Merlyn (Otherworld)

> I am the Supreme One-Above-All. I see through many eyes. I built with many hands. They are themselves, but they are also me. I am all-powerful. My only weapon is love. The mystery intrigues me.
>
> Merlyn

**!!!THIS CHARATCER IS NOT CANON!!!**

**Merlyn** (Merlin, Myraddin, etc.) is a legendary figure best known as a sorcerer and wizard featured in Arthurian legends. All of his life he has been the secret Creator of the Unnatural Multiverse. Merlin also served as Sorcerer Supreme for a time, and is one of the central beings of Otherworld, a realm outside of the Omniverse and has charged himself with manipulating events for the benefit of the continued existence of all reality. Merlyn is part of a gestalt that links himself with all of his alternate selves in the various realities in the Omniverse.

## History

### Origin

The exact origins of Merlyn are shrouded in mystery as his past is filled with contradiction, intentional misdirection, and manipulations. Many have posed as Merlin which also suited his ends. Being linked to his other selves, thereby confusing matters even further. Indeed, these facts may never be unraveled or made sense of as even the Watcher stated that Merlyn lives both "backwards" and "sideways" in time.

### Myraddin of Rutal

The earliest record of Merlyn can be ascribed to a man named Myraddin whose origins and tales were rife with contradictions, connotations, and references to the Arthurian legend many centuries before those legends came to fruition.

As this legend went, Myraddin was a young priest of the sun on an island called Ruta, next to Avalon, islands that were once part of Atlantis that survived the Great Cataclysm which occurred around 18,000 BC. When the ancient priest of the sun learned of the happening of prophecy of Avalon, he sent Myraddin along with all of his ancient artifacts and scrolls along with the priestess Igraine and her daughter Morgan to safety as Avalon was destroyed in a massive volcanic eruption.

Myraddin change his name to **Merlin**, and arrange for Igraine to marry Gorlois, Duke of the Tin Islands. Goloris being slain by Uther Pendragon who then married Igraine and bore a son named Arthur and that when Morgan reached adolescence, she accompanied Myraddin to the Aran Island under his tutelage.

### Origins of Merlyn (Earth-148)

On Earth-148, it was believed that Merlyn was born on an alternate earth as a member of a race of immortal, powerful beings. He became the student of Necrom, his world's Sorcerer Supreme. Necrom asked Merlyn and his fellow-student Feron to assist him in a magical ritual. Feron contacted the cosmic Phoenix Force on Earth-616 and using the Phoenix an alignment was created between parallel universes. This assignment was marked with a tower in the same place on every Earth in the Omniverse. According to magical principles, such an alignment would create a matrix of nearly endless magical energy. Necrom desired the power of the Phoenix for himself, and he attacked Feron. Feron, his powers enhanced by the Phoenix, battled his master and Merlyn used the opportunity to jump into the Matrix, taking its power for his own. Necrom wounded the Phoenix and escaped with a small part of it. The Phoenix left Feron who stayed behind on Earth-616, dedicating his life to asking the Phoenix for forgiveness.

Merlyn travelled to Otherworld and established himself as Omniversal Guardian, safeguarding the total of all universes in existence. With the powers of the Matrix, Merlyn dedicated himself to protecting the universe and finding Necrom. Necrom hid and planned for the next few centuries, changing the part of the Phoenix Force that he had stolen into the Anti-Phoenix.

### Ties to the Arthurian Legend

The origins of Merlyn on Earth-616 are steeped in the Arthurian myth of Camelot and contradict the events the origins that are said to have occurred on Earth-148.

