Mephisto (comics)
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Mephisto (short for Mephistopheles) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics' universe.
Character biography
Mephisto is an extradimensional demon created eons ago by the entity Infiniti, who would later become Nemesis upon the reuniting of the seven Infinity Gems. He has been mistaken for the Biblical Satan and other legendary devils.Mephisto first appeared in Silver Surfer volume 1 number 3 (December 1968), by Stan Lee and Sal Buscema. He has since come into conflict with numerous superheroes and mystical heroes. Mephisto has a demonic son named Blackheart and a daughter named Mephista. In the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy, which takes place in an alternate Marvel timeline, his daughter, presumably different from Mephista, is named Malevolence. Blackheart once slew Mephisto and took control of his "Hell", although Mephisto was later returned to life.
Mephisto managed to capture the soul of Cynthia Von Doom, Doctor Doom's mother, and held it for years, despite yearly attempts from Doom to liberate it. Eventually, Doom and Doctor Strange succeeded in freeing her soul, who then went to heaven. Mephisto also obtained the soul of Shalla Bal, the Silver Surfer's lover, and reincarnated it on Earth as a woman, in one of his many attempts to corrupt the hero, but he failed again.
In the 1970s, in the pages of the Ghost Rider comic book, he assumed the guise of "Satan" and created the Ghost Rider by bonding the demon Zarathos (a rival whom he had captured long ago) to motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, after a botched attempt to gain Blaze's soul. As "Satan" he plagued Blaze for years but was unable to gain revenge on him.
In the 1980s, during the second Secret Wars series, he became aware of the presence of the omnipotent Beyonder on the Earth, and attempted to corrupt or kill that being; he ultimately failed, and the Beyonder survived his apparent death at the hands of the Molecule Man.
When Mephisto captured the souls of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four and their young son, Franklin Richards, his own soul was shattered into several fragments by the child's incredible powers. He manipulated the sorcerer Master Pandemonium into gathering the fragments for him; two of the fragments were subsequently drawn into the body of the Scarlet Witch, who had unknowingly summoned the soul fragments in an attempt to use magic to conceive children with her husband, the android Vision. The fragments became a pair of infant twins who were ultimately absorbed back into Mephisto's essence. The revelation of her children's origins, followed by their loss, would later drive the Scarlet Witch insane, bringing about the events of Avengers Disassembled and House of M.
Mephisto starred in a miniseries, Mephisto Versus..., in which he battled the superhero groups the Fantastic Four, X-Factor, X-Men and The Avengers, one in each issue.
Mephisto was briefly partnered with Thanos while the latter held the Infinity Gauntlet (during the miniseries with that name), offering to teach the Mad Titan how to use the Infinity Gauntlet, for he had experienced the power of Infiniti when Infiniti grew disgusted with his children and used his powers against Mephisto and his siblings, banishing them. However, Mephisto ultimately was defeated by Thanos alongside a number of other cosmic entities, when he betrayed Thanos.
Mephisto also appeared in A Marvel Super Special #1, within which the band KISS had been transformed into comic book superheroes. After finding himself in Hell, band leader Gene Simmons is detained by Mephisto. In order to buy time to escape, Gene sends his dragon boots flying off his feet to attack the demon lord and technically "wins" the fight. This story is not usually considered part of mainstream Marvel continuity.
Mephisto was summoned briefly from 'the Pit' by Doctor Strange to be questioned by Daredevil in the 'Guardian Devil' arc. Ironically, the demon wore a blindfold when confronted by the blind superhero.
While Mephisto's first (and most common) portrayal depict him sporting features classically used to depict Satan (human features with red skin, horns, cloven hooves, pointed tail, etc.), this is not in fact his true form. Rather, it is an appearance he affects when dealing with humans, preying on their fear of the Devil. Mephisto's true form is a somewhat reptilian, androgynous, magenta-skinned, vaguely humanoid entity with wildly arrayed tendrils for "hair", clawed hands and feet, and a longer, thicker tail. He rather resembles a hot-pink version of his son Blackheart, except for his pronounced beak-like mouth (in contrast to Blackheart, who has no apparent mouth).
Powers and abilities
Mephisto is a powerful demon of the highest order and possesses vast supernatural powers. He is essentially invincible to anything but the most powerful magic. He has vast superhuman strength and endurance which, being magical in nature, are potentially incalculably high.He can enter and leave different planes of existence and dimensions at will and has reality warping powers. He can also summon demons and other supernatural creatures to do his bidding. Mephisto is also nearly incalculably intelligent. In theory, Mephisto could wipe out most life in the universe, if he was ever so inclined. He is also more powerful than most- if not all- Marvel superheroes, up to and including the Silver Surfer and Dr Strange, his primary adversaries.
The demon lord is continuously linked to his Hell-like realm, in such as a way that if he is ever destroyed, he would be reformed by it (although he was greatly weakened by his defeat at the hands of Franklin Richards, until he regained all of his essence.)
Mephisto also has the ability to take possession of living souls, but he only has a claim over said souls if some form of pact is involved, and he cannot just take souls to his realm at will. Fear and psychological domination seem to be the keys to Mephisto's power over his captive souls. He claims that if his slaves were to rise as one against him, he would be powerless to stop them from destroying him.
Appearances in other media
-->Mephisto was to have made an appearance on The Silver Surfer (TV series) in the unmade Second Season. Due to Broadcast Standards and Practices, his demonic nature had to be toned down. Therefore, he would've been portrayed as a warlord of a hellish dimension.
Mephisto made a cameo in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in "The Prison Plot" as one of the illusions shown by Mastermind.
Mephisto has appeared in video games over the years. His first appearance was in the "Silver Surfer" video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. He was also a hidden character in the Capcom fighting game Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, in which he was basically an alternate version of, ironically, his son Blackheart, sharing the same sprites as him albeit with a red skin.
Mephisto has made cameos in numerous "Twisted Toyfare Theatre" comics. He is certainly the devil but is also depressed and hates his job.
Mephisto will be portrayed by actor Peter Fonda in the upcoming Ghost Rider movie, scheduled for release in 2007. The movie also stars Nicolas Cage as John Blaze.
Quotations
- "The greatest joy in doing evil is to be rewarded by the sight of those who suffer its consequence!"
- -- Mephisto, The Silver Surfer #3
External links
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