SHAGREEN
THE SORCERER
Name: Shagreen
Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional ("Dimension of Floating Cities", Earth-5311) magic user
Group Membership: None
Affiliations:
Cthuma-Gurath
(his god); Dark Bamf (agent);
leader of his minions (Empty Men),
creator of the Guardians;
Long John McGurk’s Sky Rover
crew (occasional business
dealings)
Enemies:
Nightcrawler (Kurt
Wagner) (Earth-616), Boggies, Long John McGurk, Jinjav Sabree;
Bamfs, Colossus, Kitty, Lockheed, Mean,
and Windrider (Earth-Kitty's Fairy Tale)
Known Relatives: Jaws, Jabber-Jaw, Street-Sharks...kidding
Alias: Nastyface, Sharpytooth (both nicknames from Boggies)
Base of Operations:
Mobile in the Sky-Squid, also referred to as the
Bizarre Squid-Ship (mobile base);
sometimes L’un Dun-T’wn, aka "the Wizard’s
Stronghold", "the Fortress" (his floating
sky-port)
First Appearance: Nightcrawler I#1 (November, 1985)
Powers: Shagreen is a
mystic. His power
works most quickly and effectively through his staff or more often
the staff’s orb. Without the staff, he has to speak lengthy
spells and perform extensive rituals, but with the staff, he can
simply direct the power as need be for nearly instantaneous
effects. In addition, if the staff were destroyed, all magical
spells created by it would be disrupted.
The staff itself is a versatile weapon. The orb appears to be able to teleport matter interdimensionally, cause explosions, project shockwaves of energy, make blinding flashes of light, and may possibly be able to animate objects and control subjects. In hand-to-hand combat it is a formidable energy weapon (like a Light Saber, or Optimus Prime’s energy mace). While he can apparently travel between dimensions at will, he is unable to teleport spatially within a dimension.
Some of his power is drawn from invoking the demon Cthuma-Gurath. He is more than willing to perform blood sacrifice to gain additional power. Some of his servants were magical creations, as in the case of the Guardians, snake-statues which came to life and attacked any who approached his temple, and the Empty Men, cloaked beings sent to do his bidding. Shagreen is an accomplished and ambidextrous swordsman. His tail is semi-prehensile and can be used as a striking weapon or to trip up others.
Height: 6'
Weight: 190 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
History:
(Nightcrawler I#1) - Nightcrawler and Lockheed ended up in a weird dimension after a squid-like portal pulled them through a hole in the Danger Room, and they fell through the clouds onto a flying pirate ship called the Sky Rover T’ai Javinee under the command of Captain Long John McGurk. Nightcrawler was mistaken for a Boggie there (see comments for descriptions of the characters mentioned in this profile). Nightcrawler soon became accepted as a crewman. Later, appalled the pirates' disregard for innocent life, Nightcrawler stopped an attack on another sky-ship and rescued the the beautiful princess named Sabree on that other ship. They took him to the city of Bel Amee Anora. There, Nightcrawler was approached by a lady who claimed her brother had been wounded. With his guard down, Nightcrawler was hit in the back of the head by McGurk and Lockheed knocked out. When Nightcrawler and Lockheed awoke, they found themselves in the clutches of Shagreen!