On Earth-616, the legends stated that Merlyn (or Merlin as he is commonly known in that realm) was the son of a demon and the virginal daughter of King Conann of Dryfed in a region that is now known as Wales located on the Island of Great Britain. Learning that she was seduced by a demon who posed as a knight, Merlin's mother consulted a priest and agreed to drink holy water and become a nun under a vow of chastity to ensure that her son would not become inherently evil upon his birth. As a young boy living in the town of Carmarthen, Merlin was captured by King Vortigem who sought to sacrifice the boy as part of a ritual that would allow him to build a tower in the Welsh mountains. Merlin's powers revealed that the reason the construction of the tower failed in the past was due to a pool beneath its foundation. When Vortigem and his men investigated they unleashed the dragons that were imprisoned there and both parties slew each other. Merlin saw this as an omen that foretold the coming of a great kingdom and its king that would one day rise and rule over a United England.

Foreseeing that this king would come from Vortigem's successor, King Uther Pendragon, Merlin sought to manipulate events so that his omen would come to pass. During his reign King Uther clashed with Gorlois the Duke of Tintagel. During these conflicts Uther became attracted to Gorlois' wife Igraine. Merlin played on Uther's carnal desires by using his magics to make Uther appear to be Gorlois to facilitate a coupling between Uther and Igraine, in exchange for ownership of Uther's firstborn son. As fate would have it, Gorlois was slain in battle and Uther wed Igraine, who begat the king a son: Arthur. Arthur was given to Merlin, who left the boy in the care of the knight Sir Ector with Merlin acting as tutor for the boy in the years to come, he later instructed Uther to construct the Round Table that would become part of the legend of the future King Arthur. Also, during this period, Merlin befriended Arthur's distant relative, the Baron of Scandia, and remained a friend of the family, another part of his plans that would see fruition in the future.

Following the death of Uther, Britain was torn asunder to find a successor to the throne. Once again Merlin's manipulations saw his omens come true: Creating the sword Excalibur and embedding it in stone, he told the people that their next ruler would be able to successfully pull the sword from the stone would become the successor to the throne of England. As Merlin ordained, Arthur pulled the sword from the stone and was crowned the next king of England. Merlin remained with Arthur and was his adviser over the coming decades. However, King Arthur briefly romanced Queen Morgause, who unknown to him was the daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, making her his half-sister. This coupling begot a son, Mordred whom Merlin warned would bring the downfall of Camelot. In time, Merlin began teaching sorcery to Morgan le Fay, sister of Morgause, who became his lover in return. As Morgan and Merlin worked together, Morgan began to worship the Earth goddess Gaea, but their romance ended when Merlin seemingly turned his back on Gaea, leading to a six-day battle outside Avalon's altar of sacred trees. As Mordred reached adulthood and began plotting the downfall of Camelot, Merlin sought out Sir Percy of Scandia to be the champion of Camelot, training him in all forms of combat.

### Camelot - 6th Century AD

During the golden age of Camelot, Merlin continued his duties as adviser to King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table while working in secret to try and prevent Camelot's fall.

The earliest recorded activities of Merlin during this period involved him manipulating the 20th century time traveler known as Tommy Tyme into coming back to the 6th Century to assist King Arthur and his knights in rescuing a maiden from the clutches of an evil Black Knight. Later, Merlin defended Arthur and Queen Guinevere from the demon Asmodiar and his son Beliar who sought to slay Arthur.

Continuing his plans to install Sir Percy as his agent against Mordred, Merlin came into the possession of a Starstone meteorite, unaware that he was assisted by Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble of the Time Variance Authority who had thwarted his foes the Incinerators from obtaining it. Merlin obtained the meteor by bartering his Book of Skelos in exchange. Merlin used the Starstone to construct the Ebony Blade. Merlin attempted to find one worthy to wield the Ebony Blade. All those who used it became corrupt and driven mad, forcing Merlin to kill them. He eventually realized that the sword could not corrupt one who was truly pure at heart. Also, during this period, Merlin amassed what was later referred to as the "Merlin Stones" and defeated the tyrant known as Sir Mogard with an animated suit of armor he dubbed "The Black Knight".

