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| Sersi | |
|---|---|
 Sersi as depicted inEternals (vol. 3) #2. (September 2006). Art byRick Berry. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As Circe (pre-Marvel): Venus #9 (May 1950) As Circe: Strange Tales #109 (June 1963) As Sersi: The Eternals #3 (September 1976) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Robert Bernstein Jack Kirby Werner Roth |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sersi |
| Species | Eternal |
| Team affiliations | Eternals Avengers Heroes for Hire New Breed God Squad |
| Notable aliases | Circe, Sylvia Sersy, Mesmer, Sorceress |
| Abilities |
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Sersi (/ˈsɜːrsi/) is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is depicted as a member of theEternals, a race ofsuperhumans. She was also a member of theAvengers andGod Squad. Sersi first appeared in the 1976–1978comic book seriesThe Eternals.
Gemma Chan portrays Sersi in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmEternals (2021).[1]
Sersi first appeared inJack Kirby'sThe Eternals #3 (September 1976) asSersy. AlthoughThe Eternals was published by Marvel Comics, it was not treated as part of theMarvel Universe, but rather as a stand-alone series.
In the 1980s, she made guest appearances in the seriesThe Avengers[2] andCaptain America.[3][4]
Later, Marvel Comics continuity wasretconned so that Sersi was theGreek mythologicalenchantressCirce, as introduced inStrange Tales #109 byStan Lee,Robert Bernstein, and Kirby (June 1963).[5] A different version of Circe had also previously appeared in theAtlas Comics (Marvel's predecessor company) publicationVenus #9 ("Beauty for Everyone! A Dream is Born!" by artistWerner Roth, May 1950).[6]
In 1990, Sersi joined the Avengers team, after her fellow EternalGilgamesh left the team following an injury.[7] Sersi left the team in 1994.[8]
AfterMalibu Comics was acquired by Marvel, Sersi and theBlack Knight were incorporated into the short-livedUltraverse imprint along with other Marvel characters.[9]
During the 2006 relaunch of the Eternals, the character was redesigned byNeil Gaiman.[4][10]
Sersi and the other Eternals returned inJason Aaron'sAvengers.[citation needed] They were then all killed in a story arc involving the DarkCelestials in issue #4.[10]
Sersi is a fourth-generation member of theEternals, an evolutionary offshoot of the human race. She is the daughter of the Eternals Helios and Perse and was probably born inOlympia, Greece, sometime after the Great Cataclysm that destroyed the continents ofAtlantis andLemuria during an extendedice age known as theHyborean Age. At a young age, Sersi differed from her fellow Eternals in her desire to live among humans. Sersi first metCaptain America, who had travelled back in time, during her time in ancientMesopotamia. Although Sersi still had the appearance of a child at this time, she was already thousands of years old.
A few thousand years later, Sersi was based inancient Greece, where she met the poetHomer, who would later write one of the earliest works in Western literature,TheOdyssey. Sersi was based upon the mythological figureCirce, who lived onAeaea, an island in theAegean Sea, and turnedOdysseus' men into pigs.
Under the name of Circe, Sersi also imprisoned the imps inPandora's box in ancient times.[5]
Unlike the majority of her fellow Eternals who stay in hidden cities, Sersi revels in her humanity. Except for theForgotten One, she has lived amongst humans more than any other Eternal. This includes various places of historical importance likeNero'sRome andCamelot, the court ofKing Arthur, where she helpedMerlin the magician defeat an impostor who had usurped his position. Sersi also fought alongsideThor in the VikingSiege of Paris, although he was not aware of this.[11] She has been a dancer, actress, stage magician, hedonist and adventurer.
InThe Eternals #3-5, published in 1976, Sersi battled Deviants in New York City,[12] after which anthropologist Dr. Samuel Holden introduced her to the world at large at New York's City College, along with other Eternals.[13] Sersi became fascinated with the soft-spoken Doctor and began a relationship with him. Sersi turned out to be a staunch ally to the Eternals in their struggles with theDeviants.
