Doctor Strange

""I have been accused of being unrelenting. Merciless. Perhaps I am. For I have looked into that heart of darkness. I know the chill of evil. I have clearly seen that, no matter what, sometimes the night cannot be kept at bay. So I carefully choose my battles. I fight those I can win. And make sure the ones I can't win are worth dying for.""

Doctor Stephen Strange is Master of the Mystic Arts and the former Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, which means that he's in charge of protecting it (mostly from powerful supernatural menaces). Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (July, 1963), created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. He has been appearing ever since, featured as a star of his own series, in team books, and as a frequent guest star in other people's titles. His story has been adapted into a live-action Made for TV Movie and an animated DVD movie. A film adaptation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been announced, as well.

In the comics, Dr. Stephen Strange was a famous surgeon who lost his operating skills after his hands were injured in a car crash. Obsessed with finding a cure, Strange sought a "miracle worker" in Tibet: the Ancient One, who is actually the current Sorcerer Supreme. After passing a subtle test of worthiness, Strange was accepted as the Ancient One's student—in place of his former one, Baron Mordo, who would become Strange's enemy. Dr. Strange returned to New York with the new mission of using his magical powers to secretly protect people from supernatural evil; Wong, a Tibetan servant, accompanied him upon his return. After the Ancient One's death, Strange gained the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Amongst Strange's most famous adventures were preventing the evil Dormammu from conquering Earth and falling in love with Dormammu's niece Clea (who eventually became his apprentice—and lover).

The movies make several changes to Strange's origin; most notably, the DVD introduces a Dead Little Sister to give Strange more emotional depth.

Despite having his series canceled years ago, Strange is still a recurring character in the Marvel Comics universe. He has starred in many Defenders stories and has guest-starred in many other comics, usually to help out other heroes against magical menaces. He is a long-time ally of The Avengers and has had an on-and-off membership in the New Avengers (currently 'on'). In 2011 he was involved in the Fear Itself storyline with several of his old Defenders teammates—this reunion prefigured a revival of the Defenders title in late 2011 to deal with the threat of Nul, Breaker of Worlds, one of the entities empowering the Serpent's "Worthy."

In 2011 he joined the roster of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, to the delight of many.

Since 2009 he has lost many of his iconic items—the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamotto particularly—because he stepped down from the office of Sorcerer Supreme, feeling that he had become compromised due to the overuse of Dark Magic. The office passed to Brother Voodoo, who died three years later, taking Agamotto and the Eye with him.

A character sheet is now under construction.

He should not be confused with Dr. Strangelove, or Professor Hugo Strange, the Batman villain. (Stephen's popularity, in fact, seems to have been a driver for Hugo being largely sidelined by DC for decades; Arkham City is the first time Hugo's gotten major attention in a long, long time.)

"Thug: Now give us everything you've got! Wong: I offer nothing less. [cue beatdown]"
 * Acid Trip Dimension: Many of the dimensions Strange travels through as part of his duties, but especially Dormammu's.
 * The Ageless: Thanks to a deal with Death. It's implied that he's immune to disease, as well.
 * The Alcoholic: His backstory was of an alcoholic doctor who eventually drove drunk and crashed his car, injuring his hands.
 * Aliens Speaking English
 * Alliterative Name: Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme (and Master of the Mystic Arts).
 * Pretty much any item and demon he calls upon will be alliterative. This was taken to its most ridiculous extremes in the "Eighth Day" crossover, in which a number of people were empowered by the Octessence, eight principalities typically evoked by Dr. Strange. All of them were empowered by alliterative items, such as the "Blinding Brazier of Balthakk". Not surprising when you consider who his original writer was.
 * All Your Base Are Belong to Us: His Sanctum Sanctorum has been jeopardized, destroyed, erased from existence, etc. almost too often to count. He always repairs the damage and moves back in.
 * Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: Doctor Strange has a few, though historically the Eye of Agamotto was by far his most famous.
 * Anime Hair: Clea.
 * Astral Projection: This is an incredibly dangerous spell that leaves the body vulnerable and is fatal after 24 hours. [[media:fire12 210.jpg|Strange barely even hesitates to use it]]; in fact, it's one of his signature moves.
 * An Astral Projection, Not a Ghost: Inevitably someone who sees his astral form will mistake him for a decedent. Of course, he never makes that mistake himself.
 * Arch Enemy: Dormammu.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Baron Mordo
 * Back from the Dead: In the comics, Strange has been resurrected at least once. This is later referenced when Rick Jones consults the Doc on bringing Marlo Chandler back to life. Concerned for Rick's sanity, Strange tries to talk sense into him. Rick counters with "Who in this room has been dead before?" Wong, Strange, and Rick himself all raise their hands.
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Occasionally with Clea or Wong.
 * Badass Abnormal: Aside from his skills at magic, he is also an accomplished martial artist. In the past he has held his own against Black Panther and fought Morbius hand-to-hand.
 * Badass Longcoat: In "War of the Gems" he reconfigured the Cloak of Levitation into a red coat; he wears a trenchcoat or duster in New Avengers.
 * Badass Mustache
 * Battle Butler: Wong. Not only does he act as Strange's bodyguard, he also keeps Strange's own Kung Fu Wizard skills sharp.