Shortly thereafter Merlin called upon Sir Percy and sent him to Camelot under a pose as a cowardly fop in order to avoid suspicion of being Merlin's champion. Merlin then tipped Sir Percy off about an attempt on King Arthur's life by assassins hired by Mordred and Morgan le Fay. The Black Knight thwarted this attempt and was officially knighted by King Arthur. Following this victory, Merlin took the Black Knight to the secret Pool of Blood where he presented the Knight with weapons forged out of the Starstone: A lance, staff, shield and sword. He told him of the coming fall of Camelot and that the right choice of weapon could prevent the prophecies. The Black Knight chose the Ebony Blade and Merlin seemingly destroyed all the other weapons, unaware that Mordred and Morgan le Fay managed to preserve the Ebony Staff, setting in motion the events that would see the downfall of Camelot. Shortly thereafter, when King Arthur went missing and Mordred took control of the throne, Merlin informed the Black Knight that the King was locked in the castle dungeon. The Black Knight freed King Arthur who then reclaimed his throne. During the course of this mission Merlin showed Sir Percy secret passageways within the castle that allowed him to better preserve his identity by allowing him to travel freely in the castle.

Merlin's crystal ball later revealed another plot by Mordred to eliminate King Arthur by challenging him to a joust with a poison laced lance. Merlin warned the Black Knight who took Mordred's challenge instead and easily defeated him. When the Black Knight was injured in a contest, Merlin helped his agent escape before he could be unmasked. When Mordred determined that Sir Percy had similar injuries as the Black Knight, Merlin briefly posed as the Knight in order to maintain Sir Percy's double identity. On the King's birthday, Merlin warned the Black Knight that Mordred had hired Gypsies to murder King Arthur while on a lion hunt. This plot was also thwarted. When King Arthur and his ward Lady Rosamund were kidnapped by French-Sicilian pirates under the employ of Mordred, Merlin used his magic to help the Black Knight locate the island they were being held prisoner on, allowing the hero to rescue them. Merlin later warned the Sir Percy of a danger posed by Mohar Jinn of the Tartars. When Mohar Jinn took over Camelot, Merlin helped sneak the Black Knight into the castle where he defeated Mohar Jinn in combat and retook Camelot for King Arthur.

Merlin was briefly transported to the Balkan Mountains circa the 20th Century. There he found that he was summoned because his diary was found by an American tourist who scoffed at the existence of magic. Merlin then transported him to the 6th Century to teach him the errors of his way before returning the man to the 20th Century.

Not long after this, recently exiled Roman emperor Tyrannus attempted to invade Camelot but was defeated by the Black Knight. Merlin then banished him to Subterranea. Following this, Merlin and the Black Knight left Camelot to clash with Morgan le Fay, and Merlin was briefly impersonated by an impostor known as the Maha Yogi. One account state that around this time, Merlin banished the demon Chthon within his prison in Wundagore Mountain. However, after constant conflict with Morgan le Fay, Merlin was incapable of preventing the young mage Modred the Mystic from falling under the influence of Chthon upon using the Book of the Darkhold. It took the combination of Merlin and the Catholic Church's Sir Brendan to combine their power to defeat the Darkhold and entomb Mordred, who remained in entombed for many centuries. Likewise, when Merlin returned home to Camelot, he found the Maha Yogi impersonating him and also entombed the impostor for centuries to come.

### Captain Britian Corps

At some point after the Necrom incident and possibly either during, after, or possibly simultaneously to his time in Camelot-616, Merlyn founded the Captain Britain Corps, a group of matrix-powered superheroes based on each Earth in the omniverse. Merlyn sent his best agent, Sir James Braddock, to Earth-616 to father a hero. James' first son, Jamie Braddock, was unsuitable for Merlyn's purposes, but the twins Elizabeth and Brian both were. Merlyn chose Brian to become Earth-616's Captain Britain and he would be pivotal to Merlyn's plans.

