Agatha Harkness
 Agatha Harkness |
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| Agatha Harkness (Scenesys ID: 5536) | |||
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| Profile | |||
| Name: | Agatha Harkness | ||
| Superalias: | None | ||
| Gender: | Female | ||
| Species: | Homo Magi | ||
| Occupation: | Witch | ||
| Citizenship: | New Salem | ||
| Residence: | Various | ||
| Education: | Extensive. | ||
| Theme: | Marvel (VFC) | ||
| Groups: | Mystic Arts | ||
| Details | |||
| Apparent Age: | 30s | Actual Age: | Who knows? |
| Date of Birth | ~43000 BCE | Played By | Kathryn Hahn |
| Height: | 5'11" | Weight: | 130 lbs |
| Hair Color: | Black w/ White Bangs | Eye Color: | Violet |
| Twitter: | |||
| Theme Song: | "Spellbound" - Siouxsie and the Banshees https://youtu.be/n_bXdEA6nSM?si=IS8AWsLPBxC4BUFw | ||
Contents
Character Info
Profile
An ancient and powerful witch, rumors swirl around Agatha Harkness in magical circles like
so much smoke: they say that she was old when Atlantis was young; that she has consorted with
eldritch horrors; that every curse on your family line can be traced back to Agatha Harkness; that
she has sold members of her coven off to the darkest of lords; that her son is the child of Devil
himself -- or, well. At least ONE of the Devils. Who can even keep track of them anymore?
These rumors, true and false, serve Agatha well, who is all too happy to spin even more tall tales
about her life than provide any clarity. What IS known is that she is the founder and off-and-on-
again leader of the magic city-sanctuary of New Salem, and has been alive - at least - since the
Salem Witch Trials that inspired the city's creation. She has ties to countless magical lineages and
many ancient beings have dealt with her in -some- capacity. Simultaneously respected and reviled by
the magic community, Agatha largely keeps to her own devices, though she has been known to take on
proteges and projects that interest her -- most recent of which being Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet
Witch herself.
Timeline
Timeline:
~43000 BCE: The woman who will one day become known as Agatha Harkness is born somewhere on the
outskirts of what will soon become known as the fabled city of Atlantis. She no longer remembers her
parents' names; she scarcely remembers what -she- was called then. But she remembers her innocent
wonder at first discovering her gift for magic, a captivation that would stay with her throughout
the countless years she would live.
~42000 BCE: Agatha bears witness to the rise of Atlantis.
She remains on the fringes of Atlantean politics, largely concerning herself with the pursuit and
control of magical knowledge that would often veer towards the obsessive, becoming one of the first
known individuals to pioneer the realm of witchcraft.
~15000 BCE: Atlantis very literally
falls. Agatha chooses not to join those of her peers who flee to the extradimensional safety of
Gemworld. Though she tries to protect those who stayed behind, as millennia pass she grows
increasingly jaded by her repeated exposures to human nature at its worst. Agatha largely washes her
hands of the Hyborian Age, sealing herself and a select few away from the endless wars and
winters.
~5000 BCE: Agatha reemerges as magic begins to return to the world to see if the
standards of human civilization have improved now that imminent extinction is no longer a thing. She
remains terribly unimpressed; nevertheless, she decides to make a go of it, because self-imposed
exile can get awfully dull.
1428 AD: Agatha largely busies herself with spreading magic to
those she believes worthy of learning witchcraft but continues to find reasons to see only
disappointment in mankind. As Witch Hunts seize Europe, Agatha and her coven attempt retribution by
summoning the demon lord Valtorr to scour the continent with his corrosive, deathly mists; when her
coven-sister Jacquette Laveau attempts to seal the pact by giving their youngest and weakest member
Corina to Valtorr, Agatha rejects the idea and disrupts the ritual by shattering the Black Mirror
serving as Valtorr's gateway to the mortal realm. The ritual is stopped, but Corina is taken all the
same, lost to Valtorr's realm.
