Bats

In life, the basset hound known as Bats cares about looking after his people, and in the afterlife as a ghost, his cares remain the same. “His people” often includes Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, who needs Bats’ undying friendship and loyalty.

Embarking on a New Afterlife

Bats the basset hound lives with his best friend and owner for sixteen years until his death and ends up alone in a shelter. He goes through two more adoptions and then his owners abandon him at a vet clinic, but it is no ordinary clinic. It is run by Earth’s former mystic defender turned veterinarian Stephen Strange. He casts a translation spell to understand animal language, and allows himself and others to understand Bats. Bats becomes a dedicated companion and assistant to Strange. 

Strange sends Bats on a spying mission where he discovers that trickster god Loki Laufeyson, AKA Loki, is hunting down a magical spell called “The Exile of Singhsoon,” which siphons all the magic from the world, putting it at the summoner’s control and is working with Strange’s former apprentice, Zelma Stanton. It turns out that Strange hid the spell inside Zelma, and when she and Wong find out, they leave Strange and the Sanctum, disappointed in his deception. During a subsequent battle with Loki, who took the title of Sorcerer Supreme, Bats has a heart attack, on account of having a weak heart, and dies. Though the typical unremorseful Loki feels guilty about his part in Bats’ death and resurrects him as a ghost. Now he haunts the Sanctum Sanctorum as Stephen’s loyal pet.

Basset Hound From the Beyond

While alive, Bats has the typical features and abilities of the basset hound breed. Following his death and subsequent resurrection, Bats becomes a ghost and his new physiology allows things, people, and pets to pass through his incorporeal body. As a ghost, he can also possess bodies, including human ones, allowing him to navigate and control said bodies. When he possesses the soulless vessel of Doctor Strange, he becomes most intrigued by having opposable thumbs. He is also able to be possessed, in a fashion, and become an avatar for the Dog God.

Threats to His People

Ultimately, anyone that is an enemy to Doctor Strange is also an enemy to Bats, as Bats wants only to protect his best friend and owner. Such enemies include Victor Strange, Mephisto, and Shuma-Gorath, to name a few.

While Loki is an initial enemy for ending Bats’ existence, he also resurrects the basset hound, giving the pooch a second life as a specter.

His People

As Doctor Strange’s best friend, Bats does his level best to take care of him, protecting him where he can and enlisting others like Strange’s wife Clea and friend Wong to help as well.

Being the best friend to an Avenger like Doctor Strange means that Bats spends time at Avengers Mansion. He hangs out with the Mutts, his pack of pooch pals, which includes Lockjaw, Cosmo the Spacedog, Mittens, and Lucky the Pizza Dog. While at Avengers Mansion, Super Hero Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, takes personal responsibility for the Mutts, ensuring they have what they need and are looked after by several Avengers and X-Men allies.

Eternal Best Friend

During a time when Hydra had taken over the U.S., Hydra Helicarriers destroyed the city of Las Vegas, killing everyone. Afterward, Strange had regained the title of Sorcerer Supreme from Loki, so he raised the city up from its destruction, resurrecting those who had died with Bats advising against it. But Strange did it anyway and as a result, a door opened that let in the demonic Hell-Lord Mephisto, who had claimed dominion over Las Vegas’ perished residents. Strange fought Mephisto over a game of cards, cheated, and was tortured by Mephisto for his dishonest actions. The devilish villain then took the city for himself and wasn’t going to stop there, so Bats implored Wong to help Strange. But Wong was reluctant seeing that Strange had previously kept him in the dark. It took some convincing but once Wong was willing to help, he called on several other heroes, the reformed Midnight Sons, to aid Strange in protecting Las Vegas and its inhabitants.

When Bats met Strange again, his soul had left his body. Bats possessed him and in doing so found Strange in a simulation of Mephisto’s making, i.e., an immaterial sub-realm of Hell. Though Strange was being mopey so Bats called him out on it as he was simultaneously piloting his body against dark forces. Strange apologized and the pair were soon attacked by Shuma-Gorath. Strange insisted that Bats leave but the good doggo refused and stayed to help his friend. They were both joined by several Avengers, who had also fallen for Mephisto’s bait and remained trapped in the same realm. Thanks to the arrival of Strange’s longtime foe Dormammu, the group forced Shuma-Gorath to retreat temporarily. Wong soon revealed to Mephisto and the heroes that while Mesphisto had left his realm’s throne empty, another had taken it, that of Johnny Blaze, AKA Ghost Rider. Johnny also took back all the souls Mephisto had stolen, including Stephen’s, and instructed Bats to leave Steven’s body. Afterward, Stephen was restored to his body. Thanks to Wong and Ghost Rider, Strange was then empowered by the souls of the Avengers, making him able to strike Mephisto, though the Hell-lord escaped back to Hell. 

