
-- Ancient One src

Early Life

Yao was born in the 1430's, in the mystic city of Kamar-Taj, a village in the Himalayas area now known as Tibet. Originally, the youth was a peaceful farmer, like his fellow villagers, but encountered an older villager named Kaluu. Kaluu shared with the youth his knowledge of magic, and they began exploring the secrets of sorcery together, even learning the secrets of immortality.[citation needed]

The youth wanted to use his magic to help the village, but Kaluu wanted to build a vast empire, and organized the men of Kamar-Taj into an army by magically controlling their minds. The youth attempted to warn the village, but Kaluu used his magic to incapacitate him, paralyzing him and setting him on public display. Kaluu began his conquests, and the youth called upon mystical forces while in his paralytic state, ultimately banishing him to the dimension of Cyttorak.[citation needed] Kaluu's spell turned the population of Kamar-Taj no longer immortal, so Yao sought the cup of eternity and thus began aging at a greatly slowed rate.[4]


Finding a Replacement


The Ancient One was sought by Baron Karl Mordo who desired to be his pupil. The Ancient One realized his need for a successor and agreed to tutor Mordo. Although he recognized Mordo's evil ambitions in his mind, he decided that he could do his best convert Mordo to the service of good, or at least keep him in check.[citation needed]

Some time later, Doctor Stephen Strange sought the services of the Ancient One for his own purposes, but soon tried to save the Ancient One from a plot by Mordo. The Ancient One dismissed Mordo but explained that he had used this as a test for Strange, who agreed to stay as the Ancient One's new pupil.[6] Strange trained with the Ancient One for many years before leaving to set up his own residence in New York, though he still relied on the Ancient One's guidance.[2]

Modern Age

By the modern age of heroes, Doctor Strange had become a well-known mystic operating from his Sanctum in Greenwich Village. He occasionally required the help of the Ancient One as of one his earliest recorded cases was in assisting a corrupt businessman who was plagued by recurring nightmares. Strange soon discovered that the man was being haunted by the being known as Nightmare, ruler of the Dimension of Dreams and entered this dimension to fix it. Nightmare attempted to trap him there, leaving his physical body undefended while the man, afraid that the secret of his crimes had been found out, would try to kill Strange. The Ancient One sensed Strange calling out for his aid from Nightmare's dimension, and using Strange's amulet, transfixed the would-be murderer, saving his student. This allowed Strange time to escape and confront the man.[2]

Baron Mordo soon resurfaced and used his powers to try and eliminate the Ancient One. Baron Mordo controlled the Ancient One's assistant to poison the Ancient One, sensing his master in trouble, Strange battled Mordo in his ectoplasmic form, preventing Mordo from ending the Ancient One's life.[7]

Some years after Strange had left Tibet, the Ancient One and Doctor Strange teamed up to combat the evil demon, Zom. In order to defeat Zom, the Ancient One made it appear as if Zom had killed him and seemed to transfer his magical ability into Strange. In actuality, the Ancient One activated the potential for further magical ability in Strange which had remained latent.[citation needed]

Cosmic Entity

Later still, the Ancient One was taken prisoner by the so-called Living Buddha and minor demons called the Shadowmen, all of which were serving the extradimensional demon Shuma-Gorath.[8][9] The Ancient One was made to serve as a gateway for bringing the demon to Earth. So he prompted his disciple, Doctor Strange, to destroy that portion of his mind which constituted his ego or sense of self, thus ending his corporeal existence, allowing his spirit to become one with the Universe, i.e. one with Eternity. And so he died in the Crypts of Kaa-U, preventing the rise of Shuma-Gorath. Once the Ancient One's spirit had become one with everything, he came to Doctor Strange, assuaging his guilt over ending his master's life, and bestowing on his pupil the mantle of the realm's new Sorcerer Supreme.[10]

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True Magic



When Daniel Drumm used his abilities to possess Doctor Strange's friends and use them against him, Stephen had to appeal to dark magic to defeat Drumm. As Strange used his powers to continue defending the universe although it wasn't his duty anymore and managed not to succumb before the dark magic he used, the Ancient One appeared on the battlefield and gave Strange the Eye of Agamotto again, thus becoming the Sorcerer Supreme once more.[citation needed]

Power Grid [13]
Energy Projection
Fighting Skills*
* Teleporter; Heightened stats represent Ancient One in his prime



The Ancient One has the ability to tap this universe's infinite store of ambient magical energy and manipulate the magical power for a variety of effects and purposes. The skill derives from three major sources: personal powers of the mind/soul/body, powers gained by tapping the universe's ambient magical energy and employing it for specific effects, and, finally, powers gained through the tapping of extra-dimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in tangential mystical dimensions. (The latter means of power is usually gained by reciting incantations.) Some of these effects include:


The Ancient One had a vast knowledge of mystical spells and incantations invoking the names and aspects of various extra-dimensional objects and beings of power. Through these incantations, the Mage is able to call upon these extra-dimensional power sources for very specific effects without taxing the personal abilities.

Aside of the above-mentioned manipulations, he has been known to use such spells capable of opening dimensional gateways, levitating, creating life-like illusions, mesmerizing others, and casting a spell of silence, preventing subjects from speaking of certain matters or subjects.

The full extent of the powers and abilities of the Ancient One's non-corporeal form after his "death" and becoming one with Eternity are unknown. In his prime, the Ancient One was a master of the martial arts. For many years prior to his death, his advanced age (he lived to be more than 500 years old) impaired his abilities to the point where he could no longer engage in physical combat. Although the magical powers of the Ancient One are as vast as they were hundreds of years ago, his physical abilities were, in his extreme old age, greatly impaired. The Ancient One had also acquired and created many mystical artifacts, including the Eye and the Amulet of Agamotto, the Crystal Orb of Agamotto, the Book of The Vishanti and the Cloak of Levitation -- all which are now owned by Doctor Strange.


Skilled magician


His old age


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