History
Origin and Early Years
One of her origins is that she is a Goddess of Death and Battle, and has existed since Death itself, taking many forms and names since then.[11]
Another origin of hers is Morrigan was seemingly the daughter of Iarbonel and Gaea/Danu, and the sister to the Dagda, Leir, Nuada, Ogma, Badb and Macha.
Morrigan married the Dadga[5] and was the mother[12] of his eldest son, the war god Bodb Derg.[5] She was not the mother of his second son Lugh, mothered by Ethniu.[7]
Hyborian Age
Morrigan was one of the many deities worshiped in Hyboria, invoked notably by Cimmerians, along with Nemain and Macha,[14] as part of the "triple war goddesses".[3]
Next Incarnation
Morrigan's appearance when not possessing a mortal
In the 1st century AD, Celtic druids Taliesin and Moiragh were mortally wounded in an attack on their village by Roman legions. As they were dying, the druids offered themselves as a sacrifice to Morrigan (as well as to the Celtic gods Taranis and Cernunnos) so that one day a warrior would be born to exact vengeance upon evil. In response, Morrigan, Taranis, and Cernunnos empowered the wooden staff carried by Moiragh (which came to be known as the "Oak Staff of the Druids") and became oathbound to one day empower a warrior as their instrument of justice on Earth.[15]
Circa 150 B.C., after the death of her father, a girl-warrior in Ireland bargained for power from the supernatural and confronted Morrigan out of vengeance. The girl-warrior was successful in besting Morrigan, who lay bleeding out on the ground before the final blow. Before dying, Morrigan offered her power and position to the girl. The girl seemingly accepted, becoming the next incarnation of Morrigan for over two thousand years.[16]
It remains unclear whether Morrigan is merely a title passed from one woman to the next along with the necessary power, or if Morrigan is a sentient spirit or consciousness that is hosted by these women, like a mystical symbiote.
The Morrigan in a former host body
Third Host
In 1000 AD, the Third Host of the Celestials occurred, during which the aliens informed they would return 1,000 years later to judge Earth's right to continue existing. While the pantheons prepared for war, Gaea planned a peaceful solution to the problem with many goddesses, among them Morrigan.
For the next thousand years, they searched for humans representing mankind's highest ideals, to be offered to the Celestials as an offering. The goddesses placed the candidates in suspended animation, with their superhuman potential, the legacy of the First Host, awakened.[17]
Modern Days
Morrigan empowering Kyllian Boddicker
In modern times, Morrigan (along with her fellow Celtic gods Taranis and Cernunnos) eventually chose American mob enforcer Kyllian Boddicker to become their instrument of justice on Earth. To that end, the three gods each possessed Boddicker simultaneously, causing him to hear their voices in his head and to manifest mystical tattoos of different Celtic symbols on his body capable of casting a variety of magical spells. In particular, Morrigan persuaded Boddicker to pursue lasting vengeance against the criminals who killed his sister. As Morrigan and the gods’ possession of Boddicker's body pushed him to the brink of insanity while he was avenging his sister’s death, Dr. Strange sensed the massive expenditures of magical force and set out to confront Boddicker. Dr. Strange eventually cornered Boddicker on a rooftop and entrapped him in the Cloak of Levitation, causing Morrigan and the other gods to briefly leave Boddicker’s body. Dr. Strange attempted to capture the three gods with a spell of entrapment to prevent them from repossessing Boddicker, but Morrigan sent a murder of crows to attack Dr. Strange and prevent him from maintaining the spell. Realizing that he must accept his fate, Boddicker agreed to serve as the gods’ instrument of justice on the conditions that they must assert no control over his free will and only come to his aid when summoned by him. The gods accepted Boddicker’s terms. Morrigan indicated that she did not care about Dr. Strange’s offer to tutor Boddicker on the use of his newfound powers, but only seemed interested in feasting on the evil souls that Boddicker would vanquish for her. The gods then bestowed the Oak Staff of the Druids upon Boddicker, who would later become the sorcerer known as Wildpride.[15]
Theresa Rourke
When Theresa needed her power, the current host of the Morrigan was ready to die, and told Theresa the only way to claim her power is to kill her, which she did.[16]
Dawn of The Morrigan
A new X-Factor was created due to the influx of missing mutants and unknown deaths The Five couldn't process for the resurrection protocols. Her host Theresa was one of the first mutants on their investigation list after she let out a sonic scream as she fell to her death on a Krakoan cliff.[18]
