| “ | I was old before this world was even born. I watched my brothers rule for a thousand years until little worms like you overcame them. But I am not my brothers. I am older than they are, greater. I have devoured stars and shattered worlds. I have sired whole races, populated entire planes, and then hunted them to extinction for my amusement. | „ |
| ~ Nicol Bolas describing his origins and motives. |
| “ | Do the innocent pay for the crimes of the guilty? Of course they do. That's the fate of the weak. | „ |
| ~ Bolas' view on morality. |
Nicol Bolas is one of the major antagonists of the fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering.
He is an Elder Dragon and one of the oldest Planeswalkers, and was one of the only six Elder Dragons to survive the Dragon War (along with his heroic brothers Arcades Sabboth and Chromium Rhuell, his animalistic sister Palladia-Mors, and his enigmatic twin Ugin). At 25,000 years old, he and Ugin are quite possibly the oldest living beings in the Multiverse.
He is the strongest known Planeswalker, with very few able to match or even hold him off in combat. He is also one of the most intelligent and cunning beings in the Multiverse, as he continues to manipulate others into doing his bidding. He uses intricate plans, some of which take decades or centuries to unfold, to slowly gain influence over the various worlds of the Multiverse. His sole purpose is to eventually become the supreme ruler of all existence.
They were voiced by Jonathan Lipow (who also voiced Astor in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity) in Magic the Gathering: Arena and Hunter Peterson in Smite.
Biography[]
Origin[]
Nicol Bolas before he was a Planeswalker
Nicol, like the other Elder Dragons, was spawned from the essence of the metaphysical Ur-Dragon, who seeded the cosmos with his eggs. He was born on the plane of Dominaria, hatching from the same egg as his twin brother Ugin. The twins were the youngest of their brood; their older siblings Arcades Sabboth, Chromium Rhuell, Palladia-Mors, and Merrevia Sal had all hatched from the same bundle of eggs only minutes earlier.
The first thing the two of them witnessed was their sister Merrevia Sal being hunted down and killed by a group of primitive humans. Ugin was saddened and confused, while Nicol was outraged that inferior beings could kill a superior lifeform like her. It's implied that Nicol was also scared that the same fate could befall him, though he would never admit to it. He wanted to kill the hunters, but Ugin restrained him, pointing out that the two of them were outnumbered despite being bigger and stronger than the humans.
When their brother Chromium pointed out that the twins shared their names, one for each, Nicol took the second name Bolas to feel equal to his larger siblings. After their sister Palladia-Mors mocked their size and their hunting techniques, the twins spent years perfecting various techniques for hunting in tandem. After this time, they met and then lived with their other brother Arcades Sabboth who had taken up residence as dragonlord in a human settlement. Here Nicol learned about the nature of humans, and how easily they could be manipulated to further his own goals. Having learned enough from his time with Sabboth, he took Ugin to seek revenge for their sister's murder. After tricking the dragon hunters into a quarrel between several factions, he took over as supreme leader. After this, he tried to use his brother for his ends, and Ugin realized that Bolas had never truly cared for him at all. This realization caused Ugin's planeswalker's spark to ignite.
Elder Dragon War and Ascension[]
The Elder Dragons were engaged in a conflict that lasted for thousands of years known as the Elder Dragon War. Nicol Bolas emerged victorious, though there were survivors other than himself, his brothers Arcades Sabboth and Chromium Rhuell, his sister Palladia-Mors, their cousin Vaevictis Asmadi, and possibly others. At the crescendo of the war, Bolas ruled half of Dominaria. The last clash of the war took place on Jamuraa, between the troops of Bolas himself and Arcades Sabboth. Only the unexpected intervention of Ugin prevented the ultimate defeat of Sabboth. Bolas was surprised to learn his brother was still alive and Ugin explained to Bolas about the multiverse and how insignificant the Elder Dragons were in the grand scheme of it. The war ended there and then, because in rage and envy of Ugin's newly-revealed planeswalker status, Bolas' own spark ignited and he planeswalked away.
