Doctor Strange

"You're a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You've spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole. To see more. To know more. And now on hearing that it can be widened, in ways you can't imagine, you reject the possibility." "No, I reject it because I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief."

- Ancient One and Doctor Strange

Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange is a powerful sorcerer and leading member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Originally a brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon, Strange suffered a car accident that resulted in his hands being crippled. When Western medicine failed to restore his hands, Strange embarked on a journey that led him to the Masters of the Mystic Arts as well as the discovery of magic and alternate dimensions. Though he was intially concerned with healing his hands, Strange learned more about the mystic arts and eventually helped the Masters prevent Kaecilius and the Zealots from merging Earth with the Dark Dimension, but not before witnessing the death of the Ancient One. With her demise, Strange became the protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City as well as Earth's protector from inter-dimensional threats.

Career as a Neurosurgeon
"Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."

- Jasper Sitwell to Captain America

Stephen Vincent Strange was a doctor of medicine who specialized in neurological surgery. As his medical career progressed, his popularity increased to the point where he was labeled by Project Insight as a threat to HYDRA. By 2016, he was one of the top surgeons in New York City and was exclusively interviewed by WHiH World News about new life-saving techniques he had been investigating in his field.

Strange eventually became attracted to Christine Palmer, a fellow surgeon who worked alongside him in the ER department of Metro-General Hospital. The two later began a relationship; one that did not last due to Strange's arrogance and his focus on his career.

On Top of the World
"Now's not the time for showing off, Strange!" "How about ten minutes ago when you called the wrong time of death?"

- Stephen Strange and Nicodemus West After completing a successful surgery, Strange was asked by Palmer to help with a patient who had been injured in a firefight. Despite the objections of fellow surgeon Nicodemus West, who wanted to start recovering the patient's organs, Strange found an initially missed bullet lodged in the patient's brain and saved his life. Immediately following the surgery, Strange asked Palmer if she and West were sleeping together. Palmer denied the accusation, stating it was against the "Strange Policy," a policy against dating coworkers that she named after him.

Strange proceeded to tell Palmer that he was set to speak at a dinner later that night and invited her to accompany him. Palmer declined, stating that she never enjoyed going to speaking engagements and that the only reason he went was because it boosted his already absurdly large ego.

Fall From Grace
Later that night, while en route to the dinner, Strange received a phone call from his colleague Billy, who had come across three potential surgeries. After turning down the first two options, he eventually showed interest in a female schizophrenic. Strange took his eyes off the road so he could look at the patient's records only to collide with another car and fly off the road before crashing into a nearby river bank. He was immediately rushed to Metro-General and underwent a surgery that lasted eleven hours. When Strange woke up the following day, he learned from Palmer that both of his hands, which were crushed by the dashboard of his car, had been subjected to severe nerve damage and rendered inoperable.

Searching For A Cure
"It's possible. Experimental, and expensive, but possible." "All I need is possible."

- Medical Board Member and Stephen Strange

After being released from Metro-General, Strange spent most of his money on seven different operations and numerous rehabilitation techniques, but all proved to be unsuccessful. It was during one physical rehabilitation session that his instructor mentioned Jonathan Pangborn, a paraplegic who had regained the ability to walk. When the instructor sent him Pangborn's file, Strange tracked him down. Despite his initial reluctance due to Strange having refused to take him as a patient before, Pangborn agreed to help when Strange revealed his damaged hands. Pangborn told revealed Strange the source of his healing, leading him to Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One.

Meeting the Ancient One
"Teach me!" "No."

- Stephen Strange and Ancient One

Spending the rest of his money on a ticket to Nepal, Strange begins his search for Kamar-Taj. He is attacked in an alley by three thugs after his expensive watch but is rescued by Karl Mordo, a student of the Ancient One who promised to bring him to Kamar-Taj. Mordo leads Strange to the Kamar-Taj warning him not to be disrespectful and "to forget everything he thought he knew. Inside, Strange initially mistakes an elderly man for the Ancient One before he is introduced to the correct Sorcerer Supreme.

