ALEX RUSSO
Real Name: Alexandra Russo
Occupation: College Student, Waitress
Place of Birth: New York City
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Jerome (father, "Jerry"), Theresa (mother), Justin, Max (brothers), Kelbo (uncle)
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: The Wizards of Waverly Place, Disney Channel TV Series (2008 - 2012)
History: Alex Russo is a direct descendant of a long line of witches, sorcerers and magicians descended from demigods born to the Olympian gods. Alex is descended from a long line of practitioner in the mystical arts who call themselves wizards due to their proclivity to practice magic. In actuality, every human being has the potential for magic, but each person is limited by their own training, discipline, knowledge and enlightenment of the mystical arts, but Alex and her family have far more potential for it than normal human beings. Living in every facet of civilization over hundreds of years, they learned to conceal their magic after the hysteria of the witch-hunts through the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries. As knowledge of the scientific world increased, the general populace of Earth stopped believing in magic and modern magicians hid their mystical expertise in public from behind the facade of curio stores, motif restaurants and locales of exotic interest or by posing as illusionists and entertainers.
Attractive yet earnest, Alex is the middle child of Jerry and Theresa Russo, owners and proprietors of the Waverly Place Subway Shop on Waverly Place in New York City's Greenwich Village. When they got married, Jerry had surrendered his mystical powers to his eccentric brother, Kelbo, as per an archaic one-wizard-per-family rule, a forgotten rule barely observed, but practiced in a few wizard families, but he knew any children he had would inherit his mystical potential. Theresa knew about his mystical powers, but she had no mystical skills whatsoever. She loved her children very much, and Jerry took it upon himself to train his children how to use and become responsible with their knowledge of the mystical arts. Possibly influenced by the fictional wizard in the J.K. Rowling series of books, Jerry referred to the teaching of his children in the mystical as "wizard-training." He held their lessons in a secret room behind the delicatessen. At first, Alex's powers manifested as subtle mental variances in the fields of probability around her. Things almost always went right for her which added to her ego. Once she began learning magic, she wanted to use it make her life easier. She began turning lazy and corrupted by her powers to get what she wanted, but she is always been tempered by the wisdom and common-sense of her older brother, Justin, and the restrictions placed on her by her parents. As an incentive, Jerry promised to keep help train his children in the mystical arts to ordain them as a wizards well aware that the one of his children who best controlled their powers would get to keep them, thereby negating the power of the other two to keep them from becoming a threat to society.
Despite that promise, Alex has very nearly on several occasions exposed the mystical heritage of the family by using her abilities to try and advance her clique status in school. as well as in sibling rivalry with both her brothers. Alex eventually revealed her magic to her best friend, Harper Finkle, who had an infatuation for Justin. Believing she should be able to use her magic to make her life easier, Alex was briefly enrolled at the Mecklenburg Academy in Germany, one of several private institutions in Europe that secretly taught magic to young magicians. Surreptiously nick-named "Wiz Tech," the academy is sometimes erroneously described as placed in a mystical realm known as "Wizard World," but "Wizard World" is not a true dimension, but actually a name for the secret magic community.
Over the years, Alex has been romantically pursued by several young men, including a young opportunistic wizard named Ronald Longcape, who tried to coerce to embrace the dark side of her personality. Alex eventually fell in love with a werewolf named Mason Greybak, but his lycanthropy was affected by the familial curses of a rival vampire clan. In order to test her ability to keep magic a secret from the public, her professors at Wiz-Tech faked news of an extra-terrestrial attack on Earth, and Alex outed herself to the world. The news conference was fake, and both Alex and Justin were barred from learning any more magic. Despite this hindrance, Alex subsequently battled dark entities traveling to break through to the Earth's dimension and won the right to complete her training.
Following her eighteenth birthday, Alex and her siblings became tested through a serious or ordeals to test their resolve and worthiness as wizards. Justin won the contests surrendered it to Alex, but being of such sterling character, Justin was also allowed to keep his mystical powers to serve as a teacher at Wiz-Tech.
Alex's further activities are unrevealed.
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Known Superhuman Powers: (Based on the notes of Dr. Stephen Strange, expert on the occult and the paranormal)
Alex Russo possesses the abilities to tap into and manipulate mystical energies. Like all earthborn magicians, her abilities are based upon three sources: powers based on the psychic powers of the mind/body/soul (clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition...), powers based upon tapping the ambient cosmic energies of the universe and employing them for specific spells (teleportation, illusion-casting, transmutation...) and powers gained by calling upon beings of power through the recitation of spells, either ritualized ones or by original spells invoking extra-dimensional beings of power living in worlds tangent to Earth, such as Gaea or the Vishanti.
Contrary to belief, the ability to practice magic is not a superhuman power. Theoretically, all human beings have the potential to tap into a massive amount of mystical energy. However, each person is limited by his own amount of training, discipline, knowledge and enlightenment of the mystical arts. Alex, however, has much more potential for it due to her own demi-god ancestors. She has memorized several spells from her family's arcane lore of spells and can manipulate matter on a molecular and atomic level and bring life to inanimate objects. She can teleport and materialize objects. She can also cast spells that allow her increase or alter the attributes of other individuals or objects. She can also mentally separate her mind from her body, such as when she and Harper exchanged bodies. She can also create temporary pocket realities, such as when she enters motion pictures and literary realms but at great detrimental cost to the precision of her abilities. Despite her level of training, she is not nearly as powerful as her brother, Justin Russo, who has researched spells from other practices and lineages. However, Alex does have a highly creative and inquisitive mind and is practicing to increase her own knowledge of the mystical arts.
Like all wizards, Alex uses a wand to direct her magic for spells demanding precision. Her wand has no powers itself; it is just a tool, but some wizards use wands made from exotic woods and objects for greater control and power to their spells, much as how witches uses brews and familiars to cast spells. Only true sorcerers have the power to affect spells with such precision to not require spells or wands. Although Alex is limited by certain personality traits keeping her from true mastery of the mystical arts, potentially, she could become as powerful as Sara Bailey ("The Craft") or Prue Halliwell ("Charmed"). Other known magicians and sorcerers include Merlin, the Arthurian mage, Morgan Le Fay, nemesis to King Arthur, and Angelique Bouchard, the mother of paranormal researcher, William Collins ("Dark Shadows").
Paraphernalia: Alex Russo has access to a number of objects, such as a crystal ball and magic carpet. Contrary to thought, these objects have no powers, they are merely used in the precision of her own mystical abilities, such as how Alex uses a wand to direct the accuracy of her spells. By staring into a crystal ball, Alex can focus her own clairvoyant visions into a perceptible image within her own mind's eye. She can use the carpet to help focus her own skills of levitation into allowing her to balance on a stick such as a broom handle. (The use of which lead to the myth that witches ride on brooms. In ancient times, some witches rode upon pestles and mortars.)
Comments/Notes: Alex Russo is played by actress/singer Selena Gomez.