| Klarion the Witch-Boy | |
|---|---|
 Klarion the Witch Boy and Teekl. Art by Amancay Nahuelpan. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Demon #7 (March1973) |
| Created by | Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Klarion Bleak |
| Species | Croatoan |
| Place of origin | Witch-World (originally) Limbo Town (current) |
| Team affiliations | Lords of Chaos Injustice League Dark Suicide Squad Black Seven Soldiers of Victory |
| Partnerships | Teekl (familiar) |
| Notable aliases | Klarion the Witch Boy |
| Abilities |
|
Klarion the Witch Boy is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics, having first appeared inThe Demon #7 (March 1973) and was created byJack Kirby.[1] The character serves as a reoccurring adversary to various other mystical characters and teams alike.
Originating from an other-worldly dimension,Klarion Bleak is a mischievous and immaturewarlock who flees from his home to Earth, crossing paths with various heroes and becomes a known menace. He is typically assisted by his gender-fluid cat familiar,Teekl. Often airing towards villainy or being portrayed as an anti-hero, the character is often a trickster clashing with young heroes such asYoung Justice and is a re-occurring foe of several mystical heroes in the DC Universe, includingEtrigan the Demon. FollowingDC Rebirth, several revisions to the character were made influenced by his appearance in DC media, making him an adversary ofDoctor Fate and also ascended into the position of aLord of Chaos.
Klarion has been adapted in media, having made several appearance notably in animated television series. Most notably, the character appeared as a re-occurring antagonist inYoung Justice, voiced byThom Adcox-Hernandez,[2] depicted as a powerful and immortal Lord of Chaos who frequently feuds with Doctor Fate. Elements of this portrayal followed into the mainstream comics. Klarion also made appearances inThe New Batman Adventures andJustice League Action, voiced by Stephen Wolfe Smith andNoel Fisher respectively.[2]
Klarion is a young practitioner of the dark arts from Witch World, an otherworldly dimension whose inhabitants practice dark magic. Being a child, he is constantly under the direction of adults who dictate the usage and study of his magic. Frustrated, Klarion travels to the main universe to freely practice magic alongside his catfamiliar Teekl. He attracts the attention of the demonEtrigan, who attempts to send him back to his dimension several times and becomes his rival.[3]
Klarion appears in the 2000 eventYoung Justice: Sins of Youth, in which he is involved in a plot by the Agenda to turn the public against themetahuman community, targeting juvenile super-heroes as the weakest link in the chain. He increases distrust and confusion at a rally for young heroes by casting a spell that swaps the ages of the teenage and adult heroes in attendance.
Peter David's version of Klarion also appears in July–June 2000'sYoung Justice #20- "Time Out" and #21 "Young, Just Us Too". In these issues, he expresses loneliness after turning various villains into children during the "Sins of Youth" storyline and wishes for a playmate of his own age before eventually befriendingAriella Kent, the Supergirl of the 853rd century.
In 2005, a new version of Klarion starred in his own mini-series as one of the seven main characters inGrant Morrison'sSeven Soldiers. Morrison described this character as a return to the original Kirby version with some updates, including the return of Klarion's original overall look, and a move away from the Peter David version.[4] The new version of Klarion is an inhabitant of Limbo Town, an underground community beneathNew York City whose citizens are descended fromPuritan witches and theSheeda-King Mr. Melmoth. Klarion attempts to leave Limbo Town and stops Melmoth from pillaging it.[5]
InCountdown to Final Crisis, Klarion encountersMary Marvel, who has been givenBlack Adam's powers and is struggling to control them. Klarion offers to help in return for a fraction of her power. This turns out to be a ruse, and Klarion attempts to absorb Mary's powers before being defeated.
