Generally a reclusive man, Strange is known for his charitability and kindness, but has been a little less stable in the last few years due to his falling out with the beings who lent him their powers. This falling out caused Strange to re-evaluate his role as Sorcerer Supreme and saw him change the sources of his powers for a time from his normal magic derived from his near-divine sources to Earth Magic and then to Chaos Magic. StrangeÕs current sources of magick are unknown but believed to be as formidible as they were in the past.

History:
Stephen Vincent Strange was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, being the first son of Eugene and Beverly Strange. Only a few months later, the Strange family moved to a farm in Nebraska. It was here that his brother Victor, and later his sister Donna were born. Even as a boy Stephen was searching for power and prestige. It was then that he decided to became a surgeon. After he left the family farm in Nebraska for medical school he never really saw his family anymore. Only came over on alternate christmases when he didn't get a better offer for the holidays.

After his graduation he became a brilliant, ambitious, and somewhat arrogant neurosurgeon. He became more distant, more cynical as the years went by. When his dad died, two years after his mom, it took him two days to return Victors (his brother) call saying he was in the hospital. He felt guilty but it would've passed, just like it always had before.

A few days later his brother stood at his front door. Stephen never went to his fatherÕs burial that was the day before and he made exuses against his brother only now. That night Stephen was with some girl and when Victor saw her he stepped out the door, real angry. It was snowing and Victor didn't look where he was going. The car hit him with full force. Stephen had to pronounce his own brother dead. Wracked with grief he figured that this time he could buy his way out of the burden of guild by freezing his brotherÕs body. Hoping that one day medical science would bail him out. He didn't thust himself enough not to touch the money that kept VictorÕs freezer going so he placed that money in an untouchable trust fund.

Not long afterwards his meteoric medical career was tragically cut short in an automobile accident. In this accident Strange sustained minor nerve damage, which prevented him from holding a scalpel steadily enough to perform delicate surgery. Although he was offered a prestigious consultant's position, Strange's pride prevented him from accepting. He invested his fortune on attempted cures and fraudulent doctors and saw it dwindle to nothing. He swiftly degenerated from recluse to drifter to drunken derelict. Then Strange heard talk of a learned man in Tibet known only as the Ancient One who could supposedly work miracles.

Determined to find this miracle man, he made his way across the ocean and then the frozen wastes of the Himalayan Mountains. Just when he reached the limits of his endurance, he stumbled upon the Ancient One's palace. The aged sorcerer told him he would only consider helping Strange if he proved himself worthy. Refusing to fully believe in the Ancient One's magic anyway, Strange remained as a guest while a bitter storm spent itself outside. He soon discovered that the Ancient One's pupil Baron Mordo was plotting to kill his master. Trying to warn the master of his pupil's treachery, Strange was discovered by Mordo and mystically restrained.

Witnessing Mordo's power and learning of his murderous intent shocked the jaded Strange into a realization of the nature of evil and the necessity to combat it. Eventually Strange sought a way to get around Mordo's spell by sincerely offering to become the pupil of the Ancient One himself. The sorcerer freed Strange of the restricting spell and admitted that he knew of Mordo's true nature all along. But having peered into Strange's soul, he saw the potential for great goodness and power.

Thus, Stephen Strange became the Ancient One's disciple and learned the secrets of sorcery. He stayed for several years in Tibet with the Ancient One. Aside from the mystic arts also developing his body and learning the ancient martial arts of Kamar-Taj. When the day came for the pupil to leave and restart his own life the Ancient One pointed him to a special Victorian-style house on Bleecker Street in bohemian Greenwich Village in New York City.

There was, of course, a reason why the Ancient One's picked this particular house. The site was a focal point on which magical rituals were done for centuries past. Indian shamans used the site, a mystical dimensional gateway resides in his basement, cultists used it in their rituals, faeries seeked and received refuge within the walls. Strange not only changed the obvious physical appearance of the house like the special and well-known window, but also placed a lot of spells on it.

For instance... the house cannot be entered by evil magicians, and will erect some sort of mystical force field whenever they try. It will also work as a mystical alarm. There is a spell that holds of even the rain. The inside is combined with reality shifting spells, therfore it never really looks the same. the spells work together. One time a burglar entered the house at a window on the first floor entered a door there and found himself outside on ground level.

