0_0 Now THEM’S some child-birthin’ hips!
THE SCARLET WITCH (Wanda Maximoff)
Created By: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Role: Magic User, Miss Fanservice, The Mysterious Woman
Group Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Avengers, The Lady Liberators, Force Works
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 11 (160)
STRENGTH 1
STAMINA 2
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5
DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 4
Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 2 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Magic) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Ranged Attack (Hexes) 3 (+9)
Vehicles 2 (+2)
Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Ranged Attack 6, Ritualist, Set-Up, Teamwork
Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Hex Spheres"
Luck 2 [2]
Probability Control 11 (Extras: Jinx, Ranged) (66) -- [72]
- AE: "Improbable Events" Blast 11 (Feats: Penetrating 6) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (39)
- AE: Deflect 12 (12)
- AE: "Spontaneous Combustion" Blast 9 (Extras: Perception Range, Secondary Effect) (36)
- AE: Nullify Powers 12 (Extras: Broad +2- All Powers) (36)
- AE: "Rapid Decay" Weaken Toughness 12 (Extras: Ranged, Affects Objects +0) (24)
- AE: "Bad Events" Affliction 13 (Will; Impaired Attack & Dazed/Disabled Attack & Prone) (Extras: Ranged, Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (26)
- AE: "Transmute Elements" Transform 7 (Pure Elements from One to Another) (28)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Probability Control +9 (+11 Dice-Altering, DC 21)
Improbable Events +11 Area (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Nullify +9 (+12 Nullify, DC 22)
Rapid Decay +9 (+12 Ranged Weaken, DC 22)
Bad Events +9 (+13 Ranged Affliction, DC 23)
Initiative +4
Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +8
Complications:
Power Loss (Hexes)- Wanda requires the use of her hands for her powers, and will become helpless if she is restrained.
Relationship (The Vision, Wonder Man)- At various times, Wanda has been in love with either man. She was married to Vizh for years, but left him when he lost his humanity.
Relationship (Quicksilver)- Pietro is an over-protective brother, but Wanda still dotes on him.
Side-Effects (Hexes)- If Wanda rolls a natural 1-2, she will be inflicted with her own bad luck.
Responsibility (Vast Power)- Wanda is naturally quite powerful, but she has the potential as a nexus being to warp reality on a vast level. This is often Uncontrolled, and gives her a horrible reputation as a wild card.
Reputation (Mutant Killer)- Wanda nearly made mutants extinct in one fell swoop (but thankfully left all the POPULAR characters, in a lucky bit of ass-pulling), and some have a hard time forgiving her for it.
Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 74 / Defenses: 19 (160)
The Scarlet Witch- Poisoned Character?:
-The Scarlet Witch been all over the place as a character. First, she was a fairly peaceful, non-evil villain under Magneto's rule in the Silver Age Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Then, she did a face turn and became an Avenger in a wildly unpredictable turn (in the good way) later on in the '60s. This lead to a relationship with The Vision (which ran for SEVERAL years in the
Avengers title, since they were among the few Avengers not to have their own book), a marriage, a pretty boring Limited Series , children, then it all came crashing down as John Byrne made her go crazy in his
Avengers West Coast run. She was cured in the end, but that'd lead to worse things later. She & Vision divorced when he turned into Mr. Data, she brought Wonder Man back from the dead and hooked up with HIM, and then she went nuts one big, final time, destroying the Marvel Universe in the process. OK, really, she just started some REALLY BAD crossovers, but that's an even more heinous crime, isn't it? Time will tell what'll happen to her character, as writers are struggling a bit to give some meaning to the woman whose main character trait now is having Unstoppable Power when she goes crazy. It's gotten to the point where I think the comics character might be poisoned, just as the movie version becomes more popular than ever.
-Me, I just blame it on the impossibility of writing mystic characters in modern times. And the overwhelming urge many writers get to have her beat the villain in the end using some kind of "Deus ex machina" Magic power thingie, instead of real tactics. At least the great
Ultron Unlimited story arc had her only pull that off to beat ALKHEMA, and they needed a different trick to take out the big dog.
