SAMHAIN
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Demon (Class II) (see comments);
Occupation: Eternal Embodiment of All Hallows Eve
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Celtic Druids, Egyptians, three costumed children (including Holly LaDonna);
Salem's Seven, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Baron Heinrich Zemo (see comments)
Enemies: Agatha Harkness, Glamor, Illusion, Edwin Jarvis, Romans, Scarlet Witch, Vision
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Eternal Embodiment of All Hallows Eve
Base of Operations: Land of the Dead;
First Appearance: Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1 (November, 1982)
Powers/Abilities: He was a malevolent entity born from the terror of mankind. Over the centuries he feasted like a parasite on the offerings for the dead. In Britain he was further empowered by Celtic Druids, who gave him the form of Samhain and made him with spells invincible on All Hallows Eve. They also bound him to the Druid Tome which was ultimately hidden and forgotten in Greymoor Castle. Samhain was able to detect any kind of magic. On Halloween he was indestructible as long as the Druid Tome existed. He possessed vast magical knowledge and power that allowed him to create winds, turn humans into magically empowered slaves and create insects and lizards from thin air. He also carried a magical scythe that seemingly allowed him to travel through time (or rather show images of his past to others). On Halloween he was also the leader of other ghosts in the Land of the Dead. Without the Druid Tome he was a powerful, but not invincible, energy being, without any connection to Earth.
History:
(Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1 (fb) ) - Samhain was born in prehistoric time when cavemen drew their fears onto the walls of their caves.
In ancient Egypt Samhain feasted on the vast offerings Egyptians buried their pharaohs with.
In Britain Samhain was worshipped by druids, but they were slain by Roman legionnaires. Samhain rewarded the priests, who worshipped him with death.
In the Middle Ages at Notre Dame Cathedral on Halloween mad men got involved with dark forces including Samhain.
(Captain America I#256 (fb) - BTS) - The Druid Tome with Samhain trapped inside was hidden in the walls of Greymoor Castle in England for several hundred years.
(Captain America I#256 - BTS) - The tome was found and brought to the Unites States by Captain America.
(Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1) - On Halloween Edwin Jarvis gave the tome to the Scarlet Witch, who later opened it in the library of her new home and saw that it was an ancient spell-book written in druidic runes. She couldn't read it yet, but instead of trying to decipher it right now she spent some time with her husband Vision. Unseen by them the tome she had just closed and laid on a table opened itself again and turned its pages until the page with Samhain's image was seen. Scarlet Witch saw it after the Vision left, but wasn't disturbed by it because she thought she left it open herself. The tome began to glow when it was hit by the moonlight. Suddenly the window was blown open and a light ball left the Druid Tome and left the library through the window. Outside it enslaved three costumed children and turned them into monsters. They broke into the house and attacked Jarvis and Vision.
Meanwhile Samhain materialized from the Druid Tome in the library and revealed his history to the Scarlet Witch by travelling with her through time. After that the Scarlet Witch told Samhain that her era had no use for Samhain, but in return he told her how he was freed again from Greymoor Castle and how he got to the United States. He sensed Scarlet Witch's presence and knew that magic still lived in this age. He didn't know why the Scarlet Witch hadn't summoned him, but he was able to wait until Halloween, the day he was strong enough to free himself. Samhain then attacked the Scarlet Witch with insects and lizards. She tried her best to fight Samhain's attack.
Downstairs Vision had destroyed one of Samhain's servants and realized that they were children before they were empowered by Samhain. After destroying another one he followed the third servant upstairs where he saw Wanda in the library kneeling in front of Samhain. He took the third servant, a ghost, outside and left Wanda alone. She continued to fight Samhain, who wanted her to join him. She avoided his attacks, but her own powers were useless against him, but then she realized what she had to do. She blew the Druid Tome with a hex into the fire and as it burned Samhain was pulled back into the tome. The tome and Samhain were seemingly destroyed. Only the ashes of the tome were left. The three children were human again and woke up. Vision then joined his wife in the library.
(Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5) - On Halloween the Scarlet Witch talked to the ghost of Agatha Harkness, who tried to warn her from the threat of her grandchildren and Samhain, but it was already too late. Wanda was pulled into the Land of the Dead by Thornn and as soon as she was there the Salem's Seven revealed to her that they needed her child to return to Earth. Samhain watched as Wanda fled from the Salem's Seven and other ghosts. He created illusions to slow her down for his servants, but the Scarlet Witch was able to fight them all off.
Samhain then tried illusions of Wanda's mother Magda and her adoptive parents Whizzer and Miss America. Agatha then appeared still at the stake and told Wanda not to believe everything she saw because it was Samhain's work, who she couldn't oppose. Samhain appeared behind Wanda and told her that he wanted her child to support his form in her world. He then explained to Wanda that he was still around because the tome he was bound to still existed, only in a million fragments after it was burnt, which made Samhain as good as immortal as the book could never be destroyed. Samhain began to transfer himself into the child. Scarlet Witch tried to fight Samhain, but again her powers proofed useless and she soon passed out.
