Mephisto (Earth-616)

Mephisto
Name	Mephisto
Aliases	Satan, Maya, Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Devil, Prince of Lies, Prince of Devils, Lord of the Lower Depths, Mephistopheles, Legion, Old Nick, Nick Scratch, Doctor Bultar, Friend Impersonated Don Blake, Muffy, Jack Scratch, the Adversary, Great Corruptor, Devourer of Souls, Master of the Realm of Lost Souls, His Satanic Majesty, Evil Incarnate, Dark Lord of all that is Evil, Master of Malice, Securer of the Seven Sins, Whisperer in Darkness, Foul Pact Maker, Dread Persuader, Serpent, Spirit of Universal Lies, the Messenger, Lord of Darkness, Lord of the Lost Despair, Lord of Hate and Evil, Lord of Pain, Lord of the Dark Underworld, Lord of the Netherworld, Lord of Depravity, Lord of Evil, Lord of Temptation, Prince of Deceivers, Prince of Darkness, Prince of Liars, many others
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Hell-Lords, Lords of the Splinter Realms; Former member of the Six-Fingered Hand, Annihilation Wave; Thanos; countless others over centuries, Legion Accursed, Legion of the Lost Leader of a number of agents, including Arimanes, bailiffs, Bitterhorn, Challenger, Dargil, Darklove, Spohrrinox, Donna, Gormac, the Haazareth Three, Hellfred, Herlequin, Hykos, Jerry, John Law, Legion Nagrite, Montgomery H. Price, the Rakasha, Sidney, Skritch, Sykos, Tabak, the Vril, Woody, Zarathos; formerly master of Asmodeus
Relatives	Lilith (former wife); Blackheart (son); Mephista (daughter); Greylight (son); Halphas (distant cousin); Squadron Supreme of America (creations)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′6″ (1.98 m)
Weight	310 lbs (140.61 kg)
Eyes	Irises: White
Hair	Black
Unusual Features	Mephisto, in his natural form, possesses demonic characteristics including red skin, pointed ears, and sharpened canine teeth fangs.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Demon
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Hell
Occupation	Trickster Formerly ruler of an extra-dimensional "Hell",
Base of Operations	Hotel Inferno, Las Vegas, Nevada, Earth Formerly an extra-dimensional land of the dead, sometimes called "Hell" or "Hades"
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, John Buscema, Jerry Robinson
First	Bible Tales for Young Folk #1 (April, 1953) (As serpent)Silver Surfer #3 (September, 1968) (As Mephisto)
First	Bible Tales for Young Folk #1 (April, 1953) (As serpent)Silver Surfer #3 (September, 1968) (As Mephisto)

 Well may you tremble! For you gaze upon... Mephisto! 

—Mephisto

History

Origin

Mephisto

Mephisto is an extra-dimensional demon who first appeared as a fly, while the Celestial known as the Progenitor succumbed to the Horde, with Mephisto taking this opportunity to lay his maggots. He rules a fiery pocket dimension that he calls "Hell" or "Hades" although it is neither the Hell of the Christian religion nor the Hades ruled by Pluto, the Olympian god of the dead. Mephisto calls his extra-dimensional realm "hell" in order to exploit Earth human beings' belief in a single being of absolute evil, who is often referred to as Satan, who rules such a realm. Mephisto resembles the traditional visual conception of the devil. (It is not known whether this is Mephisto's true appearance, or one that he has adopted in order to resemble the devil). He also allows himself to be called names that human beings give to their conceptions of devils, such as Mephisto, a shortened form of Mephistopheles, the name given to the devil in the Faust legends and of a possible fallen angel.

Indeed, Mephisto has allowed people to believe him to be Satan himself. However, Mephisto is not the Biblical Satan, nor is he an actual devil such as those depicted by Judaism and Christianity. The real Satan has yet to be seen in any account. Mephisto's domain is inhabited by himself, by lesser demons who serve him, and by the astral forms of certain deceased human beings, which have been trapped in the bodies of demons. These demonic bodies imprisoning human spirits have been magically altered to resemble the deceased's mortal human forms. Mephisto is continually seeking to add more spirits of sentient beings to his realm by inducing living sentient beings to submit their wills to his. Mephisto apparently seeks primarily to enslave human souls, although he will go after those of extraterrestrials on Earth as well. However, according to Lilith, Mephisto was indeed the Biblical Satan who tricked Adam and Eve into being exiled from the Garden of Eden.

1,000,000 B.C.

Taking on the form of a snake, Mephisto appeared before a young man belonging to a tribe of mammoth-riding early humans, who had been slaughtered by a Wendigo. Mephisto offered the man the power to avenge his people in exchange for guessing his name, and bonded him to a Spirit of Vengeance to make him the first Ghost Rider.

Mephisto also attempted to corrupt Fan Fei, an exile from the city of K'un-Lun who possessed the power of the Iron Fist. Fan Fei rejected his suggestion that she use her power to conquer the world, and Mephisto vengefully assisted the Gorgilla Clan of Man-Apes in their war against Fan Fei and her followers, giving the Ape King the Power Stone.

