Mephisto (comics)

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Mephisto
Mephisto, as seen on the variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #545. Art by Marko Djurdjevic.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Silver Surfer #3 (vol. 1, Dec. 1968)
Created by	Stan Lee John Buscema
In story information
Alter ego	unrevealed
Team affiliations	Six-Fingered Hand
Notable aliases	Satan, Mephistopheles, Lucifer, Beelzebub
Abilities	Magical abilities Immortality

Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 (vol. 1, Dec. 1968) and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema.

Contents 1 Fictional character biography 2 Powers and abilities 3 In other media 3.1 Television 3.2 Film 3.3 Video games 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Fictional character biography

Mephisto is a demon and is the ruler of an extra-dimensional land of the dead, sometimes called "Hell" or "Hades." Mephisto is commonly mistaken for (and sometimes poses as) the biblical version of Satan. It is believed ^[1] that Mephisto and many other "Hell Lords" were created from the primeval concentration of evil energy left in the wake of the fleeing Elder Gods when they were driven from the Earth by the entity Atum millions of years ago. ^[2]

Both the Silver Surfer ^[3] and the Thunder God Thor ^[4] become perennial foes for Mephisto, who detests the fact that they are shining examples of what mankind could one day become.

Mephisto is responsible for a number of acts in the Marvel Universe, including:

• Capturing and holding the soul of Cynthia Von Doom — the mother of Doctor Doom — until Doctor Strange and Doom free her to ascend to heaven. ^[5]

• Creating the Ghost Rider by bonding the demon Zarathos to Johnny Blaze.^[6] As "Satan," Mephisto plagues Blaze for years.

• Marrying Victoria Wingate and siring Daimon Hellstrom and Satana Hellstrom. ^[7] The demon has also had a mystic encounter with the vampire Dracula and the sorceress Topaz. ^[8]

• Forming - with five other demons - the Six-Fingered Hand, and battling the superhero team the Defenders. ^[9]

• Temporarily capturing the souls of Mister Fantastic (whose intelligence was also stolen by Mephisto), the Invisible Woman, and Franklin Richards due to a botched summoning by an exorcist. ^[10]

• Creating Blackheart, a demonic entity that plagues many of Earth's heroes. ^[11]

• Manipulating the sorcerer Master Pandemonium into gathering scattered fragments of his soul. When attempting to use magic to conceive children with her husband, the android Vision, the Scarlet Witch unknowingly summons two of the soul fragments which are born as her infant twins. The revelation of her children's origin, followed by their loss when reabsorbed into Mephisto, later drives the Scarlet Witch insane, leading to the devastation of Avengers Disassembled, House of M, and Decimation. ^[12]

• Granting immortality to a group of sorcerers — later known as Mys-Tech — in exchange for providing him with the souls of others. ^[13]

• Trying to destroy the Avenger Hawkeye when he enters Hell to try and save the soul of his deceased wife, Mockingbird. Hawkeye rescues Patsy Walker, but fails to see Mockingbird. ^[14]

• In One More Day, Healing May Parker in exchange for changing the personal timelines of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson so that they never married, claiming he did so because he hated their happiness. ^[15]

[edit] Powers and abilities

Mephisto, as a demonic being of the highest order, is pure evil and possesses supernatural powers and abilities gained by manipulation of the forces of magic. He cannot subjugate the will of another being without his victim's deliberate permission. Mephisto has the ability to take possession of living souls, but he only has claim over said souls if some form of pact is involved: he cannot indiscriminately abduct souls at will. ^[16] (although is sometimes successful using subterfuge, technicalities, and deceit). ^[17]

Mephisto is capable of using his power for a variety of uses, including super strength, shape and size shifting, ^[18] projecting illusions, ^[19] manipulating memories, ^[20] altering time, ^[21] and is virtually invulnerable to non-metaphysical harm. ^[22] He is immortal and has vast inherent supernatural power and the virtually unlimited ability to manipulate magical energies for almost any purpose. His intellect is immeasurable, and his physical abilities are all superhuman.

Mephisto has also been shown to be energized by sources of intense evil in the human realm, such as the Dire Wraiths, which increases his power. ^[23] Mephisto and his realm are symbiotically linked, and he is able to transform the structure at will. ^[24] If Mephisto is destroyed, he will regenerate and reform there. ^[25] In his own realm he has displayed the power to threaten entire galaxies. ^[26]

[edit] In other media

[edit] Television

• Mephisto makes a cameo appearance in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in "The Prison Plot" as one of the illusions shown by Mastermind.
• Mephisto was due to appear in the second season of the Silver Surfer animated series, with his demonic nature toned down and made acceptable for children.^[27] He makes a cameo at the end of episode 21, Down To Earth, Part 3. ^[28]

[edit] Film

• Actor Peter Fonda plays Mephisto (as Mephistopheles) as one of the two main villains alongside Blackheart in the 2007 film Ghost Rider. Mephisto appears, as with Blackheart, in his human form throughout most of the film, only showing glimpses of a horned, goat-like demon. Peter Fonda has expressed interest in returning to portray the character again for Ghost Rider 2.^[29]

[edit] Video games

• Mephisto also appears in the Silver Surfer video game for the NES.
• Mephisto's voice is heard in a bonus mission in the 2005 Fantastic Four video game.
• Mephisto appears in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Fred Tatasciore. He has captured Nightcrawler and Jean Grey, forcing the heroes to choose only one to save.
• Mephisto appears in the Ghost Rider video game.
• Mephisto also appears as a secret character in the game Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter as a palette swap of Blackheart.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marvel.com: Mephisto
• Mephisto at Marvel Directory
• Profile of Mephisto
• Mephisto at Marvel Appendix
• Mephisto in Comics101