(Strange Tales I#131/2) - He gathered a group of smugglers in Hong Kong to search for the missing Doctor Strange.

(Strange Tales I#135/2) - He was sent to the home of Sir Baskerville to capture Doctor Strange. Mordo took mental possession of his form to allow him to use his Dormammu-enhanced power against him. However, Strange succeeded in duping him, and punched him out, breaking his contact with Mordo. Strange then scanned his mind and learned that it was Dormammu who was giving Mordo his added power.

(Strange Tales I#136/2) - He alerted Mordo to the fact that they had detected the use of Strange's spells in the temple of the Aged Genghis.

(Strange Tales I#141/2) - After Dormammu was outmaneuvered and defeated by Doctor Strange, he took out his anger on Mordo, banishing him to a dimension of demons. Mordo's former servants (his Disciple, the Demon, and the Witch), having lost contact with their master, joined forces to bring in Doctor Strange.

   They planted a conventional bomb within his Sanctum, figuring that he would not scan for something so mundane.

(Strange Tales I#142/2) - At the last minute, Strange realized that someone had erased the mystic evidence of the presence of Mordo (and perhaps others) from his Sanctum. Strange performed a scan that detected the bomb, and he levitated into the air and threw it into the sky. As the bomb exploded, he was still only a short distance from it, and was knocked unconscious. Mordo's minions then captured him, mystically bound him, and brought him back to a base in Greenwich Village.

   As the Witch and the Disciple investigated Strange's Amulet and Cloak, the Demon was given the task of probing Strange's mind. However, Strange's mental powers were far greater than the Demon's and he took control of his mind, forcing him to begin removing the spells which were binding him. The Witch discovered what had happened and broke Strange's contact with the Demon. Strange fled and attempted to use his astral self to discover a means of freeing his body from the blinding mask and hand restraints it still wore. Adria contacted the Demon's disciples and Mordo's Disciple, who was experimenting with the Cloak of Levitation, and sent them after Strange. Mordo's Disciple ordered Demon's disciples to guard all the exits.

(Strange Tales I#143/2) - While the Demon and his disciples kept hunting Strange, Mordo's Disciple continued his experimenting with the Cloak of Levitation. Doctor Strange's astral form took control of the Cloak and used it to choke out and capture Mordo's Disciple. He then took mental control over him and had him fly with the Cloak of Levitation to the Witch, who had located Strange's inert body and had brought it back to her, binding it so that his astral form could not return to it. She admonished the Disciple for bringing the Cloak of Levitation to her, but quickly realized that something was off and trapped Strange's astral form. However, as she attempted to explore his Amulet, Strange activated it, enabling him to mesmerize her and force her to free his astral from. Before he could force her to remove all of the spells on his body, the Demon arrived and attacked him. Strange used the Disciple against Adria, but she quickly took him out. Although his astral from was significantly weaker than the combined power of the sorcerers, Strange used his control over the Amulet and Cloak to defeat the group. He then forced them to completely free his body, and he wiped their minds of black magic.

(Doctor Strange II#56) - Morgana Blessing arranged an interview with Doctor Strange. After inviting the group into his Sanctum and retelling his origins, Strange revealed that he knew the crew was actually the three former minions of Mordo. He explained that he had hoped that his temporary mental block would have taught them the humility and wisdom to use their knowledge to better themselves. However, they attacked him again, seeking vengeance for their past defeats, and hoping to steal some of his mystic artifacts. As Strange began to overpower the three, Adria located the Purple Gem. Sensing its power, she tried to use it against Strange. However, the Gem served only as a one-way portal to the Purple Dimension, and all three of the minions were sucked away.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#42 - BTS) - Squirrel Girl was looking for Kang's card in Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains, but found the cards of Kaecilius, Kala, Kaluu, Kamikaze and Kangaroo (not sure which one...probably Oliver or Hibbs) first.

(Valkyrie: Jane Foster#4 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Annabelle Riggs discovered a mirror in the ruined Temple of Aggamon in Sumeria. The mirror's surface was made of a Purple Gem and could open a portal to the Purple Dimension under a certain planetary conjunction.

