VISCOUNT HEINRICH KROWLER

Real Name: Henrich Krowler

Identity/Class: Human magic user; German native

Occupation: Viscount

Group Membership: German aristocracy; an unnamed cabal of dark mystics

Affiliations: Sir Anthony Baskerville, Dormammu, Adolf Hitler, Karl Amadeus Second Baron of Mordo; Nikolai, First Baron of Mordo; Sara Krowler Mordo

Enemies: Clea, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Nikolai, Baron of Mordo; Karl Amadeus, Baron of Mordo;

Known Relatives: Sara Mordo (n'ee Krowler, daughter); Nikolai, Baron of Mordo (son-in-law); Karl Amadeus, Baron of Mordo (grandson); Astrid Mordo (great-granddaughter)

Aliases: Viscount Krowler

Base of Operations: Castle Krowler, Bayern, Bavaria; Castle Baskerville, Cornwall

First Appearance: Doctor Strange II#50 (December 1981) 

Powers/Abilities: Heinrich Krowler was a skilled practitioner of the Dark Arts; however, realizing that his own innate mystic potential was limited, he secretly placed a Spell of Transference upon young Karl Amadeus Mordo and sent him seeking occult knowledge from the Acient One so that he could siphon off such knowledge and increase his own powers.

 History:  
(Doctor Strange III#6/2) - After World War I, feeling humiliated by Germany's defeat, and seeking revenge, Viscount Heinrich Krowler turned to the Dark Arts. However, he soon realized that his own abilities, while considerable, would not be enough to guarantee him the triumph he sought. He discovered that, through a Ritual of Transference, he could acquire greater power, but only from one of his own bloodline. He therefore arranged for the marriage of his daughter, Sara, to Nikolai, the First Baron of Mordo. From that union was born a son, christened Karl Amadeus -- the Baron Mordo who later went on to become Doctor Strange's arch-enemy. But when Nikolai's plans to recreate a new Carpathian Kingdown through sorcerous means came close to fruition, Krowler ordered Sara to kill her husband, which she did gleefully, catching him unaware and channeling her father's power.

Sara then took her son, left Varf Mandra and returned to live at her father's castle, where young Karl Amadeus was tutored by Viscount Krowler. However, one day, the teenage boy overheard a conversation between his grandfather and his mother in which they revealed they had killed his father. Karl then and there swore to kill them both.

(Doctor Strange II#51 / Doctor Strange III#7/2) - Krowler helped foster Hitler's rise to power by introducing him to a coterie of rich industrialists and dark mystics. He trained young Karl Amadeus into black magic and dispatched him to Tibet to learn and acquire more power from the Ancient One. During that time he secretly placed his Spell of Transference on the boy so that all magic that he would learn would become his as well. Thus it was through Karl and the Ancient One that Krowler learned of the existence of Dormammu and how to summon him.

(Doctor Strange II#50) - In 1943, Krowler entered into an alliance with Sir Anthony Baskerville. He secretly relocated to Castle Baskerville in Cornwall with a German squadron, and prepared to cause Dormammu to materialize on Earth. As part of his plan, Krowler secretly used the future Baron Mordo to bring Clea to 1943 and capture Doctor Strange.

(Doctor Strange II#51) - Krowler and Baskerville plotted to use the terror and hatred generated at the peak of the Blitz, and the sacrifice of Clea, to cause the materialization of Dormammu on Earth. Krowler asked Dormammu to release his grandson but the Dread One instead turned Future-Mordo into a ball of energy which he gave to Baskerville. Dormammu then took over Krowler's body. Baskerville later arranged for Future-Mordo to take over the body of Morgana Blessing, who had also traveled back to 1943, and was staying with Lady Pamela Hawley. But that attracted the attention of Pam's lover, Sergeant Nicholas Fury.

Castle Baskerville was attacked by Sergeant Fury and the Howling Commandos. Eventually, the power of love which bound Strange to Clea, Morgana to Strange, and Fury to Pamela, was enough to countereffect the hate generated by the London Blitz. Morgana rejected Future-Mordo's hatred and simultaneously blasted Dormammu in the body of Krowler and enabled Doctor Strange (whose astral form had escaped Krowler's initial attack) to blast through Dormammu's snares and strike at Krowler too. Dormammu was banished; Krowler's mind was annihilated.

(Doctor Strange III#7/2) - After Krowler returned to Germany, his mind and body broken after his battle with Doctor Strange, Sara cared for her invalid father. But Mordo, who was then living in Tibet with the Ancient One but has secretly been spying on them, saw an opportunity at last to fulfill his oath. Returning to Castle Krowler, he captured his mother and grandfather, and eventually sacrified both their lives to the Dread Dormammu, thereby sealing his alliance with the Dark Lord.

Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer) and Marshall Rogers (penciller) and Terry Austin (inker)


"Profile by" Jean-Marc Lofficier.

CLARIFICATIONS:  
Heinrich Krowler should be distinguished from:

• Sara Krowler, his daughter

Images:

Doctor Strange II#50 , p.31
Doctor Strange III#6 , p.26, panel 3
Doctor Strange II#51 , p.22, panel 3