Ugin

Ugin
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Ugin.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Elder Dragon Planeswalker
Birthplace	Dominaria
Lifetime	-25,000 AR to Present
Colors
Center:
Sources
Awakenings

Ugin is an elder dragon planeswalker from Dominaria able to transmute raw aetheric energy into matter and spells, such as the so-called Breath of Ugin, an invisible flame.

Appearance and characteristics

Ugin is known as the spirit dragon, but it's not clear if he is a true spirit dragon like those of Kamigawa. Ugin is the twin brother of Nicol Bolas, and sibling to Arcades Sabboth, Chromium Rhuell, Merrevia Sal and Palladia-Mors. He was cousin to Vaevictis Asmadi.

Ugin is centered in colorless mana, although he can use all 5 colors of mana.

History

Ugin is a planeswalker with strong ties to the plane of Tarkir, where his magic, the transmutation of energy into matter, is responsible for the elemental dragon storms that once raged through the plane, giving birth to its dragons. This magic was derived from the study of the energetic patterns of entire planes—their creation, destruction, and renewal—and he has applied these universal principles to creating his own form of magic. Valuing both the dragon broods and the humanoid Clans, he gifted the Clans with concealment magic in order to hide from the depredations of the dragons.

Birth

Ugin was spawned from The Ur-Dragon alongside his twin, Nicol. Where in every other egg there was only one, they woke together, they named themselves together, and touched the soil of Dominaria at the same instant. They were both only half the size of their siblings. When they witnessed their sister Merrevia Sal's being attacked by non-specific humanoids and their hounds; Nicol tried to rescue and then avenge her, while Ugin was far more pressed to find their other siblings and seek more knowledge. Upon climbing a mountain, Ugin expressed wonder at the multiverse, while Nicol sought to become strong so as to not die like their fallen sister.

Youth

After Palladia-Mors mocked their size and their hunting techniques, the twins spent years perfecting various techniques for hunting in tandem. The next years, they lived with Arcades Sabboth, who had taken up residence as dragonlord in a human settlement. Here Nicol learned about the nature of humans, and how easy they could be manipulated to further his own goals. Meanwhile, Ugin made particular friends with an old holy elder named Te Ju Ki, whose sole purpose in life, it seemed, was to think about things that could not be seen. He soaked up the calm wisdom she exuded, and learned about the existence of other planes. After several years, Bolas had learned enough and took Ugin to seek revenge for their sister's murder. On their way to the birth mountain, Ugin was wounded and poisoned by humans that had evolved into dragon hunters. After recovering, Ugin witnessed Bolas manipulating the dragon hunters into a quarrel between several factions, and taking over as supreme leader. After Bolas tried to use his brother for his own ends, Ugin realized that Bolas had never truly cared for him at all. This mental shock caused his planeswalker's spark to ignite and he planeswalked to the Meditation Plane.

While the rest of the Elder Dragons clashed in the Elder Dragon War, Ugin instead explored the Multiverse, marveling at its grandeur. When he at last chose to return home, he found the world embroiled in war, with Arcades Sabboth and Nicol Bolas sending their armies of dragons and humans against each other. Seeking to convince them to stop fighting, Ugin revealed himself. Nicol, who had believed that his twin had been killed by the humans after he had taken control of him, mistrusted him at first, but was convinced that he was the real Ugin. When Nicol proudly displayed his empire before him, asking his brother to join him in being emperor of all. Ugin retorted that all that Nicol had achieved was a minor speck in an infinity of worlds and nothing to be proud of, revealing that he had found a way to travel between worlds. Nicol angrily asked Ugin to show him how to planeswalk, and when he could not, suspected that he had been in hiding somewhere on Dominaria and plotted against him. The brothers exchanged bitter words before Ugin left Dominaria again, cementing the rift that had grown between them.

Confrontation on the Meditation Plane

Many, many times and adventures later, the two planeswalking brothers confronted each other on the Meditation Plane. First above the wide waters of the Meditation Realm and then on a wild pummeling path through the planes, they struggled for days, years, generations. Knowing that he could not match Bolas' savage hatred, Ugin returned to the Meditation Realm and allowed his brother to fatally wound him. As his body fell into the pools of the Meditation Realm, the ripples created an expulsion of power that fractured the very plane and cast Bolas back into the Blind Eternities.

