Agatha Harkness
Agatha Harkness | |
---|---|
Portrayed by Helen Mirren | |
Known Aliases: | None |
Affiliations: | None |
Socked By: | Jen |
Introduction: | Operation: Tower of Babble |
Wanda's former mentor, Agatha continues to meddle in affairs bigger than her, especially those with an archeological bent. Her protegee still lives in terror of her and hides from her whenever she visits. The two, however, have a strong bond.
Contents
Details
Name: Professor Agatha Harkness
Aliases: None used
Occupation: Professor of Archeology at Cambridge University. Museum owner and curator.
First appearance: March 10, 2007
Family: Arthur Harkness (deceased), Nicholas Harkness (son)
Biography
Born in 1947 to wealthy parents, Agatha spent her life traveling as her parents adventured around the globe. She met her future husband, Arthur Harkness, on a dig site they married only after a few months. Their son, Nicolas, was born a shortly after that.
While they both built up their professions as archaeologists, Agatha soon also turned to another hobby – studying chaos theory. She might have never taken it on professionally but she soon became an expert in the “little hobby” of hers and it continued even after Arthur's death a few years ago.
Conflicting beliefs and personalities caused a strain on their relationship with their son Nicolas and by the time Agatha and Arthur were teaching at Cambridge, he had removed himself completely from them. To her students, she was unbending and unyielding but most considered themselves lucky to have learned under her.
And she kept herself to herself until she met a younger Wanda Maximoff – let loose on college with a head full of wild ideas and barely any restraint on her powers. Taking her under her wing (and her thumb), Agatha drilled the lessons of chaos theory into her slightly unwilling pupil and stepped into a mother role that Magda, far away, was unable to provide. She gave Wanda the focus and the necessary structure in which she could safely use and live with her powers.
Phase 1
In Wanda's later years with X-Force, Agatha would both ask for help and provide it. She was also regularly used as a contact if Wanda needed some obscure research done.
However, things have come to a rocky halt between mentor and pupil. After an attack at her museum put Agatha and one of her guards in the hospital, Agatha remained surprisingly tight lipped about the entire event. It would also be revealed that she had been housing a large number of magical artifacts without Wanda's knowledge. It's unknown exactly how badly this has hurt their relationship, however, when Agatha appeared in New York in August 2011, she revealed that one of the items stolen was a powerful magical artifact that siphoned magical energy from dead magic users and imbued the wearer with it. Wanda was extremely unimpressed, however when she went to Agatha's house to confront her about it, she discovered Agatha was missing and the symbol of Chthon that had dogged her over several years had been painted on the wall.
She remains missing, presumably in the hands of her son, Nicholas.
Phase 2
While Wanda was still her student, Agatha introduced her to the Exemplars, a group dedicated to maintaining the balance between chaos and order in the world. They trained Wanda in her powers, and, unknown to the young woman, collaborated with Agatha in keeping tabs on her as a potential host of Chthon, Elder God of Chaos. When Chthon made an attempt to possess Wanda in 2006, it was repelled by the Exemplars working with Charles Xavier and his telepaths, but Wanda felt betrayed by both Agatha and the Exemplars and left the mansion. Even after her return, she remained distant, instead focussing on her own researches into Chthon and its cult. It was during this time that Agatha disappeared, and remains missing.
Powers/Abilities
Base line human.
She can speak several languages, including Arabic. She also carries around with her an umbrella with a black ivory carved handle. Agatha is also the top of her field in archeology and is frequently out on digs.
Plots
Phase 1
Phase 2
Meta
PB: Helen Mirren
Socked by: Jen