Line #49 ComicBook/Druid1995


1	%% NOTE - the lead character rejects the "Doctor Druid" alias at the start of the narrative. He's "Ludgate", his original surname, for the rest of the story, with Druid only used in "the last Druid" context. With that in mind, he's named as Ludgate in most examples.
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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/druid1.jpg]]
4	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
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6	->''"I know it '''all''' now. I am the '''last druid''', possessed of '''all''' their terrible power. The '''failures''' are ended. The '''humiliations''' are '''over'''. I will '''never''' be '''beaten again'''. '''Before''', I was '''nothing'''. Not '''now''' -- ''oh'', '''no''' -- I am the '''last druid.''' And this world will shake to my touch."''
7	-->-- '''Dr. Anthony Ludgate''', ''Druid'' #1
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9	''Druid'' is a 1995 comic book limited series from Creator/MarvelComics. It's written by Creator/WarrenEllis with art by Leonardo Manco and color art by D'Israeli.
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11	Set in the shared Franchise/MarvelUniverse, it's the first solo series for one of Marvel's oldest mystical characters, Doctor Druid. Originally introduced as a standalone story in 1961's ''Amazing Adventures'' series as "Doctor Droom", the character was later renamed to Doctor Druid and introduced to Marvel's shared world setting.
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13	Since that introduction Druid's been both an Avenger and Defender, but generally portrayed as a tarnished hero with feet of clay. He used his powers to manipulate the other Avengers and was, in turn, manipulated by one of their enemies. And his time in the Secret Defenders ended with Druid fighting against his own teammates after he was possessed and transformed by a demonic foe. The last issue of the ''ComicBook/SecretDefenders'' series revealed that he'd actually faked his death, unknown to his comrades, which is where ''Druid'' picks up the story.
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15	Many years earlier, when he was the scholar Anthony Ludgate, Druid had been obsessed with Celtic history and druidic magic. That quest took him to the Himalayas and the Ancient One, the world's Sorcerer Supreme, who empowered him and answered some of his questions, but at a price that weakened Ludgate's sanity. Reinventing himself as "Doctor Anthony Druid", he travelled to America and started fighting occult threats in a gaudy costume.
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17	But all of that is over now. He's living in a ramshackle New York house with a collection of would-be acolytes, drop-outs and misfits. There isn't much of his old power left.
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19	When one of his entourage reads the wrong book of magic, inadvertently calling up a lord of hell, Ludgate takes drastic steps to regain the power he needs to oppose it. He's not "Doctor Druid" now, instead he's becoming a ''true'' druid - the ''last'' true druid - and the magic he wields is both powerful and terrifying.
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21	Ludgate's taken a path that's not going to lead anywhere good. Even if he ''could'' turn back now, he may not be willing to. And the consequences for those around him may not be pleasant.
22	----
23	!!''Druid'' (1995) contains examples of the following tropes:
24	* AfterlifeWelcome: [[spoiler:Baby Icon is always accompanied by ghosts that nobody else (except Ludgate) can see. When she's shot dead by a Smoke General, two of those ghostly companions - Andy and Jim - welcome her to the afterlife. It's the only scene in the comic where they're also visible to the reader]].
25	* BackFromTheDead: The villainous Nekra, who was killed by the Grim Reaper in ''ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers'', is now alive again and leading a cult of Kali. [[spoiler:Subverted after the reveal that she's acting on behalf of Daimon Hellstrom, a lord of Hell, and is still actually dead]].
26	* BadFuture: The Dry Academy's leaders, the Smoke Generals, are said to be [[LosingYourHead severed heads]] sent back from a future where humanity was largely DrivenToSuicide by their [[BrownNote perception of the true world]]. Ludgate hears all this from someone he considers an UnreliableNarrator, though.
27	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Daimon Hellstrom, aka "Satan", is responsible for almost everything that happens. He kills Skurve, prompting Ludgate's transformation. Then he sends Nekra to ensure that Ludgate doesn't do too much damage with his new powers. Even Ludgate's feud with the Dry Academy only begins because Nekra sends him after their splinter group, the Second Assembly, claiming that they've stolen corpses from her cult...]]
28	* BilingualBonus: Redeyes is fascinated by [[HollywoodVoodoo Voodoo]] and claims that she's the loa Erzulie-Ge-Rouge - whose name translates as "Red-Eyed Erzulie".
29	* DrivenToSuicide:
30	** In issue #3, [[spoiler:when Ludgate confronts the Second Assembly, his [[BadassBoast opening speech]] warns the cult members to make peace with their faith and then kill themselves - because if Ludgate has to kill them, it will be very ''unpleasant''. Much to his surprise, one of them actually obeys and stabs himself to death]].
31	** It's claimed that the Smoke Generals are {{Time Travel}}ers from a BadFuture where most of humanity committed suicide after [[BrownNote perceiving the "true" nature of the world]].
