SHAKTI
Real Name: Shakti (presumably, see comments)
Identity/Class: Human (Counter-Earth (Franklin) ) magic user
Occupation: Battlemage of the Enchanter's Guild
Group Membership: Doom's Generals (Divinity, Dorma, Lancer/Samantha Dunbar, Technarx), Enchanter's Guild
Affiliations: Ashema, Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)
Enemies: Apostate (Dreaming Celestial), Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards-Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Marvel Girl (Valeria Richards), Weaponeers of Al Khalad
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Little witch" (nickname used by Dorma)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Wakanda (Counter-Earth (Franklin) );
formerly San Francisco Bay (Counter-Earth (Franklin) )
First Appearance: Heroes Reborn: Doom#1 (January, 2000)
Powers/Abilities: Shakti is a battlemage, trained to manipulate magical energies (arcana) specifically for use in combat. She can fire mystical bolts, create elemental copies of herself, conjure up ribbons of diverse materials that serve unique and specialized purposes. The ribbons can restrain opponents or form makeshift, durable servants that do her bidding. Shakti can use magical objects like charms and scrying mirrors to manipulate people, slowly altering their personalities and appearances to bend them to her will. Shakti is not immune to the effects of her own spells. Both in and out of combat Shakti is ruthless, cunning and beautiful, preferring to kill with a smile.
Height: 5'7" (by approximation)
Weight: 125 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Heroes Reborn: Doom#1 (fb) - BTS) - Stuck on the Franklin
Richards created Counter-Earth, Doctor Doom decided to make the best of
the situation and set out to rule the ravaged, war and disaster torn
planet. To do so, he assembled a team of rivals, ambitious and powerful
opponents who he offered a place in his coming new world order. One of
them was Shakti, a battlemage from the Enchanter's Guild that had taken
over San Francisco's Bay Area. Eager for the opportunity to gain more
power, Shakti accepted the offer and took her place among Divinity,
Technarx and Dorma as one of Doom's Generals. Doom forged alliances with
other nations such as Wakanda.
(Heroes Reborn: Doom#1) - Shakti, the Generals, Doom and his bodyguard Lancer attacked the Weaponeers of Al-Khalad to stop their invasion of Wakanda. Shakti enjoyed slaying these self styled Arabian Knights with her magics, first terrifying her opponents before taking their lives. Doom and the others stopped the Weaponeers, but not before Wakanda's ruling family was killed. This led Doom to annex the country, telling his Generals that the surviving Arabian Knights could join them if they swore the usual oath of fealty. Both Dorma and Shakti opposed this idea, feeling that the best enemy was a dead one. The argument was interrupted by the attack of Wakanda's surviving crown prince who lunged at Doom with a knife. Shakti noticed the boy but did nothing, feeling Doom should be able to defend himself. Instead, Lancer acted and took the teenager down. Impressed, Doom offered the boy his hospitality.
(Heroes Reborn: Doom#1 - BTS) - In the weeks that followed, Doom started work on his plan to save the troubled Counter-Earth. He came up with a way to transport the entire world from its pocket dimension to Earth-616 using a combination of Shakti's magics and Technarx's technology. Doom and the Generals traveled across the world to place massive spires needed to carry out the plan.
(Heroes Reborn: Doom#1) - Dorma (secretly the Dreaming Celestial) called a private meeting of the Generals held in Shakti's enclave in San Francisco. The Generals discussed their leader Doom, with Dorma feeling that since they were all monarchs in their own right, Doom shouldn't be allowed to rule over them. Dorma proposed to put Doom in his proper place and then split the world up to rule between the four of them. They decided that his strong and capable bodyguard Lancer had to be dealt with first, a task Shakti offered to take upon her. Shakti used her scrying mirror to spy on Lancer who was with Wakanda's crown prince. Seizing the opportunity, Shakti started a charm spell that sought to transform Lancer from a hardened assassin to a willing harem slave, only to find midway through that Doom had made his servant immune to magics. Shakti shrieked as Lancer somehow burst through her scrying mirror, physically pummeling the stunned mage until she cast the charm spell back to her. Now subservient to Lancer, Shakti willingly kissed her boots even as Technarx attacked.