Confrontation on the Meditation Plane[]
Many, many times and adventures later, the two planeswalking brothers confronted each other on the Meditation Plane(a world originally found by Ugin but would be corrupted by Bolas). Their battle lasted for many generations and spanned across the multiverse. Their clash resulted in Nicol Bolas murdering his brother and Ugin being sent to the waves of the Meditation Realm. Bolas was flung through ten or twenty or a hundred planes before he fell hard back into Dominaria, onto the island chain of Madara.
Fighting the Leviathan and Defeating Ugin Again[]
Nicol Bolas fought a demonic planeswalking leviathan for about a month. The clash reduced Madara to about a third of its size and created the first temporal rift. Bolas slayed the beast with his touch and feasted upon his foe for over a year. All that remained of the leviathan was what he referred to as the Talon Gates(a part of the beast that Bolas took as a trophy) and some blubber.
Bolas killing Ugin
At some point after they had both become Planeswalkers, Bolas' maliciousness and power came to Ugin's notice. With the help of the Sphinx Planeswalker Azor, Ugin devised a plan to trap Bolas on the remote plane of Ixalan and ultimately destroy him.
Unfortunately for them, Bolas found out about their plan and intervened, traveling to Ugin's adopted home plane of Tarkir and launching a surprise attack on the Spirit Dragon. Bolas manipulated the shaman Yasova into rebelling against Ugin and using her powers to take control of Ugin's own lesser dragons, turning them against him. After a close battle, Bolas was able to defeat Ugin, leaving him for dead (though he was saved by the time-traveling Planeswalker Sarkhan Vol, who sealed him in a restorative cocoon for the next 1,280 years). Without Ugin to help him carry out the plan, Azor ended up trapped on Ixalan himself.
God-Emperor of Madara[]
At some point, Bolas somehow became metaphysically tied to the continent of Madara on the plane of Dominaria, due to a temporal rift that he had inadvertently created thousands of years earlier during a battle with a Demonic Leviathan Planeswalker. As a result, he became unable to physically manifest on Dominaria without anchoring himself to local mana lines, lest his presence overwhelm the plane and crack its foundation. Three lines of blue, black, and red mana intersected at a single point on Madara that was ideal for Bolas's purposes. Bolas slew the then Empress of Madara and erected his Imperial Shrine on the focal point. From there, he reigned for 400 years as God-Emperor of Madara.
Unfortunately, Bolas created his own worst enemy in the form of his Imperial Champion, Tetsuo Umezawa. After several trials, Tetsuo renounced his title and declared his intention to slay Bolas, killing the dragon's regent. In a fit of rage, Bolas abandoned his body to follow Tetsuo's spirit into the Meditation Plane, unaware that it was a trap. This would ultimately prove to be a fatal mistake: Using the Meteor Hammer spell, Tetsuo destroyed Bolas's Imperial Shrine while Bolas's physical body was inside, severing the elder dragon's anchor to Dominaria completely.
Without a physical form, Bolas' spirit-form was unable to escape back to Dominaria or any other plane, and without his connection to the abundant Dominarian mana that he used to fuel his spells, he was left without most of his magic. His physical superiority was rendered irrelevant by the nature of the Meditation Plane, which was a realm of thought and spirit; furthermore, Bolas was largely unaware of its workings, while Umezawa had experience manipulating the fabric of the plane's reality. Stripped of his advantages as a planeswalker, a sorcerer, and a dragon, and forced to battle in a realm where his opponent had a significant edge, Bolas was defeated and apparently killed by Umezawa.
However, as a result of his connection to the temporal rift, a ghostly remnant of his life force still lingered by the Madaran coast, trapped between the material world and the Meditation Realm.
Time Rifts[]
Nicol Bolas after his spark ignited
As the temporal rifts expanded, Bolas became able to manifest in Madara again, albeit as an immaterial shade. In this form, he presented himself under the alias of Sensei Ryu. When he sensed that the Planeswalker Teferi was lost in a rift and had become separated from his companions he arranged for them to arrive on the Madaran beach near the Talon Gates. Using the Planeswalker Venser's latent abilities, he was able to finally escape his prison and be fully reborn into the physical world, regaining his body by pulling a copy of it through the rift from an earlier point in time.