32	* {{Druid}}: Ludgate, who'd previously used "Doctor Druid" as his superhero identity, embraces his heritage and finally becomes the last true druid. In doing so, he gains power over the elements - water and earth, wood and fire - as well as a {{Geas}} that will doom him if it's ever broken.
33	* EatBrainForMemories: The Second Assembly is a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal priesthood]] that believes knowledge can be transferred from the corpses they eat. Nekra, who explains this to Ludgate, doesn't specify whether they believe this knowledge is specifically held in the brain, though.
34	* FallenHero: This series completes Ludgate's downfall into villainy, as his new powers shatter his sanity. He's still defending the world, in his way, but he's a SociopathicHero at best - a casually murderous religious fanatic who's becoming a cult leader.
35	* FlawedPrototype: Ludgate may be an UnreliableNarrator, but when he looks back on his visit to the Ancient One, he believes that he was empowered solely to test the magics that would later be granted to another westerner, Doctor Strange. Unfortunately, the powers that were unlocked also permanently damaged his sanity.
36	* {{Geas}}: As a true druid, Ludgate is now bound by some sort of geis. If he breaks it, he'll lose his power and doom will follow. Unfortunately, he's the ''last'' druid, and he doesn't know what his geis is - his own powers can't see it, and druids would normally rely on their fellows to tell them. [[spoiler:Ludgate's geis is to love witches. Hellstrom, who seems to be well aware of this, sends Nekra to [[LoveInterestTraitor seduce him]] and bring about his downfall]].
37	* GeneticMemory: At the start of his career, Ludgate sought out the Ancient One to learn the true history of druidic magic. He discovered that it had always been hidden within him - as their descendent, their power and knowledge was passed down to him by blood.
38	* GivenNameReveal: As the first issue reveals, Druid's real last name has always been Ludgate - "Doctor Druid" was an identity he adopted to fit in with America's superhumans.
39	* AGodIAmNot: Ludgate is a druid, the sacred interpreter of the word of the gods. He's insistent that he's not a god himself. And he [[BerserkButton reacts very badly]] when anyone suggests his powers are godlike, as Hemingway discovers.
40	* HesBack:
41	** In the first issue, Doctor Druid's at his lowest point - until Ludgate rejects that identity and pledges himself to the triple goddess to become the last ''true'' druid. The ordeals the goddess puts him through are traumatic, and his sanity seems to be damaged, but at the end of the issue he's ''back'' - more powerful and determined than he's ever been.
42	** By the final issue, [[spoiler:Ludgate's been tricked into breaking his [[{{geas}} geis]], and his powers are gone again, leaving him broken and desperate. After offering Hemingway as a HumanSacrifice, he's restored and seemingly more powerful than ever before. It doesn't save him]].
43	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Granted, Druid was a FallenHero, but the series ends with Hellstorm and Nekra killing him, torching the body, and chucking it into a dumspter.]]
44	* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Helstrom and Nekra are the ones who murder Druid.]]
45	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Two of Baby Icon's companion ghosts, Andy and Jim, are finally visible to readers in the last issue. In line with previous hints, they're clearly drawn as Creator/AndyWarhol and [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]]. A third, unseen, ghost is implied to be Creator/OscarWilde.
46	* HollywoodVoodoo: Redeyes identifies herself with the loa Erzulie-Ge-Rouge, lamenting that no man can ever love her enough. She's not actually a sorcerer or voodoo priestess, though. [[spoiler:She's a serial killer, murdering the men who prove that they ''do'' love her. Seventeen of them so far]].
47	* HumanSacrifice: The triple goddess welcomes the sacrifice of criminals and undesirables. Ludgate's ancestral memories show him the guilty burning inside wicker men, back when the druids were a true power in the land. In modern times, [[spoiler:he offers Hemingway as a sacrifice to regain his power - and plans to burn SerialKiller Redeyes alive at some point in the future, as another offering]].
48	-->'''Ludgate:''' Take this ''sacrifice!'' See me nail this soul's guts to the great oak tree! [[spoiler:'''''Forgive me!''''']]
49	* ImAHumanitarian:
50	** The third movement of Ludgate's initial transformation ends with the goddesses forcing him to eat the rotten meat of the human offerings made to them. Whether or not it's real, it ''feels'' real to him.
51	** The Second Assembly is a cannibal cult obsessed with human meat. One aspect of this is that they believe that [[EatBrainForMemories the knowledge of those they eat]] will become theirs. Given that their other magics are very real, they might be right.
52	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
53	** One of the Second Assembly blocks Ludgate's approach, standing directly in front of a wooden door. Ludgate uses his new powers to [[GreenThumb warp the door's wood]] into a spike, skewering the man through his skull.
