Magik

This page refers to the first Magik, Illyana Rasputin. For the second Magik, see Amanda Sefton.

Magik
File:Magik.jpg New Mutants Vol. 2 #15 variant cover. Art by Art Adams.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Created by	Chris Claremont Dave Cockrum
In-story information
Alter ego	Illyana Nikolaevna Alexandria Rasputina
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men New Mutants Hellions Phoenix Five
Notable aliases	Darkchylde, Lightchylde, Redflag #133, the Darkchilde Archimage
Abilities	Inter-dimensional teleportation Magic Mystic armor Mystic Soulsword

Magik (Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina - typically anglicized to Rasputin) is a Marvel Comics character, associated with the X-Men. She is the younger sister of the Russian X-Man Colossus.

Publication history

Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, Illyana first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975), though her first name was not given until Uncanny X-Men #145 (May 1981). In the 1983 limited series Magik (Illyana and Storm), she aged seven years while in a paranormal dimension called Limbo, became a sorceress, and developed the mutant ability to create "teleportation discs." She then joined the junior team the New Mutants.

Fictional character biography

Illyana Rasputin (born Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina) was born in the Ust-Ordynski Collective farm, near Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to Nikolai Rasputin and his wife Alexandra Natalya Rasputina. Illyana's two older brothers, Mikhail Nikolaievitch Rasputin and Colossus (Piotr "Peter" Nikolaievitch Rasputin) were both mutants. The X-Men suspected Illyana to be a mutant as well, but they figured that years would pass until her adolescence and the emergence of any possible powers. They were wrong in this hypothesis, however.

Colossus' superhuman powers manifested while saving Illyana from a runaway tractor.

A transformed Illyana becomes a powerful sorceress and ruler of Limbo in Magik (Illyana and Storm).

When she was six years old, Illyana was abducted and brought to the United States by Arcade, who used her and several other hostages to coerce the X-Men to assist him in opposing Doctor Doom. She was rescued and brought back to the X-Mansion.

Shortly thereafter, Illyana was kidnapped again, this time to the Limbo dimension by Belasco and S'ym, inhabitants of this demon dimension. She was raised there and a portion of her essence/soul was corrupted by Belasco, who sought to claim her soul in order to use it as a key to bring forth the Elder Gods to rule Earth. In order to free himself, Belasco needed to fill the Beatrix Medallion with five bloodstones. The blood stones would be created by corrupting Illyana's soul, with a new stone appearing as her corruption deepened. She was later rescued and tutored in the practice of white magic by that dimension's version of Storm (who turned to magic when her mutant powers waned) and eventually rebelled against Belasco. Finding the use of magic abhorrent, Limbo's version of Shadowcat, known as Cat, kidnapped and trained Illyana in hand to hand and sword combat. Cat along with Illyana attempted to storm Belasco's citadel and kill him after her training. They were overwhelmed by Belasco who further transformed Cat into a more feline demonic creature. With Illyana back under his control, Belasco was able to instruct her in the art of black magic in the hopes that it would further corrupt her soul. However, Illyana covertly plotted Belasco's defeat and continued to resist the dark influence on her soul.

Before he kidnapped Illyana, Belasco used both Storm and Cat as potential gateways to freeing the Elder Gods by manipulating their souls with his evil. Both refused his magic before the process could be completed. Because of this, Illyana formed a mystical bond between both Storm and Cat once she too was used in the same manner.

Belasco was successful in using Illyana to create three parts of the bloodstone pendant and only needed two more in order to bring forth the Elder Gods. Realizing this, Illyana created the Soulsword and took over limbo as its new ruler. During her battle with Belasco she magically developed horns, a tail and fangs. She discovered that these new features only appeared when she held the Soulsword. After winning the battle, she banished Belasco from Limbo and claimed S'ym as her servant. She then managed to return to Earth several years older, although no time had passed on Earth since her kidnapping. She subsequently joined the New Mutants.

Former New Mutants writer Louise Simonson's one-shot "Time Trial", written for Marvel's 2007 Mystic Arcana limited series, takes place during the events of New Mutants (vol. 1) #32, during which Magik misguided one of her teleportation discs through the space-time continuum and stranded herself and Mirage in ancient Egypt. There, Illyana met Storm's ancestor Ashake, an Egyptian priestess. Together, they defeated an evil sorcerer Heka-Nut who sought an ancient mystical sword called the Sword of Bone using Magik's Soulsword. Ashake helped Illyana and Mirage return to the present, with Mirage's memory of the incident erased in the process.