### Modern Age

Over the years, Merlyn manipulated Brian to become a stronger and wiser hero. He called him to Otherworld again while his body lay unconscious after a fight with Lord Hawk to test his skills and award him with the star sceptre. He partnered Brian with the Black Knight (another of Merlyn's champions, like the bizarrely named Kilgore Slaughter) to teach him more about magic. Merlyn used Brian to stop Mad Jim Jaspers, a reality warping mutant who threatened the fabric of the multiverse itself. Merlyn seemingly died in the battle between Jaspers and the cyborg monstrosity called The Fury. Merlyn was buried and his daughter Roma took over as Omniversal Guardian.

Merlyn faked his death though and hid, even from his daughter. In secret he manipulated his daughter and Captain Britain to form Excalibur, a team of superheroes, who would become his weapon against Necrom. Excalibur would take the tower that was part of the Matrix as their base, not knowing the true meaning of this building. Necrom resurfaced and fought Excalibur. In the battle, Rachel Summers killed Necrom and Merlyn appeared to congratulate Excalibur. Excalibur were furious at Merlyn for manipulating them and endangering them all. Roma, also disappointed in her father's callous behavior, assisted Excalibur in destroying their tower and by extension the Matrix. Merlyn left in a rage at losing his source of power.

Merlyn and Roma both met occasionally on Otherworld, but Merlyn didn't retake his position as Omniversal Guardian, trusting his daughter to protect the Omniverse. He was nowhere to be seen when Mastermind took over Otherworld or during the House of M reality warp that briefly supplanted Earth-616 with Earth-58163.

### Fury

When reality was restored once again, it also resurrected Mad Jim Jaspers, who in turn was infected with the original Fury of Earth-238. Merlyn, apparently driven mad as well, came to assist Jaspers in destroying Otherworld and his daughter slaying or infecting many of his Corps with the Fury virus in the process. The conflict eventually drew in both the latest incarnation of Excalibur and the reality hopping Exiles who came to Roma's defense. During the conflict, Roma was fatally stabbed by Merlyn who only suffered a cut on the foot during the conflict. However, Merlyn was forced to flee when faced with the heroes after himself being infected with the Fury virus. While Roma died, she managed to transfer all her knowledge into Excalibur's Sage.

Merlyn eventually resurfaced and went after the knowledge Sage had absorbed from his daughter. He confronted Sage, now a member of the Exiles, at their base the Panoptichron where Sage was in a struggle with the conflicting personalities that now occupied her head, including her Diana Fox personality. Sage ended up fighting a losing battle due to the other personalities in her mind trying to take control and just when she seemed lost, Diana Fox came to her aid and fought back against Merlyn. However, the two aspects realized that the only way they could defeat Merlyn was to merge together becoming a new unified form of Sage, driving Merlyn away to points unknown.

### Secret Invasion

At some point after this Merlin was sealed in Otherworld by Oberon. When the Skrull Secret Invasion began he reached out to the mind of Peter Wisdom to try and get Wisdom to release him so he could fight against the Skrulls who had stolen Britain's magic. By the time Merlin was released he was the only source of magic left in the British Isles, other than a replica of the Ebony Blade. After his release he revealed that a shard of the Fury had pierced him and poisoned him, releasing the dark side of himself which he kept contained within, leading to the murder of his daughter. Merlin then used his magic and the shard of the Fury to resurrect Brian Braddock, who had been killed defending the Siege Perilous from the Skrulls. He also encouraged Faiza Hussain to take up Excalibur.

### Witchbreed

When Avalon came under the rule of Jamie Braddock and Betsy Braddock was named Captain Britain, Merlyn began his scheming against the presence of mutants in otherworld. He orchestrated a war between former king Arthur Pendragon and its new "witchbreed" rulers. This was also indicated to be a play against Opal Luna Saturnyne for his former position of Omniversal Guardian.

## Powers and Abilities

Merlyn’s potential for good stems from the factor of his mortal mother drinking holy water and receiving blessings from her priest, as well as becoming a nun, thus preventing the demon that had seduced her to transfer its impure influence upon her unborn child.

