In Magic: The Gathering, Planeswalkers are beings who have had their inner spark ignited; unleashing their magical potential to travel between the various realms of the Multiverse. This is an incredibly rare trait among sentient species, though it is even rarer for such individuals to ascend as a Planeswalker through the awakening of their spark.
Though, due to there being billions, if not trillions, of lives blooming in the Multiverse, quite a few of these gifted individuals are encountered in Magic: The Gathering. Spirit Dragon Ugin is one of the oldest, and most interesting, of the Planeswalkers. His actions over the millennia have been immensely influential to many known planes and characters.
10 Twins
Like all elder dragons, Ugin was born from an egg created by the Ur-Dragon as this mighty avatar beat their wings and created powerful storms. Though, unlike most of his other siblings, Ugin was not alone in his egg. He and his twin brother Nicol Bolas shared a shell until they hatched together.
Due to this, they were both about half the size of their elder dragon siblings, though they both grew intelligent and strong. Nicol became increasingly interested in gaining power after witnessing one of their siblings die at the hands of human hunters, while Ugin sought knowledge above all.
9 Early Education
In their youth, the twin dragons Ugin and Nicol lived in a human settlement with the dragonlord Arcades Sabboth upon the plane of Dominaria. During this time, Ugin befriended the philosopher Te Ju Ki, who taught him a great deal.
From Te Ju Ki, the dragon learned the usefulness of meditation and critical thinking, which enabled him to grasp the vast concepts of the Multiverse. Ugin grew calm and wise, unlike Nicol who did not have the patience for Te Ju Ki's teachings. Instead, he developed a cruel cunning in place of Ugin's gentle intellect, and this divide would become more significant as they got older.
8 Spark Ignition
One day, Nicol sought vengeance for their slain kin and dragged Ugin up the mountain where they were hatched. Along the way, Ugin was poisoned by similarly foul humans who had slaughtered their sister, but as he was recovering he witnessed Nicol wreaking their revenge. His twin manipulated the human hunters into killing each other and at their weakest point took control of their settlements as their new leader.
Following this, Nicol tried to warp Ugin's thinking to be more like his but this only caused the gentler twin to realize that Nicol had never cared about him and only sought strength. This caused Ugin's mind to become immensely stressed, forcing his spark to ignite and take him away to the plane of Tarkir.
7 Elder Dragon War
After ascending as a Planeswalker, Ugin began exploring the various planes of the Multiverse. His thirst for knowledge and nearly limitless curiosity caused him to explore many different realms, growing wiser and wiser as he traveled, marveling at the wonders of the universe.
Eventually, he returned home to Dominaria, but when he arrived he found his kin at each other's throats. Arcades Sabboth and Nicol were warring against one another, though Ugin revealed himself to them and pleaded for them both to stop. However, this did not work out well.
6 A Great Divide
Ugin's twin tried to manipulate him once more by boasting of all that he had conquered in his absence. Ugin declared that Nicol's conquest was foolish and pointless, as the human settlements under his control were but specks in the grand scheme of the Multiverse, proven by his planar exploration.
Nicol, enraged, demanded that Ugin teach him how to planeswalk. Though when this was unsuccessful, the more aggressive twin accused Ugin of cowardice and secretly plotting against him. After a severe argument, the brothers parted ways on the worst of terms, permanently driving a wedge between them.
5 Epic Battle On The Meditation Plane
After much time and many adventures, the twin dragons eventually confronted one another in a realm known as the Meditation Plane; a continuously changing place where the thoughts and feelings of its inhabitants can manifest in mysterious and magnificent ways. The brothers battled ceaselessly for years until Ugin realized that he was no match for Nicol's unquenchable, burning hatred.
4 Reborn As A Spirit Dragon
Ugin allowed his twin to fatally wound him and end the conflict. Though, as the wise dragon's body fell into the waters of this empathetic world, a shockwave of energy erupted that cast Nicol out of the plane and into the Blind Eternities between realms.
Sometime later, Ugin awoke to find his spirit within a new body formed from the mystical waters of the Meditation Plane and realized his purpose: to protect the Multiverse from threats of destruction like his brother. This new body was draconic, yet spiritual like that of the undead; this body was that of a Spirit Dragon.
3 Influence On Tarkir
At one point long ago, Ugin traveled to the plane of Tarkir where storms created by the beating of his mighty wings birthed many new dragons of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Although, there were humans on this plane, and despite having many reasons to hate the bipedal creatures, Ugin did not show them the cruelty that his brother would.
Instead, seeing that his kin was dominating these weaker mortals, Ugin gifted humans the knowledge of concealment magic so that they may avoid the mighty reptiles as well as teaching a few individuals the secret of his invisible fire breath.
2 Facing The Eldrazi
Ugin was one of the three Planeswalkers, along with Sorin Markov the vampire and Nahiri of the Kor, who devised a way to trap the dangerous void titans known as the Eldrazi.
These cosmic foes from the Blind Eternities between worlds were intending to ravage and subjugate the entire plane of Zendikar, but Ugin's plan to imprison them in a magical network of floating monoliths temporarily stopped them, saving this realm from destruction for a time.
1 Ghostfire
The lock that Ugin used to seal the network trapping the Eldrazi titans was his Ghostfire, which were invisible flames that he could exhale at will. On the plane of Tarkir, individuals who learned this colorless magic from Ugin recorded the information in scrolls for posterity.
This led to a whole faith being established around humans learning the secrets of this unseen fire. Eventually, the knowledge in one of these scrolls found its way to Zendikar, where it was inadvertently used to unlock the seal restraining the Eldrazi. Thankfully, other Planeswalkers were able to deal with this threat to the Multiverse, but not without sacrifice.