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Mount Wundagore was a mountain located in the Transian Mountain Range,[3] in the Eastern European country of Transia, overlooking East Transia,[4] the country's capital.[3] It peaked at 11,675 feet.[10]

It became home to Herbert Wyndham, the geneticist known as the High Evolutionary, and his New Men, sentient semi-humanoid animals, artificially evolved to their current state from ordinary animals.[11]

History

Early Earth[]

In the Darque Hold, a chamber among the caverns inside the mountain, Chthon wrote the Darkhold, his book of black magic.[5]

Late Hyborian Age or Early History[]

In ancient times, Vanda-Gor was a mountain within a grim and mountainous realm set south of the Borderlands (themselves south from the cold north that had been home of the immortal warrior Bloodstone). There, a Skrull trapped on Earth lived and set up an altar to Sl'gur't. He terrorized the people living around the mountain and was known to be a "sorcerer-god from beyond the stars".

Taking the form of a merchant, he told Bloodstone about that star-spawned sorcerer, intending to lure him in his lair, slay him, and take the Bloodgem for his own, in order to return to his world. Bloodstone found the sorcerer's lair on Vanda-Gor, and after the brutal destruction of the sorcerer's animated corpses, the plot was revealed by the Skrull, beheaded moments later by Bloodstone.
That tale was recounted in "The Star-Spawned Sorcerer", 1928.[9]

6th Century[]

In the 6th Century A.D., the sorceress Morgan Le Fay and her cult of Darkholders, unable to control Chthon, whom they had summoned, imprisoned him within Wundagore Mountain, in Transia.[12][13][verification needed] Chthon's evil entered into the clay and wood of Wundagore, and could be used as a sort of sympathetic magic by forming images of people used to manipulate said people from a distance. Later, those clay and wood would be respectively used by the Puppet Master and by Django Maximoff.[3]

20th Century[]

By the Twentieth Century, Wundagore Mountain was part of the estate owned by Gregory Russoff, the father of Jack Russell, who sold part of his estate, including Wundagore Mountain, to the High Evolutionary and his partner Jonathan Drew, the father of Jessica Drew, who became the first Spider-Woman. On the mountain Jonathan Drew and Wyndham discovered a rich deposit of uranium, and used the wealth they gained from it to build a citadel of advanced scientific research (which itself has become known as Wundagore).[14][15][verification needed]

In 1928 (the same year in which "The Star-Spawned Sorcerer" was written and/or published),[9] Wyndham used subterranean slaves, Moloids, to built the Citadel of Science at Wundagore.

Since, the 1930s,[3] Wyndham began to procure both domestic and wild animals and genetically accelerated them into "New Men", animals with humanoid posture and intelligence. Among the first of his New Men were Bova, a cow-woman; Porga, a pig-man; and Tagar, a tiger-man.[14][15][verification needed]

Modern Era[]

The spirit of the 6th century sorcerer Magnus, a disciple of Morgan le Fay and among those who had imprisoned Chthon within Wundagore Mountain, took possession of the body of Jonathan Drew in order to warn the High Evolutionary of the demonic threat beneath his feet. Magnus and the High Evolutionary decided that the New Men should be trained to combat Chthon's impending attack, and Magnus suggested they be organized and trained along the lines of the highly disciplined soldiers of his day, the Arthurian Knights of the Round Table. Magnus supervised the training of the New Men who became the Knights of Wundagore and instilled in them a sense of chivalry. When Chthon finally attacked through his host, the Other, he was defeated by the combination of the High Evolutionary's advanced science, Magnus's sorcery, and the battle prowess of the Knight of Wundagore.[16]

On the very night of this battle, a woman named Magda, who had sought refuge at the High Evolutionary's citadel, reportedly gave birth there to twins, who later became known as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Chthon imbued the newborn infant who would become the Scarlet Witch with latent potential for using magic.[17]

After their victory over Chthon, the Knights of Wundagore undertook the full-time task of patrolling and protecting Wundagore. The High Evolutionary had equipped the Knights before their battle with Chthon with suits of armor that are extraordinarily resistant to damage, advanced weaponry, and nuclear-powered one-man flying craft known as the "atomic steeds" (one of these "atomic steeds" is today utilized by the Black Knight). The Knights of Wundagore have used such armor, weaponry, and means of transportation ever since.[6]

Wundagore Mountain from Thor Vol 1 406 001

Eventually, the High Evolutionary created a New Man who proved to be a menace, the Man-Beast, whom he had evolved from a wolf. After the Asgardian thunder god, Thor, aided in defeating the Man-Beast, the High Evolutionary decided that Earth was too confining an environment for his New Men. Having converted his Citadel into a starship, the High Evolutionary set forth within it, along with his New Men, for the stars to seek a planet for them to settle. The only New Men to remain behind on Earth were Bova and Tabur.[11]

Man-Beast later created New Men of his own to terrorize the world called Counter-Earth. The High Evolutionary's ally, Adam Warlock, eventually devolved all of these New Men back to their original forms. However, the Man-Beast himself has subsequently returned in his semi-human form, and his present whereabouts, activities, and condition are unknown.[citation needed]

Alternate Universes[]

Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)[]

In the Age of Apocalypse, after the death of Charles Xavier, Magneto used the mountain to home and train mutants and his X-Men while Apocalypse focused his efforts on the United States of America. While Magneto and his X-Men were at Cape Citadel to thwart the Horsemen, Apocalypse's son, Nemesis attacked the Wundagore Mountain base, slaughtering the mutants there, including Wanda Maximoff.[18]

Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)[]

Wundagore Mountain from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 001

In Earth-199999, Mount Wundagore had an ancient shrine dedicated to the prophesized Scarlet Witch carved into it by Chthon. These carvings contained spells that were later transcribed into the Darkhold.

Wanda Maximoff as Scarlet Witch, visited Mount Wundagore; in order to possess an alternate reality version of herself to capture America Chavez in that reality. After a battle against America, Stephen Strange and Wong, she seemingly sacrificed herself to destroy Wundagore and the spells contained within, as well as all the other copies of the Darkholds throughout the entire multiverse.[19]

Points of Interest

See Also

Links and References

References

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