Bats later joined Strange when he shuttered the veterinarian clinic. While there, Bats got to meet Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, and starstruck, he called him a real Super Hero–a comment that offended Strange.

Bats shared many more adventures with Strange, which included Bats getting tricked by Strange’s former student Casey Kinmont, who posed as Strange. Strange returned from a sabbatical in space with his new ally Kanna, a first-order technomancer, who could mix magical artifacts and electronics. They found out part of Casey’s soul was missing, so Strange offered her fragments of his soul as well as Bats and Kanna’s to help her. Bats was also present for the War of the Realms, and was contacted by Throg to join the Pet Avengers. 

Bats continued to take care of Strange by insisting they go on “walkies” whereby Bats would take Stephen on walks to help him live as long as possible. But Strange was soon slain by a mysterious assailant. Saddened by such a huge loss, Bats and the others were not without him for long. Unbeknownst to them all, Strange left a contingency plan, that is a part of himself as a temporal remnant to wrap up his affairs. Bats helped this temporal Strange figure out who killed Strange while they were out taking their walkies. Strange had died at the hands of an old enemy, Kaecilius, who had Strange’s stolen hands as proof. The temporal Strange then resurrected the deceased Strange to live another day and fight one last fight against the threat known as the Three Mothers and Peregrine Child. After its defeat, Strange knew Death would come to collect him, so he handed the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to Clea.

Bats remained at the Sanctum with Clea and Wong, who had their own enemies to defeat, including the Blasphemy Cartel and Death’s agent known as the Harvestman–the latter of whom turned out to be Doctor Strange! Strange had made a deal with Death to prevent the Cartel from resurrecting dead superhumans, and with Bats, Wong and Clea, Strange fulfilled his contract and was restored to life.

Later, while hanging out at Avengers Mansion, Bats and his fellow canine companions known as the Mutts, met their newest member and Ms. Marvel’s new adopted pup, Mittens the 2-year-old cockapoo. Bats showed Mittens his ghostly physiology and how she could pass through him. In return, Mittens, being without any powers, showed off her Captain America squeak plush. Bats and the other mutts were impressed. The group then fell asleep to Ms. Marvel reading “The Daily Doggie.” 

Bats also got wrangled into Elder of the Universe En Dwi Gast, AKA Grandmaster’s arena with other pets, but they all fell asleep while he was explaining the rules of his competitive games. Bats and the others eventually escaped with the help of Throg. 

When something fishy was haunting the Sanctum Sanctorum, Bats investigated. Bats soon found Strange’s deceased vampire brother Victor Strange, now a ghostly haunt, trapped within the Sanctum’s mirrors in a place known as the Crypt of the Shadows. Victor escaped by trading places with Bats and the Sanctum’s snakes. Soon, Strange’s longtime nemesis Karl Mordo, AKA Baron Mordo, joined them in the Crypt. Together, they hatched a plan to escape and Bats inadvertently called upon the Dog God. Bats asked the god to help him save his master, Strange, who had been transformed into a ravenous vampire, and though his astral form was separated from his body, it left it open to a possession by Victor. Victor stalked Wong through the Sanctum with the intent to kill him. Seeing Bats as a very good boy, the Dog God made Bats his avatar and helped them all break free of the Crypt. With the power to save Strange and Wong, he did so by biting Victor’s ghost and knocking him out. But Mordo, being the Super Villain he is, used the opportunity to escape with Victor’s ghost. Proud of Bats, the Dog God left him but not before Bats suggested that they help more people. Dog God informed him that Bats’ brave heart could not channel his godly power for any longer and that Bats was needed to help his people.

Bats soon returned to the Mutts and they shared their daily lives as doggos while having many adventures and misadventures.