InBrightest Day, Klarion is possessed byAlan Scott's Starheart power and driven insane. After wreaking havoc throughout an urban area, he is tracked down and defeated byJade andDonna Troy.[6]
Klarion plays a major role in the events of theSorcerer Kings three-issue storyline inSuperman/Batman. He appears on the final page of issue #82, and in issue #83 he leads the current-timeline Batman,Doctor Occult andDetective Chimp to the "witches' road". In addition, Klarion's future self appears as a member of theJustice League on a magic-controlled Earth.[7]
Klarion's last appearance before The New 52 was inChalk (heart) Outline, a Valentine's Day themed story inBatgirl volume 3, #18. Klarion andStephanie Brown as Batgirl must stop Teekl's rampage, which involves a trip to Limbotown.
Following the New 52 reboot towards DC's mainstream continuity, a new version of Klarion first appeared in his self-titled solo series in 2014. Now high-schooled aged (between 14 and 16 years old), the teen warlock escaped his home dimension, Limbo Town, and finds his way toNew York City. He is taken in by Piper, a sorceress who looks after him alongside several other youths in a museum and mentors him in magic while he battles a tech-wizard.[8]
InDC Rebirth, Klarion would also later join theNight Force alongside other teen heroes (Raven,Traci Thirteen,Zach Zatara) underBaron Winters to battle supernatural threats, helping the team battle magic hunters known as Shadow-Riders.[9] Eventually, the character would switch alignment and joinCirce'sInjustice League Dark, battling theJustice League Dark as Circe's attempts to hunt the remaining pieces of Hecate's magic and using her use her newfound magical power to shift the hierarchy of the mysticalcosmology in her favor. Partnered with Solomon Grundy, Klarion bewitchesMan-Bat as part of a covert strike against the JLD and briefly battledKhalid Nassour. When Circe's plan begins to fall apart from Wonder Woman's intervention andEclipso's presence.[10] Klarion is later captured byAmanda Waller andA.R.G.U.S. and is drafted into Waller'sSuicide Squad Black using Teekl's captivity to coerce him. Alongside the members, he is pitted againstSebastian Faust, warlock and former A.R.G.U.S. director of its mystic counterpart who embracedextremism and seeks to destroy magic to cure hisdryad wife of a magical disease.[11]
Klarion later appears during the events ofDark Crisis, having allied withDeathstroke's Dark Army and become a member of theLords of Chaos.[12]
A supernatural character, Klarion is considered one of the most dangerous magic users in creation and eventually ascended to being aLord of Chaos.[1][12]
Throughout Klarion's publication history, he is officially characterized as having a dark sense of humor and childish.[1] He is also described as being whimsical, spiteful, malevolent, petulant, and an unpredictable individual who delights in causing pain and discomfort.[13] However, the character has also been portrayed with more heroic traits.[9]
Klarion's appearance has also changed over time; his appearances in stories such asThe Demon andYoung Justice comic resembles a young, light-skinned human child . Over time, this appearance later changes, giving him an otherworldly dark-blue skin tone. After the New 52 reboot, the character showcased the power to shift between appearance, the latter being his true form and the other to blend in with humanity. Klarion is also stated to be high-school aged as opposed to a child in older appearances, being between fourteen and sixteen years old in age.[8]
While an adversary for superheroes in theDC Universe, Klarion is chiefly an antagonist ofEtrigan, whom having once protected the child following his escape to Earth until his true nature and formidable powers was revealed. The characters have clashed several times since.[13] FollowingDC Rebirth and influenced by his media portrayals, he is also an adversary ofDoctor Fate.[14][15][16] The character also has several love interests; Zell, a witch whose powers revolved around her hair (in reference toRapunzel), serves as his love interest in his miniseries.[8] The character is also a love interest toRaven, whom she met previously in theNight Force.[9]
Klarion possess nearly limitless magical abilities such as being able to transform himself, travel into other dimensions, energy projection, shapeshifting, telekinesis, etc. He also has a plethora of knowledge of various magic and spells.[17][13] His powers are tied to his catfamiliar Teekl, who possesses a psychic link with him, links him to the physical plane, and can transform into an anthropomorphic form.[11] Klarion's chief weakness also tied to his cat familiar, being tied to his power and among the only beings he cares for, allowing others to either de-power or coerce him by targeting Teekl. He has also been defeated by experienced magic users (i.e.Sebastian Faust).[11]
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