At first Strange believes they were reasearching cell regenartion, but quickly became skeptical of her method of curing Pangborn declaring that "[he sees through her]" before she pushes his Astral Form out his body. Strange is shocked but denies what just happened as a result of LSD in the tea. The Ancient One then sends Strange through various realities before dragging him back. Barely recovering from the revelations shown to him, Strange begs her to teach him but she refuses and he is cast out because of his previous disrespect towards her.

Beginning Training
"How do I get from here to there?" "How did you get to reattach a severed nerve and put a human spine together bone by bone?" "Study and practice, years of it."

- Stephen Strange and Ancient One

Strange stayed on the doorstep for over five hours having nowhere else to go before he was finally let back inside and shown to his room by Karl Mordo. The next morning Strange sat down with the Ancient One who explained how the Masters of the Mystic Arts drew their power from other dimensions which allowed them to shape reality. When Strange asked how he could possibly gain the same kind of skill with his damaged hands, the Ancient One compared learning it to the same research Strange had done to also become a world renowned doctor. Seeking to better his understanding, Strange went to the library to take out several books on the concept of Magic. There he meet the Librarian Wong, who Strange began mocking for his single name and his refusal to smile. Strange questioned how Kamar-Taj worked in terms of knowledge, asking if he could read the Book of Cagliostro, to which Wong said that while no knowledge was off limits, some was too dangerous for a new student like he currently was. Strange began his training under the watchful eye of Karl Mordo but struggled initially, finding himself disappointingly unable to create a portal using the Sling Ring which the other trainees appeared to have no issue using. Becoming more frustrated as he continued to fail, Strange told the Ancient One that he believed that the shaking in his hands to be the cause. Not excepting this excuse, the Ancient One invited Hamir to demonstrate his own skill, revealing that Hamir was missing a hand but was still able to use his power regardless, indicating that Strange could do the same thing if given more practise and confidence in his own abilities as a sorcerer. Deciding that Strange needed more pressure to improve his skills, the Ancient One created her own portal and then abandoned him on the top of Mount Everest, wearing only thin clothing and telling him that the only way he would be able to return to Kamar-Taj before he froze to death was to successfully use his Sling Ring. Despite struggling at first, eventually Strange created a portal and landed back at Kamar-Taj, much to the Ancient One and Mordo's amusement. With this achievement, Strange gained the confidence that he could have the skills to become a sorcerer. Borrowing more books from Wong, Strange studied in his sleep using the Astral Dimension and progressed rapidly over the following months, also emailing Christine Palmer whenever he could. Strange also began using portals to take books from the library behind Wong's back, though he quickly found out. As his studies were becoming even more impressive, the Ancient One invited him to use the Mirror Dimension to study were he could not affect the real world. Stepping back into the courtyard, Strange began his fight training with Karl Mordo, who explained the concept of relics which held their power in weapons rather than in the Masters themselves. Strange laughed at the complex names as Mordo introduced him to the Staff of the Living Tribunal and Vaulting Boots of Valtorr. Mordo beat him into submission to prove a point before they discussed the Ancient One and how she had been able to live for so long. Seeking to push his limits, Strange began tampering with the Eye of Agamotto and the Book of Cagliostro. Using the Eye's power, Strange experimented with it's power by making an apple regrow and then rot, discovering the Eye gave him control over time itself. Discovering Strange's experiment, Wong and Karl Mordo both warned Strange not to disturb the natural law of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, noting that misuse of items of such incredible power could cause Strange to become trapped in a time loop forever as a result. Strange pointed out that the books should mention those kinds of warnings before actually showing the spells. This only increased Strange's wish to understand them so Wong and Mordo explained how they protect the world from mystical threats in much the same way that the Avengers protect it from physical ones. Strange initially refused to fight in a "mystic war" before the London Sanctum was attacked by Kaecilius, with the corpse of the Sanctum's protector, Sol Rama, dropping at their feet. The Sanctum was then destroyed and the explosion ripped through the Kamar-Taj and knocked everybody off their feet, trapping Strange in the Sanctum Sanctorum based within New York City as he became separated from his allies and unable to return to Kamar-Taj.

