History
The Archpriestess worked as a priestess of the Hand. After the death of the previous Fist of the Beast years ago, she believed the Fist's next incarnation would be found in the United States. There were those in the Hand that rejected this idea. So, the Archpriestess killed them all. Eventually, a young boy named Frank Castle caught her eye, and she believed that he was destined to be the next Fist. She once approached Castle and offered three daggers to choose from. Castle rebuffed her, but the Archpriestess was undeterred. Castle would later go on to become the Punisher.[3]
Years later, she and a group of Hand ninjas went to recruit Castle to their group, believing that he would return the Hand to glory. She tested the Punisher by pitting a large group of Hand ninjas against him. The Punisher was successful in killing them all. To incentivize the Punisher in joining the Hand, she presented to him his resurrected wife Maria.[4]
After Castle joined the Hand, the Archpriestess aided Castle with any request he asked from her. She also began training Castle to become the next Fist of the Beast.[4]
When Castle learned that the Archpriestess had killed the families of Hand ninja who had survived a fight with Ares to toughen them up, he turned on her and killed her with his katana. As Castle fled with Maria from the Hand compound, the Archpriestess resurrected herself. The Archpriestess greeted Castle when he returned because Maria was dying and explained to Castle that Maria's resurrection was incomplete and required constant treatments. So, she couldn't leave the compound; otherwise, her resurrection would end and she would die again. Castle chose to remain with the Hand in order to keep his wife alive but told the Archpriestess that he would kill her.[1]
After Castle fended off several heroes trying to save from the Hand's influence and was nearly shot to death by Maria, the Archpriestess confronted him and expressed disappointment that he wasn't killing all his enemies. She planned to kill him and then resurrect him to mold him into the perfect killer. However, Castle used the Flames of the Beast to set the Archpriestess aflame, forcing her to flee. The heroes then took Castle away. Undeterred, the Archpriestess began grooming a young killer to take Castle's place.[2]Attributes
Powers
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Archpriestess' demonic form
- Demonic Form: The Archpriestess is capable of transforming into a demon-like entity.[1]
- Self-Resurrection: The Archpriestess is capable of resurrecting herself after being killed.[1]
Abilities
See Also
- 15 appearance(s) of Archpriestess (Hand) (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) of Archpriestess (Hand) (Earth-616)
- 10 image(s) of Archpriestess (Hand) (Earth-616)
- 3 quotation(s) by or about Archpriestess (Hand) (Earth-616)