Wormwood (Invasion of the Bane)


 * This article is about the character. For the comic strip story, see Wormwood.

"Mrs. Wormwood" was the lead Bane, second only to the Bane Mother, in the invasion of Earth. After her failure and the death of the Bane Mother, the Bane Kindred tried to eat her. However she fled the planet and had a price put on her head so that she may be brought back. Like her archenemy, Sarah Jane Smith, she was an intelligent and compelling adversary and viewed Luke Smith as "her" son too. However, she lacked actual parental understanding and compassion as she was only looking to fill the void being cast from the Kindred had left her with.

Invading Earth
As Sarah Jane Smith noted, it is said in the Book of Revelation that at the end of the world a star called Wormwood will fall to Earth and poison the water. Taking lead under the Bane Mother, Wormwood headed the Bubble Shock! factory in Great Britain, disguised as a human by use of an image translator, to spread the Bane DNA through the soft drink to take over the human race and Earth. However 2% of humans found Bubble Shock! disgusting, so Wormwood decided to take genetic sample from humans visiting the factory for the Bubble Shock! tour and complie them into an artificial human called "the Archetype", later known as Luke Smith. Wormwood was quite confident in her plans and was quite cruel to her brother Bane after he failed to kill Sarah Jane, Maria and Luke, feeding him to their Mother. After being contacted by Sarah Jane Smith and threatened, Wormwood activated the traces of Bane in the humans that drank Bubble Shock! and began the invasion plans by forcing the remaining 2% of humans to drink Bubble Shock!. She was confronted by Sarah Jane, Luke and Maria, who used an extraterristial communicator to overload the Bane Mother's senses and cause the Bubble Shock! factory to begin exploding. Vowing vengence for the death of her mother and kindred, Wormwood escaped from the explosion via an underground shelter. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)

Exile and partnership with Kaagh
She was blamed for the failure of the invasion and was cast out of the Bane Kindred, who attempted to eat her alive as punishment. She fled and made an alliance with the disgraced Sontaran Commander Kaagh. The pair set out to find one of two halves of Horath's identity. Mrs Wormwood kidnapped Gita Chandra at her work to draw Sarah Jane's attention and ask for her help in retrieving the other half. Sarah Jane had Mr Smith imprison her with a containment vortex. At the same time that Bane agents arrived, she escaped and re-united with Kaagh. She attempted to get Luke Smith on her side, considering herself to be his real mother, but although Luke showed her sympathy he ultimately refused. Mrs Wormwood and Kaagh opened Horath's Portal but Sarah Jane stopped her from becoming Empress of the Galaxy. Kaagh then pulled Wormwood into the Portal and they both fell inside it. Sarah Jane sealed the Portal and then destroyed the device that opened it. (SJA: Enemy of the Bane)

Personality
During the Bane's attempted conquest of Earth, Wormwood operated with a cold, clinical and cruel mindset, having no qualms about about killing even her subordinates to ensure success.

Following the plan's failure and her subsequent banishment from the collective, Wormwood grew lonely, and on her return to Earth, she sought out Luke, considering him to be her "son". Her discovery of the power of Horath convinced her that she was destined to attain it, and that Luke was part of that destiny.

However, after Luke spurned her in favour of Sarah Jane Smith, Wormwood reverted back to her cruel ways, being perfectly willing to kill them both until Kaagh intervened.

Tools and equipment
As an exile, she had a Phonic disruptor in the form of a ring and nail polish. (SJA: Enemy of the Bane)