Maha Yogi

Maha Yogi
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Journey Into Mystery #96 (Sep 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
In-story information
Notable aliases	Mad Merlin, The Warlock, the Maha Yogi

Maha Yogi is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Fictional character biography

This being was apparently born 10,000 years ago in what is now Central Europe. He apparently was a savage that came to possess some portion of the same Bloodgem that Ulysses Bloodstone would later possess, which gave him immortality and eternal youth. He later came to Britain during the time of Camelot, and impersonated the real Merlin while he was away. The Eternal Sersi exposed the impostor, and the real Merlin placed him in suspended animation.^[1]

The false Merlin was revived in modern times, still posing as Merlin, and battled and was defeated by Thor, after which he went back into the coffin.^[2] He later became a professional criminal and took the name Warlock, organizing a band of armored mercenaries. He abducted Marvel Girl, battled the original X-Men, and was rendered comatose by Professor X.^[3]

Later, as the mentalist Maha Yogi, he attempted to create an army of mind-slaves. He fought and was defeated by the Beast and Iceman.^[4] The Maha Yogi then became the chairman of Merlin Industries. With Mongu, the Maha Yogi plotted world conquest, but was defeated by the Hulk and Doctor Druid. During his encounter with the Hulk, his fragment of the Bloodgem was destroyed and he rapidly aged into helplessness.^[5] Some time later, the Maha Yogi was revealed to have been created by the Caretakers of Arcturus and to have turned against them.^[6] He later appeared alive with his youth apparently restored by unknown means.^[7]

Powers and abilities

As a result of mutation induced by the Caretakers of Arcturus, the Maha Yogi had the psionic abilities to control the minds of others, create illusions, project psionic force bolts, levitate objects as large as a building, teleport himself, create force fields and alter his own appearance. His psionic powers have a limited range.

Thanks to his possession of a fragment of the Bloodstone, the Maha Yogi is virtually immortal, and has a physically malleable body.

He has attempted to use true magic, performing a ritual to summon the demon known as Grendel's Mother.^[8]

References

1. ^ origin revealed in Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #210
2. ^ Journey into Mystery #96
3. ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #30
4. ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #47
5. ^ Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #210-211
6. ^ Doctor Strange Vol. 3 #27
7. ^ Avengers Annual #22
8. ^ Captain Marvel Vol. 5 #20-21

External links

• Maha Yogi at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe