View source for Titania (DC Comics)

{{Infobox comics character <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
|image = Titania from the Books of Faerie covers.jpg
|imagesize = <!-- numeral only, defaults to 250 -->
|converted = y
|caption = Titania, shown in childhood through to her disguised appearance as a pure-born faerie, from ''The Books of Faerie''.
|character_name = Titania
|real_name = 
|publisher = [[DC Comics]]
|debut = ''[[The Sandman (comic book)|The Sandman]]'' (vol. 2) #19 (September 1990)
|creators = [[Neil Gaiman]] (writer) <br> [[Charles Vess]] (artist)
|species = Fae
|homeworld = [[Earth]]
|alliances = [[Seelie Court]]
|partners = <!-- optional -->
|supports = <!-- optional -->
|aliases = Maryrose, Queen Mab
|powers = Vast magical abilities
|subcat = 
|hero = 
|villain = 
|sortkey = 
}}
'''Titania''' is a fictional character, a [[comic book]] [[faerie]] published by [[DC Comics]]. She first appeared in ''[[The Sandman (comic book)|The Sandman]]'' (vol. 2) #19 (September 1990), and was created by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Charles Vess]]. She is inspired by and implied to be the same as [[Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Titania]] as the [[fairy|faerie]] queen in [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''.

==Publication history==
As part of his comic ''[[The Sandman (comic book)|The Sandman]]'', writer [[Neil Gaiman]] planned a small arc involving [[William Shakespeare]] entering a deal with the [[Dream (comics)|Dream King]] to write plays that would live on after him. Having introduced Shakespeare,<ref name="GoodMen">{{Citation | last=Gaiman | first=Neil | chapter=Men of Good Fortune | date=1 June 1990 | title=The Sandman: the Doll's House | publisher=DC Comics | isbn=1-85286-292-0}}</ref> Gaiman then decided to tell the story of the first play that the writer wrote for Dream in payment of the bargain. He turned to his favourite of Shakespeare's plays, ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''<ref>{{Citation | last=Gaiman | first=Neil | title=Regaining My Marbles | date=7 May 2004 | url=http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2004/05/regaining-my-marbles.asp | access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref> creating analogs of the play's main otherworldly characters and inventing the fiction that Shakespeare wrote the play to Dream's instructions to ensure that humans never forgot [[Faerie (DC Comics)|Faerie]] and its rulers, [[Auberon (comics)|Lord Auberon]] and Lady Titania.<ref name="Midsummer">{{Citation |last1=Gaiman |first1=Neil| last2=Shakespeare|first2=William|chapter=A Midsummer Night's Dream| date=1 June 1992|title=The Sandman: Dream Country|publisher=DC Comics|isbn=1-85286-441-9}}</ref> Having created her, Gaiman used Titania as a recurring character throughout the series, and when he was asked part way through his run on ''The Sandman'' to write a script to introduce DC's magical characters to a new audience,<ref>{{Citation | title = Neil Gaimon Interview, Stardust | year = 2007 | url = http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12696.html | access-date = 2008-04-28 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080327090837/http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12696.html | archive-date = 2008-03-27}}</ref> he gave her a guest role in the resultant mini-series, ''[[The Books of Magic]]''.<ref name=BoM>{{Citation | last =Gaiman | first =Neil | title =The Books of Magic | publisher =DC Comics | year = 1993 | isbn= 1-56389-082-8}}</ref><ref name="vert-ency1">{{Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = The Books of Magic | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 38–41 | publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]] | place = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4122-1 | oclc = 213309015}}</ref>

