Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, M.D., Ph.D. was the Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts. Dejected about not being with his love interest Christine Palmer, Sinister Strange began using the Darkhold to dreamwalk through the Multiverse and kill versions of himself that were not with their own Christine Palmers. The Darkhold ultimately corrupted Strange and caused an Incursion that almost completely destroyed his entire universe, with him being the last citizen left alive. He came across a Variant of himself, who later defeated and killed him in spellcasting combat.
Stephen Strange had a sister named Donna Strange, who drowned after falling into a frozen lake. Eventually, Strange trained to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, and was later awarded the title of Sorcerer Supreme and also became the Master of the New York Sanctum.[1]
Desire for Christine Palmer[]
"Are. You. Happy. Stephen? It's the question that... Christine Palmer asked me at her wedding. I said, 'Yes, of course I'm happy.'"
When Christine Palmer got married, an ex-girlfriend with whom he was not able to fully express his feelings for, Strange became obsessed with the thought of being together with her again. Strange turned to the Darkhold to gain back Palmer, through which he discovered greater details about the Multiverse, in which he learned there were multiple versions of himself, who were living different lives of their own.
Strange started dreamwalking across the Multiverse, possessing his counterparts' bodies across universes in search of one who was able to live with a version of Christine Palmer. Locating multiple versions of himself and finding none, he fell into despair. In this fragile mental state, Strange was highly susceptible to the Darkhold's corruption; resulting in him developing sociopathic tendencies overtime.[1]
Killing Versions of Himself[]
Seeing that there were versions of himself without the company of Christine Palmer, Strange decided to possess their bodies and force them to push themselves off a tall building to kill them.[1]
Destruction of His Own Universe[]
During one of his attempts to find a reality where a version of Strange was happy with Palmer, Strange caused a reality-destroying Incursion between his universe and another one, which destroyed almost all of his universe. The only survivor of his dying universe, he was left alone in the desolate New York Sanctum.[1]
Some time after the destruction of his own universe, Strange eventually noticed that another version of himself and a version of Christine Palmer had been teleported to his own universe, and peered out at them from the window of the New York Sanctum. Seeing the opportunity to gain Palmer back to fulfill his obsession, Strange waited for his other counterpart to arrive at the New York Sanctum to meet with him. When his counterpart reached the top floor of the Sanctum, Strange told him to stop in his tracks, asking the other one to verify that he was truly Strange's counterpart. The counterpart confirmed his identity by telling the story of their sister, Donna Strange, who drowned in a frozen lake as a child because he could not save her.
Strange telling his story
Strange's counterpart asked why this universe was left in such a horrible state, to which he responded that it was fine until he lost it due to the Darkhold. After his counterpart saw that Strange guarded the Darkhold, the other Strange asked him to give it up in order to communicate with his own universe. Strange warned his counterpart about the dangers of using the Darkhold, telling him that it not only damages reality but also exacts a heavy toll on its reader. Seeing the callous attitude of his counterpart, Strange told his counterpart about his own past, talking about his deep unfulfilled obsession with Christine Palmer, resulting in him going to the Darkhold merely to search for universes where he was devoid of the pain of losing her.
Strange reveals his third eye
Strange explained that that he never found such a universe, but that he never meant for his reality to be destroyed by his quest. Strange continued on to say that this led him to hunt down all counterparts of himself who were not with Palmer in their lives, killing them by dreamwalking into their bodies and forcing them to kill themselves, illustrating that he is one of the reasons for his counterpart's various nightmares. Strange then opened his third eye, demonstrating the heavy toll that the Darkhold had exacted on him. Strange then said that the only way that he could have the Darkhold would be if he gave him his version of Palmer, much to the other Strange's fury. [1]
Realizing that he was corrupted by the Darkhold, Strange was engaged in battle by his counterpart, wanting to kill the doppelgÀnger to forcefully keep Christine Palmer for himself. However, the original Strange eventually got the upper hand and sent the other Strange out of the window where he fell to his death, getting impaled by his own fence. Palmer cautiously walked up to Strange's body when his third eye opened one last time, terrifying Palmer.[1]
Personality[]
"I never meant for any of this to happen. I was looking for a world where things were different. Where I had Christine, where I was happy. But I didn't find it. All I found were more of us. So I did those Stephens a favor."
Due to the constant use of the Darkhold, the obsessions implanted in his mind made him a psychotic sociopath. Unable to accept a life without Christine Palmer, Strange used the Darkhold to dreamwalk in a desperate attempt to find a universe where he and Palmer were together. Upon discovering that none existed, Strange completely snapped. Refusing to accept any Strange counterparts being happy, he went on a killing spree by murdering multiple counterparts of himself by forcing them to kill themselves. According to him, it was a twisted way of sparing them from pain without Palmer. Strange did feel some remorse from destroying his universe in the process.
Ultimately, Strange became broken and spent the rest of his time alone, guarding the Darkhold despite the pain it had brought him. Strange's obsession with Palmer never went away and grew to the point that he would only help a visiting counterpart in exchange for the Christine Palmer counterpart that was with him.
Magic: As the Sorcerer Supreme and the master of the New York Sanctum, Doctor Strange possessed an extremely high level of mastery over magic, forming tangible constructs of energy, such as weapons or shields, as well as cast spells by writing specific formations with the fiery energy. After tapping into the power of the Darkhold and accessing his third eye, Strange had become even more powerful than most of his counterparts claiming to have the power of gods. This allowed Strange to temporarily overpower his counterpart in battle, before he was outsmarted and defeated.
Eldritch Magic: During his time in Kamar-Taj, Strange learned to manipulate Eldritch Magic and became one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. Due to the Darkhold's influence, his magic changed from orange to purple.
Strange was able to shape and manipulate magic energy. During his fight with 616 Doctor Strange, Strange was able to harness Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" to create tangible musical notes made of dark energy to attack his alternate self, as well as create forcefields.
Energy Absorption: Strangeâs Eldritch Magic acts as a type of outer layer of protection over his body. This safeguarded him from his doppelgĂ€ngerâs magic attacks, causing Strangeâs body to glow purple in the areas he got hit. Strange was also able to convert the 616 Doctor Strange Eldritch Magic's whip into a Dark Magic's whip.
Telekinesis: During the fight with 616 Doctor Strange for the Darkhold, Strange was able to use his telekinesis to call the book into his hand, temporarily beating his alternate self.
Dark Magic: Upon obtaining the Darkhold, Strange was able to dreamwalk through the Multiverse. The book's power also allowed Strange to access his third eye, increasing his power, with him claiming to have the power of gods.
Dreamwalking: Using the Darkhold, Strange was able to dreamwalk through the Multiverse in order to kill alternate versions of himself that did have a happy ending without Christine Palmer.
Darkhold: Strange used the Darkhold in an effort to reunite with Christine Palmer, following her marriage and his inability to move on. However, Strange would come to learn about the Multiverse, and would use the Darkhold to dreamwalk, in search of a Variant of himself who was living happily with Palmer. His efforts would be in vain, finding no universes where they ended up together, and he fell to the Darkhold's corruption in despair. Under its influence, Strange would go on to use the Darkhold to dreamwalk into his Variants and then kill them, to put them out of their misery without Palmer.
The character was originally going to be "Melvin Strange", a non-superpowered street magician whom the main Stephen Strange would have had an enlightening moment with.[4]
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