Excalibur (Sword)

Excalibur
Name	Excalibur
Aliases	Caledfwlch ("Linebreaker"), Caliburnus ("Steelcutter"), Sword of Kings, The Sword That Heals, Sword in the Stone
Owners
Current Owner(s)	Excalibur (Dr. Faiza Hussain),
Previous Owner(s)	Ares, , Beowulf, , Black Knight (Sir Percy), , Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Sir Brann, , Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), , Doctor Doom, , Gambit, , Grendel's Mother, , Iron Man, , Lady of the Lake, , King Arthur, , Morgan Le Fay, , Mortigan Goth, , Night Nurse, , Weyland,
Physical Characteristics
Type	Unique Sword
Origin
Origin	Otherworld, Arthurian, Magical
Reality	Earth-616
Lead Designer	Witches of Avalon
Additional Designers	Lady of the Lake, Merlin
Place of Creation	Avalon, Otherworld
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, Joe Maneely
First	Black Knight #1 (March, 1955)
First	Black Knight #1 (March, 1955)

 This is no ordinary weapon, lackey, it is -- Excalibur! Merlin-made, and forged through magic making whoever wields it -- Invincible. 

—Doctor Doom

Excalibur is the fabled sword of the legendary King Arthur.

History

Origin

The forging of Excalibur and the Ebony Blade

According to some legends, Excalibur was forged by witches on Avalon employing magicks and spells that predate humanity. To make Excalibur purer, the blacksmiths drew all the evil from it and imprisoned it within a second sword, Chaos the Doombringer.

The Sword in the Stone

According to Merlin Demonspawn, Excalibur came into the possession of Grendel's Mother, who stored it in her lair alongside other treasures; and during his battle with her, Beowulf took up the sword and used it to vanquish her.

Sword in the Stone

With the coronation of King Uther Pendragon fast approaching, Sir Brann was sent to Weyland's smithy to fetch a sword for the ceremony. While returning, Sir Brann encountered and attacked a time-traveling Iron Man. After subduing Brann, Iron Man took the sword and his horse, but both Iron Man and Sir Brann were later captured by the forces of Aislinn. The pair was able to escape and Brann even used the sword to slay a Dragon sent by Aislinn. During their final battle with Aislinn and her forces, the sword was lodged into a large stone and could not be removed. When Sir Brann informed the new king, the king decided to leave the sword where it was. The stone was actually meteorite known as the Starstone was an ancient object that attracted evil towards it, but acted to repel evil when the sword Excalibur was placed within it.

Pulling the Sword from the Stone

When King Uther died leaving no heir to the throne, the sword now with an inscription proclaimed that whoever removes the sword is the rightful King of England. None succeed in removing the sword, which eventually becomes forgotten, leaving England in the Dark Ages. After many years Merlin gathered nobles to try and fail to complete the challenge. The teenaged Arthur Pendragon who up to this point knew nothing of his true lineage effortlessly pulled the sword from the stone by accident and then repeats it publicly. Now wielding the sword named Excalibur hailed King of the Britons.

After Excalibur was drawn from the Starstone by Arthur, the Hungry Land ruled by Necromon began to invade the mortal realm. Merlin realized that putting the sword back in the stone would have repelled the dead realm but he chose to keep the sword and instead created The Barrier to prevent any extradimensional invasions.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Armed with mighty Excalibur, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table bought many battles defending Camelot.

Sir Percy

Sir Percy, the Black Knight, wielding both Excalibur and the Ebony Blade

After the death of King Arthur, Sir Percy, the first Black Knight, took up Excalibur and wielded it along with the Ebony Blade. After wielding Excalibur for some time, Sir Percy summoned by the Lady of the Lake. She sent Sir Percy into the future to inhabit the body of his descendant Dane Whitman and bring back the Excalibur team to save Camelot from the Makluans. Though her magic, the Lady of the Lake brought Excalibur and Sir Percy to before Arthur's death and the fall of Camelot.

Just before King Arthur's actual death, he intended to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake; however, Sidestep sent a time-displaced and mentally manipulated Jean Grey (under the guise of Marvel le Fey) to take the sword for her own. It was only thanks to the intervention of a similarly time-displaced Shadowcat that Jean was thwarted and the sword returned to Lady of the Lake.

