AYESHA
<no images>

Real Name: Ayesha

Identity/Class: Human magic-user;
    Hyborian, post-Hyborian/BC era

Occupation: Sorcerer;
    former Sorcerer Supreme

Group Membership: Sorcerers Supreme

Affiliations: Aged Genghis, the Vishanti (Hoggoth, Oshtur, Agamotto)

Enemies: Unrevealed

Known Relatives: Ashake, Ashake of Meroe, N'Dare (presumably), Ororo Munroe (aka Storm)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    at least previously the Limpopo Province of South Africa

First Appearance: Marvel Tarot#1 (June, 2007)

Powers/Abilities: Ayesha was one of the most powerful magic users of her era. She could almost certainly access the astral plane and other dimensions, transport others across dimensional barriers, project magical bolts, magically extend her lifespan for at least 5000 years, and call on power from entities such as Oshtur and Agamotto. 

    She presumably possessed and could utilize the Book of the Vishanti and the three Eyes of Agamotto.

    She could likely control the weather.

    The full range of her abilities remains unrevealed.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed (likely blue)
Hair: Unrevealed (likely white)

History: 
(Marvel Tarot (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (hardcover) Vol. 7: Appendix: Magic (from the journals of Ian McNee / Avengers: Roll Call#1: Agamotto entry) (fb) - BTS) - The ancient wizard Genghis -- per Agamotto's request -- arranged the "Time of the Vishanti" and all the world's most powerful mages assembled and battled to see who would be supreme.

    Ayesha, the Rain Queen of Balobedu, emerged as the champion, accepting Agamotto's talismans and the title of Sorcerer Supreme circa 10,000 BC. As magnificent and mysterious as the night sky, Ayesha was the first human to bear the title and one of the greatest.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (hardcover) Vol. 7: Appendix: Magic (from the journals of Ian McNee) (fb) - BTS) - After serving for nearly 5000 years, Ayesha asked the Genghis to help locate the next Sorcerer Supreme.
    She was succeeded by an Egyptian wizard who subsequently changed his name to Hermes Trismegistrus.

    Ayesha's legacy lives on through her descendents, a matrilineal line of sorceresses that includes the Egyptian Priestess Ashake and the mutant Ororo (Storm).

Comments: The Rain Queen of Balobedu is a real world person/succession...
        search/"Google" it; or check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Queen
    the name Ayesha was used in a character based on the Rain Queen of Balodedu in the novel "She: A History of Adventure" by H. Rider Haggard (Sir Henry Rider Haggard);
    Christopher Claremont established Storm (Ororo Munroe) as being from a line of matriarchal nature/magic-manipulating women.
    David Sexton established Ayesha as a Sorcerer Supreme, the ancestor of Storm, and the inspiration for H. Rider Haggard's "She."

    I had planned to cover and picture some information from Marvel Classic Comic's adaptation of "She: A History of Adventure," but creator David Sexton clarified that the novel was inspired by the character, which clarified that the novel is not part of the character's history.

    Creator David Sexton said:
    Haggard and Claremont were both inspired by the same actual Rain Queen legend. I connected those connections.
    Ayesha was a powerful and supposedly immortal sorceress. I read that Haggard based the character on legends of a white witch or of a black witch with white hair called the Rain Queen of Balobedu. I connected that character with Ashake of Meroe from Marada the She-Wolf and Ashake from New Mutants. Chris Claremont in the Magik mini-series and New Mutants says that Storm was descended from a long line of whte-haired, blue eyed sorceresses.

    In the Marvel Universe, the character from She was based on Ayesha the Sorcerer Supreme. The character She was also known as "She Who Must Be Obeyed"; but we don't know that those alias es apply to the Sorcerer Supreme Ayesha.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Ayesha should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
None - I was going to include an image from the Marvel Classic Comics version of She/Ayesha, but I ultimately decided it would be more likely to be confusing, as it's not the character in this profile...

Appearances:
Marvel Tarot (2007) - David Sexton (writer/designer), Doug Sexton (technical consultant), Jeff Christiansen (continuity consultant), Michael Short & Cory Levine (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley & Jennifer Grunwald (associate editors), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (hardcover) Vol. 7 (2009): Appendix: Magic (from the journals of Ian McNee) - David Sexton (writer), Jeff Christiansen (head writer/coordinator), Madison Carter, Mike Fichera & Stuart Vandal (coordination assistants), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editors)

First posted: 08/05/2018
Last updated: 08/05/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters