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    Arion

    Character » Arion appears in 195 issues.

    An ancient Atlantean demigod, Arion is famously the most powerful and heroric sorcerer-king in Atlantean history. One of Lords of Order born with a physical form and with an eternal connection to Darkworld, he chieftly led ancient Atlanteans in their most harmonious period and fought against the forces of chaos.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Arion last edited by Justice1234 on 08/22/23 07:58PM View full history

    Origin

    New Earth

    The Sorcerer
    The Sorcerer

    Arion is the product of two Atlantean Gods more than half a million years ago. His father was Calculha, a force of good and light, and his mother was Dark Majistra, a force of strife and darkness.

    Dark Majistra and Arion's evil twin brother, Garn Daanuth, tried to bring about a new age of magic by using the Zodiac Crystals, bringing devastation to the Earth. A young Arion sacrificed his life to save it but the result made him live for over 500,000 years in a state of intangibility in the realm of Darkworld, the dimension responsible for the birth of his father and other Atlantean gods.

    About 45,000 years ago, Arion returned in physical form and became Lord High Mage under King D'Tulluh and was selected to be among the Lords of Order. With the help of his lover Lady Chian, ally Mara, and good friend Wyynde, Arion protected Atlantis from threats both physical and mystical, most notably from Lords of Chaos such as Garn Daanuth and Chaon.

    Creation

    Arion was created by Paul Kupperberg (writer) and Jan Duursema (artist) and first appeared in Warlord #55.

    Arion was originally ran as a back-up feature in the Warlord DC Comic series. The feature ran from issue 55 - 62. After that he got his own series, Arion Lord of Atlantis. This series ran for about three years totaling 35 issues.

    Character Evolution

    Arion, Lord of Atlantis

    When Arion returned to his physical form after living as a star for centuries, he was unaware of his history though ascended to a high position in Atlantis. His source of power was the stars themselves, able to draw power from the stellar sources to work his magic. While powerful, he was also arrogant, a trait unfitting for a agent for the Lords of Order and was given a trial to learn humility by his father. After, Arion became driven to live up to his destiny of protecting Atlantis and often resorting to sacrificing his power to achieve victory, eventually leaving him depleted of his magical power.

    He was first depleted of his magic when he sacrificed his magic to end the second Ice Age by giving up much of his stellar energy-based magic to the sun to defeat the entity responsible for siphoning the solar energy directly from the sun. Depleted of a continuous source of magic to pull from, Arion came to be reliant on absorbing energy from Calculha's crystal, a mystical object and inheritance broken earlier during his campaign in retaking Atlantis from Garn Daanuth while he still possessed his stellar magic. Though granted great power temporarily, it waned overtime with each use spending the crystal itself and his connection to his father.

    Throughout his years as Lord High Mage, Arion struggled to find a reliable source of magic and often resorted to using mundane sources and learned to fight as a warrior to make up his lack of substantial mystical abilities he once possessed. Though he was a capable master in his own right due to being a prime mage before, it served as a reminder of his limitations in magic. Through various trials of failures in reattaining from drawing power from psychic sources, Garn's talismans, an attempt to appease the Weaver (a Lord of Chaos and entity responsible for weaving magic between Earth and Darkworld), and limiting himself to chanting-based spells, Arion eventually regained his magic when the Weaver was requested to restore his magical powers by a fellow goddess after Arion's mother, Dark Majistra, plotted to gain the magic of Darkworld using Arion's gemstone and lured him to Darkworld.

    Arion the Immortal

    Shortly after regaining his magic with Darkworld as his source, changes in Darkworld left him completely depowered once again for over 45,000 years, leaving him to become reliant on mystical objects and psychic-based abilities. Though he retain his immortality, he did not retain his youth overtime. Eventually, the magic of Darkworld returns and is revealed that Darkworld itself is a magical realm spawned from a cosmic being's slumber, the dreams it creates powerful enough to create magic and gods in which came to be a great majority worshipped by ancient Atlantis. Though reluctant to becoming a protector and among the Lords of Order again due to his perceived failure in protecting Atlantis and disdain for current mortal lifestyles, he eventually re-emerges in the modern era as "Arion the Immortal" and is fully powered once again.

    Just Post COIE as a retcon to explain why Powergirl still existed in the new timeline, it was changed that she was the granddaughter of Arion and that he had magically altered her DNA to give her her powers and moved her forward through time for her protection. This retcon, however, was later rejected in later stories. Similarly, Zatanna: Coming Together reveals Zatanna's ancestry to include that of Arion as her ancestor (presumably from her mother's side) when she battles Xaos.

    Major Story Arcs

    Magic Odyssey

    Camelot Falls

    Arion has visions of a cataclysmic future that is centered around Superman. Using certain mystical items, he travels forward a time where Superman exists. He shares his visions about the future and Superman's involvement in them with Superman and his friends. He shows them that because humanity became so dependent on Superman and other alien help, they don't develop naturally which eventually leads to an apocalypse. Arion hoped to have Superman retire in order to prevent this from happening.