Sersi met and became an ally ofThor.[14] She then participated in a battle between the Olympian gods and Eternals.[15] Despite her loyalty to the Eternals, Sersi valued her independence, and she often refused to come to the Eternals' gatherings. During one such instance,Domo of the Eternals sent the Delphan Brothers to bring her toOlympia so that all the Eternals could form the Uni-Mind to debate their future. However, Sersi had decided not to attend, as she would continue doing what she wanted regardless of the outcome. Unbeknown to the Delphan Brothers, theWasp andStarfox of theAvengers, much to Sersi's delight, had crashed the party. They came to Olympia as well, where it was revealed that Starfox was the son ofA'lars, who was also the Mentor ofTitan, brother to Zuras. When the majority of Eternals decided to leave Earth for space, Sersi chose to remain.[16]
At least 13 years later, the AvengerCaptain America needed someone with illusion-casting or shape-changing abilities for help with a case he was working on. He found Sersi's address on the Avengers' database and decided to ask her for help. Sersi was happy to aid "Cap" (she often flirted with him, to his embarrassment) but required a favor from him in return — a dinner invitation.[17]
Sersi battledGhaur alongside the Eternals, Thor, and theWest Coast Avengers.[18] Sersi also aided the Avengers in their struggle against the Deviants and the Elder God Set.[19] When her fellow Eternal, the Forgotten One, was injured while serving as an Avenger, the Avengers came to Sersi for help. She travelled into theNegative Zone with the Avengers to find the Eternals, where she was seemingly killed byBlastaar, but returned to life.[20]
Captain America, the chairman of the Avengers, decided to ask Sersi to join the Avengers due to her previous assistance, which she accepted. In her first mission with the team, she helped them defeatNebula.[21]
Sersi was a powerful addition to the Avengers roster, although her flirtation still managed to embarrass Captain America. Sersi served with the team for quite a long time[quantify]. Then, during an attack on the Earth by the Brethren, Sersi was captured and formed aUni-Mind with the Brethren leader, Thane Ector. Such a union, between two different species, is forbidden by the Eternals, as it may lead to the breakdown of the Eternals' mental disciplines. Sersi fought Sybil Dorn and became an ally to Thane Ector.[22]
Some months after this,[when?] Sersi became more aggressive; she was one of the Avengers involved in the attempted murder of theKree Leader, the Supreme Intelligence, during the Avengers involvement in the Kree-Shi'ar War.[23]
During this time, Sersi began a relationship with fellow AvengerDane Whitman, the Black Knight.[24] The Avengers began a fight against a villain calledProctor, who was reuniting Avengers from different realities, forming a team called The Gatherers.[25]
Sersi's aggression caused tensions between her and her teammates. A romantic triangle formed between Sersi, the Black Knight, and the newest Avenger,Crystal. These tensions came to a climax when the Avengers traveled to the planet Polemachus. When the villainous priest Anskar murdered a young girl called Astra, Sersi killed him in retribution.[26]
When the Avengers returned to Earth, Sersi fled to Warrior Falls inWakanda, trying to escape her guilt and fear. The Black Knight found her and convinced her to return to Avengers Headquarters. Sersi said that she feared she was going insane. Upon her return to Avengers Headquarters, Sersi suddenly attacked her fellow Avengers. She was stopped only by the intervention of theVision (who was secretly the Anti-Vision, a member of the Gatherers). The real Vision was being held prisoner in Proctor'sAndean mountain base.[27]
By this time, Sersi's fellow Eternals had become aware of her unstable nature. Three of them (Ikaris, Arex, andSprite) came to return her to Olympia (the Eternal's capital). The Eternals feared Sersi was suffering from theMahd W'yry disease, a breakdown of the mind due to the Eternals' extended lives. Sersi rejected their fears as archaic and refused to accompany them back to Olympia. The Avengers didn't want to let the Eternals take one of their members against her will. They also learned that if Sersi was found to be suffering from theMahd W'yry, the Eternals planned to 'cleanse' her by molecular disintegration, which would kill her. Sprite, who had learned of Sersi's relations with the Black Knight, proposed that the Knight be made herGann Josin (a concept the Eternals use to describe an intimate joining of two minds as soulmates in their own personalUni-Mind). Before the matter could be further discussed, Ikaris used his powers as the Prime Eternal to create the link between Sersi and The Black Knight. The Eternals then departed. The Black Knight was not happy with the result, for he had decided that he loved Crystal and not Sersi.[28]
The Avengers had little time to discuss the situation because they needed to assault Proctor's Andean citadel.[29] Then they fought against the Kree suicide squad,[30] In theGenoshan conflict, Sersi foughtExodus. The Avengers also ventured into DeviantLemuria in a battle against the mad priestGhaur, an old enemy of Sersi.[31]
