Klarion the Witch Boy
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Klarion the Witch-Boy is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe character first seen in the pages of The Demon in 1973.
Character history
Klarion I
Klarion is a young practitioner of the dark arts originally hailing from Witch-World, an otherwordly dimension where everyone is at least somewhat knowledgeable about black magic. The problem was, being a child, he was constantly under the direction of adults who dictated what he could and could not do with his powers, as well as what kind of sorcery he could study. Using his power to open a gateway into the normal universe, Klarion and his cat familiar, Teekl, embarked on a journey to learn all there was to know about witchcraft, as well as cause some chaos along the way.It had not been long before he attracted the attention of the demon Etrigan, who attempted to send him back to his own dimension several times. A rivalry sparked between the two, and their battles often came down to a competition of spellcraft. In addition to Etrigan, Klarion also crossed paths with the Flash, Batman, and Superboy's Ravers.
Not only could Klarion use his magic to wreak havoc, but his cat, Teekl, could assume a were-form under his direction. This granted her increased agility and strength, as well as augmenting her already ferocious personality.
Klarion played a significant part in the 1998 "Event" Young Justice: Sins of Youth, in which he became involved in a plot by the Agenda to turn people against kid superheroes. He increased distrust and confusion at a rally for young heroes, by casting a spell that turned the teenage heroes present into adults and the adult heroes observing the rally into teenagers. In this story, under scribe Peter David, he began referring to himself as "Klarion... Bum... Bum... Bum... The Witch Boy", an affectation (under other writers) he has since ceased.
Klarion II, Soldier of Victory
In 2005, a new version of Klarion starred in his own mini-series as one of the seven main characters in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory. The new version of Klarion has no connection to the previous version, and is an inhabitant of an underground community known as Limbo Town, inhabited by the Puritan witch descendants of the lost population of Roanoke. Limbo Town is actually located beneath New York City's subway system. Being a rebellious sort, Klarion clashes with the controlling and pious Submissionary Judah, the religious leader and defender of the town. Klarion attempts to leave, but in doing so attracts the attention of a terrifying entity known as the Horigal.
The Horigal is severely crippled by a passing subway train (being driven by underground pirates from another Seven Soldiers project, The Manhattan Guardian), and Klarion manages to make it out to the world above. There he is ensnared by the mysterious Mr Melmoth, who encourages him to join a band of young super-delinquents. These children, along with Klarion, use their powers to steal an enormous digging machine from a New York museum of superheroes which, unbeknownst to Klarion, Melmoth plans to use to pillage Limbo Town.
When Teekl sees Melmoth pushing a member of the gang through a portal to 'the red place', Klarion tells the rest of the group of his evil, then abandons them.
Despite wanting to continue his adventures on the Earth's surface, Klarion returns to Limbo Town. There, the townsfolk try to burn him at the stake for blasphemy, but the arrival of Melmoth and his thugs convince the townsfolk. Klarion raises the alarm, then meets the dying Submissionary Judah, who passes on the title of Submissionary to Klarion now that all of the other Submissionaries are dead. With this comes the ability to become the Horigal (actually a gestalt form of the Submissionaries and their familiars), and Klarion promptly kills the thugs and cripples Melmoth, who vows to return after the Harrowing.
Afterwards, Klarion refuses his mother's offer to replace Submissionary Judah as leader of Limbo Town, saying "I would like to be many things before I die, Mother." But, today, to stop the Sheeda, "[he] will be a soldier".
Klarion most recently appeared in Infinite Crisis #6 along with many other members of DC's mystic community, an appearance which, according to Grant Morrison, takes place after Seven Soldiers.
In other media
In the later seasons of the , The New Batman Adventures, Klarion I appears in the episode "The Demon Within". In it, he is outbid by Bruce Wayne in an auction for an ancient branding iron which supposedly had mystic properties. He planned to use this as a way to finally get the upper hand on Etrigan, who also made an appearance. However, he is able to steal the branding iron and use it to take control of Etrigan, leading him on a random spree of havoc and violence. Soon, Etrigan imprisoned Klarion in a snowglobe. His voice actor was Stephen Wolfe Smith.
He is later referenced in the Batman Beyond episode "Revenant", when an elderly Bruce Wayne talks about how he believes in the supernatural due to encounters with everything from zombies to "witch-boys".
Klarion also made an appearance as a villain for Zatanna in cartoon monsoon.
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