Scarlet Witch

Real Name: Wanda Maximoff

First Appearance: X-Men #4 (March 1964)

Powers: Affects Probability, Manipulates Energy, Chaos Magic (a most powerful form of magic),

Affiliation: Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Lady Liberators, Secret Defenders, X-Men

Enemies: Just about everyone

Love Interests: Vision

Did You Know: The Scarlet Witch has been considered a borderline hero.  While her intentions are true, the sheer magnitude of her powers makes many nervous.

A Little History

After witnessing the intensity of his temper and the magnitude of his power, their mother, Magda, leaves her husband, Max (Magneto), to flee to Wundagore Mountain. Magneto did not know that he had twin children at the time of her leave.

On Wundagore Mountain, Magda was helped by a half-cow, half-human creature known as Bova. Shortly after the birth of her twins, Magda leaves Wundagore Mountain, leaving Bova to raise the children. Realizing that the children must be raised by their own kind, Bova takes them to a nearby village and asks a couple named Django and Marya Maximoff to do so.

In the Marvel Universe and around the time of puberty, if you are a mutant, your powers will begin to flare up. In the case of Wanda and Pietro, this is exactly what happens. While Pietro notices that he has an increased level of speed, Wanda notices that she can control the outcome of events.

While out, Wanda comes to the aid of a nearby woman who is about to be crushed by a falling rock. Instead of allowing the rock to crush the woman, she stops the rock and saves her. Because people fear what they don’t know, this act angers the villagers, and they, in turn, chase the twins out of town.

During the exile, Magneto appears and saves the children he does not know. As a form of repayment and believing the dream of Magneto to be true, the twins join him and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.