Mordeth

Origin

Little is known about the origin of the man known as Mordeth. During the Trolloc Wars he arrived in the city of Aridhol, soon rising to the position of trusted advisor to the king of that nation, Balwen Mayal. He began to encourage that the people of Aridhol adopt the tactics of the Shadow to fight the Shadow. His influence began to slowly poison the city, making people suspicious and cruel. The citizens of Aridhol eventually tore their city apart, their combined hatred and anger and suspicion creating the entity known as Mashadar, which killed all inhabitants of the city. Mordeth became trapped in the city, now known as Shadar Logoth. An evil apparition, he lurks in the ruined city and attempts to ensnare travellers and force them to take a part of the city out into the world with them. If they do, he will be freed from its confines.

Creation

Mordeth was created by Robert Jordan for his book series The Wheel of Time, making his first appearance in the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. He made his first appearance in comics in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World #14, written by Jordan and Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Andie Tong.

Major Story Arcs

The Eye of the World

When the Emond's Fielders enter the city, Mordeth encounters Rand al'Thor, Matrim Cauthon and Perrin Aybara exploring the ruins. He claims to be a treasure hunter and tempts them to follow him with the promise that they can have some of his treasure if they will help him carry it out of the city. The boys go along, but at the last moment Rand realizes that there is something wrong about Mordeth; when he voices this concern, Mordeth attacks them. After they fight him off, Mordeth flees. Unbeknownst to Rand and Perrin, Mat steals a ruby-hilted dagger from the treasure which slowly begins poisoning him with Mordeth's evil. Later, Mordeth encounters Padan Fain, who is in the city because of his hunt for the three boys. Mordeth attempts to take over his body, but fails because Fain's soul has been so tainted by the Dark One. Unable to take control, Mordeth instead merges with Fain.

Powers and Abilities

Mordeth is a kind of evil apparition and does not appear to be alive. He is able to take control of the bodies of people who accompany him to the edge of the city. As well, he appears to be tied in some way to Mashadar, and may have been able to control it to some degree. He can fold himself through spaces that could otherwise not accommodate him.

Other Media

Literature

The Wheel of Time

Mordeth was originally created for the Wheel of Time series of books. He has thus far appeared in one book in the series; merged with Fain, he has appeared in a further nine books.