"Wong: Journeys only find meaning at their destinations. I am fully prepared to reach my final-- Doctor Strange: Oh, shut up with that Zen crap."
 * Bound and Gagged: He cannot use magic if his hands and voice are restrained. (Granted, getting him into this condition will not be easy...)
 * Boxing Lessons for Superman: He has learned martial arts in case he needs to take care of business without the benefit of his mystical abilities.
 * Can't Stay Normal: He has tried at least once to walk away from magic and become an ordinary doctor. It never sticks.
 * City of Weirdos: Greenwich Village, New York City. He likes being able to blend in.
 * Clothes Make the Legend: The red cloak, blue tunic with a 'demon' symbol, black leggings, and yellow sash and gloves carry over into almost all depictions of Strange. Alternate universe characters shown to have assumed the role of Sorcerer Supreme (e.g. Clea, Wiccan) often wear the same ensemble.
 * Collector of the Strange/Superhero Trophy Shelf: Over his career he has amassed a number of mystical artifacts, including several trophies that imprison old enemies. When he was forced to destroy his collection to prevent Urthona from using it, it loosed so many enemies that he was busy for a year getting them bottled up again.
 * Comes Great Responsibility: He does have a manservant, a nice house, and no qualms about magicking up money, but this is mostly because his duties are so all-encompassing that he doesn't have time to worry about the mundane.
 * Cool House: His Sanctum Sanctorum.
 * Cosmopolitan Council: The Illuminati (which in Marvel is a secret hero group, to which Strange belonged). It is composed of high-ranking representatives from the various power factions in the Marvel universe (mutants, science, magic) instead of representatives of nations.
 * Cosmic Horror Story: Most of the good doctor's enemies would fit in one, or have them told either in flash backs or in Story-Boarding the Apocalypse.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Many of Strange's best writers, like Roy Thomas, portray him as this, especially when involved with more traditional superheroics. More than once he's implied that, after all the time battling monsters that want to devour the universe or corrupt the souls of humanity, he finds battling bank-robbing supervillains relaxing and finds it a happy side-effect of his time with teams like the Defenders.
 * Deceptive Disciple: Baron Mordo was one to the Ancient One.
 * Deflector Shields: Dr. Strange is protected by a mystical shield that can withstand attacks from beings like Galactus, Dormammu and Shuma Gorath. Depending on the Writer, it's always on and functions automatically or he has to summon it. He can also call up the "Shields of the Seraphim" for added protection.
 * Deliver Us From Evil: Sadly averted with Umar.
 * Demonic Possession: A reoccuring motiff in the series due to the number of demons he fights.
 * Demoted to Extra: Ever since the loss of his own title series.
 * Strange was basically this for most of the 2000s. J. Michael Straczynski was supposed to write a regular Dr. Strange book, but for whatever reason the book never materialized, so Straczynski compensated by making Strange a supporting character in the Spider-Man book instead, suddenly being Spider-Man's closest superhero ally over Peter's more long-standing friendships, like with Daredevil and the Fantastic Four. It got to the point where Spider-Man fans groaned whenever Spidey came across some sort of mystical phenomena, knowing full well that he was going to make yet another trip to the Sanctum Sanctorum for help.
