| “ | Blackwood used us, Prudence. Our desire for a father blinded us to the family we already had. | ” |
Ambrose Spellman is a main character on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He was portrayed by the late Chance Perdomo.
He is a warlock that specializes in necromancy. Due to a binding spell, he had been trapped in Spellman Mortuary for 75 years until being released by Faustus Blackwood. From there, he developed a relationship with Prudence Blackwood as he worked his way to the top as one of Faustus' top men. However, after being set up by Father Blackwood for the murder of the Anti-Pope and narrowly escaping execution, Ambrose teamed up with Prudence to hunt Blackwood down and kill him. They tracked him down to Scotland, where he was apprehended after they learned that he had somehow accessed higher magicks of time and space.
Ambrose often acts as Sabrina's conscience as well as her accomplice and keeps secret the time paradox that caused Sabrina Morningstar's existence, despite being worried about dire consequences. This becomes one of the problems issued by the Eldritch Terrors, ancient beings from outer time and space brought back by Father Blackwood. After defeating most of them, the all-consuming and last one, the Void, leads to Sabrina's death leaving Ambrose heartbroken.
Character Description[]
Ambrose is Sabrina's "cousin" and a necromancer. He is witty, puckish, pan-sexual—and loves being a witch. Trapped in the funeral home due to a binding spell, Ambrose lives in the mortuary's attic and acts as one of Sabrina's partners in crime[3]
Ambrose Spellman, Sabrina’s warlock cousin from England. Placed under house arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman women. Witty, puckish and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.[4]
Early Life[]
When Ambrose was a young warlock, his father was killed by witch hunters. As the sole survivor, he was raised by his aunt Hilda. Ambrose would subsequently move from university to university seeking a father figure after his own was taken from him. At the age of 17, Ambrose published his first poetry collection. He also painted with the Surrealists and taught stage magic to Harry Houdini himself. In the early 19th century, Ambrose met a young Aleister Crowley and became one of his followers. Fascinated by Crowley's revolutionary and controversial ideas, Ambrose and unknown accomplices attempted to blow up the Vatican. Ambrose was the only witch to be arrested among all the culprits. Although he was offered immunity in exchange for the names of his accomplices, Ambrose did not betray the cause and for that reason was confined to the Spellman Mortuary with a binding spell. Since then, he began working as a mortician there, coping with his depression and loneliness with sarcasm, jokes and family affection.
Throughout Chilling Adventures of Sabrina[]
Physical Appearance[]
Ambrose is an old British warlock of African descent. Despite his age, he appears as a muscular young man in his twenties. Because he was trapped in the house by a curse, Ambrose was more often than not barefoot and wearing trousers and a silk robe on a bare chest. When working in the embalming chamber, Ambrose wears goggles, rubber gloves, and an apron to protect himself from blood and other fluids while working on corpses. On the rare occasions when Ambrose left the house, he wore a velvet blazer, shirt, pants, and Chelsea boots.
Personality[]
Ambrose is a sagacious and witty man who is always ready to assist and advise Sabrina in her teenage witch dramas. Although Ambrose enjoys taking part in hexing people or indulging his own lust with other witches of all genders, he is also a learned witch who has personally experienced the price to pay for breaking Witch Law. Ambrose's knowledge of witchcraft spans many occult disciplines and practices, including exorcisms and necromancy. Because he is confined to the home, Ambrose has slowly developed a form of depression fueled by a sense of loneliness and isolation that has become clear during the attack of Batibat, a sleep demon, at the Spellman house.
Powers and Abilities[]
Ambrose is a warlock with a vast knowledge of witchcraft and spell-casting. His powers include telekinesis, teleportation, warding, and containment. Ambrose also knows how to astral project and control the weather with spells, summoning storms and tornadoes at ease. Ambrose is described as a necromancer, although he only hinted at it when he asked Sabrina if she wanted him to resurrect a bat. Ambrose owns a magic wand that he uses to enhance his spells and also to generate and control electricity, thus having the power of electrokinesis. Ambrose often reads tarot cards as a pastime like when he had to keep Sabrina company before her Dark Baptism. Ambrose doesn't have any qualms at hexing and cursing people, and when Sabrina asked for his help in hexing Principal Hawthorne by conjuring spiders, Ambrose wondered if she didn't want to kill him instead with magic. As a full warlock, Ambrose ages at a slower rate than mortals.
Along with his supernatural abilities, Ambrose is also good at swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.
