvel Comics. The Avengers stepped in and freed the Scarlet Witch, thus negating the original spell the others were based on, and restoring reality.The Avengers vol. 3 #3. Marvel Comics.
Doctor Doom is revealed to be in a sexual/romantic relationship with Le Fay, traveling back to the past in order to carry on liaisons with her. Le Fay has told Doom to bring her back something "of value" as a gift the next time he comes to her time or not to come back at all. He later returns, asking for her help in creating an army of loyal inhuman warriors. Doom offers her whatever she wants, with her response still currently unknown as Doom reappears in the present with his army of Mindless Ones. Later, Le Fay is seen sadly looking out her window for the return of Doom, who has been defeated and incarcerated by the Mighty Avengers.The Mighty Avengers #9. Marvel Comics.
Dark Reign During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Morgan appears as the Dark Avengers' first enemy. She used a spell to peer into the future and witnessed the formation of the Cabal. She traveled into the future with an army of demons.Dark Avengers #1. Marvel Comics. At first, she attempted to kill Doom when he was a child, but then decided to go ahead several decades, so that Doom could fully know why she was going to kill him, choosing after the Skrull invasion and engaged Doom in magical combat. As Doom begins to lose, a H.A.M.M.E.R. soldier calls Osborn, and the Dark Avengers arrive to rescue Doom. The Sentry tears off her head, but she subsequently violently reappeared in his place, and took control over the new Spider-Man, who attacked Ares.Dark Avengers #2. Marvel Comics. She is killed again by the new Hawkeye, but she reappears again. She and her demons are seen fighting the Dark Avengers, while Doom and Iron Patriot travel back in time to kill her in her own time.Dark Avengers #3. Marvel Comics. However, when they arrive, after an unsuccessful magical assault on the two men (due to the considerable amount of iron in their armor suits, the one substance her faerie enchantments cannot affect), she reveals to Osborn her knowledge that Doom plans to betray her and that if they kill her, it will affect Doom's own lifeline, claiming Doom will fall to his nature and betray Osborn; Doom responds by chanting a spell of a language that even she possesses no knowledge to forcibly send the sorceress into her own enchanted cauldron, despite her screams and pleas. Though Morgan lives, she is sent to 1,000,000 BC where she runs from a tribe of cavemen fighting a Tyrannosaurus. Doctor Doom magically restores Latveria and the revived Dark Avengers head back to America.Dark Avengers #4. Marvel Comics.
Avengers World After having been freed by her daughter Caroline le Fay from her own magic cauldron that Doom trapped her in, Morgan le Fay took over a City of the Dead underneath Velletri, Italy, a mystical necropolis of which there are many below European cities.Avengers World #1. Marvel Comics. From here she launched a massive attack with armies of the dead all over Europe.Avengers World #10. Marvel Comics.
The Avengers and the Euroforce joined forces to take her down, but they were easily overpowered by the hordes of the dead.Avengers World #11. Marvel Comics. Sebastian Druid tried to aid the heroes, but he was killed by le Fay shortly after arriving at the city.Avengers World #12. Marvel Comics. However, killing Druid worked out against Morgan's plans. He became a ghost of the city which, being one of them, allowed his magic to work, pulling back the armies back to their respective necropolises, severely weakening le Fay. The Avengers and the Euroforce proceeded to beat her up, forcing her to retreat.Avengers World #14. Marvel Comics.
Queen of Otherworld Morgan le Fay later resurfaced and planned to conquer Camelot on Otherworld but when the flowers of Krakoa reach Otherworld to form a Gateway to Krakoa, it infected Camelot, causing le Fay to find a way to destroy it. In order to achieve this, she needed to terminate the "Witchbreed", who were responsible for this. After Brian Braddock and his twin sister, Betsy Braddock came to fix the Gateway, le Fay apprehended them and took control of Brian, making him to turn on his sister. However, he managed to give to Betsy his amulet, which allowed her to escape.Excalibur vol. 4 #1. Marvel Comics. Morgan then allied with the Coven Akkaba in order to deal with the Witchbreeds.Excalibur vol. 4 #3. Marvel Comics.
Powers and abilities Morgan le Fay possesses a natural affinity for magical forces which is a result of her half-faerie genetic structure. She possesses a gifted intellect, and as a former pupil of Merlin with centuries of study, she is considered one of the greatest sorceresses in Earth's history. Her magical powers are derived from three major sources. Due to her faerie heritage she possesses innate personal powers such as the ability to control minds. She also has the faerie ability to manipulate mystical energy, often through spells and enchantments of ancient Celtic origin, an ability she has honed through practice. She also possesses abilities all humans potentially have, such as the ability to engage in astral projection. Finally, she has abilities as a high priestess of the Earth goddess (Gaea) by invoking her Celtic name, Danu.
Morgan can mystically manipulate both the natural environment of Earth and the environment of the astral plane in which she once existed. She can cast illusions, project mystical bolts (which can affect physical beings and objects even when she is in astral form), create mystical force shields and remove spirits from their bodies and place those spirits under her control.Spider-Woman #50Dark Avengers #1 When in physical form, she can fly and change her shape into other people or animals (both real and mythical).Dark Avengers #3 She also has healing powers which she might have used on her former foe King Arthur on transporting him to Otherworld. Morgan is also a necromancer and can use her powers to be everywhere at once as an omnipresent being.Mighty Avengers #9Avengers World #10 She has the power to transmute one thing into another.
Morgan can also tap into and manipulate powerful magical energies for powerful feats of magic without having to tax upon her normal magical abilities, such as when she used the power of the Norn Stones and the Twilight Sword to restructure reality (although she needed the Scarlet Witch to bridge her Faerie heritage to the Asgardian magic).The Avengers vol. 3 #1-3 (1997). Marvel Comics. Morgan has utilized the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to bind Doctor Strange and Balor. She is also able to time travel.
Morgan is virtually immortal. Her spirit has restored her physical body at the various times it has been destroyed.