History Characters / MCUStephenStrange

[[caption-width-right:300:''"You ever had that dream where you're falling, as if you've been pushed off a tall building? That was probably me."'']]

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Unlike his Sacred Timeline self, this Doctor Strange became an EvilSorcerer after Christine Palmer died in a car crash... only to [[spoiler:destroy his home universe attempting to save Christine, and having to cope with the consequences of that ultimately puts him back on track to once again becoming a hero, though one with a DarkAndTroubledPast.]]

* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:Disintegrated by Black Bolt's [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic powers]].]]

** [[spoiler: In Season 2, despite having been driven insane, willing to sacrifice heroes and villains alike to his Forge to rebuild his world, he really, ''really'' does not want to hurt Captain Carter, and only really tries when the demons take the wheel.]].

-->'''Captain Carter:''' What happened to you?\\

!!''[[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Dr. Stephen Strange]]''

* AlternateSelf: Doctor Strange has 6 known variants, ranging from heroes to villains and Sorcerers Supreme to zombies. [[spoiler:By the end of ''Multiverse of Madness'' the only variant still alive is Doctor Strange Supreme and that's only because he's found a way to cheat death.]]

* WritingAroundTrademarks: In ''Infinity War'', he uses an attack against Thanos that appears to be the ''Crimson Bands of Cytorrakk'', an artifact and entity more closely associated in the comics with the ''Franchise/XMen'' franchise (particularly the Juggernaut), which Marvel did not have the film rights to at the time. The movie gets around this by simply not naming the spell.

** Averted in ''No Way Home'', where saving half the universe together put Peter in his good books enough that Strange agreed to help him with hardly any coaxing, and [[spoiler:he's moved to tears out of respect and gratitude at Peter's sacrifice at the end of the movie. Strange also did try to thank Peter for everything he did for him and their world, as well as apologize for how coldly and dismissively he acted during towards him during the multiversal crisis, but was too emotional to properly articulate this.]]

** He cries a bit more in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', [[spoiler:where in the end, he has to cast a spell to make everyone, including him, forget about Peter Parker in general, not just him being Spider-Man.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He immediately has a guilty look on his face after pushing his ex-lover and friend, Christine Palmer, away by rejecting her comfort and taking his frustrations out on her in his despair over his damaged hands.

** ''Multiverse of Madness'' shows Strange [[spoiler:being very [[BrutalHonesty blunt]] with Wanda and treating her with all the hostility he can muster, but it's not to be cruel, it's a desperate attempt to get her to see reality for what it is (that and Wanda is trying to kill America Chavez, a 14-year-old girl in order to kidnap one of her variants' sons). At the same time, he becomes very protective and empathetic towards America [[PapaWolf and goes to great lengths to protect her.]] And in the end, he does treat Wanda with sympathy and acknowledges that she did the right thing in the end.]]

** In "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", after learning about his counterparts’ unethically and morally extreme and narrow-minded decisions, which got them killed and/or led to tragedy in their respective universes, Strange realized he needed to let go of his ControlFreak tendencies and [[IWorkAlone lack of trust in others]], as they can have serious consequences.

** This aspect of his personality serves as an interesting foil to Peter's [[NiceGuy more openly heroic and loving nature]] in ''No Way Home''. [[spoiler:Doctor Strange sees the fate of the multiversal villains as inevitable and unlike other times in his career, he doesn't really bother to [[TakeAThirdOption think of an alternative that could save them]]. Peter meanwhile sees them as [[TragicVillain the lost souls they are]] and wants to at least try to spare them from their fates. However, Strange isn't trying to be callous or cruel, he simply doesn't want to mess with the natural order (any more than he already has). And as Peter discovers the hard way, his optimism of saving the bad guys has [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished dire consequences for him and his loved ones,]] something Strange himself [[JerkassHasAPoint warned him would happen.]] Their conflict in the movie stems from Peter's emotional side vs. Strange's logical side. That being said, Strange takes no pleasure in resigning even more people to a grim fate. In the end, when Peter makes a HeroicSacrifice to save the Multiverse, Strange is in tears warning him, "Everyone who knows and loves you, [[FreudianSlip we]]... we'd have no memory of you." He's been acerbic to Peter the whole movie, but he loves the kid.]]
** ''Multiverse of Madness'' shows Strange [[spoiler:being very [[BrutalHonesty blunt]] with Wanda and treating her with all the hostility he can muster, but it's not to be cruel, it's a desperate attempt to get her to see reality for what it is (that and Wanda is trying to kill America Chavez, a 14-year-old girl). At the same time, he becomes very protective and empathetic towards America [[PapaWolf and goes to great lengths to protect her.]] And in the end, he does treat Wanda with sympathy and acknowledges that she did the right thing in the end.]]

