Sersi (Earth-616)

Sersi
Name	Sersi
Aliases	Codenames: Mesmer Other Aliases: Circe, Circe the Sorceress, Mistress of Illusions, Serse, Sersy, Sylvia Sersi
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Eternals of Olympia Formerly Avengers, God Squad, New Breed
Relatives	Parents: Helios (father); Perse (mother) Other Relatives: Sprite, Ikaris, (cousins)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5′9″ (1.75 m)
Weight	140 lbs (63.5 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Eternal of Earth
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Olympia, Greece
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Olympia
Occupation	Adventurer, dancer, party planner
Base of Operations	Olympia
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Werner Roth, Jack Kirby
First	Venus #9 (January, 1950) (as Circe) Eternals #3 (June, 1976) (as Sersi)
First	Venus #9 (January, 1950) (as Circe) Eternals #3 (June, 1976) (as Sersi)

 Why can't we all just get along? The fighting-- there is no reason for it. There's never been a reason. There never will be a reason. It's one thing for humans to never learn that-- their lifespans are short, you turn your head for just a moment, and an entire generation has gone by. But why can't the other Eternals dumb out what I've known since the Pleistocene. 

—Sersi

Sersi is an Eternal, a race of people genetically altered from humans to be superior in all physical traits. She is a flirtatious socializer, often found hosting or attending parties, and her expertise is matter transmutation, which she often uses to her own amusement.

Throughout the millenia, Sersi has been involved with numerous historic events, often accompanied by her long-time lover Makkari. Despite her easy-going attitude, Sersi has risen to the occasion when necessary, including sacrificing herself for the sake of all life on Earth. She has been a member of Avengers and the short-lived New Breed, and, despite all the darkness she's had to overcome, she hasn't lost her good dispositation and is still one of the Eternals most valued members.

History

Across the Ages

Sersi, like every Eternal, was created by the Celestials one million years ago and has looked after humanity ever since.

During Gilgamesh's reign as champion-king of Uruk, Sersi reverted back to being a child.

It is known that she encountered the Greek hero Odysseus during his 10-year journey home known as the Odyssey. She turned Odysseus' companions into pigs, but Odysseus, who had been given a magical herb by Hermes, resisted her witchcraft. Circe fell in love with Odysseus and transformed the pigs back into men. After they stayed on the island for one year, they left to continue their voyage. As Circe, she also imprisoned all the evils that escaped Pandora's Box.

Astonishing "Merlin"

Later, she spent some time in Egypt. She was in Rome during Catiline's attempt to overthrow Cicero and was also present during Nero's burning of the city, where she was assisted by Makkari (who she had an on-and-off relationship with) She encountered Attila the Hun and also exposed a Merlin copycat during the days of King Arthur Pendragon. She fought alongside Thor in the Vikings' Siege of Paris and met John Dee at Elizabeth I's summer palace. During the 18th century, she was bit all over Europe: she got acquainted with English poet Thomas Chatterton, she was one of the founders of the Illuminati in Bavaria and she was in France during the French Revolution.

Sersi later relocated to the United States of America, settling in Upper Westside of Manhattan in New York City. She would regularly hold parties with the rich and famous of the city. Warren Worthington I was one of the regulars at the events along with the rest of his family.

Modern Era

In modern times, she still lived in New York City when the Fourth Host of Celestials arrived on Earth. Ikaris left Margo Damian in her care while he went off to defend the city against the Deviants' attack. When he was captured, Sersi alerted the other Eternals, but was captured herself by Kro's forces. She was released when a truce was reached and was part of the group who revealed the races' existence to Professor Samuel Holden.

Avengers

Sersi became associated with the Avengers thanks to a weird series of coincidences: Starfox led Janet Van Dyne to believe he had been invited to one of Sersi's parties. When they got there, they were surprised to see their old Avengers teammate She-Hulk, who had recently met Sersi at an exotic bakery shop. After Starfox came clean about the party invitation, She-Hulk finally introduced the pair to Sersi and they were welcomed to stay. Later, she started a flirtation with Captain America (much to his embarrassment) and assisted him with her magic. When her fellow Eternal Gilgamesh was injured in battle and could no longer function as an active Avenger, Captain America invited Sersi to join the team in Gilgamesh's place, which Sersi accepted.

With the Avengers

Sersi's time with the Avengers proved troubling. During the conflict with the Brethren, she was abducted by their leader, Thane Ector, but they shared interest in each other. When the Celestial origins of the Brethren and the role of the Collector in the crisis were revealed, Sersi participated in a Uni-Mind with the Brethren in order to defeat the Collector. Such cross-species were forbidden by her kind, as they were seen as dangerous.