When Iron Man was displaced a million years into the past, Mephisto attempted to manipulate him into making a deal - first by offering him gifts and then by sending the Ape King and other monsters to attack him. With Iron Man's armor running low on power, Mephisto - who had come into possession of the Time Stone - appeared before him in-person claiming to be Tony's real father. Tony refused Mephisto's offer and fought off the monsters the Hell Lord sent to pressure him into making a bargain, eventually returning to the present day.

In an attempt to defeat the Avengers, Mephisto convinced a young Thanos to attack them.

Garden of Eden

According to Lilith, Mephisto - again in the form of a snake - tricked Eve and Adam into partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge - ensuring their banishment from the Biblical Garden of Eden. Mephisto became increasingly obsessed with manipulating living humans into selling their souls to him, neglecting the teeming masses of damned souls already condemned to his realm.

6th century

During the rule of King Arthur he granted refuge to the sorceress; Morgan Le Fay in his realm in exchange for a piece of the sword Excalibur. Doctor Doom travelled back in time to trade Iron Man for the sword fragment. Doctor Doom also took Le Fay with him keeping her trapped in a mystical cage. Mephisto amused himself by watching Stark try to escape his Hellish realm, battling his demonic hordes. He took the form of a armored Howard Stark in demonic armor. Iron Man was able to defeat him and used his powers to return to the present.

10th century

Mephisto convinced Apocalypse that the false gods who mocked him needed to perish, sending the mutant into conflict with that era's Avengers.

In the year 987 A.D., seven members of a druid cult made a deal with Mephisto in exchange for immortality; they had agreed to funnel souls into his realm. Over the subsequent millennium, the mages acquired great wealth and became the board members of a London-based corporation named Mys-Tech. To pay their debt to Mephisto, the Mys-Tech board plotted to take over the world and kill vast numbers of innocents.

17th century

In 1667, Mephisto related the tale of Lucifer's fall from Heaven to John Milton. He wrote this down in his epic poem "Paradise Lost".

18th century

Mephisto encountered the sea Captain; Joost van Straaten and corrupted his soul causing him to be consumed by greed. He sent his ship and crew into a storm killing them all. He claimed his soul and cursed him to sail the seven seas forever becoming the legendary "Flying Dutchman".

In 1775, Heinrich Faust made a demonic bargain with Mephisto, but because he used his gift for good he got out of the contract on a technicality. He later told his tale to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which inspired his play "Faust: The Tragedy".

19th century

At the end of the 19th century Dr. Jonas Ravencroft, founded the Ravencroft Institute. One of the workers building the facility claimed Mephisto told him to cave the foreman head in with a hammer.

Modern Era

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After the Silver Surfer's soul.

Mephisto has made repeated unsuccessful attempts to break the will and enslave the soul of the noble alien known as the Silver Surfer. In order to do so, Mephisto kidnapped Shalla-Bal and used her to force the Surfer do his bidding and give up his soul. Taking her to his realm, Mephisto was shocked when the Surfer was able to follow him to his realm. Mephisto tried to tempt the Surfer with riches and women in an attempt to corrupt his soul. However, the Surfer was able to resist temptation. In a final attempt to try and corrupt the Surfer, Mephisto absorbed the Surfer into his mind. However, the opposite happened and Mephisto found out that the Surfer's purity was now influencing his mind. Releasing the Surfer, Mephisto admitted defeat, but not before sending Shalla-Bal back to Zenn-La and the Surfer back to Earth, where he is still trapped by the barrier erected by Galactus.

His next attempt was to use the wandering ghost of Joost van Straaten, the legendary Flying Dutchman. Mephisto used his powers to transform the ghost of Joost into the Ghost, a super-powerful entity to battle the Surfer. However, after the battle, the Ghost renounced Mephisto, who then began to banish the Ghost back to Limbo. However, the Surfer, truly understanding the torment of the Ghost's soul, sheds a single tear, which breaks the Ghost's curse freeing him from Mephisto's control and allows him to finally reach his eternal rest.

In his third attempt, Mephisto offered the Surfer what he wanted most: to be freed from the barrier created by Galactus. He agreed and travels to Zenn-La. However, Mephisto captured Shalla-Bal. Meanwhile, back on earth after a brief battle, Mephisto tells the Surfer that he would free Shalla-Bal if he destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D.. At the same time, Mephisto secretly replaces a secretary at S.H.I.E.L.D. with Shalla-Bal in the hopes that the Surfer will kill her along with the rest of the organization. However the Surfer refused to hurt anyone, so he sent her back to Zenn-La.

Thor

Thor, who was trapped in Loki's body, was banished to Mephisto's realm. But when Mephisto touched Thor's shoulder, he soon realized it was Thor. Sif and the Warriors Three went to Mephisto's realm, where they found him and Thor frozen in a chunk of ice. Thor used his selfsame powers to free his friends and then defeated Mephisto by radiating his inner goodness, causing the hell-lord to suffer extreme pain. Surrendering, Mephisto transported them all back to Asgard, where Odin condemns the heroes to Earth for daring to question him. Meanwhile, Tana Nile uses her control pack to disguise herself as an Earthling while accepting the fact that she and Silas Grant are marooned on Earth. Doctor Donald Blake discovers that his office has been closed in his absence due to a change in building ownership. Slowly but surely, the exiled and marooned are separated and all fall prey to Mephisto. He later battled him again went he is forced back to his realm. He used his demons to disguise as his friends taunt him. However he is able to see through the ruse and escape.

