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Uginis one of the oldest characters inMagic: The Gathering. The name was created before the concept of the character itself, with Ugin first appearing in the flavor text of the card Ghostfire from Future Sight, eight years before Ugin would get his first proper card in Fate Reforged.
Ugin is one of the most important characters in Magic’s history, featured as a part of some of the biggest events in the game including the rise of the Eldrazi and the War of the Spark. Despite being a more recent character, Ugin is one of the longest-surviving characters in the lore.
Birth, Early Life, And Spark Ignition
Ugin, like many dragons,spawned from The Ur-Dragon on Dominaria. He isone of the many Elder Dragonsof the plane, with siblings includingArcades Sabboth,Palladia-Mors, and most relevant to his future,Nicol Bolas.
Both Ugin and Nicol Bolas hatched at the same time, and just in time towitness their recently hatched sister Merrevia Sal be killed by hunters. This led Nicol Bolas down a path of revenge and power, while Ugin instead went down a path insearch of knowledge.
The two brothers spent a few years of their youth living with their older brother Arcades at a human settlement he ruled over. Here,Ugin met the elderTe Ju Ki, who taught Ugin about the Multiverse andintroduced him to the concept of planes.
Ugin was poisoned by a group of hunters as he and Nicol Bolas were returning to where they were born. While Ugin eventually recovered, he came back to Nicol Bolas controlling the very hunters that poisoned him’s minds to start a war between themselves so he could step up as their ruler.
Bolas tried to manipulate Uginjust like he did the hunters, causing Ugin to realize that Bolas never cared about him, and to Bolas, Ugin was just another tool. The trauma from the act causedUgin’s planeswalker spark to ignite, and he found himself on theMeditation Planeafterward.
Death And Revival
Uginmade a temporary appearance in the Elder Dragon Warand unintentionally caused its end. After Ugin’s sparked ignited and exploring the Multiverse, he returned to Domanira and appeared in front of Arcades and Nicol Bolas who were the two fighting factions of the war.
Ugin hoped to make them cease their fighting and denied Nicol Bolas' invitation for his brother to join him, with Ugin saying how Bolas' army was minuscule in the grand scheme of the Multiverse. Bolas learned of planeswalking from Ugin, and therage caused by Ugin being able to planeswalk was so strong it caused his own planeswalker spark to ignite.
This ultimately led to Bolas confronting Ugin at the Meditation Plane. Here,Bolas killed Uginand the act caused a storm that sent Nicol Bolas back into the Blind Eternities (the world between planes). However,Ugin was revived, now in the body of a spirit dragonwith a newfound purpose, protecting the Multiverse from those that sought to harm it such as Nicol Bolas.
Assisting The Multiverse
After his ascension to a spirit dragon, Uginmade his home on theplane of Tarkir. Here, he taught certain aspects of his magic to different clans so that none of them would be more powerful than the others. He was alsoresponsible for the creation of dragons on the plane.
Ugin knew of the Eldrazi and the destruction across the Multiverse they would cause if not stopped. He recruited the help of fellow planeswalkersSorin Markovof Innistrad andNahiriof Zendikar. Together, they used the Eye of Ugin to seal the Eldrazi in Zendikar with a series of enchanted hedrons and leylines.They weresuccessful in sealing away the Eldrazi.
Eventually, Nicol Bolas managed to find Ugin and the two brothers fought again, with Bolas coming out victorious andleaving Ugin with grave injuries. His physical body had died, but his spirit managed tospeak to theplaneswalker Sarkhan Volfar into the future.
Sarkhan managed to travel back in time right before the fight between the Elder Dragons. Here, he used ahedron that had Ugin’s life force to save him from death, altering the future of Tarkir. While humans were dominant before, the newTarkir would be ruled by dragons.
After his revival, Sorin returned to Tarkir to inform Ugin thattheEldrazi had awoken on Zendikar. Ugin returned to Zendikar, only to be unable to see any signs of either Sorin or Nahiri. He worked alone to rebuild the Eye of Ugin to trap the Eldrazi once more.
Here, he metthe planeswalkerJace Beleren, who suggested using the hedron system to kill the Eldrazi rather than trap them. Ugin warned that doing so could be disastrous for the Multiverse. However, he ignored these warnings andhe and the Gatewatchkilled two of the three Eldrazi titans. Ugin scolded them for doing so, and that the consequences for the Multiverse could have unforeseen consequences.
War Of The Spark
Nicol Bolas managed to build up an armyto take full control of the Multiverse.Uginworked with fellow planeswalkers to put astop to his brother once and for all. Ugin worked closely with Sarkhan, who helped him break through the wards that Bolas had set up in the Meditation Realm. Ugin took control back, and thanks to Bolas' link to the plane, Uginwas able to spy on his brother with theSpirit-Gemthat rested between Bolas' horns.
He learned of Bolas’plan to activate the Elderspell on Ravnica. After discovering it,Ugin worked with the dragon Niv-Mizzeton Ravnica and set up a contingency to revive Niv-Mizzet should he die in the confrontation with Bolas.
This proved to be worthwhile, as Niv-Mizzet was killed and later revived during the peak of the War Of The Spark thanks to the help of Sarkhan.
Ugin sent Sarkhan to Amonkhet toget the spear ofHazoret, one of the only weapons that could hurt Nicol Bolas. He was successful, and Niv-Mizzet was able to wield Hazoret’s spear and strike it through Nicol Bolas. Afterward,God-Eternal Bontu,under thecommand ofLilianna Vess, was able to harvest all the sparks Bolas had stolen, as well as Bolas' own spark.
After Bolas was defeated, Ugin enlisted the help of Jace to create an illusion so everyone believed Bolas had disintegrated. In reality,Ugin took his brother and brought him with him to the Meditation Realm.
Here,Ugin stripped Nicol Bolas of his nameso that no one would ever be able to summon him. Bolas found himself powerless to planeswalk or even use basic magic. Ugin explained how he was victorious thanks to the help of Sarkhan and Niv-Mizzet.
Finally, Ugin merged himself with the Mediation Realm itself. This prevented anyone, including Ugin from being able to enter or leave the Mediation Realm. Only the two brothers would remain there, withUgin promising to watch over Bolasuntil the dragon would die of old age.
