The White Witch

Original White Witch

From the moment she was born, Mysa Nal experienced difficulties. She was an oddity on Naltor, having no vision of the future on a world where most people have at least some, and where her mother and sister were the most powerful prophets of all. She spent the early part of her life pitied and patronized, and didn't like it at all. When her mother, Kiwa Nal, died, her sister Nura promised to protect her, but Mysa refused the offer. She would no longer be treated as an inferior, she decided, and with the help of Nura and Naltor's High Seer, she decided her destiny lay on Zerox, the Sorcerers' world that Naltorians originally came from.

Upon arriving there, the nine-year-old girl was scared of the mystical phenomena she encountered for the first time. But she was firm in her resolve never to require anyone else's protection, and managed to overcome her fear. Upon seeing this, the Teachers of the Sorcerers' World agreed to take her as a pupil, and for the next several years, she studied the mystic arts. Unfortunately, she managed to attract the attention of Mordru, one of the teachers who, unknown to the others, was plotting a takeover of the Sorcerer's World, and eventually of the entire universe. (Tales of the Legion #314-315)

When the time came for Mysa to perform the rite that would mark her maturity as a sorceress, Mordru, fearing her power, sabotaged the proceedings, and invoked within her the image of Xola Aq, an evil witch of Zerox's past. She was banished from Zerox, and wandered about, believing her crone-like appearance a sign of evil within her. Due to this mistaken belief, she was vulnerable to the offer of Prince Evillo of Tartarus to join his Devil's Dozen. Calling herself the Hag, she committed crimes on Evillo's behalf, considering herself beyond redemption. (Adventure #350)

The Teachers, though, discovered Mordru's trickery, and contacted her sister Dream Girl, asking her to track down Mysa and release her from Mordru's spell. Nura joined the Legion and helped release Mysa from the Devil's Dozen. (#351) Mysa thanked Nura, but felt uncomfortable around her, as if it indicated that she still needed her older sister's protection. She returned to Zerox and immersed herself in her studies, collecting so much power, that it altered her appearance to possess albino skin and antennae. She aided the Legion once against Mordru during this period, but was otherwise uninvolved. That changed the day Nura asked her for help. (Legion vol. 2 #291)

Darkseid had emerged in the thirtieth century and began draining mystical artifacts to power himself and his drive to conquer the universe. He came to Zerox and, despite the efforts of the Legion, killed two of the Teachers ... but Mysa, known as the White Witch among her fellow sorcerers, managed to summon the spirit of Darkseid's ancient enemy Izaya, who in turn brought about Darkseid's defeat. No longer feeling like she was being protected by others, the White Witch joined the Legion of Super-Heroes (#294) and has quickly become one of the team's most valuable members.

Glorith Reality (Legion vol. 4)

In this timeline, Mysa left the Legion after several years, as disillusionment and dischord set in. The final straw was when Brainiac 5 (with whom her relationship was never smooth) tried to use the inert body of the Infinite Man to take revenge on the Time Trapper, regardless of the potential consequences to the Infinite Man himself. She resigned and returned to Zerox to be among those whom she respected, and took on the role of teacher, especially toward a young Khundish student named Harlack.

Less than a year later, Zerox was destroyed in a so-called Magic War, and the sorcerers' community relocated to a world called Tharn. There they found themselves in danger of attack from the Khunds, and decided there was only one way to save themselves: to restore Mordru to full power. Mysa, who had come to love the new lesser-powered, more tempered Mordru, and she had faith that he would stay that way—so much so that she married him over the protests of Nura and others. She proved to be wrong, and Mordru's twisted concept of love and fear of her power led him to abuse her worse than his other wives. She lost all self-esteem, believing that it was her own fault that she was too weak to keep Mordru on the straight and narrow, and did not even bother to fight him. Her mystical powers were repressed by Mordru to the point that she reverted to her original appearence.

She might have given up all hope of a better life, but luckily for her, her friends in the Legion were looking out for her. When Reep Daggle (Chameleon Boy) decided to re-form the Legion, his first aim was Mysa's rescue. (Legion vol. 4 #3) The Legion managed to pry Mysa from Mordru's sadistic hands, but she still suffered from the years of trauma. (#6-7) Added to this was the fact that her best friend in the old Legion, Blok, had just been killed. But with the love and support of her friends Mysa managed to rebuild her self-image, and helped the Legion fight the Khunds. (#17)

In regaining her mystical abilities, Mysa received visions from Amethyst, the sorceress of ancient times. (#43) She took a leave of absence from the Legion to see what she could find on Tharn. With the help of J'onn Jonzz, she attempted to destroy what remained of Mordru. Instead his his essence merged with Mysa's, and he became more powerful than ever. With the help of the Legionnaires and the spirit of Amethyst, Mysa ultimately triumphed over the dark mage once again. (#44-48)

After this, the spirit Amethyst merged with Mysa, turning her hair a dark purple and increasing her magical powers. Mysa also became more extroverted than ever. When the Legion next battled the time misstress Glorith, Mysa was "de-aged" to about sixteen years old. As fate would have it, the new, more outgoing Mysa seemed to enjoy this. She went on the run with the rest of the team and during this time, took the code name Jewel. During this time, she grew very attatched to Timber Wolf. It wasn't long after this when the Zero Hour destroyed this timeline and Mysa disappeared in the white wave. (Legionnaires #18)

Notes

Tom & Mary Bierbaum on White Witch: Mysa has difficulty achieving her full potential as a sorceress because the ultimate source of her power was her love for Mordru, one of the most reprehensible despots of all time. This has left her with a fragile psyche and an ongoing desire to minimize and avoid conflict. —Interlac (2000)

Retroboot: The Black Witch

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Powers

Mysa Nal was not born with the native abilities of her homeworld, those of prophesy. Instead, she devoted herself to the study of magic. Over the years, she has built a vast repertoire of spells to call upon.