    Superman is then given two weeks to decide what he will do. Meanwhile Arion uses his magic to bring some hostile aliens to Metropolis in order to prove his point. Superman defeats them and realizes that Arion is the one who orchestrated their arrival. After the two weeks, Superman refuses to leave because he cannot give up hope that he can make a difference. Arion responds by attempting to cast a powerful mind control spell on Superman who is able to avoid being put under such spell because of previous training from Martian Manhunter. Superman is then able to defeat Arion and take away his magical artifacts that are giving him his power. Arion then returns to his time period in order to plan his next attack on Superman.

    Princes of Darkness

    Hard Choices

    Drowned Earth

    Power and Abilities

    New Earth

    At full power, Arion possess astute skill in magic and is historically recognized as the Sorcerer Supreme of Altantis as well as the most powerful mage in it's history, having beaten Lords of Chaos originating from Atlantis such as that of Garn Daanuth and Chaon and a group known as the "Seven Lords of Hell". Zatanna once stated at the height of his power, he possessed near limitless power.

    Throughout his lifetime, Arion's magical powers were based on pulling from sources to energize his spells, notably stellar energies (which he sacrificed in his lifetime) and Darkworld. Despite the sources (though he was claimed to be far more powerful when pulling from the latter), he was capable of casting the majority of the same spells with various effects such as resurrecting the dead, projecting magical energy capable of hurting Wonder Woman, telepathic spells that can take control of Martian Manhunter, control of fire in a manner that was able to dispatching Etrigan casually, etc.

    Depowered, Arion can be reliant on mystical objects or rely on mystic chanting to invoke supernatural effects, though they pale in comparison to his full power. Under the assistance of other magical trinkets or chanting, he is still able to project and control energy at will, time travel, control darkness, banish beings powerful enough to fight Superman, control New Gods, and even transform them to his liking as well as himself. His skills also enable him to evade detection from even Phantom Stranger.

    Without magical sources, Arion throughout his tenure as Lord High Mage became a master swordsman and a formidable combatant nearly on par with Wyynde and Lady Chian, both whom were stated to be peerless in their time and the best swordsmen in ancient Atlantean history. He also possess special insight powers, natural immortality (though he control his age appearance with magic) to detect the good and evil within an invidiual and psychic abilities that allow him to see through the future, sense danger, and create illusions.

    Mystical artifacts

    • Arion's Gemstone
    • Staff of Arion
    • Calculha's Crystals
    • Mantle of the Savior
    • Fire blade
    • Shackles of Arion

    Prime Earth

    Similar to his New Earth counterpart, Arion is a powerful mage capable of performing magic and is immortal though unlike his previous version, he produces magic naturally that can awaken metahuman abilities people are exposed to it. However, he retained the ability to siphon magic from beings even as powerful as Nabu or use the Blue Beetle Scarab's cosmic energy and occult energies as a source. In battle, he proved powerful enough to best Doctor Fate in two instances, besting Nabu himself after siphoning his energies and with a telepathic attack as well as the Kent-controlled Doctor Fate while using the Blue Beetle Scarab. He was powerful enough to also use his mind to control both Jaime Reyes and Khaji Daj though their unique bond proved too powerful for him.

    Arion in his transform state.
    Arion in his transform state.

    With his magic, he could produce storms with his minds, tear open dimension rifts, project energy blasts, cast complex spells that (he claimed) could potential eliminate all life in the universe if sufficiently energized, soul manipulation that could separate Jaime from the Scarab, empower those he chooses into becoming Atlantean demons, mimic some of the powers of the Blue Beetle Scarab, and transform himself in a large, insect-like dark creature. The darker nature of his powers was previously assumed to be due to the insanity the Blue Beetle Scarab gave him, though a later story revealed his corruption to be the result of exposure to the Death Force within his own creation, the Tear of Extinction.

    Arion was once a conduit for the force known as the "Death Force", a force that governs the finality of beings, even gods. Unlike most other gods exposed to it, Arion was able to survive his exposure to it (facilitated through his creation, the Tears of Extinction) through unknown means though became corrupted by it. When using Death Force, he was able to cast down the Ocean Lords (extraterrestrial sea gods) to the Graveyard of Gods.

    Intellectually, Arion is regarded as a genius by both Poseidon and Lionel Luthor and was referred to as one of the most intelligent minds in Earth's history by Vandal Savage. Responsible for the technology for both Atlantis and it's later offshoot, Skartaris, Jennifer Morgan referred to his reign as one where magic and technology were harmonious.

    Mystical Artifacts

    • Tear of Extinction
    • Clarion
    • Mantle of the Savior
    • Arion's Gemstone
    • Arion's Keeperchest
    • Blue Beetle Scarab

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