![[Oberon]](oberon.jpg)
Gender: Male
First Appearance: "Ill Met By Moonlight"
Other Appearances: "The Gathering" Parts I & II
Oberon has been around a long, long time. His origins are lost to us, but he is the unquestioned Lord of Avalon and Ruler of the Third Race.
The first known events in his life occured in 995 A.D., when he banished all his Children, including Titania and himself, from Avalon to learn humility. It has been said he did this due to Titania and the others' disdain for humans. She had also refuted the title of wife, remaining only his Queen, not his Lady. He apparently decreed that in 1001 years, he and the Children would return home to a great Gathering. He left only the Weird Sisters on a barge off the Shores of Avalon with a charge to guard the island.
For one thousand and one years, he wandered the Earth as a human. What he did for all those years is unknown to all but him, and is the source of much speculation.
During his absence, Avalon was eventually home to the Magus, Princess Katherine, Guardian Tom and 36 gargoyles of the rookery from Castle Wyvern.
Near the time of the Gathering, the Children noted the event drawing nearer with various reactions. Puck feared eternal boredom at being forced to return, and the Banshee did not want to at all, liking it better in the mortal world.
Finally, in 1996 A.D. Oberon and Titania set foot upon Avalon once again, amid a growing storm, to see that the rumors brought forth by the Weird Sisters were true; there were humans and gargoyles living upon his island.
He nearly wiped them out with a thought, but his lady servant, Titania, stayed his hand, telling him that perhaps he had not learned true humility in his absence. She bade him to give the mortals a fighting chance, reducing him to a Child's strength. He did so at the promise of a most enticing reward: If he won, Titania would once again wear his ring, and be his Wife, as well as his Queen. If he lost, with the mortals sounding the knell of his defeat, then some other ring must be his reward. This last saying, unbeknownst to him, was a clue to defeating him given to the mortals by his Queen, who had always been able to manipulate him.
The battle raged all over Avalon, from a forest, to the plains, to inside a volcano, and to the very shores itself. The gargoyles chosen to challenge him, Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel, fought valiantly, but they were eventually overcome, and Oberon transported them back to his palace gates, his victory assured.
He was utterly shocked when the remaining mortals brought forth an iron bell, that, when rung, brought him to his knees in agony. But Guardian Tom spared his life, and Titania even rescinded the earlier bargain, restoring his power, and even agreeing to becoming his wife again. Touched by such generosity, he gave the mortals asylum in his land, and decreed that Goliath and his clan would be immune to his arts and would become the Honor Guard of Avalon.
The Gathering could now begin.
Once Goliath and company had left, Oberon had began summoning his Children. Most came willingly, and soon the entirety of the Third Race in all its shapes and sizes graced Avalon once again. Most paid homage to their Lord, save a poor few. One was the Banshee, who had to be brought forcibly at Oberon's feet by the Weird Sisters. After watching an amusing battle between the Banshee and Odin, Oberon removed her siren voice with a metal band stretched across her mouth as punishment for not coming when summoned. He would remove it only when he heard true humility in her silent plea.
The other Child who disobeyed was his servant, Puck. Oberon, with Boudicca as a tracker, left Avalon and went to Manhattan to find him. The search led him to the master suite of David Xanatos, where Fox was recovering from the birth of Alexander. Anastasia Renard stood near, and Oberon sensed that Anastasia was in fact, his Queen Titania in her mortal form. Demanding to know what was going on, he learned that Fox was her child who had, sadly, lost her magical potential. However, it lived on in her son, Titania's grandchild, Alexander. Titania begged him to let her take the child to Avalon to train him in his mystical heritage. Oberon agreed, and gave the Xanatoses an hour to say goodbye after defeating David Xanatos in battle very quickly.
The hour passed, and Oberon was denied entry into the Eyrie Building due to an energy sheild that absorbed or reflected all magic he threw at it. In anger at this denial, he cast all the inhabitants of the city into a slumber, doubtless costing many lives. Growing as large as the building, he attacked with a fury not unlike a force of nature, throwing off countless attacks by Halcyon Renard's Fortress II, and David Xanatos's defenses given to him by Owen Burnett. The gargoyles also joined the fray, having been given notice of the battle by Titania, once again, unknown to Oberon.
All these forces were still unable to beat him, and he was merely severely weakened. The last force to stand between him and Alexander was Owen Burnett. Oberon was very disappointed and angry to learn that this was the mortal form of the Puck, the very fay he had been searching for, whom had apparantly sided with a human over his proper Lord and Master. Blasting the Puck out of the way, he entered the bedchamber once again and demanded the child from Fox, who promptly blasted him through the wall with a magical bolt. Her previously untapped magic had finally come to the surface. In a rage, he swore this was the final affront, but Goliath stopped him, forcing him to think clearly, that perhaps Alexander could be taught here, if his mother could tap a talent so woefully underdeveloped here as well. It would be less trouble for Oberon, and Titania suggested that Puck be the one to teach Alexander, since he wished to stay.
Oberon agreed, but it would have a terrible price for the Puck. Oberon punished him by forever constraining him to the form of Owen Burnett, unable to access his powers unless training or protecting Alexander. And Puck was barred from entering Avalon for all eternity. Oberon then left for Avalon, Lady Titania in tow, his business concluded. The humans would awaken in the morning, thinking it was all a dream.
Oberon currently remains on Avalon, overseeing the Gathering. Whether or not he shall drop in on the residents of Castle Wyvern again remains to be seen.
In Greg Weisman's Master Plan, it would have been revealed that Oberon was the father of Merlin. Also, he would presumably take action when his mother, Queen Mab, escaped from her prison.
Oberon is the most powerful of all of the Third Race. At full strength, he can, with a thought or gesture, do practically anything, along with all the typical powers of any fay. He is also very arrogant and regal, doing as he sees fit with anything. Depending on his mood, his decrees will alter drastically. He does have the typical fay weakness to iron.
Another great weakness is his ability to be manipulated by greater wills. Titania has demonstrated this many times, with cunning words and seductive glances, appealing to his wants and needs, she can get him to do just about anything, even if he is not aware of it.