One ambiguous scene written by Gaiman was interpreted by some to suggest that Titania was the mother of protagonist [[Timothy Hunter]], which ensured that the character would return when the mini-series became an ongoing series. Chosen as Gaiman's replacement, [[John Ney Rieber]] discovered that a gaming guide to the DC universe had made this assumption, and worried that a key part of the Tim Hunter character - that he was a normal teenage boy - might be lost if this was true. Instead of simply denying the possibility of Titania being Tim's mother Rieber decided to use the idea as one of his ongoing storylines, while gently debunking it.<ref name="JNRint">{{Citation | title = Interview with John Ney Rieber | date = 1 December 1995 | url = http://www.seriejournalen.dk/tegneserie_indhold.asp?ID=15 | access-date = 2008-04-28 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080620095158/http://www.seriejournalen.dk/tegneserie_indhold.asp?ID=15 | archive-date = 20 June 2008}}</ref> This meant utilizing Titania and her husband Auberon as supporting characters for most of his run on the comic, which in turn meant frequent visits and explorations to Faerie.<ref name="vert-ency">{{Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = The Books of Faerie | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 36–37 | publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]] | place = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4122-1 | oclc = 213309015}}</ref> Such was the importance of Titania to Rieber's version of ''The Books of Magic'' that when its popularity caused DC to release a spin-off miniseries, they decided that a three-issue miniseries about her rise to power would be most suitable - one that reignited the possibility of her being Tim's mother.<ref name="Faerie">{{Citation | last=Carlton | first=Bronwyn | title =The Books of Faerie | publisher =Titan Books | year = 1998 | isbn=1-85286-916-X}}</ref>

The character later returned for brief appearances in [[Dylan Horrocks]]' ''[[Hunter: The Age of Magic]]'' and [[Si Spencer]]'s ''[[Books of Magick: Life During Wartime]]'', before author [[Mike Carey (writer)|Mike Carey]] brought her back in the graphic novel ''[[God Save the Queen (comics)|God Save the Queen]]''. The graphic novel also introduced the character of Queen Mab, a name which ''The Sandman'' had established that Titania sometimes used as an alias.<ref name="Cluracan">{{Citation|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|chapter=Cluracan's Tale|date=1 July 1995|title=The Sandman: Worlds' End|publisher=DC Comics|isbn=1-56389-171-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sandman00gaim_0}}</ref>

===Appearance===
In her first appearance, Titania was depicted as a regal woman who looked almost entirely human save for pointed ears.<ref name="Midsummer" /> While her physical appearance remained consistent regardless of the artist depicting her during her time in ''The Sandman'', her skin color varied from green<ref name="Cluracan" /> back to normal human tones<ref name="Kindly" /> and then back to a consistent green whenever she appeared in ''The Books of Magic''.<ref name="BoM" /><ref name="Bindings">{{Citation | last =Rieber | first =John Ney | title =The Books of Magic: Bindings | publisher =DC Comics | year =1995 | isbn =1-56389-187-5 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/booksofmagic00rieb}}</ref> ''[[The Books of Faerie]]'' established that Titania's true appearance was constantly hidden by a magical glamour, which may explain her changing skin tone.<ref name="Faerie" />

==Fictional character biography==
Titania was born a normal human girl called Maryrose living in poverty with her grandmother during the 11th century. When she was collecting wood in a nearby forest, she was tempted by a group of Flitlings to return with them to [[Faerie (DC Comics)|Faerie]]. Once there, she became a favorite of Queen Dymphna, earning the nickname Rosebud to protect her true name: she also caught the eye of King Obrey, who - spurred on by his [[jester]], the manipulative Amadan - magically transformed his wife into a tree and took Maryrose as his second wife. Maryrose took a gemstone glamour from Dymphna and used it to appear a pure-blood faerie at her coronation, taking the name Queen Titania.<ref name="vert-ency"/><ref name="Faerie" />

Titania seemed truly flattered by the love and attention of the king, but this was short-lived: Obrey was killed in battle by the rightful King of Faerie, [[Auberon (comics)|Lord Auberon]]. Seeking to reunite the warring factions, Auberon took Titania as his wife when he reclaimed the throne, and urged her to quickly set about the work of producing an heir to make the union secure. Titania felt slighted by the loss of a loving husband and his replacement with one whose only interest in her appeared to be political, and soon began the first of many affairs with the human falconer Tamlin.<ref name="Faerie" /> Titania's infidelity later became notorious - even one of her lesser subjects was able to comment on how fitting it was that Auberon wore [[cuckold|horns]]<ref name="Kindly">{{Citation|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|title=The Kindly Ones|publisher=DC Comics|isbn=1-56389-205-7|date=12 July 1999}}</ref> - and she is rumoured to have had an affair with [[Dream (character)|Dream of the Endless]] (called "Lord Shaper" by the faeries)<ref name="Kindly Wake">{{Citation|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|title=The Wake|publisher=DC Comics|isbn=1-85286-807-4|date=11 July 1997}}</ref> and was seen casually bedding her female servant Selwyn - unaware that the maid was Auberon in disguise.<ref name="Burning">{{Citation | last=Rieber | first=John Ney | title=The Books of Magic: The Burning Girl | publisher=DC Comics | date=July 1, 2000 | isbn=1-56389-619-2 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/booksofmagic00rieb}}</ref> Perhaps because of her infidelity, Titania was quick to assume that Auberon was equally unfaithful,<ref name="Molly3">{{Citation | last=Rieber | first=John Ney | title=The Books of Faerie - Molly's Story Book 3: Tearing Off Their Wings | publisher=DC Comics | date=November 1999}}</ref> although no evidence of this was ever shown, and conversely Auberon was shown to maintain strong affection for his wife even in the face of her reputation,<ref name="No68">{{Citation | last=Gross | first=Peter | title=The Books of Magic: Pentimento | issue=#68 | date=January 2000 | publisher=DC Comics}}</ref> even regularly disguising himself as a maid to be with his queen without enduring her scorn.<ref name="Burning" />

Titania was shown to be a jealous lover, demanding unconditional adoration from her lovers even though she rarely returned the feelings herself: her affair with Tamlin ended when he realised what she was truly like<ref name="Faerie" /> and she was noticeably annoyed when Dream sent no secret message for her with a servant who returned to Faerie from his realm.<ref name="Kindly" /> She, however, has also shown genuine affection and emotion, even if she tries to hide it: when her affair with Tamlin leaves her with a human son, she is devastated to have to send him to Earth to keep the secret of her nature and her affair from the King<ref name="Faerie" /> and risks sending her realm to war against Hell to protect her son with Auberon from being kept in Hell as payment of Faerie's tithe to the demons.<ref name="Burning" />

Titania was acutely aware of her status as queen, and the respect and attention she felt she was due because of it. She nearly destroyed her entire realm by cursing [[Molly O'Reilly]] to turn into the "Burning Girl" for no other reason than her attendants' fascination with the girl's efforts to grow real vegetables,<ref name="Girl">{{Citation | last=Rieber | first=John Ney | title=The Books of Magic: Girl in the Box | publisher=DC Comics | year=1999 | isbn=1-84023-102-5}}</ref> and frequently grew enraged at Timothy Hunter's casual disregard for the possibility that she might be his mother.<ref name="Bindings" /><ref name="No51">{{Citation | last=Gross | first=Peter | title=The Books of Magic: A Thousand Worlds of Tim | issue=#51 | date=August 1998 | publisher=DC Comics}}</ref> Rarely, she can show something like humility, for example apologising to Molly for the trouble she caused the girl and acknowledging that she had done wrong.<ref name="Girl" /> Despite her faults, Titania was a strong and able queen, whether riding out to face down the forces of Hell at the head of her army<ref name="Burning" /> or subtly politicking to ensure that Faerie's best interests were met in the wider worlds.<ref name="Cluracan" />

==See also==
* [[Titania (Fairy Queen)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{A Midsummer Night's Dream}}
{{The Sandman (DC Comics)}}

[[Category:Fictional characters from the 11th century]]
[[Category:DC Comics deities]]
[[Category:DC Comics characters who use magic]]
[[Category:DC Comics fantasy characters]]
[[Category:Fictional fairies]]
[[Category:Fictional queens]]
[[Category:The Books of Magic]]
[[Category:The Sandman (comic book)]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1990]]
[[Category:Vertigo Comics characters]]
[[Category:Characters created by Neil Gaiman]]