Illyana Rasputina is a mutant sorceress linked to the demonic realm of Limbo,[19] known in Earth's super hero community as Magik.[2] As the younger sister of Colossus,[20] she was tragically abducted to Limbo by the malignant Belasco when she was under the X-Men's custody.[21] In the few seconds that passed on Earth, Rasputin aged years in Limbo, a process which caused her to master different dark arts. Following the manifestation of her mutant teleporting abilities, she was able to return to the X-Men[19] and ultimately joined Professor Xavier's younger protégés, the New Mutants.[22]
Alongside the New Mutants, Magik experienced unimaginable adventures and difficult moments, with her usually mischievous attitude constantly masking a deeply traumatized and lonely soul.[23] Her tenure was cut short when she sacrificed herself to prevent Limbo from corrupting Earth. Having reborn as the child she was before being kidnapped, Rasputin recovered her innocence.[24] Tragically, she was infected by the deadly Legacy Virus[25] and passed away soon later.[14] Belasco's machinations revived Rasputin without a soul.[26] Taking control over Limbo,[27] she obsessively manipulated her former allies in the New Mutants to recover her lost soul.[28] This ordeal reapproximated her to the X-Men and she eventually joined their ranks as a relevant agent.[29] Concurrently, Magik also became closer to the magic superheroic community after being mentored by Doctor Strange.[30][31]
More recently, Magik has found a passion for teaching, having been appointed one of the Great Captains of Krakoa, where she was in charge of training and leading mutants to battle.[32][33][34] In addition to that, she also teaches magic at Strange Academy.[35]
History
Early Life[]
Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina (Russian: Ильяна Николаевна Распутина) was born on the Soviet collective farm called the Ust-Ordynsky Collective, near Lake Baikal, in Siberia. She was the youngest of three mutant siblings. Illyana's brothers were the X-Man Piotr (Colossus), and the cosmonaut, Mikhail Rasputin. As a child, she was saved by Piotr from a runaway tractor, just before her brother was recruited into the X-Men by Professor X.[20]
Miss Locke captured Illyana along with several of the X-Men's other loved ones to get them to rescue Arcade from Dr. Doom.[36] After they were freed, Colossus allowed his sister to stay in the United States, believing she would be safe and not be used as a government tool like their older brother Mikhail. Professor Charles Xavier touched her on the head, giving her the ability to speak English.[37]
Limbo[]
Illyana tempted with the Bloodstone
At the age of six, Illyana was kidnapped by Belasco and taken to Limbo, where the X-Men followed. While there, Illyana also ran into alternate versions of the X-Men, who were unable to return to their own dimension. While attempting to return to her own dimension, Belasco grabbed Illyana; Kitty Pryde held her arm, until she lost her grip, letting Illyana be taken by Belasco. He told her he loved her and turned part of her soul into a Bloodstone, giving her great potential for power and allowing him to control her. While staying with Belasco, Illyana was constantly beaten by Belasco's servant, S'ym.[19]
Illyana was rescued by Storm and Cat, alternate versions of Ororo Munroe and Kitty Pryde. For a while, Storm instructed Illyana in magic, and Cat instructed her in combat. Illyana had to constantly battle demons and several of that reality's versions of the X-Men, including Nightcrawler, to survive. After a failed attempt to return Illyana to her home reality, Belasco transformed Cat into a loyal human-feline hybrid. Eventually, Illyana became Belasco's apprentice while secretly gaining advice from Storm's astral form.[7] Belasco wanted to generate more Bloodstones by gradually corrupting Illyana's soul, as a means to bring about the Elder Gods. At this time, Illyana discovered her mutant power to summon interdimensional portals ("Stepping Discs"). Illyana was forced to kill Cat to save the life of Storm,[38] whom she later killed to save from being used in Belasco's sacrifice. After burying Storm, Illyana briefly teleported home to her parents' farm, where they did not recognize her. She returned to Limbo, where she magically caused her own life force energy to manifest the Soulsword and defeated Belasco. A simple looking blade upon its origin, the Soulsword began to develop intricate designs and forms upon itself the more Illyana used it, becoming more powerful with each use.[39]
Illyana returned to Earth only seconds after Kitty lost her grip on Illyana's arm. Illyana spent years in Limbo while only mere moments elapsed on Earth. She was thirteen, now the same age as Kitty. The two became roommates and grew very close.[21]
New Mutants[]
At School for Gifted Youngsters, Illyana was tutored by Professor X. Illyana joined Kitty in Stevie Hunter's dance studio. As Magik, Illyana joined the New Mutants and trained in the use of her powers in the Danger Room. Illyana quickly learned that she was not nearly as powerful a sorceress on Earth as she was in Limbo, but retained an immunity to the most powerful telepathic probes; she continued to struggle with the use of her mutant powers, often sending people to the wrong place or time.[citation needed] As Professor X was not qualified to help improve her sorcery,[40] and using it made her evil,[41] Illyana hid her magic when possible; while her teammates soon learned that she was a sorcerer,[42] others like her brother did not know until she needed to use magic against the Dire Wraiths].[43]
Belasco made an attempt to recapture Illyana by sending S'ym after her. After the New Mutants were overwhelmed, Illyana secretly used her magic to defeat S'ym and had him swear allegiance to her.[2]
Illyana learned that when she summoned her Soulsword while on Earth, an eldritch armor would cover her body, starting with her left arm. As time went-on, the armor would cover more and more of her. In order for Illyana to be an effective sorceress she was forced to teleport most of her enemies to Limbo, where she was ruler. Many times she would teleport demons from her realm to Earth to aid her.
