Real Name: Madeleine de St. Germaine (née Revell)

Identity/Class: Human (possibly/potentially) magic-user;
    French

Occupation: Wife and mother;
   formerly a translator at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York

Group Membership: The Ancients (see comments)

Affiliations: Doctor Stephen Strange; Colette Joubert (maid)

Enemies: Baron (Karl) Mordo; Julian, Lord Phyffe (a.k.a. Azrael, undead); cultists who served Lord Phyffe (none identified)

Known Relatives: Husband (last name presumably de St. Germaine, first name unrevealed), son (name unrevealed), daughter (name unrevealed)

Aliases: Madeleine St. Germaine (or Madeleine de St. Germain);
   formerly Madeleine Revell (maiden name)

Base of Operations: Paris, France;
   formerly Manhattan, New York, United States of America

First Appearance: (Possibly; unidentified) Strange Tales I#136/2 (September, 1965) - (see comments);
     (confirmed, identified) Doctor Strange II#39 (February, 1980);

Powers/Abilities: Madeleine is able to speak both French and English fluently.

   Madeleine possesses either a significant mystic ability or a potential to develop such abilities. However, since she has never demonstrated any powers, she either has powers but is unaware of them or has the potential for powers but has never chosen to develop them.
   Alternatively, maybe Madeleine knows that she possesses some mystic power but that it's not enough to enable her to help Doctor Strange battle the Man-Thing.

   Madeleine has some skill as a marksman, being able to fire a rifle at targets that was dozens of feet away and hit them dead center.

   Madeleine usually wears eyeglasses that she seems to need because she's far-sighted, not near-sighted.

Height: 6' (estimated)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Grey (even when younger)

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb)) - Early one morning, Madeleine was the only survivor of a multi-car smash-up on the FDR Drive. An ambulance rushed her to New York Hospital where the staff was surprised to find her still breathing. Madeleine was immediately sent to surgery where the young resident who was working the graveyard shift in the operating room, Dr. Stephen Strange, went to work on her. The surgery lasted for hours and Madeleine almost died on the table twice, but Strange brought her back both times. Those who had said that she hadn't had a prayer of surviving called it a miracle when she left the operating room alive.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb)- BTS) - During her recovery, Madeleine was often seen by Dr. Strange, and the two of them kept seeing each other after Madeleine was released and returned to her job. For a year, the two of them were inseparable, and they often dined at a certain Greenwich Village sidewalk cafe. However, although she loved him, Madeleine noticed that Strange was becoming increasingly callous towards others and selfish.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb)) - The next spring, after they had been together for (over) a year, Strange brought Madeleine to their favorite Greenwich Village sidewalk cafe and asked her to marry him. Holding the diamond engagement ring he had offered her, Madeleine declined, saying, "Non, Stephen. I love you, too, mon cher...but I will not marry you." When the surprised Strange asked why not, Madeleine replied, "Because I do not like the man you are becoming. Your medical skill is awesome, yet you use it to enrich yourself, not to help others. You care nothing for people, only for their money." Madeleine then walked away, leaving a frustrated Strange to sweep the abandoned ring and a wine glass off the table.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - Although Strange's heart was broken by her rejection, part of him was relieved to see her go because he was so consumed by greed that he didn't want to share his growing wealth with anyone.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - At some point after ending her relationship with Strange, Madeleine Revell met, fell in love with and married a man whose last name was de St. Germaine. The two of them later had two children, a boy and a girl.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Madeleine moved to Paris, France, to live. It has not been revealed if this happened before or after she met and married her husband. Or maybe it happened after she met her future husband but before she married him.

(Strange Tales I#136/2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Madeleine may have become involved with the Ancients, a group of men and women who shared an interest in occult matters. The extent of her (alleged) involvement has not been revealed but, at the very least, Madeleine may have attended a number of gatherings of the Ancients during which she sometimes heard the word "Eternity" whispered.

(Strange Tales I#130/2) - After an attack by Baron Mordo, whose power had secretly been enhanced by Dormammu, Strange got the Ancient One to a safe hiding place and then went on the run.