 * De-Power: Technically he can't be de-powered because he has no powers, just entities he can invoke and spells/practices he knows how to do. Nevertheless, his magical might has fluctuated over his run as he wins and loses the favor of certain entities, particularly the Vishanti.
 * Actually, he does have some abilities of his own, such as Psychic Powers, though these are usually enhance by the Eye of Agammoto and other mystical artifiacts. He can also manipulate the magical energy that naturally permeates the universe for a range of effects, and can forcibly "take" the power of another entity through sheer force of will, though he considers this Black Magic and rarely uses it (and the most famous time he did use it was against Shuma-Gorath, and he had to kill himself because of it since Gorath would have simply been reborn within him and he couldn't control its powers anyway). However, his mystical backers still give him a huge boost of power, and without them he would never be able to fight on the level of his demonic and godlike enemies.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: This is Strange's job.
 * Dimension Lord/Multiversal Conqueror: Dormammu.
 * Discard and Draw: Has happened a few times, leading him to explore white magic, black magic, elemental magic, a bizarre discipline called 'catastrophe magic,' and others.
 * Does Not Like Guns: It doesn't help that the nerve damage in his hands prevents him from having steady aim.
 * Does Not Like Shoes: The Ancient One is barefoot in the animated movie.
 * Dracula: They've met. And fought throughout an entire arc when Strange wiped out every single vampire in the entire Marvel universe. This was due to the Comics Code banning vampires from comics for a few years. When the ban was lifted, the vamps came back.
 * The Dreaded: The Dread Dormammu—and rightly so.
 * Dream Land: The realm of Strange's enemy, Nightmare.
 * Dr. Jerk: Strange's backstory. Before he became a sorcerer, he was one of the most skilled surgeons in the world and had the clout to charge his own exorbitant fees, turn away patients who couldn't afford to pay, and walk out on colleagues.
 * The animated movie gives him a literal Dead Little Sister to give him a Freudian Excuse.
 * Dysfunctional Family/Tangled Family Tree: Clea is the daughter of Umar and thus the niece of Dormammu. For a while, Clea and Dr. Strange were considered common-law husband and wife, thus making two of Strange's greatest enemies some of his in-laws. And then Baron Mordo became Umar's consort.
 * Empathic Weapon/Loyal Phlebotinum: The Eye of Agamotto. However, whenever he slides too far into black magic, the Eye refuses to serve him.
 * Enemy Mine: He will work with anyone in the name of good. In one mini, he joined forces with Doctor Doom.
 * Enlightenment Superpowers
 * Epunymous Title: Dr. Strange debuted in the Strange Tales comic series.
 * Evil Counterpart: Baron Mordo.
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: During World War Hulk, Strange allowed himself to be possessed by the demonic entity Zom. A later storyline revealed that he had continued to borrow from Zom to bolster his fading magics. Both times the power used him far more than he used it.
 * Evil Is One Big Happy Family: Fortunately averted: it's a hallmark of evildoers in his world that they never cooperate without coercion or some ulterior motive. This is a weakness Strange can exploit, and often does.
 * Evil Sorcerer: Baron Mordo; Astrid Mordo; Kaluu; others.
 * Eyepatch of Power: He had one for a while as part of a retool into a "grittier" character.
 * Face Death with Dignity: Wong in Doctor Strange: The Oath when he discovers he has an inoperable brain tumor. Doc's not having it.