Donning a red costume, she became significantly more aggressive, even murderous when dealing with enemies. Ikaris and the Eternals feared Sersi was suffering from what the Mahd Wy'ry, a mental breakdown caused by the Eternals' long lifespans, but Sersi rejected their fears as archaic and refused to accompany them back home. The Avengers also didn't want them to take one of their members against her will, especially when they learned that if the Eternals' suspicions were confirmed, the standard procedure was to kill the affected person. After much discussion, it was decided to place Sersi in a Gann Josin soul-bond with the Black Knight. Sersi was in love with the Knight, and it was hoped that his thought waves could provide a calming influence on her troubled mind.

Dane Whitman was actually in love with Crystal, although he did have feelings for Sersi as well. Furthermore, Sersi's mind was being deliberated antagonized from a distance by Proctor, a parallel version of Dane whose stalker tendencies led him to chase down and destroy Sersi's across the multiverse, after having been rejected by his own Sersi. Proctor's manipulations nearly drove Sersi mad as her teammates wondered if she really had become unstable. She eventually killed Proctor with his own Ebony Blade. Fearing that she would completely lose her mind, she opted to exile herself, with Whitman accompanying her.

They ended up in the Ultraverse, where Sersi became possessed by the Infinity Gems.

On their way back, they ended up in the Crusades, witnessing the formation of Exodus, a foe they had first met when the Avengers and X-Men clandestinely joined forces to save Luna from Fabian Cortez.

Upon returning to the correct time, Whitman was troubled by the apparent death of Crystal and thought they needed to rethink their relationship. Sersi went back to wearing green and, apart from aiding the Avengers on one occasion, she laid low for a while. When the other remaining Eternals felt they needed to become more involved in the world of humans, she agreed, and they portrayed themselves as an everyday superhero team, with Sersi adopting the name of Mesmer.

The Saga of the Dreaming Celestial

After the first superhuman civil war, Sersi, along with all the Eternals, had her life changed and her memories tampered with, having no knowledge of the powers she possessed nor any recollection of her past activities on Earth, such as her time as an Avenger.

Enjoying her human life

She was struggling to begin a career as a party planner, but she got her first big opportunity when she was hired by Druig, then deputy Prime Minister of Vorozheika, to publicize the small former Soviet republic by organizing a party at the Vorozheikan embassy. After the party was attacked by terrorists and saved by Iron Man and Mark Curry, actually Makkari, Stark asked Sersi if she had intentions to register. However, she was confused as to what he was talking about, and Tony himself was later dumbfounded as he discovered that there were no files based on Sersi in the Avengers database.

Eventually, the other Eternals discovered that Sprite was responsible for rewriting everyone's lives. Ikaris and others tried to make Sersi remember her past, but she was too frightened of their tales and decided to try to lead a normal life instead.

While rediscovering her powers, she turned a pile of trash into gold and used some of it to buy a loft for her and continue her party-planning dreams. However, when she rekindled her romance with Makkari and the two moved together, she started getting involved in Eternals business again, as well as fully regaining control of her powers.

Still, not everything was perfect, as Makkari's recurring sessions with the Dreaming Celestial were a constant worry for Sersi, who felt her loved one slowly fading away. After having enough of it, she finally decided to confront the Celestial, determined to find the reason for this deadly bond. And, despite almost getting killed, the Celestial revealed that Makkari had been chosen as his link to humanity before the arrival of The Horde, and she too was part of its grand plan: She was the one who had to protect Makkari.

Sersi failed in her mission and Makkari got killed, with no way of being revived through conventional ways, which activated a countdown to global annihilation. With no other alternative presenting itself, Sersi then pushed her powers to the limit by transmuting her own body into a perfect replica of Makkari and then replacing his conscious with her own.

Thanks to Sersi, the connection with the Celestial was restored, which eventually led to the Horde's defeat by intervention of The Fulcrum, a cosmic entity above even the Celestials themselves.

Dark Secrets

After Sersi's revival, she resumed her normal affairs for a while, before returning to Olympia.

When the countless bodies of Celestials rained down on the Earth to herald the arrival of the Dark Celestials, the Eternals learned a dark truth that drove them mad: that the true purpose of their kind was to cultivate humankind, since the First Host of Celestials had only allowed humanity to thrive because they had seen in their genetic makeup the potential to act as antibodies against The Horde. In their madness, the Eternals turned against each other and committed suicide. Sersi being no exception.

Return

After the Eternals rebirth, Sersi was brought back and cured of her madness. However, the Mad Titan Thanos was also secretly resurrected and had begun killing Eternals and sabotaging the machines of resurrection.