Merlyn has many immense magical powers, possibly related to his immortality, and has also trained himself so that he has developed other powers. He is seemingly multiversal, though he can make duplicates of himself as perceived necessary. He can create illusions, change his shape, observe other realities, raise the dead, levitate, thought cast, hypnotize, astral project, and manipulate energy in various ways such as powerful mystic energy bolts. Sometimes he uses advanced technology to help him. He has claimed in the past to be the Merlin who aided King Arthur at Camelot, and there is evidence to support this, though it is not really possible to separate the truth about Merlyn from the web of half-truths he has woven around himself.

### Powers

* **True Omnipotent:** As the Creator of the Unnatural Multiverse, he is supremely almighty and invincible.
	+ **Absolute Transcendence:** He is absolutely transcendent of absolutely everything.
	+ **Omniarch:** He rules all things in the Unnatural Multiverse.
	+ **Omnifarious:** He takes on any and all existing forms, shapes, varieties, or kinds.
	+ **Omnificence:** He creates anything and everything from nothing.
		- **Almighty Object Manipulation:** He creates artifacts of limitless power.
		- **Omnireplication:** He can duplicate anything.
	+ **Omnilock:** He exists outside of everything within the Unnatural Multiverse.
		- **Absolute Immortality:** He is total, and absolute immortal.
		- **Freedom:** He is absolute free of any boundaries, even from destiny.
* **True Omnipresent:** As the Creator of the Unnatural Multiverse, he is everywhere in existence at once.
* **True Omniscient:** As the Creator of the Unnatural Multiverse, he knows everything and anything.
	+ **Absolute Senses:** He possess senses enhanced on an omniversal scale.
	+ **Enlightenment:** He possess full comprehension of the omniverse.
* **Complete Arsenal:** As the Creator of the Unnatural Multiverse, he has every power.

## Unnatural Multiverse Power Rule

* Beyond Omnipotence is Omnipotence.
	+ Omnipotence by definition is the absolute pinnacle.
	+ If something were to beat omnipotence, then it was never omnipotent to begin with.
* Omnipotence in Fiction.
	+ Strictly speaking, omnipotents in fiction often have human-like personalities, thus they have been not omnipotent. However, they are often the sole absolute almighty in their setting, thus they are close enough to represent omnipotence.
* It's one and only wielder (there can be only one in each fictional continuity, hence the "Above All") is fundamentally invincible, completely immune to all other powers, and able to defeat the combined might of all creation and its mightiest beings just by wanting it, without the slightest effort.
* In Trans-Fictional Theories.
	+ If there are many Omnipotent beings in the multiverse then they would fundamentally be the same being, representing the individuality of their respective universe and unity of the infinite cosmos of other realities.
		- Thus, being a truer omnipotent being by universal concept and the principals of omnipotence.
* Omnipotence beings can only apply their power in their respective fiction.
* Omnipotence **can't** be achieved via other powers or otherwise.
* You have to be created with omnipotence in order to be omnipotent.

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

Merlin is armed with a scrying and communicating crystal ball, dust to render humans' unconscious, the Iron-bound Book of Skelos, the Stones of Merlin, the Obsidian Stone, which is possibly the same as the Merlin Stones, used by Victor von Doom as Sorcerer Supreme on Earth-938 to seal Khaboros and the entire Dark Dimension within, and various other magical objects. He is also seen with a pouch and a sword hanging from his leather belt which may possess mystical qualities, along with a wooden walking staff and a pointed, cone-shaped blue hat.

### Transportation

Teleportation, and considerable manual walking.

## Trivia

* Merlyn's real name is Tyron Bernard Spivey-Brown.
* Merlyn is one of the few characters able to speak out of character and break the fourth wall like Blue.
* Merlyn was thought to be a Watcher or a Watcher informant.