Agatha All Along - The comic history of the Salem Seven, Agatha Harkness' archenemies and grandchildren

Agatha All Along has put Agatha Harkness in the spotlight alongside a coven of unlikely allies as they journey down the Witches' Road. And now, they're being chased by Agatha's comic book arch-enemies, Salem's Seven (called by the slightly different name the Salem Seven in the show). 

The villains previously appeared in the second episode, stalking Agatha and her coven through Westview in their animal forms, which pay homage to the villains' comic book nature as shapeshifters. And as in comics, the villains have a history that connects directly to Agatha's roots in her original coven.

But in comics, they also have a direct connection to Agatha's son Nicholas Scratch, who has a mysterious presence in Agatha All Along, as the Salem's Seven are actually Scratch's own children in comics, making Agatha their grandmother.

While that's not quite the case in the MCU, the comic history of the Salem Seven is still in play, especially as the questions around the fate of Nicholas Scratch grow deeper in Agatha All Along. We'll explain it all right now.

The origin of Nicholas Scratch

To understand Salem's Seven, we'll first have to look at the history of Agatha Harkness' son, Nicholas Scratch. Created in 1977's Fantastic Four #185 by writer Len Wein and artist George Pérez, Nicholas Scratch is the son of Agatha Harkness and an unknown father whose identity has never been revealed. 

Both Agatha and Nicholas lived in the secret magical community of New Salem, Colorado (which takes its name from the famed 'Witch City,' Salem, Massachusetts), which is populated almost entirely by magic users. But Nicholas Scratch takes things a step further, secretly getting involved with the demonic forces of Mephisto and his ilk.

When Agatha leaves New Salem to become the nanny to Franklin Richards, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four, Nicholas becomes the town's new leader, convincing the rest of the townsfolk that Agatha had betrayed them by leaving. This leads to the abduction of Agatha Harkness and Franklin Richards with Agatha being put on trial in New Salem. 

The Fantastic Four intervene, and after a brief battle with Scratch and Salem's Seven, they show the citizens of New Salem how they'd been tricked by Scratch, who is banished to a place called the Dark Realm after a clash with the FF. But that was not the end of Scratch, whose own children - all seven of them - hatched a plan to get revenge on the Fantastic Four and free their father all in one move.

The origin of Salem's Seven

Also created by Len Wein and George Pérez in Fantastic Four #185, Salem's Seven began life as Nicholas Scratch's sons Brutacus, Hydron, Thornn, and Vakume, and his daughters, Gazelle, Reptilla, and Vertigo, all born to Scratch's various polygamous wives. Like most of the citizens of New Salem, Salem's Seven are human magic users. But unlike the other townsfolk, they also possess the ability to transform into monstrous, mutated, magical beasts with a variety of special powers.

Brutacus transforms into a red, leonine demon with tremendous strength and durability. Hydron turns into a fish-like creature who can manipulate water. Thornn becomes yellow and spikey and generates red thorns he can use as weapons. Vakume becomes intangible and has the power to manipulate wind. Gazelle takes on a deer-like form with super fast and powerful legs. Reptilla becomes snakelike and grows a pair of venomous serpents for arms. And finally, Vertigo, who mostly stays human looking, has powers that make her enemies dizzy and nauseated.

Using these abilities, Salem's Seven kidnap the Fantastic Four, planning to use their bodies to channel the power they need to free their father, Nicholas Scratch, from his extra-dimensional prison. However, with the help of Agatha Harkness, the FF are able to escape, and Salem's Seven are banished back to New Salem with Agatha using her magic to bind them in their human forms.

Over the years, Salem's Seven would eventually regain their abilities to transform, collectively becoming the Sorcerers Supreme of New Salem. And while they, and their father Nicholas Scratch, would again bedevil the FF and the Avengers, they wound up turning over a new leaf to become allies of the Fantastic Four - though Scratch could rear his head again as a villain at any time.

Salem's Seven in the MCU

While we don't yet know the individual identities of the Salem Seven in the MCU, we do know a few things about who they are, and why they hate Agatha Harkness. Described as a "feral hivemind," the seven members of the bloodthirsty coven are the children of the witches of Agatha's first coven, who she killed by absorbing their magic as shown in her origin flashbacks.

And though they use their shapeshifting abilities somewhat differently in the MCU, it's still a signature part of their powers, with each member of the coven turning into a signature animal form including a raven, a rat, a fox, a snake, and even a swarm of bugs. 

It is interesting to note that the traditional form of one of Salem's Seven has appeared in a Marvel Studios project - kind of. In episode 3 of X-Men '97, some of the demons in the Limbo sequence are dead ringers for Thornn, though there are multiple demons and they are never called by name, so it seems it's just an aesthetic choice.

We have yet to discover how or if they might be connected to Agatha's long lost son Nicholas Scratch, who is presumed to be dead, perhaps even at the hands of Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal. But given the ongoing mystery around what exactly happened to Nicholas, and the increasing presence of the Salem Seven, it's entirely possible a connection will be revealed.

It's also interesting to note the shared connections between Agatha, Salem's Seven, and the Fantastic Four, given the FF's upcoming movie, which is even rumored to secretly involve Franklin Richards, who Agatha once helped raise. Agatha Harkness actor Kathryn Hahn says she'd "love to" team up with the FF, and the Fantastic Four movie is being directed by WandaVision director/executive producer Matt Shakman, so anything is possible.

We'll have to wait and see more as new episodes of Agatha All Along premiere Wednesday evenings on Disney Plus.

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