(Nightcrawler
I#2) - Shagreen had both Nightcrawler
and Lockheed shackled on his floating stronghold, L’un
Dun-T’wn. Shagreen wished to study the teleportation
abilities of Nightcrawler for his own ends. That night,
Nightcrawler was freed by three Boggies who had been hiding from
Shagreen in a
mirror. The Boggies said they would not save
Nightcrawler unless he reversed the spell that prevented them
teleporting and which kept them on
L’un Dun T’wn. The Boggies told him the source of
the
spell was Shagreen’s orb. Also they stated that Sabree had been
captured and was to be sacrificed by Shagreen. After freeing
Lockheed, Nightcrawler and Lockheed went down a long corridor with
large snake carvings on both sides. Both carvings came alive, but
Nightcrawler managed to get them to make a passageway to
Shagreen. Right when Shagreen was about to sacrifice Sabree, the
giant stone snakes, called Guardians, burst through the walls with
Nightcrawler and Lockheed
running in front of them. The Guardians lunged at Shagreen, but he
destroyed them with an explosion from his orb. In the
confusion, Nightcrawler saved Sabree, but was cornered by Shagreen
who prepared to deliver a mighty blast of energy to
Nightcrawler, Sabree and Lockheed. Just then a blast from John
McGurk's ship went through the wall. McGurk,
in a change of heart, helped Nightcrawler, who found a ball and
chain and hurled it at Shagreen
staff while the sorcerer was distracted by cannon fire. There was
an
earth-shattering KRAAK! and Shagreen was disarmed. L’un Dun
T’wn began to collapse, so Nightcrawler gathered up Lockheed
and went to rescue Sabree. Shagreen beat him to her and hit
Nightcrawler on the head with a piece of debris. Nightcrawler
got to his feet moments later to see Shagreen fleeing in a
Sky-Squid. Lockheed flew off to catch the squid and Nightcrawler
quickly teleported there. Nightcrawler and Shagreen drew swords on
the vessel, with the sword fight taking them to the top of the
Sky-Squid (note: the Squid is like the balloon portion of a
dirigible, so they were fighting atop a squid). Nightcrawler
slipped on the slippery surface of the squid in mid-battle. As
Shagreen was about to take the final chop at Nightcrawler,
Lockheed appeared and fried his butt, and the shark-like mage fell off
and into the clouds below. Later, Nightcrawler was sucked into another
wormhole in a failed attempt by
Kitty and Magik to get Nightcrawler back to their home dimension.
(Nightcrawler I#2 - BTS) - Shagreen magically transported himself across to another dimension to another base of his.
(Nightcrawler I#3) - Nightcrawler found himself in a new place (the one from Kitty’s fairy tale theater in X-Men#153 (see comments)). He met up with a Bamf who took Nightcrawler to his village.
However, Shagreen showed up in the village right as
Nightcrawler and the unnamed Bamf arrived. Shagreen captured
every Bamf except for the one accompanying Nightcrawler and took
them to his wizard's tower hideaway on a spooky Island. The lone Bamf got
angry that Shagreen took all the females from the village (showing
little concern for the males) and enlisted aid from Mean, that world's Lockheed,
Colossus and Kitty (both pirates in this world). All six adventurers made it to the island's shore
but were attacked by Shagreen’s bird-like minions called Dreadwings. The six drive them off,
but, with the exception of Bamf and that dimension's giant Lockheed, were captured by Shagreen.
(Nightcrawler I#4) - Working together, the Bamf and Lockheed freed all the female Bamfs. Bamf, atop Lockheed, led the females' attack on Shagreen, who knocked them all unconscious. Then Windrider appeared and distracted Shagreen with some fancy sorcery, while Nightcrawler freed himself, Colossus, Kitty and Mean. Nightcrawler grabbed a mace and attempted to smash Shagreen's orb. However, Shagreen instead blasted him away. Then without warning, a "Wizard of Oz"-type floating head of the real Kitty appeared. Shagreen thought this to be some trick and blasted Kitty through into this dimension, but Magik magically returned Kitty by pressing a random button. During this, Nightcrawler grabbed a chain and lassoed Shagreen’s staff, disarming him with one mighty pull. Windrider took advantage of the opportunity and blasted Shagreen. Nightcrawler then smashed the staff on the ground, reversing all spells and sending himself back home (actually it took him through one more dimension briefly). Shagreen was captured and never heard from again...
Comments: Created by Dave Cockrum (writer and artist).
