Morrigan Aensland ( モリガン・アーンスランド Morigan Ānsurando) is a video game character from Capcom's Darkstalkers fighting game series. Her birth year is 1678. She is a succubus. As the daughter of Belial, one of the rulers of the Makai, or "demon world", Morrigan was extremely powerful, so much so that Belial sealed away part of her power, one-third in himself to be returned upon his death, and one-third in a pocket dimension. This last third eventually became a being of its own, a succubus named Lilith. She became head of the Aensland family after the death of Belial.

Morrigan is very vain, and lives for little more than the excitement of battle. Although her endings in the games as well as various media show that Morrigan slowly takes up more of her responsibility seriously. She appears as a beautiful woman with long, light green hair, and bat-like wings on her back and the sides of her head. Morrigan can reshape these wings into spikes and blades when attacking her enemies, as well as using them to shield herself from enemy attacks. Her wings can also separate from her, and form into a cloud of bats. She uses a variety of magical attacks as well.

Although Demitri would seem to fill the spot, it is often suggested and implied that Morrigan is the main character of the Darkstalkers series, due to her importance in the overall story as well as her many appearances outside of her game series. She may even be considered the protagonist or something of an anti-hero, since despite her demonic appearance and nature she is not evil. She is merely what she is, a succubus.

Story
She is the daughter of Belial, one of the rulers of the Makai, or "demon world". She became head of the Aensland family after the death of Belial.
Morrigan is a succubus and the adopted daughter of Belial Aensland. When she was born, Morrigan was extremely powerful (an "S Class" according to some Japanese source books), so much so that Belial sealed away part of her power, one-third in himself to be returned upon his death, and one-third in a pocket dimension, which eventually became a being of its own, a succubus named Lilith. Without knowing this, Morrigan grew up. She found her life in the Aensland castle dull, and so she visited the human world many times to look for some kind of entertainment. One night, she was drawn to a strange power (later identified as Pyron) and ventured into the human world once again.
After she returned from the human world, she was told that Belial had died and that she is the next successor to the throne of the Aensland family. Although she is rightfully the ruler of Makai, she keeps avoiding her responsibilities and continues her life as before. But when Jedah created the Majigen, she and her castle were pulled into Jedah's dimension. Sensing Lilith, Morrigan sets off hoping to find some sort of enjoyment. After she meets Lilith, the two become one again.

The Succubus Race
It is generally said that the Succubus race absorbs the spirit of the opposite sex and uses it as their own energy source. But the Succubi from Darkstalkers that are a part of the Aensland family are slightly different; they create a special secretion liquid in their body when they are either physically or mentally stimulated. They use this liquid to maintain their life. If one were to be trapped inside a small secluded area, she would die within two days due to the lack of stimulus, this is because the liquid needed to maintain her life can't be secreted.
But to make up for this, they have become able to look into the dreams of others; when a creature dreams, a special secretion liquid is formed within the brain. A Succubus can take this liquid from the outside. This liquid is dissolved into the Succubus' body and is composed.
Their blood and saliva have a powerful lustful effect, whilst their body odor causes blood vessels to dilate and causes a large amount of perspiration. If a man is confronted by a Succubus, unless they have a very strong mind, they would instantly be under her spell.
The Succubus race lives approximately 400 years. Roughly ten years after they are born, they gain their adult appearance and retain this beautiful form even when they are old and dying. Over the past several hundred years, their ability to reproduce has been in danger. The amount of spirit that can be taken from an individual is limited. Their search for new dreams have caused them to reach into the human world. But it is becoming more and more difficult to acquire a good amount of nutrition.
When Morrigan became the successor of the Aensland family, there were roughly only 200 Succubi left. At this rate, the Succubus race would disappear after one or two generations. But the Succubi themselves do not seem to care about the crisis and are enjoying their everyday lives.
After she returned from the human world, she was told that Belial had died and that she is the next successor to the throne of the Aensland family. Although she is rightfully the ruler of Makai, she keeps avoiding her responsibilities and continues her life as before. But when Jedah created the Majigen, she and her castle were pulled into Jedah's dimension. Sensing Lilith, Morrigan sets off hoping to find some sort of enjoyment. After she meets Lilith, the two become one again.

Gameplay
Morrigan has moves based primarily on Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter. Morrigan's Darkness Illusion was the first super move to use the button press sequence (LP, LP, F, LK, HP) that is now commonly associated with the Shun Goku Satsu.
One of the many running jokes (and points of criticism) among fans is that she has had the exact same sprite set as far as Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2001) as she did in the original Darkstalkers (1994). Her sprites look especially out of place in the Capcom vs. SNK series as they gain a black outline in the borders. Although Capcom's fighting game scene has dwindled dramatically in previous years, many clamor to the hope that Morrigan will finally get a new sprite in some game in the future. While not receiving a new sprite, she will be fully rendered in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes.

Other appearances
Morrigan was the original Darkstalker to break out of her original fighting game series and be transplanted in to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In the first Marvel vs. Capcom game, not only was Morrigan present, but an alternate "Lilith-style" Morrigan was a secret character. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, she is joined by fellow Darkstalkers Anakaris, B.B. Hood, and Felicia.

