THE POPE’S COMICS: Examining The Hero Index: Meggan Braddock

By Bethany W Pope

 on November 5, 2021

Welcome back to The Pope’s Comics, our new regular column by award-winning novelist, poet, and Comic Watch contributor Bethany Pope! Bethany brings a wealth of knowledge on literature, LGBTQIA+ issues history, gender, comics, and so much more. We sincerely hope you enjoy!

The Pope’s Comics: The Hero Pattern: Meggan Braddock (Gloriana)

This week I’m examining Lord Raglan’s Hero Pattern as it applies to the Hero named Meggan Puceanu Braddock. Meggan is a fascinating character, created by Alan Moore, but expanded on by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis and currently appearing in Tini Howard’s (abysmal) run of Excalibur. She’s a perennially underrated character (one of the most powerful in the Marvel 616 Universe) and it was interesting to see exactly how well her life fits this pattern. 

As always, please note that the original language of this pattern is inherently sexist. I’ve changed the wording where appropriate. This is primarily a lens through which to examine modern heroes in the context of the mythological foundation of our culture, and as such it is a particularly apt tool. I received some hate mail for my last article, and since I’m contrary (I drink the tears of fragile men. For breakfast) I fully intend to double down on the feminism this week. 

Here’s the full pattern, for your delectation. As usual, I will only be exploring the points which intersect with the fictional life of my subject, so it’s useful to see the whole thing.

Incidents which occur with regularity in hero-myths of all cultures:

1. Hero’s mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres.

Here’s how the Hero Pattern applies to Gloriana:

4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and

Meggan is the child of a British Romanichal family. Romanichal people are a minority group, in the UK, and their culture is very different from that of the Anglo-Saxon/Celtic majority. It’s unfortunate that the subject of Meggan’s ethnicity was handled so insensitively (portraying her people as uneducated, superstitious, and violent) especially since Romanichal people still experience a great deal of prejudice in the UK. Aside from her heritage, Meggan’s natural shape shifting ability caused her to grow fur as a means of protecting her from the cold. Furry babies are fairly unusual.

Furbaby

5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.

Meggan was believed to be a demon or a child of the devil. 

6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him, but

When Meggan was a child, her neighbours attempted to murder her, believing her to be a demon. 

7. he is spirited away, and

Meggan ran away from the mob and lived in an abandoned London Council Estate.

8. Reared by foster-parents in a far country.

She was taken in by two teenagers, Josie and Micky Scott. They protected and educated Meggan, teaching her a bit about the world and some basic literacy. The depiction of a Romanichal woman as a childlike, semi-wild illiterate smacks heavily of racism, and none of this has been walked back yet. 

9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but

Aside from the fact that Meggan was raised by the TV and a couple of teenagers, we know perishingly little about her early life.

10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.

After a cursory battle/meet-cute with her eventual spouse, Meggan moves in with him. They buy a Cornish lighthouse (although it is always referred to as Brian’s home) where they share a bed in the largest room. This lighthouse becomes the base of operations for the hero group Excalibur. 

Galatea (Pygmalion SUCKS)

11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,

In this instance, appropriately enough, Brian was the wild beast. They battled when they first met, because Brian believed her to be a monster. After they made up (and Meggan changed her appearance to one that he would find attractive) they became a couple.

12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and

Meggan eventually marries her long-time partner, Brian Braddock. They have an extended courtship, during which time Brian physically abuses her, cheats on her, belittles her intelligence, and forces her to change her body and her personality in order to conform with his ideals of femininity. In Greek mythology, the artist Pygmalion is so misogynistic that he cannot imagine having a sexual relationship with any living woman. They’re all too naggy, too shrill, too ugly. They poop. He’s basically the old-timey, toga-slewn equivalent of an unwashed, food-encrusted neckbeard complaining to the internet about Jennifer Lawrence’s butt. Except he actually has talent. Quite a lot of talent. You see, Pygmalion is a sculptor and he crafts a statue of a beautiful woman out of a piece of ivory. He paints the statue, dresses it in rich garments, and embraces it. Yes, you read that correctly. He f*cks a statue, gentlefolk.  Eventually, the gods take pity on his poor, chaffed, uh, chisel and they bring the statue to life. Because this literal tabula rasa of a woman only has the qualities that Pygmalion desired to give her (she doesn’t even get a name until Rousseau, in the 18th century, decided to call her Galatea) she was deemed acceptable to him. According to the myth, they lived ‘happily’ for many years. Meggan is an empathic metamorph. In early years, she was prone to unconsciously reflecting and embodying other people’s desires. Indeed, the form she often defaults to is one which embodies Brian’s ideal woman. Not every fairy tale marriage is a happy ending. 

Uggggghhhh

13. And becomes king.

Meggan co-ruled Otherworld for a time, in the place of Roma (the daughter of Merlin). By all accounts, she was an excellent monarch.

14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and

See above. 

15. Prescribes laws, but

As a literal queen, she was empowered to pass down and enforce laws. She’s shown doing both.

16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and

During the House of M storyline, Roma expelled both Brian and Meggan from Otherworld and granted them 48 hours to un-hex the universe. 

17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which

While she was expelled from Otherworld, Meggan appeared to sacrifice her life as a means of diffusing the Scarlet Witch’s chaos magic. 

18. He meets with a mysterious death,

Her body seems to dissipate. This is presented, within the comic, as a real death. It was undone much later, when she reconstituted herself within a hell-like dimension. Unfortunately, Brian believed her to be an illusion, and although he had the opportunity to rescue her, he left her there.

19. Often at the top of a hill,

Her ‘death’ is framed in such a way that Megan becomes the central image. This serves the same symbolic effect as a death on a hill.

20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.

Meggan currently has one daughter: Maggie. Although the toddler is hyper-intelligent, and plays a role in the current (awful) Excalibur books, she doesn’t occupy the role of ‘heroe’ just yet.

Genius Toddler

21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless

When Megan ‘died’ her body was dissipated within an energy cloud. You can’t bury a cloud. 

Meggan scores a total of 18 points. This is unsurprising, given the length of time the character has been in the books. As you can see, she has been seriously underrated. Hopefully viewing her story through this lens will spark some interest in the character and she’d some light on the ways in which old stories influence the modern world. 

Poet, novelist, fencer, pirate, Za-Za, and Comic Watch regular contributor Bethany Pope lives in China. They also hold an MA and PhD in creative writing. Their latest novel, The Hungry and the Lost, goes on sale December 1, 2021 from Parthian Books. You can follow them on Twitter at @theMasqueWriter.