- “Sheesh! She gets so carried away!”
- ―Big Time Beagle[src]
Magica De Spell is a major villain from the Scrooge McDuck comics, created by Carl Barks. She is an evil sorceress who first appeared in Barks' 1961 comic The Midas Touch with the goal to obtain Scrooge's Number One Dime, in order to be able to make an amulet that will give her the Midas Touch.
Background[]
Magica lives on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, next to Naples, Italy. Her primary motivation is to steal Uncle Scrooge's Number One Dime and melt it in the fires of the volcano to turn it into a powerful magical amulet, capable of granting the Midas Touch to whoever wears it and allowing them to turn anything into gold.
Unlike other people who think the Number One Dime to be a lucky charm, Magica doesn't believe it to be the source of Scrooge's wealth, but Scrooge's wealth to be the source of the dime's powers, as she only tries to steal it because it's the first coin ever earned by the richest duck on Earth, and has been touched frequently by him.
On more than one occasion Magica has successfully stolen the dime, but in the process her actions cause the dime to lose its status as the first coin owned by the richest duck on Earth. Examples of such stories are Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies when she travels back in time and ends up in Glasgow to steal the dime. She finds Burt the ditchdigger, the man who originally paid Scrooge the dime for shining his boots, and offers to buy the dime from Burt for ten pence. Burt, realizing American money is unspendable in his native Scotland, easily agrees to Magica's trade (he is also unaware of her sinister nature as she is in disguise), but Magica suddenly comes to the conclusion that if Burt pays Scrooge's shoeshine bill of five pence, one of those shillings would become his #1 coin instead of the dime. Another realization about the dime was A Little Something Special when she teams up with Flintheart Glomgold and the Beagle Boys in a plan made by Grandpa Beagle. She gives the dime back after realizing Scrooge wouldn't be the richest man on Earth after the Beagle Boys steal his money. In Carl Barks' Ten-Cent Valentine, it's revealed she believes the dime must stay in one piece until she finally melts it or the spell won't work.
She sometimes teams up with the Beagle Boys or her good friend and sometimes housemate Madam Mim. She also has a raven named Ratface in the comics. Other characters closer to Magica include her grandmother, Granny De Spell, who, although claiming to be one of the most powerful of witches, has been no more successful in obtaining the Number One Dime. Magica even has an apprentice, the bungling no-hoper Samson Hex. There's also Rosalio, a dim-witted goose, who claims to be her fiancé. He is supported in this by Magica's relatives but is always rejected by Magica. Magica has an odd relationship with Scrooge, to the point of sometimes even manifesting itself in mutual attraction.
Powers and abilities[]
Magica is a very powerful witch and has a number of magical powers, such as the ability to teleport herself over far distances, the power to conjure and transmute matter on a sub-molecular level, and the ability to turn herself into any animal that she wants. She is also fond of using "foof bombs", a trait she has had since her first debut in the comics, and she uses hypnotic versions of them to trick the Phantom Blot in the Darkwing Duck/DuckTales crossover arc Dangerous Currency.
In the comics, she is often portrayed as having a weakness for garlic, as it wards off witchcraft and therefore makes her lose her magical abilities when she is near it. As such, Scrooge will often use garlic to try to shield his money bin from Magica during one of her attacks. Also, even if she has a young and youthful look, many instances see her and other characters, usually fellow witches and wizards, comment that she is actually some centuries years old.
- Master Sorceress: Magica De Spell is a powerful sorceress who is well versed in many forms of magic, from Sumerian to Demogorgon. She carries a staff with a Sumerian medal as its headpiece, which amplifies her powers. She has more abilities than your average magic-user.
- Magic: As a sorceress, she is well versed in many forms of magic from Sumerian to Demogorgon, she possesses extensive knowledge of magic, and with the usage of the Sumerian Talisman, she has more abilities than your average magic-user.
- Telekinesis: Magica can lift heavy objects with her mind as seen in the episode, "The Shadow War!" she levitates her staff towards her, and forms a claw out of gold coins.
- Levitation: One of the few powers she was seen using before obtaining the Sumerian Talisman back from Lena, she is capable of hovering a few feet in the air on her own.