Battle at the Sanctum Sanctorum
Finding himself in a new location in New York City, Strange walked throughout the Sanctum Sanctorum looking for people and soon discovered the Rotunda of Gateways as well as the Cloak of Leviation. However Strange soon heard some commotion and discovered Kaecilius and his Zealots attacking the building. Strange then witnessed the guardian of the Sanctum, Daniel Drumm, being murdered by Kaecilius and made his presence known to the attackers. Kaecilius initially mistook Strange's name for Mr. Doctor as they awkwardly greeted each other, but soon forgot this and attacked him in order to complete his plan to bring Dormammu to Earth. Strange fought back against the Zealots, using his Sling Ring to create whips that stopped their attacks and beat them back while creating shields for himself, although he had trouble controlling them. Using the Rotunda of Gateways he had found earlier, Strange managed to trap one disciple in the desert and the other, Lucian, in the jungle, leaving only himself and Kaecilius to continue fighting throughout the Sanctum Sanctorum. As they continued to fight throughout the Sanctum, the desperate Strange attempted to intimidate Kaecilius with one item he found in the Sanctum, only to have to eventually admit that he did not know how to use it as a weapon and instead threw it at Kaecilius' head. Strange was soon knocked into the Cloak of Levitation's container, which then wrapped itself around his shoulders and helped him by deflecting the Space Shards that Kaecilus continued to attack him with. Strange then used the cloak to fight Kaecilius and trapped him with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, ending the fight. With Kaecilius now incapable of defending himself, Strange explained that his name was Doctor Strange, not Mister Doctor. Kaecilius then told Strange that the Ancient One dabbled in magic from the Dark Dimension, which is what gave her long lasting life. As Strange began to take note of these warnings, Kaecilius noted his Sling Ring was missing. Lucian made it back through and stabbed him with a Space Shard, almost killing Strange as he attempted to escape.

Duel on the Astral Plane
Strange tried to get away but was hunted by Lucian who planned to kill Strange. The Cloak of Levitation attacked Lucian and Strange used the Sling Ring to transport himself to the hospital. Palmer begins surgery and Strange uses his Astral Form to help shocking her and leaving her bewildered. Lucian uses his Astral Form and attacks Strange disturbing several objects in the Physical World but Strange is able to kill him after being charged with a defibrillator. Returning to his body as Palmer finished her work on his wound, Strange explained that he had been to Kamar-Taj to heal his wounds and learned magic which had allowed him to do what he could now do, although Palmer claimed this meant that he had likely joined a cult, which Strange claimed was untrue despite being amused by the idea. With his wound from the Space Shard now mostly dealt with, Strange decided to return to the Sanctum Sanctorum and to continue his fight against the Zealots. Strange then showed Palmer the portal he had made with his Sling Ring when he had arrived to confirm once and for all that what he had been saying was completely true. Returning to the Sanctum Sanctorum, Strange discovered that Karl Mordo and the Ancient One had arrived, while Kaecilius had escaped from the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak while he had been gone. The Ancient One was impressed by Strange defending the Sanctrum and declared him "Master Strange" as the new protector. Stephen refused as he was supposed to save lives, not end them and couldn't bear killing anyone else.

Strange then furiously confronted the Ancient One over dabbling in the Dark Dimension to keep herself alive for centuries. Although Mordo outright denied this, she did not and instead left, leaving Strange and Mordo to defend the Sanctum since Daniel Drumm had been murdered by Kaecilius during the attack a few hours earlier.

Battle in the Mirror Dimension
"Arrogance and fear still keeps you from learning the most significant lesson of all" "Which is?" "It is not about you."

- The Ancient One to Strange

Kaecilius returned to attack the Sanctum Sanctorum and Strange dragged them all into the Mirror Dimension where they cannot harm the Physical World. This turned out to be a mistake as Kaecilius affected the gravity in the Dimension almost killing Strange and Karl Mordo, who desperately attempted to escape. The Ancient One arrived, revealing to Mordo her dabbling in the Dark Dimension was true, and battled the Zealots until she was fatally stabbed and fell hundreds of stories. Strange rushed her to Metro-General Hospital and called upon the help of Christine Palmer and Nicodemus West to try and save her, as he was unable to perform surgery due to his shaking hands. He notices the Ancient One's Astral leave the room and followed in Astral Form. She told him about the Dark Dimension and why she had drawn her power from there before her Form vanished and she died. Strange mourned her lose before speaking with Palmer.

