Cousin Ambrose from Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the rock n’ roll, house robe-wearing cool warlock, who is also a great confidante and advisor to his cousin Sabrina. He’s obviously much older than he looks, is a total trouble maker, and has even had a rebellious history, including blowing up the Vatican and whatnot.

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But in the comics, he wasn’t always this cool necromancer ally to Sabrina. In fact, in some of his appearances, he was a middle-aged moustachioed man, who was almost like a father figure to the teenage witch. And though the new pansexual warlock version of Ambrose is a hit with the viewers, there are certain things about Ambrose’s history that only the comic readers of the franchise will know.

He Is Sabrina’s Cousin In All Appearances

Ambrose Sabrina comics

Ambrose has been reimagined several times in the Sabrina comics, and weirdly enough in all of these reiterations, he plays Sabrina’s cousin. In fact, in the 2013 animated series too, he is Sabrina’s first cousin who is a 15-year-old warlock-in-training and is really scared of ice giants.

In the 1970s comics, Ambrose much older than Sabrina and quite socially awkward, and has a very different character profile from the cool, icy Ambrose of the Netflix series. The comics essentially presented Ambrose like a father figure, unlike in the new show where Ambrose is a more compatible ally.

Ambrose Used To Have A Very Different Look

Ambrose Sabrina

Readers of the ‘70s Sabrina comics can’t be blamed for being shocked at cousin Ambrose’s Netflix glow-up since it’s quite a change. The '70s Ambrose was a hefty, middle-aged man with a big mustache who was much older than Sabrina. He only reluctantly helped her in her quests and was actually quite old school.

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But like the 2020 Ambrose, the retro version of the character was also fond of carrying out erratic experiments that would often go wrong. 

He Introduced Sabrina To Her Broom

Sabrina Ambrose comics

Sabrina's broomstick is a pretty pivotal part of the '90s comics, and it was Ambrose who first shows Sabrina the broom that she was about to receive in her dark baptism. In Issue #3, when Ambrose and Sabrina are discussing her upcoming baptism, he asks her if she knows what her aunts are getting her as a gift.

He then leads her to their embalming room to show her the broom they had hidden there to keep it a secret from Sabrina. "Your aunts commissioned it from a shaman in Northern England, hand-carved from wood that was scavenged from the scaffolds in 1692," he tells her as he hands her the broom, possibly referring to the Salem witchcraft.

Ambrose Was Written To Be Droll

Sabrina Ambrose Hilda

In the '70s comics, Ambrose’s character was somewhat socially observant and possessed a dry, sardonic sense of humor, which was quite different from the brand of humor seen in the show version. Since Ambrose is an adult in the comics, his vocabulary is quite different and his dynamic with Sabrina, Hilda, and Zelda is also strikingly different.

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In the comics, nothing could really shock Ambrose or move him to emotion; for instance, when the family moves homes to be closer to a cemetery so they can enjoy the occasional midnight snack like human flesh and organs, Ambrose only wryly observes this bizarre cannibalistic tendency, which was abnormal even by witchcraft standards.

The Netflix Version Of Ambrose Was Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Creation

Prudence and Ambrose in season three of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Chance Perdomo, who plays Ambrose on the hit Netflix series has revealed that his version of Ambrose is "a bit of Captain Jack Sparrow, a bit of David Bowie, a bit of Jimi Hendrix, and a bit of Loki from Thor magically rolled into one super-entity." Fans of the comic book were albeit thrown off with this makeover. This particular version of cool cousin Ambrose was actually created first by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the Chief Creative Head of Archie Comics, who is also responsible for conceptualizing Sabrina on the small screen.

And this rendition of Ambrose was written keeping Perdomo in mind. Perdomo reportedly auditioned to play Jughead in Riverdale and didn’t get the part but was able to impress Aguirre-Sacasa enormously, following which he wrote Ambrose’s character.

Ambrose Has A Subtle Connection To Harry Potter’s Mythology

Ambrose Nag Nagaiana Comics

In the 2014 comic book, Ambrose is shown possessing two cobra familiars, Nag and Nagaiana. He actually moves in with them into the Spellman household, however, on the show they are hardly ever mentioned. They may sound very familiar to Nagini from the Potter-verse, the female maledictus who can turn into a snake.

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It’s obvious that both the names have their origin in Indian folkloric traditions. Nag and Nagaiana were originally human royalty who were tricked by a sorcerer and turned into snakes. 

He Was Always A Fashion Icon

Ambrose Sabrina

The '70s Ambrose or even the '90 Ambrose may not have possessed the punk, effortless house robes but all versions of cousin Ambrose were always very fashion-forward. The '70s version who was a total adult, was also depicted as a ‘debonair dresser,’ who would only be seen in impeccable suits when out and about.

In the more modern renditions, Ambrose was seen in cooler clothing, but they were all mostly designer or trending. He was essentially made to be the epitome of the hip, young style

He Was A Traditionalist

Sabrina comics

This is actually quite a detour from the show’s Ambrose, who has often urged Sabrina to think for herself and make her own decisions. Since he is a rule-breaker himself, he has often aided Sabrina to explore her options and understood her anxieties about blindly following traditions.

The Ambrose from the '90s comic, on the other hand, was old school in this respect. Though he was a confidante to Sabrina, he tried to make Sabrina understand why the rituals are so important. In one instance, Sabrina goes to Ambrose to share how she is wary of all the rules and he tries to convince her that it’s just cold feet before advising her against backing out from her dark baptism.

Nag And Nagaiana Hoped Ambrose Would Transform Them Back Into Humans

Ambrose looks shocked in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

In issue #6 of the '90s comic series, Nag and Nagaiana relate their human history to Salem, the cat. After being tricked into deceiving their father, they were cursed to being snaked by an evil sorcerer who wanted to rule their kingdom with their step-mother.

After they were turned into snakes, they took revenge on the sorcerer and the new queen and were eventually sold to Ambrose's ancestor who gifted them to his nephew. The two cobra familiars lived with Ambrose in hopes that he will eventually transform them into their human lives, possibly so they could go back to their homeland. However, Ambrose never mentioned his intentions with his familiars.

He Didn’t Always Believe In Necromancy

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - Ambrose and Prudence

Oddly enough, though the Netflix version of Ambrose is a practiced necromancer, in the '90s comics he doesn’t quite believe in necromancy and deems it impossible. In issue #8, when Sabrina is dressing up to meet her boyfriend Harvey, who was killed off in an earlier issue, Ambrose questions her decision.

“Harvey’s dead, Sabrina,” he tries to reason with his cousin. And when Sabrina explains to him that she has bought Harvey back to life, Ambrose questions how it’s possible. “Necromancy? Dark Resurrection? How?” he enquires. And eventually, when he doesn’t get answers from her, he conjures the Eye of the Providence.

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