"Shagreen" is an actual
word,
fittingly meaning sharkskin (or more precisely, "the rough
skin of various sharks and rays when covered with small close-set
tubercles"). It also refers to "an untanned leather
covered with small round granulations and usually dyed
green." I can't believe colorist Paty Greer didn't take the
opportunity to color the guy green.
--Danny
Wind
QUIZ
QUESTION: whoever so
answers it gets their name on this page
Magik has owned many stuffed animals as a child, but one was
lost. What character did this stuffed animal portray and what happened
to it?
First
guess within 5 hours of the
profile going
up!
Is the stuffed animal your talking about Illyana's Bamf doll?
If so it was patterned after Nightcrawler & It was given by
Kitty to Jubilee to comfort her after Illyana's death. Jubilee
returned the favor by buying Kitty new clothes from a thrift
stores.
sincerely, RadChipmunk
(Aaron Lopez)
--Well you're info's correct, but the Bamf doll wasn't lost--it
was given away! (Don't be too disappointed, that was my guess as
well)--Snood
Nightcrawler’s
four-issue mini-series is
certainly a lame, annoying comic in which he is transported
accidentally into an overly cute alternate dimension. In addition
to trying to be "cute", the series provided us with the
knowledge that Nightcrawler is well-hung *shudder* (his clothes
are transported back when Kitty and Magik attempt to bring
Nightcrawler back to their dimension…At the time
Nightcrawler was walking with a girl in the alternate dimension
and after his clothes are returns the girl asks him if "he
could do that again" [maybe he was just well endowed for that dimension? --GP]). Shagreen’s presence only adds
annoyance. At the end we find out Magik has a PLAYGIRL
collection…I’m not kidding, really.
--I liked the series--it was goofy and fun, and I wasn't
disturbed by the girls' interest in boys--Snood.
Remaining
info by
Snood:
In this series, Kitty's Fairy Tale, from Uncanny X-Men#153, is
established as real occurrences from an alternate dimension (Earth-Kitty's Fairy Tale? Why not?). Anyway,
here's the
rundown:
(Fairy Tale
Counterpart)------------------------------------------(Earth-616
Version)
In addition, Boggies were other-dimensional creatures which also resembled Nightcrawler, but were distinct from the Bamfs. Shagreen was convinced that Nightcrawler was a Boggie.
Cthuma-Gurath would seem to be a play on Shuma-Gorath and/or Lovecraft's Cthulhu, but whether it is directly connected to either of those beings is unknown.
Shagreen received a small entry in All-New OHotMU Update#4.
Profile by: Mike McTighe (Fortmax) and Snood (+ sub-profiles by Grendel Prime)
Clarifications:
Shagreen should not to be confused with:
Shagreen’s Dreadwings are not to be confused with:
Shagreen worshiped a powerful demon called Cthuma-Gurath, offering sacrifices of young women to it and deriving power from the demon.
Cthuma-Gurath was only depicted in its giant statue form at the altar attended by Shagreen's Empty Men.
--Nightcrawler I#2
The Empty Men were the minions of Shagreen. They helped carry and cart Nightcrawler and Lockheed to Shagreen's floating fortress. They later attacked Sabree's retainers and kidnapped her, imprisoning her in Shagreen's fortress of L'un Dun-T'wn. The Empty Men also attended the ritual of sacrifice at Shagreen's altar to Cthuma-Gurath. They likely perished with the destruction of L'un Dun-T'wn.
--Nightcrawler I#1 (2
images:
(without ads)
Nightcrawler I#1, p23, pan5 (main image)
Nightcrawler I#2, p12, pan2 (head shot)
Nightcrawler I#2, p14, pan5 (tail bitten)
Nightcrawler I#2, p18, pan4 (with sword)
Nightcrawler I#2, p10, pan1 (Cthuma-Gurath)
Nightcrawler I#2, p2, pan2 (Empty Men)
Appearances:
Nightcrawler I#1-4 (November, 1985 - February, 1986) - Dave Cockrum
(writer/artist), Ann Nocenti (editor)
Last updated: 10/18/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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