Marie Laveau (Character)

Created by: Gene Coleman and Roy Thomas

1st appearance: Dracula Lives #2,September 1973

Team Affiliations: None

Legal Status: Unknown

Height: 5’6              Weight: 120 lbs

Eyes: Brown                Hair: Black

Relatives:  Charles Laveau (Father), Darcantel Marguerite (Mother), Several unnamed children (Status Unknown)

Skills and Abilities: Skilled Dancer, hairdresser, and voodoo sorceress.

Powers: Marie is a master of Voodoo magic and has extensive knowledge of various mystic arts.

Biography

Early Years

Marie Laveau was the daughter of a wealthy estate owner named Charles Laveau and a slave Darcantel Marguerite in Saint Domingue located, Haiti in the year of 1794. After a slave revolt in Haiti, she arrived in New Orleans in 1809 where she made a living as a hairdresser.  Sometime later she began practicing voodoo magic and married Jacques Paris in 1819 but soon after he mysteriously died. By 1830 she was well known as a seller of charms. In 1835 she wed again and just as before he mysteriously died. Over the course of the 1800’s, she had fifteen children. Marie was reported as dead in 1881 but was still seen roaming the streets soon after. Marie is also reportedly the cause of the 1895 hurricane which struck New Orleans.   

During the dawn of the 19th-century, men came from across the globe to watch her dance naked in the moonlight and by day women bought her love potions. The sorcerer Cagliostro was enthralled by her and became her lover.  From him, she learned the secrets of immortality which he had learned from the Darkhold itself. She aged so slowly that many came to believe that there had been two Marie’s, a mother and a daughter. Cagliostro eventually did leave her and by that time she was an old woman in form as he had given her an incomplete formula for immortality. She was tended to by her most faithful followers’ generation to generation [Dracula Lives #2 and #7].  Gaston her latest caretaker managed to bring Dracula to her side and use his blood to complete an immortality ritual which fully restored her youth and vitality while transferring all her age to Gaston. Laveau then proposed an alliance with Dracula though he refused [Dracula Lives #2 and #7].

Modern Times

She came into conflict with Doctor Strange when she was bound to the will of Silver Dagger. During the conflict, she saved his life [Marvel Team-Up v1. #76-77]. After the Montessi Formula was used to banish vampirism from the Earth plane she realized that her immortality formula would be compromised and thus used her powers to control Monica Rambeau who she sent through time to bring back a vial of vampiric blood. Monica was successful but upon returning to the present the blood was rendered useless [Marvel Fanfare #42]. She was allies with the Minoru family [Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm #1]. She again failed to find a substitute Vampiric blood in a failed plan involving Morbius and Victor strange which left her home burnt to the ground [Doctor Strange v3. #14]. Crossing paths with Dr. Strange once more she manages to get her hands on the ‘darkhold’ and make her way to Haiti. Raising a small army of vampires she was opposed by Brother Voodoo and an army of Zombies. Defeated and her vampires killed she fled once more. The next time she used the Darkhold to resurrect the first vampire Varnea, who had created Dracula years before. The spell was imperfect and thus she had to find a host body for Varnea. With the dark lord returned she attempted to flee with the Drakhold but was captured by Brother Voodoo and lost the Darkhold [Doctor Strange v3. #15-18].

When the host body died she was forced to perform another spell to bring back Varnea and this time clashed with Blade and the Nightstalkers. She was successful though Blade eluded her [Nightstalkers #18 and Blade #4,#5].

Allied with Deacon Frost she tried to take over New Orleans but was thwarted by Brother Voodoo who managed to turn the Loa against her [Blade Crescent City Blues]. She later managed to get a page of the Darkhold from an old Mirror thanks to Nico Minoru. She turned over the page to Ian Mcnee [Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm #1 and #3].