The New Mutants battled Kulan Gath with the Avengers and the X-Men. After most of the heroes perished, Magik and Dr. Strange traveled back in time to before it happened, erasing the event.[44]
Illyana was taken away by Magneto, per Prof. Xavier's request, to battle the virtually omnipotent Beyonder. Upon returning, the Beyonder brought-out Illyana's dark half, the Darkchylde. Illyana teleported her friends to Limbo and attacked them. Kitty used Illyana's Soulsword on her and returned her to her natural form.[4]
Later, Amora the Enchantress kidnapped the New Mutants to Asgard. While attempting to escape, Magik used her Stepping Disc and the Enchantress' magics affected the destination and the New Mutants were separated through time and space. Illyana, though, never left and was a subject of interest for Amora. Amora sensed her magic and separated the Darkchylde from Illyana and sent the Darkchylde to gather the other New Mutants as head of her Nightgaunts. After the New Mutants defeated Amora, Illyana sent her to Limbo. Later, Illyana was enthralled by Loki, and the X-Men rescued Illyana and her teammates after Illyana released Amora.[45][46]
Headmaster Magneto[]
The New Mutants found themselves under the guidance of a new teacher, Magneto. Later, the Beyonder approached Illyana and purged her of her sorcery. Her position as ruler of Limbo was transferred to Kitty. Illyana realized that Kitty could not handle the responsibility and declined the Beyonder's gift. Angered, the Beyonder killed all of the New Mutants by obliterating them from existence, but later recreated the New Mutants and later used them as henchmen against the heroes attempting to stop him, as they had no memories of the New Mutants (however, thanks to her and Illyana's strange connection, Kitty did retain her memories of them). After Beyonder's defeat, Rachel Summers set everything back.[47][13]
Not long after, Mojo and Spiral returned to plague the New Mutants and Psylocke following their first encounter with them and Longshot.[48] During this, Mojo captured and brainwashed Colossus, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Longshot, Storm, and Magneto after de-aging them to infants. During the showdown between both groups, the New Mutants ultimately freed the X-Men and both groups successfully defeated Mojo.[49]
Warlock's father, Magus, attacked the New Mutants and Illyana quickly teleported them all to Limbo. Shortly after, Magus also appeared in Limbo and allied himself with S'ym and infected many of Limbo's other denizens with the Transmode Virus. Illyana tried to destroy Limbo by stabbing her Soulsword into the terrain. As Prof. Xavier was Illyana's last thought, she emerged in outer space where she was found by Professor Xavier and the Starjammers. She returned to Limbo and reclaimed her Soulsword. She defeated S'ym using tainted magic. Illyana took on aspects of the Darkchylde. Illyana was disgusted with this darker side of herself and refused to return to Limbo. However, Professor Xavier used Karma to force Illyana to teleport the New Mutants back to Earth despite her protests. This enraged Illyana and she left the team stating that she would make them pay.[50]
Upon returning home, Illyana learned that Piotr and Kitty were critically injured in their fight with the Marauders. After losing her brother and best friend, Illyana began to believe that there was no reason to fight her descent into her dark persona, until Magneto convinced her to continue her fight against her inner and physical demons. Illyana continued to travel back and forth to Limbo, battling S'ym for dominance of the realm.[51]
Following the death of her teammate Doug Ramsey, the New Mutants witnessed the X-Men and Illyana's brother seemingly die on television. Magneto was furious over Doug's death and forbid the New Mutants from ever leaving the school without his presence. Retreating to Limbo, Illyana returned in her Darkchylde form with her Soulsword and attacked Magneto, believing she was wrong about him being her Knight in shining armor. The New Mutants separated them, and she returned the sword to Limbo.[52]
