Margrave

Creation

The Margrave was created by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Peter Gross for The Books of Magic issue 23, in 1996.

Major Story Arcs

A strange boy finds his father, who has been cheating on his mother, and who has ignored the boy for years, stuck in a car after the father had a run-in with Tim Hunter. The boy is watched over by a man and woman dressed in black, known as the Margraves. The boy magically explodes the car and the couple inside. The explosion also destroys him, but he recreates himself. He is one of a series of children called the Strafenkind that are manipulated by the Margraves.

Tim’s stepbrother Cyril, who is jealous of Tim, runs into the Margraves, who tell him how right he is to be angry at Tim, saying that he is too amazing to be true. Then they give him one of their magic pins, or Orden, and tell him to go home and explode in his mother’s presence.

Tim shows up, however, and releases Cyril from their spell, and reveals that the two Margraves are in fact one combined being. Tim thanks them for helping him realize that he can’t stay around his family and friends, where he’ll always endanger them. The Margrave’s spirit enters its magical mirror, which reflected its two-faced nature, and Tim walks off.