Doctor Doom

Cynthia von Doom faced constant persecution at the hands of the Baron and his men and, in an effort to punish them, she made a deal with Mephisto, promising him her soul. Cynthia walked into a village and started killing the Baron's men, but unbeknownst to her, the magic she was using also killed every child in the village, just as Mephisto had planned. Horrified over what she had done, she renounced the power, and was stabbed by a dying guardsman. She survived long enough to wander into the woods, where she died in the arms of her husband, making him promise to keep their son Victor from walking the same path as her. Upon her death, her soul was trapped in Mephisto's realm, where it was to be tortured for all eternity. Doctor Doom was allowed to summon and challenge Mephisto once a year and try to win back the soul of his deceased mother. After casting a spell to summon the Lord of Lies's presence in his castle, Doom battles the Devil's chosen champion: Kagrok the Killer. However, he lost every time to the prince of lies.

Ghost Rider

The human stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze once made a pact with Mephisto, whom he believed to be Satan, by exchanging his soul for Mephisto's saving his stepfather "Crash" Simpson from dying by cancer. However, Mephisto allowed Simpson to die instead from injuries he suffered in performing an unsuccessful motorcycle stunt. However, before Mephisto could take possession of Blaze's soul, Simpson's daughter Roxanne arrived and recited a spell of banishment she had read in one of Blaze's occult books. Mephisto was forced to flee without Blaze's soul, but not before he had grafted the essence of the demon Zarathos to Blaze's body. Roughly two thousand years ago, Mephisto had taken control of the living flame that was Zarathos' soul. Since Zarathos was too powerful to use as a mere lackey, Mephisto amused himself over the centuries by placing the essence of Zarathos in a human host. Mephisto employed him in that form to claim human souls. After Mephisto grafted Zarathos' essence onto Blaze, Zarathos would continually take control of Blaze's body. The composite Zarathos/Blaze entity became known as Ghost Rider.

Mephisto made a deal with Jennifer Glatzer, a Satanist. She would get Linda Littletrees involved in Satanism under the pretense of harmless fun. However, she soon became a sacrifice that they offered to Satan, and Linda's soul was put in forfeit. He sent her after Ghost Rider, but when she failed, Mephisto forced her to turn her own Satanic power on herself in front of Blaze as both a punishment and a warning. In a desperate bid to save Roxanne, Blaze surrendered himself to the devil. He was, however, stopped by the Son of Satan. He next sent Roulette after them, and then tricked Roxanne into coming to hell to rescue her father, where he tried to use her again to gain Ghost Rider's soul, but failed.

Doctor Strange

Mephisto, disguised as Satan, used James Mandarin as a tool against Doctor Strange in order to lure him to hell. The Mandarin was returned to Earth after Strange defeated Mephisto and stole some mystical books from Strange's home, but was caught and Strange erased all memories he had of him being a sorcerer.

Tormenting the Surfer

Mephisto kidnapped Shalla-Bal once again, but when the Surfer comes to his realm to attack him, he transformed himself into energy and sends the energy orb out into space. The Surfer chases after it. However, he realizes he's once more trapped in the barrier that is around the Earth.

Hell-Lords

The Hell-Lords met in Hades where they decided to merge their respective realms, thus increasing their power, and to begin taking in new souls. They perform a ritual creating the nexus of the netherworlds. Unfortunately, this also summons the Demogorge, who begins consuming the Hell-Lords one by one.

Darkoth

Mephisto saved Darkoth from an explosion by transporting him to his realm. He then sent him against Thor.

The Beyonder

Mephisto sought to steal Beyonder's powers or to destroy him to win the favor of Death. To do this Mephisto sent an army of supervillains called the Legion Accursed to attack the Beyonder, who is saved by the Thing. After the Legion Accursed was defeated, Mephisto returned its members to where they were before he formed the team.

Master Pandemonium

Mephisto has sometimes been impersonated by lesser demons who imitate his form. Such demons are defeated far more easily than the virtually invincible Mephisto. Mephisto has also bound demons to actor Martin Preston, thus creating the entity called Master Pandemonium.

Franklin Richards

Doom kidnapped Franklin so that he could give Franklin's soul to Mephisto in exchange for the freedom of his mother's.

Mephisto Vs

At another time, Mephisto initiated a complex plot that in the end would cause Hela (the Asgardian death goddess) trouble in the far future. Hela had recently stolen some twentieth century souls that rightfully belonged to him. Knowing of Hela's curse against Thor, he wished to demonstrate to Thor the horrors of living on a plane of the dead. First of all, Mephisto transported the Fantastic Four and Franklin Richards physically to his plane. There he tricked Susan Richards into believing that he had made a deal with Reed Richards years earlier. Mephisto then apparently took away Reed's intelligence, making Reed a drooling idiot. Sue agreed to stay in Mephisto's realm if he returned Reed's intellect and returned the Fantastic Four and Franklin to Earth. A desperate Reed thought that the clue might mean the X-Factor team.

