CASIOLENA
Real Name: Casiolena
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Asgardian) Magic User
Occupation: Sorceress (formerly) Queen
Group Membership: Sorcerous aides of Ollerus the Unmerciful
Affiliations: Executioner (Skurge), Fragon, Ollerus the Unmerciful, Poppo, "false Valkyrie" (Barbara Norris in Brunnhilde's body),
Enemies: Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Defenders (Doctor Strange, Hellcat, Hulk, Nighthawk, Sub-Mariner, Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)), Enchantress, Hela, the Legions of Valhalla (Harokin, Hagar), Barbara Norris, the Valkyrior (Svava)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Currently unknown (presumably Niffleheim);
formerly Ollerus' moving mountain stronghold in Valhalla;
formerly unidentified Asgardian nether realm
First Appearance: (Unidentified) Avengers I#83
(December, 1970);
(identified) Defenders I#4 (February, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Casiolena's sorcery enabled her to create two (at least) flying "watch-dragons" (which looked like large red pterodactyls but who could think and speak) and a duplicate of the flying horse Aragorn. Purported to be the equal of the Enchantress in magical power, Casiolena wielded "accumulated mystical skills of eons" to conjure mighty destructive blasts. Other uses for her power are unknown.
History:
(Avengers I#83 (fb)) - Queen
of an unidentified other-dimensional Asgardian nether-realm, Casiolena
approached the banished Executioner and invited him to be her
mate. The Executioner agreed, scorning his partner, the
Enchantress, for Casiolena.
(Defenders I#4 (fb) - BTS)- The Executioner spent months training Casiolena's armies. When the Enchantress and Black Knight invaded the realm, they were quickly captured, Casiolena defeating the Enchantress herself. Weeks later, Bruce Banner (human form of the Hulk) and Barbara Norris (an insane mortal girl) came to the realm through the same passage the Enchantress had left open. The two humans were also thrown in the dungeon.
(Defenders I#4) - When Dr. Strange and Namor pursued their allies into the realm, Strange was quickly defeated by Fragon, the Queen's conjurer, and Namor was beset by the Executioner and his forces. They were thrown into the dungeons, where the Enchantress turned Barbara Norris into the Valkyrie, who helped them escape from the dungeons. The heroes battled Casiolena's armies for a time when Casiolena, hating to sully her hands, stepped in directly and prepared a spell. Distracted by the Valkyrie, Casiolena was hit by a blast from the Enchantress and defeated.
(Defenders I#66 (fb) - BTS) - Casiolena became an ally (or underling) of Ollerus the Unmerciful, a dead and unworthy Asgardian warrior who planned to usurp Hela's position and become the new Asgardian God of Death.
(Defenders I#67 (fb) - BTS) - Casiolena used her magic to create (at least) two flying red "watch-dragons" to protect the outside of Ollerus' mobile stronghold.
(Defenders I#66) - Casiolena was inside the moving mountain of Ollerus, amusing herself by inspecting a skull, when Poppo came in and asked her where Ollerus was. Anticipating his claim that he had "news of great import" for Ollerus, Casiolena mocked Poppo by asking what he could say that would possibly interest the future God of Death. When Poppo stated that his sorcery was far more important than hers, Casiolena claimed that her sorcery "waxeth far stronger" than his and warned him to never underestimate the wiles of a woman. Their bickering came to an end when Ollerus entered the chamber and reminded them that they both existed only to serve him. Casiolena was (presumably) still present while Poppo then explained his devious plan to use the long-vanished Valkyrior commander (Brunnhilde) to hasten the conquest of Valhalla for Ollerus.
Later, Casiolena was present with Ollerus and Poppo after Brunnhilde fell into a trap baited with her immortal body (which resulted in the soul of Barbara Norris being transferred into Brunnhilde's godly form).
(Defenders I#68 (fb) - BTS) - Casiolena used her magic to create a duplicate of the flying horse Aragorn for the "false Valkyrie" Barbara Norris to ride.