** "No Way Home" has him understanding that everyone deserves a second chance.

* AmnesiacResonance: [[spoiler:Even though he has no memory of Peter Parker, he still subconsciously carries Peter's positive influence and belief in second chances, which led Strange to bonding with America Chavez and giving Wanda Maximoff various chances to redeem herself after she fell under the influence of dark magic. He also seems to carry guilt over pushing Peter away for an honest mistake, as he made an effort to not do the same with America.]]

** In ''Multiverse of Madness'', he learns not to be so controlling and adhere doing things his way, especially after Christine of Earth-838 reveals that the main reason for their breakup in this universe was that Stephen always wanted to be the one in charge. [[spoiler:He learns not to repeat his Defender counterpart's actions and trust America to wield her own power against Wanda.]] [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, he also comes to terms with the fact that him and Christine are not meant to be and moves on with his life.]]

* NervesOfSteel: Well, [[IncrediblyLamePun minus the ones in his hands of course]]. Doctor Strange might not be the ''strongest'' person in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he is almost certainly the bravest.

** In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', Stephen places blame on Peter Parker for botching a spell that was supposed to make the world forget he was Spider-Man. This is in spite of the fact that Strange himself was the one who decided to try casting the spell in the first place, tried to cast it as quick as possible without making sure Peter was deadset about what he wanted and knew more about what the consequences of casting it would be than Peter.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ''No Way Home'', Strange agrees to help Peter out of a tight spot by casting a spell that would wipe the collective minds of the world of Peter's true identity. Wong warns that the spell is dangerous, but Strange proceeds anyway. However, Peter realizes that his friends and family will forget him too and starts talking, making Stephen lose his concentration and mess the spell up, [[spoiler:pulling several villains from across the Multiverse into his own reality.]]

** [[spoiler:Rather than be angry with Ned for using his sling ring, Strange compliments him on his ability to create a portal.]]
** He has many with American Chavez in ''Multiverse of Madness''. A big moment, however, is when he sees her memory of when she accidentally opened a portal as a child that sent her mothers to another universe while she herself was sucked into a separate one. A hurt America promptly leaves and tries to brush it off when Strange asks about it. However, Strange insists America didn't kill her parents and urges her not to ever think that. She isn't convinced but he assures her that her moms survived if they are anything like her. This leads to them growing closer.

* AmnesiacResonance: [[spoiler:Even though he has no memory of Peter Parker, he still subconsciously carries Peter's positive influence and belief on second chances, which led Strange to bonding with America Chavez and giving Wanda Maximoff various chances to redeem herself after she fell under the influence of dark magic. He also seems to carry guilt over pushing Peter away for an honest mistake, as he made an effort to not do the same with America.]]

* IChooseToStay: At the end of his first film, Strange decides to keep studying the Mystic Arts in order to become a sorcerer and superhero instead of returning to his surgeon career like he originally planned, inspired by Christine's advice about new beginnings and his ;last conversation with the Ancient One.

** "Spider-Man: No Way Home" has him learning the true meaning of being a superhero and everyone deserves a second chance, whether they are good or bad.
** ''Multiverse of Madness'' has him learning not to be controlling and not to always do things his way. Christine reveals that the main reason for their breakup was that Stephen always wanted to be the one in charge and [[spoiler:he learns not to repeat the same actions of his Defender counterpart and trust America to wield her own power against Wanda.]] [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, he also comes to terms with the fact that him and Christine were not meant to be and moves on with his life.]]

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: At the very end of the film, Strange's hand hovers over his broken watch, the same one given to him by Christine, and contemplates using magic to repair it or possibly even turn back time to before his accident which would not only give him back his old life but a second chance with Christine. In the end, however, he realizes using magic for such petty reasons wouldn't be worth the consequences and decides to leave it as is.

* AmnesiacResonance: Even though he has no memory of Peter Parker, Strange still carries his positive influence and his belief on second chances, which led him to bonding with a new superhero in America Chavez and giving Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch, various chances of redeeming herself, after she fell under the influence of dark magic, as he knew there is still good within her. Also, Strange seems to carry subconscious guilt of pushing Peter away for an honest mistake, as he made an effort of not making the same mistake with America.