- Magic: As a sorceress, she is well versed in many forms of magic from Sumerian to Demogorgon, she possesses extensive knowledge of magic, and with the usage of the Sumerian Talisman, she has more abilities than your average magic-user.
Appearances[]
DuckTales[]
Magica with her pet raven and brother Poe in DuckTales.
Magica was a recurring antagonist in the TV show DuckTales, where she was voiced by June Foray (using an Eastern European accent similar to that of Natasha Fatale from Rocky & Bullwinkle, who was also voiced by Foray).
She appeared mostly in the first season of the series, with her only appearance in the second being in the episode "The Unbreakable Bin".
Although she appears as one of the show's major villains, she is frequently a source of comic relief: in Magica's final scene in the series, for example, she attempts to send Scrooge's "tin man back to OZ", but is sent elsewhere herself in a whirlwind when a Quackenyeeken Yeeker bird yeeks in fear, causing her jar of magic dust to break open and carry her away. Scrooge exclaims, "One thing about Magica―she always knew how to make an exit." On more than one occasion, her plans to obtain Scrooge's Number One Dime backfire so spectacularly that she is forced to work together with Scrooge to prevent greater disaster.
According to the show, her brother, Poe De Spell, was transformed into a raven and serves as her magical familiar — this is an obvious reference to Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven. Poe replaces Ratface from the comics. A similar reference had already been established in the German versions of Magica comics, where her raven is called "Nimmermehr" ("Nevermore"), referring to the most recognizable keyword from Poe's famous poem.
Darkwing Duck[]
Magica makes a cameo appearance in the Darkwing Duck episode "In Like Blunt", along with the Beagle Boys and Flintheart Glomgold, among the bidders for the secret S.H.U.S.H. agent list.
DuckTales (2017)[]
Magica's shadow in the DuckTales reboot.
Magica appears as one of the three main antagonists (alongside Bradford Buzzard and General Lunaris) of the DuckTales reboot series. This incarnation of Magica speaks with a British accent instead of a Russian accent, as well as having green-blue feathers (due to the effects of magic), slit slice-like pupils, and a more lanky design in a callback to her first appearance in the Carl Barks comic The Midas Touch.[4] Fifteen years prior to the start of the series, Magica and Scrooge engaged in a bitter battle in which Magica attempted to banish Scrooge to another dimension within his Number One Dime. Scrooge manages to repel the magic, however, trapping Magica instead. Before she is sealed completely, Magica creates a shadow that takes the form of a young duckling (eventually named Lena) who calls her "Aunt Magica". In all of her appearances up until the finale, a shadow Magica appears through the shadow of Lena. Motivated by personal scorn towards Scrooge and his family, Magica yearns to steal the Number One Dime, which Magica intends to use during a lunar eclipse to increase her power and have her vengeance.
Magica the Shadow Queen's physical form.
She forcefully enlists Lena into her scheme through the talisman Lena wears that allows Magica to control her. Although Lena is at odds with her "aunt", she obeys Magica in order to achieve her freedom, and Magica constantly urges her to abandon her growing friendship towards the McDuck children. When the eclipse begins to draw closer, Magica's power grows to the point she is able to possess Lena at the end of "The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!". By the time of "The Shadow War!", Magica uses Lena's body to enter McDuck Manor, where she successfully steals the dime just as the lunar eclipse takes place. Magica's form is finally released, allowing her to encase Scrooge within the dime and take over Duckburg. Magica casts a spell on the citizens' shadows and creates an army of followers. She then establishes Scrooge's Money Bin as her domain and takes time to relish in her victory by delivering a long-awaited monologue. Magica's plot is foiled, however, when the McDuck children infiltrate the bin and challenge Magica for the dime. The battle results in Scrooge's freedom and the loss of Magica's magic, turning her into a normal duck and a mere practitioner of witchcraft. Foiled, Magica swears vengeance before making an awkward exit.
