Since the dawn of humanity, dead souls have collected in the netherworlds. Generations upon generations... now awakened! AND IN THE THRALL OF THE CHAOS KING! 
- —Daimon Hellstrom[src]
History
Early Life[]
The Hell-Lords had long desired to sire a child with a human woman for use as a gateway to gain further power. A demon calling himself Satan took human form and established the trappings of a mortal life for himself near Fire Lake, Massachusetts. Keeping his true identity a secret, he married a young woman, Victoria Wingate Hellstrom. Daimon was born to the "Hellstroms" a year later with a strange pentagram-shaped birthmark on his chest. His sister, Satana, was born when Daimon was three.[citation needed]
When Daimon was a young adolescent, Victoria interrupted a ritual sacrifice that "Satan" had staged in their basement involving the participation of Satana. Her husband then revealed to her that he was a demon. Traumatized to the point of hysteria, Victoria was institutionalized.[8] She eventually regained enough of her sanity to write a full diary describing her life with the demon before she died. Daimon and his sister, meanwhile, were placed in separate orphanages, and "Satan" disappeared to his netherworld domain, where he eventually brought Satana for training.[citation needed]
Learning the Truth[]
Daimon ultimately entered a monastery, hoping to become a priest. Shortly before being ordained, however, Daimon received legal notification of his inheritance of his father's house, where he found his mother's diary and learned the truth about his birth. At that point, "Satan," aware of his son's new knowledge, directed him telepathically through the house's secret basement interdimensional passageway to the demon's netherworld domain, or "Hell." Daimon's father beseeched his son to disregard his mother's diary's warnings and serve him in Hell. However, when "Satan" transported him back to Earth, Daimon decided to dedicate himself to fighting his father's evil. He immediately returned to Hell in an attempt to battle "Satan". Although he failed to defeat "Satan" outright, Daimon managed to pit many of "Satan's" slaves against their master as well as to steal the Netheranium trident of "Satan" and a chariot drawn by three demonic horses before returning to Earth.[8] Daimon also discovered the powers of the Darksoul that he had inherited from his father. He called himself the Son of Satan, and for the next several years battled many manifestations of demonic evil on Earth as well as other realms.
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The Son of Satan
As a Super-Hero[]
During this period, the Son of Satan maintained his civilian identity of occult expert Daimon Hellstrom and was a visiting specialist professor at a St. Louis college. Daimon battled many adversaries of his father, and he even battled his sister, Satana, who had become a succubus. On several occasions, Daimon aided other heroes in occult battle, including the Ghost Rider.[9] He became affiliated with the super-hero team the Defenders in their battles with demonic possessions and threats,[10] eventually becoming a member. During his Defenders membership, Daimon met and fell in love with his teammate the Hellcat.[11]
It was during this period, too, that he finally confronted his father and defeated him. Shortly afterward, the Son of Satan declared himself triumphant over his father and his father's influence.[12] Then, the Miracle Man, a superhumanly-powered criminal who had masqueraded as a monk, stole the Darksoul from Daimon in battle. The Miracle Man himself was subsequently defeated and the Darksoul was sent into a snake. Daimon was finally liberated from his partial possession by demonic evil and thus, with much of his powers gone, he retired his costumed identity of the Son of Satan.
Daimon thereupon married the Hellcat and the couple left the Defenders, moving to San Francisco.[13] He and his wife soon earned a reputation as supernatural investigators based there. Daimon continued to publish regularly in scholarly occult journals and became considered to be a leading demonologist. Daimon created the costumed identity of Hellstorm when battling supernatural menaces in public in order to preserve his professional reputation. In this capacity, they helped several superheroes in mystical problems, notably the West Coast Avengers.[14]
Over time, however, Daimon grew increasingly weak due to the separation from his Darksoul, until he lay near death. In desperation, the Hellcat used an ancient dark spell book titled the Grimorium Verum in order to summon Daimon's father. She asked him to restore Daimon's Darksoul to him, provoking the demon by saying that "Satan" needed his son as someone to test himself against. "Satan" agreed, restoring Daimon's Darksoul, although the Hellcat was driven insane at the sight of it. Daimon said that he was grateful for his wife's actions, but if the situation were reversed, he would have left her to die. The Hellcat, due to her insanity, eventually died by calling upon the entity known as the Deathurge.[15]
Daimon once more began battling his father and demonic agents. He gathered around him several agents of his own, including the villainous Nekra, Gabriel the Devil-Hunter, and the Gargoyle. During this time Daimon's friend, the occult terrorist Jaine Cutter, had remained by his side, hoping that her presence would "bring out the best" in him, and the two formed a type of romantic relationship. He also made a deal with the witch LaVoisin, impregnating her to learn about his father, including his secret true name.