After continuously watching the footage of the X-Men dying in Dallas, Illyana came to the conclusion that Forge was to blame, as it was his spell that sacrificed the X-Men. Magik took her Soulsword and the New Mutants followed her to Forge's Eagle Plaza and battled Freedom Force. During the battle, the precog member of Freedom Force called Destiny warned Illyana about her future. Darkchylde teleported Forge to Limbo and bound the New Mutants. After Mirage manifested Illyana's greatest fear, a world overrun by techno-organic demons, Magik understood how evil she was becoming and withdrew her attack, returned Forge to Dallas, and restored his health.[53]
Later, Illyana accidently manifested a doppelgänger of Baba Yaga called from her mind, based on the literary Baba Yaga of old Russian stories as she struggled with an assignment. After Sam, Dani, Warlock, Rahne and Roberto were captured by Baba Yaga, who planned to eat them, Illyana teleported to Limbo to cast a necromantic spell to summon her brother's 'dead' soul to help her. A few days later, part-way through the spell, Peter arrived and, assuming that the spell worked, Illyana and Colossus rescued the New Mutants, the five having been fattened up to an enormously obese state due to 'Baba Yaga's' spells by this point. Illyana believed Peter to be a ghost, and after restoring both the mansion and her obese friends to normal, Illyana considered casting the spell again, but realized that she was lucky, as the spell could've easily allowed her Darkchylde side to take full control, and so she decided against taking the risk again.[54]
Inferno[]
Demon form
S'ym formed a partnership with Belasco's former apprentice N'astirh to sequester his control of Limbo. After arriving in Limbo with the New Mutants, N'astirh's magics prevented Illyana from teleporting the New Mutants back to Earth. Illyana and the New Mutants fought S'ym, who had become strong enough to take Illyana's Soulsword from her. As S'ym attempted to decapitate Illyana, her eldritch armor grew to protect her and she teleported the New Mutants to Belasco's throne-room, where her tragic past was finally revealed to them. N'astirh pretended to help the team and tricked Illyana into giving in to all her dark urges. She transformed into Darkchylde.[55]
Magik forced her way back to Earth, unaware that N'astirh would follow to use her portal in a demonic invasion of Manhattan. N'astirh kept the portal between Limbo and Earth open by using ten mutant infants he kidnapped as points of an inverted pentagram. Illyana battled demons who wanted her to embrace her dark self and N'astirh, who wanted her as his dark bride. Finally, Illyana's armor covered her fully. S'ym arrived and Darkchylde battled him until her brother Colossus, who was also fighting the demons in the streets of New York, arrived and rescued her. Piotr was shocked to see his sister in such a state and Illyana was embarrassed and teleported away, taking the New Mutants with her to Limbo. She finally decided to stop running from her responsibilities as the ruler of Limbo.[56]
Unwilling to lose her friend and teammate, Wolfsbane jumped into a Stepping Disc and found a younger Illyana and delivered her before the Darkchylde. Darkchylde emerged from her armor and began to glow of pure light, attempting to kill her younger self, but Rahne Sinclair stopped her, stating that saving the young Illyana would bring peace to the older Darkchylde. Darkchylde found a way to stop Inferno, although she knew she risked purging her own existence from the timeline. Darkchylde opened a tremendous portal and sucked all of the remaining demons back to Limbo. Burning so bright with energy that it hurt to look at her, the Lightchylde hurled her Soulsword into the air and the demons were gone, leaving only the charred remains of her eldritch armor.[6]
Colossus cradled the badly damaged armor and heard someone call his name from inside. Opening the armor, Colossus found the younger Illyana. Due to the manipulation of her own past, Illyana's "Magik" self never existed. The new version could not speak English. The original Illyana's Soulsword and eldritch armor magically came into Shadowcat's possession.[57] The New Mutants returned the young Illyana home to the original Illyana's parents.[58]
Death by the Legacy Virus[]
Illyana's father, Nikolai, and mother, Alexandra Rasputin, were soon murdered by agents looking for a way to stop a mutant called the Soul Skinner. The Soul Skinner's mind control was ineffective on children; however he came across a device that could age others. He sought to use Illyana's powers for his evil purposes. The X-Men were able to stop the Soul Skinner and prevent Illyana from re-aging.