(Strange Tales I#136/2 (fb) - BTS) - Madeleine somehow knew about Baron Mordo and learned that he had spies everywhere looking for Doctor Strange.

(Strange Tales I#134/2) - While visiting the comatose Ancient One, Strange was told by Hamir that his master had been muttering the word "Eternity" over and over again. Believing that it must be important, Strange began to search for the secret of Eternity.

(Strange Tales I#136/2) - Continuing his search, Strange arrived at a certain house and used his Cloak of Levitation beneath his suit to let him hover outside an upstairs window. A grey-haired woman wearing spectacles opened the window and, upon seeing Strange, exclaimed, "You--who saved my life many years ago! Come in, quick! Mordo's spies are everywhere!" Strange replied that he had no time and asked her to tell him what she knew of Eternity. The woman told Strange, "I have heard the word whispered at gatherings of the Ancients -- but have never probed its secrets!" Strange responded by stating that she could not help him and that he must search elsewhere, then warned her to tell none that she had seen him. Strange then left, without two of Mordo's spies who were on the street below spotting him.

(Strange Tales I#137/2-138/2) - Strange eventually learned how to travel to the world of Eternity but his request for great additional power was refused by Eternity who said that Strange already had the wisdom that he could use to overcome Mordo and Dormammu.

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Madeleine and her family began living in an apartment in Paris, France. It was presumably while she was living there that Madeleine hired a young Frenchwoman named Colette Joubert as her maid.

(Doctor Strange II#39 / Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - Several years later, and "almost twenty years" after they first met, malevolent forces brought Stephen Strange back into Madeleine's life.

(Doctor Strange II#40 - BTS) - For unrevealed reasons, Madeleine may have begun investigating Lord Phyffe.

(Doctor Strange II#39 (fb) - BTS) - From unspecified sources (possibly the Ancients), Madeleine learned that Lord Phyffe had agreed to serve Baron Mordo in exchange for being spared when Mordo opened the Seven Gates of Chaos and thereby destroyed the planet Earth. She was subsequently kidnapped by cultists who served Lord Phyffe.
      OR
(Doctor Strange II#39 (fb) - BTS) - Madeleine was kidnapped by cultists who served Lord Phyffe, possibly on the orders of Baron Mordo, who may have targeted her because of her past with Strange. While being held captive, she overheard (or was told) that Lord Phyffe now served Baron Mordo who was planning on opening the Seven Gates of Chaos and thereby causing the destruction of the planet Earth.

(Doctor Strange II#39) - After discovering that Baron Mordo had secretly recovered from his catatonic state and escaped, Doctor Strange and his old friend Cardinal Alfeo Spinosa traveled to Paris to ask Lord Julian Phyffe to help them locate Mordo. Arriving in Paris after dark, the duo went straight to Lord Phyffe`s home on the once-fashionable Rue des Arbres on the Right Bank of the River Seine and entered through the unlocked front door.

    Once Strange and Spinosa were within the darkened foyer, one of the cultists serving Lord Phyffe fired a silenced gun and shot Spinosa through the heart, killing him. Since Strange had been alert and prepared for a sorcerous attack, his old friend's sudden death took him by surprise, and this moment of incomprehension left him vulnerable to being struck from behind by a cudgel blow to his head that rendered him unconscious.

(Doctor Strange II#39 - BTS) - While Strange was unconscious, the cultists moved Spinosa's body from inside Phyffe's mansion to somewhere on the grounds and moved Strange to the chapel beside the mansion. They also garbed Madeleine in a red dress and brought her to the chapel where she was laid atop a demonic altar and rendered unconscious.

    As the other "doctors" in the operating room insisted that he operate, Strange almost complied but then resisted, even though he was no longer sure if his life as a sorcerer was anything other than a drunkard's fantasy. However, when Strange concentrated, the illusion began to distort and he recalled the words of a spell that, when he spoke them, lifted the "masking veil" in which the cultists had trapped him.