1692 AD: Agatha eventually left the backwater sensibilities of
Europe and their witch hunts behind for the would-be "New World" of America. Finds yet more
persecution. When the Witch Trials of Salem begin, Agatha takes those witches following her to
Colorado and creates an entire, mystic city for them, hidden away from the rest of the world through
a stitch in space so that they can flourish away from the persecution of mankind. She,
appropriately, christens this enclave as New Salem.
~1700 AD: Agatha gives birth to a son,
Nicholas Scratch. The father is a mystery, with some saying he was the result of a tryst with a
demon lord or some other unfathomable horror. Agatha tells no one the truth.
~1800 AD:
Agatha's wanderlust and endless appetite for mystical knowledge wins out, and she returns to the
mortal world to explore once more, leaving behind her city and her son.
~1900 AD: Agatha
finds more mystic knowledge. She also finds more wars, persecution and mortal superstition, as well
as petty warlocks, witches and sorcerers alike using piddling scraps of magical knowledge to exert
their sad influence over mortal affairs. She grows increasingly detached and disinterested in
worldly affairs and less inclined to even humor her fellow magicians, caring more and more about her
own interests and fixation on magical knowledge alone.
2011 AD: Agatha encounters Wanda
Maximoff. Sensing the woman's great magical potential, she agrees to tutor her; Wanda becomes
Agatha's first student in centuries.
Present: Curiosity piqued by Wanda, Agatha decides to
see what all the hubbub of this new age of heroes is about -- and see if there aren't any
opportunities for new knowledge for her to seize upon.
IC Journal
{{{ICJournal}}}
Personality
Amoral:
Agatha Harkness has never hewed to any real conventional morality. A pedestrian person might say
that she lacks moral fiber; from -her- perspective, it's just that 'moral fiber' is a fickle young
upstart of a concept that can never settle on what it wants to be. When you've seen civilizations
rise and fall and rise and fall and rise and fall, when you predate most moral and legal frameworks
of the modern age by an order of magnitudes -- when you've seen all the callous cruelties of
humanity repeat themselves generation by generation, writ large -- your perspective on what is
'right' and what is 'wrong' can't help but become skewed and alien even somewhat, relative to a
mortal perspective.
For Agatha, at least, that's certainly the case: by modern day
standards, she is best considered as amoral. More accurately, Agatha's moral axis tilts on the laws
of magic rather than the laws of man; everything else is a matter of Agatha's needs and wants and
all other considerations are, at best, secondary. She will work with heroes and with villains in
equal part (though both can be far too sanctimonious for her liking); she has consorted - possibly
in the literal sense - with demons and other entities others would view as horrific. She honestly
sees no reason to dismiss the forces of chaos or order out of hand, as both, to her, are an
important part of the fabric of magic itself.
Besides, to Agatha? A witch who doesn't break
rules and flout convention that stand in their way -- why, they're not very much of a witch at
all!
Protective:
Agatha may have been gradually whittled down towards a myopic and selfish worldview where only
the things that matter to -her- truly matter, but that doesn't mean she doesn't -care-. Far from it,
in fact: Agatha is a witch, a creature of passion and magic, and she cares deeply for the things and
people in her life that have managed to captivate her. She genuinely cares about Wanda Maximoff, for
example, seeing her akin to an ideal child (don't tell poor Nicholas). And she would move heaven and
earth to keep her safe. She is, similarly, protective of magic, the most important thing in her
life, and her fellow witches, the craft she helped to pioneer... though who and what she considers
worthy of the name 'witch', and what she is willing to do to those she feels fall short, is another
question entirety.
Agatha is fiercely protective of those who have become important to her,
and will often undertake great strides to make sure they are safe. Of course, she might do this
despite their own wishes, and she the way she shows how she cares may often take a form of her
deciding what's best for them unilaterally -- but no one could ever accuse her of -not-
caring.