The X-Men learned that she contracted the Legacy Virus. Illyana eventually died and became the first known victim of the virus, despite efforts to cure her. Her death greatly troubled Colossus, who was on a mission looking for information on the virus when she passed away. During Illyana's funeral, Colossus abandoned the X-Men and joined Magneto's Acolytes.[25]
It was later discovered that sometime in the past, Illyana's older brother Mikhail traveled back in time to meet her when she was with the New Mutants. He showed Illyana a future where she had died of the virus, but said he had found a cure and could alter her DNA to provide it. Although her New Mutants teammates clashed with the future versions of themselves, Mikhail was allowed to try and make her immune. In reality, he transferred the virus to her, hoping that her mystical powers could form an immunity while she was still young. Illyana's teammate Karma removed their memories of this incident.[59]
Return[]
At some point, Belasco decided that he wanted Illyana's soul once more. He returned to Limbo to overthrow Illyana's successor, Amanda Sefton. Using a Bloodstone containing a portion of Illyana's soul, he was able to resurrect Illyana in her Darkchylde form. His creation had all of Illyana's memories but lacked her soul, which was needed to overthrow Sefton. Disappointed, Belasco banished her.[26]
Some time later, a rift was opened between Earth and Limbo, pulling several of the New X-Men into the realm where Belasco captured and tortured some of them.[60] Belasco was inspired to use innocent Pixie's soul in place of Illyana's, and stole a portion of Pixie's soul for the Bloodstone amulet, with plans to use it to defeat Sefton.[61] Pixie's soul was again fractured when the soulless Darkchylde also stole a portion in the hopes of creating both a bloodstone and a new Soulsword for herself. Believed to be Illyana by the New X-Men, Darkchylde managed to free them from Belasco's minions.[62]
Illyana as Darkchylde once again
Following the destruction of the Xavier Institute, the still soulless Illyana returned to Earth after realizing it was within her power. However, seeing the remains of the school reminded her of Piotr and Kitty, and not wanting them to see her in her then-current state, she returned to Limbo.[63]
Back in Limbo, Darkchylde searched for the missing bloodstone amulet and her Soulsword, eventually sensing the sword in Pixie's possession in San Francisco. Attacking the X-Men at home, she retrieved the sword and returned to Limbo to find that her demon hordes had been defeated in her absence by Belasco's daughter, Witchfire. Witchfire attacked and imprisoned Darkchylde[64] until members of the X-Men came to investigate her attack on them and rescued her. Liberated, Illyana asked Nightcrawler to stab her with Pixie's soul dagger, enabling him to retrieve her Soulsword, which he used to attack Witchfire.
Although Witchfire was able to complete the Bloodstone Amulet using the newly-crafted bloodstone from Pixie, Illyana was able to stop her by using Mercury (who had a resistance to magic), as her armor. Illyana and Megan combined the Soulsword and soul dagger and removed Pixie's bloodstone from the amulet, thwart Witchfire's plans. In the aftermath, Witchfire escaped with the amulet still containing four of the five required bloodstones. Pixie's soul dagger became infused with her bloodstone. Illyana teleported the X-Men back to San Francisco, where, as a soulless hybrid of herself and Darkchylde (retaining the horns), she still felt she couldn't stay. Her brother, Cyclops, and her former New Mutants team insisted that she stay and offer a place among her former teammates and family at Graymalkin Industries. She agreed to try.[65]
New Mutants X-Men Squad[]
Shortly after rejoining the X-Men, Illyana left again without a word. She travelled the time-ways, eventually coming across Legion. She made a deal with one of his personas, promising to bring him back to Earth in exchange for his help in destroying the Elder Gods and helping her reclaim her soul.[28] She then returned to Limbo. When the Elder Gods were unleashed through the machinations of Project Purgatory, a future version of Magma warned her to travel back in time to save them from Legion.[66] Magik obliged, and again travelled the time-ways, seeing many potential futures before finally returning shortly after she had last left the X-Men. She warned them that Dani and Karma were in danger, as what had seemed to be a false alarm was in fact the recently returned Legion, who had accidentally absorbed Karma into his mind. Cyclops allowed Cannonball to reorganize the original New Mutants squad and go after their missing members.[67] The mission was a success, as Magik fought her way into Legion's psyche, freed Karma, and helped him regain control over his body.[68]
Utopia[]
When director of national security Norman Osborn clashed with the X-Men in San Francisco, Magik became instrumental in helping the X-Men defeat Osborn and establish the rogue nation of Utopia, an island sanctuary made from the remains of Asteroid M.[69] She helped defend the fledgling nation from an attack by Selene, with her Soulsword being instrumental in freeing her resurrected teammate Cypher from Selene's control.[70]
When the mutant messiah Hope Summers and her guardian Cable returned to the present, they quickly came under attack by Bastion and his Human Council. Cyclops ordered the New Mutants to attack one of Hodge's Right facilities and to aid Cable and a group of X-Men against Stryker and his Purifiers. In this battle, Illyana was attacked by a device that trapped her in Limbo. At the urging of Colossus, Cyclops sent Cannonball, Northstar, Anole, Dazzler, Gambit, and Pixie to Limbo to save Illyana, which they did.[71]