(Valkyrie: Jane Foster#4) - Doctor Strange, knowing the possible threat posed by the mirror, attended a guest speech by Briggs at the Institute for the Study of Ancient History and tried to warn her, but the portal to the Purple Dimension opened earlier than expected because Strange's watch was running slow. Kaecilius, Adria and Demonicus stepped through the portal to seek vengeance against Strange with the Purple Magic they had learned during their imprisonment in the Purple Dimension. Valkyrie (Jane Foster), who was at the speech to get information on a different matter from Briggs, joined Strange's fight against the three sorcerers. Kaecilius captured Strange with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and threatened to squeeze him to death if Valkyrie didn't back off, but Strange released his astral form to draw off Kaecilius' energies. His plan got interrupted by the explosive arrival of the Grim Reaper, which nearly knocked out Kaecilius and forced him to release Strange from the Crimson Bands. Grim Reaper then captured Strange's astral form with the mirror.

(Valkyrie: Jane Foster#5) - Grim Reaper left with the mirror and Kaecilius did nothing about it because he recognized that Grim Reaper was riding a Hell-steed. He instead opened a portal to Paris and left.

(Death of Doctor Strange#4 (fb) - BTS) - Threatened by the Three Mothers the warlords warlords Aggamon, Dagoth, Tiboro and Umar joined forces and allied with Kaecilius, who sought revenge against Doctor Strange and his master Baron Mordo, whom he hated for never even trying to free him from the Purple Dimension. For his service he would receive Strange's hands and with them Strange's soul and powers.

(Death of Doctor Strange#3 (fb) - BTS) - The four alien warlords wanted Kaecilius to kill Strange in that way (removing his hands) because that would prevent anyone from replacing Strange as Sorcerer Supreme, thus depowering the mystic barrier that prevented (or at least hindered) extradimensional beings from easily invading the Earth plane. (Not that they told Kaecilius that, of course.--Donald Campbell)

(Death of Doctor Strange#1) - Kaecilius knocked on the Sanctum Sanctorum's door and Strange opened it.

(Death of Doctor Strange#1, 3-4 (fb) - all BTS) - The four warlords channeled their powers through Kaecilius to overpower Strange.

(Death of Doctor Strange#1) - After a short mystic battle Strange got stabbed to death by Kaecilius, who then cut off his hands.

(Death of Doctor Strange#3 (fb) - BTS) - Kaecilius stole the Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation and left behind counterfeits. He brought them to Castle Mordo...

(Death of Doctor Strange#4 (fb) - BTS) - ...to frame Baron Mordo for the murder.

(Death of Doctor Strange#4 (fb) - BTS) - Kaecilius replaced his hands with Doctor Strange's hands, adding the vast magical powers to his own.

(Death of Doctor Strange#1) - Kaecilius later joined Baron Mordo when he made his way to the Sanctum Sanctorum to declare his displeasure at Strange's death because it was not by his hands. Wong angrily attacked Mordo for the murder, but Kaecilius defended his master. Doctor Voodoo and Stanton calmed down Wong. Kaecilius and Wong were still arguing when a time-displaced version of Doctor Strange appeared to investigate his own future version's murder.

(Death of Doctor Strange#2) - Kaecilius and everyone else were surprised by Strange's return. Strange recognized Kaecilius, who looked like an old man to him. Kaecilius got angry and made it clear that he only looked this disheveled due to his exile in the Purple Dimension, which was Strange's fault. Strange couldn't remember it because this happened after his time. He then explained that he was created and hidden away years ago by Doctor Strange when he severed one week from his personal lifespan in case he died and needed more time to put his affairs in order and investigate his own murder. Kaecilius and Mordo looked on as Strange learned that he had been the Sorcerer Supreme up to that point and that warlords from other dimensions had already invaded Earth due to the fall of the mystic barrier around Earth. Clea arrived to reveal that the warlords were not invading, but fleeing from the Three Mothers, who then appeared in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. Baron Mordo teleported away with Kaecilius before the fight against the Three Mothers started.

(Death of Doctor Strange#3) - The time-displaced Doctor Strange, Clea and Wong attacked Castle Mordo after Clea's spirit servant Flibbertigibbet found the Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation there. Kaecilius hid in a dark corner, but was discovered by Doctor Strange and threatened. Kaecilius immediately betrayed his master and sent his enemies to the room Mordo was hiding in with the Cloak and Eye.

(Death of Doctor Strange#4 - BTS) - Mordo handed over the items and told Strange that he had found them hidden shortly before Strange, Clea and Wong had arrived in his castle.

