#transia

[rei-ismyname]

Hello! I'm sorry to bother you with this, but I have a question: At any point in mutant history, was there any mention of whether the Maximoff siblings can speak German? I've had that question stuck in my head all day.

Hey anon! You can bother me any time you like, no need to apologise. I like talking about this stuff. It's not like this question and others like it are remotely googleable either. I wish they were.

Obscure confirmation, though doppelganger has been an English loanword since the 1600s

Outside of the X-books I'm not the biggest expert on Maximoff history, except when Magneto shows up of course. To the best of my knowledge Pietro hasn't been shown speaking German on panel, though Wanda has once that I know of, in Excalibur #38, shown above. She knows at least that phrase and understood Kurt's question so I think we can take her at her word. I'd assume that would extend to Pietro too, but no confirmation.

They grew up in Transia (a fictional Balkan country) and have been shown speaking Romanian, which is the majority language there. Pietro has spoken Russian with some fluency before, and French for Wanda (I don't remember the issues sorry.) The Marvel wiki says that Hungarian, German and Symkarian are popular in Transia so it's not unlikely they speak or understand at least some of those languages, as well as Transian' depending on who you ask.

Wanda is a very accomplished magic user, so I'd assume she knows a fair amount of Latin, Asgardian runic and spoken language, and various other tongues with heavy magic association. Then again, I'm pretty sure she knows a spell that's basically a universal translator so she can be a true omniglot when required.

As I mentioned earlier, there's big gaps in my knowledge so if anyone knows more please chime in!

Hope that's helpful :)

[scarlet--wiccan]

If you were to permanently move Wanda out of America where would you put her?

I wouldn't.

First of all, it's hard to do anything truly permanent in comics these days, even big changes in setting or status quo. Just look at the fall of Krakoa, or whatever's going on with Billy and Teddy right now. Besides, Wanda's not exactly a character you can tie down-- this is kind of a bigger power-creep issue, but she, like many other characters these day, is able to portal, fly, or teleport pretty much anywhere, at any time.

Second-- Wanda's lived in America for her entire adult life. She's an immigrant, and arguably, a refugee, who has built her entire life and career in this country. In today's political climate, I really don't like to consider what might force her to "permanently" relocate, and I just don't believe that Marvel would be willing to interrogate something so serious with the necessary depth or conviction. I have no love for the United States, and I am, personally, praying on the empire's collapse, but coming from an immigrant background myself, I have no desire to tell people to leave, either.

These days, the Avengers are not really based in the United States and, blessedly, don't operate as an arm of the government or military, so it's not like Wanda needs to be here for story purposes, but it wouldn't make sense to relocate her without a good narrative reason, either. Despite her mobility, it would be easy to accidentally isolate her from her established relationships. Also, I like the Emporium and I wouldn't want to see it go so soon-- I'm very curious to see what Orlando will do with that setting in Sorcerer Supreme.

The only good reason I can imagine for Wanda to set up shop somewhere else would be a return to Mount Wundagore. She and Pietro are both deeply connected to this place, on multiple levels, and I think that there's a lot to be gained from developing its history in conjunction with their family background, Agatha's old coven, etc. Now is definitely a good time for Wanda to revisit Wundagore, since she's going to be shaking up her dynamic with Chthon again. I like how Wundagore was Wanda's seat of power and base of operations as the Sorcerer Supreme in Rivals, and I think you could do something similar in comics, but, as I've mentioned, modern-day Transia would need a lot of development as well, and I'm a little leery of Orlando, et al tackling that.

[marvelman901]

Scarlet Witch by Keith Pollard (1991) Wanda Maximoff #marvel #superhero #scarletwitch #magic #comics #90s #xmen #mutant #keithpollard #avengers #brotherhoodofevilmutants #magneto #wife #transia #europe https://www.instagram.com/p/B98sT1phnVB/?igshid=1r99xz6aptko5

[scarlet--wiccan]

Has it ever been said where within Transia Wanda, Pietro, Marya, Django, Ana & Mateo lived outside of just “near Wundagore mountain”? Or were they migrants? I can never remember bc the comics showing their backstories are always so inconsistent

It's actually.... not that inconsistent. The same scene of the twins being adopted as babies has been played out multiple times over the decades, and it's always very similar. Django and Marya are depicted as part of a migrant community who lived in covered wagons. The High Evolutionary found them camping near the base of the mountain, and they primarily seem to live and work in that area. They stayed wherever they could find work. Other stories set during this period, such as Mystic Arcana, are very consistent with this depiction.

That's been the story since 1979, and it really hasn't changed, but some of the context surrounding it has. When this version of Wanda and Pietro's origin was first introduced, Transia was actually the name of a village near Mount Wundagore, not the country where it's located. The twins visit the village-- which is apparently in Bulgaria-- with Django in Avengers #185, and it's implied that this is near where they grew up. Sometime later-- I'm not actually sure when, sorry-- Transia was retroactively stated to be a distinct country where Mount Wundagore was located.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Probably a not so interesting question but is Wanda Central or Eastern European or both? Probably a dumb one too sorry

It's not a dumb question. Americans tend to be very ignorant about both Central and Eastern Europe, myself included. Our education and media don't usually do a good job representing these parts of the world or their history, so I think we would all benefit from being a little more conscious. It's a good question to ask, but, unfortunately, it does not have a clear-cut answer.

Wanda and Pietro were raised in a country called Transia, which is a fictional location. Like many fictional countries in superhero comics, the size and exact location of Transia are not always consistent. It might be directly south of Romania. It might be directly north of Greece, but it might also be directly north of Serbia, which is a completely different part of the continent. So, depending on what book you're reading, the Maximoffs could be from be from anywhere in Central, Eastern, or Southeastern Europe. That's because American media treats the entire eastern half of Europe as a total monolith!

The one thing we know for sure is that Transia is home to Mount Wundagore, which is part of the Balkan mountain range. In the real world, the Balkan mountains lie across Serbia and Bulgaria, south of the Romanian border. So, for my money, I'd say that Transia and Wundagore are somewhere in Southeastern Europe. This is backed up by information in the Marvel Atlas, which indicates that Transia is a former Wallachian territory, and the original Nights of Wundagore storyline (Avengers #185-187), which actually depicts it as a region within Bulgaria.

If you need a visual, I think Transia is somewhere in this box:

[happyatdisneyworld]

This is the real Transia.

[dr-archeville]

Transia Corporation?

Does a Dr. Herbert Edgar Wyndham work there?

Oh, the exoskeleton they’re developing might also be a reference to the High Evolutionary.