Appearances + References

Reboot: Mysa of Earth-247

There was another Mysa in the Reboot Legion, which ceased to exist after the Infinite Crisis. This Mysa ceased to exist along with that universe. She was not a member of that Legion, only an occasional ally (and foil to the Legionnaire Kinetix). Unlike her original Legion counterpart, she was not related to Dream Girl.

Mysa was a witch from Zarrox, the Sorcerers' World, who had the appearance of an old hag. This appearance was achieved during a battle against Mordru, her father, and the Emerald Eye of Ekron in which many other sorcerers were killed. (Legionnaires #49) Later, her life was saved by Azra Saugin bearing a mystical artifact which she had dug up the previous day. The energy released through this artifact also affected the unborn child in Azra's womb, forming a mystical bond between the child and Mysa. (#42)

Years later, after this child was born and reached adolescence, she gained a telekinetic power that she eventually used as Kinetix of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Seeing in Kinetix a way to get her hands on the Emerald Eye of Ekron, the mystical power-object that had stolen her youth and gave her the aged look she now bears, and thus regain her true form, she engineered Kinetix's loss of power through the Star of Akkos, knowing that she'd search for new power, and would eventually need help in the search for new power. She saved Kinetix from death in deep space and took her in. (Legion vol. 4 #76) She trained her in mysticism for the purpose of obtaining the Eye. (Legionnaires #33) When Kinetix's trainig period was complete, Mysa transformed her into a mystical creature attuned to the Eye and sent her away on her quest. (#34) After the Legion had a confrontation with the Eye in which Kinetix failed to capture it, she transported Kinetix and several others to Zarrox for punishment (#41), but after being confronted by Azra Saugin over her ingratitude, she restored Kinetix's power and form to the way they were before their encounter and sent the Legionnaires home. (#42)

After the release of Mordru from his tomb on the planetoid Yuen, Mysa enlisted the aid of magical Legion reject Dragonmage and intended to enlist the aid of the Legion in stopping him. (#46) She then checked on Mordru's power-objects, which she had buried on the planet Binder-7, only to find Mordru had already taken them. She then grabbed Kinetix from Legion headquarters in order to get her to have the Legion help in the fight against Mordru. (#48) After explaining their mutual history to Kinetix, Kinetix told her where she could contact the Legion, and the Legion accepted her and Dragonmage's help in that battle. (#49) During the battle, Mysa managed to separate the Eye from its current host, Shrinking Violet, and used it against Mordru until he restored her youth to her, draining her of much of her power and severing her connection to the Eye. During the final attack on Mordru, Mysa was instrumental in saving the heroes from his blasts and determining Mordru's condition inside the airtight vault the Legionnaires eventually placed him in. (#50) Mysa has since undergone an almost total personality change, and has begun to care deeply for Dragonmage, who resembles someone she once knew and loved, and whom she has taken on as an apprentice of sorts. (#51-52)

Upon their return to the Sorcerers' World, Mysa began tutoring Dragonmage in order to help him regain control of his power. (#70) She attempted to teach him patience as well, but this lesson eluded him, and, against her wishes, he sought a quicker route to regaining his power. He thought he had found it when he discovered a scroll relating to the Elementals, and he freed them before Mysa could stop him. Mysa found his unconscious body near where the Elementals had been entombed, and took him to Legion headquarters on Earth to recover while she and the Legion stopped the Elementals themselves. (#71) Mysa then teleported herself, Saturn Girl and Gates to Tokyo to confront the Elemental Phy'R together with several Legionnaires who were already there. With her help, the Legion almost managed to contain Phy'R, but he proved too powerful for them and escaped into space. Mysa then correctly surmised that the Elementals intended to target Mordru. (#72) Mysa then went with the Legionnaires to JS-1967, where they ended up stopping the Elementals and she cast a spell to contain their energies. (#73) Mysa stayed behind on JS-1967 to make sure that Mordru was still safely imprisoned and that the Elementals were no longer active, and to help Dirk Morgna adjust to his new vision senses. While there, Dirk spotted the energy being who would later become known as Wildfire, and she helped that energy being coalesce so that he could survive. (#74, 76)

Powers

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Appearances + References

Threeboot: White Witch of Earth-Prime

The White Witch of Earth-Prime was a member of the Wanderers. She was loyal to this group, and its leader, Mekt Ranzz, and remains at large. (Supergirl & the Legion #25-33)

Powers

The White Witch had impressive magical abilities, the limits of which are unrevealed.

Appearances + References