The Scarlet Witch- "The Stormer" of the Marvel Universe:
-Wanda debuted as a classic Stan Lee character- a semi-hysterical female with odd powers that weren't very punch-y or blast-y. She was also your classic "villain who doesn't really wanna be here", which is something comics very rarely does- the idea seems to be that she was much more innocent than her colleagues, and just led astray by Magneto's forceful personality. She was lusted after by both Toad and Mastermind, much to her disgust, and had to deal with her temperamental, aggressive brother Pietro (Quicksilver). Wanda just seemed very submissive and unwilling. Her outfit was peculiar- opera gloves and a swimsuit to make her look like the 1960s equivalent of Faptastic Fanservice (to put it like Stan might have), and... the weirdest headdress of al time. It's called a "wimple", I guess. This seemed to be her role for a short while only, as
The Avengers undertook its first drastic roster shift, dumping all the recognizable heroes save Captain America, and throwing on three VILLAINS for the "Cap's Kooky Quartet" edition of the book- Wanda & Pietro were lured away from Magneto and brought onto the proper path, and Hawkeye joined them. They were only on the team for a short while before Stan moved them on, but Roy Thomas would bring Wanda back, then famously pair her up with his android creation, The Vision.
-The two would engage in a nervous, timid flirtation for a long while, as neither had the confidence to speak of their impossible bond, and would wilt if things got too obvious. The Vision felt unworthy of her (being an artificial man), Quicksilver got pissy because he considered the Vision a "toaster", and Wanda was her usual self, but finally... love prevailed. The two formed a partnership to most of the Avengers' support, and even got MARRIED in 1975! By this point, Steve Englehart was in charge of both characters, and made the most of it.
Wanda Gets an Origin Story:
-Writer Bill Mantlo, writing a
Vision and the Scarlet Witch Limited Series, fashioned an origin story for them- that they were the children of Miss America and The Whizzer, Golden Age heroes, but when the heroine died in labor, their "father" rejected them and ran away. However, Englehart finally capped off something that'd been "known" to people for years, but had been unspoken- Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were actually both the children of MAGNETO, whose wife Magda had fled from him when she discovered his terrifying mutant powers (a later Claremont book would show just how horrific that scene was- their first daughter died and Magneto murdered the men responsible for delaying him from saving her). Pregnant, Magda had been found and cared for by the agents of the High Evolutionary, but died of exposure when she ran off, fearing Magneto finding her. A "false origin story" had been created, The twins are instead raised by Gypsies, and their mother is killed by an angry mob when their adoptive father steals to help feed them- the twins run away, where they wander for years before Magneto finds them anyhow. John Byrne and others hated that Englehart had spilled the beans (it'd been "obvious" to many fans, since Wanda looked just like Magneto's dead wife, and Pietro & Magneto both had silver hair), but really... SOMEONE wass gonna do it and make a convoluted-ass story out of it. Might as well have been Steve (though you know a character's history is going to be a mess when her origin story is convoluted in the f*cking *1970s*!).
-Wanda eventually begins tutored in magic by
Fantastic Four supporting character Agatha Harkness, and gives her much greater power. A pair of
The Vision and the Scarlet Witch Limited Series came about, with a 1980s one written by Englehart as well. It's... not good. REALLY, REALLY not good. I found the first issue a fine piece of work back in the day, but collecting the whole thing made it clear how awful it was. I mean, it had The Salem Seven, The Grim Reaper & Nekra as Arc Villains, and then TWO OR THREE ISSUES featuring THE TOAD as a major villain! In the very end, the loving couple accomplish an impossibility- they have children! Their twin sons Thomas & William are born, created by Wanda's hex powers making the unlikely/impossible a reality. At this point, the couple joins the West Coast Avengers, which was at that point an Englehart book.
Byrne Takes Over; Wanda Goes Nuts:
-John Byrne would succeed Englehart as
WCA writer, and that'd lead to the next major "thing" associated with Wanda- the "Dark Phoenix Redux" thing. See, Byrne always resented Jim Shooter's edict that got Jean Grey killed, and so on both his later books, he'd "rewrite" the tale by having the book's most powerful female character become corrupted by power, turn evil, and then give it up to reform. The Vision himself was taken apart and turned into an emotionless robot, ending their marriage and crushing Wanda, who then fell off the deep end psychologically. Oh, and it turns out that her beloved children were actually THE CREATIONS OF MASTER PANDEMONIUM, who simply absorbed them back into his body, shattering her mind completely! Englehart HATED this, but couldn't do anything, as Byrne was let do whatever he wanted with more "minor" characters such as these. Wanda of course came back from the brink, and was more of a "filler" member of the West Coasters in later books (I have some Roy Thomas-written ones, and she's just kind of "around"). He himself would pair her off with Wonder Man, upon whose brain-patterns the Vision's mind was based!