   Now able to see reality as it was and having regained access to his occult knowledge, Strange found himself in a chapel, holding a dagger in his hand and standing before a demonic altar on which an agitated Madeleine was lying. As the cultists realized that Strange had overcome their spells, they rushed forward, planning to use their daggers to kill him while he was still groggy and vulnerable, and one of them knocked over a brazier in the rush. Strange kicked back the nearest cultist and then grabbed Madeleine up in his arms. As Madeleine pointed out that the exit was blocked and asked what were they to do, Strange noticed that the brazier had set the chapel on fire and realized that, in his weakened state, he would be unable to control the fire. Accordingly, Strange used his Cloak of Levitation to carry both himself and Madeleine into the mansion and then up and out of it before the entire building collapsed. Once on the ground, Strange spoke to Madeleine in French, asking if she was all right and assuring her that she was now safe. Also speaking French, Madeleine replied, "Your French is as delightful as ever, Stephen. I am well. Or will be...once I stop shaking." Madeleine then spotted something lying on the ground and drew Strange's attention to it. Strange sadly identified the body as that of Alfeo Spinosa, dead from a gunshot through the heart. Strange then asked Madeleine who the people who had killed Spinosa and attacked them were, and she replied, "All I know, Stephen, is that they served Lord Phyffe, who now serves Baron Mordo. In return, Mordo has promised to spare Phyffe when he opens the Seven Gates of Chaos. And thereby destroys the Earth!"

(Doctor Strange II#40 (fb) - BTS) - In the aftermath, Strange apparently took Madeleine to her home where she found her glasses and changed from the red gown she had been wearing into more suitable clothing, including a sweater, pants and boots. It was probably during this time that Strange dealt with Alfeo's corpse. Finally, Strange asked Madeleine to follow him when he went off to confront Lord Phyffe in his home.

(Doctor Strange II#40 - BTS) - Later that same night, Madeleine was outside Lord Phyffe's home when Strange confronted him during a dinner party he had been hosting. When Phyffe fled with Strange in pursuit, Madeleine followed them in her car, and saw the chase end when Phyffe's car went into the river Seine and Strange dove in after him. Madeleine went looking for Strange, but it took some time to find him because the current had swept him further downstream than she had anticipated.

(Doctor Strange II#40) - When Madeleine finally found Strange at the embankment, he was so weak from being in the cold water that he was unable to pull himself out of the river. Madeleine offered him her hand and helped him out of the river. Noticing that he was shaking, she gave him a cup of hot tea, laced with honey and lemon, and then helped him to her nearby car, telling him that that should hold him until they reached her home and got him out of his wet clothes. When she asked about Lord Phyffe, Strange told her that he had died in the crash. As the car drove away, Strange's exhaustion caused him to quickly fall asleep.

(Doctor Strange II#40 - BTS) - Madeleine and Strange went to her Parisian home to recover from their recent ordeal. Early the next morning, Madeleine got up and got dressed before sunrise. She may have also spent some time gathering information about Lord Phyffe's recent activities.

(Doctor Strange II#40) - As the sun rose in Paris, Madeleine entered the sitting room where Strange had been reading that day's copy of the International Herald Tribune newspaper. Upon seeing him, Madeleine said, "A penny for your thoughts, Stephen." When Strange replied that they had been of her and of them and of what was, Madeleine answered, "And of what might have been? I was thinking of that myself."

     Getting right down to business, Madeleine asked Strange exactly what these "Chaos Gates" were, and Strange told her that they were part of an ancient spell that could be used to reverse the seven days of Genesis, with one gate for each day. The first gate would set everything in motion, and once it was opened and the demon within was unleashed, then the gate could never be closed. Strange then revealed that the second gate countered the sixth day of Genesis, and the demon released from that gate would destroy humanity and every other living thing on Earth.

   Wondering aloud how such a thing could be possible, Madeleine asked if even Baron Mordo had such power, and Strange replied that, as a student of the Ancient One, Mordo had the power and the books he had stolen from the Vatican had given him the knowledge. Strange went on to say that the spell required the sacrifice of a coven, thirteen people who all possessed significant mystic ability or potential, and that the demon of the first gate would consume them body and soul.