He contacted them and asked for their help. X-Factor agreed, and ultimately confronted Sue Richards, under Mephisto's control, and Mephisto, who appeared in a waterfront warehouse. Mephisto tried to get them to bargain with him, but Iceman refused and broke Mephisto's seductive spell. They attacked but he was able to use his illusion powers to confuse them. He then got Jean Grey to agree to sell her soul in return for the release of Sue Richards and X-Factor. The X-Men then tried to rescue Jean Grey, and Mephisto tricked Rogue into believing he was susceptible to her power to absorb other people's memories and powers.

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Wishing to save the X-Men, she used her powers to absorb their personalities. Rogue then found out that Mephisto had been pretending that her powers could affect him. He then drained her soul, plus the personalities of all the X-Men she had absorbed. Mephisto then transported himself and Rogue to where the badly beaten Thor lay, after battling the Midgard Serpent. Hela arrived, claiming Thor's soul as her own. Mephisto somehow used Rogue's powers to release Thor's soul from his body, where he then captured Thor's soul and also sent Rogue back to the X-Men. Hela arranged for the Avengers to arrive to fight Mephisto while she tried to free Thor's soul. Mephisto was able to beat the Avengers while Hela was unable to free Thor's soul from Mephisto's mystic mylar. Mephisto tried to break Thor's soul, both with temptation and pain, but he was unable to. Realizing that such a soul on his plane would cause nothing but trouble, Mephisto returned Thor's soul to his body and conceded defeat to Hela. Mephisto then revealed to the Living Tribunal that his power weakening was nothing more than a sham, and that he never really had any claim over Thor's soul anyway. In fact, the whole plan had been to give Thor a small taste of what it was like on a plane of the dead. When Thor's soul finally arrived on Hela's plane, Thor would be more determined than ever to cause Hela as much trouble as possible.

Mishna

Mishna, a poor Landlak, seeked to bargain her soul with Mephisto in exchange for immortality in order to provide for her family forever. She crossed paths with Silver Surfer, and after a small talk, Mishna changed her mind and refused to deal with Mephisto.

Mephista

Mephisto had a daughter Mephista with an unidentified human mother. She has battled Doctor Strange on a number of occasions.

Scarlet Witch

Mephisto's soul was used by the Scarlet Witch to give birth to twin sons, Tommy and Billy. He reabsorbed them, effectively ending their existence. Wanda had also reanimated her deceased mentor, Agatha Harkness, through whom she cast a spell to make her forget her children in order to ease her pain. They were later reborn as Speed and Wiccan.

Devil's Reign

Mephisto's son Blackheart eventually killed his father and took his throne of hell. However, Mephisto managed to revive himself and decided to go to an alternate universe and marry its inhabitant Sara Pezzini in order to get the Witchblade. For this he needed the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic, but came into conflict with the Fist of Weapon Zero, who tried to find way to enter Mephisto's universe. Mephisto managed to trick the Silver Surfer into helping him in going to this alternate universe, and then went on to possess Killrazor. Killrazor went to fight against Cyblade, of this universe, and Ghost Rider who had arrived to this universe thanks to Jennifer Kale and Eternity. The superhero duo were able to defeat Killrazor, but Mephisto appeared and abducted Cyblade, while leaving Ghost Rider behind. As Mephisto forced the New Yorkers of this universe to go and kill everyone in their path, Ghost Rider allied with Ballistic into fighting the hordes of demons, while Wolverine and Zoe Culloden of Landau, Luckman & Lake, who also arrived to this to universe to stp Mephisto. Mephisto took possession of Ballistic's teammate, Heatwave and under the guise of the city's mayor captured Zoe. Wolverine and Ballistic fought him and freed Culloden from his grasp.

When Sara Pezzini returned, Mephisto took on the appearance of Ian Nottingham and the two went out to dinner. While inside the restaurant, Wolverine charged in and assaulted Mephisto, but Sara retaliated still thinking the demon was Ian, until she realised the truth. Elektra, who also arrived in this universe thanks to Culloden, joined the fight against Mephisto, while the demon teleported Wolverine away. After Pezzini used the Witchblade to protect herself and Elektra from Mephisto's attack, they emerged in a showy graveyard riddled with ninjas. They then confronted Mephisto in a church where he offered Pezzini to free her from the Witchblade, but she refused prompting the demon to teleport her home, leaving himself with Elektra. He then took Elektra as his prisoner, along with Cyblade, taking them to his new home in this universe's Las Vegas where Heatwave, now calling himself the Fire King and acting as Mephisto's second in command, began gaining more and more followers for the demon-lord. The two females were able to break free and take on the Fire King, but Cyblade didn't allow Elektra to kill him. After the Silver Surfer entered the other universe, he teamed up with Weapon Zero and freed Heatwave from Mephisto's control. The now freed Heatwave used all of this powers send Mephisto back to his own universe, sacrificing himself in the process.