(Defenders I#67 (fb) - BTS) - Within the moving mountain, Casiolena, Ollerus and Poppo watched (via the Crystal of Eternal Vision) as Barbara Norris pretended to be the Valkyrie and convinced the just-deceased Hellcat and Nighthawk to accompany her to Valhalla.
(Defenders I#67) - Casiolena was present with Ollerus and Poppo within the moving mountain when Ollerus began to build his army by killing thousands of humans on Earth and using his Valkyrie to bring them to Valhalla to serve him against Hela. Casiolena chose a fair-haired man in New York City to be the first recruit. Ollerus agreed with her choice and used his magic sceptre to kill that man.
Later, when Brunnhilde broke through the outer wall of her cell in the dungeon of the moving mountain, two of the "invincible watch-dragons created by Casiolena" tried to prevent her escape but Brunnhilde wounded one with a spear and Harokin killed the other one with a sword.
(Defenders I#68 - BTS) - Brunnhilde decided to try to sneak inside Ollerus' stronghold to capture Poppo and Casiolena, but her mission was stopped almost before it could begin. Ollerus was ultimately defeated when the Hulk smashed his most powerful weapon, the moving mountain. Hela then stated that she would banish him (and herself) to Niffleheim.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, and Tom Palmer.
Casiolena appeared to be the only female in her entire realm. Hopefully there is more to that story. Poor Smurfette...
Profile by Chadman & Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS
Casiolena name has no known connections to
(Defenders I#4) -
Conjurer to Queen Casiolena, Fragon wielded magical forces against the
realm's invaders and easily blocked Dr. Strange from being able to cast
spells. Later, after the heroes escaped, Fragon was quickly
defeated by twin blasts from Strange and the Enchantress.
Fragon possessed
magical abilities the limits of which are unknown. He used his
powers to block Dr. Strange's magic at one point.
--Defenders I#4
Two large red flying "dragons" created by Casiolena to protect the mobile stronghold of Ollerus. The creatures resembled pterodactyls but were sentient and could speak. When the Valkyrie (Brunnhilde) smashed a hole in the outer wall of the dungeon cell in which she was imprisoned, the two watch-dragons swooped down on her to prevent her escape. One dragon tried to get at the Valkyrie while she was still within her cell but she wounded him by stabbing her spear into the top of his mouth. The second dragon, the brother of the first, took advantage of the Valkyrie's exposed position to grab her with his legs and began to carry her to Ollerus but
was killed when a sword thrown by Harokin impaled his head, going in one eye and out the other. This dragon dropped the Valkyrie when he was killed but she was caught by Harokin who was riding atop Aragorn. Aside from their abilities to think, speak and fly, the two watch-dragons had claws that could gouge furrows in solid stone and the grip of their feet was "like steel" and strong enough to prevent the Valkyrie from breaking free. This indicates some degree of super-human strength. --Defenders I#67 images: Appearances: Last updated
04/07/06 Any
Additions/Corrections? please
let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
Defenders I#4, p5, pan2 (main image)
Defenders I#4, p16, pan6 (VS Valkyrie)
Defenders I#66, page 12, panel 2 (Casiolena)
Defenders I#4, p17, pan2 (Fragon)
Defenders I#67, page 15, panel 6(Watch-Dragons)
Avengers I#83 (December, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema
(penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Defenders I#4 (February, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema
(penciler), Frank McLaughlin (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Defenders I#66 (December, 1978) - D. Kraft (writer), E. Hannigan (artist), B. Patterson (inker), Bob Hall (editor)
Defenders I#67 (January, 1979) - David A. Kraft (co-plotter), Ed Hannigan (co-plotter, scripter and penciler), Bruce Patterson (inker), Allen Milgrom (editor)
Defenders I#68 (February, 1979) - David Kraft & Ed Hannigan (writers), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Pablo Marcos (inker), A.L. Milgrom (editor)
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
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