History:
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human magic and technology user
Occupation: Sorcerer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Small girl (unnamed) (pawn)
Enemies: Clea, Dr. Strange, other magic users
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York City, USA
First Appearance: Defenders I#53/2 (November, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Nicodemus was a normal human with reasonable magical skills and physical fitness plus reasonable strategic skills. He could fire a handgun but was greedy and overconfident in his abilities and showed a psychotic lust for power. He could plant a post-hypnotic suggestion in a pawn who had very limited resistance. He saw magic as a tool or weapon to achieve more personal power.
As a human sorcerer, Nicodemus could tap into and manipulate mystical energies that lay outside himself, including basic illusion casting, levitation and energy projection. However, he seemed to be lacking in psychic magical powers (such as is required for mesmerism, astral projection, etc.) although he was capable of mental projection. He also showed a low level of proficiency in tapping into extradimensional energy (usually achieved by way of reciting spells and rituals and invoking mystical beings) because he had to utilize a Magical Transferral Machine to help him steal other sorcerer's powers. He temporarily stole Clea's magical abilities, which were lesser than Dr. Strange's at the time due to her lower level of mystical training but nevertheless formidable, although he seemed unfazed by this at the time.
He very briefly stole the complete and vast magical powers of Dr. Strange, including his psychic and extradimensional prowess. It seems that he may have taken some of Clea's powers at that time as well, as he took on the flames of regency of the great mystical fires of the Dark Dimension, as with the dread Dormammu's appearance, effectively converting his body to pure mystical energy. This temporary acquisition of incredible power meant that he could manipulate magical energies much more efficiently and effectively than in his human form, although his lack of mental discipline meant that he was overwhelmed and terrified by the sheer power and strength of the magical energies and mystical awareness. However, this was abruptly surrendered and he was later purged of his madness by Dr. Strange. He likely retains his basic magical abilities with the prospect for developing the mental maturity to harness his powers productively.
History:
(Defenders I#53/2 (fb) - BTS) - Nicodemus, plotting to steal other sorcerers' powers to gain more personal power, had been watching Clea to catch her when she was unaware.
(Defenders I#53/2) - Nicodemus, disguised as a mugger, confronted Clea who was taking a stroll through Central Park on Midsummer's Eve. Clea blasted him backwards, which knocked the knife out of his hands, but Nicodemus instead drew on his handgun and fired several times. Clea blocked the bullets with the Shield of the Seraphim, destroyed the gun and walked away, assuming him beaten. But Nicodemus counted on Clea believing his deception, transformed into his costume, levitated and struck her down from above with an eldritch bolt. She was taken back to Nicodemus' base, an abandoned church, and awoke to find herself chained inside a pentagram under his Magic Transferral Machine. He told Clea of his plan to overwhelm Dr. Strange and stripped her of her magical powers with a mix of incantations and technology. He blasted a nearby building to demonstrate his newfound powers and arrogantly shattered Clea's restraints, knowing that she could not work the machine without her powers. He intended to keep her as a hostage and use her for pleasure, but was swiftly knocked out by Clea who used a nearby small statue to club him. Clea then phoned Dr. Strange to come and reverse the transference.
(Marvel Fanfare I#5/1 (fb)) - Dr. Strange restored Clea's powers and removed Nicodemus' memories of what he had done. Dr. Strange and Clea then dismantled Nicodemus' equipment and took the arcane tome containing the spell of power transferal.
(Marvel Fanfare I#5/1 (fb) - BTS) - Nicodemus recovered the computer data back-ups he had kept elsewhere and had made a portable version of the Magic Transferal Machine in the form of a harness.
(Marvel Fanfare I#5/1) - Using a small girl from who he had forcibly her psychic aura and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion as a type of Trojan horse, Nicodemus was able to gain entry to Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum using the girl to negate Strange's protective spells. Elsewhere, Clea visited the destroyed remains of Nicodemus' hideout and recalled his magic theft as similar to that displayed by the small girl. However, Nicodemus had launched a powerful mental projection against Clea and destroyed the church. Meanwhile, the Dr. Strange was momentarily distracted by Clea's pain and Nicodemus struck, summoning the mystical tome, reciting the transferral spell and taking half of the senior mage's powers before the Sorcerer Supreme could physically escape to the astral plane; he was closely pursued by Nicodemus. Clea recovered and staggered back to Strange's place to discover what had happened. Strange had left a message for Clea that the key to stopping Nicodemus' quest for power was to give him his heart's true desire. She went to the rooftop and summoned Dr. Strange from the astral plane, closely followed by Nicodemus, and transferred the remaining magical powers to the magic thief. Energized by incredible mystical powers, the villain was about to obliterate the two below when he was suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer power and vast mystical awareness that belonged to Dr. Strange. He fell senseless to be caught by Clea who then reversed the spell of transferral. Dr. Strange later purged Nicodemus of his madness, psychically cleansing him but letting him remember the battle, giving him the opportunity to acquire wisdom and maturity to harness his magical skills.
Comments: Created by Naomi Basner (writer), Sandy Plunkett (penciler) and Tony Salmons (inker).
It is specified in Marvel Fanfare 1#5/1 that Clea was his first victim of magic transference.
In Marvel Fanfare 1#5/1, the spell of power transferal ran along the lines of "By the dark that hides the day / By the misbegotten word / Let my will be now obeyed / And your power to me transferred".
Information of the different types of mystical energies available to prominent sorcerers was taken from the OHotMU (Deluxe Edn).
The name Nicodemus was mentioned in both the Christian Bible, where he showed favor to Jesus, and the Jewish Talmud, and was likely adopted by the sorcerer.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
Clarifications:
Nicodemus has no known connections to:
Nicodemus used a Magic Transferral machine to aid him in successfully stealing Clea's magical abilities. It was later dismantled by her and Dr. Strange, although the designs were not destroyed. Recovering later, Nicodemus found the plans and the parts of this machine seem to have been later utilized by him to construct a personal harness version to help him thieve Dr. Strange's magical abilities.
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--Defenders I#53/2 (Marvel Fanfare I#5/1(fb)
Nicodemus used an unnamed 12-year old child as a pawn to gain entry to Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum by first forcibly draining her of her psychic aura before planting a post-hypnotic spell. Thus hypnotized, she knocked out Wong and opened the door to let Nicodemus inside. Her body stood silently aside as Nicodemus and Dr. Strange battled each other but was briefly possessed by Dr. Strange to leave a desperate message for Clea. She later had her psychic aura restored by Dr. Strange and was then taken home by Wong.
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--Marvel Fanfare I#5/1
images:
Marvel Fanfare I#5,
p8, panel 7 (main)
Defenders I#53, p16, panel 2 (head)
Marvel Fanfare I#5, p16, panel 3 (too much power)
Defenders I#53, p15, panel 3 (Magic Transferral Machine)
Marvel Fanfare I#5, p3, panel 6 (girl)
Appearances:
Defenders I#53/2 (November, 1977) -
Naomi Basner (writer), Sandy Plunkett (penciler), Tony Salmons (inker),
Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Fanfare I#5/1 (November, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer),
Marshall Rogers (penciler), Craig Russell (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Last updated: 11/30/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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