Blackheart was eventually overthrown as the ruler of hell by Ghost Rider, Mephisto took back his throne, after Ghost Rider abandoned hell.

Nighthawk

Nighthawk was put into a a coma and kept alive, listed in a hospital simply as a John Doe. He was revived from his coma, seemingly by an angel, who granted him special visions that enabled him to see crimes before they were committed. Returning to his life of heroics, Nighthawk soon found that this supposed blessing was a nightmare in the making: He attacked criminals before they committed a crime, making him a criminal himself and attracting the attention of Daredevil. This led to a clash between the two where Nighthawk, in a fury, killed Daredevil. He and Daredevil's corpse were transported to Hell where Kyle learned that his "gift" was actually given to him not by an angel, but by Mephisto. Trapped in Hell, Kyle fought his way out while carrying the corpse of Daredevil along the way and found a means to restore Daredevil back to life via demonic flames. Ultimately, they escaped from Hell after Mephisto attempted to trick the two heroes into believing that they were in Heaven. However, Daredevil saw through this illusion and they returned to Earth.

Brass Bishop

Centuries ago, Bishop Benedicto de Vica Severtes fell in love with a young woman named Beatriz but, feeling God would never allow him to have her, he turned to Mephisto, a powerful demon to have her by his side in exchange for his soul upon death. He soon learned why it is dangerous to deal with a devil for Beatriz was soon by his side, but as a nun, making her even farther from his grasp. Feeling betrayed by both god and devil alike, he swore he wouldn't lose his soul without reason and constructed a suit of brass which had the power to conceal the soul of whomever wore it. However, it required the blood of an innocent woman to seal it, ensuring the security of his soul. The Bishop turned to the only woman whose soul he could entrust was pure: that of Beatriz's. When Mephisto noticed the Bishop's soul was missing, he sent out one of his demons, Dargil, to investigate. But the Bishop had been waiting and beheaded him, putting his head on a chain as his servant. He then challenged Mephisto to return his soul, but Mephisto would only give it back to him in exchange for Beatriz's, which was in heaven. The Brass Bishop vowed he would never trade her soul for his but as the years passed, he grew more weary of life and decided to capture Beatriz' soul in order to hand it over to Mephisto. To that end, he built the mystical Tower of Babel which would lead to Heaven through the use of the Solomon Seal. However, Puck and the sorcerer Modred were able to stop him. The Brass Bishop re-surfaced however, and took over the town of White Cross, Newfoundland, where he reconstructed the Tower by using the citizens as slaves. Alpha Flight was sent in to investigate. While Puck's memories of his encounter with the Bishop were clouded, he soon remembered all. The Bishop had attempted to lure Puck out so that he could use him as a pathfinder to the Solomon Seal, in which he did after gaining control of him in the Tower. However, Puck was able to gain enough control over himself (with the help of the other souls the Bishop had trapped) to use the Solomon Seal (which mystically opens anything) to unseal the brass armor. Standing merely a few feet away from the gates to heaven, the armor came undone and Mephisto welcomed Benedico de Vica Severtes to his immortal realm. The Bishop was soon gone, the Tower disappeared and the townspeople returned to normal.

Black Panther

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Everett K. Ross meeting Mephisto!

Mephisto went to meet with the Black Panther. He travels to their apartment where Everett K. Ross received a knock on the door but when he opened it he is shocked to find a demonic threat. Ross became the Devil's Advocate as he is left to entertain him until the Panther's return. Mephisto conjured a pair of pants for Everett while they waited, which frightened Everett as he believed he had sold his soul. But T'Challa returned and saved Everett knocking out the demon. Everett wondered how he could defeat Mephisto so easily, it was revealed he sold his soul to him, but what Mephisto was not aware of was the Black Panther was forever tied to the Panther God.

Mockingbird

After the death of Mockingbird, her soul had apparently become trapped in Mephisto's Realm. Bobbi soon sent a message which helped in the resurrection of Hellcat. Mephisto pitted Mockingbird and Hellcat in the Arena of Tainted Souls.

Archenemy

During the Archenemy's attack on the united Splinter Realms, Mephisto and his forces guarded the western portion.

Hutch

Illyana Rasputina, from an alternate Earth, had a son called Hutch. Unfortunately, as he had been born between dimensions, all dimensions had equal claim on the child since he was part of all of them without ever having a true body. Now a rather desperate mother, Magik struck a deal with Mephisto, who would ensure that Hutch would get a body. Unfortunately, the cost would be the deaths of every mutant in all of the dimensions, as all of them were drawn to the dimension where Hutch was. The boy was happy to finally have a body and see his mother but, when he learned what a huge sacrifice this would entail, he sacrificed himself and returned to being non-corporeal.

Nightcrawler

Mephisto crashed Nightcrawler's birthday party to ask if was he was willing to help in the battle of the Hell realms. He offered to resurrect his brother Stephan Szardos and protect his family from harm. Nightcrawler refused and told the demon to leave.