Resurrected by the Five, her host Theresa died again 5 days later in England after The Morrigan pushed her into suicide. Upon another resurrection, X-Factor interrogated her host about her mysterious deaths, but she avoided their questions and blatantly lied to them. When Theresa left the Boneyard, she was confronted by Lorna on why she wasn't being honest, which prompted the Morrigan to use Theresa to use her powers to bewitch Lorna into sabotaging the investigation on her. As she left, a murder of crows formed in the night sky, showing Morrigan was in full control of Theresa, and not a simple influence anymore.[19]
While being tailed by Daken, she lured him into the Alberta wilderness in a snowstorm to kill him without having his teammates alerted due to his loner nature. What she didn't know was that even after leaving him for days to die on a wooden pike, he had a healing factor to keep him alive. With this (and Lorna's hypnotic trance being negated by Rachel), Northstar was able to find him within the vast wilderness in 7 minutes and return him to the Boneyard.[11]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Immortality: The Morrigan is a god and therefore does not age (although she can still die through external means).[18][20]
- Superhuman Durability: Theresa was able to take a direct hit from a gun that was able to destroy Layla Miller's shield without feeling discomfort.[21] Even still, she can die from falling from very high points (as her durable has been shown at different levels). It is unknown if Morrigan is more durable or not.
- Teleportation: When Theresa first gained her godly powers, she was able to blink out of existence and appear next to Jamie Madrox while being empowered by The Morrigan.
- Prayer Locator: Theresa was able to deduce exactly where Jamie was and teleport to him simply because he was praying to her while being empowered by The Morrigan.
Morrigan and her crows
- Zoopathy: She has the ability to control crows.[15][20]
- Shapeshifting[11]
- Power-Bestowal[11]
- Power Negation[11]
- Power Removal[11]
- Healer: She can heal someone from the point of death[11]
- War Manipulation: She can affect areas of war and battle[11]
- Death Manipulation: She can affect areas of death.[11]
- Sickness Inducement: She can weaken someone to the point of death.[11]
Physical Strength
- Presumably super-strength, in addition to the strength her current host possesses.
Weaknesses
- She needs a female host.[11]
- Her host bodies are able to die, although her durability with her host bodies vary. Her former host died from a sonic blast, and Siryn died falling off a building, while being able to shrug off a blast that was meant to destroy a near impenetrable shield.[16][21][19]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Her "crows" (it is unknown if the crows that loom over her are a manifestation of her powers or actual crows under her control).
Weapons
Transportation
- The Morrigan can teleport
Notes
- The Morrigan is a godly spirit that needs a host to attach itself to. While at times, it has given its host free rein of their own bodies, but other times it has influenced them to; act similar to her, driven them to a point of suicidal depression, or has completely taken over their body and soul.
See Also
- 10 appearance(s) of Morrigan (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) of Morrigan (Earth-616)
- 12 image(s) of Morrigan (Earth-616)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Morrigan (Earth-616)
- 2 victim(s) killed by Morrigan (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Morrigan (Earth-616)
Links and References
Footnotes
- ↑ X-Factor #238
- ↑ Black Knight Vol 2 #3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3; Council of Godheads's entry
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1; Leir and Nuada's entries mentions Morrigan being their sister
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1; The Dagda's entry
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1; Leir's entry mentions Morrigan being her sister
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1; Cúchulain's entry lists Ethniu as Cúchulain's paternal grandmother (and therefore as Lugh's mother)
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 Bran the Blessed's entry
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 Caber's entry
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 Gwynn's entry
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 X-Factor Vol 4 #7
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1; The Red Lord's entry
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 Tuatha de Danaan's entry
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #5
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Annual #3
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 X-Factor #244
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1; Young Gods' entry
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 X-Factor Vol 4 #5
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 X-Factor (Vol. 4) #6-7
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 X-Factor Vol 4 #6
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 X-Factor #262
- ↑ X-Factor Vol 4 #7-7