"By the Hoary #%*-ing Hosts!"
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink
 * Find the Cure: He has been called upon to find magical cures for ailments which are beyond modern medicine.
 * Fingore: Strange's hands were badly injured in the car crash, and though they outwardly appeared to heal, nerve damage meant he could never safely operate again. Different writer-artist teams may or may not make his impaired dexterity obvious, and a few particularly sadistic ones have had his hands damaged again.
 * Others have said that his hands have fully healed and there's nothing physically wrong with them, it's his confidence, and more specifically, his ego that was devastated.
 * Flying Firepower: Often. Initially he needed his Cloak of Levitation to fly, but writers have shown him flying without it, particularly in Avengers vs. X-Men.
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision: In the Doctor Strange: The Oath comic book miniseries.
 * George Lucas Throwback: It's been observed that many Strange stories resemble less Marvel superheroics, and more of the horror stuff they were doing in the 50s.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: If you ever see him with these, run.
 * Godzilla Threshold: Strange has to pull out these options quite a bit. In one memorable multi-part storyline from the late 60's, he went through a whole chain of these; to defeat Dormammu's sister, Umar, he had to free the awesomely powerful demon Zom; to defeat Zom, he had to yank out some of its hair, which spread evil magic all over the world and also summoned the Living Tribunal, who threatened to destroy Earth unless Strange could remove all the evil magic he had unleashed; to gather together all the evil magic, he had to give it all to Baron Mordo, giving him a tremendous power-up; to defeat the empowered Mordo, he had to use an Artifact of Doom given to him by the Obviously Evil entity Nebulos, which gave all the evil power to it instead. Finally, he aided the Living Tribunal in defeating Nebulos, and the Tribunal then declared Earth was safe, ending the chain.
 * He invoked Zom again (technically a fragment of Zom's essence) in World War Hulk as a last-minute desperation move. It didn't work, and the fallout eventually led him to give up the position of Sorcerer Supreme.
 * Good Is Not Soft: He'll attempt to Save the Villain on occasion, but if someone has nothing but bad intentions and/or is threatening the world or someone he loves, he will show no mercy.
 * Guile Hero: By necessity against unspeakably powerful entities. He could never hope to take them by force, so he has to use his wits, be creative, and exploit any weaknesses they might have.
 * Hurting Hero: At times. Part of his early characterization was the pathos that someone can command that much power and still have problems he can't solve, especially with his loved ones.
 * Ice Cream Koan: In the animated movie.
 * The Illuminati: He is a member of a group by that name with Iron Man, Reed Richards, Professor Xavier, and others. Zigzags the trope, since they are all heroes but they have done some morally questionable acts in the name of saving the world. Strange appears to consider his involvement with them a necessary evil.
 * Indy Ploy: When written well, this is his signature ability—the creativity to evaluate the situation in an instant and turn it around with the right spell, use of his artifacts, or words.
 * Instant Runes: In the animated movie.
 * Instant Sedation: He has at least one generic 'Sleep' spell.
 * Intangible Man: Strange's astral self.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: With several young heroes, but particularly with Peter Parker.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Clea left Strange when she became aware of Morgana Blessing, a woman who had loved Stephen in every single one of her past lives. It was a bitter irony that Stephen had little to no interest in Morgana at all, except as a friend, and both then and now considers Clea the only one for him.
 * It's Not You, It's My Enemies: He tried to beg out of New Avengers membership because Daniel Drumm had sworn vengeance on him. Luke Cage reminded him that this sort of thing happens routinely to superheroes.
 * The Kindnapper: Silver Dagger, of the Well-Intentioned Extremist variety. He 'rescued' Clea from Strange once and was perplexed at her 'ingratitude.'
 * Kung Fu Wizard: He's a trained martial artist. He doesn't need magic to fight.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: On occasion he will make people forget specific bits of information they're better off not knowing.
 * Legacy Character: Ultimate Universe Strange lived and died like a normal man, and the office was occupied by his son until his own death in Ultimatum.
 * Doc Magus, implied to be Stephen's son, also takes on the title in Marvel Comics 2.
 * Levitating Lotus Position: Used by Doctor Strange for purposes of study, meditation, and sometimes Astral Projection.
