Mistress Love is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. She is one of the "astral deities of the universe," and is considered to be among the most powerful entities known. The embodiment of love's power, her origins are lost in the universe's early history; she is at least as old as the first being to feel love.
Fictional character biography
Amora, the Asgardian Enchantress, sought true love herself after having manipulated others for years with false love, and astrally searched for the essence of love. Love tested the truth of Amora's needs, and Mistress Love answered Amora's summons; Amora decided she was unworthy of love and sought to cleanse herself with the Rose of Purity, an alien plant which brought love and happiness to its worshipers. Amora kidnapped the human soul of Barbara Noriss, who had hosted the Valkyrie, and used it to force the Defenders to retrieve the Rose for her. Observing these manipulations, Love decided that Amora sought not to accept true love but rather to possess it, and that her greed would ruin many lives. Rejecting Amora's advances, Love freed and claimed Noriss' soul, abandoning the Enchantress.
When Thanos claimed the Infinity Gauntlet and sought to usurp Eternity's position as a universal embodiment, Mistress Love was present at Eternity's appeal before the Living Tribunal. When the Tribunal rejected Eternity's request to depower Thanos, Mistress Love battles Thanos beside many other great cosmic powers, joining her cosmic "opposite" Master Hate, in playing havoc with his emotions, but was defeated. After Nebula later claimed the Infinity Gauntlet and erased all previous battles, Mistress Love fought her and was again defeated. Mistress Love was again present when Eternity argued before the Living Tribunal against Adam Warlock's possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, and was a witness to its dismantling.
When Princess Alaisa Ruantha Pethnan of the Kharta'een Empire sought powers to make her worthy of the Silver Surfer's love, Mistress Love appeared to her in a sympathetic form and transformed Alaisa into Love's avatar. Mistress Love claimed she foresaw great universal struggles. and wanted an agent to serve her. However, Alaisa truly sought power more than love. She accepted additional powers from Mistress Love's cosmic counterpart, Master Hate, and attempted to force the Surfer's love instead of earning it; she vengefully turned on the Surfer when he spurned her. Eventually defeated by the Surfer, Alaisa lies confined to a virtual reality chamber where she believes she has acquired the love she desired.
Mistress Love again battled Thanos alongside a court of cosmic beings when he absorbed the power of the Heart of the Infinite. She was defeated, but was recreated when Thanos redrew the universe.
Powers and abilities
As one of many cosmic entities, Mistress Love can control any emotions related to love on a universal scale. As an abstract being, she employs the use of M-Bodies to interact with others. Not truly female (as her name may suggest), Mistress Love is capable of appearing as any woman (such as Kayla Ballantine when confronting Quasar) or man (such as interacting with Amora). Mistress Love can also manipulate cosmic energies to create bolts of force, but she prefers to act nonviolently. Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet ranked Mistress Love's scale of power as above that of Galactus, but below that of Eternity.
References
Additional reading
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7 of 12
External links
- Mistress Love at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
