Agatha Harkness made her first appearance way back in Fantastic Four #94 as the governess employed by Sue and Reed Richards to look after their young son, Franklin Richards. It became apparent that there was more to Agatha than it first seemed and in time the Fantastic Four learned Agatha was indeed a witch. Agatha also became a tutor to the Scarlet Witch. Later, it is revealed that Agatha was far older than she appeared, apparently encountering a powerful being known as Scrier some five centuries before the fall of Atlantis and much later having governed the witches of Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. Eventually, she led them into the mountains of what became Colorado where they built the town of New Salem in seclusion.
At some point, Agatha bore a son to an unidentified (though apparently evil) man. Nicholas Scratch first appeared in Fantastic Four #185 wherein he led the people of New Salem in a plot to execute his mother for exposing the existence of the town. The Fantastic Four revealed Agatha had never spoken of New Salem and Scratch's own hand in revealing the existence of New Salem to them (Fantastic Four #186). Scratch's evil was revealed and he was banished to the Dark Realm, though as I'm sure you can guess it wasn't the last we'd see of him.
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| Agatha reveals Nicholas is her son (Fantastic Four #186) |
During the events of Fantastic Four #186, the Fantastic Four first encounter Scratch's enforcers, the Salem Seven, a group of skilled magic users who can transform themselves to gain powers and who collectively were capable of great magical feats. Brutacus, became a leonine creature; Gazelle gained enhanced hearing, agility and gymnast skills; Hydron gained a fish-like appearance and projected high pressure water blasts; Reptilla became a serpentine creature with snakes for hands; Thornn grew sharp spines capable of exploding or releasing neuro-toxins; Vakume could become intangible, absorb energy and create vacuums and Vertigo had the ability to disrupt others equilibrium.
Curiously, the Salem Seven only refer to Nicholas Scratch as their master in their early appearances. It's not until Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 that we learn Scratch is the father to all of the Seven, by way of various unidentified wives, also making Agatha their grandmother. It's also here that we learn the little that we know of Nicholas' own father. During this story, Agatha is burned at the stake and apparently killed, though this was apparently only temporary because she resurfaced sometime later very much alive, an ability her entire family seem to have inherited.
Aerika Harkness, also known as the Crimson Curse first appeared in A-Next #3 and was fully revealed in A-Next #4 as a member of the Dream Team. A sorceress who used elemental powers, we learn that Aerika is descended from an unbroken line of highly skilled practitioners of the magic arts, the Harknesses of Salem in A-Next #8. We don't have any specifics about how Aerika is related to the Harkness family at this time. The Crimson Curse apparently dies during an encounter with an alternate reality Dr Doom in A-Next #11, however she does make an appearance during the 2015 Secret Wars event very much alive.
I spoke to co-creator Ron Frenz about this and he revealed that this was due to the nature of the reality of the Battleworld aka Doomworld. The event established that the Main Marvel Universe/616 Victor Doom made the Battleworld reality with him as the sole existing Dr Doom in existence, meaning the Crimson Curse couldn't have been killed by an alternate Doom in this version of reality. A big 'Thank you' to Ron Frenz for talking with me and clarifying this point.
I'll be damned if I can figure out who Scratch's dad could be. Until then, I remain
frogoat