In Charge[]
Using this information, Daimon was able to slay his father. Daimon was then given the "Black Halo" and lordship of Hell. He claimed that doing so would maintain the balance between Heaven and Hell, so that neither one of them could take control of the workings of the universe and humanity could control their own destiny. He learned that LaVoisin had given birth to a son, whom he realized was the resurrected Marduk Kurios.
Turning Over a New Leaf?[]
Selene wished to create a demonic version of the world-conquering Hellfire Club. She began associating with Blackheart. Blackheart and the Queen clashed with the Fantastic Four, Margali Szardos, Daimon, and a mysterious new figure called the Mechamage. The Hellfire Club was defeated in that encounter, and Blackheart was mystically bound into the Club's basement. Daimon then joined the Hellfire Club as its new White King as the means to balance the forces of good and evil in the Club's Inner Circle. Daimon, Szardos, Alyssa Moy and the Mechamage agreed to remain together to defend Earth against other demonic threats, calling themselves the Shadow Hunters;[16] however, Daimon later claimed that the formation of the Shadow Hunters was just a ruse that was done to placate the Fantastic Four as they parted company.[17]
The Hellcat's Return[]
The Hellcat's soul had ended up in the realm of the demon Mephisto, fighting an eternal battle in the so-called Arena of Tainted Souls, alongside fallen hero the Mockingbird. The two discovered sketchy details about a plot that Daimon was developing. The Mockingbird was able to send a warning to her husband, the hero Hawkeye, during a brief resurrection, and Hawkeye and his team the Thunderbolts confronted Daimon and then used their sorcerous connections to go to Hell in order to rescue the Mockingbird. They were tricked, however, by Daimon, and the Thunderbolts rescued the Hellcat instead, restoring her body to Earth just as Daimon had planned.[17]
Dormammu's Plan[]
The extradimensional sorcerer Dormammu later tried a direct invasion to both invade and take over the regions of Hell, beginning with the realm of Mephisto. Mephisto joined with his fellow rulers of Hell, Satannish and ostensibly Daimon, to oppose Dormammu, but was ultimately betrayed by Satannish, who revealed his true origins as a "stalking horse" for Dormammu.
Dormammu and Satannish nearly succeeded in annexing Mephisto's realm, but the Hellcat, who had stumbled onto the plot, managed to bring together Daimon and the death-gods Pluto and Hela and ultimately defeat Dormammu. As it is now known, the several incarnations of Hell are shaped by the subconscious thoughts (and fears) of those who would dwell within them. This loophole allowed Hela, Pluto, Daimon, and Mephisto to temporarily change the nature of Satannish and Mephisto's dimensions, ruled at the time by Satannish and Dormammu, respectively, into frozen wastelands. This neutralized the power of Dormammu's Flames of Faltine, rendering him too weak to fight. He fled to the Dark Dimension with Nicholas Scratch in tow.
Satannish, alone and demoralized at the rout of his master, was easily destroyed by a blast of mystical energy (in the back) from Mephisto as he reclaimed his realm. During these events, Dormammu had revealed his supposed ace in the hole -- that Satannish was, in fact, a demon of his own creation and was the demon who had fathered Daimon.[18] This was later exposed as a lie which Daimon had played along with in order to drive his former wife away for her own protection.
Daimon used this claim to assume control over Satannish's realm, and inherit Dormammu's right to rule as designated by the powerful Flames of Faltine. However, without either Satannish or Dormammu backing Daimon, Mephisto was able to gain control of the vast majority of "Hell."
When the demon Olivier attacked the other realms, Daimon and Doctor Strange observed Frank Castle (who had been temporarily empowered by angels as repentance for his family's death) defeat the demon.