The series indicated that Illyana is mystically associated with the alchemic and classical element of air and the Suit of Swords in the mystic Tarot.

Over time when it came to the Inferno storyline, a strange armor began to appear on her body each time she wielded the Soulsword, which, much like her brother Colossus, gave her a form of invulnerability and increased strength. The armor appeared only on one of her shoulders and arms at first, but gradually began appearing on more of her body with each time that she wielded the sword. Illyana's skill as a sorceress grew as over time and she was able to battle other beings with mystical powers such as Baba Yaga, the Enchantress, Forge, Spiral, and Heka-Nut. During the "Inferno" storyline, a routine trip-through Limbo went awry, leaving the New Mutants stuck in Limbo. Illyana's demonic nature began to completely overtake her body and the demons pressed her to become the full and true lord of their realm. Her efforts to escape provided the demon N'astirh the opportunity to open a colossal teleportation disc between Earth and Limbo, which triggered an invasion of Earth by demons from Limbo. Towards the end of this ordeal the seven-year old Illyana was seen in some part of timeless Limbo. Illyana made a supreme effort, which defeated S'ym. Afterwards, when the New Mutants examined the husk of Illyana's armor they found the seven-year-old Illyana inside it. She still possessed the bloodstone locket Belasco gave to her, implying that she still had ties to Limbo. The New Mutants' best guess as to what happened was that by forcibly removing her seven-year old self from Limbo, before she had been corrupted by Belasco, then everything since then had been negated and none of it had happened, except that they still had their memories of the teenage Illyana who had not existed and of events which had not happened.

Because of the mystic bond she shared with the Shadowcat from the Limbo dimension, the Soulsword then passed on to Earth's Shadowcat in England. It embedded itself into a stone near Excalibur's lighthouse headquarters, waiting for Shadowcat to claim it and become its new wielder. She rejected it out of fear she would become a twisted dark image of herself, just as Illyana had. Seeing how much its presence bothered her friend and teammate, Rachel Summers attempted to remove it from the bedrock with the powers of the Phoenix Force but could not move it, because it would only move upon Shadowcat's command. It stayed embedded in England until it eventually fell into the hands of the supervillain Doctor Doom, who shortly thereafter lost it to the demon Darkoth. After a conflict with the necromancer Gravemoss, the Soulsword was eventually was acquired by Amanda Sefton, who would claim Illyana's mantle as Magik, and then go on to be ruler of Limbo and wielder of the Soulsword.

Illyana, still a child, returned to Russia where she lived with her parents for some months until they were murdered by the Russian government in order to secure Illyana's abilities to defeat a psionic being known as the Soul Skinner. Illyana then returned to the X-Mansion to live with her brother and the other X-Men.

Not long afterwards, Illyana contracted the Legacy Virus, succumbed to it and finally died in the X-Mansion, despite all efforts in order to save her made by Charles Xavier and Moira McTaggert. Not being able to be there for his sister, Colossus, consumed by grief and rage, betrayed the X-Men and joined the Acolytes right after her funeral.

Her spirit, however, contacted both Wolverine and Colossus from the afterlife. She came to Logan shortly after he had the adamantium pulled from his body, and urged him to return to the world of the living to save Jean Grey. Illyana's spirit returned again, this time to her brother, Colossus, who had recently returned to the United States with Shadowcat and Nightcrawler following the disbanding of Excalibur. When investigating odd occurrences inside the Mansion, Colossus located one of stepping disks that Illyana had magically bound to the school. He found himself transported to a pocket world, which held a memory imprint of Illyana. There he managed to learn how to let go a little more and to move on with his life, while still remembering his sister.

Despite this, Illyana's memory convinced him to make one final sacrifice. When the cure for the Legacy Virus turned out to need the death of one mutant, he secretly and willingly gave his life, so nobody else would have to die like Illyana did. Colossus would later be resurrected by an alien race.