After Teferi located his companions, he challenged the dragon to a duel in an effort to stay Bolas's "gratitude." Bolas easily won, absorbing and planeswalking away from Teferi's attacks, after which he tortured him with his mind shattering touch and ripped his body to pieces. While Bolas was taunting Teferi's allies with the defeated planeswalker's head in his claw, the dying Teferi shared his knowledge of the collapsing planes with him and he was made aware of the severity of the rift problem. Bolas decided to let Teferi live, allowing the dismembered mage to heal himself.
Bolas later returned to Madara, where he was ambushed by the Planeswalker Leshrac, who formally challenged him to a duel; the latter was defeated and trapped in a mask after an epic battle. Bolas then used Leshrac's life force to close the rift.
Modern Era[]
Nicol Bolas on Alara
Although the Multiverse survived the time rift crisis, Bolas lost a significant portion of his magical powers. Still, he retained the formidable powers of an Elder Dragon as well as his unmatched intellect, and quickly set into motion a series of plans to restore himself to his former glory. Before the mending occurred, Bolas traveled to the plane of Amonkhet to make it a factory so he could create a powerful undead army. He tampered with the plane's leylines to control Amonket's Gods with some being imprisoned until his return and the rest were controlled to aid the plane's people(with Bontu betraying the others to gain Bolas's favor). Then he massacred every adult on the plane who was old enough to remember his takeover. With his business on the plane done, Bolas left to attempt to restore his power.
So far, he has succeeded at regaining some of his lost powers by absorbing the multiversal energies released when the five demi-planes of Alara merged back into a single plane. He also destroyed the plane of Skalla after pilfering the plane's secrets and caused Vivien Reid's Planeswalker Spark to ignite. He has also established an interplanar crime syndicate known as the Infinite Consortium to do his bidding, enslaved the Planeswalker Tezzeret to his will(who managed to steal control of the Consortium from Bolas for a time), manipulated Sarkhan Vol into willingly serving him, and brokered a deal between the Planeswalker Liliana Vess and four greater demons (which would ultimately result in him being able to take control of Liliana after she'd managed to kill those demons).
He manipulated other Planeswalkers into releasing the Eldrazi - ancient and incomprehensible eldritch abominations of unimaginable power and destructiveness - from their prison on Zendikar so he could see if a group of Planeswalkers would ban together to stop them(which they did). He sent Tezzeret to the plane of Mirrodin to monitor the growing threat of the new Phyrexians and to prevent them from gaining a central leader(which he failed in doing) and to stop them from leaving the plane. Afterwards, he gained access to a working interplanar portal created on the high-tech plane of Kaladesh thanks to Tezzeret.
Hour of Devastation[]
Bolas fighting the Gatewatch
After the denizens of Amonket trained themselves to be Bolas's perfect warriors and were slain by the God Hazoret, they were reanimated during the Hour of Eternity and the dragon came to see the fruits of their labor. The three slumbering Gods were also awakened and one of them was responsible for killing the gods Rhonas, Kefnet, and Oketra with Bontu being betrayed by Bolas and died to a horde of the undead.
The Gatewatch(the group of planeswalkers who worked together to defeat the Eldrazi) came to Amonkhet to stop the God-Paraoh. He wanted to see if the group had a plan and he wasn't surprised that they decided to use their inherent strengths against Bolas. He figured that they believed that since they're strategy worked on the Eldrazi, it would work on him as well. While he was amused by their efforts, Bolas knew this was a battle they could not win. The Gatewatch's initial assault was mostly ignored by the dragon with him repeatedly slamming Gideon Jura into a wall with his tail. Jace Beleron attempted to infiltrate the dragon's mind to figure out what he was planning. This resulted in Bolas opening it up to Jace before crushing the telepath. Unbeknownst to both of them, this triggered a failsafe forcing Jace to planeswalk to Ixalan. Moving on to Liliana Vess, he demanded she leave the plane and he would mentor her on how to use the Chained Veil. Though the spirits of the Veil thought he was lying, the Raven Man felt this was the best course of action. After she tried to ask her teammates to come with her in vain, she left. Chandra Nalaar tried to use her pyromancy to torch Bolas. After snatching her up in one of his claws, Bolas crushed Chandra breaking some of her ribs and lectured her on why using fire against a dragon was a stupid idea. She left to save herself.
