STATISTICS

• Astral Projection (P): As a power of same name, with Unearthly ability.
• Dimensional Aperture (D): Creates an opening into, and permits passage to and from, another stated dimension, with Monstrous ability. Requires a FEAT roll only for unfriendly or hostile dimensions or unwilling travelers.
• Eldritch Beams/Bolts (U): As Force or Energy Missile weapon, of Incredible power and range.
• Levitation (P): As power of same name, with Incredible ability.
• Mesmerism (P): As Mind Control, at Amazing rank and Unearthly range.
• Shield - Personal (P): As Personal Force Field, able to repel Magical attacks of Amazing strength and Physical attacks of Excellent strength.
• Spell Of Silence (U): Prevents subject of spell from speaking of certain matters or subjects. Only characters of Amazing or greater Psyche may receive a FEAT roll to avoid its effects.
• Telepathy (P): As Power of same name, with Unearthly ability.

• Martial Arts A (obtained in his youth).
• Mystic skills of:-
  • Trance
  • Mesmerism and Hypnosis
  • Resist Domination
• Reason is considered Monstrous in areas of the occult.

The Ancient One comes across as a brilliant yet inscrutable Oriental sage. Since his death he has returned on occasion to warn Doctor Strange of imminent danger.

The youth who would eventually be called the Ancient One was born over five-hundred years ago in Kamar-Taj, a village in the area now known as Tibet. Originally, the youth, like the other villagers, was a peaceful farmer. However, an older fellow villager named Kaluu somehow gained certain magical knowledge, which he shared with the youth. Kaluu and the youth began exploring the secrets of sorcery together and learned how to harness mystical energy for their own uses. However, their motives were quite different. Kaluu intended to build a vast empire, while the youth wished to use sorcery yo benefit his fellow villagers.

For over a year Kaluu organized the men of Kamar-Taj into an army of conquest, while slowly increasing his magical control over the minds of the people of Kamar-Taj so that they became no more than his placid puppets. The youth attempted to warn the villagers about Kaluu, but Kaluu's magic prevented them from heeding him. Kaluu struck the youth from behind with a mystical bolt which paralyzed him. Then Kaluu had his soldiers conquer a neighbouring village and reduce its people to slavery. While Kaluu plotted further conquests and the people of Kamar-Taj fell into decadence, the paralyzed youth, whom Kaluu had placed in the public square as an object of ridicule, mentally called upon mystical forces to defeat Kaluu. With Kaluu gone, the youth was freed from his paralysis. Ironically, Kaluu's spell had protected the youth from the full effect of the mystical pestilence: the youth was no longer immortal, but he would now age at a very slow rate, so that he would not reach the end of his life span for five centuries.

Because of the events he had witnessed in Kamar-Taj, the youth left the village in order to devote his life to combating other evil sorcerers. To this end, the youth sought out an ancient order of sorcerers whose elder members were known as Ancient Ones, which was dedicated to protecting Earth's people from black magic. The youth continued his magical studies with them, and rapidly became far more skilled in sorcery than his colleagues. His prowess was so great that he was the first Earth mortal to meet with Eternity, the sentient embodiment of the life forces of the universe, who presented him with the amulet of Agamotto, the Earth Dimension's very first Sorcerer Supreme.

Within the last several decades, the Ancient One, who has outlived all the other members of his order, was approached by Baron Karl Mordo of Transylvania, who wished to become his pupil. The Ancient One was nearing the end of his long life and realised he needed a successor. Although he recognized Mordo's evil ambitions, he also sensed Mordo's talent for sorcery, and he decided that he could at best convert Mordo to the service of Good, at worst keep him in check.

Sometime later, a gifted but somewhat amoral surgeon, Stephen Strange, sought out the Ancient One to cure his hands, which had been injured in an automobile accident in a way that prevented him from holding his surgeon's tools with the complete steadiness that was necessary to perform surgery. While staying at the Ancient One's palace in the Himalayas, strange learned that Mordo was plotting against the Ancient One. Mordo placed a spell upon Strange that prevented him from warning the Ancient One about Mordo, but the Ancient One freed Strange of the spell and assured him that he was aware of Mordo's evil nature. Having witnessed the power of Good and Evil magic in action, Strange found a new, higher purpose in life, and became the Ancient One's disciple. Dr. Strange remained with the Ancient One for years, proved to be highly talented in the mystic arts, and eventually became the Ancient One's successor as Sorcerer Supreme.

Some years after Doctor Strange had left the Ancient One's palace to return to New York City, the Ancient One and Dr. Strange fought the powerful demon Zom at Stonehenge in Britain. Knowing that he could not long withstand Zom's power at his advanced age, the Ancient One made it appear as if Zom had killed him by fusing his body with one of the Stonehenge monoliths. As he seemed to die, the Ancient One claimed to transfer his magical abilities to Doctor Strange; instead, the Ancient One actually activated potential for further magical ability in Dr. Strange that had until then remained latent.

Years later, the Ancient One was taken prisoner by the so-called Living Buddha and minor demons called the Shadowmen, all of whom served the extra-dimensional demon Shuma-Gorath. They intended to use his waning power to open the way to Earth for the demon. The Ancient One retained enough consciousness to mystically make his own mind the only conduit through which the demon could travel. Knowing that he had long outlived his natural life span, the Ancient One prompted his disciple Doctor Strange to 'kill' him by destroying that portion of his mind which constitutes his ego or sense of self. With the Ancient One's brain shut down, Shuma-gorath was trapped in the dead brain. With his body dead, the Ancient One's astral form was set free and the aged mage willed it to become one with the physical universe.