Battle at the Hong Kong Sanctum
"End this! You will never win." "No. But I can lose. Again. And again. And again. Forever. That makes you my prisoner."

- Dormammu and Doctor Strange

Strange and Karl Mordo headed to the Hong Kong Sanctum only to discover it has already been destroyed and Dormammu is coming to Earth. Using the Eye of Agamotto and breaking the Natural Laws of Time, Strange reversed what had happened, returning Wong and many others from the dead despite Mordo's protests. He was interrupted mid-spell, freezing time around the fighting. Kaecillius returned and declared that Dormammu's arrival couldn't be stopped anymore and once again mentioned that the Dark Dimension is "beyond time". Hearing this, Strange figured out a way to defeat Dormammu and headed to the Dark Dimension where time was irrelevant. Strange confronted Dormammu saying he wants to Bargain. Dormammu shrugged off Strange's words and proceeded to swiftly kill him. Suddeny Strange appeared again repeating the exact same words as before. Confused, Dormammu attempted to kill Strange again, only for him to reappear and repeat the cycle over and over.

Strange explained that he had created an endless time loop, and would keep both him and Dormammu trapped repeating the loop forever until latter relented and listened to his bargain. Eventually Dormammu surrended and asked what Strange wanted. Strange demanded he never return to Earth and take Kaecilius with him. He returned to Hong Kong to complete the Time Spell, and watched as Dormammu took Kaecillius and his followers away. Having witnessed Strange and the Ancient One's liberal use of breaking their own rules, Mordo left the Masters of the Mystic Arts disillusioned by their questionable and dangerous use of magic.

The New Protector
"Wise choice. You'll wear the Eye of Agamotto in time. Until then, best not to walk the streets with an Infinity Stone."

- Wong to Doctor Strange

Realizing he was not yet worthy of wielding the Eye of Agamotto, Strange decided it would be best to return the relic to Kamar-Taj. Wong agreed, claiming that overusing an Infinity Stone was highly dangerous. Strange made it clear that he did not know about the Stones; a fact that did not surprise Wong. Wong went on to note that the Sanctum Sanctorum needed a new protector since Daniel Drumm had been murdered by Kaecilius. Strange accepted the offer and placed the Cloak of Levitation back over his shoulders before following Wong through a portal to the Sanctum.

Immediately following his duel with Dormammu, Strange created a list of extraterrestrial and inter-dimensional beings who posed a threat to the people of Earth. One of those beings was Loki of Asgard, who led the Chitauri Invasion five years prior.

Meeting Thor
"So I keep a watchlist of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world... your adopted brother Loki is one of those beings." "A worthy inclusion." "Yeah. So... why bring him here to New York?"

- Doctor Strange and Thor

Several months later, Strange received a visit from Thor, Loki's adoptive brother who had brought him back to New York. When Strange confronted him, Thor explained they were searching for their father Odin. Strange offered to help him on the condition that they all returned to Asgard once the mission was completed.

Personality
"There is a strength to him." "Stubbornness, arrogance, ambition, I've seen it all before."

- Karl Mordo and Ancient One

Prior to his accident, Strange had a massive ego that fueled his career. Strange only took on patients that he believed would help benefit his status, even refusing to heal a US Army Colonel's back. His work was also driven by a desire to control death, which led him to refuse even looking into any patient he perceived to have little chance of recovery. This, however, changed after the accident, which left Strange a broken man, albeit also one extremely determined to heal himself, with Strange notably remaining outside of Kamar-Taj's front door for five hours after being initially thrown out.

Upon visiting Kamar-Taj, Strange initially maintained his narrow-minded arrogance and stubbornly refused to believe that the Ancient One was telling the truth, until she forcibly demonstrated astral projection and sent him across multiple dimensions to prove her point. Despite his own exceeding inquisitiveness and willingness to break rules, he was nonetheless still angered that the Ancient One breaking her own rules of gaining power from the Dark Dimension, and initially felt that he had been tricked into having to fight against mystical threats rather than being allowed to heal his hands.

