White Witch

Origin

Mysa Nal was the younger daughter of the High Seer of Naltor. Unlike her fellow Naltorians who have precognitive powers, Mysa was born "blind" in that she could not see into the future. This made Mysa an outcast among her people, resulting in an unhappy and lonely childhood. After her mother died, her older sister Nura Nal (who later became Dream Girl) promised to protect her from persecution. But Mysa refused the offer and instead traveled to the Sorcerer's World, where she studied the mystical arts. Mysa demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for magic and soon became an accomplished sorceress. She excelled in her studies to the point where even the evil sorcerer Mordru grew envious of her abilities, setting the stage for his later attempts to harness her power for himself.

Before mastering the magical arts Mysa originally had red hair and blue eyes, but as a side effect of her continued immersion in magic, her hair and skin gradually became chalk white and her eyes turned a bright red.

Creation

The White Witch was created in 1966 by writer Jim Shooter and artist Curt Swan. Though introduced to the Legion back in the Silver Age, she did not actually become a Legionnaire until 1982, during the Great Darkness Saga. She became the 10th and last female member to join the Legion in original continuity, and the Legion's 31st member overall.

Character Evolution

Original Continuity: New Earth

Mysa's first appearance was as the aged and ugly Hag, an evil witch. She was a member of the villainous Prince Evillo's Devil's Dozen. When the Legion Of Super-Heroes fought Evillo, two mysterious new Devil's Dozen recruits revealed themselves to be the Legionnaires Star Boy and Dream Girl (Mysa's sister) in disguise. Dream Girl then cast a spell that restored Mysa to her beautiful true form. It was later revealed that Mysa's transformation into the Hag was the work of the villainous wizard Mordru, who had long coveted Mysa's power for himself. Mysa later reappeared to aid the Legion as the White Witch during the Great Darkness Saga. She managed to summon the spirit of Darkseid's ancient enemy Izaya, who in turn brought about Darkseid's defeat. In return for her help the White Witch was offered Legion membership, so she joined the Legion of Super-Heroes and soon became close friends with fellow new Legionnaire Blok.

Reboot: Earth-247

The reboot Mysa was no longer Dream Girl's sister from Naltor, but instead was the daughter of Mordru himself. The only survivor of a group of sorcerers who imprisoned Mordru, she spent a century preparing for his return, including planting the seeds for Zoe Saugin's powers and manipulating much of the girl's life to make her an ally against Mordru's next rise. After Mordru rose again, Mysa (who resembled the pre-boot Hag at this point) was reverted to the age at which she first defeated him and helped the Legion imprison him once more. Mysa settled on Sorcerer's World and fell in love with Dragonmage. Mysa was also a physical vessel for the disembodied soul of Amethyst, one of the Lords of Order who is currently active in the present day DC Universe. It can be assumed that this Mysa was wiped out when Earth-247 was destroyed in the Infinite Crisis.

Threeboot: Earth-Prime

The Earth-Prime version of White Witch has appeared as a member of Mekt Ranzz's Wanderers. Her home planet is listed as "unknown." Her current whereabouts are unknown after Mekt's arrest.

Retroboot: New Earth

This Mysa storyline picked up before Five Years Later, she is a slave of Mordu on Sorcerer's World. She is freed by fellow Legionnaires and helped back to Earth. Once there she helped Brainiac to call in other Legionnaires from different realities to fight against Superboy-Prime and his Legion of Super-Villains. When Prime killed Kinetix, Mordru gained all of her magical powers (and all magic of Earth-247 with in her). Mordru then gravely injured fellow Legionnaire Blok, who was trying to protected Mysa. Enraged she used her most powerful spell "Aufero Magus Infusco" which caused all Mordu magical powers and his physical form to be absorbed into Mysa, causing her to transform into the Black Witch.

Major Story Arcs

Original Continuity: New Earth

Magic Wars

Mysa took on the Infinity Man and she single-handedly beaten him. She had became more powerful and she returned Sorcerer's World, she took part in a Magic Wars, where she stopped the evil Archmage, by tricking it into destroying Sorcerers' World and freeing itself, but fades away after its source of its powers going.

Five Years Later

During the five years later after the Magic Wars she left the Legion, she married the presumably-reformed Mordru and lived with him on the planet Tharn. She was subjected to mystical imprisonment and manipulation by Mordru during this period until the Legionnaires returned looking for her and their comrade Rond Vidar . It was this incarnation of the Legion's near defeat that led Mysa to take up arms against her husband, and she later rejoined the group. Right before Zero Hour, she was de-aged by Glorith to a teenager and appeared happy with the change. She assumed the codename Jewel and went underground with her fellow Legionnaires. Then during Zero Hour, she was wiped out of existence due to the time fluctuations.

Retroboot: New Earth

White Witch as Black Witch

After the battle with Superboy Prime LOSV. Mysa and seriously injured Blok returned to Sorcerer's World, where she became the new ruler of the world. Mysa and Blok later proclaimed their love for one another, which caused the darkness within her to be more easily controled and she magically repaired Blok rocky body. Black Witch sent her apprentice Glorith to Earth to become a member of the Legion Academy.

Powers and Abilities

Magic

Due to her inability to see into the future which allowed her to predict incoming obstacles like most inhabitants of Naltor are, Mysa traveled to the Sorcerer's World. The birth place of magic, where she was trained by the master magician Mordru. She is able to create and cast variety of spells, creating a strong invincible force field, transmutation, absorbing magic, creating massive teleportation portals, and among other feats. Though the only drawback to her magic was her memory. Mysa could only commit to spells if she remembers them added with the time-consuming preparation for her to use her powers, which could take up to hours.

During the end of Legion of Three Worlds, Mysa managed to consume Mordru using his own spell and as such became the vessel for the magical forces of two universes and as such became one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Immediately after consuming Mordru, Mysa took down half of Superboy Prime's Legion of Super Villains.

Equipment

As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, White Witch possesses a Legion Flight Ring. The ring gives its wearer the ability to fly, the speed and range of which is determined by the wearer's willpower. It also acts as a long-range communicator (enabling constant vocal contact with other Legionnaires, even across vast distances of space), a signal device, and a navigational compass, all powered by a micro-computer built inside the ring.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 5'8

Weight: 118 lbs

Eyes: Red, (as Black Witch) White

Hair: White, (as Black Witch) Black

Other Versions

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31th Century

White Witch fought against Mordru with help of the Legion.

Superboy's Legion

White Witch is a member of Legion.

Other Media