Wiccan
(Formerly Asgardian)
Context
Wiccan is a young, super-heroic magician, and the son of the Scarlet Witch.
For more context see our team entry for the Young Avengers.
Background
- Real Name: William “Billy” Kaplan.
- Other Aliases: Asgardian.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Thomas Shepherd (Speed, brother), Jeff Kaplan (adoptive Father), Rebecca Kaplan (adoptive mother), two adoptive younger brothers (unnamed), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch, mother), Vision I (father), Thomas Shepherd (twin brother), Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto, grandfather), Magda (grandmother, deceased) Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver, uncle), Lorna Dane (Polaris, aunt).
- Group Affiliation: Young Avengers; formerly Secret Avengers.
- Base Of Operations: New York.
- Height: 5’8” Weight: 155 lbs.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: Black
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Powers and Abilities
Wiccan has innate magical abilities, allowing him to cause whatever effect he wills. Initially he mainly produced lightning bolts and flew. Whenever he successfully casts a spell, he levitates off the ground.
His spells are guided by his desire and his focus. He needs to recite the general effect (he doesn’t need to be precise about exactly what he wants to happen) he desires over and over. The length of time required varies according to whether or not he’s cast that kind of spell before and what kind of conditions he’s working under, until it happens.
If he doesn’t really want the spell to work (such as when he tried to heal the Super-Skrull, who had tried to take Hulkling away) then the spell will not work no matter how well-focused he is.
Wiccan produces most magical effects by force of will, which can be helped by chanting the desired result over and over. While some instances see him unable to use any magic unless he can do so and hear himself chanting, on other occasions he doesn’t even need to chant. [Basically inconsistent writers, but we’ll endure :)].
Our No-Prize Hypothesis is that the chanting helps focus when his mind is distracted, which is most of the time, but when he’s unusually calm the wishing comes easier.
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History
(See the Young Avengers entry for a general history of the team.)
When the Scarlet Witch became desperate to have children, she used her reality-altering powers to create twin boys. She unwittingly used two lost souls which were actually fragmented energies of the Hell-Lord, Mephisto.
Scarlet Witch and the Vision named their children Thomas and William, and they lived relatively normal lives until Mephisto claimed the two souls as his own, seemingly reabsorbing them.
The twins’ souls, however, had been so transfigured by the events that they temporarily destroyed Mephisto, and were believed destroyed.
When the Scarlet Witch used her powers to recreate the world after the House of M event, she inadvertently recreated both Thomas and William as well. However, instead of recreating them as her children, her powers saw them reborn before they’d even been born, and they ended up as the children of other parents.
William ended up as the son of the Kaplan family, while Thomas ended up as the son of the Shepherd family. Billy’s adoptive mother is a psychologist, and his adoptive father is a cardiologist.
After a chance encounter with the Scarlet Witch, who encouraged him to stand up to a bully, Billy discovered his mystical powers. Shortly after, he met Iron Lad who was gathering teens, using the Vision’s failsafe program to gather together individuals who had links to the Avengers.
Young Avengers
Adopting the name Asgardian, Billy joined Iron Lad’s Young Avengers, and discovered a mutual attraction with Hulkling. When the team was disbanded by the Avengers, but continued regardless, Billy took Kate’s (Hawkeye) advice and changed his codename to Wiccan.
Trying to pre-empt Captain America telling his parents about his costumed activities, Billy tried to come out to them, with Teddy by his side. They misinterpreted, and instead happily welcomed Teddy to the family.
Soon after he met Speed. Discovering their resemblance, they began to piece together their history, although many doubted they were actually the children of the Scarlet Witch. Nevertheless, Wiccan made efforts to find her, Speed accompanying him.
Personality
Polite and respectful, Billy is generally even-tempered, except when Hulkling is in serious trouble. While he’s still easily rattled in combat, he generally keeps a cool head, and can get irritated by Hulkling’s impulsiveness.
For a while he became mildly obsessed with locating his mother, following any lead which came his way.
Quotes
Wiccan: “I want him to heal, I want him to heal.”
Hulkling: “The spell isn’t working.”
Wiccan: “Probably because I don’t want him to heal.”
DC Universe History
When the Justice League of America were trapped in imaginary lives in a false world by Felix Faust, Zatanna and the Flash (Barry Allen) lived a life as a married couple, and had a pair of twins, Billy and Tommy.
When the JL broke free of this world, the twins were presumed to have disappeared with the false world, but they somehow survived this, possibly as pawns of Faust for a later time, and went to foster families.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Wiccan
| Dex: 05 | Str: 02 | Bod: 03 | Motivation: Responsibility of Power |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Student |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 08 | Resources {or Wealth}: 001 |
| Init: 014 | HP: 035 |
Powers:
Flight (ML): 04, Sorcery: 09
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Flight is automatically activated when he successfully casts a spell (-1), and is Contingent on Sorcery (-1).
- Sorcery requires that he truly wants the spell to work (-2, see below).
- Casting a spell without repeatedly chanting is Minor Marginal (see below).
Skills:
None demonstrated.
Advantages:
Expertise (Super-heroes and super-villains).
Connections:
Young Avengers (High), Avengers (Low), Hulking (High), Runaways (Low).
Drawbacks:
Age (Young).
Source of Character: Marvel Comics (covers up to Children’s Crusade #9).
Helper(s): Marvel.com, All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Sébastien Andrivet.
Writeup completed on the 26th of August, 2012.