Belasco eventually deposed Amanda Sefton's rule of Limbo and, after seeing Illyana reappear during the House of M and realizing he carried a torch for her, created a powerful spell to return her to him. The spell managed to pull forth the remaining essence and memories of Illyana still held within Limbo's dimension. The essence took shape but was the Darkchilde, the semi-demonic version of Illyana corrupted and transformed by dark magik. Unfortunately, Belasco was not satisfied with his creation, claiming that it was not the true Illyana Rasputin (due to her lack of Illyana's soul) and banished her to the outer parts of Limbo.

Illyana, now with her Darkchilde persona, eventually discovered some of the teenage New X-Men being attacked by a horde of demons. After aiding the mutants against the demons, she subsequently used a spell to immobilize them in order to steal a portion of Pixie's soul, in the hopes of creating both a bloodstone and a new Soulsword, as Illyana felt Pixie had the most innocent of souls present. The spell was interrupted by Anole, who broke free from Illyana's confinement and dispatched her.

Pixie's soul extraction was partially successful however, creating one part of a bloodstone pendant and a soul dagger. Illyana then attempted to complete the process and destroy those who wished to interfere, but Rockslide thwarted her, and caused Illyana's human memories of her friends and life among the X-Men to return to her.

Although only a part of Pixie's soul was taken, Illyana informed the other New X-Men trainees that Pixie was now capable of performing magic, the hole in her soul having been filled with black magic. Since Belasco had sealed his castle from her own magic and powers, Illyana taught Pixie a teleportation spell, with which the New X-Men attacked and defeated Belasco.

Illyana then succumbed to her Darkchilde persona and announced her desire to create several more bloodstones in order to become god-like in power. Before Illyana could begin the process, however, she was interrupted by the arrival of her brother, Colossus, investigating Illyana's apparent return to life. A pained Illyana rejected her brother's offers of help, and sent everyone back to Earth, before reclaiming Limbo's throne, and informing S'ym and N'astirh, now once more her servants, that her next move is to reclaim her soul.

Ultimately motivated by her friendship with Shadowcat and love for Colossus, Illyana tried to reclaim her soul through love and teleported to the Xavier Institute only to find it destroyed and abandoned. Saddened and angry, she declared that she would not get her soul back through love but through suffering and that she would target those who had wronged her and make them pay with their souls.

Cover art for X-Infernus #1. Magik as Darkchilde. Art by David Finch.

While in Limbo, Illyana attacked various demons in her search for the Bloodstone amulet, becoming enraged when referred to by her human name. Her activities were noticed by Mephisto, Blackheart, Satannish, Dormammu and Hela. Belasco's daughter, Witchfire appeared during the meeting and revealed she was now the current owner of Illyana's Bloodstone amulet and vowed to take her father's place as ruler of Limbo. Back at the X-Men's base in San Francisco, Pixie attacked Nightcrawler with her soul dagger during a training session in the Danger Room and in the process accidentally discovered where Magik's Soulsword was hidden — inside Nightcrawler. Having sensed its presence, Illyana teleported in and laid claim to it.

Pixie engaged her in combat, refusing to hand over the Soulsword and demanded the return of the bloodstone forged from her own soul. Illyana easily defeated her and reclaimed her sword, transforming from the Darkchilde into her Magik persona. However, Magik struck Colossus when he entered the Danger Room her and called out to her, realizing that something was wrong when she does not feel any emotions. She returned to Limbo telling her brother he cannot save her, and that she has to save herself.

Upon to her return to Limbo, she discovered that Witchfire had conquered Limbo and Magik's armies during her absence. Determined to destroy her, Witchfire engaged her in combat. Claiming everything that Belasco ever owned, Witchfire captured Magik, took her bloodstone and added it to the amulet.

After the X-Men arrived at the castle, Nightcrawler discovered Illyana chained to a pillar. She asked him to stab her with Pixie's soul dagger, as he was the only one who was attuned to magic. She apologizes and he stabs her. In doing so he re-released the Soulsword inside of her. Meanwhile, Witchfire completed the set of Bloodstones via another portion of Pixie's soul and released the Elder Gods. Illyana then teamed-up with the other mutants to hold back Witchfire and the Elder Gods. Using a combination of magic and the powers of the Soulsword and Souldagger, Illyana and Pixie were able to remove one of Pixie's bloodstones. Because of this, the Elder Gods were swept back to their dimension, along with Witchfire and the remaining bloodstones. Pixie's Souldagger then merged with the bloodstone that was pried loose by Ilyana. Angry that her second bloodstone was still lost and in the possession of Witchfire, Pixie then declared her hatred for Illyana and flew away.

Saddened by the loss of her and Pixie's remaining bloodstones, Illyana teleported the mutants back to the X-Base and was about to exile herself to Limbo. However, before she can do so her various former teammates begged for her to stay with them. But it was Cyclops that reminded her that they are a family and that, with so few mutants left, they needed her. Colossus then stepped forward and begged her not to leave and hurt him again. She reluctantly agreed.

After receiving an anonymous tip in Colorado about a young mutant endangering a small town, Mirage and Karma were sent to investigate and calm the locals. During their mission, Magik reappeared back at the X-Men's base in San Francisco after teleporting off into the future after the events of "X-Infernus". Upon her return, the younger mutants were still very distrustful of her and after a brief argument she informed Cannonball and Sunspot that Mirage and Karma were in trouble and that it would result in their deaths. Sam assembled a team consisting of himself, Sunspot, Magma and Magik to go find Dani and Shan. When questioned about his roster request, Sam replied that there is bad blood between Illyana and the younger mutants because they do not trust her, but he does. Illyana seemed to have undergone a personality change since her return from the future, becoming more detached emotionally in most cases, possibly due to the further loss of most of her soul during "X-Infernus".

While en route, Illyana asked Magma questions about her visits to Empath since he tried to kill her friends and asked if she still loves him. Magma just said he's blind and helpless and Illyana offered to cure him. Magma struggles to answer causing Magik to accuse her of liking him 'that way' but nevertheless offers to help him if she asks, adding that it could be their little secret.

While searching for Shan and Dani in Colorado, the girls split up because Illyana felt sorry for a lost little girl. Sam and Roberto came across a tied up and unconscious Shan in the back of a bar. Meanwhile Magik and Magma were tricked into freeing Legion from a box. Legion, as a result of absorbing hundreds of new personalities was even more insane, absorbed Shan's mind and sought to act on his vendetta against Dani for her part in one of his previous defeats. When Cannonball decided to locate Legion in order to bring him to Emma Frost, Illyana ignored his orders and entered Legion's mind by using Shan's mind as a bridge and began to kill all of Legion's split personalities in order to locate Shan. After locating Shan in Legion's mind, they teamed up with the lost girl, Marci and David Haller to find the doll that controls his body. After the doll was found, Magik and the others are returned to their bodies.

During the protests between anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements about mutant reproductive rights during the Dark Reign storyline, Illyana was seen watching the news coverage along with most of the other X-Men. Later, Cyclops sends her to team up (unknowingly) with X-Force to locate Wolverine and teleport them to Alcatraz to rescue any mutants taken prisoner by Norman Osborn's forces. Along with Pixie, they teleported all the X-Men from San Francisco to their new home, Utopia. In the aftermath of Utopia, Karma and Illyana were debriefed by Kavita Rao, where they informed her of what went on in Legion's mind. When Kavita mistook Marci for one of Legion's personalities, Shan corrected her and revealed that Marci was a real person, and that when she was about to exit his mind, Legion revealed to her that Marci did not have a body to return to. Shan explained how Legion's power works, that he absorbs the powers and personalities of people that die in close proximity to him and that one of Legion's personalities had killed Marci after she bought Legion water and played with him after he'd returned from the Age of Apocalypse. Feeling angry, Illyana offered her Soulsword to Shan, telling her that it would be their little secret. Shan used the soulsword to kill the personality responsible for Marci's murder but told Kavita that Magik had done the deed. Magik kept her promise and corroborated Shan's version of events.

When Hope Summers and Cable returned to the present during the X-Men: Second Coming storyline, Bastion began eliminating all mutant teleporters to trap the mutant population on Utopia. Magik was the first to fall while trying to bring Hope and Cable to Utopia. One of the Purifiers fired on her with some sort of supernatural weapon that opened a portal to Limbo that she could not control, she was then drawn into the portal by a cluster of demonic tentacles. Cyclops later designated Cannonball as the team leader of the rescue mission to extract Magik from Limbo. This team consisted of people that Cyclops was willing to spare but who were also deemed right for the job. She was eventually freed from her restraints by Pixie, and she and her rescue team returned to Earth.