Months later in "A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!", Magica begins hounding the dreams of Lena and her friends in an attempt to regain her magic powers and rebond Lena with her. In Lena's dream, she is imprisoned in the castle of Magica's image. Magica then tries to seduce Lena back to the dark side and makes her in the former's image fight Webby's party. Taking possession of a mirror, Magica still attempts to rebond Lena with herself until the friendship bracelets wake the kids up. In the waking realm, an insane Magica is shown using a telepathic helmet and a drone to enter Lena's dreams and pressure her back to her side. When Lena magically destroys her equipment, Magica reaches for Lena but cannot because of the gate and rails.
In "GlomTales!", having lost her magic powers, Magica is stuck with work at Funso's Fun Zone holding lame birthday party shows using conjuring tricks. She was recruited by Glomgold as the Webby of his villainous family in an attempt to take down Scrooge and his family. With Louie being the only one at the manor, he convinces the villains he can help Glomgold win the bet against Scrooge. Since Flintheart Glomgold is a fake identity and not his real name, Louie becomes the owner of Scrooge's, Flintheart's, and the other villains' money. Magica scolds Glomgold about how he lost their fortunes to a child and declares she has enough hate in her heart for two Scottish billionaires. After Flintheart escapes, the villains take their respective fortunes back and leave in the Iron Vulture.
In "The Phantom and the Sorceress!", the Phantom Blot desires to destroy Magica De Spell because she destroyed his village years ago after she grew bored with the villagers trying to placate her. As such, the Phantom Blot had grown to despise magic of all kinds regardless of whether it is used for good or evil. Meanwhile, Webby and Violet convince Lena to seek out Magica to help her control the amulet after being attacked by him, after which they track her down living by herself in a swamp. Magica initially doesn't want anything to do with them, but once she sees that Lena has the amulet, she agrees (although she makes it more than a little obvious that she really just wants to take the amulet back when she gets the chance so she can regain her powers). She also agrees because, of course, the Blot is one of her own enemies, albeit as a result of her own actions. Despite Lena making some progress from their training, the Blot overpowers them and drains the amulet when he tracks them down, causing Lena to fade away. However, Lena uses her own magic, powered by the bonds with her friends, to defeat the Blot and return the stolen magic and luck. In the aftermath, Magica regains her amulet and powers and tries to betray the girls, but is beaten by Lena, who pledges to use her powers to battle dark magical forces.
Printed media[]
Darkwing Duck comics[]
Magica teams up with Negaduck in Boom!'s Darkwing Duck comic book.
In the Darkwing Duck comics published by Boom! Studios, she is a recurring villain. In Crisis on Infinite Darkwings, she breaks Negaduck out of jail after his failed attempt to attack Drake Mallard (whom he figured out was Darkwing Duck) a year earlier. She sends various Darkwing Ducks from alternate universes to the normal St. Canard. Magica plans to force Launchpad to lead her to Scrooge's dime. She later has a sorceress duel with Morgana Macawber. Magica flees from the battle after the sudden arrival of Paddywhack.
However, at the end of Campaign Carnage, it is revealed that she didn't leave St. Canard. She, along with the Phantom Blot, is shown to be the real masterminds behind the new villains as Suff-rage was just a pawn.
Magica, Poe (left), and Ratface (right) in Boom!'s DuckTales comic.
Magica is one of the three main villains of the Dangerous Currency arc, along with the Phantom Blot and Negaduck. At some point prior to the arc, Magica had earlier kidnapped Fenton Crackshell (the original Gizmoduck) and plans to use the Gizmosuit for her own purposes. Magica then uses the slime (actual particles of Negaduck that were created from the Tron-Splitter hitting him at the end of "Infinite Darkwings) to take control of St. Canard and forms her own group called "The League of Eve-ill", consisting of Ammonia Pine, Camille Chameleon, and Cinnamon Teal. (Warren Spector had actually planned to use the League of Eve-ill for a different story arc within the DuckTales comic, but the comic's impending cancellation led to that arc being shelved and the idea being incorporated into the crossover.)