UDON Comics
In the UDON Comics version of Darkstalkers, Morrigan is a brash 300-year-old succubus who wants nothing more than to visit the human world and have a good time, often at the expense of the men she seduces, and completely ignores her duty as future ruler of the Makai Realm; this annoys her father, Belial, and gets her two servants, Lucien and Mudo into heaps of trouble. Eventually she hears of Demitri's restoration, and goes to her father to warn him, only to find that he is in no position to fight. For the first time, she takes on the responsibility that she has often put aside, and returns to the human world to fight Demitri, and prove herself worthy of the Makai Realm and the power that Belial sealed away many years ago. In the special Morrigan vs Demitri issue which only became widly available in the TBA of the six part comic book series it is implied that had Belial not sealed away her power, Morrigan might have evolved into a being similar to Pyron and destroyed the Earth. Although her appearance might suggest otherwise, Morrigan is not evil.

American Cartoon
DiC produced their own Darkstalkers cartoon in the mid-90s. Amongst the drastic character changes was Morrigan, who was changed into a villain, much to the dismay of fans of the games. Morrigan's character in the cartoon was a typical cartoon female villain (jealous, rude, power-hungry, and despised men). She was also stated to be a direct descendant of Morgan le Fay, and not the daughter of Belial or a resident of the Makai (let alone the ruler). Her appearance was also drastically altered, making her much older and less revealing.

Anime
The Japanese-produced Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge anime featured Morrigan more like her game appearances, portraying her as a semi-innocent demon world inhabitant, a member of the royal family who was more interested in going to Earth than in her duties. The picture of idle rich, she would often leave at will out of mere boredom, much to the frustration of her guardians, elder men of the Aensland family. Her father, Belial, is not mentioned. Morrigan's role as a hero was a focus, with her activities as a succubus downplayed; although the OVA depicts Donovan Baine as the main hero of the story, some say that Morrigan was also a little more stoic and pretentious than her usually upbeat personality depicted in the games. She is also shown fighting Jon Talbain in the episode intros for the first three episodes. She battles Demitri Maximoff when he attempts to return to Makai but when they are sensed by the Huitzil's, their battle is interrupted. In the last episode, Morrigan goes to Earth after Demitri was bested by Pyron and she encounters him unconscious in the ruins of his castle. He awakens and bites her but relents when she doesn't resist. Morrigan tells Demitri that he may become the leader of Makai since change is needed to help it's current disarray from falling into destruction. They both observe Donovan's victory over Pyron.

Soul Raiser VS. The World
On Jegudiel's quest to gather the souls of the demons to revert back into human form he confronts Morrigan. He readys Spectros to attack her, but Corlinia stops him in the process. She informs him that she is helping her find a Cure for him.

Trivia
- Morrigan is 5 ft., 7 in. tall and weighs 128 lb.
Within the Darkstalkers series, she is considered a Shotoclone, with many of the same fighting techniques and controls as other Capcom shotokan characters, such as Ryu from Street Fighter.
- Morrigan has been voiced by Yayoi Jinguji since her debut.
- Demitri is constantly challenging Morrigan for the right to rule Makai. Morrigan sees him as a nuisance, albeit admitting to having an attraction to him in Darkstalkers 3.
- Morrigan has made more appearances outside the Darkstalkers series than any other character. Despite this, the only times her sprite has been redrawn has been in Pocket Fighter, Puzzle Fighter and SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millenniumdue to everyone being super deformed; and Gunbird 2 due to the nature of the game (a shooter vice a fighting game).
- Her rivalry with Nakoruru in the SNK vs. series has one of the deepest storylines, because Nakoruru fights against evil, and she can sense the great negative energy within Morrigan.
Morrigan's Darkness Illusion was the first super move to use the button press sequence (LP, LP, F, LK, HP) that is now commonly associated with the Shun Goku Satsu
- One of the many running jokes (and points of criticism) among fans is that she has had the exact same sprite as far as Capcom vs. SNK 2 in 2001 as she did in the original Darkstalkers. The sprite looks especially out of place in the Capcom vs. SNK series as it gains a black outline in the series. Although Capcom's fighting game scene has dwindled dramatically in previous years, many clamor to the hope that Morrigan will finally get a new sprite in some game in the future.

Fighting game appearances
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors - 1994
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge - 1995
Darkstalkers 3 - 1997
Vampire Savior 2 - 1997 (Japan only)
Vampire Hunter 2 - 1997 (Japan only)
Pocket Fighter - 1997
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes - 1998
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - 1999
Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service - 2000 (Japan only)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes - 2000
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 - 2000
Capcom vs. SNK: Pro - 2000
Capcom vs. SNK 2 - 2001
Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection - 2005
Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower - 2005
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes - TBA

Non-fighting game appearances
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - 1996
Gunbird 2 - 1998 (Dreamcast port only.)
Namco x Capcom - 2005 (Japan only)
We Love Golf!-2008 (Western release version only; the character doesn't appear, but her costume is unlockable.)
Cross Edge - TBA

[From Wikipedia, please visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Morrigan Aensland ]