Enchantress is the common primary alias of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first of these is a powerful sorceress by the name of Amora, depicted as one of Thor's greatest enemies. The second Enchantress is Sylvie Lushton, who was given great mystic powers by Loki when he created her as a tool for chaos. She models herself after the original Enchantress, Amora.
In animation, Kari Wahlgren, Fryda Wolff, and Grey DeLisle have voiced the Enchantress in various media. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Sophia Di Martino portrays a different version of the character called Sylvie, a variant of Loki, in the Disney+ series Loki.
Publication history
Amora's first appearance in the Marvel Universe took place in Journey into Mystery #103 (April 1964), where she tried and failed to seduce Thor away from Jane Foster.
The second Enchantress, Sylvie, first appeared in Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1 (July 2009), where she was confronted by the Young Avengers.
Fictional character biography Amora The Enchantress' parentage is unknown, though it is known she was born in Asgard and has a sister by the name of Lorelei. Amora began learning magic as an apprentice of Karnilla, Queen of the Norns, but was eventually banished. She continued learning magic on her own, notably by seducing others well versed in magic and learning their secrets. In time, Amora became one of the more powerful magic-wielders in Asgard, with her magical arsenal focused on (but not limited to) charming and mind-controlling people. Her by-then well-renowned beauty did not hinder in this.
In her first appearance, Odin sends the Enchantress to eliminate Jane Foster, whom Odin sees as a distraction. She also hopes to have the thunder god for herself. She is assisted by a powerful minion — Skurge, the Executioner. The Executioner loved the Enchantress, and she strings him along with her feminine wiles, using him as her muscle. She aids Loki by attempting to seduce Thor in his Don Blake identity and by sending the Executioner to kill Jane. Although the Executioner traps Foster in another dimension, Thor is able to bring her back by giving Skurge his hammer. When the Enchantress begins to turn Skurge into a tree, he releases Thor from the pact in exchange for his help. Amora then tries to change Thor's hammer into a serpent, but it is immune to her magic. Thor then transports the two back to Asgard.Journey into Mystery #103
The Enchantress and the Executioner are exiled to Earth by Odin. They become members of Heinrich Zemo's original Masters of Evil, the opposite number to the Avengers, a superhero team that Thor had joined. The Enchantress hypnotizes Thor into attacking the other Avengers with her own spells and a special brew, making him believe they are enemies of humanity, but Iron Man wakes Thor from his trance by reflecting sunlight into his eyes. Thor sends the Masters to another dimension through a space warp, but two issues later, the Enchantress uses a spell to send them back to Earth. She recruits Wonder Man into the Masters of Evil after paying his bail. She also meets Immortus, who helps Zemo attack the Avengers. When this attempt fails, she turns back time to prevent it from happening, though the Masters retain their memories of this event. When Immortus begins to contact the Masters, the Enchantress prevents this from happening.The Avengers #7-10 She then joins in the Masters of Evil's final assault against the Avengers and breaks Black Knight and Melter out of jail. She manages to escape in the end with the Executioner when the other two are transported to another dimension where their weapons rebound due to different scientific laws.The Avengers #15-16 As a member of the Masters of Evil, the Enchantress (and Executioner) repeatedly face the Avengers. She is especially affronted by the attempts of the Scarlet Witch, a mortal, to subvert her divine spells, though she is occasionally genuinely challenged by Scarlet Witch's mutant gifts.
Enchantress used the deceased Zemo's equipment to make a henchman of his, Erik Josten, into the original Power Man, who aids her in battling the Avengers. Her illusions and traps turn the city against the Avengers, forcing them to disband and making Power Man seem like a hero. Captain America, in disguise, corrects this by obtaining a taped confession from the Enchantress and Power Man. Power Man is able to defeat him, but the Enchantress is knocked out by gas from Hawkeye's arrow. Realizing the tape is on its way to the police, the Enchantress used her spells to teleport away.The Avengers #21-22 The Enchantress is then recruited by the Mandarin, along with the Executioner, Swordsman, and Living Laser for his plan for world domination. With the Executioner, she attacked the Asian sub-continent with an army of trolls, but they were defeated by Hercules and the Scarlet Witch.The Avengers Annual #1
Amora poses as the Valkyrie and forms the Lady Liberators, which battle the male Avengers. She dupes Arkon into fighting the Avengers.The Avengers #83-84 Amora also uses her magics to make Samantha Parrington and later Barbara Norris into the Valkyrie.The Defenders #4 With the Executioner, she battles the Defenders and the Thing.Marvel Two-in-One #7; The Defenders #20
During the "Secret Wars," she is placed on the villains's side, but she spurns the idea of fighting a gladiatorial game for the amusement of a higher being. She instead proposes to Thor that the two of them simply join forces, leave both heroes and villains behind, and go back home to Asgard.
