Manitou (Necromancer) (Earth-616)

Manitou
Name	Unrevealed
Current Alias	Manitou
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: White
Hair	No Hair At All
Skin	Yellow
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Skin-walker demon
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Occupation	Former anthropologist
Base of Operations	Mobile
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Michael Bennent, Simon Jowett, Charles Adlard
First	Dances With Demons #1 (July, 1993)
First	Dances With Demons #1 (July, 1993)
Death	Dances With Demons #4 (October, 1993)
Death	Dances With Demons #4 (October, 1993)

History

The skin-walker demon calling itself “Manitou” (“Spirit”) was once a mortal anthropologist who sought to discover Indigenous American tribal secrets believed long forgotten.  To that end, he made contact with two eccentric tribe members who believed that the current world was not the first world, and that there had been previous “Secret Worlds” that still existed hidden from the eyes of the unenlightened.  These tribe members offered to enlighten the anthropologist by lowering him into their sacred, smoke-filled kiva (Puebloan sweat lodge).  However, this offer was a trap set by the tribe members, who hoped to curse the outsider, and he was transformed into a skin-walker demon who served the “Death Way.”  Obtaining nourishment by causing death, the newly-created skin-walker demon used his powerful cursed form to consume the tribe members who had tricked him.

Assuming the title of "Manitou" ("Spirit"), the skin-walker demon spent over 20 years attempting to enter the “Secret Worlds” of Tokpela, Topka, and Kuskurza, in order to unleash the angered spirits who inhabited the previous worlds so that they could kill all of humanity, which he believed would finally free him from the demands of the Death Way.  However, he was stopped at every turn by Ghost Dancer (Nathaniel Great Owl), a being empowered by the Great Spirit Gitche Manitou to protect the Secret Worlds from trespassers.

In recent times, the Manitou demon, who had corrupted a legion of Clown demons to do his bidding, cornered Ghost Dancer (Nathaniel Great Owl) in a New York City subway and killed him, hoping to usurp the mantle of Ghost Dancer so that he could finally access the Secret Worlds.  However, the Ghost Dancer mantle was instead inherited by an unsuspecting James Owl, Nathaniel Great Owl’s grandson.  Forming an uneasy alliance with Iktomi, the god of trickery, the Manitou demon and his Clown demon underlings tracked James Owl to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. By that time, James Owl had fully accepted the mantle of Ghost Dancer and defeated his pursuers.  Using his powers to grow to gigantic proportions, James Owl consumed the Manitou demon.

Attributes

Powers

The Manitou demon possessed enhanced strength and durability. As a servant of the "Death Way," it gained nourishment and power by causing the death of others. As a skin-walker demon, it could use the flesh and entrails of its victims for a variety of effects, such as assuming the physical form of that victim, tracking individuals, and envisioning distant events.

See Also

• 4 appearance(s) of Manitou (Necromancer) (Earth-616)
• 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Manitou (Necromancer) (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Manitou (Necromancer) (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Manitou (Necromancer) (Earth-616)

Links and References

• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/manitoudemon.htm