 * Living Lie Detector: Strange's talisman, the Eye of Agamotto.
 * Logical Weakness: He's limited by his physicality: he uses his hands and voice to cast nearly all of his spells, and he can get tired, hungry, or distracted like anyone else.
 * Magical Gesture: Spell-casting for Strange involves special hand positions. He often uses the mano cornuta or "horns" gesture made by folding the two inner fingers down. Currently provides the page image.
 * Magical Incantation: Usually, but not always, required for him to work magic. More complicated spells seem to require longer incantations, which often rhyme.
 * Martial Pacifist: He prefers not to fight if it can be avoided.
 * Merlin and Nimue: Clea, Strange's best disciple, was also the woman he loved most; at one point they were considered common-law husband and wife. In Earth X, she betrayed and killed him before the story began, putting the final touch on the traditional depiction of this relationship.
 * Mighty Whitey: It takes Strange only a short time (an indeterminate handful of years) to surpass all The Ancient One's other students. Some writers retcon him into the Chosen One and claim the master was aware of his potential long before he actually came to Tibet. Mordo, the master's second-best student, was also Caucasian, hailing from somewhere in Transylvania.
 * Mind Rape/Go Mad from the Revelation: The Eye of Agamotto, used as a weapon, will forcibly show someone the truth, with devastating results. Strange used it to subdue the rampaging Scarlet Witch during her breakdown. He has also used the Images of Ikkon to send Galactus into a Heroic BSOD (by reawakening his conscience).
 * Mismatched Eyes: Nicodemus West in The Oath, one blue, one brown. Oddly enough, he had these before getting involved in anything magical.
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Good, but weird. He doesn't always see things the way everyone else does.
 * My Greatest Failure: He blames himself for certain events which went down on his watch (particularly House of M and its aftermath), believing that the Sorcerer Supreme has that office to prevent exactly that sort of thing.
 * My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Strange is one of the standard indicators that something big is going down in the Marvel universe. He may not do anything about it, but he'll know.
 * Mysterious Waif: Clea at first. Afterward she became more of a Strange Girl (in more ways than one).
 * Mythology: Strange comes with his own assembly of arcane deities and supernatural entities from whom he draws power.
 * Neutral No Longer: His backstory. The clear and obvious existence of evil magic is what convinced him that 1) Magic is real, and 2) Good people need to learn magic too, so they can fight back.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed/Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Steve Ditko's Strange looks a lot like Vincent Price (once he lost the Asian features), something most artists afterwards don't seem to realize.
 * No Ending: A huge complaint about the Strange mini-series; it seems to end right at what you'd think would actually be the halfway point of the story. Who wants to take bets that Casey is just going to be forgotten and will be a little soul flame for the rest of her life, poor girl.
 * No Pronunciation Guide: As a result, the pronunciation of names such as 'Agamotto,' 'Hoggoth,' and 'Clea' varies widely from adaptation to adaptation.
 * Oculothorax: Shuma-Gorath.
 * Occult Detective: Strange occasionally takes on this role. More than one plot has centered around him investigating supernatural problems brought to him by clients.
 * As one advertisment once said, "if he has to make a house call, you're already in trouble."
 * Oh My Gods: He has a lot of occult deities to call upon, particularly the "hoary hosts of Hoggoth."
 * The Omnipotent: Formerly.
 * Oracular Head: Strange's animate head in the miniseries Marvel 1602, taking advantage of a cannot-speak-of-this-while-alive loophole.
 * Out of Time, Out of Mind: Strange spent 5000 years in another dimension and returned after four months of 'real' time, having aged only a year.
 * The Paragon Always Rebels: In most depictions, Mordo was the Ancient One's best student before Strange came along.
 * Parental Substitute: For the Savage Hulk.
 * Pimped-Out Cape: One of the most famous examples, though it's the high collar with its two winglike projections which is really his icon.
 * Plucky Girl: Casey, from the 2009 mini-series, and Night Nurse from The Oath.
 * Post Dramatic Stress Disorder: Extreme magical exertion is hard on him, and can bring on anything from momentary dizziness to coma.
 * Power Floats: He has no difficulty sitting cross-legged on about four feet of empty air, even without his Cloak of Levitation.
 * Precision F-Strike: One memorable moment in The Oath.