One More Day

Mephisto in "One More Day"

When Spider-Man's Aunt May was wounded from a sniper bullet, Mephisto approached him and offered him a deal. He saved her from death but erased Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane Watson and all the happiness it brought, as well as the public knowledge of his secret identity from the world.

Molecule Man

Norman Osborn was transported to the dark dimension before Mephisto, Enchantress, Set, Zarathos, Molecule Man and the Dragon of the Moon. However, it was not Mephisto at all but rather an illusion created by the Molecule Man.

Doctor Strange is forced to make a deal with Mephisto in order to save the world.

Dísir

Mephisto decided to donate a portion of his realm to the Dísir, the forsaken Valkyrie of Bor, much to the annoyance of his demon subjects. He also allowed them to invade Hela's Hel as he did not care about their territorial agreements.Thor was brought before Mephisto himself, where he warned Asgardian that his subjects would not be pleased with his presence. Mephisto then tried to make a bargain with Thor, promising to give him the Eir-Gram and a "happily ever after" for Asgard if he agreed.Thor is fighting his way through the hordes of demons. He found the Eir-Gram but could not lift it. Mephisto explained that the Dísir who placed it there simply enchanted it to only go for who it "Doth belong". With Hela calling him from Hel, Thor makes a hard decision: to call on the Disir, who decide to end him. He defeated the Disir and with the souls of the dead saved, Hela traveled to Mephisto's realm, where she confronted Mephisto who denied that he had any desire to even invade Hel.

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Date with Magma

When Dani Moonstar was forcibly moved to Hel, the New Mutants accidentally teleported into Mephisto's Hell instead of Hel. Mephisto immediately offered the New Mutants a deal: he would send them out of Hell and even teleport them straight into Hela's domain, in exchange for a date with Magma. Amara agreed, and Mephisto teleported the team in Hel. He even saw her again but she wished to keep it a secret. Mephisto's relationship with Magma collapsed after she uncovered his dealings with the dangerous Disir, which caused her to call off any chance of furthering their relationship, much to his displeasure.

Closing Time

Mephisto liked to, at closing time, choose a bar and talk about his day. If you listen and survive, he will give you a tip. At his latest bar, he told the bartender about what was happening during Fear Itself. He offered the barman a deal of eternal life with no pain. He whisked him away to his realm where he used his blood to provide ink and wrote a request for a treaty with the Serpent and a warning about Loki.

Circle of Four

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When Blackheart tried to rule Hell by bringing it to Earth, Mephisto gave the heroes who were fighting his son, Venom, Red Hulk, X-23, and Ghost Rider, another chance to live after they were killed by Blackheart's forces. Mephisto secretly bestowed the heroes with Hell Marks, insignias that designated the heroes as his heirs without their knowledge, which was something Agent Venom would discover after his encounter with Hellstorm.

Later, Mephisto was defeated and replaced by Strong Guy as the leader of Hell. However, when the Thunderbolts were accidentally transported to Hell, Mephisto took the opportunity to give them a way out if they defeated Strong Guy. Red Hulk managed to convince Guido to abandon the position of Hell Lord and try to regain his lost soul, thus allowing Mephisto to regain the throne and let the Thunderbolts return to Earth.

Mephisto was later summoned by Agent Venom to remove his Hell Mark, which had been transferred to Mania via the Venom symbiote clone and made her a target of the Department of Occult Armaments. Mephisto helped them deal with the DOA but refused to remove the Hell Mark, cryptically revealing that it had been bestowed upon the symbiote and not its host.

Damnation in Las Vegas

When Doctor Strange used magic to restore the city of Las Vegas following its ravaging at the hands of Hydra, he accidentally tore a hole in the fabric of dimensional magic. The lords of a numerous amount of these dimensions, including Mephisto, waged war in a long-abandoned necro-dimension where the doorway was the most powerful. Mephisto emerged victorious, and manifested his realm in Las Vegas in the form of the Hotel Inferno. The tower's influence began to change the citizens of Las Vegas, by making them act on their very base instincts and impulses. In turn, even for the committing of lesser sins, their souls were taken by Mephisto.

After Strange forfeit the liberation of the city for cheating in a game of brimstone blackjack against Mephisto, his friend Wong assembled the Midnight Sons to oppose Mephisto's forces. The Ghost Rider confronted Mephisto head-on, but the Hell-Lord simply stripped him of Zarathos' curse and killed him. In a sudden turn of events, Blaze revealed that he had intended to die by Mephisto's hand, since he was sent to Hell and soon usurped Mephisto's vacant throne, therefore making him the new king of Hell. Mephisto soon lost his influence over his realm and was defeated by Doctor Strange. He then tried to escape back to Hell, but was defeated by Blaze and an army of the Spirits of Vengeance. Mephisto was returned to Earth and was held captive in the top floor of Hotel Inferno, in a prison fortified by countless of magical restraints.

