History[]
Medb is a character from the 2000 AD strip Sláine. When she was a girl, Skull Swords took her from her village to be fed to their master, the Lord Weird Slough Feg. However, when Medb saw the eldritch Drune Lord emerge from a painting on the wall of the Cave of Beasts, she felt not fear but awe. Impressed by her bravery and her admiration for him, Feg permitted Medb to become a 'Druness' or 'priestess of the Badb'. The other children from Medb's village volunteered to become Drunes as well, but were eaten.
Years later, Medb had become such a proficient priestess, excelling in every area of the curriculum, that she was chosen to be sacrificed to the worm god Crom-Cruach at Samhain so that she would be his bride and become a goddess herself. (Apparently the worship of Crom-Cruach is similar to that of the Old Testament God, in that one sacrifices the very best one has to offer.) Her father, a rich man, heard that his daughter was going to die and offered Sláine and Ukko anything they wanted if they would save her. The pair were successful in their mission and rescued Medb from a burning wickerman, much to her annoyance.
After Medb was returned to her father, she quickly killed him and turned her aggression towards Sláine afterwards. She failed to kill him, so Slough Feg sent her to bewitch Ragall, the then king of the Sessair (Sláine's tribe).
Going by the alias of Megrim, Medb cast a glamour over Ragall, manipulating him and allowing the Fomorians into Tír na nÓg. Slowly the land fell into despair and the men became weak. Thanks to Niamh, Ragall eventually broke free of his glamour and seeing the damage he had unwillingly caused, he abdicated and allowed himself to be put to death. With no other likely successor in line, Medb expected to become the new Queen. However, Sláine returned home just before the ceremony ended and he was made the new king.
Shortly afterwards during the 'Horned King' saga, 'Megrim' accompanied Sláine as he brought the tribes together. She tried several times to sabotage this, at one point summoning Avagddu to kill Niamh, and was later responsible for the death of The Knucker, Sláine's dragon. She was eventually discovered thanks to Ukko and fled back to her master until the final battle between Sláine and the Drune Lords and the combined tribes. By the climax of the war she was presumed dead after having been flung from her dragon.
Medb did survive however and trained in her magical powers for several years, and set about destroying the land in her master's name shortly after Sláine went on his travels through time. After Sláine had returned, as did Medb, she summoned Cythrons to bestow upon her an army with which to finally destroy her old enemy. She very nearly succeeded, with Sláine's tribe taking heavy losses. Nevertheless, Sláine won out in the end thanks to the self-sacrifice of his druid Cathbad and Medb was finally put to rest, stabbed through the stomach and burnt to ashes, ending the priestess' wrath.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers
Medb has powerful magical abilities and is able to summon beasts, transform her self into various forms, control the minds of animals such as wolves, give people fatal heart attacks, turn people's blood to poison and make people think that they have spiders crawling all over them. Her powers only increased over time.
Strength level
Human female who gets regular exercise.
Weaknesses
Isn't very good at hand to hand fighting.
Paraphernalia[]
Transportation
Horse; dragon.
Trivia[]
Apparently Medb smells of "primroses, meadowsweet and oak blossom."
Links[]
- Appearances of Medb
- Character Gallery: Medb
- Images that feature Medb
- Fan-Art Gallery: Medb
- Medb quotations