Heaven's on Fire[]
Daimon investigated a massacre at Project Blackheart, learning that they were devoted Satanists who had been attempting to develop the ideal Anti-Christ to serve Lucifer. The angel Zadkiel, who had taken over Heaven, had his followers on Earth attempt to kill all of these children but one of the Blackheart children, Anton Satan, was able to escape. Daimon pledged to hunt this boy down and kill him.[19]
He was able to track the boy down to Wall Street where he had been working as an investment banker, and found him already under siege by Zadkiel's minions. He was stopped from killing Anton by his former lover, the occult terrorist Jaine Cutter, who had been protecting Anton so as to keep the occult balance. While the two argued, Anton was able to escape them and his pursuers. Daimon was then saved by the Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), who he reluctantly teamed up with alongside Jaine, Sara the Caretaker and Blaze's brother Danny Ketch, who had caught Anton.[20]
Daimon remained adamant that Anton should be killed instead of delivered to his father, but was talked down by Jaine who pointed out that they needed to turn him over so as to learn a way to get into Heaven from Satan. Zadkiel had moved a gateway to Hell from one of Satan's safehouses to Jasper County, where they had to face off against the Scarecrow and Madcap, two of the members of the Ghost Rider Assassination League that was hired by Zadkiel to both stop them and to kill Blaze and Ketch. During the ensuing fight Jaine was almost tricked into killing Daimon through Madcap's powers, but broke free. After switching targets, Daimon and Jaine were able to take down the Scarecrow and Madcap. Soon after this fight, they discovered Anton using Master Pandemonium's portal to Hell to send an invasion force through to Heaven using a portal contained within Sara, though she was quickly able to close it.[21] Rather than attempting to join in the fight against Zadkiel and Anton, Daimon and Jaine spent their time kissing.[22]
The Search for the Sorcerer Supreme[]
After Doctor Strange gave up his position as Sorcerer Supreme, Daimon was involved in the search for the next one. Brother Voodoo became the new Sorcerer Supreme, but eventually died while protecting Earth from Agamotto.[23]
The Fearless[]
After the demonic invasion of Las Vegas was averted, Daimon - who had discovered the Descent (the day when a Hell-Lord would become more powerful and the ones that they marked would become demons, as well as their heirs) was real after seeing Agent Venom, the Red Hulk, X-23, and the new Ghost Rider's Hell-Marks[24][25] - betrayed the Avengers and joined forces with Sin in her plot to raze the world using the hammers of the Worthy.[26]
The Revenge of Daniel Drumm[]
Daimon was killed by Victoria Hand, who was being possessed by the spirit of Brother Voodoo's brother, Daniel, in revenge for the death of his brother; however, his spirit did not die, as he appeared alongside the Ancient One when Doctor Strange regained his mantle as Sorcerer Supreme, telling Strange and the New Avengers that he would come back soon.[27]
Mania[]
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Some time after his frustrated attempt to turn the Venom symbiote into one of his Monsters of Evil,[28] Daimon, who was incarcerated at the Peak Maximum Security Prison in Virginia, revealed to Agent Venom that he did not know if he was indeed the original Daimon Hellstrom, as many copies of himself were created to explore every possible facet of the coming Descent. Daimon also revealed that Agent Venom's Hell-Mark had disappeared, freeing him from any infernal obligations.[29]
Avengers Undercover[]
Daimon later appeared as part of the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil, where he was part of Baron Helmut Zemo's Inner Circle.[30] He was shown to be living in Hellstrom Manor in Hell Town, Bagalia.[31]Attributes
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Powers
Cambion Physiology: As both a ruler of a dimension of Hell and the Son of Satan, Daimon wields vast magical abilities and commands vast power in his own dimension, the full details and extent of which are yet to be revealed. Potentially, he can perform virtually any magical feat.
- Superhuman Strength: Daimon possesses a great degree of superhuman strength. His strength is that above the normal human and Olympic-level trained athlete, as he possesses the natural strength of 10 men. His strength can also be augmented through his magical powers.[22]
- Superhuman Durability: The tissues of Daimon's body are considerably tougher and more resistant to injury than the tissues of a human being.[citation needed] His body is virtually invulnerable to conventional injury.[citation needed] He is capable of withstanding great impact forces, high caliber bullets, exposure to temperature and pressure extremes, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury.[11]
- Soulfire Manipulation and Pyrokinesis: One of Daimon's most common abilities in all of his incarnations is his ability to manipulate, generate, and discharge both earthly fire and soulfire for a variety of effects. The fire can usually be used to harm supernatural entities and the astral forms of others. He can also track others down using his fire and resurrect the dead, as well as create constructs of his soulfire.