In a reversal of fortune, Pixie was soon kidnapped by Project Purgatory, and Magik returned to Limbo with the New Mutants in order to rescue her. While in Limbo, the New Mutants encountered the Inferno Babies - mutants who were taken as infants by the government during the Inferno and were raised and trained in Limbo. This now-adult team of mutants attacked and overwhelmed Magik and the New Mutants. While the rest of the team was badly injured and captured, Magik managed escape to Earth with Karma and Pixie. After hiding the Soulsword inside Karma, Magik teleported the rest of the X-Men to Portal Epsilon, Project Purgatory's gateway to Limbo, for what the X-Men believed to be a rescue mission. They arrived just as Limbo's Elder Gods breached the gateway to Earth. Karma released Legion's mind with the soulsword, freeing him to use his vast powers to destroy the Elder Gods and return the bloodstones belonging to Magik and Pixie, thus finally restoring their souls. Confronted by Cyclops afterward, Magik admitted to putting the world in danger and manipulating the X-Men for the sake of a personal vendetta against the Elder Gods. As a result, Cyclops decided that she must be restrained. While she remained unrepentant, she accepted his decision.

During the Fear Itself storyline, Magik was seen in the X-Brig 2, a newly-constructed, ultra-high security prison 500 ft. below sea level. She was controlled by devices that detected and prevented the use of teleportation and magic. During a visit Magik accepted the blame for her incarceration when Colossus tried to comfort her. Soon afterwards she was approached by Moonstar's old friend Gus Grim, a Native American Cognitive Therapist from Colorado known for his work in the Cheyenne communities, who had come to Utopia to help Moonstar's "damaged" teammates. But before they could talk, Grim collapsed and three demons from Limbo burst from his body to rescue Magik; Magik, however, had no intention of leaving, as she wanted to stay and to regain her life and the trust of her friends. The demons were then banished by Danger using a protocol designed by Doctor Strange for just such an occasion. Grim recovered from this ordeal, and Magik explained that the demons used his body as a Trojan Horse to get into Utopia to rescue her.

When Juggernaut, who had become the Worthy Kuurth, attacked San Francisco, Cyclops sent Dani Moonstar to meet with Asgardian death-goddess Hela, in the hope that she could explain what was happening. However, on the way to Las Vegas, Dani was forcibly moved to Hel. Discovering that Dani was gone, the New Mutants sought the assistance of Magik, however, due to the devices attached to her, she could not use her powers, yet she could explain to them what happened to Dani and told Cypher how he could take the team to her. However, Doug made a mistake in the spell, and instead of Hel, he teleported the team into the Hell dimension of Mephisto.

As the had X-Men failed to stop Juggernaut, Magik was approached by her brother and Kitty who wanted her help to defeat him. She was released from her prison and used her powers to teleport herself, Colossus and Kitty Pryde into the Crimson Cosmos where they met with Cytorrak. Illyana told Cyttorak that Cain Marko had betrayed him and now served another god. Cytorrak took his power back from Marko and intended to make Magik his new avatar, but Colossus intercepted, and became the new Juggernaut, much to the dismay of Kitty Pryde.

Following the events of Schism, Magik was selected to be a member of Cyclops' "Extinction Team." Despite this status, she remains a prisoner. She is only released from the X-Brig for missions, and while in the field, her suit contains lethal fail-safes that prevent her escape. During the events of Avengers vs X-Men she with Cyclops and Emma Frost go to Jean Grey school for higher learning to talk to Wolverine, there Quentin Quire asks her on a date and she tells him she would tear him apart like the bear does the goat, Quentin counts that as a definite maybe.

During the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Illyana is chosen as one of the "Phoenix Five", a group X-Men granted additional powers by the Phoenix Force. After Ms. Marvel is defeated by Rogue, Magik appears and gags the Avenger before teleporting her into Limbo, trapping her and terrifying Rogue. Following the defeat of Cyclops, Magik and the other former members of the Phoenix Five are reported to have gone on the run.