The relations between the teammates continued to worsen, and Sersi remained in her unstable state. The Avengers called on former memberHank Pym to discover the cause of her mental problems. At one point, Sersi confided in the Avengers' butlerJarvis that she had been having dreams about a strange man dressed in black, who was assaulting young men she had befriended. Jarvis probed her further, and Sersi used her powers to pull the image ofProctor from her mind. Neither Jarvis nor Sersi had ever seen Proctor and didn't recognize him. Around this time, two police officers questioned Sersi personally. Later, they were found dredged from a river and turned into stone. Sersi was framed for these murders.[32]
The Avengers believed her capable of the crimes, and Sersi was surprised by this accusation. When the police attempted to arrest her, Sersi destroyed theAvengers Mansion and fled to theBrooklyn Bridge. In her maddened state, she used theGann Josin link to call the Black Knight to her side, and the two of them prepared to fight the other Avengers. When Sersi threatened Crystal, the Black Knight reacted and temporarily broke the Gann Josin bond. Shocked by this, Sersi destroyed the Brooklyn Bridge.[33]
Confused by her state of mind, Sersi was finally approached by Proctor, who revealed the full extent of his plan. Capturing her, Proctor returned to his base of operations in New York and revealed that he was behind her madness and seizures, and was responsible for the murders of the young men and police officers. With her full memory returned, Sersi broke free from Proctor's control long enough to stumble upon the villain's trophy room. There laid Ute, a defeatedWatcher (whom Proctor used to traverse the multiverse) as well as innumerable Sersis of other worlds that Proctor had already killed. With Sersi confused, the Gatherer Rik was able to contain her once again. The Avengers were rescued by the EternalsThena and Sprite. Based on the description Jarvis gave them of the man in Sersi's dream, the Avengers concluded that Proctor was responsible for the crimes. They also were approached by Ute in astral form, who warned them that Proctor should be defeated to prevent all of reality from collapsing.Dane Whitman discovered by computer analysis that Proctor was a version of himself from a different reality. Proctor meanwhile began his final gambit: using the life energies of Sersi and Ute to collapse the various realities into one another.[34]
The Avengers, joined by Thena and Sprite, rushed to the scene, only to be confronted by the Gatherers. While his fellow Avengers fought the various Gatherers, the Black Knight approached Proctor himself, only to be defeated by hisEbony Blade. Sersi and the Watcher looked on from the vortex that contained them as Proctor began to 'gather' the Black Knight's essence into himself, preparing to merge with him.Quicksilver, Crystal's estranged husband, stopped him. Approaching Proctor, a freed Sersi used the villain's Ebony Blade to kill him. After this, Ute (in his dying breaths) used his powers to undo the damage that had been done to the Avengers Mansion, the Brooklyn Bridge, and various other locations, as well as opening a dimensional rift to another reality. Sersi, fearing that the manipulations of Proctor were irreversible, decided to enter this door between worlds, so that she may be able to live free of his madness. With his own mind clear the Black Knight decided to join Sersi in her exile. He felt responsible for the suffering Sersi had endured, and he knew that he couldn't remain in the Avengers if it meant interfering with Quicksilver's attempts to reconcile with Crystal. The two Avengers entered the dimensional rift, traveling to another universe.[35]
The portal brought the duo to theUltraverse, the home of theultras (a universe created byMalibu Comics). They were separated in the rift: Sersi ended up in EquatorialAfrica, while Dane Whitman found himself inMiami.[36] In the Ultraverse, Sersi was possessed by the spirit of one of theInfinity Gems, the Ego gem.[37]
The Ego gem had been separated from the other gems many times, and now intended to be reunited with them by using Sersi (the gems had also been transported to the Ultraverse by the Ultra supervillainRune). Sersi's will proved too strong for the Gem, and her bond with the Black Knight caused her to seek him out. The Ego Gem gave her one day to make peace with her past.[38]
The Black Knight meanwhile had found the localUltraforce, the mightiest heroes of the Ultraverse, which includedHardcase,Prime, andTopaz. Learning of Loki's control of the Infinity Gems, the Knight attempted to contact the Avengers, but was foiled when Sersi showed up. Sersi intermediately fought withTopaz, an amazonian queen of Gwendor. Black Knight intervened and ended the battle. The Ego Gem, realizing that it could use the Ultraforce to reunite with its 'brothers', forced Sersi to send them after the six other Gems. The Black Knight and Ultraforce failed to wrest the Gems fromLoki's control. Sersi used her remaining free will to return them to their base.[39]
Now completely under the Ego Gem's control, Sersi became aware of theGrandmaster's presence in the Ultraverse. ThisElder of the Universe had journeyed to the Ultraverse in an attempt to obtain the Mind Gem. Realizing the opportunity, the Ego Gem forced the Grandmaster to carry out its bidding. The Grandmaster approached Loki, and proposed a game. If he won, the Grandmaster would be given the Mind Gem. If Loki won, he would be told the location of the Ego Gem. The game was called Worlds and Warriors, a simplified version of an Earth card game. Instead of cards, however, actual heroes would be used. The Grandmaster had chosen the Avengers, while Loki had chosen Ultraforce. Members of each team were pitted against members of the other. The Avengers, for their part, were told it was to stop Loki, and to save the Black Knight, while the members of Ultraforce were told that the Avengers were part of an invading force. The various battles ended in stalemates, and Loki claimed victory. The Grandmaster, under the Ego Gem's will, revealed Sersi to Loki. She was able to separate him from the Gems before he could act. At this time, the Ego Gem released Sersi from its power. Reuniting with the six other Gems, they were rendered entirely sentient,anthropomorphizing into a cosmic being calling itself Nemesis.[40]