    Strange then added that the sacrifice had to occur in a place of great occult power, like Stonehenge or the T'si-Nin Caves in China, and that without Lord Phyffe to lead them, they would have to search every possible site. Hearing this, Madeleine revealed that she had learned that Phyffe had recently made an unusual number of business trips to Florida. Her mentioning Florida triggered Strange's memory of a story he had just read in the newspaper, and he told Madeleine about multiple recent disappearances in Citrusville and that that town sat on the edge of the Nexus of All Realities, a dimensional crossroads that was charged with one of the highest concentrations of arcane energy on the planet!

   At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by a scream that Madeleine identified as belonging to her maid, Colette. Seconds later, Colette burst through the door, screaming and begging "Madame" to help her as she struggled to break the grip that someone in the outer room had on her. However, unable to free herself, Colette began aging so quickly that, in a matter of seconds, the young woman had become an old woman and then her body decayed into dust. As Madeleine mourned her poor Colette, the person responsible entered the room, revealing himself to be the dead Lord Phyffe, now transformed into Azrael. Strange reacted instantly and cast powerful spells against Azrael, but none of them stopped him because everything, even spells, aged at his touch.

    Realizing that he needed time, Strange cast a spell to distract Azrael, then he and Madeleine entered the bedroom whose door he sealed with a spell. When two Paris police officers arrived, kicked in the apartment door and opened fire on Azrael without having any effect, Strange acted to save them by casting a spell that briefly trapped Azrael even as he bundled Madeleine up in a thick quilt, gathered her in his arms, told her to hold on tightly and then jumped out through the bedroom window, hoping to land on the awning of the sidewalk bistro that was right below the apartment. Although the landing was rough, neither of them broke any bones, and Madeleine ran when Strange told her to. However, Strange was unable to escape from Azrael and was soon rapidly aging in his grasp.

(Man-Thing II#4) - As Strange continued to age in Azrael's grasp, he summoned the Hosts of Hoggoth to break that grip and temporarily pin Azrael down. When Madeleine took that opportunity to come to Strange, she was shocked to find that he was white-haired and elderly, but he reassured her that he looked much worse than he really was. Madeleine then observed that Hoggoth's Fist seemed to be holding Azrael but Strange replied "For now" and asked her to help him up because he had to prepare. Madeleine did so, then kissed Strange and said, "I understand. Bon chance, mon cher. My prayers go with you." Madeleine then ran to the captain of the just-arrived police reinforcements and told him that they had to get the bystanders out of the area at once because their lives were in danger. She then said, "I haven't time to explain. My name is Madeleine de St. Germain -- My husband is..." at which point the police captain cut her off, saying that he knew of her husband. When Madeleine repeated her request that the crowd be moved back, the captain ordered his men to clear the area.

   Unable to help, Madeleine and the police captain could only watch as the elderly Strange battled Azrael. When the captain asked about the strange sounds and lights, Madeleine didn't answer him but recognized it as a binding spell that drew upon some of the most powerful known entities and she wondered how Strange, who was glowing like a star, could possibly channel that inconceivable energy through his body, but when the battle was over and the light had faded, Azrael was gone.

    Madeleine then rushed to the now-extremely-aged Strange's side and initially thought that he was dead, but when he asked for some water, she gave him some and told him that an ambulance was on its way. Strange replied that moving him in his condition would be fatal so he instead cast a spell of rejuvenation that shocked Madeleine by instantly transforming him back to his normal age. When Madeleine reminded him of the police. Strange cast another spell and then told Madeleine that the police had forgotten about them and that the damage and the deaths would be attributed to a freak gas main explosion. Strange then asked Madeleine to hail a taxi because they had to catch the first available flight to Miami.

(Man-Thing II#4 - BTS) - Madeleine and Strange traveled by plane from Paris to Miami where they rented a car.

(Man-Thing II#4) - With Madeleine driving while Strange recuperated in the passenger seat, they drove west along Interstate 75 until they reached Route 29 and then turned north to drive up to Citrusville in Cypress County, passing the swamp where the Nexus was located along the way.