An unknown amount of time later, Ugin awakened, his spirit inhabiting a new body formed from the Meditation Realm's waters. The newly reborn Spirit Dragon had found his purpose - to stand against his brother, whose hatred would destroy entire planes if left unchecked.

On Tarkir

Ugin taught his secrets to the tribes of Tarkir. He revealed the secret of Ghostfire to the Jeskai Way, and the art of the Whisper Mind to the Temur Frontier. By sharing his secrets among the clans, no one clan would have more power than the others.

The Three

Ugin was the mastermind of the trio of planeswalkers, including Sorin Markov and Nahiri, that lured the Eldrazi to Zendikar to imprison them within the Eye of Ugin. Over the course of 40 years, the planeswalkers prepared Ugin's plans, creating a massive network of stones known as hedrons, powered by leylines and coded by draconic runes. When the Eldrazi finally arrived on Zendikar, Ugin's part was to combat the Eldrazi with his own colorless magic, the magical key to unlocking the Eye.

Fighting Bolas again

Thousands of years after the Eldrazi were sealed, Ugin and fellow planeswalker Azor devised a plan to trap Bolas on Ixalan.

Before it could come to that, Bolas tracked his twin to Tarkir. The two planeswalkers waged a titanic battle, leaving Ugin nearly dead. Bolas dug deep into Ugin's mind for information about the Eldrazi and their prison. His purpose accomplished, Bolas departed, leaving the grievously wounded Ugin to die. In the original timeline, although physically dead, the dragon's spirit had not departed, and found its way into the mind of the planeswalker Sarkhan Vol. Sarkhan was plagued by Ugin's whispers in his head, 1,280 years after the dragon's death. Sarkhan later discovered that the whispers were Ugin's psychic plea across time and space for help.

Ugin's Rescue

Sarkhan Vol was drawn back to his home plane of Tarkir by the whisperings of Ugin's spirit in his head. While there, he was able to travel back in time 1,280 years using Ugin's Nexus, a spiritual nexus surrounding Ugin's bones. The nexus transported Sarkhan back in time, just before the battle between Ugin and Nicol Bolas.

Using a shard of a hedron containing Ugin's life force, Sarkhan created the Crucible of the Spirit Dragon to save Ugin and thereby alter the fate of the entire plane. Sarkhan was transported back to the future, and the timeline of Tarkir was forever changed.

Because his essence was contained within the hedrons, Ugin became the soul of Tarkir. Shamans could communicate with the part of him that was rooted in Tarkir, even if he was supposedly dead.

Awakening

1,280 years after Sarkhan Vol saved Ugin, the spirit dragon still rested in his cocoon of hedrons. During that time, Tarkir's history changed and Ugin's dragons had now become the dominant species on the plane. Sorin Markov arrived on Tarkir and with the help of an enthralled Atarka warrior made his way to Ugin's resting place. There, Sorin awakened and freed the spirit dragon from his slumber. Ugin explained about his battle with Nicol Bolas to Sorin who then informed him about the awakening of the Eldrazi. A shocked Ugin inquired about Nahiri stating that they would need her help to fight the Eldrazi again by rebuilding the hedron network. Ugin soon realized that Sorin was purposely hiding the information about Nahiri's fate and was annoyed. He warned Sorin to put aside whatever spat the vampire and Nahiri had and to find her. He then thanked Sorin for his assistance with a warning that they will meet again on Zendikar, and Nahiri had better be with the vampire.

Later, Ugin met Sarkhan Vol who had arrived searching for answers. The spirit dragon had been studying Tarkir's new history in the various carvings around the canyon. He eventually questioned Sarkhan on his actions and how a hedron from the Eye of Ugin arrived on Tarkir. Sarkhan informed Ugin of the events in the past few years, deducing his actions in the past. As Ugin had no memory of the alternate timeline and the role his spiritual echo had played in it, he theorized that Sarkhan had now created a time paradox of sorts. The Dragon Man had appeared from nowhere and had saved Ugin the Spirit Dragon before disappearing to reappear a thousand years later. Understanding this, Sarkhan made his peace with Ugin and left.

