Tim was born as a conduit for the raw magic that shared the name of the most famous magician to serve it: "the Merlin". In order to increase his power and his legend, the Merlin arranged for Tim to have multiple, contradictory stories about his birth that nonetheless were each equally true. He was at one and the same time the illegitimate son of Tamlin the Falconer and Titania the Queen of Faerie, the son of Tamlin and a beautiful human girl called Mary and any number of other possible origins. At some point, these multiple origins converged and Tim ended up being raised in the Mundane World by William and Mary Hunter - although he later discovered that his mother Mary wore a glamour stone, hiding her true nature and appearance, possibly as the brownie Bridie who smuggled him to Earth at Queen Titania's request or possibly another as yet undiscovered origin for the young magician.