Selfish:
Agatha once worked for the interests of a greater good. She tried many times, in fact. Time and
time again, however, she discovered that people will take your kindness for granted and then curse
your name the second it is unavailable. Repeatedly experiencing the ugly, callous, petty nature of
humans and even fellow witches alike has led Agatha to look increasingly inward to find meaning and
satisfaction, a fact that was simply underscored over and over again by the transient, mayfly lives
of most mortals.
Jaded and cynical, it is self-interest that motivate Agatha Harkness these
days. She will use people if she wants something from them; she feels no compunctions about lying if
it serves her needs; and she will gladly take from others if she thinks she would make better use of
the things they have. This is not to say she cannot perform beneficial acts for others: Agatha
raised a sanctuary for witches, after all. ... And then she abandoned it - and her son - when it
started to bore her. Aside from the people who have managed to push past that scarred and
misanthropic exterior, Agatha doesn't often take the needs of others into consideration... and even
then, that's not a guarantee.
Vindictive:
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; if you were to ask her, Agatha would shamelessly claim
William Congreve's timeless line was inspired by her. Regardless of the dubious validity of that
claim, it certainly fits her to a tee: for as charming and delightful as Agatha can sometimes be,
she also has equal capacity for cruelty and a lack of a moral backbone to keep her from acting on
wrathful impulse. Agatha does not forget people who slight her, and she is very unlikely to forgive.
There are many people who have faced her wrath for wronging her and the consequences of it have
echoed across generations when properly motivated. Agatha is older than nations; an average human
lifespan is a fraction's fraction of her own. It -really- wouldn't take much to dedicate one of
those tiny fractions of her life to ruining the entirety of someone else's, and she can nurse a
grudge for -centuries-.
Hell hath no fury like Agatha scorned. And there's probably a good
number of demons who could attest to the validity of -that- claim.
Worldly:
Agatha is a capricious and mercurial woman driven by her whims even at the best of times -- but
that's just part of her charms. The truth is, she can be a very captivating individual: she's lived
such a long time and seen and experienced so many things that it gives her a unique perspective on
life that can often draw others to her. She is unfailingly confident in herself and her abilities,
possessed of a cheeky and often cutting wit. And despite her selfish nature, she can often draw
people to her simply because of how much she knows and how deftly she can use her experience with
people and worldly affairs to paint a compelling picture.
Character Sheet
Powers
Immortality:
Agatha is ancient even by ancient standards. Having lived at the practical dawn of civilization,
when Atlantis was barely the twinkle of an idea, she is one of the longest-lived individuals on
Earth by a considerable margin. Agatha will never die of old age or other natural, mortal causes;
she is also, as many witch hunters have learned throughout the years, phenomenally hard to kill and
actually -keep- dead. It takes extreme measures to kill Agatha and have it stick; you don't live to
a hearty, vivacious fifty thousand years with the kinds of enemies Agatha has by being an easy mark,
after all.
Summoning:
The creatures of the world beyond the mortal plane are no stranger to Agatha Harkness; some
could say they're quite close, even, for given values of the word "close" both positive and
negative. Agatha is quite adept at summoning spells targeted at all manner of mystical creatures
from demons to faeries and everything in between, whether for binding or bargaining. She is also
well-versed in calling and contacting higher entities for the purpose of beseeching rituals, and
knows a slew of rituals for a variety of entities and ends.
Telekinesis:
Agatha can manipulate objects to move as she wills through magic. Without preparation or
rituals, she is able to move things roughly the size and weight of a human being -- including, well.
Human beings.
Telepathy:
Through magical means, Agatha can communicate with others via thought; she can also share
experiences and past events through telepathic transference and even potentially manipulate and
alter the memories of others and project intricate illusions, depending on the will of the subject
in question. Relatedly, Agatha is capable of astral projection like many other magic users, casting
her mind and spirit out of her body and allowing her to traverse other planes of existence, such as,
of course, the Astral Plane.
Teleportation:
Like many other witches, warlocks, sorcerers and the general, magically-inclined, Agatha has
that uniquely annoying gift for teleporting out of whatever supernatural problems she may or may not
have caused. This typically takes little time and effort if it's just her, but increases in both
rapidly depending on both distance and if she's taking others with her. With the appropriate amount
of time, Agatha can conduct rituals to breech other dimensions such as the infernal or other mystic
realms.