Nemesis wanted to create a new world, and joined elements from both the Avengers' and Ultraforce's worlds to create an amalgam universe. There were too many conflicting elements though, and when Topaz of the Ultraverse made physical contact with Loki, elements from two wildly different continua, the structure snapped. In her panic, Nemesis teleported to the Ultra's Earth, and intended to continue creating there, even if it meant the destruction of the already present world. The six other Gems resisted her, as Nemesis lacked the controlling influence that was needed to unite them. The Avengers and Ultraforce joined forces to stop her. Creating a diversion, they attacked her together, allowing the Black Knight to get close enough to separate the Gems once more. In the resulting explosion, the Avengers were returned to the Marvel Universe Earth, while Ultraforce and the Black Knight returned to the Ultraverse. Sersi wandered in limbo until the Black Knight returned to her.[41]
In time, Sersi and the Black Knight found a way to return to Earth-616, but not before traveling back in time to the era of theCrusades, where they fought the villainExodus.[42]
The two were separated once more on their return to their correct timeline. The Black Knight found himself in New York, but as the Avengers were dead in the wake ofOnslaught, he joined theHeroes for Hire (both fictional group and1997limited series title).[43] Sersi found herself in Lemuria. Upon learning of yet another plot by Ghaur, she escaped to get aid. On finding the Avengers dead, she also turned to theHeroes for Hire. Foiling Ghaur's plot, Sersi and the Black Knight decided that they both needed some time apart after all they had been through.[44]
Sersi returned to Olympia, where she remained (apart from aiding the Avengers in their battle againstMorgana Le Fey)[45] until she joined theNew Breed, a group of Eternals posing as a human super team aiming to control the Deviants.[46]
Sersi moved to New York, where she planned parties for a living. She could not remember her origin as an Eternal, nor her powers. She was hired byDruig, deputy Prime Minister of Vorozheika, to publicize a small former Soviet republic by organizing a party at the Vorozheikan embassy. After the party was saved from a group of gunmen byMark Curry andIron Man, Iron Man questioned Sersi aboutregistering, as she was a former Avenger. Sersi was perplexed by this, and Iron Man was confounded when he finds that there are no longer any records of Sersi in the Avengers database.[volume & issue needed] She tests her powers out and accidentally turns a cat into a dragon.[47]
If the Eternal known as Sprite is to be believed, the Eternals' memories of their history and lives are actually a complex illusion created by him (a possibleretcon of the Eternals' origin brought to the fore in this new Comic miniseries). Sersi is actually much closer to half a million years old rather than five thousand years old and has had the EternalMakkari as an on-again, off-again lover for hundreds of thousands of years. By the end of the series, she decides that she wants to resume her normal life, wishing to be neither an Eternal nor an Avenger.[48]
Retired from the world of superheroics, Sersi later appears as the head of a party planning website. She declines the Wasp's request to become an Avenger once again, but does use her powers to help the team track downYon-Rogg.[49]
When the Final Host arrived on Earth, Sersi and all the other Eternals killed themselves after realizing the true purpose for which they were created. Her body was seen when Iron Man andDoctor Strange traveled to the mountains of Greece to get answers from the Eternals.[50]
As a member of the Eternals, Sersi has their standard abilities, though she has focused her power into transmutational abilities and passed it off as illusion or magic over the centuries. Sersi's psionic ability to rearrange the molecular structure of objects is far greater than that of any other Eternal. The limits on Sersi's molecular rearrangement powers are as yet unrevealed, but she once stated that even the Eternals' leader, Zuras, feared her,[volume & issue needed] and Sprite claimed that she was the most powerful of all the Eternals.[volume & issue needed] Sersi is the only living Fifth Level adept at matter transmutation (on a 1-5 scale).[volume & issue needed] She has the ability to alter molecular and atomic structures of all matter including living organisms. However, she has expressed difficulty in rearranging sub-atomic matter.[volume & issue needed]
Sersi has many other versions in the multiverse, but many of them were apparently killed by Proctor.[volume & issue needed]
InMutant X, Sersi and many other Eternals andInhumans confront the murderous duo of Dracula and theBeyonder inWashington, D.C. They all perish.[volume & issue needed]
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