Wanda MaximoffScarlet Witch

The Lady in Red

Although much of the Scarlet Witch’s true origins remain elusive to her thanks to manipulations by others, she can still recall her early days as a child with her twin brother Pietro. The two lived on Wundagore Mountain in Eastern Europe, believing themselves born as mutants to a Romani couple named the Maximoffs. Given the name Wanda, she lived for a short time in childish innocence until local troubles involving her parents separated her and her brother from them and forced her to hide her growing powers.

Nearing adulthood, Wanda and Pietro fell under the wing of the criminal Magneto and as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver they joined his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Following violent clashes between the group and the heroic X-Men, the siblings struck out on their own, unhappy with their alliance with Magneto and unsure of their future. When the founding members of the Avengers disbanded, leaving Captain America to continue the team, Wanda and Pietro accepted an invitation of membership, hoping the Avengers might help them reverse their reputations as villains.

Mistress of Magic

The source of Wanda’s unnatural abilities stem from a two-fold base; unparalleled mastery of actual magic and an innate power to warp reality.

Due to exposure to mystic energies and forces at an early age, Wanda may reshape reality to various extremes. Known as a “hex” in her formative years as an Avenger, the Scarlet Witch believed she used the ability to affect probabilities for a positive benefit to herself, though at times to imprecise outcomes. Later, she mastered the ability and began to understand it as a literal altering of reality.

In addition, Wanda trained under other magicians and spellcasters to become proficient in magic-use, which manifests from incantations and spells. To this end, she has become one of the most proficient sorceresses on Earth.

Eager Enemies

Though she does not possess a quite-so specific rogues gallery as many of her fellow costumed champions, the Scarlet Witch can claim a few immediate enemies from her years with the Avengers and her own personal trials.

The powerful mutant known as Magneto subverted Wanda at an early age to not only believe herself to be a mutant, but also his daughter. Wanda eventually rebelled against the villain’s manipulations to ultimately confront him whenever encountered and act as a bulwark to his schemes. Doctor Doom, another dominant personality in Wanda’s life, desired her powers for himself, and betrayed her when she sought him out once to help her uncover missing memories. Later, Doom closeted her in his native country after a dramatic event, taking advantage of the amnesia she then suffered under and proclaiming his supposed affections for her.

The genetic genius called the High Evolutionary has also caused misery in the Scarlet Witch’s life, claiming responsibility for her abilities and confusing her further as to her and her brother’s parentage.

Loved Ones

No other person on Earth stands as close to Wanda as her brother Pietro. Though often at odds, the siblings share a deep bond, one that saw them through troubled times as children and their later years as Avengers. Pietro’s love for his sister sometimes becomes overbearing, but his protectiveness of her knows no equal and to this day they still act as a formidable duo.

The android Vision’s relationship with Wanda also exists as a tumultuous one. Perhaps the Scarlet Witch’s first and truest love, Vision weaves in and out of her life as her former husband, father of her children, confidant, and fellow Avenger. The champion called Wonder Man can also claim Wanda’s love, though not to any stable and lasting effect.

The Scarlet Witch cherishes many friendships throughout the Super Hero community and the magical world, but perhaps due to her unstable circumstances and ongoing quest for truth in her life, she has rarely formed close bonds with her fellow heroes.

A Magical Life

The Scarlet Witch flourished as an Avenger, despite her domineering and over-protective brother. As she learned more about her powers and the role of a hero, Wanda found herself attracted to the android Vision and the two soon declared their love for each other, a situation Pietro found intolerable. Regardless, Wanda and the Vision married and operated as both Avengers and a duo while she explored her powers and origins.

With the witch Agatha Harkness’ tutoring, Wanda grew in magical proficiency. During this time, she was led to believe the Maximoffs were not her actual parents, but that Magneto was her true father. Wanda and the Vision took a leave of absence from the Avengers and together they became parents themselves as a result of a spell that allowed them to conceive twin sons, William and Thomas. Wanda thought she’d found true happiness, but when her husband returned from being dismantled as a cold, emotionless being, her real troubles had only just begun.

The demon Mephisto revealed the awful truth of Wanda’s children: that they existed only as shards of his soul and, once absorbed back into him, Thomas and William disappeared. Wanda’s powers fluctuated following that horrific event, influenced by outside parties such as the sorceress Morgan le Fay, who opened Wanda’s eyes to so-called chaos magic. Later, the Scarlet Witch suffered a blow to her sanity in the aftermath of merging with a cosmic entity while consulting with Doctor Doom over missing memories.

Powerful and pushed to the brink of madness, Wanda plotted to destroy the Avengers as a misguided act of revenge for Thomas and William. As her plans played out, her former husband the Vision was ripped apart and Hawkeye, whom she originally joined the team alongside, lost his life. Another magic-user, Doctor Strange, managed to stop her rampage. Believing the world’s heroes might contemplate ending his sister’s life, Pietro convinced Wanda to create a world where everyone was gifted with their hearts’ desires, but this too crumbled under its own weight. Magneto seemingly killed his alleged son for the affront of the false reality, and the Scarlet Witch decimated nearly the entire mutant population on Earth in retaliation for Pietro and then disappeared.

Later, two young heroes called Wiccan and Speed learned that they were Thomas and William reborn, and so sought out their mother, the Scarlet Witch. They found her in Latveria suffering from amnesia and engaged to Doctor Doom, and helped her regain her memories. Following a period of seclusion, Wanda returned to the Avengers and public life, but felt scrutinized by everyone who had witnessed first-hand the results of her madness against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the planet’s mutants. Knowing it would be an uphill battle, she worked to restore their trust in her and upon confronting the immense power of the cosmic Phoenix, restored the mutants to their original numbers and status.

Recently, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver encountered the High Evolutionary while on a mission to his Counter-Earth. There, he told them the Maximoffs—and not Magneto—were indeed their true, biological parents, and that their abilities stemmed not from the mutant gene, but from the High Evolutionary’s own genetic tampering when they were infants on Wundagore Mountain. Confused, but adamant on continuing forward, the siblings decided to stay on with the Avengers and make the best of it. Wanda’s interest in magic has grown, too, and during her investigation into the arcane arts she learned that her mother was the Scarlet Witch before her.