Post-Imprisonment Imposters

After the real Mephisto was imprisoned in Las Vegas, lesser demons began impersonating him to influence the external world. One such demon targeted the Falcon and then moved on to the Champions. He arrived after Spider-Man and Brawn found themselves helpless as Ms. Marvel and Viv Vision were killed during a battle with Zzzax. Driven by guilt, Spider-Man accepted Mephisto's offer to reverse time and save his teammates, unwittingly allowing a girl he saved in the previous timeline die. Mephisto watched as Miles told Kamala the truth of what happened, leading to Miles quitting the Champions until he could figure out what he really wanted to do and if he could handle the weight of being Spider-Man. He explained to a baffled Blackheart that he wanted to torture all Spider-Men as well as snuffing out the kind of hope young superheroes like Miles brought with them.

At some point Mephisto, or someone claiming to be him, took possession of Teddy Poole. When Gwenpool and Squirrel Girl found out, they broke into Mephisto's Realm, beat up Mephisto, and rescued Teddy. Another Mephisto imposter manipulated Otto Octavius into returning to his villainous Doctor Octopus persona and original body in order to defeat the Spider-Man of Earth-44145.

Squadron Supreme of America

Mephisto - or an imposter - is also responsible for the resurrection of Phil Coulson and the creation of a new version of the Squadron Supreme, whose objective is to protect exclusively the United States, even against the Avengers.

Freedom and Death

When the new king of Hell Johnny Blaze began capturing the various demons who were still roaming the Earth, went to Hotel Inferno and broke Mephisto out in order to have more control over his demons. While on their way, Mephisto informed Blaze about Lilith intention to unite the underworlds and become its ruler. However, they were then faced by Doctor Strange. After Strange failed to reason with Blaze, Johnny was then confronted by his brother Danny as the Spirit of Corruption, Sara, Wolverine and Punisher. During their confrontation, different demons arrived for Mephisto's head. Danny stabbed Johnny with his blade consuming his corruption and then Strange exorcised the remaining demonic corruption off Johnny. Following this, Johnny fully regained his mind and thanked his brother for freeing him before taking Mephisto back to his prison.

After both Moon Knight and Khonshu saw visions of an apocalyptic future caused by powerful demons, they stole the powers of the Prehistoric Avengers and killed Mephisto with Mjolnir. After Khonshu took over the Earth, a Mephisto from a different universe arrived to punish the moon god for the crime of killing his reality's Mephisto. Khonshu killed this version of Mephisto with Mjolnir as well, only for another incarnation of Mephisto to arrive to the 616-reality. Following the defeat of the moon god at the hands of the Avengers, Mephisto found he was unable to resurrect himself through his usual means, and - taking on the form of a demonic black dog - began devouring the family members of the individuals who had made deals with him in the past in order to gather enough energy to resurrect himself, assisted by Howard Stark.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Mephisto is a Class Two Demon, and possesses vast supernatural power, which is apparently inherent within him. He is energized by sources of evil in the human world.

• Superhuman Strength: Mephisto possesses some degree of superhuman strength. He is capable of using his magical powers to augment his strength, enabling him to lift well in excess of 100 tons.
• Superhuman Speed: Mephisto is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete.
• Superhuman Stamina: The various mystical energies flowing through Mephisto's body augments his musculature so that it generates virtually no fatigue toxins during physical activity. As a result, Mephisto possesses almost limitless superhuman stamina.
• Superhuman Durability: The tissues of Mephisto's body, while similar in appearance to a human's, are considerably tougher and more resistant to injury than the tissues of a human being. Mephisto's body is virtually invulnerable to conventional injury. He is capable of withstanding great impact forces, high caliber bullets, exposure to temperature and pressure extremes, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury.
• Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his superhuman durability, it is possible to injure Mephisto. However, his unique physiology and mystical energies enable him to rapidly recover from almost any form of injury. He is capable of regenerating almost any damaged or destroyed tissue, even missing limbs.
• Immortality: As a demon, Mephisto is functionally immortal. He is immune to the effects of aging and is immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections. Mephisto is also beyond the need of food, water, or oxygen.
• Magical Manipulation: He can control magical energy for various effects, among which are the augmentation of his own physical strength, levitation, teleportation, the projection of mystical energy as force blasts, invisibility, matter manipulation, image projection, size transformation of his body or other objects or beings, the creation of temporary inter-dimensional apertures, and so on.
• Mystical Deal: Through a Faustian bargain, Mephisto is able to fulfill almost any wish that someone wants in exchange for something that they have - usually their souls. Once the agreement is sealed, it is virtually impossible for the victim to escape compliance.
• Shapeshifting: Mephisto is more of a force than a physical being, one that can take any form that he wants. His "normal" appearance is that of male, red skinned humanoid with vampiric aspect and attire. However, Mephisto can appear in any form imaginable, having turning himself into animals, humans of any gender, or more commonly into other demonic forms, ranging from a stereotypical image of Satan to a giant reptilian monster. During his confrontation with Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange, Mephisto briefly turned into a inconceivable incarnation of evil with numerous misshapen images within him. Mephisto can also enlarge himself to intimidate and easily defeat his enemies.
• Ensnare Astral Bodies: Mephisto also possesses certain powers enabling him to capture and detain the astral bodies (sheaths of the soul) of recently deceased human beings. Mephisto does not have jurisdiction over all the souls of humanity's recently deceased. It is not yet known what the prerequisite conditions are for him to be able to manipulate a human soul, nor are the precise means by which he accomplishes the feat known. Apparently these conditions require that the human being in question willingly agree to submit to Mephisto's will. It is not known how a human being may free himself from bondage to Mephisto (although Johnny Blaze apparently did), nor whether Mephisto will forever retain control of the souls he has obtained. Nor is it known whether or not Mephisto "feeds" on the psychic energies of such souls as other demons do.
• Dimensional Entrapment: Apparently Mephisto can entrap a living human being within his realm through sheer physical force, even if the person did not submit his or her will to him. The woman named Topaz was thus entrapped until her recent escape.
• Netherworld Dimensional Power Tap: Among the demons of various extra-dimensional netherworlds adjacent to Earth, Mephisto has few rivals in terms of personal power and scope of influence, although Satannish has stalemated him in battle. Mephisto's power seems to be connected to his extra-dimensional domain and diminishes over time spent away from it. Therefore, he usually sends demonic agents to do his bidding.
• Reality Manipulation: Mephisto was able to create the realities Earth-7161 and Earth-71241 by creating a small alteration in the Earth-616 reality. As part of a deal with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Mephisto wove the Earth-81545 reality into Earth-616.
• Penance Stare immunity: Ghost Rider's Penance Stare doesn't affect Mephisto; to the contrary, it makes him stronger, due to that power making its victim relive all of its misdeeds at once, as well as the fact that he has no soul.
• Medium Awareness: Mephisto possesses an unknown degree of medium awareness, able to pause a battle between himself, Doctor Strange, and Victor von Doom to monologue to the reader of the comic.