Meanwhile on Earth the Vision had reassembled the Druid Tome and managed to destroy it for good by burning it down to its atoms. Samhain felt it when his link to Earth was broken and he couldn't hold the form of Samhain any longer. He became a pure energy being, but because he had already finished the spell he was still going to take the form of Wanda's child. Agatha Harkness escaped from the stake to attack Samhain, who wasn't invincible anymore on Halloween after he had lost the form of Samhain. Agatha redirected Samhain's energy into the Salem's Seven to trap him in the Land of the Dead forever.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Rick Leonardi, Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
Many people wrongly think that there was a Celtic
god named Samhain, but there was not. Samhain was the name of a
festival, not a god.
--Will U
Will is right. Samhain was the festival held on the first day of winter by the Celts (Samhain means "Summer's End", but let us just call it like it is called today: All Hallows Eve or Halloween).
Marvel made it easy to work around the claim that Samhain was a Celtic God (which was taught to Wanda by Agatha Harkness; what does the old hag know?). He looks and acts like a demon (very parasitic). Looking at the history of the thing later calling itself Samhain, he was born long before the Celts were around. He was also active in areas the real Celtic Gods were never seen active, like in Egypt. And only because Celtic Druids worshipped him doesn't make him a Celtic God because in the past demons were worshipped too as gods (and they offered their followers similar cool things like death). The Celts' magic not only gave this being the form of Samhain, but also made him invincible and more powerful on Halloween. As the Embodiment of Halloween he was summoned forth by many humans over the centuries. As soon as the book was destroyed all that power and invincibility was gone and Samhain was screwed, which makes him look pretty weak without the support of human magic.
On Earth-691 in the 31st century Samhain was defeated by the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Irish heroine Shamrock and Cuchulain. It is unknown if this Samhain was the same as the one encountered by Vision & Scarlet Witch.
Some of the ghosts seen in Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5 were just illusions created by Samhain. Magda, Miss America and Whizzer were all illusions for sure. Some of the characters that have since been revealed to never have died were illusions as well (Strucker, Dark Phoenix, Count Nefaria, Korvac). Others like the Salem's Seven and Dracula that really were dead at the time and have since then returned from the dead were likely the real deal (Dracula, Salem's Seven).
The Salem's Seven were brought back to life in Avengers Annual 2000. Since their return it wasn't mentioned that Samhain's energy was trapped within them.
Sam Hain was also a recurring villain in the "Real Ghostbusters" cartoon.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Samhain should not be confused with:
Druid Tome has no known connection to:
(Captain America I#256) - The Druid Tome was kept at Greymoor Castle in England. Dredmund Druid was after it, but he was defeated by Captain America and Cedric Rawlings. Cap and Cedric soon found the tome and Captain America offered it to Cedric to decipher, but Cedric didn't want to and Cap decided to bring the tome to the Unites States and give it to the Scarlet Witch.
(Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Captain America gave the tome to Edwin Jarvis.
(Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1) - Jarvis gave the tome to the Scarlet Witch in her new home in Leonia, New Jersey. The Scarlet Witch couldn't read the tome and left it on a table. Because it was Halloween Samhain was powerful enough to escape the tome by himself.
Scarlet Witch hurled the book into the open fire in her library and it was seemingly destroyed along with Samhain.
(Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5) - The ashes of the tome remained on Earth. After Samhain had Wanda brought to the Land of the Dead, the ghost of Agatha Harkness contacted Vision and told him destroy the Druid Tome. With the help of Glamor and Illusion, Vision realized that they had to destroy the ashes of the book as well. Vision found a big part of the ashes on the ghost costume which was worn by one the servants of Samhain. Glamor and Illusion reassembled the tome as every ash flake was brought to them by the wind. Vision then used his solar ray to burn it down to its atoms. With the tome destroyed Samhain lost his humanoid form and his invincibility on Halloween.
--Captain America I#256 (Captain America I#256, Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1, Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5
images: (without ads)
Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1, p11, pan1 (main image)
Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5, p21, pan5 (as energy being)
Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1, p6, pan4 (Druid Tome)
Appearances:
Captain America I#256 (April, 1981) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gene Colan
(pencils), Dave Simons, Al Milgrom & Frank Giacoia (inks), Jim
Salicrup (editor)
Vision & Scarlet Witch I#1 (November, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer),
Rick Leonardi (pencils), Ian Akin & Brian Garvey (inks), Mark
Gruenwald (editor)
Vision & Scarlet Witch II#5 (February, 1986) - Steve Englehart
(writer), Richard Howell (pencils), Jack Abel & Mike Esposito
(inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Last updated: 01/18/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!