Willpower:
Older than nations, older than civilizations, older even than some gods, Agatha Harkness has
seen and experienced countless generations of kings and tyrants, prejudices and cruelties, triumphs
and failures -- and she has survived them all. She is a witch, and that means she is a survivor: her
will is the bedrock of mountains, and breaking her focus much less compromising her mental
faculties, supernaturally or conventionally, is a very difficult task.
Witch's Sight:
Agatha Harkness is attuned to magic in a way that few are. Her senses are naturally attuned to
the higher planes of existence: she sees the flow of magical and supernatural energy in the world,
allowing her to see spiritual and magical entities like ghosts and demons, precise enough that she
can tell the (relative) strength of mystic signatures around her, as well as a rough idea of their
source. This ability to sense the ambient mystical energies in the area surrounding her gives her an
ability to discern when spells have been cast and gives her some idea of spells at work in the
vicinity; focusing can increase the range of this sight, and she can, potentially, see through
illusions -- but despite the advantages they give her, her senses can still be fooled whether by
mystic wards or skillful enough craft.
Witchcraft:
Agatha is one of the first witches to walk the earth, if not THE first. She is also one of the
most powerful and skilled magic users alive; while some might beat her on pure magical might,
there's few who can match her in terms of knowledge, skill, and of course -- sheer lived
experience.
Agatha's magical repertoire is vast, and it might be easier to ask what spells
she doesn't know rather than what she does; more than a few are spells she created herself. There
are few schools of magic that Agatha is -not- versed in, and her lack of moral compunctions means
even many of the forbidden magicks are not quite so forbidden as far as she's concerned. She is
constantly on the search for ways to improve and expand her technique; magic is her passion, and her
obsession, and the whole of her immortal existence has been dedicated to safeguarding it -- and
improving her understanding of it.
Some of the feats Agatha is capable of include:
*
Mystic Energy Manipulation
* Elemental Manipulation
* Power Bestowal
* Power Negation
*
Flight
* Force Fields
* Necromancy
* Counterspells
Skills
Negotiation:
When you're a witch, it's important to know how to competently make deals with devils, otherwise
you're not going to be a witch for very long. Whether it's with high planar beings or a contract
lawyer trying to get all up in her business, Agatha is a deft hand with negotiations -- and has an
uncanny knack for obfuscating whatever it is she -really- wants out of a deal.
Occult Lore:
When you are low-key obsessed with the mystic world, you tend to be an expert in such things.
When you've been alive long enough to have been around for most major mystical events on the planet
Earth, 'expert' doesn't really cover the breadth of your knowledge. Agatha is a walking treasury of
occult knowledge, and she is always, always, -always- looking to expand her mystical
horizons.
Polyglot:
Agatha's been around the block, several hundredish times. She's conversant in most human
languages - including those ancient, dead tongues - and knowledgeable in more than a few
supernatural ones, too.
Teaching:
You wouldn't think it, considering just how catty, cagey and otherwise conniving she can often
be, but Agatha is in fact a very excellent instructor. Those she takes a shine to, Agatha can build
up through strong and shrewd guidance; she has a gift for imparting mystical knowledge in a way that
will not just stick but enlighten, even if she sometimes goes about it in unorthodox (READ:
dangerous) ways. And more to the point -- those she takes on as proteges she becomes personally
invested in, the importance of which cannot be understated for someone like Agatha who is almost
wholly motivated by her magical, and personal investments.
Of course, Agatha has extremely,
absurdly high standards for who she finds -willing- to take under her wing, and she's just as soon
as to dismiss someone out of hand as teach them, but. Those she takes a shine to get the very best
in magical training they can possibly handle! IF they can handle it!
