MODRED THE MYSTIC
Created By: Bill Mantlo, Marv Wolfman & Yong Montaro
First Appearance: Marvel Chillers #1 (Oct. 1975)
Role: Magic Villain
Group Affiliations: The Darkhold Redeemers
PL 11 (177)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Magic) 10 (+14)
Expertise (History) 8 (+12)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 2 (+10)
Advantages:
Diehard, Beginner's Luck, Improved Critical (Magic), Languages 2 (a few), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist
Powers:
"Master of Magic- Gifted by Chthon"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Magical Wall" Force Field 4 [4]
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Senses 3 (Detect Magic- Ranged, Acute) [3]
Illusion (All Senses) 10 (40) -- [47]
- AE: Move Object 10 (Extras: Perception Range) (30)
- AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 8 & Communication (Mental) 2 (24)
- AE: Mind Control 10 (40)
- AE: "Create Fire" Blast 12 (Feats: Variable 2- Any Energy, Split) (27)
- AE: "Control Earth" Affliction 11 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Objects) (14)
- AE: "Shockwave" Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Both He & Target Must Be Touching Ground) (11)
- AE: Teleport 8 (Extras: Accurate, Extended) (32)
- AE: "Full Field" Force Field +2 (Extras: Impervious 9) (11)
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Magic Blasts +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Mind Control -- (+10 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Earth Attacks +10 Area (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+7-11 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +8
Complications:
Responsibility (The Will of Chthon)- Modred pledged his soul to Chthon, and must do his master's bidding when commanded.
Responsibility (His Own Man)- Modred has more lucid moments where he will fight for the greater good, but sadly he will often fall back into his old ways, turning on his allies at a moment's notice. Few will trust him for long.
Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 16 (177)
Modred- The OTHER Recurring Magic Villain:
-Modred is a rarely-seen Wizard Anti-Hero/Villain, being seen all over the place, primarily in the Darkhold Redeemers book of the 1990s. His backstory is that centuries ago, he was sent to be trained by an imposter Merlin in order to flush this villain out. He sought out the forbidden Book of the Darkhold, hoping to use its evil powers for good, but ended up selling his soul to Chthon (the writer of the Book) to save his beloved Julia (the daughter of his true mentor, the wizard Gervasse). He was later placed in suspended animation, where he laid for centuries until modern times, where he defeated the emissary of Chthon's who caused his problems in the first place. He later teamed up with superheroes like Spider-Woman and the Thing, fighting the false Merlin of his past (often called Merlin Demonspawn and things like that- he's a bit of a Retcon Character to explain away out-of-continuity "Merlins" who've shown up over the years).
-However, not long after his debut, he was twisted by Chthon again, and tried to manipulate the Scarlet Witch into falling under his sway as well- the Witch won, and Modred was left with the mind of a child. He was left in the care of Bova the cow-woman (who delivered Wanda & Pietro Maximoff), but would easily recover his magic by his next appearance, fighting the Thing and the Puppet Master, making them "Enemy Mine" in order to save each other's lives. His mind later returned as well, and decided to target Merlin once more- actually fighting the REAL Merlin's agent, Captain Britain! He beat Brian and stole his costume, but Captains Britain & America teamed up and defeated Modred in the rematch. He later escaped the real Merlin in Otherworld, returning to Earth to control Rachel "Phoenix" Summers into fighting Quasar & Excalibur- he was then hurled into another dimension by Widget (oh gosh, oh golly, oh WOW!).
The Darkhold Redeemers:
-Modred recovered and returned to Earth, but decided to confront Chthon and regain his soul. To this end, he joined the Darkhold Redeemers, a group of humans who were attempting to destroy the dark book. As a legitimately powerful superhuman (and not a regular human or a simple mystic), he was the team's "leader" and powerhouse, defeating numerous foes. Another agent of Chthon's offered him his soul back if he could find another pure soul in its place, and he agreed. He found an aged, blinded holy woman and offered her restored youth in return for her soul... but was shocked to discover that the now young woman was actually JULIA, the lost love he'd sacrficed his soul for in the first place! And then, just to cap it off, he sacrificed his own soul to restore hers from a demon... and she died in his arms trying to save him. Shakespearean, yo.
-Modred eventually left the book after Louise Hastings (a Redeemer) was killed, and took on the former Kyllian, now called Wildpride, as an apprentice. In this form, he was a recurring part of the Doctor Strange book, and a bit of an antagonist, eventually falling to Chthon again- he withheld the information that Victoria Montesi was carrying the reborn Chthon in her womb, and was teleported to Thailand while Strange exorcised Chthon's presence from Montesi's unborn child.
-Modred reappears in the Quicksilver book, gathering the pages of the Darkhold and killing several Knights of Wundagore before transfering Chthon's essence into Quicksilver. Chthon thus reigned supreme on Earth, but Modred was beaten by the Avengers before Chthon was stopped. The character thus disappeared for 15+ years, showing up again only very recently, aiding Warrior Woman (disguised as Power Princess of the new Squadron Supreme).
-Ultimately, it seems like Modred is just "whatever the writer desires", and is meant to be an Evil Wizard who is both recognizable (ie. not one of those generics invented every other year) and not Baron Mordo or someone with more "credibility". Chris Cooper, who wrote The Darkhold Redeemers, appears to be the only writer with an idea for his characterization. Everyone else just kind of makes him Generic Evil, crazy, or a schemer.
Modred's Might:
-Magic Characters are always tough to figure out regarding what powers they have, but these are the basics I can gather from online sources. I made Modred a PL 11 because he's been a challenge for Dr. Strange in the past, and he's a good match for many other characters, in addition to killing many of the Knights of Wundagore. And since Chthon is an Elder God, he can often randomly assign Modred a HUGE amount of extra power (they have a power explicitly for this purpose).