The Elder Gods[]
Illyana's actions in defense of Utopia helped win her the trust of the X-Men, though some still disliked her. With Illyana recovered, the team took a vacation. Illyana suddenly sensed that Pixie had been captured, prompting the team to go after her. Her kidnappers were Project Purgatory, an arm of the U.S. Army that, shortly after the Inferno event had established a base inside Limbo, where they were then trapped, along with the Inferno Babies. Illyana sent Warlock to warn the main X-Men team while the rest of them battled the Inferno Babies. They were defeated, and General Ulysses and Dr. Noc were able to take Illyana's Soulsword and Pixie's Souldagger and extract their Bloodstones, once again completing the Bloodstone Amulet. They planned to use it to unleash the Elder Gods, hoping they would be able to control them.[72]
When Xi'an showed Inferno Baby Face what Project Purgatory had done to him, he freed Illyana and they returned with Pixie to Utopia, to free Legion. Magik confessed that she had returned to the present for Karma, not to save anyone else. She entrusted her with the Soulsword, and while Magik would lead the X-Men to Limbo, Karma would use the Soulsword to free one of Legion's personalities; one possessing the ability to warp reality. Illyana was successful in saving her teammates from the deaths she had foreseen, and just before the Elder Gods could destroy them, Legion arrived. He honored his part of their bargain, warping reality to erase the Elder Gods, and destroying the Bloodstone Amulet, re-uniting Illyana and Pixie with their souls.[72]
Illyana came clean about the return of Legion and the destruction of the Elder Gods, confessing she had allowed everything to transpire in order to destroy the Elder Gods, and that she was not sorry for what she did and would do it again regardless of punishment, because the Elder Gods were the only things she feared. Believing her a threat to the citizens of Utopia, Cyclops had confined to the (X-Brig), with a vest designed to explode upon use of magic or teleportation and with Danger watching over her as her warden. Piotr visited Illyana, stating that he would speak with Cyclops to lessen her punishment, but Illyana declined his help, insisting that she knew she would be punished for her actions and welcomed it.[73][74]
Fear Itself[]
Despite the fact that Illyana, now possessing the full measure of her soul, had reunited with her brother, Illyana became bothered by the fact that her brother was blind to how damaged she was, still seeing her only as his "little snowflake". Struggling with his love for her and his wish to understand her, she resolved to show him how damned she truly was by damning him in turn.[75]
When Kuurth attacked San Francisco, the X-Men tried and failed to stop him. Desperate for a solution, Cyclops turned to Illyana. He asked her to go to the Crimson Cosmos and meet with Cyttorak, hoping that the knowledge that his avatar now served another might induce Cyttorak to grant his blessing to Illyana, who might then be able to stop Kuurth. Accompanied by her brother and Kitty Pryde, Illyana told Cyttorak that Cain Marko had betrayed him and now served another god. Just as planned, Cyttorak rescinded his blessing from Cain Marko, and offered it to Illyana. However, Colossus interjected, insisting that his sister be spared from the burden and that he become the new Juggernaut in her place.[76] This was exactly what Illyana had planned, as the burden of the Juggernaut would give her brother a glimpse at the damnation that had befallen her.[75]
Regenesis[]
Released from her confinement after the Schism between Cyclops and Wolverine, Magik was offered a place in Wolverine's school but she refused and joined Cyclops' Extinction Team, together with her brother. She tried to help her brother control the irresistible urge to destroy that came with the powers of the Juggernaut, but her tutoring was not effective, and the siblings volunteered to be locked up together between missions, since Colossus feared that he would lose control over himself.[77]
Avengers vs X-Men[]
When the Avengers invaded Utopia in search of Hope Summers, Magik fought alongside the X-Men, fighting and defeating Doctor Strange. When the X-Men feigned a surrender, Magik teleported several powerful X-Men away, giving them a head start in the search for Hope.[78] When the X-Men found out Hope was on the Moon, Magik teleported Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, and Colossus to her. Before they could begin fighting the Avengers, Thor crashed onto the Moon, closely followed by the Phoenix Force.[79]
The Phoenix Five
Iron Man had built a weapon to destroy the Phoenix, and attacked while the Avengers and X-Men fought below. Instead of destroying it, Tony only shattered it, turning all five of the X-Men into its new hosts. With the power of the Phoenix within them, Magik and the rest of the avatars returned Hope to Earth to prepare her.[8]
After Namor lost his portion of the Phoenix, the four remaining hosts each gained a fraction of his portion. Stronger than ever, Magik and Colossus prevented the Avengers from raiding the X-Men's prison to rescue their comrades. Spider-Man remained behind to fight them while the others tried to escape but was no match for the pair. Magik pressed her brother to kill or cripple Spider-Man, but Colossus refused, becoming worried by the things Illyana said. Believing she was losing control, he offered to take her portion of the Phoenix. This enraged Illyana and led to an argument between them. Seeking to occupy them further Spider-Man egged them on and they knocked their portions of the Phoenix out of each other, and into Cyclops and Emma.[80]
