Belasco (Earth-616)

Belasco of the Corrupted
Name	Belasco
Aliases	Impersonations: Sabu, Wend Other Aliases: Lord Belasco of the Corrupted, Lucas, "Lucifer," Master of Worlds within Worlds, Red King, Shaitan, Sonny
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Demons of Limbo Formerly S'ym, Magik, N'Astirh, Hell Lords, Sorcerers Guild, Necrosis (servant)
Relatives	Children: Witchfire (Ananym) (alleged daughter)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′4″ (1.93 m)
Weight	250 lbs (113.4 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Black Brown (formerly)
Hair	Brown
Skin	Red, No Skin At All
Unusual Features	Prehensile tail, horns, pointed ears
Origin and Living Status
Origin	13th century human sorcerer transformed into a demon
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Florence, Italy
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Florentine Republic
Occupation	Sorcerer, formerly Ruler of the Limbo
Base of Operations	Limbo, formerly Republic of Florence, Italy, Mount Flavius, Pangea, Savage Land
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Steve Gerber, Rich Buckler, Luis Dominguez, John Romita
First	Ka-Zar the Savage #11 (October, 1981)
First	Ka-Zar the Savage #11 (October, 1981)

History

Early history

Belasco was originally a human man living in the 13th Century Italy. A sorcerer with knowledge of alchemy and dark magic, he establish contact with who he presumed to be the "Elder Gods", and who in reality were extradimensional demonic entities Mabdhara, masters of N'Garai. Through a pact with these beings, Belasco gained immortality and vast mystical powers, while in return providing these entities access to Earth dimension through a pentagonal configuration of five Bloodstones. Belasco gained a demonic appearance, and was intended to be the first of a new demonic lineage on Earth. As a member of the Sorcerers Guild, Belasco opposed Ebrok's creation of the Cat People. The Guild banished these Cat People to the interdimensional realm known as the Land Within.

Dante's Inferno

The poet Dante Alighieri chronicled Belasco's early exploits, though some dispute his accuracy. Belasco abducted Bice "Beatrice" dei Portinari, Dante's beloved, intending for her to birth the first of his new demonic lineage. He took her to Pangea, an outpost of Atlantis, where the Elder Gods directed him to Mt. Flavius for their summoning ritual. Belasco raped Beatrice, who was nine months pregnant by time of their arrival. Pursued by Dante, Belasco went through underground passages designed to resemble Hell and also lost the Bloodstone locket. Dante arrived just as Beatrice died in childbirth and attacked Belasco in rage. They accidentally ruptured a pipe releasing an unknown substance that placed Belasco in suspended animation.

Return

Recently, volcanic activity freed Belasco from his stasis. He recovered his locket and claimed a new sacrifice, Shanna O'Hara. Placing her under mental subjugation, he initiated the ritual but was interrupted by Shanna's lover Ka-Zar, who cast the locket into the volcano. This sealed away the Elder Gods and seemingly destroyed Belasco.

Trapped in Limbo

Belasco found himself trapped in Limbo, which he gradually conquered over many years. He lured the X-Men to his realm, planning to use Kitty Pryde and Illyana Rasputina as means to leave Limbo and grant the Elder Gods access to Earth. While the X-Men escaped, seven-year-old Illyana remained behind, becoming Belasco's unwilling apprentice. He shaped part of her soul into a Bloodstone, granting her potential power while establishing control over her. Upon fourteen, Illyana's mutant powers manifested and rebelled against her master, driving him from Limbo and taking on the name "Magik".

Belasco eventually reclaimed control of Limbo. Cultist Sammy Smith, known as "the Rev", mistook Belasco for Lucifer and worshipped him. When the Punisher killed Jigsaw, the Rev used the powers granted by Belasco to resurrect him, though both were defeated again. Belasco also corrupted Alpha Flight ally Witchfire by influencing her demonic nature. Witchfire herself claimed that Belasco was her father, though this has not yet been confirmed. She was eventually restored to normal by Beta Flight. Belasco competed with D'Spayre to corrupt Cable. After banishing D'Spayre, Belasco transported himself, Cable, and Cable's companion Lee Forrester to Limbo, where S'ym fought Cable. Cable prevailed, and he and Lee returned to Earth.

After Illyana died, her friend Kitty Pryde received Illyana's Soulsword, bonded to Kitty's essence. Kitty's team Excalibur repelled various claimants to the sword, before it was given to Nightcrawler's girlfriend Amanda Sefton. She handed it to her mother Margali Szardos, who was then abducted by Belasco and taken to Limbo. Nightcrawler and Sefton rescued her, with Sefton claimed the sword and the name "Magik" for herself. Belasco and his allies, the N'Garai demons, fought the X-Men and the new Magik, but were defeated.

Quest for Magik

Belasco's disappointed patrons cast him into an even deeper level of hell, but he eventually sacrificed a minor demon to regain access to Limbo after observing a version of Magik (Illyana) alive on Earth. Belasco overpowered Magik (Amanda) and banished her from Limbo. Unable to see Illyana alive again, as the overlap with the House of M reality had ended, Belasco sensed her influence on the New X-Men who had met her during reality warp but retained no memories of it. Belasco interrogated and tortured them, revealing not only his desire for Magik's powers but his lust for her as well. Using a Bloodstone containing a portion of Illyana's soul, he was able to resurrect Illyana in her Darkchylde form, only to be defeated by her and Pixie wielding her Souldagger.