However, this was not to say that he was a completely changed man. Despite being trained in combat, he was initially doubtful of his own skills when cornered by the Zealots, and he continued to fight the more experienced sorcerers with all his training, and later on confronted Kaecilius himself in combat, out of desperation to save himself instead of wanting to contribute to a greater cause. Nonetheless, he proved to be more quite creative when confronting seemingly unwinnable situations, seen as how he caused the death of Lucian when they where fighting in their Astral Forms, as well as later bargaining with Dormammu to condemn the Zealots to being fatally merged with the Dark Dimension. Trained as a doctor to save lives instead of to take lives, he was nonetheless at first disgusted by his actions in killing Lucian, though the Ancient One saw this as his lust to master death instead of having respect for life, as she deemed it unrealistic to not have to kill while fighting to defend reality—a truth in himself which he had come to acknowledge, and a point of view he had come to accept.

Despite having a newfound appreciation for the natural order of things due to his studies of the Mystic Arts, and becoming more humble, he retained a cocky attitude when dealing with people and things nonetheless, as seen in how he behaved when he went to borrow books from Wong. This coupled with his inquisitiveness and willingness to break rules, made him an odd one out in Kamar-Taj and constantly an eyesore to many of his peers. However, due to this nature of his, he was also more willing to compromise and be somewhat flexible with his principles—quickly accepting that the Ancient One broke her own rules to do what was deemed necessary, and had come to be willing to do so himself, which, when combined with his natural and unusual talent in the Mystic Arts, had the Ancient One name him as the Master of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, despite his relative lack of training and inexperience.

Following his ascension to the role of Master of the Mystic Arts and the Master of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Strange nonetheless gradually became more selfless – repeatedly apologizing for his past treatment of Christine Palmer and showing a newfound trust in former rival Nicodemus West – and heroic – demonstrated by his willingness to sacrifice himself to keep Dormammu from merging Earth within the Dark Dimension, despite being repeatedly killed by the entity in the process.

Powers

 * Master Sorcerer: As the present guardian of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, Strange, despite his relative inexperience, is one of the most powerful Masters of the Mystic Arts, possessing a considerable mastery of the mystic arts, which he uses to defend his native reality. Indeed, despite his inexperience, an impressed Karl Mordo claimed that Strange's prodigious skills mean that he was "born for the mystic arts", and the Ancient One herself noted that Strange has tremendous potential as a sorcerer. With the help of numerous mystical artifacts and relics, in addition to his astral powers, Strange is able to gain access to a multitude of mystical powers. Though naturally talented, Strange is still rather unexperienced in the art. Strange makes up for his lack of experience with his gifted intellect, as he defeated Kaecillius by outsmarting Dormammu and forcing him to leave and take Kaecillius with him.
 * Eldritch Magic Manipulation: Strange is able to create, shape and manipulate Eldritch Magic. He demonstrated the ability to form Eldritch Whip, and Mandalas of Light.
 * Levitation: Using the Cloak of Levitation, Strange is able to levitate, hover, and fly in the air even without the presence of wind. It is unknown how fast Strange can travel with the Cloak, though it is shown that it could greatly lessen the impact of falling from great height by effortlessly reducing his speed.
 * Teleportation: Using a Sling Ring, Strange is able to open a portal of fire that leads to different locations, gaining ability to move across both the physical world and the dimensional Multiverse. He can also make portals small enough to reach through and grab several books from Wong's library.
 * Interdimensional Travel: Using the same Sling Ring, Strange can travel between different dimensions and universes, crossing over different planes of existence or traveling across various forms of reality.
 * Astral Projection: Strange is capable of separating his astral spirit from his body, gaining access to the Astral Dimension, with him thus notably managing to assist Christine Palmer in operating his physical body, and to speak to the Ancient One's spirit before her clinical death. He also had Christine defibrillate his body to cause his Astral form to send out a blast of energy while grappling with Lucian's Astral form, which killed him.
 * Chronokinesis: Using the Eye of Agamotto, Strange is able to control the flow of time, be it on a small or massive scale, notably to turn back something to a previous state, to accelerate its time in order to apply changes that have not happened yet, or to lock it in a time loop, resetting its state until he stops its effect. He first tested the ability on an apple, rewinding time on it to make it whole and then forwarding time to make it eaten down to its core, despite not actually eating it to that point before hand. He even used it to make an almost holographic reconstruction of the stolen page of the Book of Cagliostro and read from it, though he seemed to be unable to make the page real and only could reveal what had been their before. He notably used this ability to trap even Dormammu himself in the same moment, which would reset each time Dormammu killed Strange and keep Dormammu from leaving his dimension to invade Earth until Dormammu agreed to leave Earth for good.
 * Transmutation: During his meeting with Thor, Strange was able to turn a cup of tea, into a mug of beer, after Thor said he does not drink tea. The mug, which Thor suddenly found in his hand in the place of the tea cup, was also able to magically refill itself, much to the pleasant surprise of Thor.