(Heroes Reborn: Doom#1 - BTS) - While Shakti had been keeping Lancer occupied, the Dreaming Celestial tried to lure Doom in a trap. However, Victor von Doom wasn't fooled by the entity and saw through the Dorma disguise. Playing along, Doom had the Celestial Ashema don a makeshift copy of his armor and sent her out to meet with "Dorma". In the end, the energy generated by the two Celestials fighting powered Doom's dimensional pylons. Properly powered, the pylons created a sidereal transmat field that shifted Counter-Earth from its pocket dimension to Earth-616.
(Fantastic Four III#25) - Doom and his Generals boarded a giant, Doom designed spaceship to fly from Counter-Earth to Earth. Appearing over New York City, they soon found themselves in conflict with the Fantastic Four and the alternate reality future version of Valeria Richards called Marvel Girl. When the FF refused to leave the ship upon Doom's orders, the Generals attacked. Shakti tried to restrain Mr. Fantastic with elastic ribbons, but found them entangled with Technarx's tendrils thanks to the Invisible Woman's forcefields. Next, she tried to attack the Human Torch by conjuring up a flaming copy of herself that took off and fired blasts. Shakti's copy lacked the experience and finesse of the actual Human Torch and was easily taken out with a nearby fire extinguisher. The fight between the two teams was interrupted when the Dreaming Celestial resumed its attack on Doom and the ship. Briefly teaming up, the FF, Doom and his Generals headed to the Keewazi reservation where the underground vault was located that the Celestial had been trapped in since the Fourth Host. As they made their way inside, the Celestial defenses quickly took out Shakti and the other heroes and villains until only Doom and Mr. Fantastic were left. They freed Ashema who made sure the Dreaming Celestial met its fate. In the aftermath, only Doom seemed to have survived.
(Fantastic Four III#26) - Unaware the Dreaming Celestial had actually locked Reed Richards inside Doom's armor, Shakti and the other Generals rallied around their leader. To prevent immediate conflict, "Doom" had everyone transported to his ship. While Lancer was aware of the deception, Shakti and the other Generals retreated to a training area where they fought and destroyed robotic replicas of the Fantastic Four in preparation for killing the actual heroes. Shakti proposed that the Generals could only defeat the FF if they worked together as a team of equals. This annoyed Dorma, who reminded the "little witch" that she was a queen who won and held her throne by force of arms. Some time later, Shakti and the Generals were shocked to find "Doom" consorting with the Fantastic Four (who by now knew Reed was inside the armor). Forced to prove his superiority over his Generals, "Doom" took them all on single-handedly. He used a burst of ultra-frequency sonics to disorient Shakti, causing her spells to backfire on her. After the battle, Dorma and Shakti forced "Doom" to prove his proposed alliance with the FF was really necessary by taking Susan Richards as his bride. Much to the Generals' surprise, Sue accepted the proposal to become the Baroness von Doom.
(Fantastic Four III#27) - Shakti and the other Generals attended the televised wedding of "Doctor Doom" and the Invisible Woman on Doom's flagship hovering over New York harbor. At the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, "Doom" announced to the world he was joining the Fantastic Four.
(Fantastic Four III#28) - Days after the wedding, tensions were beginning to mount between Earth's forces and Doom's Generals. Both sides were quietly running simulations to see who would win, with Doom's forces consistently coming out on top. Emboldened by this prospect, Shakti, Dorma, Technarx and Divinity gathered their forces in Doom's ship to prepare for a first strike against Earth. "Doom" and Lancer learned Dorma had ordered her men to fire the ship's main guns to start off the bloody conflict. Lancer nearly sacrificed herself to stop the attack, while "Doom" managed to deflect the cannons' energies into space. Before the Generals were aware of this, the Fantastic Four engaged them to keep them occupied. Shakti stayed out of the fight, sensing this was a deception. However, this did nothing to change the outcome: Dorma, Divinity and Technarx were defeated by the FF. In the aftermath, "Doom" handed his four Generals over to the Avengers who had arrived in response to the botched attack. "Doom" remained with the Fantastic Four while ordering Lancer to covertly return to Counter-Earth to find the real Victor von Doom.
(Fantastic Four Annual 2000 (fb) - BTS) - Doom's Generals were freed from custody by unknown forces, though they believed Dr. Doom had arranged their release so they would end up attacking and destroying the Fantastic Four.
(Fantastic Four Annual 2000) - After learning that the "Doom" they had
been dealing with was actually Reed Richards trapped in Victor von
Doom's armor, the Generals invaded the Fantastic Four Pier 4
headquarters. First, Technarx shot the team's pogoplane out of the air.