Satana's Soul

Satana visited the Apache Diamond Casino and took part in a high stakes poker game with what she thought were collegiate nerds. But it was revealed that they were Belasco, Mephisto, Asmodeus, Dormammu, and Lucifer in disguise. She lost her soul during the game so enlisted Deadpool to help get it back. He attacked the gamblers cutting them to pieces and revealing their true natures. Satana found a loophole and married Deadpool to break the deal, they tried to kill Deadpool but due to his healing factor they couldn't break the "Till death do us part" clause.

Chaos King

When the Chaos King confronted Marduk Kurios to steal his power, Belasco joined the Hell Lords and many other Demons, but they were defeated. He returned to his throne when Hercules defeated the Chaos King.

Danny Ketch

He was visited by Danny Ketch, who was asking for help in stopping his corrupted brother, Johnny Blaze, at the time the ruler of Hell. Since Ketch asked about the Necrosis, Belasco made him fight his Spirit of Corruption, the host of Necrosis. After Ketch won, Belasco gifted him the Blight Blade and Necrosis, making him the new Spirit of Corruption.

Man-Thing

Magik revealed to Ted Sallis that he got his powers partially thanks to Belasco. The demon was then summoned by Jennifer Kale and then brought to the Dreadscape by Sallis and the Man-Thing to finally have a confrontation.

Madelyne Pryor, Queen of Limbo

Magik decided to give up the throne of Limbo to Madelyne Pryor, something that Belasco sensed before it could've happened. He sent S'ym and an horde of demons to fight the two women and Wolfsbane and Mirage, who were with them. After the attack failed, Belasco, now calling himself the "Red King," still managed to kidnap them all except for Illyana. Magik, helped by a past version of herself and by her brother helped everyone escape from him and the Goblin Queen became also the queen of Limbo.

When Madelyne, aided by Chasm, a clone of Spider-Man, and his lover Hallow's Eve started an invasion of Earth-616's New York City, Mary Jane Watson and Black Cat fell into Limbo. They were found by Belasco, who was now wearing his own skin as clothes. He promised to make them return to Earth, only if they managed to steal something for him: his own Soulsword. Now that the Earth and Limbo are overlapped, it was revealed that his lost Soulsword was hidden in the Screaming Tower by one of his spell that required him to skin himself alive.

What Belasco did not reveal to the two was that the Soulsword bonds with the first person that touch it and that the only way to retrieve it was to kill the holder of the sword. When the two women encountered S'ym, he explained to them the actual functioning of the Soulsword: the two touched the sword together, they both became half-holders and Belasco failed to kill them when they returned to his castle. Then they attacked, immobilized and dethroned him, putting S'ym on his place instead. Enslaved, Belasco was forced to send Black Cat and Mary Jane Watson home. He was then transformed into a table by his new boss.

The Stark-Roxxon War

Eventually returning to his domain, Belasco acted as a broker for a group of anonymous entities that wished to exert their influence on Earth and poison human souls. He facilitated an alliance between these beings and the Earther corporations of Roxxon and A.I.M., sponsoring their plan to acquire Stark Unlimited and use their combined resources for their own end. Becoming the contact point between these entities and the corporations, Belasco put his new thrall, Doctor Druid, to the service of A.I.M.'s Scientist Supreme, Monica Rappaccini. Belasco's clients additionally brought Justine Hammer back from the dead to partner with Roxxon and facilitate the acquisition.

After the Stark Unlimited Board of Directors voted in favor of their merger against their CEO Tony Stark, Belasco made his involvement known. However, Stark convinced Belasco's clients that Roxxon and A.I.M. were unreliable business partners to sustain the scale of their endeavor, prompting the entities to withdraw their sponsorship and demand the souls of the Board of Directors in reparation. Stark saved the board by negotiating their safety in exchange for the powerful mysterium that Hammer had previously stolen from him, while the board had to annul the merger and resign in return.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

• Sorcery: Belasco was one of the most powerful sorcerers on Earth and possesses a wide knowledge of spells, allowing him to shoot mystical rays, control the minds of humans and animals, and transform himself and others, among other things. He proved to be powerful enough to hold off Mercury and Dust simultaneously, despite their resistance to magic.
• Near Invulnerability: He was also endowed by the Elder Gods with immortality and apparent invulnerability. The exception to this is his own sword, which was forged by the Elder Gods themselves. It was this which cut off his right arm under unrevealed circumstances.
• Superhuman Strength: Belasco possesses a strong tail that can lift a man aloft.

Abilities

He is a skilled swordsman and has knowledge in pre-Cataclysmic Atlantean technology.

Notes

• This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Belasco. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Marvel Database, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Trivia

• Belasco might be based on the actor Bela Lugosi, his name possibly being a contraction of the actor's real name, Béla Blaskó.

See Also

• 49 appearance(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 8 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 15 minor appearance(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 59 mention(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 11 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 1 invocation(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 45 image(s) of Belasco (Earth-616)
• 6 quotation(s) by or about Belasco (Earth-616)
• 2 victim(s) killed by Belasco (Earth-616)
• 2 item(s) used/owned by Belasco (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Belasco on Marvel.com
• Belasco on Wikipedia.org
• Belasco at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe