Merlin (Prime Earth)

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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page.

Merlin was once a wizard in the employ of King Arthur.

Early Life

Long ago, Merlin visited Hell to offer Lucifer a deal; for a means to protect Camelot. Lucifer accepted his offer and sent Etrigan the Demon to Earth, where Merlin was able to bond him to Jason of Norwich for eternity.^[2][3] 

Stormwatch

After King Arthur's death, Merlin continued to fight the forces of evil, and to that end, he founded Stormwatch. For hundreds of years, he recruited century babies and other heroes to help him, under the guise of Adam One.^[4] But eventually he was replaced and "clinically killed" since this is the only way to enter the Cabinet's dimension.^[5] Merlin later appeared in a dream to Jenny Quantum and explained to her the team's origins.^[6] At some point, the extra-dimensional aliens known as "the Kollective" killed Merlin at the moment of creation, averting the Demon Knights' backstory for Stormwatch and effectively rebooting the entire timeline.^[7] The original timeline, and Merlin, were eventually restored.^[8]

Demon Knights

Years later, Merlin was killed again by a daemonite-controlled disciple in the city of Alba Sarum in Camelot.^[9] However, the Demon Knights are able to bring his body to Isle of Avalon, resurrecting him and then uses his mystical powers to help defeat the invading forces of Lucifer and Queen Questing.^[10]

Infinite Frontier

Merlin later resurrected Arion as the Sapphire Knight.^[11]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Human-Demon Hybrid: As the son of Belial, Merlin possesses Demonic heritage, which grants him vast supernatural power.
  • Magic: Merlin is a renown and powerful sorcerer. As a human-demon hybrid, Merlin is capable of handling an amount of magic in which an ordinary human body is unable to contain. He was able to employ a Binding Spell that made Jason Blood and Etrigan nearly impossible to track.^[12]
    • Energy Projection: Merlin can use magic to project destructive blasts of energy.^[13]
      • Disintegration^[13]
      • Eldritch Blast^[13]
    • Flight: Merlin can use magic to freely levitate through the air. He is also able to walk across water.^[14]
    • Magic Negation: With a mere gesture, Merlin can easily undo spells he has previously placed.^[15]
    • Molecular Reconstruction: Merlin was able to transform the sword of Excalibur into a magical gem, with the touch of his hands.^[15]
    • Power Distribution: Merlin was able to infuse Etrigan with vast amounts of magical power.^[16]
    • Summoning: Merlin was able to summon mystical creatures from stories in an ancient manuscript, setting them free into the real world.^[1]
  • Immortality: Due to his demonic heritage, Merlin does not seem to age past his physical prime. He has been said to have walked the Earth for centuries.^[1]
  • Superhuman Durability: Merlin is far more durable and resistant to injury than any ordinary human, stating to have wandered through the heart of a dying star.^[15]
  • Superhuman Strength: Merlin possesses strength far greater than any ordinary human. He is strong enough to effortlessly punch a hole through a persons chest.

Abilities

• Genius Level Intellect
  • Intimidation^[1]
  • Occultism: As one of the world's most accomplished magicians, Merlin possesses vast knowledge of magic and the supernatural.^[1]
  • Disguise
  • Prestidigitation

• This character or object is an adaptation of Merlin, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
• Merlin was created by Rafael Astarita, first appearing in New Comics #3. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Merlin first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Stormwatch (Volume 3) #1 by Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda.

• 55 Appearances of Merlin (Prime Earth)
• 13 Images featuring Merlin (Prime Earth)
• 5 Quotations by or about Merlin (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Merlin (Prime Earth)

Footnotes