History
19th Century Origins[]
Per the most reliable accounts, Marie Laveau was born in the year 1801 to a white planter and a mulatto slave woman in New Orleans.[3]
In the 1820s, she was inducted into the rites of the voodoo and began conducting ceremonial snake dances in public accompanied by the serpent-god Damballah himself. And, by 1855, she had several children and was living in a mansion which she supposedly gained after enchanting a judge to find a client's son innocent. This mansion would later come to be known as a haunted house, and her supposed tomb at St. Louis Cemetery would become a shrine to voodoo practitioners.[3] Nonetheless, Marie Laveau remained alive and young-looking by using vampire blood potions.[4][5]
Modern Era[]
By the 21st century,[note 1] Marie Laveau was manipulated by the Silver Dagger to lure the sorcerer Doctor Strange into a trap. However, as Silver Dagger was focused on Strange and his superhuman allies, she stabbed him in the back, thus earning Strange's respect.[6]
The day came when all real vampires were wiped off the face of the Earth by the Montesi Formula. Laveau, knowing she'd eventually need vampire blood to retain her youth, began looking for solutions, and convinced New Orleans-born superhero Monica Rambeau to travel through the Black Mirror to the past to retrieve vampire blood. Rambeau was successful in her efforts, but the residual effect of the Montesi Formula caused the blood to boil and explode, leaving Laveau empty-handed.[7] Shortly after, the mirror was rendered unusable by sorcerers Robert and Tina Minoru.[8]
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As Laveau's aging accelerated, she grew desperate and seduced Dr. Michael Morbius (who at the time was cured of his "pseudo-vampirism"). She restrained him and returned him against his will to his previous condition as a "living vampire". Still, she found that Morbius's blood was not a suitable substitute for real vampire blood. She mystically searched the world for any hints of true vampirism left and finally found Victor Strange, the younger brother of Doctor Strange. Laveau summoned a confused Victor into her place and directed him to feed on the blood of Morbius to nourish himself, but his rational side took over and he turned against her, allowing both men's escape.[5]
When his brother found him, he tried to help him,[9] but Laveau shot Victor with a Golden Arrow of Eros to take control of him once more, and made him steal the Darkhold for her.[10] During this time, Laveau named her new pet vampire "Baron Blood" and had him wear a costume much like that of the original Baron Blood, John Falsworth. Nonetheless, Vic was freed by Stephen and his allies, and helped them fight Varnae, Lord of the Vampires, who had been resurrected by Laveau with the Darkhold. Laveau was defeated and apprehended by Brother Voodoo, but Varnae escaped,[11] spreading vampirism anew until perishing once more.[3]
When Laveau regained her freedom, she sought to resurrect and try to control Varnae again, this time using the body of Blade, the vampire hunter, but her new effort didn't have better results, as Blade was able to disrupt the ritual.[12]
Years later, after the deaths of the Minorus, Marie Laveau confronted their daughter Nico to have her remove the enchantment that blocked the usage of the Black Mirror, but the mirror ended up shattered in the process. Amongst the broken shards, however, was a folded piece of paper that turned out to be a hidden page of the Darkhold. Laveau then took the page and left.[8]
Around this time, her descendent Zoe Laveau was struggling with her magic skills, which led her down a path of depression over potentially ending her family's legacy. She resorted to dark magic to increase her skills, but it ended up killing her. Therefore, to save their daughter, her parents followed the tradition and took her to Marie Laveau's grave to request her help. Seeing this, Marie decided to save her descendant and brought Zoe back to life, but the damage caused by the dark magic had been too extensive and she was left with an undead appearance, being forced to use a magical amulet to look human.[13]Attributes
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Powers
Marie Laveau is a powerful sorceress, possessing varied powers, among them precognition, astral projection, shape-changing, and weather control.[3]
In addition to that, she can also summon various deities and demons and even bend some of them to her will.[3] She can also revive humans, but her powers in this area are limited.[13]Abilities
Notes
- In her first appearances, Marie was seen with a Caucasian appearance, which Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6 claims was part of her shape-shifting abilities.
See Also
- 17 appearance(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 2 minor appearance(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 4 mention(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 7 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 10 image(s) of Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
- 3 item(s) used/owned by Marie Laveau (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Due to Marvel's sliding timescale, the entirety of the Modern Era now happened in the 21st century.
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11
- ↑ Marvel Team-Up #76
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6
- ↑ Dracula #2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #14
- ↑ Marvel Team-Up #76–77
- ↑ Marvel Fanfare #42
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm #1
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #10–11
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #15
- ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #16–18
- ↑ Blade: The Vampire-Hunter #4–5
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Strange Academy #13
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 6