- Flight: Daimon can fly by projecting fire from his body.[11]
- Elemental Manipulation: Both with and without his trident, Daimon has been shown to control and influence natural elemental forces to varying degrees. He can also control and summon storms at will.[32]
- Telepathy: Daimon can use his magical abilities to "tear" into the thoughts from the minds of other sentient beings. He can also communicate with others mentally, cast psychic illusions, and attack others telepathically.[17]
- Teleportation: Through his Darksoul, Daimon is capable of teleporting himself and other individuals across vast distances. He can also use this ability to travel into other dimensions. Daimon can also create and open gateways and portals to transverse locations near-instantaneously.[citation needed]
- Astral Projection: Daimon is a skilled astral projector, being able to project his soul self from his body and into the physical or spiritual planes of existence at will.[17]
- Healing: On numerous occasions, Daimon has been shown to heal himself and others from their physical injuries.[citation needed]
- Magical Awareness: Through his Darksoul, Daimon possesses the ability to sense and interpret magical energies within his immediate vicinity.[citation needed]
- Magical and Mystical Manipulation: As both a ruler of a dimension of Hell and the Son of Satan, Daimon possesses vast supernatural powers and can both manipulate and cast spells.[citation needed]
- Netheranium Trident: Daimon has often wielded an asymmetric trident made of Netheranium which can harness, amplify, and project magical energies.[citation needed]
- Sleep Spell
- Chronokinesis: Daimon is capable of traveling through and even manipulating time to a certain extent. He is able to travel into the past, and on another occasion manipulating temporal flow to manifest sunlight when battling a vampire.[citation needed]
- Shapeshifting: Due to his Darksoul and his status as the supernatural Son of Satan, Daimon has been shown to alter and shape his physical form and appearance in a manner similar to other demons. He can use this ability to sprout demonic wings in order to fly.[17]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- Daimon once used his powers to travel through time to ancient Atlantis. Since he did not travel through time more frequently, this feat must have been exceedingly difficult to accomplish.
- Although Daimon is the direct son of Marduk Kurios, he also appears to have elements of other demons.
- Daimon is no longer considered to be married to Patsy Walker due to the clause of "until death do us part."
- Daimon is not known by the general public to have demonic parentage.
- Upon discovering that Wiccan could see into alternate realities, Daimon flirted with him, revealing himself to be bisexual, to which a blushing Wiccan responded that he was engaged.[34]
Trivia
- Following the resurgence of monsters in comic books in the early 1970s, Stan Lee pitched the idea of a comic book in the same vein as Tomb of Dracula, a series titled "The Mark of Satan" which would have starred Satan himself, presumably acting against heroic figures. Roy Thomas was worried that the public would not accept a comic book starring Satan as the main character, even if he was a villain, and suggested instead the creation of the Son of Satan.[35]
- Daimon's birthday falls on February 2nd.[36]
See Also
- 282 appearance(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 16 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 31 minor appearance(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 39 mention(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 20 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 190 image(s) of Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 30 quotation(s) by or about Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
- 11 item(s) used/owned by Daimon Hellstrom (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Daimon Hellstrom on Marvel.com
- Daimon Hellstrom in the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
References
- ↑ Marvel Zombies 4 #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 #1 ; Hellstrom's entry
- ↑ Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #16
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Savage Avengers #12
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #31
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #34
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Marvel Spotlight #13
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #17–18
- ↑ Defenders #32
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Defenders #92
- ↑ Defenders #105
- ↑ Defenders #125
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #14–15
- ↑ Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14
- ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #1999
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Thunderbolts 2000 #1
- ↑ Hellcat #1–3
- ↑ Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #1
- ↑ Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #2
- ↑ Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #4–5
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #6
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #25
- ↑ Fear Itself: The Fearless #7
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #31–34
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #23–25
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #41
- ↑ Avengers Undercover #1
- ↑ Avengers Undercover #5
- ↑ Marvel Spotlight #12
- ↑ Savage Avengers Annual #1
- ↑ Strikeforce #6
- ↑ Cronin, Brian (February 9, 2018) Comic Legends: Did Stan Lee Try to Have a Comic Book Starring Satan? CBR. Retrieved on February 10, 2018.
- ↑ Marvel Spotlight #15
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 5