Now wearing violet clothes, Sersi interrupted a quarrel between Druig and Ikaris and took Ikaris away to heal the injuries he'd suffered when battling Thanos. In the meantime, Sprite, Phastos, and Kingo Sunen discovered that the resurrection process had been rigged so Thanos could be brought back. Also, the machines of resurrection were connected to Earth's biosphere; if they weren't fixed within a week, Earth would be rendered uninhabitable for humans.

Sersi interrogated Azura as a possible traitor, but couldn't determine if she was innocent or guilty. Thena then joined the investigation. Sersi and her fellow Eternals later confronted Gilgamesh, suspecting him to be traitor after she luring him out by pretending to harm Tony Stark. Gilgamesh was allowed to prove his innocence and did but also revealed that it was actually Phastos who was the traitor. As Sersi and her fellow Eternals went to confront Phastos, Thanos was lying in wait to ambush them.

Sersi and his fellow Eternals were able to overwhelm Thanos, but then Phastos accidentally teleported her and the others all over Earth while trying to teleport them to the Exclusion to help him fix the resurrection machine he broke. Ikaris gave his life to use his matter manipulation power to repair the machine. Sersi and the others later learned the reason for Phastos' actions: Eternals were resurrected at the cost of human lives and that the resurrection machines couldn't be turned off without endangering her. Sersi was actually aware of this process but didn't let it bother her.

Sersi and the other Eternals discussed the problem with the newly resurrected Zuras but realized that it was unlikely that the resurrection process would ever be changed. So, Sersi and other Eternals met with the Deviants in the city of Lemuria, asking how to become like them.

Hellfire Gala

Sersi was in attendance at the first Krakoan Hellfire Gala, and was present during the announcement of the new X-Men roster. The team was voted for by every mutant on the planet through a telepathic link established between their minds by Jean Grey. Sersi and Stephen Strange explained the process to the Human Torch and Thor Odinson, putting them at ease and proclaiming it as a simple act of mutual and ethical mutant pride, as Jean Grey announced the results.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

As an Eternal of Earth, Sersi's body is augmented by cosmic energy and she has total mental control over her entire molecular structure.

• Near-Immortality: Eternals like Sersi possess total conscious control over their molecular structures, which are reinforced by cosmic energy. As a result, they are virtually immortal and indestructible, they are virtually invulnerable to any force weaker than their own cosmic energies or total molecular disintegration.

Flying through a Kree sentinel

• Super Strength: Sersi can bench/press at least 20 tons, however, she can increase this through her levitation and telekinetic abilities and lift over 25 tons.

• Regenerative Healing Factor: On the rare occasions Sersi is physically harmed by some extreme force, she can heal herself using her molecular control powers. Sersi once reconstructed her own arm after it was disintegrated by a Deviant weapon.

• Telepathy: Sersi can psychically communicate, read minds, and project her thoughts into other people. She can compel the distracted or weak-minded to do her bidding through hypnosis.

• Illusions: Sersi is skilled in the use of illusions. Her illusions affect all five senses and are virtually indistinguishable from the 'real thing'.

Projecting her dreams

• Telekinesis: She can mentally move and manipulate objects, living creatures, and fly.
  • Flight: As a byproduct of telekinesis, Sersi can fly at high speeds, being able to attain velocities up to 760mph.

• Cosmic Energy Projection: Sersi is able to project blasts of cosmic energy from her hands or eyes, in the form of light, heat, or concussive force.
  • Image Projection: Sersi is also able to project scenes from her mind, allowing others to visualize her thoughts.

• Teleportation: She can teleport herself and others across vast distances although she finds doing so unpleasant.

Transmutation power

• Matter Transmutation: Sersi is able to transmute nearly any item or being into almost whatever she wishes. She is the only 'fifth-level adept' of the Eternals, the highest level in such categories.
  • Healing

Abilities

Skilled Fashion Designer: Sersi is an accomplished fashion designer, often using her powers to make changes 'on the fly'.

Graceful Dancer: Sersi is very good at dancing.

Multilingual: She has shown the ability to speak the ancient language spoken by Gilgamesh, and she's also demonstrated fluency in the Kree language.

Notes

• According to Sprite, he was the only straight male Eternal that Sersi hadn't bedded at some point, due to him having the body of a child.
• Sersi had a long relationship with Makkari, which ended many times, first due to cheating on both accounts, and then due to boredom.
• Sersi expressed great interest in Samuel Holden.
• She seemingly fell for Thane Ector of the Brethren.
• Sersi and Black Knight had mutual feelings for each other.

See Also

• 265 appearance(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 20 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 12 minor appearance(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 17 mention(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 3 invocation(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 220 image(s) of Sersi (Earth-616)
• 12 quotation(s) by or about Sersi (Earth-616)
• 2 victim(s) killed by Sersi (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Sersi (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Sersi on Wikipedia.org
• http://www.marvel.com/universe/Sersi
• The Eternals Message Board