| Sprite | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sprite as depicted inEternals (vol. 5) #1 (January 2021). Art byJeff Johnson. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Eternals #9 (March 1977) |
| Created by | Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Sprite |
| Species | Eternals |
| Team affiliations | Eternals Deviants |
| Notable aliases | Puck Robin Goodfellow Colín Peter Frickin' Pan |
| Abilities | Control over cosmic energy allowing energy blasts and invulnerability, Immortality, Vast psionic powers including telepathy, telekinesis, matter transmutation and illusion casting |
Sprite is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character first appeared inThe Eternals #9 (March 1977), and was created byJack Kirby. Although physically a child, Sprite is anEternal, a member of an ancient and extremely powerful immortal race, who is commonly depicted as a mischievoustrickster figure. Since 2019, Sprite has been depicted as alternatively male and female in comics (via the plot element of rebirth) due to their (then-unreleased) depiction as the latter in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[1][2]
Lia McHugh portrayed Sprite in the 2021 MCU filmEternals, withHannah Dodd portraying Sprite's illusionary adult form of "Sandra", andSalma Hayek portraying Sprite disguised asAjak.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(July 2019) |
Sprite first appeared inThe Eternals #9 (March 1977), and was created byJack Kirby.
Sprite is an incorrigibletrickster and practical joker, and has been for millennia. Claiming to have been both the inspiration forWilliam Shakespeare to write the character ofPuck inA Midsummer Night's Dream and forJ. M. Barrie to writePeter Pan, Sprite revels in what he sees as "playful" behavior, he is unmindful of the often deadly consequences of his "pranks", especially to fragile "mortal" humans. Though punished time and again for his murderous actions, he always returns to his preferred way of life after a while.
During the Fourth Host of theCelestials, when Zuras calls for theUni-Mind to examine the Celestials' Mothership, Sprite remains behind withDomo's Central Processor. There, he convinces the imprisonedForgotten Eternal to help stop an attack to the Celestial ship.[3]
While trying to improveOlympia's systems, Sprite accidentally sends Olympia into theNegative Zone, but the Eternals restore it to its proper place.[4] Sprite later advocates the appointment of theBlack Knight asSersi'sGann Josin (sharing a mental bond) as compromise withIkaris, who wants her killed.[5]
In theEternals miniseries byNeil Gaiman, Sprite, under the "real name" of Colín, was the star ofIt's Just So Sprite, a sitcom on the Tweenie Channel. Although he presented himself to be unaware of his past or abilities, he also served as a spokesman for Hero Registration (as the series is set during theCivil War event).[6]
Ikaris, who seemed to be the only Eternal with any memory of his past, sees Sprite on television and informsMakkari that Sprite was another Eternal.[7] Later, after Ikaris disappeared and the remaining Eternals started to recover their powers, Curry contacted Sprite, seeking advice. Sprite reveals that he had always known who they both were, and takes them to theDreaming Celestial, their creator. There, Sprite informs Curry that it was Sprite himself who made all the Eternals forget who they were, took away their powers, and removed all record of them from reality, as revenge for a million years of them treating him like a child and not allowing him to experience the vices of the world – to the extent that they created him as the Eternal 'who would never grow up', trapped in the form of a prepubescent child.[8] Using the Uni-Mind powered by the Dreaming Celestial, Sprite uses his powers to warp reality to his will, making himself a normal human male child, so that he can finally age and experience the vices of the world.[volume & issue needed] Sprite and Makkari are subsequently attacked by Deviants, but Sprite escapes.[9] Sprite was later seen boarding a train to run away from the problems he caused that led to the awakening of the Dreaming Celestial, and was ultimately found byZuras. Sprite has no apologies for causing the current situation, and, satisfied with the life he lived, although promising vengeance, allows Zuras to kill him by snapping his neck.[10]
Following the mass suicidal event that caused all Eternals to die after learning the truth of their origin,[11] they were all reborn simultaneously due to their eternal (both species and longevity-wise) nature. Resurrected in an amnesiac female body, Sprite is taken in by Ikaris, traveling around New York and subduing Deviants. When they both came back from their trip to New York City, they were suspects in the murder of Zuras. Sprite and Ikaris tracked the murderer's trail to the ruined city of Titanos where they encountered the Mad TitanThanos.[1] Upon learning of their role in the events ultimately leading to the death of the Eternals and their own subsequent death at Zuras' hands, Sprite is intrigued.[2]
Sprite, like all Eternals, has total control over his body's life force and molecular structure, making him virtuallyimmortal; in addition to not aging, Eternals are immune to all known diseases and toxins, radiation, and extremes of temperature. His Eternal body has the appearance of a pre-adolescent child but he is, in fact, hundreds of thousands of years old.
Sprite is able to channelcosmic radiation into blasts of heat or force, levitate himself and others, and create illusions. He has superhuman strength, though because of his small size and childlike anatomy it is less than that of most Eternals. He is capable of rearranging atoms and molecules in such a way as to radically restructure objects (once creating a working ground-to-orbitspacecraft in seconds), and is second only toSersi in the art of molecular reconstruction.
Sprite, in his former incarnation, successfully used the reality-warping powers of theDreaming Celestial to provide himself with a human body that would have aged to adulthood normally, if not for his demise.
In 2021,CBR.com ranked Sprite 10th in their "10 Strongest Characters From Eternals Comics" list.[12]
Sprite appears inMarvel Knights: Eternals, voiced bySam Vincent.[13]
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