After Darkwing, Scrooge, Launchpad, Gyro, Gizmoduck, Webby, Gosalyn, and Fenton's mother have fled to Gyro's lab, Magica and the Phantom Blot follow them with the slime in order to steal Scrooge's dime (as she doesn't consider a real victory without it). Magica orders the Fearsome Four to attack Darkwing while she went to see an "old friend". Magica then uses the slime to take control of Scrooge's Money Bin. After Negaduck returned, she, along with the League of Eve-ill, the Phantom Blot, the Beagle Boys and the rest of the gang get trapped in a prison-like body of Negaduck. It is also revealed that Magica had used a smoke bomb with the slime in it to make the Phantom Blot do what she said. When Donald manages to tell all of Duckburg to release their "inner Donald", Magica convinces the Phantom Blot to team up with her and Negaduck. Along with the Beagle Boys, Magica teleports to the Money Bin and has another battle with Morgana (who was taken hostage by Negaduck after she disappeared at the end of "F.O.W.L. Disposition").
When Darkwing tricks Negaduck into activating a spell Morgana secretly placed on him, Magica and the other villains end up getting sucked into the wasteland along with Negaduck. Because "Dangerous Currency" was never approved by Disney and has been retconned by the comic's continuation by Joe Books, Magica's role in the arc is now considered non-canon. However, the Phantom Blot is still shown teaming up with her at the end of the revised edition of "Campaign Carnage" found in Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition; this implied that Magica and the Blot would still play a prominent role in the comic's continuation under Joe Books. However, the Joe Books title was canceled before any more of Magica's role in the story arc could be shown.
Topolino[]
Magica is a major character in Disney Italy comics, where she's called Amelia, "la fattucchiera che ammalia" (literally, "the bewitching witch"): redesigned with a new appearance that makes her look younger (longer hair, rounder eyes, shorter eyelashes, and no eyeshadow), she keeps pursuing her dream of richness trying to steal the Number One Dime. In her adventures, her primary companion is her raven Ratface, here called Gennarino, but occasionally other witches help her, like Roberta the techno-witch, a magic scientist friend of Magica. Many of these stories see her as a protagonist, instead of strictly being a villain, and more of her personality is developed, thus making her more sympathetic.
Due to her being a canonically Italian character, many sport-themed stories see her in a central role as a supporter of the Italian National Team (most commonly, soccer). She is also featured in many Disney Parodies, in the role of the witch or the dark lady.
Wizards of Mickey[]
In the Wizards of Mickey series, Magica appears as an antagonist and member of the spell casting Team Jinx. Her teammates are Neraja and Garma, but their alliance suffers from the fact that all three claim to lead the team.
Video games[]
Mickey's Racing Adventure[]
Magica serves as an assistant in Mickey's Racing Adventure (along with Ludwig Von Drake, but in another part of the game), casting spells to help the racer (rather being Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, or Goofy) in races to get advantages over Pete's cronies. There are various spells to choose from that cost certain Disney Dollars. This is the only time that Magica is depicted as a friendly character.
DuckTales Remastered[]
Her most recent video game appearance is in DuckTales Remastered, the remake of the first video game she appeared in. In the game, her role was expanded to being the main antagonist, alongside Glomgold, when they manipulate Scrooge into acquiring the five treasures for her so that Magica can summon Count Dracula Duck.
Other games[]
Magica's first appearance in a video game was as the boss of the Transylvania level in the DuckTales NES game. She was next featured as the main villain in The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck and later appeared as a secondary villain in Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!.
Magica was later included as the second secret playable character in the 2008 trivia game Disney TH!NK Fast.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Barks based Magica's appearance on Italian actresses Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, along with Morticia Addams.
- In her first story, Magica explains that for her spell any coin belonging to Scrooge can be used: his Number One Dime is simply the most powerful due to their prolonged contact over the years.
- Despite being depicted as weak against garlic in the comics, she herself used them as a weapon in her debut.
References[]
- ↑ http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Witch+Matilda
- ↑ http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2677-5
- ↑ "Magica's Magic Mirror"
- ↑ Angones, Frank (July 21, 0218). "Why does Magica look like a snake? Yellow eyes with reptilian pupil?". Tumblr.
External links[]
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es:Mágica De Hechizo
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