Powers and abilities

Cover to New Mutants (vol. 1) #50, featuring Magik wielding her Soulsword. Pencils by Rick Leonardi, inks by Dan Green.

Teleportation

Magik has the mutant ability to teleport herself and others through time and space from one location to another by summoning "stepping discs", which are part of a dimension known as Limbo in the Marvel Universe. This dimension is specifically known alternately 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. If she teleported herself or someone else from one place on Earth to another, the person would pass through Otherplace in the process. Magik could also teleport herself or someone into the Otherplace dimension or out of it. 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 only 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.

Unlike most other teleporters in the Marvel Universe, Magik can 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. Magik was told by Doctor Strange that she had potential for great feats of manipulating time on a wider scale.

Illyana Rasputin could only utilize her superhuman mutant powers when she was an adolescent; on reverting to a prepubescent state her mutant powers returned to latency. As Magik, she never entirely mastered her teleportation ability, although her control over it improved with practice. Hence, the greater the distance over which she teleported, the greater the possible margin of error in terms of her arriving at the point of time she intended.

Sorcery

Magik is the sorceress supreme of her Limbo dimension. The extent of her powers in Limbo has yet to be defined, but powerful demons of Limbo did not dare challenge her.

In Limbo, Magik can probably cast any magic spell that Belasco could, having had access to his store of sorcerous knowledge. The only exception to this is spells of teleportation, which Belasco kept from her (as stated in the Magik limited series) to ensure she never escaped captivity. Magik's recent teaching of teleportation spells to Pixie and to Douglas Ramsey (each had no known natural teleportation ability) is inconsistent with this fact. Her sorcery was a unique mix of black magic that she learned from Belasco and white magic she was taught by an alternative-reality Ororo Munroe. She could not create uncorrupted life with a portion of her soul as Storm, her mentor, was able to do, as evidenced by the time Storm created an acorn that grew into a tree. The acorn Illyana created was rotten on the inside as her own soul was in her body. However, she was able to create a sword from a portion of her soul to use as a weapon. On one occasion she was shown to have easily inhibited the powers of the Enchantress while in Limbo despite the Enchantress being a powerful sorceress in her own right.

Magik's magical abilities are far more limited in Earth's dimension, though she can still manipulate magical energies for various effects. Even an unskilled (but Earth-based) magic-user like Forge has demonstrated himself to be her superior. On Earth she has performed astral projection, sensed mystical presences, scried, and cast very simple spells. Her magical powers on Earth are primarily the use of her Soulsword, which is the ultimate embodiment of her mystical might, and the summoning of her eldritch armor. In X-Infernus, however, she has been seen using magic of a seemingly greater strength than she could previously use in Earth's dimension.

Eldritch armor

File:ArmorIllyana.jpg

Illyana, willing most of her armor to appear. Art by Bret Blevins.

The more that Magik uses her magical power on any occasion, the more mystical armor appears on her body in addition to demonic features such as horns, hooves, a tail and scales. The armor deflects or limits attacks, both physical and magical, which was shown during her battle with Forge. Illyana's armor also provided her protection and immunity to the Transmode Virus, which was shown when her transmode virus-infected demons attempted to dethrone her.

Also shown during the Inferno storyline was an aspect of limited super-strength while in the armor, which makes Illyana similar in power to her brother Colossus. This was shown when the rather large demon S'ym was easily thrown several feet by Illyana when he attempted to force her to the ground during the events of Inferno.

Soulsword

The Soulsword was created by Illyana Rasputin during her imprisonment in Limbo by Belasco. Illyana magically caused her own life force energy to manifest before her. Once this happened she cast her hand into a pool of eldritch energy and imagined a weapon in her mind. When she withdrew her hand she discovered she was holding the Soulsword, which was created from her own soul. A simple looking blade upon its origin, it began to develop intricate designs and forms upon itself the more Illyana used it, becoming more powerful with each use.

After Illyana's death the Soulsword was passed to Kitty Pryde who initially rejected it due to its ties to dark magic. It was then taken from her by Doctor Doom, and then taken from him by Darkoth the Death Demon. Amanda Sefton possessed the sword afterwards when she became a temporary ruler of Limbo. Fearing it would be stolen again, Amanda magically hid the sword inside the body of her former lover Nightcrawler.