Resources
Connections:
Agatha Harkness has a somewhat checkered reputation, but she is without a doubt a recognizable
name within the magic community. From devils to angels and everything in between there are few who
have not heard of Agatha and fewer still who do not have -some- manner of connection to her --
whether it be from personal dealings, or dealings she has had with some far off ancestor some
multitude of generations in the past.
She may be distrusted by some and for good reason, but
Agatha's mystic rolodex is sizable, and there are many she can call on for favors... or the stray
dirty deal most certainly not done dirt cheap.
Curios and Curiosities:
A long life as a practitioner of the craft means a long list of opportunities to discover,
create, or unilaterally claim a bunch of neat doodads, knickknacks, and horrific-things-that-must-
not-be all for yourself. Agatha's amassed quite a collection of tantalizing tomes of various magical
knowledge both standard and forbidden, magical relics, cursed objects and strange curios over the
years; some to keep out of the hands of those she felt were undeserving, some because even she could
recognize their threat was too great not to keep under lock and key -- and some just because she
thought they were neat. It's a perfectly valid justification for what may or may not be
theft.
Ebony:
This adorable little black cat of Agatha's is not really a cat at all, but an extradimensional
being in the shape of a cat, that acts like a cat, can have kittens like a cat. ... okay so maybe
it's just a cat. But it's an -extradimensional- cat. Ebony is Agatha's familiar, with all that this
entails. She has a psychic rapport with Ebony, can communicate with her and see and hear through her
and often uses her to accomplish more mundane, dull things that she frankly can't be bothered with
dealing with herself.
Sometimes these mundane, dull things include physical combat, at which
point Ebony is capable of transforming into a large, panther-like attack form (and even further
mutating into an even more monstrous bipedal form should the situation call for it) possessed of
razor-sharp claws, superhuman strength, speed, and a frighteningly strong healing factor that can
repair injuries from almost everything short of the most extreme of damage.
Cute, and has a
million and one uses! Who -doesn't- want an eldritch kitty?
New Salem:
A sanctuary for witches and warlocks created by Agatha for her coven during the Salem Witch
Trials, New Salem evolved over the centuries into a city with its own culture and and way of life
centered around the mystic arts. New Salem is technically located in Colorado, but is hidden in a
dimensional stitch created by Agatha herself: only beings that wield magic can access the city
normally, unless otherwise allowed by the current leaders of New Salem or Agatha
herself.
While Agatha's status with the residents of New Salem is complicated thanks to the
fact that she left them to their own devices when her whims decided it was time to move on from her
little exercise in creating a magical paradise, she is still New Salem's founder and is still
respected by many there and she still maintains the secret of New Salem's existence from the mortal
world at large. She can, if necessary, call upon them for aid, or simply use New Salem as a home
away from home -- provided her unfortunate son isn't ruling the roost, anyway.
Whisper Hill:
Agatha's current place of residence, the Whisper Hill estate is a seemingly dilapidated mansion
in upstate New York. Of course, as Agatha Harkness' home, it was built in a location rich in
spiritual and mystic energies, comes with a plethora of magical defenses, and serves as a place of
power for Agatha herself. Also, it's where she keeps (most of) her stuff!
Weaknesses
Agatha Knows Best:
To call Agatha Harkness egotistical wouldn't be unfair; she has great knowledge and has
experienced many things, much of which predates recorded history, and this leads her to take an
oftentimes condescending approach with most people. She believes she knows better than most what is
better for -them-, and the world -- especially when it comes to magic. Agatha's needs and wants are
paramount and very few things threaten that self-absorbed mindset of hers... but even when she means
-well-, Agatha tends to assume her way is the best, and will act unilaterally to achieve it.
Agatha rarely, if ever, takes other people's opinions into consideration when considering
her course of action, which can often put her at odds even with people she considers friends... to
say nothing of the consequences she might reap by meddling in others' lives without asking.
Children:
It may be surprising, but Agatha has a soft spot for children, and can be waylaid because of
them, even to the point of, sometimes, sidelining her own interests for their sake. This probably
also has the knock-on effect of making her son even angrier but hey, can't win 'em all.