Distracted by the new power, Cyclops allowed Magik and Colossus to escape. Colossus wallowed in regret, having believed that the Phoenix would have allowed him to transcend Cyttorak's influence, and knowing he lost control in the end after all. After condemning himself as a doomed monster, Magik finally revealed that she had planned for all of this to happen in order to make him understand what damnation felt like, and to convince him that she was not worthy of his love and care.[81]
Enraged by the revelation that he had been deceived into serving Cyttorak and living with the uncontrollable urge to kill, Colossus transformed into his Demon form and attacked her while she thanked him for finally understanding. She left him in Siberia, to process what she had just told him.[81] Some time thereafter, she returned to her brother. The sight of her immediately sent him into a demonic frenzy, and Illyana teleported him into Limbo, where her Soulsword was able to break Cyttorak's control over her brother, freeing him from the Juggernaut's powers. Colossus, realizing she could have done this at any time she wished, declared that if he saw her again, he would kill her. Finally feeling that he understood, she told him that regret was her final gift and left him.[75]
Joining up with Magneto and Danger, Magik helped break Cyclops out of jail. While Danger left the X-Men altogether, Magik, Magneto, and Cyclops started their own team to continue fighting for a better world.[82][83]
Mutant Rebellion[]
In their quest to recruit new mutants to their cause, Magik continued to aid Magneto and Cyclops. As a result of the Phoenix Force being used in conjunction with the Scarlet Witch's powers to bring back the mutants, Magik began experiencing changes to her powers. Unlike the others, Magik gained more power than she had prior to the Phoenix Force, and she was now able to conjure energies directly from Limbo. Eventually, she came to realize that her power was broken as well, as she inadvertently brought Cyclops' X-Men to Limbo, where they were forced to fight the demon Dormammu. Magik defeated him, but realized she needed help with her powers and teleported back in time to train with Stephen Strange in the past.[84]
She later helped Dr. Strange defeat the Empirikul, a science cult focused on destroying magic in every dimension.[85]
With her powers back in check, and with Cyclops' rebellious X-Men disbanded, Illyana rejoined the rest of the X-Men at the Jean Grey School. She made amends with her brother, convincing him to re-join the X-Men with her.[86]
Terrigen Crisis[]
When the Inhuman Terrigen Mist rendered the Earth inhospitable to mutants, the X-Men decided to move the school to Limbo, where they could offer sanctuary to mutants. Illyana used her powers to transport the school, and was instrumental in protecting it from the surrounding demonic hordes.[86]
Illyana took an interest in Sapna, a mutant child with a connection to magic.[86] She helped train Sapna in the user of her powers, but lost her protegée when Sapna was manipulated into becoming the vessel of the World-Eater, an entity of incredible power that fed off dimensions. Magik was forced to kill Sapna, trapping her soul in the Soulsword.[87]
Illyana participated in the war against the Inhumans, when the Terrigen Mists in the atmosphere threatened to make the Earth permanently uninhabitable for mutants. She used Limbo to imprison key Inhumans. The mutants won the war, resulting in the dispersion of the final terrigen cloud, allowing mutantkind to return to Earth.[88]
At some point, Magik helped restore Strong Guy's soul, allowing him to rejoin the X-Men.
Dead Souls[]
Illyana was recruited by her old teammate Karma to lead a team investigating paranormal events, with the goal of tracking down Karma's brother Tran.[89]
House of X[]
After the sovereign mutant nation of Krakoa was established, Illyana was made one of its Great Captains.[32]
Illyana was tasked with fighting in the Ten of Swords tournament after she was mentioned in Polaris' prophecy. Her first fight was with Pogg Ur-Pogg to whom she lost when Saturyne changed their sword fight into an arm wrestling match.[90] Her second fight was with Pogg Ur-Pogg again, this time she outsmarted him when she realized that Pogg means sword in Arakkii, so she allowed herself to be eaten in order to fish out the guy inside of the sword and beat him.[91]
Some time later, she became one of the trainers of young mutants within the Wild Hunt.[34] After a group of teen mutants destroyed the space of Krakoa set aside for children, she threatened to send them to Limbo if they didn't clean up what they'd destroyed.[92]
Magik was part of a special team as a member of the Marauders. The team saved the workers of an oil rig and fixed the environmental damage after the X-Men Green attacked them.[93]Attributes
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Powers
- Stepping Discs: She has the mutant ability to mentally control "Stepping Discs", which allowed herself and others to teleport across interstellar distances, through time or the multiverse. The discs are part of a dimension known as Limbo. This dimension is alternately known as "Demonic Limbo", "Limbo-Belasco", or "Otherplace". However, when Illyana mentally calls for a Stepping Disc she must use Limbo as a midway point before she can teleport to an alternate location. It is not known if she was genetically predetermined to travel through Limbo, or if she did so because, having been spirited there as a child, it was the alternate dimension she was instinctively aware of. Magik has succeeded in teleporting herself across continents, from one continent to another, and even interplanetary and intergalactic distances on occasion. Apparently, she can mentally scan Limbo while on Earth in order to locate whoever she wishes to teleport from Limbo down to her, on Earth.
- Time Traveling: Unlike most other teleporters, Magik could teleport through time as well as space. She has teleported moments, days or centuries into the past or future. Especially, early on, she had difficulty modulating this ability and would often inadvertently travel through time and space when intending to teleport only through space.[94] Magik was told by Dr. Strange that she had the potential for great feats of manipulating time on a wider scale.[95]
Magik's powers
- Sorcery: Magik is the Sorceress Supreme of her Limbo dimension.[96] The extent of her powers there are all-powerful and the demons of Limbo did not dare challenge her. Magik had access to Belasco's store of mystical knowledge. Magik's sorcery was a unique mix of black magic, that she learned from Belasco, and white magic, taught by an alternative-reality Ororo Munroe. She was considered as a possible Sorcerer Supreme of Earth,[97] and as an adult has trained with Doctor Strange.[98]
- Energy Manipulation: Illyana can project powerful energy blasts. She also used a energy manipulation spell to manipulate the energy the advanced Sentinels were wielding, causing them to destroy each other by redirecting the energy and exploding themselves. The spell was called "Julani's spell of energy manipulation" from the Scrolls of Agamotto.[2][6][99]
- Summoning: Magik can store her Soulsword in nothingness and summon it whenever she desires. She also summoning a giant, demonic Hydra to fight for her.[2][99]Another impressive feat that Illyana displays is when she rescues Cyclops from his prison cell. To do this, she summons giant demon hands from the ground that rise up and destroy an entire reinforced prison bunker wall.[100]
- Astral Projection: Illyana possess the ability to project her spirit or astral body out of her physical body in order to travel into the spirit world or the astral plane.[101]
- Protection Spell: Illyana was able to cast a protection spell around Danielle Moonstar's operating room. The spell effect transformed Illyana into pure energy, allowing her to take a portion of her living self and form a protective wall around the surgery.[102]
- Binding: Illyana can bind and stop someone from moving with her magic.[103]
- Exorcism Spell: When Roberto and Rahne were possessed by Cloak and Dagger's powers respectively, Illyana was able to use an exorcism spell to purifying Roberto and Rahne's soul, and restore the power to Tandy and Tyrone.[104]
- Scrying: While in Limbo, Illyana used a scrying spell that manifested as three mirrors together to see what was happening on Earth.[6]
- Matter Manipulation: Illyana was also able to use a matter manipulation spell to change her clothes and that of the New Mutants to X-Uniforms.[105]
- Shield Spell: Illyana used a defensive shield spell from the Book of the Vishanti that she'd memorized, called the Vishanti Personal Shield of Defense, from page 422. She also used a spell she'd memorized from the Scrolls of Agamotto to protect her and Magneto.[99][100]
- Limbo Control: Magik's Limbo, also known as Otherplace, was not a void as such, but rather an endless dimension that is tenuously connected to True Limbo, where time does not pass in a physical sense and as a result, no one can age or die. The matter within Magik's Limbo could be shaped and transformed by the thoughts and emotions of the sorcerer who is its master. Limbo can also be accessed throughout the omniverse, and was stated that it could be the cause of an omniversal war.
- Mystical Armor: The more that Magik uses her magical power on any occasion, the more mystical armor appears on her body.[40][106] The nature and origin of this armor is as yet unknown. Along with the armor, Magik's appearance would become more demonic including horns, hooves, or a tail. The mystical armor is a natural power of whoever rules in Limbo.
- Psionic Shields: She has impenetrable psionic shields, most likely a result of the time she spent in Limbo and the effects of her partially demonic soul. As such even powerful telepaths such as Charles Xavier, David Haller, Emma Frost, and Rachel Summers could not mentally read Illyana's thoughts or sense her psionically.[2][107][41]
- Phoenix Force: Magik was one of five avatars of the Phoenix Force which granted her following powers:
Abilities
- Magik is highly skilled in the black magic of Limbo granted by the patron of Belasco, Chthon, as well as white magic of Earth granted by the patron of Storm's lineage Oshtur. Illyana is also highly skilled in ancient weaponry, typically axes and swords. Even without her Soul Sword, she led an attack on hordes of rebelling demons using only an axe without suffering any injuries and succeeding in quelling their rebellion.
- Multilingual: Native Russian born Illyana was telepathically taught fluent English by Professor X over the course of a single night by programming it into her brain while she slept.[109] She also speaks the demonic script.[110]
Weaknesses
- Mystical Limitations: Magik's magical abilities are far more limited in Earth's dimension. She did not formally train as a sorcerer on Earth when younger,[98] so does not fully understand her powers[30] and is ignorant of even some basic concepts of Earth magic.[111]
- Dark Half: Use of dark magic[41] or intense emotions can cause a demonic 'Darkchylde' form within her.
- Stepping Disk Burden: The farther she travels the less control she has. If she doesn't concentrate while teleporting she can inadvertently teleport through time as well as space. Going through time is far worse than simply traversing space; after such jaunts she is psychically drained and must regain her strength before attempting another great teleport. Magik has since honed this ability and no longer has difficulty differentiating time and space with vast jumps.
Paraphernalia
Weapons
- The Soulsword, a sword that could disrupt most spells or slay magical beings, but which passed through normal people without harming them. When using it, her body became covered in a mysterious mystic armor.