Hours after that initial attack, Shakti, using her magic to appear as a
water elemental, made contact with the heroes followed by Lady Dorma
who proposed an alliance. The FF was offered to return with them to
Planet Doom (the new name for Counter-Earth) to help get their revenge
on Doom. When the Fantastic Four flat out refused, Shakti and the others
attacked. Using her magics to conjure up a variety of ribbons, she
briefly bound both the Human Torch and the Thing. However, the two teams
proved too evenly matched, leading Shakti and the others to beat a
strategic retreat. Shakti swore they would return and destroy the FF.
Some time later, Shakti and the other Generals came up with a plan to
defeat their opponents by threatening civilians so the FF will come to
their aide. In the morning, Shakti and her allies attacked a
construction site near Pier 4, which soon got the heroes' attention.
Shakti engaged the Invisible Woman, entangling her with ribbons she
could control even through the force bubble she found herself trapped
in. With Sue as their prisoner, the Generals forced Reed Richards to
help them come up with a way to return to Planet Doom. Reed seemingly
complied, whipping up a transport device that he promised would send
them to Doom. Even though Shakti was hesistant to enter because she
couldn't sense what was on the other end of the portal, she was the
first to go through. Divinity and Technarx followed, only for Dorma to
flee. The Atlantean queen's instincts were on the money, Mr. Fantastic
had lured Shakti, Technarx and Divinity into new, portable containment
units that he forwarded to Doom.
(Exiles I#81 (fb) - BTS) - When the dimension hopping Exiles visited Counter-Earth while chasing Proteus, they met up with the Young Allies who filled them in on the many tragedies that occurred on their world, including the brief reign of Doom, Shakti and the other Generals.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks).
"Shakti" means "the female principle of divine energy, personified as
the supreme deity" in Hinduism. There's very little known of Shakti's actual origins. Is
she Indian, as her name suggests and Thing alluded to? Or was she
transformed to resemble that form? As we see, she's quite
susceptible to her own charms and transformation spells. Chris
Claremont wrote all but one of Shakti's actual appearances to date,
but he never got around to fleshing out her backstory. For instance,
was she the leader of her enclave? Given her title as a "mere"
battle mage, that seems unlikely.
Shakti's final fate remains unrevealed. Did Doom free her when she was
returned to him at the end of Fantastic Four Annual 2000? Did
she perish as part of the Quiet Man's schemes? Another unanswered
question in whether or not Shakti brought the Enchanter's Guild with her
when she joined Doom as one of his Generals. It's been implied that all
the Generals except for Divinity had entire armies to command, but
Technarx consumes those he infects and for a few stray mages seen on
Doom's ship, Shakti seemed to be a solo operator as well.
Either way, it sure is fun to say "battlemage of the Enchanters' guild".
Shakti, as part of Doctor Doom's Generals, received a profile in the Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#3 (May, 2006)
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Shakti should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Heroes Reborn: Doom#1, p1, pan2 (main image)
Heroes Reborn: Doom#1, p13, pan3 (ander her scrying mirror)
Fantastic Four III#26, p11, pan1 (fighting Thing)
Fantastic Four III#28, p10, pan3 (arguing with Dorma & Divinity)
Fantastic Four Annual 2000, p27, pans 1-2 (tricked by Reed Richards)
Appearances:
Heroes Reborn: Doom#1 (January, 2000) - Chris Claremont (writer), Mike
McKone (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four III#25 (January, 2000) - Chris Claremont (writer),
Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert & Mark Pennington (inks),
Bobbie Chase (editor)
Fantastic Four III#26 (February, 2000) - Chris Claremont (writer),
Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Fantastic Four III#27 (March, 2000) - Chris
Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks),
Bobbie Chase (editor)
Fantastic Four III#28 (April, 2000) - Chris
Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks),
Bobbie Chase (editor)
Fantastic Four Annual 2000 (August, 2000) - Louise Simonson (writer),
Salvador Larroca (pencils), Mark Pennington (inks), Bobbie Chase
(editor)
Exiles I#81 (July, 2006) - Tony Bedard (writer), J. Calafiore
(pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Sean Ryan, Mike Marts, Nick Lowe
(editors)
First Posted: 01/20/2019
Last Updated: 01/20/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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