    Once they'd reached the town, they parked, then entered the Sheriff's Office where Strange spoke to Sheriff Daltry and asked him for information about the disappearances. Daltry was initially hostile and uncooperative so Strange cast a spell that made him willing to reveal everything. Madeleine noticed and, in a whisper, asked Stephen if he had, but Strange cut her off, whispering back when and if he had to.

    Madeleine and Strange then listened as Sheriff Daltry told them everything that the authorities had been holding back about the disappearances, starting with the fact that that eighteen people had gone missing and the bodies of nine of them had been found, including that of a baby girl, less than a month old, who had been hacked to pieces. Horrified by this, Madeleine asked why, and Strange told her that Mordo needed to use specific types of people in his blood sacrifice or else the spell would be nullified.

    After asking about the Kale family and being told that Joshua Kale and his grandchildren Jennifer and Andy had been the first to disappear, Strange asked if anyone could guide them to the Kale place, and Daltry suggested Jaxon, Jennifer's ex-boyfriend. Strange thanked Daltry for his help and then left, cancelling the spell of cooperation as he did so and leaving the sheriff with no memory of their conversation.

   After finding Jaxon and hiring him to take them to the Kale place, Madeleine and Strange were soon with Jaxon aboard his airboat, traveling through the swamp which Madeleine observed was beautiful. As they neared the Kale place, they all saw a woman wearing a parka waving at them as she ran from the house. Unaware that the woman, Elaine Simpson, was trying to warn them of a trap, the airboat entered shallow water where the Man-Thing suddenly burst up from beneath it, shattering the airboat and sending its occupants flying into the water.

    Madeleine and Jaxon made it to shore together and spotted Elaine, who had collapsed. Going to her aid, they put her arms over their shoulders and began moving her away from the water and the Man-Thing. Seconds later, when she saw Strange battling the Man-Thing, Madeleine wished to herself that she had the mystic power to help him. At that moment, Elaine revived and spoke of a man who had hurt her. Madeleine then spotted Baron Mordo hovering in mid-air and realized that he must be controlling the Man-Thing, so she retrieved a shotgun from the wrecked airboat and fired at Mordo, hoping to stop the battle before it was too late. Unfortunately, although her shot hit dead center, the Mordo she hit was just an astral projection that then disappeared while the real Mordo, standing on the ground nearby, congratulated her for her admirable try but then fired a mystic blast at her that caused her to scream in pain and drop the shotgun.

   As the battle between Strange and the Man-Thing continued, Madeleine stood beside Mordo, encased in a glowing golden field that kept her from acting, and could only listen as Mordo bragged about how clever he had been. Later, when the Man-Thing had held Strange under water long enough to drown him, Madeleine began crying, prompting Mordo to tell her not to weep for Strange because, before that day was out, she would be joining him.

(Doctor Strange II#41 (fb) - BTS) - While Strange survived by placing himself in a deep zen trance that enabled him to lie face down in the Okeechobee River for hours without dying, Mordo transported the thirteen sacrifices, including Madeleine, the three Kales and the Man-Thing (whose body was now controlled by the mind of Ted Sallis), to a demonic temple that somehow existed within the decaying shack once owned by Sallis. Once there, Mordo clothed six of the women (including Madeleine) in dresses and the five men in briefs, then placed them on a round dais situated before a giant crystal gate. While Jennifer Kale (dressed in her ritual garb) and the Man-Thing were chained in the center of a circle of eleven obsidian slabs, the other eleven sacrifices were laid out on those slabs that were arranged like a giant clockface with slabs at the one o'clock through eleven o'clock positions, with Madeleine chained to the eleventh slab and Jaxon to her right on the tenth slab.

(Doctor Strange II#41) - With everything ready and after he had finished bragging to Jennifer Kale, Mordo cast the spell to summon the Chaos demon but was seemingly interrupted when Doctor Strange entered the temple and demanded that he stop. However, that Strange was only an illusion that had been cast in order to allow the real Strange to get close enough to punch Mordo. Unfortunately, Mordo had already completed the spell and punching him activated his spell of protection which then cast the two sorcerers away from the temple and into the heart of the Nexus of All Realities.