Abilities

Mephisto is an experienced and highly skilled liar and strategist. He is also a highly skilled sorcerer with near infinite knowledge of arcane and occult subjects.

Weaknesses

Despite his immense power, Mephisto does have several significant limitations. He is unable to force the subjugation of any sentient beings will to his own without that being's deliberate submission. Likewise, he cannot make the same kind of pact with the same person he has done before. Moreover, Mephisto's reality manipulation does not seem to be completely permanent, as some changed aspects of the life of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were undone. He is also incapable of reading the thoughts of any sentient being. Mephisto's powers are linked with his extra-dimensional realm and his powers rapidly decrease the longer he is away from his realm. As a result, he typically uses or manipulates others into performing whatever plan he has in mind. Also, despite continuously trying to get any noble soul to his realm and possession, he must need to corrupt them first, or otherwise, he himself will be, ironically, injured in the process. In fact, in the event that Mephisto is usurped from his position, incapacitated or even destroyed to the point of being unable to reestablish, all his mystical actions, including his agreements, began to crumble and fall apart.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

A crystal that held Zarathos.

Former Equipment

Time Gem: Mephisto had briefly in his possession the Time Gem which he used to transport Iron Man to the Stone Age.

Transportation

Interdimensional teleportation using his own powers.

Notes

• As stated above, many powerful demons, Mephisto included, have claimed or played off the name of Satan. Despite this, no single one has ever been confirmed to be the true "Satan" and overlord of all evil. This seemingly contradicts a previous editorial reply in the The Hammer Strike letters page that stated, "Mephisto and Satan, however difficult as it may be for you to accept at first, are one and the same character."
• Mephisto was one of the characters featured in the series of Marvel Value Stamps issued in the 1970's.
• Whether Mephisto was responsible for Johnny Blaze becoming the Ghost Rider has been the subject of numerous retcons over the years. Satan (Lucifer) was originally the entity responsible, but this was later retconned into being Mephisto pretending to be Satan. Lucifer was re-retconned into being responsible in Ghost Rider Vol. 6, but this has been disregarded by subsequent storylines such as Damnation - which depict Mephisto as being behind not only Johnny Blaze's transformation into Ghost Rider, but all the Spirits of Vengeance.
• Mephisto seems to have a hatred towards all Spider-Men. This can be evident as shown when Mephisto started to torment Peter Parker, after his deal with Patient Zero, cursing Agent Venom and his symbiote with a Hell-Mark, also tormenting Ben Reilly, and Miles Morales, and turning Otto Octavius back to his original self.

Trivia

• Mephisto also appeared in Marvel Comics Super Special #1 which featured the rock band KISS. After being transformed into comic book superheroes, band leader Gene Simmons meets and battles Mephisto in Hell. It is not known if this story is part of mainstream Marvel continuity.
• Mephisto has sometimes taken the form of his son Blackheart, but red in color. However, it could also be that when Mephisto created Blackheart he modeled him after himself.

See Also

• 415 appearance(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 19 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 67 minor appearance(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 174 mention(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 24 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 4 invocation(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 218 image(s) of Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 42 quotation(s) by or about Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 14 victim(s) killed by Mephisto (Earth-616)
• 6 item(s) used/owned by Mephisto (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Mephisto on Wikipedia.org
• Mephisto at the Witchblade Wiki
• Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #8 (July 1986)
• Mephisto
• Knightmare6.com; Mephisto
• Profile of Mephisto