Battle for Zendikar

Having been freed from stasis on Tarkir, Ugin returned to Zendikar. With Sorin Markov and Nahiri missing, he started to rebuild the Eye of Ugin and the hedron network. When Jace Beleren arrived to investigate, the Spirit Dragon revealed how the network might be used to again immobilize the Eldrazi titans, but Jace suspected that the same trick might instead serve as a first step in killing them. Ignoring Ugin's dire warnings, Jace left the Eye and made his way back to Sea Gate to pass this information on to Gideon. After the newly formed Gatewatch destroyed Ulamog and Kozilek, Ugin berated them for killing the ancient creatures instead of trapping them, fearing dire consequences for the multiverse.

War of the Spark

Ugin realized that the gem that connected Bolas to the Meditation Realm could be the key to stopping him once and for all. Together with Niv-Mizzet, they developed a plan that could ultimately lead to Bolas's downfall.

The End

After Bolas's defeat, he was brought to the Realm by Ugin. Ugin wrapped Bolas in his wings while traveling through the Blind Eternities and even though Bolas is an Elder Dragon and ex-planeswalker it took him weeks before he regained consciousness and months to start recovering. Ugin told him that it was his world even before Bolas became a planeswalker, and that he had helped Niv-Mizzet to be reborn. Ugin also revealed that the gem in the middle of Bolas' horns is part of Ugin’s soul and he saw every step and mistake from his brother. Ugin then took away both of Bolas' names, so that he couldn't be summoned by another being ever again.

Ugin told his brother that he’ll become his jailer for the remainder of Bolas's mortal life and expanded himself all over the Meditation Realm. It has now become a prison for Ugin and Bolas, alike. They can't leave it.

Breath of Ugin

The Breath of Ugin, also known as the Ghostfire, is an invisible colorless flame. It was used by Ugin against the Eldrazi. Along with the presence of three planeswalkers, it is the key to activating the Eye of Ugin.

A clear depiction of Ugin's stature.

Trivia

• The Future Sight colorless burn spell Ghostfire, and its flavor text, were the inspiration for the backstory of the Eye of Ugin.
• Matt Cavotta wrote a short story entitled "How Many Eyes?" inspired by Ghostfire, in which Ugin emerges from a time rift, implying this character's alternate reality origin. It is doubtful this story has any real bearing upon Ugin's true appearance as this was written some time before the Eldrazi plotline had been created.
• Doug Beyer stated that he believed the fact that Ugin transcended color in his magic is the reason why he became a "spirit" dragon. There had been much speculation about whether Ugin was an Elder Dragon, but creative had not made a decision regarding it at that time. Later, Bolas Twins confirmed that he was born an elder dragon; whether he retains that status or not is currently ambiguous. His "spirit" persona was revealed to be an aspect of his rebirth on the Meditation Plane.
• Mark Rosewater has ambiguously stated the we have yet to see the last of Ugin, alluding to his possible return in future sets.

Planeswalkers met

• Azor
• Chandra Nalaar
• Gideon Jura
• Jace Beleren
• Sarkhan Vol
• Sorin Markov
• Nahiri
• Nicol Bolas

Planes visited

• Alara
• Dominaria
• Innistrad
• Kephalai
• Lorwyn
• Meditation Plane
• Ravnica
• Shandalar
• Tarkir
• Zendikar

In-game references

Represented in:

• Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• Ugin, the Ineffable

Associated cards:

• Eye of Ugin
• Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
• Haven of the Spirit Dragon
• Sanctum of Ugin
• Scion of Ugin
• Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
• Ugin's Conjurant
• Ugin's Construct (Ugin's Fate)
• Ugin's Insight
• Ugin's Nexus

Depicted in:

• Crux of Fate
• Fierce Invocation (Ugin's Fate)
• Finale of Revelation
• Formless Nurturing (Ugin's Fate)
• Mastery of the Unseen (Ugin's Fate)
• Reality Shift (Ugin's Fate)
• Soul Summons (Ugin's Fate)
• Tormenting Voice (Khans of Tarkir)
• Tormenting Voice (Dragons of Tarkir)
• Tapestry of the Ages
• Wildcall (Ugin's Fate)

Quoted or referred to:

• Amateur Auteur (Unstable, #3d)
• Bitter Revelation
• Dispel (Battle for Zendikar)
• Fate Forgotten
• Fearsome Awakening
• Ghostfire
• Ghostfire Blade
• Hedron Archive
• Lithomancer's Focus
• Perilous Vault
• Spatial Contortion
• Witness of the Ages
• Write into Being (Ugin's Fate)