54	** After Ludgate [[spoiler:breaks his [[{{geas}} geis]] and loses his powers, he offers up Hemingway as a HumanSacrifice, driving a sword through his torso and into the tree behind him]].
55	* ISeeDeadPeople: Baby Icon claims she can see ghosts. She's telling the truth - and after Druid [[TookALevelInBadass revives his powers]] in the first issue, he can see them too.
56	* LiteralSplitPersonality: Miss Drugstore uses a mix of drugs and magic to fracture her personality and give each splinter its own body.
57	* LosingYourHead: The Smoke Generals, leaders of the Dry Academy, are said to be severed heads floating in nanotech clouds.
58	* LoveInterestTraitor:
59	** [[spoiler:Nekra seduces Ludgate, but she's actually one of Hellstrom's agents, tasked with neutralising his powers. Unlike Ludgate himself, she seems to know that he has a [[{{geas}} geis]] against loving witches. Nekra's a witch, so that makes it fairly easy to doom him]]...
60	** [[spoiler:Hemingway's in a dysfunctional relationship with Redeyes, a believer in HollywoodVoodoo who {{Self Harm}}s and complains that he doesn't love her enough. What he doesn't know is that she's also a SerialKiller, and once he does prove his love, she's going to murder him. She's already killed seventeen other men that way]].
61	* MakingASplash: Ludgate's druidic powers allow him to manipulate water in some ways, including the water within a human body. He magically reaches out to one opponent to give the water in his body "a good, hard ''twist''", which messily kills him.
62	* PlayingWithFire: Ludgate's new magics allow him to ignite the phosphorus deposits within the human body, essentially causing SpontaneousHumanCombustion. His victims are reduced to burning skeletons.
63	* PlotTriggeringDeath: At the start of the first issue, Scurve, one of Druid's crew of followers and hangers-on, calls up Daimon Hellstrom by borrowing one of Druid's books of magic. When Doctor Druid tries to intervene and protect him, Hellstrom delivers a brutal CurbStompBattle and then incinerates Scurve. Everything that follows is prompted by Scurve's death and Druid's realisation that he needs to rebuild his power.
64	* PortentOfDoom: In issue #2, [[spoiler:Ludgate sees the Washer Woman at the Ford, the Irish spirit better known as the [[OurBansheesAreLouder Banshee]], washing blood out of his clothes. He's well aware that she's a portent of unavoidable death. He's slightly consoled by the realisation that this means that nature has accepted him as one of the great powers - lesser beings don't get that sort of warning]].
65	* {{Seers}}: Ropemaster Azuma divines the future via the Japanese rope bondage style known as Kinbaku. His methods involve magic and blood dripping on ropes, with the implication that [[BondageIsBad it's non-consensual and probably fatal]].
66	* SelfHarm: Druid's follower Redeyes cuts her arms with a knife, claiming that it's part of her [[HollywoodVoodoo Voodoo]]. There's no sign that it's linked to any actual magical powers, though.
67	-->'''Redeyes:''' It's ''sacred''. It drips onto my white dress. Becomes pink. And those are ''my'' colors. I am ''Erzulie-Ge-Rouge'', and I week because no man can love me enough.
68	* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:Redeyes seems to be a dabbler in HollywoodVoodoo with no real magical powers, a woman who identifies herself with the loa Erzulie-Ge-Rouge and laments that men don't love her enough. She's also a serial killer who's murdered seventeen men who eventually convinced her that they ''did'' love her. Hemingway would have been the eighteenth, if he lived that long]].
69	* SociopathicHero: As Doctor Druid, Ludgate was always a little bit selfish and manipulative. After his transformation he's something else entirely - his sanity frays, his newfound faith makes him a fanatic with a hair-trigger temper, and he's casually murderous. That said, he's still defending the world from occult horrors - even if he picks battles he hopes to benefit from - and [[spoiler:he does try to send Baby Icon away, viewing her as a genuinely nice person who doesn't deserve to be entangled with his schemes]].
70	* WeightLossHorror: The second movement of Ludgate's initial druidic transformation sets him aflame, as if he was trapped within a wicker man. When the flames subside the previously paunchy Dr. Ludgate is gaunt and lean, fallen to his knees in the centre of a puddle of melted human fat. As with the other phases of the ritual, it's just as traumatic as it sounds.
71	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The three other magicians teased throughout the series - Miss Drugstore, Ropemaster Azuma and the nameless London mage carrying out rituals on mass graves - aren't part of the grand finale and never interact with Ludgate or his adversaries. Miss Drugstore's last scene states that she sees death coming, and is prepared to die, {{foreshadowing}} [[spoiler:the global effect of Ludgate's disastrous attack on the Dry Academy]], but we never see whether or not she survives.
72	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Ludgate's sanity was already damaged, and his new powers (and the ordeal he goes through to claim them) are enough to break it completely.

Context ComicBook / Druid1995