 * Pride Before a Fall: His backstory. He's come a long way since, though Pride still seems to be his besetting sin.
 * Progressively Prettier: He started as a somewhat gaunt older man with slanted eyes, progressed into a conventionally-handsome Western man, transformed into something that was almost Bishounen, and eventually settled as an ordinary-looking (but still more attractive than average) man in his mid-forties.
 * Prophecies Rhyme All the Time: Strange's longer spells must rhyme - and in the early years, they all scanned to the first few lines of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".
 * Psychic Powers: Telepathy, telekinesis, others. Dr. Strange once bested Moondragon while she was in possession of the Mind Gem.
 * Psychological Torment Zone: One weapon of his enemies'. D'Spayre once caught him in one so painful that he nearly took his own life.
 * Pure Magic Being: Dormammu and the other Faltine, though his sister Umar is mode-locked into a physical shape.
 * Put on a Bus: Oh, so many of his supporting cast. Clea, Rintrah, Casey...
 * Rival Turned Evil: Baron Mordo.
 * Role Called: Strange Tales was eventually renamed Doctor Strange
 * Scars Are Forever: Depending on the Artist, Stephen's hands may still be heavily scarred, with the implication that he wears his gloves to hide them.
 * Secret Identity: Averted and played with. Doctor Stephen Strange is a well-known local character in Greenwich Village, often appearing in his trademark costume, but he takes pains that the public know nothing of his struggles and think of him as a harmless New Age kook who apparently makes a living as a guru.
 * Played straight during the brief period when he had a different appearance as "Doctor Strange" and a civilian identity known as "Stephen Sanders."
 * Sdrawkcab Name: From The Oath, the Elixir of Otkid.
 * Secret Keeper: He is the only one who knows where the Soul Gem is hidden, and that the other Illuminati have the other five.
 * Secret Test of Character: When Strange sought the help of the Ancient One to heal his hands, the latter sensed his selfish motives and refused, though he proposed that Strange become his student and find the cure within himself. Strange called him a fraud and would have left right then if not for a sudden blizzard. While confined to the building, Strange discovered one of the other students, Mordo, plotting to kill the master. When he tried to warn the Ancient One, Mordo cast a spell on Strange that rendered him unable to speak of this. Strange then decided to become the Ancient One's student, thinking that by learning magic, he would be able to stop Mordo. The Ancient One then revealed he knew about Mordo's plans all along and accepted Strange as his apprentice, now knowing he was capable of acting selflessly.
 * Shoot the Dog: There is nothing he wouldn't do to protect the Earth and those he loves. Case in point...
 * He murdered the Ancient One to prevent Shuma-Gorath from entering their world.
 * He destroyed his home and all of his treasured artifacts to prevent Urthona from using them. And then was forced to go on a canine shooting spree under the instruction of Kaluu, culminating in his own suicide after defeating Shuma-Gorath again.
 * Shout-Out: The late, lamented City of Heroes had an NPC named "Stephen Fayte"—his surname was "Strangefate" in earlier versions—who was repeatedly described by everyone in the mission where he appears as "a gifted surgeon, nothing more," although he is said to be often mistaken for Earth's greatest sorcerer. (This was a double shout-out, to DC's Dr. Fate as well as Dr. Strange.)
 * Silver Bullet: Part of Silver Dagger's arsenal.
 * One of these, fired from the Walther P-38 which Hitler used to commit suicide, managed to get through Strange's mystical defenses and nearly killed him.
 * Skunk Stripe: A streak of white hair at each temple.
 * Sliding Time Scale: One of the few characters in the Marvel Universe who is immune. As Sorcerer Supreme, he has eternal youth and is locked in his forties, although he's chronologically twice that age.
 * Stealth Pun: For a time, Strange took on Rintrah, a green minotaur-like being, as his apprentice.
 * Steven Ulysses Perhero: Yes, his given name is Stephen Strange. Yes, the title is real too. Yes, that kind of doctor.
 * Stripped to the Bone: The Wing Mouths in the animated movie do this.
 * Super Doc: Writers who remember he has an M.D. typically make him into one of these. In New Avengers he has done everything from giving an injection to delivering a baby.
 * Superhero Sobriquets: Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts. Clea was sometimes called the Mystic Maiden. Luke Cage attempted to saddle him with "the Magic Avenger" when he officially joined the New Avengers.
 * The Adjectival Superhero: For some reason this one applies to his rogues' gallery: The Dread Dormammu, the Unspeakable (or Unrelenting) Umar...
 * Super Weight: Level 4. To be expected when you've been called upon for aid by the manifestation of the universe itself.
 * Thematic Rogues Gallery: Most of Strange's enemies are sorcerers or demons.
 * Stressing the point here, Strange is too absurdly powerful to fight non-Eldritch Abominations or other Super Super threats, most of the time. This is a guy who is consistently better than Dr. effing Doom.
 * Third Eye: The Eye of Agamotto. By itself it sends out a beam of light that reveals the true nature of something; when Strange looks through it, it mystically attaches to his forehead.
 * Time Master: Dr. Strange can stop and reverse time at will.
 * Time Travel: An older feat, Dr. Strange traveled back in time to witness the birth of the Earth.
 * Villainous BSOD: What he does to Galactus by reawakening his conscience.
 * Villainous Incest: Baron Mordo has a daughter by his half-sister.
 * We Help the Helpless: Even heroes have to eat, and so sometimes the good Doctor will investigate cases for hire (Depending on the Writer—sometimes he simply conjures up money whenever he needs it, so we assume he does this pro bono... or perhaps for light entertainment).
 * Wingdinglish: Occasionally when spellcasting.
 * Withholding the Cure: The major plot of Doctor Strange: The Oath involves Timely Pharmaceuticals interfering with Doc's efforts to save Wong's life because the magical elixir he's retrieved can cure all diseases—and put them out of business. Worse; it's implied this isn't the first time they've done something like this.
 * Wizards Live Longer: Strange is functionally immortal, and his mentor lived to be over 600.
 * The World Is Not Ready: The argument of Magic versus Medicine in Doctor Strange: The Oath.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: Clea
 * Who You Gonna Call?: Other Marvel heroes often come to Doctor Strange seeking help with various mystical problems.
 * The Witch Hunter: Silver Dagger