Transportation
- Stepping Discs, X-Men Blackbird, formerly Warlock
Notes
- The New Mutants' encounter with Mikhail Rasputin was retroactively added in the miniseries 'Truth or Death'. It takes place between New Mutants #25 and #26. She first appeared as Magik in New Mutants #14.
Trivia
- "Illyana" is actually the Bulgarian and Serb feminine of the masculine name "Ilya". English equivalents of the name "Ilya" are "Elijah", "Elias" and "Elliot". In Russian language, the name "Illyana" doesn't exist at all.
- Illyana has a stuffed doll called "Bamfy" which looks similar to Bamf and Nightcrawler.[14]
- Illyana has a policy of "@#$& or fight", and has propositioned both male (such as Flaw) and female (such as Offset and Hypernova) opponents;[113][114] though it's unclear how serious she was being.
- Illyana is so used to spelling her alias that she once spelled "magic" as "M-A-G-I-K" in a spelling competition and lost.[91]
See Also
- 651 appearance(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 20 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 114 minor appearance(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 142 mention(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 15 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 1 invocation(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 979 image(s) of Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 56 quotation(s) by or about Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 12 victim(s) killed by Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
- 6 item(s) used/owned by Illyana Rasputina (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Illyana Rasputina on Marvel.com
- Illyana Rasputina on Wikipedia.org
- uncannyxmen.net Spotlight On... Magik
References
- ↑ X-Men Origins: Colossus #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 New Mutants #14
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 X of Swords Handbook #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New Mutants #36
- ↑ X-Men Prime (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 New Mutants #73
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Magik (Illyana and Storm Limited Series) #2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Avengers vs. X-Men #5
- ↑ Empyre: X-Men #3
- ↑ Savage Avengers #12
- ↑ Venomized #4
- ↑ New Mutants #37
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Secret Wars II #9
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Uncanny X-Men #303
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #37
- ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5
- ↑ A.X.E.: Judgment Day #6
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 9) #4
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Magik (Illyana and Storm Limited Series) #1–4
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Giant-Size X-Men #1
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Uncanny X-Men #160
- ↑ New Mutants #14–15
- ↑ New Mutants #16–70
- ↑ New Mutants #71–73
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 X-Men (Vol. 2) #25
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 New X-Men (Vol. 2) #40
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #41
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 New Mutants (Vol. 3) #1–21
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 X-Men (Vol. 5) #4
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #7
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 New Mutants (Vol. 4) #14
- ↑ Strange Academy #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #145–146
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #164
- ↑ Magik (Illyana and Storm Limited Series) #3
- ↑ Magik (Illyana and Storm Limited Series) #4
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 New Mutants #21
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 X-Men Annual #9
- ↑ New Mutants #13–17
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #188
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #190–191
- ↑ New Mutants Special Edition #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men Annual #9
- ↑ New Mutants #36–37
- ↑ New Mutants Annual #2
- ↑ X-Men Annual #10
- ↑ new Mutants #47–51
- ↑ New Mutants #52
- ↑ New Mutants #58–61
- ↑ New Mutants #65–66
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #231
- ↑ New Mutants #70–71
- ↑ New Mutants #72
- ↑ New Mutants #73–74
- ↑ New Mutants #77
- ↑ New Mutants: Truth or Death #1
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #38
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #39
- ↑ New X-Men (Vol. 2) #40–41
- ↑ X-Men Divided We Stand #2
- ↑ X-Infernus #1–2
- ↑ X-Infernus #4
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #21
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #8
- ↑ X-Men: Hellbound #1
- ↑ 72.0 72.1 New Mutants (Vol. 3) #15–21
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #25
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #540
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #20
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #544
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #2–3
- ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #4
- ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #8
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #18
- ↑ AVX: Consequences #4–5
- ↑ All-New X-Men #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 3) #1–7
- ↑ Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic #1
- ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 Extraordinary X-Men #1
- ↑ Extraordinary X-Men #16
- ↑ Extraordinary X-Men #20
- ↑ New Mutants: Dead Souls #1
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 7) #7
- ↑ 91.0 91.1 X-Force (Vol. 6) #14
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #15–16
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #44
- ↑ New Mutants #17
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #191
- ↑ New Mutants #50
- ↑ New Avengers #53
- ↑ 98.0 98.1 Uncanny X-Men #600
- ↑ 99.0 99.1 99.2 Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 3) #19.NOW
- ↑ 100.0 100.1 AVX: Consequences #5
- ↑ New Mutants #15
- ↑ New Mutants #19
- ↑ New Mutants #20
- ↑ New Mutants #25
- ↑ New Mutants: War Children #1
- ↑ New Mutants #24
- ↑ New Mutants #34
- ↑ Avengers vs. X-Men #6
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #153
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 3) #17
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 3) #22
- ↑ Empyre: X-Men #2
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #5
- ↑ Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ X-Men: Messiah Complex - Mutant Files Vol 1 1