Nissa Revane tried to use the plane's leylines to create vines to apprehend Bolas, but he was in control of them. After attacking the elf with necrotic magic, she was forced to retreat as well. The only member who was left was Gideon Jura. Though he thought he still beat the dragon, Bolas mocked Gideon for his foolishness calling him arguably the worst strategist he has ever come across. To prove Gideon was more vulnerable than he really was, Nicol Bolas easily pierced Gideon's invulnerable shield with just a single claw. Now very injured, Bolas gave Jura a choice, to stay and die or leave and dwell on his failure. Neither option really mattered to Bolas. Gideon decided to retreat leaving Bolas victorious. After the battle, Tezzeret arrived and was tasked with checking on Ral Zarek's progress. Feeling success for the first time in a long time, Nicol Bolas celebrated the completion of the early phases of his goal to regain his god-like power.
Ixalan and Dominaria[]
Nicol Bolas claiming ownership over Liliana Vess's soul
Bolas hired the gorgon planeswalker Vraska to travel to Ixalan to retrieve the Immortal Sun; an artifact designed to prevent planeswalkers from planeswalking. She agreed to do so in exchange for Bolas making her the guildleader of the Golgari Swarm. Vraska learned more about the Immortal Sun from Jace and Azor(its creator) and learned about Bolas's true nature. Jace learned the next part of his plan apparently involves a full-scale invasion of the city-plane of Ravnica. In an effort to hide their knowledge from the dragon, Jace erased Vraska's memory of their time together so he could restore it at the right time and she delivered the Sun to Bolas as planned. After Belzonlok(Liliana's last demon lord) was killed, Bolas arrived on Dominaria and claimed ownership over Liliana's contract. This was because since those who made the contract were all slain, ownership over Liliana's soul now belonged to the broker of these deals which was Nicol Bolas.
War of the Spark[]
Bolas in War of the Spark
Having his army of Eternals and the Immortal Sun, Bolas begins to prepare to execute his assault on Ravnica. To do this, he placed five Planeswalkers as Guildleaders to have loyalties of those Guilds. These Planeswalkers are Vraska who became the leader of Golgari Swarm, Ral Zarek who became the leader of the Izzet League, Domri Rade who became the leader of the Gruul Clans, Kaya who became the leader of the Orzhov Syndicate, and Dovin Baan who became the leader of the Azorius Senate. Ral Zarek was ordered to build a Planar Bridge on Ravnica and to turn his Project Lightning Bug into a beacon for Planeswalkers. The Gatewatch are aware that Bolas's plan will take place on Ravnica and plan on defeating him. Little do they know that not only is Bolas expecting their interference, he is practically relying on it. During the Guild Summit, Ral, Kaya, Vraska, Lavinia, and Hekara planned to work together to stop Bolas. This was until Vraska accidentally betrayed them by killing Isperia and Tezzeret fitted Lavinia with a collar that allowed Bolas to control her and used her to kill Hekara. Isperia's death paved the way for Dovin to become the guildleader and Hekara's death dissuaded the Cult of Rakdos from aiding the other guilds. It was also revealed that Nicol Bolas killed Niv-Mizzet during this time, preventing him from becoming the new Living Guildpact. Though the Izzet parun was physically comparable to the elder dragon and could counter Bolas's mental assault, the Firemind met his initial end.
