Crimson Bands of Cyttorak

[daBronzeBomma]

Ok, very much a Marvel noob, so please cut me some slack here.

What is the deal with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak?

I get that Cyttorak is, like, the patron god / power source of the Juggernaut.

But then Doctor Strange also uses the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak as one of his weapons?

And Doctor Doom has them at his disposal too? Is it part of his armor or separate from that?

Do Drs. Strange and Doom have any connection to Cyttorak? Do they need his/its permission to use them? Or are they totally unrelated?

Also, what can counteract the Crimson Bands in combat? What type of protection would effectively work against it?

Questions, questions, questions ...

[Pendaran]

It's a spell that you can cast if you know it, you need his permission but he's always happy to give it, and the ways to counter it depend on who is casting it as to a certain extent they depend both on the power of who is throwing them around, and their current state of being (like if Strange is completely messed up, his bands are a lot more breakable). Doom learned to use them, then learned to use them effectively. It's separate from his armor.

They can be counterspelled if not cast entirely correctly, or overloaded with sufficient force, though in non asterisked or wildly out there showings, that force has involved things like "Dr Strange ends up with his astral form reduced to smaller than a rat because that is how hard he burned himself out breaking a piece of Dormammu's use of the bands." The Hulk at one point had to resort to trickery to get Strange to dispel the bands because he couldn't otherwise get out of them for instance.

[The Arbiter]

Doom is the weakest user, but even he can restrain powerhouses for a time. I... think Namor?

Strange has better showings. Dormammu has the best.

Pen answered everything else basically.

You have to call upon Cytorrak's power but that dude is all to happy to just hand it out.

[Powerboy]

Doom is the weakest user, but even he can restrain powerhouses for a time. I... think Namor?

Strange has better showings. Dormammu has the best.

Pen answered everything else basically.

You have to call upon Cytorrak's power but that dude is all to happy to just hand it out.

Somebody also mentioned in another thread (might have been Sharp) that there was a story where Strange met Cytorrak and Cytorrak had no idea who Strange was or that Strange or anybody else was siphoning any of his power. In other words, the amount that Strange, Doom and other sorcerers take from him is so insignificant that he doesn't even notice it. Not sure about the Juggernaut.

[MichaelC]

There's also a story where Strange used the bands, and Cytorrak instantly knew he'd used them and demanded that Strange serve him as payment.

[daBronzeBomma]

There's also a story where Strange used the bands, and Cytorrak instantly knew he'd used them and demanded that Strange serve him as payment.

See, to an outsider like me, THIS seems the more logical scenario.

But from the other responses in this thread, I gather that this is the outlier case, and Cyttorak is at least Galactus level to be doling out such power so frequently at no cost to himself.

[MichaelC]

See, to an outsider like me, THIS seems the more logical scenario.

Yeah it is. There are several "spells" that are actually prayers to various entities. When you pray to such beings, they should expect, at a minimum, that you worship them. Yet a lot the time, the prayer-spells aren't treated any differently than any other type of magic, and indeed are treated like just superpowers.

[Pendaran]

Yeah it is. There are several "spells" that are actually prayers to various entities. When you pray to such beings, they should expect, at a minimum, that you worship them. Yet a lot the time, the prayer-spells aren't treated any differently than any other type of magic, and indeed are treated like just superpowers.

With Cyttorak particularly, so long as his power is used in conflict, he's pretty happy with that. It's the equivalent of worshiping Gorum from Pathfinder. He doesn't really care what you do with his power so long as you are doing something fighty with it.

[MichaelC]

True, Cyttorak is pretty much a cosmic Michael Bay. He likes it when stuff goes smash, pew-pew, and kaboom in his name, and otherwise is generally chill. But Strange even evokes guys like Mephisto and Sattanish sometimes. Those guys have much uglier priorities than make stuff go boom cuz me like 'splosions. They want to torture souls forever, and if you pray to them, they are going to want you to help them get souls while damning your own soul as well.

[The Arbiter]

I doubt Cytorrak is Galactus level. He is closer to classic Odin if not nebulously below that imo

[daBronzeBomma]

So, for Rumbles purposes,

If a character were to fight say, Victor von Doom (with no prep for either), and you wanted said character to cleanly win without PIS, would said character best to be

A) just ridiculously physically strong (Hulk class or better)
B) a mage themselves with counter spells
C) possessing advanced enough technology to undo the bands
D) something else

[Pendaran]

So, for Rumbles purposes,

If a character were to fight say, Victor von Doom (with no prep for either), and you wanted said character to cleanly win without PIS, would said character best to be

A) just ridiculously physically strong (Hulk class or better)
B) a mage themselves with counter spells
C) possessing advanced enough technology to undo the bands
D) something else

Fast enough to blitz Doom into paste always works.

[Phoenixx9]

I remember Doc Strange trapping an angry Hulk in the Crimson bands, but they formed a bubble totally surrounding Hulk. He could not bust out. He leapt high into the air, but I think they still held him.

[daBronzeBomma]

Fast enough to blitz Doom into paste always works.

Ah, well, Superspeed IS often the magic bullet for most standard Rumbles settings, isn't it?

So, would someone like Tony Stark have a counter to the crimson Bands?

[Pendaran]

Ah, well, Superspeed IS often the magic bullet for most standard Rumbles settings, isn't it?

So, would someone like Tony Stark have a counter to the crimson Bands?

Nope, not remotely.