Magic:
Agatha Harkness lives and breathes magic. Her self-interested motivations revolve almost
entirely around it and this shows in how utterly dependent she is on it. If she is ever deprived of
her magic, even temporarily, Agatha will find herself at an immense disadvantage. While she is a
dangerously crafty person and not -completely- without resources even bereft of magic, she is
extremely hobbled without it; the effect would be analogous to taking away a regular human being's
ability to walk, or to see.
Nicholas Scratch:
Agatha has a... troubled relation with her son, one that really only worsened when she decided
to just leave him one day without much of a word provided. The only known descendant of the Harkness
line, Nicholas Scratch is a warlock of phenomenal power and infernal disposition. Some claim he is
the result of a tryst with Agatha and some eldritch entity, others say she created him wholecloth
out of a need for someone to inherit her legacy... but what is certain is that Agatha's son holds a
deep and abiding hatred for his mother and would like nothing more than to tear her down and
everything she's built. While the reasons why are murky at best, Nicholas and his children, the
Salem Seven, are a consistent thorn in the side of Agatha and any who she would consider herself
close to.
Nicholas is cruel, ambitious, and somehow has even -less- moral compunctions than
his mother, skewing more towards the gleefully IMmoral than the troubling amorality of his mother.
You might question the parenting style that could lead to a twisted existence like Nicholas Scratch,
but all things considered, perhaps it's best not to ask.
Obsessed:
Magic is perhaps, if not Agatha's sole interest and passion in life, than far and away the most
outsized one. Almost everything she does, she does for magic, viewing herself as someone who
safeguards not only magic itself, but also someone dedicated to help it rise to new and greater
heights. The problem with this is twofold: one, that obsessive, myopic focus can often blind Agatha
to other, nonmagical aspects of life, which can in turn end up blindsiding her at inopportune
moments simply because she felt it beneath her notice.
And for two... Agatha doesn't
actually have many boundaries when considering the means by which to safeguard magic and help it
prosper. She is not a hero, she is not a villain, and she will side with one, the other, or both,
just as much as she is likely to stand -against- any or all of them, if her magical interests are at
stake.
The Scarlet Witch:
Agatha truly does care about Wanda Maximoff. The first pupil she took on in generations, Agatha
saw the spark of great potential in Wanda's abilities and the heights she would be capable of if
properly taught... and the more time she spent with her protege, the more she found a kindred
spirit, too. Agatha has a close bond with Wanda, seeing her like a daughter. If there was anyone who
could convince Agatha to go against her interests, it would be Wanda... and she would be more than
willing rain hell if the Scarlet Witch was ever in danger.
The Wicked Witch:
As mentioned before, Agatha Harkness has a considerable reputation. This, however, is not always
a good thing, and her fame in the magical community can and often does veer more towards infamy. Her
history is considerable and full of events in which she has both assisted others and slighted them,
and there are no small amount of magic users, magic lineages, and magic entities who nurse a grudge
with her whether it be because she thwarted their evil schemes or they were a victim of one of -her-
schemes. And at the very least, most of the magically-inclined know to be wary around her even if
she's taken a shine to them.
Being a household name isn't always a good thing. Sometimes, it
just means a list of enemies one could fill entire archives with.
Role-Play
Logs
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Agatha Harkness has
2 finished logs.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| agatha | November 20th, 2024 | No description |
| A Little Witch in All of Us | November 13th, 2024 | Madelyne Pryor has a lust to learn. Agatha Harkness lives to teach. Surely nothing can go wrong. |
Cutscenes
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Agatha Harkness has
2 finished logs.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| No logs submitted yet. | ||
Entertainment Credits
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Agatha Harkness has been credited in
0 shows.
| Title | Date | Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| No shows submitted yet. | ||
Agatha Harkness has been credited in
0 albums.
| Title | Release Date | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| No music submitted yet. | ||
Agatha Harkness has authored
0 books.
| Title | Release Date | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| No books submitted yet. | ||
Gallery
Agatha Harkness/gallery [ edit ]
Group Memberships
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