Special Powers/Abilities:
Doctor Strange has a good knowledge of various Oriental martial arts and trains regularly with his assistant Wong. Stephen Strange has the physical ability of a man who engages in moderate physical exercise. Dr. Strange's psychic abilities are more extensively trained than normal men and as such may perform feats such as mesmerism, hypnotism, telepathy and psychokinesis. He also possesses considerable medical and surgical knowledge.

Known superhuman powers: Strictly speaking, Doctor Strange and other human sorcerers do not have superhuman powers. Only the ability to manipulate mystical energy lies within an Earth-born sorcerer, not the energy itself. Theoretically, any Earth human can tap into an infinite amount of mystical energy. However, each person is limited by his own amount of training, discipline, knowledge, and enlightenment as to the mystic arts. As Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Doctor Strange possesses a greater knowledge and mastery of the mystic arts than anyone else on Earth. He was born with a great talent for sorcery, and he has fulfilled that potential through long years of study and training.

Strange's magic, like that of most magicians, is derived from three major sources: personal powers of the mind/soul/body, derived through developing one's own psychic resources (mesmerism, astral projection, thought-casting, etc.), powers gained by tapping the universe's ambient magical energy and employing it for specific effects (teleportation, illusion-casting, energy projection), and finally, powers gained through the tapping of extra-dimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in mystical dimensions tangential to his own.

The latter means of power is usually gained by the recitation of spells, either ritualized ones found in various mystical texts or by original spells invoking extra-dimensional assistance. Strange also employs a number of occult power objects which he welds by mental control.

To begin with his personal powers. Strange has mastered the art of astral projection, the mental ability to separate the astral self-the sheath of the soul, or life essence-from his physical self, and in this form traverse through space unbounded by physical laws but fully retaining human consciousness. The astral form is invisible, intangible, and incapable of being harmed except by the most rigorous of mystical means. The astral form only possesses those magical powers residing in the sorcerer's mind: thought casting, psychokinesis, etc. Strange is of such mastery that he can remain in astral form for up to 24 hours before there is corporeal deterioration of his physical form. The physical form is quite vulnerable to attack when the astral form is absent. If harm were to befall his physical form while he was in his astral form, he would be stranded in the wraith-like state. While the astral form is absent, the physical form remains in an inert death-like trance.

Although Strange also has the ability to mesmerize people to do his bidding, both in person and at a distance, he seldom employs his mastery over others' wills in so direct a way. Strange can cast his thoughts over short or vast distances in a manner virtually identical with telepathy. The entire Earth is within the reach of Strange's mind, providing he knows where to contact the specific mind he is seeking. Strange can simultaneously communicate with up to a dozen minds at a time.

Strange is also able to tap this universe's store of ambient magical energy and manipulate it for a variety of effects. He is able to form and hurl magical energy bolts with a high degree of potency and control. He is able to erect energy shields o screens with a high degree of imperviousness to both physical and magical damage. He is able to use local magical energy for the conjuration of small physical objects like money or rabbits or for unusual luminescent effects. Strange can also transform one object into another, though the transformation only lasts for as long as he wills it.

Strange is sometimes able to utilize local magical energy to teleport across the face of the Earth or into a mystical dimension (certain higher dimensions beyond height, width, depth, etc. where the physical laws can be based on magic rather than science). Oddly enough, teleportation within a dimension is more taxing than teleportation between dimensions. Such expenditure of energy leaves all sorcerers (including Strange) mystically debilitated for a varying length of time, making teleportation a dangerous and seldom used ability. Physical teleportation across time rather than space is the most power-draining feat of them all.

Doctor Strange has knowledge of a host sorcerous spells and incantations invoking the names and aspects of various extra-dimensional objects and beings of power. Strange is also able to call upon these extra-dimensional power sources for very specific effects without taxing his own personal abilities. Some of these extra-dimensional phenomena include the Flames of the Faltine, the Shades of the Seraphim, and the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth. In Strange's possession is the Greater Book of the Vishanti, an ancient tome containing a wealth of obscure arcane knowledge.

Paraphernalia: A number of artifacts, but the most important are...

The Eye and Amulet of Agamotto

The Crystal Orb of Agamotto

The Book of The Vishanti

The Cloak of Levitation

This information on Doctor Strange comes partially from the Marvel Universe Handbook and from Erik Frederik Elzenaar written in 1998-1999. Erik used to be able to be reached at doctor_strange@geocities.com. I am unsure if that address is still viable.