Modern Day

In 1955, just before Winston Churchill gave up his office, he asked to see Excalibur, just once. A friend, the mage Mortigan Goth brought it to Downing Street to be seen by Churchill and a small group including Spitfire.

Excalibur was wielded in recent years by the Black Knight against the forces of Necromon before returned to the resurrected Arthur.

Doctor Doom

Excalibur in the hands of Doctor Doom

After traveling to the past with Iron Man, Doctor Doom lost a battle against King Arthur and Iron Man. Doctor Doom became obsessed with finding Morgan Le Fay and was eventually able to summon and imprison her. Doom demanded that le Fay cast a spell to fuse her shard of Excalibur with Doctor Doom's Armor. This spell allowed Doom to summon Excalibur and wield it. Doom also sought the sword's scabbard to amplify its power. However, Iron Man recovered the scabbard first, and together Doom and Iron Man had to fight off the monster guarding the scabbard. After the battle, Merlin took both the sword and the scabbard and returned them to the Lady of the Lake.

Faiza Hussain

Excalibur drawn by Dr. Faiza Hussain

During the Skrull invasion of Earth, Captain Britain was seemingly killed while attempting to prevent the Skrulls from invading Otherworld. With Captain Britain gone, Agent Pete Wisdom called on Tink to take him, Spitfire, and John the Skrull to Avolon to aid their forces in Otherworld. Once on Avalon, the trio was told that Excalibur had just reappeared in a nearby cave. Unfortunately, none of the three were worthy of pulling Excalibur from its stone. With help from Merlin, Captain Britain was resurrect and able to wield Excalibur. Having defeated the Skrulls forces, Captain Britain returned Excalibur to the stone to wait for someone who would not use it to take a life. The sword and Merlin then called out to Dr. Faiza Hussain who was able to draw the sword from the stone. Faiza then joined MI-13 and took the codename Excalibur in honor of the legendary sword she wielded.

When Gambit was abducted by Borya Cich, Mr. Cich forced Gambit to steal Excalibur for him. Posing as Sir Antony Ellis, Gambit got the jump on Faiza when she was knighting honored individuals in Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately for Gambit, Pete Wisdom was waiting for him outside of the Palace and quickly apprehended him.

While in the Realm of Death, Dr. Faiza Hussain lent Excalibur to Night Nurse to battle against the minions of Death. When the blade was returned to her, Excalibur used it to allow her teammates to pass "Charon".

Properties

Excalibur has been endowed with several magical powers including:

• Potency: The sword has the ability to kill anyone including gods, immortals, and spirits.
• Healing: The sword has the ability to heal auras.
• Durability: The sword was virtually indestructible. However, there are at least two alleged shards of Excalibur implying that it can be damaged and pieces may be removed.
• Invincibility: When armed with the sword, the user becomes undefeatable.
  • Invulnerability: Excalibur's Scabbard offers invulnerable to its holder, making them incapable of being wounded or of receiving injury.
• Magic Detection: Excalibur can imbue it's user with the ability to sense magic around them.

Alternate Reality Versions

Image	Description	Source
	Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) In the present day, Excalibur was found on onboard the Domo by Thena.	Eternals

Notes

• Ares claimed that he possessed the fragments of the "original Excalibur."
• According to Merlin Demonspawn in Captain Marvel (Vol. 4) #21, Excalibur was the sword Beowulf used to vanquish Grendel's Mother. However, Scream: Curse of Carnage #5 reveals that she was actually defeated by Thor using Mjolnir.
• Occasionally, the Sword of Might has been referred to or confused with Excalibur. This may be because both are magical blades strongly associated with Merlin. Additionally, the Sword of Might was usually lodged in a stone when presented to potential Captain Britains. However, it has been confirmed that these are indeed two different and distinct swords.

Trivia

• Excalibur means "Freed from the Stone" or "Freed from the Grail".
• The Sword in the Stone and Excalibur were historically distinct weapons of the Arthurian saga though later iterations combined them.

See Also

• 87 appearance(s) of Excalibur (Sword)
• 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Excalibur (Sword)
• 9 minor appearance(s) of Excalibur (Sword)
• 18 mention(s) of Excalibur (Sword)
• 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Excalibur (Sword)
• 70 image(s) of Excalibur (Sword)

Links and References

• Caliburn
• Ebony Blade
• Excalibur (Dr. Faiza Hussain)
• Excalibur (team)
• Sword of Might