Relationships[]
Hilda Spellman[]
Ambrose and Hilda
Hilda is Ambrose's aunt, who he's known for more than 75 years. She even moved to England for a time to take care of Ambrose, and after he was arrested for conspiring to blow up the Vatican, he was placed under house arrest and has spent the last seven and a half decades living at Hilda and Zelda's residence. On occasion, she's been known to assist him in his schemes, such as when she helped Ambrose perform an astral projection spell for him to go on a date. She also helped Ambrose escape imprisonment at the Academy. She knew that the Weird Sisters would use the bones from the chicken she cooked to torture Ambrose, which is what allowed Ambrose to make a skeleton key to free himself.
Sabrina Spellman[]
Ambrose and Sabrina
Ambrose and Sabrina are close cousins, whether or not they're related by blood remains unknown. He tends to steer Sabrina down the right path and often advises her against making bad choices, whether or not she takes the advice varies upon occasion. Whenever she finds herself in trouble or need of assistance, she can always rely on Ambrose and his vast knowledge of witch laws and traditions to guide her. While Ambrose may enjoy taking part in Sabrina's mischief and schemes, he is very much aware of the price to pay for breaking witch law and how merciless one's sentence can be. He has learned from past experience and tries to keep Sabrina from making similar mistakes.
Prudence Blackwood[]
Ambrose and Prudence are together
When Ambrose started working at the Academy of Unseen Arts, he began a temporary affair with Prudence during the Lupercalia, while his boyfriend Luke left the country on behalf of her father. After the strange death of Luke and the imprisonment of Ambrose in prison, Prudence was his ruthless overseer. They had despised each other for a long time, but Prudence's attitude toward him began to change for the better when he decided to stay at the Academy to warn the witches about the witch-hunters' attack instead of running away and saving himself.
Later, Prudence begged Ambrose and his aunties to help her Sisters and reveals that Blackwood poisoned the entire coven. After defeating Lucifer, Ambrose and Prudence embarked on a quest to hunt down Father Blackwood. Before leaving, Prudence beheads Blackwood’s statue and told Ambrose that her father wouldn't be easy to hunt down and kill. Ambrose vowed to seek his true destiny as a witch, something shared by Prudence.
Luke Chalfant[]
Ambrose and Luke
Luke and Ambrose met at Connor's funeral. Not long after, they began hooking up. Afterwards, he asked Ambrose out on a date despite the fact that Ambrose couldn't leave the house. So with Hilda's help, he astral-projected to Cerberus Books, where he interacted with Luke, who was very impressed with Ambrose's attempt to blow up the Vatican. It's through his relationship with Luke that Ambrose's house arrest is lifted and that he got in close with Father Blackwood.
Appearances[]
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina[]
Riverdale[]
Season 6[]
- "Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Witching Hour(s)" (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina showrunner, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, wrote the role of Ambrose Spellman with Chance Perdomo in mind.[5]
- According to Father Blackwood, Ambrose taught Houdini stage magic.
- So far, he's the only witch using a wand to enhance his spells.
- In the Archie Comics, Ambrose made his first appearance in #77 Sabrina the Teenage Witch series of 1971. In this iteration, Cousin Ambrose is a middle-aged, plump man with black hair and a mustache, described as "Sabrina's warlock cousin who has an acute sense of fashion and showmanship or at least thinks he does."
- Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa reimagined him as a much younger, witty and sinister character in the 2014 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic series after he had been written off from the 90s sitcom. Without a sarcastic sidekick in the sitcom, that role shifted to Salem Saberhagen, Sabrina's familiar cat.
- In this iteration, Ambrose stated that he prefers the term "warlock" when Sabrina addressed him as "witch-boy".
- Ambrose has two familiar cobras, Nag and Nagaina (no relation with the gorgon in Part 3). In the TV series, however, his sentence forbade him from having a familiar, until Father Blackwood eventually gave him a mouse named Leviathan.
- According to Tati Gabrielle, Ambrose is 90 years old.[6] However, during the events of Part 4, Zelda would state that he is 134 years old.[7]
Gallery[]
- See also: Category:Images of Ambrose Spellman
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References[]
- ↑ Chapter Thirty-Three: Deus Ex Machina
- ↑ Daughter of Chaos (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Book 2)
- ↑ Gomez & Chance Perdomo Join Netflix’s Sabrina The Teenage Witch Series
- ↑ 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ Creator Wants a 'Riverdale' Crossover - Hollywood Reporter
- ↑ 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' Actress Tati Gabrielle Talks Prudence's Complicated Relationships - The Hollywood Reporter
- ↑ McLeland, Elle (writer) & Tapping, Amanda (director) (December 31, 2020). "Chapter Thirty-Three: Deus Ex Machina". Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Part 4. Episode 5. Netflix.