On the appearance of Amora's sister Lorelei, it is established that the two sisters have something of a strained relationship, rooted in rivalry. More than a little friction is seen between the pair, not the least due to competition over which one of them would manage to seduce Thor.Thor #350
The Enchantress joined the Asgardian gods and heroes in final battle against the world-ender Surtur. She establishes that she is motivated by enlightened self-interest: Surtur seeks to end the world, in which case Amora would perish.Thor #350, 352-353
Soon after the Surtur War, Thor leads a number of Asgardian heroes to Hel, the realm of the death goddess Hela. The Executioner asks Thor to let him join the expedition for reasons he does not immediately reveal. In truth, he had seen the Enchantress dallying with Heimdall, and, heartbroken, Skurge wishes to lose himself in a noble cause — such as rescuing lost souls from Hela. Thor's forces accomplish their mission but need one man to guard their retreat from Hel by holding the bridge Gjallarbrú. The Executioner, knowing there was no more Amora for him, chooses to be that man, giving his life so the others might flee. When Amora hears the news, to everyone's surprise, she is truly grief-stricken.Thor #371
After Skurge's death, Amora continues her regular tricks, both helping Asgard and opposing it on occasion. She aids Asgard against the evil Egyptian god Seth's legions.Thor #393-398-400
Lorelei later perishes as Amora refused to give her life for her sister's. The deceased Skurge (in Valhalla) rejects the Enchantress, and Amora goes on to empower the Earthman Brute Benhurst into a short-lived new Executioner to serve as her minion in Skurge's stead.Thor #402-403 Amora becomes vexed with the Avenger Wonder Man and assists Thor and the Warriors Three in their quest to return Odin to the throne of Asgard. During this time, an attraction between Amora and Asgard's guardian Heimdall is explored. Amora even battles the powerful entity Nightmare on behalf of both of them as Heimdall was unable to protect himself at the time. She ultimately rejects Heimdall when she realizes that he wishes to be married and she does not.
Later, Thor has been spurned by his father Odin, exiled to Earth and disempowered. In this vulnerable state, Thor ends up forming a willing liaison with Amora, with the two of them living out of a loft in New York City as lovers. This status quo would remain until Thor goes missing during Heroes Reborn and is presumed dead.Thor #491-494
During Ragnarök, Amora is present with the other Asgardian deities and dwarves when Eitri and his brothers are sealed into a tomb they had carved due to the Mjolnir mold destroying them, albeit accidentally. When Surtur's forging of new Mjolnirs creates chaos, Thor attempts to fly to the skies to discern the source, but is at once struck down by a blast from a Mjolnir duplicate of Loki's; Amora is slain by the same blast, one of the first victims of Loki during this event. Neither her magic nor her inherent durability is capable of shielding her. Heimdall falls soon afterward; Amora is not seen again except, seemingly, in one of the realms of death, unable to use her magic to assist her once-lover.
After Ragnarök, when Thor, Asgard and the other Asgardians return, Thor is manipulated by Loki into inadvertently awakening some of Thor's enemies, among them Amora, though when she was last seen, she is the victim, falling by Loki's hands and mourned by Thor and the other Asgardians. She does not return to Asgard but instead goes to attack the world tree Yggdrasil to resurrect Skurge and release him from Valhalla. Amora is ultimately thwarted after Thor, Loki, and Balder convince her that she is dishonoring his memory with her actions.Thor: God-Sized Special #1
She has returned after Thor's resurrection, with Donald Blake - bitter about his separation from Thor and his non-existent past - offering the Enchantress his soul if she can make him a god again.The Mighty Thor #13 The resulting god is a twisted abomination, with Thor defeating the Enchantress and her new god before banishing them from Asgard, leaving Blake - reduced to a living head after his body was consumed to create the god - connected to a series of dream-weaving creatures to make him dream that he is living a full life.The Mighty Thor #17
After this Amora was defeated by Thor and banished to the forest in Norway. She was trapped in an Odinforce barrier and stripped of her powers. Lady Deathstrike and Typhoid Mary were on a quest to find Arkea, a gestalt microorganism capable of controlling machines and people. They found Amora and offered to help her regain her powers.X-Men vol. 4 #8 In exchange they founded a new sisterhood to battle the X-Men, who were hunting Arkea and Deathstrike. Arkea hacked the Odinforce spell and restored Amora's full powers. In exchange for this, Amora restored the physical form of the immortal mutant witch, Selene,X-Men vol. 4 #11 and helped Arkea resurrect Madelyne Pryor. Before the Sisterhood could add more members, the X-Men attacked and killed Arkea. Amora was ambushed by the X-Man M, who defeated her in a surprise attack. However, Pryor swore to continue the Sisterhood, which presently has Pryor, Selene, Deathstrike, Amora, and Mary as members.X-Men vol. 4 #12
During the "AXIS" storyline, Enchantress appears as a member of Magneto's unnamed supervillain group during the fight against Red Skull's Red Onslaught form.Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #2 After the heroes and villains present at the battle experience a moral inversion due to the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom's attempt to bring out the Xavier in Onslaught backfiring, Magneto recruits Enchantress as one of his new 'Avengers' to stop the now-villainous Avengers and X-Men.
Following the "Secret Wars" storyline, she has become a member of Malekith's Dark Council.The Mighty Thor #2 Through a spell, she takes control of the queen of the Light Elves, allowing her marriage to Malekith to happen and the conquest of their realm.The Mighty Thor #5
Sylvie Lushton