A resurrected Illyana Rasputin was seen aiding the New X-Men in Limbo, after Belasco abducted them and the adult X-Men to his realm. She is also responsible for using the soul of the New X-Man Pixie to create a soul dagger, a blade similar in origin, if not power, to the Soulsword. Illyana is now in possession of the Soulsword once again.

Magik's Soulsword disrupts magic energies, constructs and creatures. It also augments the power level of any magic user who holds it. The Soulsword generally has no physical effect whatsoever, but disrupts even the most powerful magic as it passes through. It can shatter enchantments and destroy mystical creations and creatures. Since Illyana's resurrection, the soulsword now seems to have an affect on psychic being like Legion's personalities, whereas in the past the sword only affected magical creatures and spells.

While it can kill magic creatures, such as demons, upon contact, it rarely injures non-magical beings or items, although it has recently been shown to capable of killing psionic entities. The only exception to this has been Kitty Pryde, who can still be cut by the Soulsword even when Pryde is using her phasing power to become intangible. Pryde is also one of the few people other than Magik who can wield the Soulsword effectively. When Pryde does so, Magik's armor begins to appear on Pryde's body. Moreover, when the Beyonder once freed Illyana from the influence of her darksoul, Pryde gained the ability to produce and wield the Soulsword. Illyana later took the darksoul influence back into herself in order that she could again wield the Soulsword to save Pryde's life from a demon. Illyana once used it on herself to purge a magical strain of the Technarch transmode virus from her system after being infected by a transmode virus infected demon. Illyana can make her Soulsword appear and vanish at will.

The Soulsword can increase the mystical abilities of any magic-user, and as the Soulsword is the living embodiment of Illyana Rasputin, whomever owns the sword is considered to be the ruler of Limbo, just as Illyana once was.

The Soulsword has appeared in various dimensions, wielded by alternate Illyana Rasputins. For example, the Exiles version of Illyana wielded her own blade, which was referred to as the "Soul Sword of Bata's Circle." The exact origin of this sword is unclear, but this version of Illyana was able to create another blade after losing her original in a fight with Earth-616's Archangel.

Other abilities

It is also mentioned that Illyana has formidable psionic shields, which are mental barriers that block anyone from reading her mind. This is most likely a result of the time she spent in Limbo and the effects of her evolving a partially demonic soul. As such even powerful mind readers such as Charles Xavier, the Shadow King, and the Phoenix-enhanced Rachel Summers can not mentally read Illyana's thoughts. Illyana was able to lower her psionic shields and allow Emma Frost to see her memories of the death of the X-Men.

Due to Belasco creating the magical bloodstones with their souls, Illyana seems to have a psychic bond with X-Man Kitty Pryde. When telepathically scanning a nightmare Shadowcat was having, Rachel Summers surmised that the nightmare was originating from Illyana and that the two of them have similar thought patterns, causing a psychic rapport like those of twins. Because of this, a similar connection could be considered between Illyana and Storm.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Illyana was never kidnapped by Belasco at all. It was believed she had been killed during Apocalypse's attacks on Russia, but she was actually taken to the slave camp known as the Core located in Seattle, which provided energy for Apocalypse's empire. Colossus, Shadowcat and Generation NeXt rescued her, at the cost of the lives of every single member of Generation NeXt (except for Husk, who was later revealed to have survived). Illyana then helped Bishop go back in time to prevent the Age of Apocalypse from occurring in the mainstream Earth-616 timeline.

In the 2000 Blink limited series, it is revealed via flashback that the mutant villain Sugar Man was at one point the jailer in charge of cellmates Illyana Rasputin (the longlost sister of fellow X-Man Colossus) and Blink (before she was rescued as a young girl by Weapon-X and Sabretooth) in a prison facility, and that he sexually abused both of them on a nightly basis. This is also shown that in the Generation Next series, where Sugarman continued to regularly victimize the young girls who were part of the inmate population at Apocalypse's slave pits.

