Personality:Zhoe Kahn is motivated by a desire for personal power. She dominated the other-dimensional realm of New Salem through force of her own personality as much as through magic, and sought to extend her realm by conquering the earth as well. She loves her son Reese, but would destroy him if he came between her and her ambition.
Personal Interests: Unknown.
History: Little is known of the early life of the Sorceress Zhoe Kahn. She was born on Earth, but the place and date of her birth are not known. It is entirely possible that she has extended her lifespan through magical means and she may well be older than she appears. What is known, is that shortly after her marriage to the Sorceror Jonathan Kahn, they moved to New Salem, a town founded and occupied by practitioners of mysticism and magic that had once been located in Colorado until the resident witches and warlocks began to fear for their lives and pooled their magicks to transport the entire town into its own pocket dimension. Whether Zhoe and Jonathan were a part of this act, or whether New Salem had already vanished from the earthly plane when they arrived there, has not been revealed. What is certain, is that their son, Reese, was the first child born in New Salem. Shortly after Reese’s birth, his parents discovered that he had been born a mutant, and his mutant abilities were at odds with his magical heritage. To reconcile the two sides of his powers, Reese was dispatched to Earth under the protection of Krystil Frost, and joined her team the Hellions.
While Reese was away, Zhoe Kahn began to take control of New Salem, leading a powerful faction who imprisoned all those who opposed her. Her chief supporters were the Seven (also known as Salem’s Seven), but it is clear that she had wider support among the supernatural creatures of New Salem, promising them dominion over the Earth if they followed her. At this point she became estranged from her husband, who favoured peaceful co-existence with the earth, and was imprisoned along with her other opponents.
At this point, Reese, who had no idea of his mother’s ambitions, returned to New Salem with his Hellions team mates. Zhoe Kahn had hoped that he would join her, and had even left one position in the Seven vacant for him. She also hoped that he would become romantically involved with her protégée, a young sorceress called Aryanna. Reese at first seemed to agree to her plan, but once he had found out her plans turned against her, interrupting a powerful spell she was casting at a critical moment. The mystical feedback left Zhoe Kahn comatose, and the Hellions defeated the Seven. Following the battle, Reese remained in New Salem to be at his mother’s bedside.
Reese returned to Earth to help his team in a subsequent battle against the Seven, in which he was killed. At this point Zhoe Kahn awoke from her coma – possibly due to the shock of her son’s death. She followed him to Earth and learned of the final battle, and blamed the Hellions for his death. She attacked them in the Hellfire Club’s New York Brownstone, but was finally defeated by Roberto DaCosta, the Black King.
DaCosta imprisoned Kahn in a cavern beneath the Hellfire Brownstone, in a device which harnessed and controlled her magical energy. When the demonic Horde attacked the earth, they first captured beings of magical or psionic power who might oppose them. Kahn’s power drew two of the Horde, Perdition and Herne, to the cavern beneath the Hellfire Club, but impressed by DaCosta’s cruelty, they decided to leave Kahn where she was. Herne cut out the sorceress’ tongue to prevent her from alerting the Hellfire Club to the Horde’s plans.
Zhoe Kahn’s magic was later used by DaCosta to protect the Hellfire Brownstone from the Horde’s attack. She was completely unaware that her son Reese briefly returned to the earth and even visited the Brownstone. Zhoe Kahn is currently a prisoner of the Hellfire Club, using her mystical abilities to serve the Black King.