Origin
In times long past, Orlana was born to a tribalistic group. As a mere babe she demonstrated magical powers, and as a young child Orlana would realize she could control the minds of others. As she grew in age and stature she exerted more of her power gathering followers, essentially her own cult of worshippers she could command. Those that she could not sway with her magical mind controlling powers were killed by those she could control. Eventually her followers would carve out a small kingdom upon which she controlled. Cloaked and adorned in fur and bone Orlana became the Death Princess. Her brutal behavior and mass enslavement led her to much conflict with others, but with her abilities she would be victorious against her enemies and conquer much land. She would inspire many to stand against her, including Kon, Serke, Eshera, Kentari, Dero and Ro. Despite many of her enemies being extremely powerful magic users and combing their forces, they would underestimate the extent of Orlana’s power and she would endure.
Orlana had her own kingdom but most of its inhabitants were sickly and weak as a result of her apathy towards them beyond tools for her own power trip. Despite that the vast numbers of her army make her a very formidable and intimidating force even in ignorance of her might magical abilities.
Creation
Orlana the Death Princess is an Aspen MLT character and was created by writer Vince Hernandez and artist Emilio Lopez. The character first appears in Charismagic: The Death Princess #1 released in 2012. She would also appear in the second volume of Charismagic released in 2013.
Character Evolution
Orlana has a limited amount of appearances, her main role is of an antagonist and starring in her own self titled mini series Charismagic: The Death Princess. Her mini series portrayed events from the past, it helps establish and flesh out many of the characters used in the series taking place in the modern times. Orlana would then appear in the modern age near the climax of the second volume of Charismagic and will likely appear in future stories. The creator of Orlana Vince Hernandez describing the idea of the character “So when I sat down and I thought of the idea of “Death Princess,” we needed to take it to the next level with this villain. I decided to do something that was both threatening on the surface but also something that could be cerebral. I have a list, a big notebook, where I have basically magical things that I’ve researched over the years that people might not know about or things that I think would be cook. I’ve always had this one magical ability — the ability to control minds — that I really wanted to work with. To me, that seems like one of the most dangerous abilities a person could have” and her powers and abilities.
Although the world of Charismagic has many powerful villains, Orlana is probably the most powerful and dangerous, her creator again speaking on her power “The Death Princess, she’s the most powerful villain right now that we’ll be introducing in the “Charismagic” universe. You’ll see early on that not only can she control the people around her, but she can control different creatures, not only human.“
Major Story Arcs
The Order of Things
Orlana utilizes her mind enslavement abilities to create an army of slaves. First starting with her family then people from her own tribe, before moving on to near by groupings. Some manage to escape her offense, two close friends, victims of her attacks also attempt to retaliate. The wizard Kon and Serke. Unfortunately their attack is not as smooth or successful as they intended and Serke is captured by Orlana as Kon escaped to safety. Unbeknownst to Kon, Orlana would offer Serke a place by her side and he would take her offer becoming one of her few allies not enthralled by her powers. Kon alternatively would assemble a team of powerful and strange individuals to combat the Death Princess growing power and dominion.
The Power of Knowledge
In an attempt to overthrow Orlana, Kon has sought help from the druid Dero, the centaur Ro, and the mysterious Samsun among an assortment of other powerful magic users. Orlana still has overwhelming numbers within her army, both of humans, barbarians and an assortment of magical creatures including Griffons. After her enemies have spent time learning their respective abilities, they take the war to the Death Princess. Orlana and Serke have their own army at the ready and the two forces clash across a mighty expanse. During the clash Orlana uses her powers to make one of her slaves, the wife of Ro attack him. Eshera attempts to confront Orlana directly but becomes enthralled. Orlana continues to slowly turn each of her enemies to fall under her control, until all but Kon are left. All seem’s lost when Samsun turns the tide by sneaking up behind Orlana and stealing her powers. Her control over the rest is broken and her impressive power is transferred to Samsun, who is struggling to hold it all. Kon with the help of the others uses this opportunity to defeat both Orlana and Samsun, exiling Samsun and chaining and imprisoning Orlana.
War of the Worlds
After untold centuries in bondage, Orlana is afforded a chance to escape her prison when Serke, Samsun challenge Kon and the Witch Dura in a battle of power. Orlana still very much aware that Samsum was originally the main reason for her downfall reciprocates his former manner of attacking her by blindsiding him. Even though he was allying with Serke to fight against Kon and Dura, Orlana wasted no time taking back her power that Samsun had stolen, and in no time the Death Princess was back to her former glory. Discarding Samsun Orlana quickly entered the fray to battle against Dura and Kon, and with her power regained she proved to much tipping the tide of battle towards her and Serke’s favor. Serke himself seemingly apathetic to Samsun’s fall, as if he planned for Orlana to have joined him. Although Kon would seem to overpower Serke, Orlana’s power would prove too much and she would defeat Kon and allow Serke to deliver the final blow. After defeating their most powerful enemy it is unknown where Orlana or Serke now are.
Powers and Abilities
The Death Princess Orlana could mentally enslave other people. Orlana was powerful enough to even control and enslave dinosaurs among other animals. She could enthrall multiple beings and up to several at any given time and even possess the minds of powerful magic users. The character herself claims to have more power than even Kon and Serke, and when the character Samsun taps into her power he himself becomes a potent threat feared by many. It is not unreasonable to consider her one of the most powerful forces to exist in the many realms and Earth.