The Scarlet Witch - Definition and Overview

The Scarlet Witch has the ability to manipulate probability via her "hexes" (often manifesting physically as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts"). These hexes are relatively short range, and are limited to her line of sight. Casting a hex requires a gesture and concentration on her part, though the gestures are largely a focus for the concentration. Early in her career, her hexes were unconscious on her part, and would be automatically triggered whenever she made a particular gesture, regardless of her intent. She has since gained enough control over her powers that her powers only work when she wants them to, although they are not necessarily guaranteed to work, particularly if she has been straining herself or using her powers excessively. If overextended, her hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes.

Her hexes have a wide, almost limitless variety of recorded and possible effects, though they often boil down to a kind of Deus Ex Machina superpower. They have been known to alter the molecular composition and physical state of physical objects, negate or distort physical laws, and to cause various forms of energy to spontaneously appear or disappear. She has a natural affinity with natural elements and phenomena, stemming largely from her magical training and origins, and has trained often at using her hexes to deflect projectiles or to cause enemies to stumble or otherwise suffer the effects of "bad luck". Writers often confuse her hex powers with psychokinesis; although her hexes can cause objects to sudden move or change course, they do not have the ability to "hold on" to objects as a telekinetic might. Ultimately, the hexes are not under the Witch's direct control, although she can influence the nature of their effects with great concentration and effort.

Wanda is also a practictioner of the magical arts; although she is capable of using rudimentary ritualistic magic, complex and spontaneous spells of the sort cast by Doctor Strange are beyond her reach. Her magical ability comes into play most often when used to supplement her mutant hex power or the mystical abilities of other magic-users, such as her mystic mentor, Agatha Harkness.

Biography

The Scarlet Witch is the twin sister of Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff); the twins are the children of Magneto and his late wife Magda. Magda fled from Magneto before either learned that she was pregnant. The twins were born in the fictional country of Transia on the equally-fictitious Wundagore Mountain, the prison of the Elder God Chthon. Chthon's residual energies altered Wanda's powers while she was in the womb, permuting her mutant power to bond it with chaos magic. Magda died giving birth to the twins, and so their nursemaid (a genetically-engineered humanoid cow named Bova) left them with the Rom Django Maximoff, who raised them as his children. (The retired superhero called the Whizzer would later erroneously believe the twins to be his children.)

In their early adulthood, both Wanda and Pietro were among the first members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, though neither Magneto nor his children were aware at the time that he was their father. After Magneto's abduction by the alien Stranger, the twins were recruited into the Avengers by Captain America. The Scarlet Witch has become one of the team's mainstays since then.

She married the android Vision; her hex powers allowed the couple to have children. However, it was later revealed that the "children" were not actual children; rather, they were fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto, who had previously been discorporated by Franklin Richards. The children were restored to their natural forms as parts of Mephisto; also during this time period, the Vision was disassembled by the government, then subsequently rebuilt without the ability to feel emotions. The emotional damage incurred upon Wanda during this time frame, combined with her powers being enhanced by Immortus drove her temporarily insane, leading her to a brief alliance with her father, Magneto. However, she recovered, and remained a member of the Avengers, though she and the Vision were separated, working on different branches of the team. In order to keep Wanda's grief from overwhelming her, Agatha Harkness placed a spell on Wanda to erase her conscious memory of her "children", although she later removed this spell .

After the dissolution of the West Coast branch of the Avengers with which she served, she was a founding member and field leader of the short-lived superhero team Force Works. Wonder Man died during Force Works' first adventure, and it was years before he returned. When he did return, it was Wanda's hexes that drew his energy-based body back together, as a kind of "ionic ghost". She restored him to true life with the assistance of Agatha Harkness, and the pair openly had an affair for several months. The Scarlet Witch has remained a frequent member of the Avengers since the reformation of the team, and has begun a slow move towards a reconciliation with The Vision.

In the recent "Avengers Disassembled" crossover, the Avengers were the victims of numerous seemingly random attacks, which killed Ant-Man (Scott Lang), the Vision, and Hawkeye, and ultimately resulted in the destruction of the Avengers Mansion and the official discorporation of the team. It was revealed in the end that the Scarlet Witch had been the culprit, having been driven to madness by grief over the loss of her children, and that the chaos surrounding the attacks on the Avengers had been a result of the Witch's attempt to rewrite reality and recreate her children. The Scarlet Witch then fell unconscious due to Doctor Strange's magics and was taken into the custody of her father, Magneto.