** In ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', upon seeing the Lizard in his human form and Otto Octavius willing to risk his life to protect him from Green Goblin despite imprisoning him at his home, he realize that Spider-Man was right about the universe displaced villains being good on the inside and was right about him being heartless. Also, he realize that he had forgotten who he was as he lost sight of helping people in need and that it is more important then sacrificing them.
** In "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", seeing his counterparts’ actions in their universes, he realize that he was becoming just like them as he now sees that both his controlling tendencies and lack of trust of others have consequences.
* HeroAntagonist: Becomes this in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'' as his goal to send the villains home to protect his universe even if it results in their deaths puts him in conflict with Peter who wants to try and save them. However, neither really want to fight each other and while understanding of Peter's reasons, Strange isn't wrong that the villains and the unstable spell which brought them to the MCU is dangerous.

* IChooseToStay: Despite everything has happen and attempt to run away in his first film, Strange in the end decided to stay with the Mystic Arts in order to become a sorcerer and superhero, as he was inspired by Christine's advice about new beginnings and conversation with the Ancient One before her death.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Due to being trapped at the Grand Canyon for twelve hours, he was unaware that Peter [[spoiler:lost his only remaining family in the hands of Green Goblin and he probably won't ever find out because his memories of Peter got erased afterwards]].
* LogicalWeakness: While the Ancient One showed Strange that using magic does not necessarily rely on his hands, it requires making flourished sweeps of the arms, thus stopping and restraining Strange's limbs prevents him from using magic as Ebony Maw achieved with telekineticly manipulated cables.

* MustMakeAmends: He is quick to make amends for his actions and mistakes, especially if he realize how badly he messed up and hurt the people he cares about.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** He has a guilty look on his face in his first film, after he pushed his lover and friend Christine Palmer away, as he took his frustrations out on her, due to his inability to use his hands because of his car accident.
** He has this reaction in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', when he realize that his behavior and words are pushing Peter Parker away, after Spider-Man suggests he cast a new spell that would make everyone in the MCU forget who he is in order to fix the fracture of the Multiverse and send the villains and his counterparts home.

* StartingANewLife: At first, Strange trained in the Mystic Arts in order to heal his hand and get back to his life as a neurosurgeon. However, through Christine's advice before he left to go to Kamar-Taj to train in the Mystic Arts and his last conversation with the Ancient One before her death, Strange realized that he started a new life as a sorcerer as he decided to keep his new life and leave his old one behind. Strange also decided to become a superhero in his life as well.

** After waking up in the hospital, he only blames the doctors for ''ruining his hands'' instead of, y'know, thanking somebody for saving his life after a horrible accident he himself caused. Also, considering the amount of damage his hands sustained in the crash, you'd think he'd be happy just to still have them, as amputation was a real possibility.
** He possesses shades of this in ''Infinity War'' when Iron Man and Spider-Man save him from Ebony Maw. His reaction is to accuse them of almost throwing him into space. Despite this, Strange did return a favor by protecting Iron Man and Spider-Man when they landed on Titan.
** Averted in ''No Way Home'', where saving half the universe together put Peter in his good books enough that he agreed to help him with hardly any coaxing, and he's moved to tears out of respect and gratitude at Peter's sacrifice at the end of the movie. However, Strange did try to thank Peter for everything he did for him and their world, but was too emotional to say it, although he was also trying to apologizes to him for how he treated him during the events of the film.

* WasTooHardOnHim: Strange felt that he might of been too hard on Christine in his first film and Peter in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', especially when he realized that his harsh words and behavior pushed them away.

** Upon witnessing Peter's selflessness and beliefs in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', Strange realize that sacrificing innocent people would make him no better then the bad guys.
** Seeing his counterparts’ actions in their universes in ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'', Strange realize what he was becoming if he continues his obsession in being control of everything and his lack of faith for others, especially his friends.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Though he has nothing to gain or lose from helping Uatu defeat Infinity Ultron, Strange Supreme nonetheless assists, if only to find some sense of redemption for his actions. It's because of this that he's willing to remain in his pocket universe after the battle and keep a close eye on [[SealedEvilWithinACan Killmonger and Zola-Ultron]] as they fight over the Infinity Stones for eternity.]]

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Due to being trapped at the Grand Canyon for twelve hours, he was unaware that Peter lost his renaming family in the hands of Green Goblin.

* TheUnapologetic: He doesn't usually apologizes to anyone, unless he really messed, hurt and pushed those he cares about away. Although he try to apologizes to Peter for how he treated him throughout the events in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', he could't say it because he got too emotional.

* ForWantOfANail: Strange's decision to try to stop Thanos by himself rather than fight him with other superheroes resulted in him turning to the Darkhold for answers, resulting in his corruption and subsequent Incursion that destroyed two universes.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Like with every other Stephen Strange in the multiverse, he dated (but unfortunately didn't end up with) Christine Palmer who's a redhead in this universe.

* WasTooHardOnHim: Strange felt that he might off been too hard on Christine in his first film and Peter in ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', especially when he realized that his harsh words and behavior pushed them away.