Excalibur

During Excalibur's "Cross-Time Caper" storyline, the team encounters a childlike version of Illyana, clothed in the regalia of Dr. Strange, who runs an organized crime cartel in partnership with her friend Shadowcat. When Alistaire Stuart and a near comatose Rachel Summers are threatened by the authorities, Illyana grants them sanctuary; however, she merely intends to use her guests to ensure her success in a bid for dominance over the world. When the authorities once more attempt to search Illyana's apartment, an altercation occurs and she is shot dead but merely resurrects into her fully demonic form which is incredibly powerful, but not sufficiently so to withstand the assault of a restored Phoenix.

Exiles

An Illyana from yet another timeline (Earth-4210) was also a member of the team known as The Exiles. Illyana replaced Blink when the Timebroker apparently sent her home. She had been led to believe that had she not become an Exile, she would murder her family. This universe's Magik was much more temperamental and ruthless than the Earth-616 Magik and clashed with the team from the very beginning. Shortly after the Timebroker returned Blink to the team, the Timebroker decreed that half the members of the combined Exiles and Weapon X group had to die. Fearing for her life, Magik tried to join King Hyperion and told him of the mission Exiles and Weapon X had been given. In order to corroborate her claims, Hyperion snapped Magik's neck to see if a replacement Exile was sent. Magik's body was kept in the stasis gallery at the Panoptichron, until the Exiles took over the timeline fixing operation and sent the bodies of the fallen Exiles and Weapon X'ers home. Magik was buried by Colossus and their parents.

House of M

Magik was seen once again in the House of M reality. Not a true alternate earth as such, House of M was a temporary recreation of Earth-616 by the Scarlet Witch in which mutants were dominant on Earth. Magik was a member of a S.H.I.E.L.D. squadron of young mutants called the Hellions. Like most of the other Hellions, she eventually joined the side of the New Mutants, a team being groomed as future leaders, in fighting the establishment of the House of M in Japan in a showdown against impossible odds. This version of Magik was seen teleporting to Limbo before the Scarlet Witch restored reality to its former state, but has not been seen since. However, this resulted in Belasco's resurrection of Illyana in the main Earth.

Shattershot

In the Shattershot crossover, a reality was shown in which Illyana was regressed in the same way as in Earth-616 but never succumbed to the Legacy Virus. She grew up to master her mutant and mystical powers, called herself Darkchild and joined X-Force alongside New Mutants like Sunspot and Cannonball.

Other

In another reality in which Illyana is an adult, her son is trapped in an incorporeal form. She makes a deal with Mephisto to provide him with a body, at the cost of all mutants' lives, but her son ultimately rejects the offer.

What If?

In "What If? the X-Men Had Stayed In Asgard?", Illyana is one of the X-Men and New Mutants who chooses to remain in the Realm Eternal. She eventually replaces the Enchantress as Asgard's supreme sorceress and assumes a secondary role as liaison between her teammate Danielle, the new ruler of Hel, and Asgard.

In a 2006 issue of What If...?, Magik was a member of a Soviet version of the Fantastic Four known as "The Ultimate Federalist Freedom Fighters".

In other media

Television

• Illyana appears in "Red Dawn" (1993), an episode of the animated television series X-Men. She and her mother remain by Colossus and the X-Men as they fought the newly-released Omega Red. She also appears in one of Cable's visions of the altered time-stream in "Time Fugitives" (1993), in which, without the antibodies developed to fight Apocalypse's techno-organic virus, many mutants (like Illyana) developed harmful mutations which would eventually kill them. She is voiced by Tara Strong.
• Illyana is mentioned in X-Men: Evolution as a hostage of Magneto in order to make Colossus work for him.
• At Comic Con 2009, Magik was one of several character design sketches shown for the 2nd season of Wolverine and the X-Men. The second season was ultimately unproduced due to financial disputes.

Video games

• Illyana appeared as a non-playable character in the video game X-Men Legends voiced by Jeannie Elias. She was psychically kidnapped by the Shadow King in order to lure Xavier onto the astral plane.
• Magik appears as an unlockable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.

Novels and adaptation

• Illyana was mentioned in the novelization of X-Men: The Last Stand, stating that Shadowcat and Illyana were pen pals.

External links

• Magik (Illyana Rasputin) at Marvel.com
• UncannyXmen.net spotlight on Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin
• Marvel Directory entry on Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin
• Sorceress Supreme - an Illyana Rasputin fan site