- When I said earlier that I wouldn’t be doing a Dr. Strange primer I think my reasoning behind that hinged upon the belief that most people reading my posts know who Dr. Strange is.
Upon further deliberation of that perceived fact I came to the conclusion that while comic fans know who the good doctor is, the fgc’s knowledge of Marvel’s mystical menagerie is probably severely lacking, so listen up while I lay down some arcane info on Earth 616’s Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange!
In the beginning the good doctor was nothing more than that: a doctor, more specifically a very talented neurosurgeon. Unfortunately his unparalleled skill was accompanied by an unadulterated arrogance which ultimately led to his downfall. Bereaved by dead family members his skills couldn’t save he lost the use of his hands and fell right to the bottom of a bottle.
Luckily he happened upon the Ancient One, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, who decided to take Strange under his wing when he helped the wizened old wizard against his former pupil Baron Mordo. As an apprentice Strange helped the Ancient One defend the Earth from various mystical enemies but was forced to kill his teacher when Shuma-Gorath, that’s right all you MvC fans, threatened to enter our universe through the mind of the Ancient One.
With the Ancient One dead the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme fell to Doctor Strange and he’s protected Earth, the galaxy, our dimension, and various other universes ever since. Oh sure there have been occasions when he’s been stripped of his title, cut off from his mystical energies and the beings they’re derived from, or un/willingly passed the torch (we’re looking at you Brother Voodoo) but in the end Stephen Strange is Marvel’s one true Sorcerer Supreme.
While he’s never been quite capable of holding down his own series he helps out whenever there’s a threat too huge for his fellow heroes to handle. Whenever something Lovecraftian threatens to burst the boundaries between the mortal plane and the outer dark you can bet Strange will be there to send it back to the blackness!
So with that short and sweet history lesson what exactly is Doctor Strange capable of? He’s a normal human who, without his magic and talismans, is just about as fit as a man his size that engages is moderate physical activity. Olympic athlete he’s not. However, with the aid of the Vishanti (Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur) he can do just about anything and is said to be one of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful beings.
Honestly, the guy can rearrange matter, teleport anywhere, shoot beams of magic energy that freeze, explode, electrocute, disintegrate, and he could probably create one that did all four at once plus more. He can hang out in the Astral Plane, close up black holes, navigate dimensions that would drive any normal person insane, levitate, see the truth, and on and on and on and on.
But for all his mystical might if his hands get messed up he’s out of the fight. It seems as though he channels most of his power through his hands, heck there’s even a comic titled “The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange” but without them he’s gotta call on the powers of some very dangerous heavy hitters. Demons like Zom.
In-game he uses the Flames of the Faltine, which is to say Dormammu’s fire. Huh? Let me explain: Dormammu and his sister Umar, and a few others are known as the Faltine, beings of immense mystical powers that are all but omnipotent in their home dimensions. How Doctor Strange has managed to harness these potent eldritch energies is beyond me, but clearly not for the Sorcerer Supreme.
He also makes great use of The Eye of Agamotto, which is the good doctor’s go to arcane artifact. I don’t know of any instances off the top of my head where he uses a Soul Sword, the Grace of Hoggoth, or that disc attack, though it strikes me as odd that Oshtur alone of the Vishanti isn’t a patron of a move in Steve’s arsenal. HOWEVER! I want everyone to notice that during his level 3 hyper Strange binds his opponent with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak before blasting them with to smithereens. It’s the little things 🙂
I’m won’t delve too deeply into an analysis on his special moves because Seth Killian has done that for you in the videos below, but I will say that Doctor Strange is looking amazing. I can’t wait to see what the pros bring to the table when they get their hands on this guy.
Doctor Strange Breakdown 1
Doctor Strange Breakdown 2
As always you can follow me on Twitter at Kingofbreaker and if you feel like destroying me in MvC3 when I’m not playing Deus Ex you can reach me at iFight4food. Until next time everybody, Sumo out!
I Speak Comics 
sweeeeeeeeeet stuff man
” I want everyone to notice that during his level 3 hyper Strange binds his opponent with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak before blasting them with to smithereens.”
I had only seen Dr. Doom using the Crimson Bands with this hands together, so I looked it up and found Strange does do the spell in astral form
http://imageshack.us/f/123/namorfeat12bo.gif/
This is pretty cool stuff. MvC 2 and 3 have made me look into so much more on the Marvel Universe. And the way the stories link make it hard to stop reading.
Cyttorak? Have he something to do with Juggernaut?
Well, Juggnernaut draws his power from the Ruby/Gem of Cyttorak. Cyttorak is yet another powerful extradimensional being that Strange can call on for magic. I’m guessing they must be the same being, but I’ve never heard of Dr. Strange messing with Juggy’s power source or vice verse. In fact…I don’t know if they’ve ever fought. Huh.
Juggernaut is Cyttorak’s avatar on Earth but the dark god controls his own dimension in which he is nigh omnipotent. Apparently at some time someone or something learned how to tap into Cyttorak’s dimension and bind its power to a spell, hence the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Of course this is all guess work as it’s never been officially explained
But that’s part of what makes comics fun!
Dr. Strange’s character was influenced by Pascal Beverly Randolf. Look him up.
Ummm, he lost the use of his hands in a car accident (sometimes retold as a skiing accident) and ummm “never quite been able to hold down his own series”? He had his own book for decades. I mean, since the 60s bro. Though, he’s not really “superhero-y” in the traditional sense which means his books tend to be a little more complicated than the typical, I don’t know, “hulk hates red hulk so they fight a lot” kind if way.
I don’t think his books have ever been much more complicated than any other, but he just doesn’t sell well. He’s had what, maybe two series that have run longer than 50 issues? I suppose I should have said something along the lines of “He hasn’t been able to hold down a series for the past 15 years.”