    Trapped there, Strange was unable to stop the great crystal door from opening and a giant four-fingered green hand from reaching out. As the hand began covering each of the sacrifices in turn, it absorbed the life essence and the mystic power of each victim, leaving only fleshless bones behind as it grew larger, the Chaos Gate opened wider and the demon slowly gained the strength it needed to free its fellow demons.

    Eventually, after minutes had passed, Jaxon was killed, and the hand reached for Madeleine. In her last moments, her thoughts were of those she loved: her husband, her children and Strange. As she died, reduced to a fleshless skeleton, Madeleine used her last breath to cry out, "STEPHEN!!" Hearing her death-cry provoked a berserker rage in Strange that enabled him to reach Mordo and begin choking him.

   Meanwhile, back in the temple, the Chaos demon's hand was reaching for Jennifer, who used her last moments to try to convince Sallis that Mordo had been lying about how the spell would restore him to his human form. Seeing Jennifer reduced to a skeleton caused Sallis to come to his senses, and when the hand reached for him, he resisted. Although the touch of the hand weakened him and caused him pain, the freakish make-up of the Man-Thing's body enabled him to survive long enough to push the hand back through the gate that was almost fully-opened and then slam the crystal doors shut.

    This disrupted Mordo's spell and shattered the gates, and their destruction created a tear between dimensions that sucked the Man-Thing into it, but he was saved by Doctor Strange who returned them both to the temple. Once there, Strange was greeted by a miracle because the breaking of Mordo's spell before it was completed had forced the Chaos demon to return the lives it had stolen, restoring the twelve people it had killed and destroyed to life and health, including Madeleine, who embraced Stephen and told him he was "so beautiful."

    Madeleine then stood beside Strange as he cast a spell meant to restore the Man-Thing to human form, but when that failed and Sallis reacted by lashing out at those around him, Strange was forced to instead cast a spell that returned the intellect of Sallis to the mystic limbo it had occupied for years, leaving the Man-Thing again mindless. As they watched the Man-Thing shuffle away into the swamp, Strange told Madeleine that he was humbled because, despite all his power, he had been unable to save the man who had helped him save the world.

(Doctor Strange II#42) - Hours later, the couple arrived at Miami International Airport, descending slowly down out of the morning sky with Madeleine lying on a circular mystic platform projected from Strange's amulet.

    As they reached the ground, with Madeleine landing on her bare feet once the platform vanished, she noticed the onlookers gaping at them and said to Strange, "I fear our entrance will create a stir, mon cher - - how will we explain it?" Strange replied that they would explain nothing because there would be no need, then used a spell that changed their appearance (by transforming their clothing) while also casting an aura of doubt into the minds of those who had seen them land.

    As they entered the airport, Madeleine commented on how they had first arrived in Miami only the previous day and that it was such a prosaic and normal ending to their fantastic adventure. Strange apologized that she had had to face such danger, saying that he should have kept her out of it, but Madeleine replied, "You needed my help. I gave it freely. I regret nothing."

   Soon afterwards, Strange presented Madeleine with one first-class ticket to Paris and said that, with luck, she would be home in time for dinner. Impressed, Madeleine asked if it was more magic, but Strange replied that it was American Express. Before they parted, Strange had some things he wanted to say to her, including how he had loved her once, a long time ago, when he had hardly known what the word meant, and that, although everything had since changed, looking at her now it was as if nothing had changed.

    Madeleine then mentioned that her flight was being called so she began to leave. However, when Strange said good-bye and wished her well, she rushed back and embraced him, saying, "and I...I...I do not want to go! Oh, Stephen--I am happily married, I have children, and yet...I see you and ask myself if it's possible for a woman to love two men with all her heart?" Breaking the embrace and walking away with her luggage, Madeleine said, "Au revoir, my darling" and then whispered, "Until we meet again."

    Behind her, Stephen Strange thought to himself that perhaps a woman could love two men because he knew it was possible for a man to love two women with all of his heart.