-The '90s were forgettable for Wanda- she had her own Limited Series, a classic "slutty '90s costume", and more. She actually led the
Force Works series, but that failed very quickly- Wonder Man even died in their first mission! Wanda is the only mutant character killed stopping Onslaught (it's said that her hex powers were responsible), and so she's part of
Heroes Reborn and the later
Return. When Kurt Busiek renovates
The Avengers with George Perez, Perez puts his favorite- Wanda- back on the team and in more accurate "Roma" garb, with a lot of accoutrements and extra details, like super-curly hair (SPECIFICALLY to make it harder to draw). Though I actually found his Wanda a bit unappealing, with a highly-pronounced nose and gaunt facial features- odd, considering she's his favorite (he says, worshipping Idina Menzel all the while). Wanda resurrects Wonder Man, finally learning to bring him back full-time, and the two renew their love affair while the Vision is her platonic (but still kinda mopey) teammate, having gotten his personality back. Busiek also reveaed that Wanda's powers came from "Chaos Magic", imbued upon her by Chthon when she was born.
And Then Wanda Goes Nuts Again. THRICE!:
-This should have led to something a little better... but then BENDIS happened. Brian Michael Bendis wrote
Disassembled, destroying the Avengers when Wanda discovers that her memories of having children were wiped (again). A spell is cast, and she's merged with a cosmic entity that causes her to break the Avengers apart- The Vision, Hawkeye, Scott Lang & Jack of Hearts die, and when Wanda is beaten by Dr. Strange (who reveals that her "Chaos Magic" is actually just made up), her father Magneto sails down and flies off with her unconscious body, promising to care for her. However, the NEXT story further makes her look crazy- using her powesr to create a world where everyone has their "heart's desire", she causes the
House of M reality where mutants rule America, with Magneto as the top dog. When Magneto realizes that Quicksilver has caused this, he kills him- Wanda resurrects him and goes FURTHER nuts, declaring "No More Mutants", thus de-powering 90% of Earth's mutant population, including her family members. This one story is thus used as a means to get rid of all the superfluous characters created in the explosion of
X-Men books over the past thirty years... by which I mean "depower 10 characters and the Endless Mutants Groups we created, but leave everyone with an actual name with powers". I think in the end only Rictor kept on being de-powered.
-Wanda is spotted by Hawkeye following this, but is amnesiac and he's like "Nah, it's fine now". A few years on, it turns out that two members of the Young Avengers, Wiccan and Speed, are actually the REINCARNATIONS of her lost twins, and so they go to Latveria, where Wanda's about to marry DOCTOR DOOM. In
The Children's Quest, the team helps Wanda regain her memory, then stop her from committing suicide- in the end, she & Wiccan steal Doom's "Standard-Issue Omnipotent Power Upgrade" (when he absorbs Wanda's powers when she attempts to undo her "M-Day" de-powering of Earth's mutants).
A New Normal. But She Goes Nuts Again Once. And Is Mind Controlled. Twice:
-Wanda rejoins the Avengers following all of this, now carrying a METRIC TON of character baggage- the Vision refuses to forgive her for killing him off that one time, and all the mutant characters hate her for M-Day. Nonetheless, she & Hope Summers are central to
A (vs) X, de-powering a Dark Phoenix-powered Scott Summers at the story's climax, and UNDOING M-Day, thus giving mutants everywhere their powers back. Wanda joins the
Uncanny Avengers squad, meant to unify the Avengers & X-Characters back together again, but she gets up to almost nothing- Rick Remender has her killed by a mind-controlled Rogue, but it's undone. And then THEY MAKE HER CRAZY AGAIN, as the
AXIS event causes her to be among the heroes whose alignment shifts to "evil". This leads to the revelation that... oh god I forgot about this... MAGNETO IS NOT HER FATHER AFTER ALL!