(Death of Doctor Strange#4) - Kaecilius and Baron Mordo attended the meeting of the warlords in New Umarria where Doctor Strange, accompanied by Clea and Magik, would reveal his findings about the murder of the his future version. He confronted the warlords about their involvement in the murder and revealed their pawn Kaecilius, who not only admitted it, but also showed off the hands of Doctor Strange that were now his.

(Death of Doctor Strange#5) - Kaecilius took the fight to the time-displaced Doctor Strange, who was unable to get through with any of his spells because Kaecilius had put up wards against any combat spell Strange could cast. Strange then used a healing spell of regeneration on Kaecilius' hands. With Doctor Strange's soul still inside them, the hands used the still-living form of Kaecilius to temporarily reconstruct Doctor Strange. Kaecilius was shocked at how cruel the time-displaced Doctor Strange was. Kaecilius ceased to exist when his body transformed into Doctor Strange.

(Death of Doctor Strange#5 - BTS) - Doctor Strange's resurrection in the transformed body of Kaecilius didn't last long, and he faded away as Death reclaimed him after the fight against the Three Mothers was over. Kaecilius' fate after that is unknown.

(G.O.D.S.#3 - BTS) - At the Library of Worlds Kaecilius' tale "Of Black Priests and Black Swans" was shown in the "Birth of the Universe" room. It was a story that had been erased from history at some point (Secret Wars). Wyn, who didn't like Kaecilius' more recent work, and Doctor Strange went into the room for a meeting with Dr. Saint-Maur Cercle and Aiko Mako.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko.

It is unknown when Kaecilius even had the time to write stories, but maybe it was during his exile in the Purple Dimension. Or it was an alternate reality version of him that was a writer. Or it was just another character altogether that just had the same name.

Kaecilius was the bad guy in the first Doctor Strange (2016) movie. He was played by Mads Mikkelsen.

Neither Mordo's disciple/helper nor the female leader were named in their Strange Tales appearances. They were first given names in Doctor Strange II#56, when Doctor Strange exposed the deception of the video camera crew and used their names when he introduced them to Morgana Blessing. Strange presumably learned their names after the events of Strange Tales I#143, published over 16 years (3 or 4 years in Marvel Time) earlier.
--Donald Campbell

Thanks to Donald Campbell for pointing out a few discrepancies.

Profile by Snood & Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Kaecilius has no known connection to:

• any other character with a similar name

images (without ads)
Death of Doctor Strange#5, p7, pan1 (main)
Death of Doctor Strange#2, p5, pan2 (head shot)
Strange Tales I#130/2, p2, pan7 (Mordo, Kaecilius, unidentified third)
Strange Tales I#131/2, p3, pan6 (black, pink & green)
Strange Tales I#135/2, p7, pan3 (orange & blueberry, gut punch by Strange)
Strange Tales I#136/2, p3, pan1 (blue & dark magenta)
Strange Tales I#141/2, p9, pan8 (soft purple & blue)
Strange Tales I#142/2, p9, pan6 (brown & orange)
Strange Tales I#143/2, p4, pan2 (blue & blueberry with golden belt)
Doctor Strange II#56, p3, pan3 (as Joe Crocker)
Doctor Strange II#56, p15, pan4 (orange & blueberry with gold belt)
Valkyrie: Jane Foster#4, p17, pan1 (casting Crimson Bands of Cytorrak)
Death of Doctor Strange#3, p20, pan1 (threatened by time-displaced Strange)
Death of Doctor Strange#4, p22, pan2 (new hands)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#130/2-131/2 (March-April, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Strange Tales I#135/2-136/2 (August-September, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Strange Tales I#141/2-142/2 (February-March, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist/plot)
Strange Tales I#143/2 (April, 1966) - Roy Thomas (writer), Steve Ditko (artist/plot), Stan Lee (editor)
Doctor Strange II#56 (December, 1982) - Roger Stern (writer), Paul Smith (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#42 (May, 2019) - Ryan North (writer), Travis Lanham (letterer), Wil Moss (editor)
Valkyrie: Jane Foster#4 (December, 2019) - Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers), Cafu (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Valkyrie: Jane Foster#5 (January, 2020) - Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers), Cafu (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Death of Doctor Strange#1-5 (November, 2021 - March, 2022) - Jed MacKay (writer), Lee Garbett (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
G.O.D.S.#3 (February, 2024) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Valerio Schiti (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 10/06/2001 (?, originally a sub-profile under Mordo's Minions)
Last updated: 10/11/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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