Using Project Lightning Bug, Bolas managed to lure dozens of Planeswalkers to Ravnica and imprisoned them all with the Immortal Sun. He has claimed Ravnica as his own and attempted to complete the Elder Spell which would allow Bolas to absorb all of the Planeswalker Sparks on Ravnica and become a God. He began the war by sending Liliana and the Dreadhorde to cause havoc on Ravnica. This forced the Ravnicans and other Planeswalkers to stop him once and for all. The Planeswalkers split into groups in an attempt to thwart Bolas's plan. Gideon, Aurelia, Angrath, Arlinn, Huatli, Tamiyo, Narset, Kiora, the Wanderer, Tibalt, Davriel, and eventually Sorin and Nahiri were in charge of fighting the eternals. Chandra, Nissa, Saheeli, Lavinia, and Lazav fought Dovin Baan and were to destroy the Immortal Sun. Dack Fayeden, Karn, Ob Nixilis, Samut, and eventually Sarkhan used the Planar Bridge to fight Tezzeret and shut down the bridge permanently. Kaya, Ral Zarek, Vraska, and Teyo Verada recruited the Guilds to join the fight. Vivien, Jace, Jaya, and Teferi were tasked with Killing Liliana. Ajani, Jiang Yanggu, Mu Yangling, and eventually Huatli helped save civilians. One by one, each group completed their tasks except the group that was supposed to kill Liliana. Once the dragon collected Domri's spark, he completed the Elder Spell and started to absorb the sparks of other Planeswalkers with those collected being stored inside his citdel.
Bolas losing his Planeswalker spark
Gideon Jura attempted to use the Blackblade Reforged to slay Bolas since it was used to kill elder dragons in the past. Before he had the chance to use it, Liliana controlled Oketra to shoot the Pegasus he was riding(intentionally missing him) causing him to fall through the air. Rakdos saved Gideon allowing him to get a good chance to hit Bolas, only for the blade to instantly shatter on the dragon's skin. He found his attempt hilarious since the Blackblade was rendered useless against his kind after its initial use. Seeing Gideons failed attack, Liliana rebelled against Bolas and he punished her by having her contract kill her. To everyone's surprise, Gideon sacrificed himself to save Liliana by taking the brunt of the backlash. Now free of her contract, Liliana ordered Oketra and Bontu along with the rest of the Dreadhorde to attack Bolas. Niv-Mizzet, reborn as the new Living Guildpact, impaled Bolas with Hazoret's Spear, a weapon he crafted for the Amonkhet god personally and since it had a bit of his essence on it, it was the only thing that could hurt the Dragon God. Though Bolas managed to destroy Oketra, he was unprepared for when Bontu chomped down on him and harvested all the sparks he had gathered including his own. With so many inside her, the crocodile god exploded as a result.
Nameless and Imprisoned[]
Bolas being prisoned in his meditation realm permanently
With the remaining Ravnicans and Planeswalkers heading to kill Nicol Bolas, Ugin telepathically instructed Jace to create an illusion of Bolas being disintegrated so the Spirit Dragon could take his twin brother to be imprisoned. Ugin knew that he and Bolas had cheated death before and the only way to stop him permanently was to seal him in a prison no one else could access with the multiverse believing he was truly dead. Though Jace had some reservations, he carried out Ugin's plan with no problems. After his defeat, Bolas was brought to the Meditation Realm by Ugin. Since he wasn't a Planeswalker, the experience knocked him out and weakened him severely despite his brother providing some protection. It took him weeks to regain consciousness and months to start healing. Once he was awake, Ugin told Bolas that the Meditation Plane was always his and he helped Niv-Mizzet come back to life. Ugin also revealed that the gem floating above his head contained a part of Ugin's soul which allowed him to watch Bolas without detection and see all of his mistakes. Ugin then removed both of Bolas's names so he could never be summoned by any being ever again. Ugin became Bolas's warden and the two were removed from the Multiverse for all eternity until Bolas's natural death in about 1,000 years.
Other Media[]
Smite[]
In Smite, Nicol Bolas appears as a skin for Tiamat, being released as part of a larger Magic: The Gathering event on February 21th, 2023.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Nicol is a medieval German name for The Devil (similar to "Old Nick" in English), while "Bolas" is similarly derived from the greater demon Glasya-Labolas in Christian mythology. Combined with his demonic appearance (a great winged dragon with horns and a pointed chin) and his role as the overarching villain of the entire Magic: the Gathering setting, it can be concluded that Nicol Bolas was intended to be a Satanic figure.
External Links[]
- Nicol Bolas on the MTG Wiki
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 Villains
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Planeswalkers Phyrexians Multiversal Threats Villains by Plane Mirrodin/New Phyrexia Kamigawa Ravnica Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Alara Zendikar Innistrad Theros Tarkir Kaladesh Amonkhet Kaldheim Ikoria Arcavios Unknown | ||