-This, of course, is all because of the pissing contest between Marvel/Disney and Fox, who owned the
X-Men rights, and thus Magneto couldn't be her father in the movies. So when Wanda goes back to normal, she & Quicksilver go to Counter-Earth and discover that their adoptive Roma parents were related to their REAL parents, and both are just the High Evolutionary's experiments. Which... adds nothing and takes things away. The second
Civil War causes her to call Pietro a "sociopath" and the siblings split, then Wanda meets her birth-mother (who gave the kids up to spare them her life as a witch), then it turns out her aunt Marya (whom she thought was her mother) was still alive, because reasons. Her mother ends up dying to save the existence of Magic from the intrusion of Chaos, then gets possessed by Chthon during
Secret Empire, and is left "unhinged" by it. It turns out that mutants STILL hate her because of M-Day (so Cap's "Unity Squad" was a failure).
Wanda Overall:
-All in all, Wanda's had one of the more insane runs of any Marvel character- a backstory more convoluted than almost anyone outside of DC's Crisis-based conundrums and so riddled with random stuff and bizarrer twists that she could be an
X-Men long-timer, she may have the most baggage of anyone at Marvel. I mean, the "Wanda Goes Crazy" thing has now been done FIVE TIMES, never mind all the Mind Control, and the stink of things like Decimation & Disassembled is still all over her. Meanwhile, the Avengers will be like "Oh hey, welcome back" until the next writer comes along and goes "OH HELL YOU HAVE BAGGAGE!" and suddenly the stink's back on. So much like Hank Pym, you now have writer after writer who started after a point and now only remembers the "Wanda Goes Nuts" stories, so now she's just "The girl who goes insane" to everyone. The changing origin story, of course, is completely ridiculous and looks even dumber now. And this is right when the character has more mainstream recognition than ever, owing to Elizabeth Olsen's role in the Cinematic Universe as a "weird chick" with random powers that are largely explained and thus a total Ass-Pull every time they're used. She scored some huge hits on Thanos in
Avengers: Endgame to much recognition, and is now getting a weird solo TV series called
WandaVision, so we'll see where she goes, and if Marvel pushes her big-time over this run.
Wanda's Powers:
-The Scarlet Witch seemed complicated at first, but really, the Probability Control power in 2e's
Ultimate Power basically explicitly lays out her powers in full, even giving us the two standard Alt-Effects of it that get used fairly frequently, those being Deflect & Damage. Now, that power doesn't exist in 3e technically just yet, but there's no reason why it shouldn't, so I just translated it over. There's also a handy Affliction in there to showcase how she can hamper others' attacks while also knocking them over or something as an Alt-Effect (it's sorta like Prob. Control in that respect, but not quite- the main power is six points per rank!), plus a Rapid Decay, a Power Nullifier, and spontaneous combustion. That's a lot of power for one character to have (especially by spending Hero Points for various other stuff), but Wanda remains a highly potent Glass Cannon, being almost worthless without her powers, and REALLY REALLY EASY to knock out if you manage a decent shot. Typical Avengers tactics are to basically protect her at all costs and have her take out the main villain.
-Her powers have changed in description a bit over time. Stan Lee & Jack Kirby had her use "Hex Powers" to cause random events to happen- this could explain just about any ass-pulled thing. Later, she learned magic naturally with Agatha Harkness. Finally, Kurt Busiek revealed that her powers originated with Chthon, who manipulated her body upon birth to be imbued with "Chaos Magic" to allow her to become a minion of his in the future. Bendis then did his "Bendis Thing" and said "There's no such THING as Chaos Magic" (one of the more infamous bits of
Disassembled), and said she was a reality warper, which allowed her to do just about anything. HOWEVER,
The Children's Crusade was like "No, your Hex Powers are back". So I dunno.
-Wanda is quite powerful at PL 11, and can be even WORSE if she goes crazy and suddenly turns into a high-end Reality Warper who can Nullify the powers of all non-important mutant characters on Earth at once, but her defenses are pure garbage (PL 7!), meaning she has to hang back or be protected by tougher allies!