Abilities

 * Master Physician: Strange was one of the world's most renowned neurosurgeons. His skill allowed him to perform nearly any form of operation with little to no mechanical assistance flawlessly. His perfect record and reputation with the craft reached such a point that ultimately, he developed a penchant for undertaking only the most challenging of operations, in order to boost his huge ego. Indeed, his skills were so impressive, that Strange was targeted by HYDRA's Project Insight as a potential threat long before he ever became a sorcerer. He lost the ability to perform surgeries after his hands were damaged beyond repair in a catastrophic car accident, but he kept his knowledge on the subject.
 * Multilingualism: Strange is fluent in his native English, as well as Sanskrit, which made him able to read the Book of Cagliostro.
 * Eidetic Memory: Strange's photographic memory and perfect recall had originally greatly aided him in medical school, helping him earn his MD and PhD simultaneously. During his mystic arts studies in Kamar-Taj, Strange managed to master entering the Astral Dimension despite Wong not believing him to be ready, and Strange later greatly impressed Karl Mordo with how quickly the former was able to understand how to use the Eye of Agamotto after reading a portion of the Book of Cagliostro's instructions only once.
 * Martial Artist: Strange, after being trained by both the Ancient One and Karl Mordo, gained some skill in martial arts, able to ultimately defeat and kill the Zealot Lucian, and to even hold his own relatively well against the far more experienced Master Kaecilius.

Equipment

 * Cloak of Levitation: A mantle that enables Doctor Strange to levitate and hover in the air. It can move on its own power, causing it to move and flap in the air without the presence of wind. Offensively, the cloak's ability to move and fly with or without a wearer allows it to grab, lift, tackle or send opponents flying through the air. The cloak often assists Strange in combat by protecting him from enemy attacks.
 * Eye of Agamotto: A relic with a number of mystical properties, especially time manipulation in the user's immediate vicinity and on specific areas or targets. It is able to do so since it contains the Time Stone.
 * Sling Ring: A mystical object which enables the wearer to open a fiery portal to another location.

Family

 * Donna Strange † - Sister

Allies

 * Masters of the Mystic Arts
 * Ancient One † - Mentor
 * Karl Mordo
 * Wong
 * Daniel Drumm †
 * Hamir
 * Grem
 * B'sso
 * Metro-General Hospital - Former Employers
 * Nicodemus West - Former Colleague and Work Rival
 * Christine Palmer - Former Co-worker, Ex-Girlfriend, Love Interest and Saviour
 * Billy - Co-Worker and Assistant
 * Etienne - Colleague
 * Jonathan Pangborn
 * Thor

Enemies

 * HYDRA - Attempted Killers (Project Insight)
 * Dormammu - Killer
 * Zealots
 * Kaecilius † - Attempted Killer
 * Lucian † - Attempted Killer and Victim
 * Loki

Trivia
To be added

Behind the Scenes

 * Stephen Strange is mentioned in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This marks the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that a superhero character is mentioned by name before making their first appearance.
 * Kevin Feige revealed that Strange did not have any powers yet during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as Project Insight was designed to anticipate future threats, not just catalogue current ones. He said that at this point Strange is "probably not... the sorcerer supreme," but is an "unbelievably talented neurosurgeon who's opinionated and kind of arrogant... [which] might put him on the list."