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Satana (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
Satana is a fictional character
, a comic book
half-demon appearing in the Marvel Comics
universe
. She is the sister of Daimon Hellstrom
, also known as the Son of Satan.
Satana first appeared in Vampire Tales
#2 in October, 1973. She was created by Roy Thomas
and John Romita
.
. They were the half-human children of Satan
(their father was later retconned
into a demon named Marduk Kurios who was actually the biblical Lucifer, according to the N'Garai
). Satana and her brother were groomed by their father to be evil, but Daimon
rejected these teachings, while Satana embraced them.
When Satana was still a child, her mother, Victoria Wingate, discovered her husband and children's true nature and was driven mad. Daimon was raised by servants, while Satana was taken to her father's particular Hell
-dimension (of which there are many in the Marvel Universe
) and taught black magic
. As a reward for her devotion to him, Satana's father gave her a familiar
named Exiter, with whom she formed a close bond. Satana began studying magic under her father and the demon Dansker. In Hell, her soul was bonded with an evil spirit called the Basilisk (not to be confused with the Basilisk) in order to increase her magical power.
As an adult, Satana was banished to Earth by the Four as a succubus
, draining the souls of men. When she does this, the victim's soul transforms into an ethereal butterfly; Satana then consumes its essence by eating it. She also possesses the ability to gain strength through the use of weapons that were used to kill a living being. In order to do this, she merely places a portion of her own blood on the chosen weapon. She used both her magic and sexual wiles to get the victims she needed.
As a succubus, she stalked victims in New York, and then in Los Angeles she befriended a Satanist named Ruth Cummins. When Ruth was killed, Satana avenged Ruth's death by destroying Darkos Edge and Harry Gotham. She later battled the Four, a mystic cabal. During Satana's first time in the mortal dimension, she was attacked by Monsignor Jimmy Cruz and his band of soldiers. During this battle, Cruz summoned demons called the N'Garai
. Exiter tried to fend them off but was killed trying to protect his mistress. Though she was too late to save her beloved Exiter, Satana gained her revenge by killing Cruz and consuming his soul. She confronted her father, who was disguised as Miles Gorney, and defied him by saving Michael Heron's soul from him. Some time later, Satana was seemingly destroyed by her brother Daimon Hellstrom, but she defeated the demoness Kthara. She was transformed by the Camarilla of the N'Garai into a human, Judith Camber. She was restored to normal, and destroyed the Camarilla.
Eventually, however, the demon she had been bonded to began to desire its freedom. The Basilisk managed to put a curse
on Doctor Strange
, basically turning him into a werewolf
. With the help of Spider-Man
, Satana was able to free Strange's soul from the curse, but the Basilisk was released in the process, and stabbed her in the back with a mystical blade. Satana died laughing, however, because their life-forces were still bound together; by killing her, the Basilisk had sealed its own fate as well. She had thus sacrificed her life to cure Strange of lycanthropy.
As a supernatural being, however, Satana's death was not permanent. Her spirit returned to her father's realm of Hell for a time, until she and a cabal of demons arranged to have her soul (among others) placed into a soulless body on Earth. There she began to build her powers again, preparing to return to Hell and conquer her father's realm.
At some point she apparently died again. In the short lived Marvel series Witches
, Satana is resurrected again by Doctor Strange and teamed with two other magic-wielding females to defeat a powerful mystic enemy called the Hellphyr, which was a front for her father Marduk Kurios. According to that series, the three witches formed a coven in order to protect the Tome of Zhered-na (a powerful Book of Shadows
belonging to the Kale family) from would-be thieves such as Doctor Strange.
After a brief cameo in Nick Fury
's Howling Commandos
, Satana has been shown to have reverted back to her former wicked ways; reaping souls in Manhattan and plotting her father's overthrow from the comfort of a desecrated church. Despite her fatherly conflict, Satana revealed that for every mortal victim she takes, she must offer the 10th victim as supplication to her father. The Hood
seeks her out to find out more information about Dormammu. Some time after the fall of the Hood, Luke Cage and Doctor Strange attempt to apprehend her for working with the Hood and to get her to join the Thunderbolts. She is initially resistant, but happily agrees when she realizes she will get to work with Man-Thing
.
Satana is a half-demon/half-human hybrid, and a succubus
; she has some innate mystical abilities inherited from her father, as well as some granted her by him. As a succubus, she is able to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human male souls to increase her abilities and magical power; for a time, Satana had to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human souls periodically to survive. She has the ability to manipulate magical forces for a variety of effects, including inter-dimensional teleportation, levitation, and the projection of concussive bolts of eldritch energy in the form of "soulfire" or hellfire. She also had a limited ability to hypnotize
her victims and control their minds psionically. If she touches an object used to kill someone (like a knife or sword) she can absorb its "blood energy" to become stronger in proportion to the souls the weapon has taken. She also has superhuman strength. For a time, she had the ability to contain the Basilisk, a powerful demon, within her spirit and to release it to do her bidding and then return within herself. Satana also trained in the mystic arts and learned how to cast spells
and perform witchcraft
. She was trained by "Satan" in the use of her demonic powers.
, along with alternate versions of Werewolf by Night
, Black Cat
, Ghost Rider
, and Gargoyle
to fight a mystical threat. This version of Satana has mystical control over fire, as well as the power to fly. Despite her demonic possession, she has a very pure soul, and was going to be offered as a sacrifice by a demon called the Jack 'O' Lantern, until she was saved by Werewolf by Night.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
half-demon appearing in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. She is the sister of Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:He first appeared in Ghost Rider Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics...
, also known as the Son of Satan.
Satana first appeared in Vampire Tales
Vampire Tales
Vampire Tales was a black-and-white horror-comics magazine series published by Curtis Magazines in the 1970s, featuring vampires as both protagonists and antagonists....
#2 in October, 1973. She was created by Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and John Romita
John Romita, Sr.
John V. Romita, Sr. is an Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man...
.
Fictional character biography
Satana and Daimon were born in the fictional town of Greentown, MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. They were the half-human children of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
(their father was later retconned
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
into a demon named Marduk Kurios who was actually the biblical Lucifer, according to the N'Garai
N'Garai
The N'Garai are a fictional race found in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:The N'Garai first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #96 , and were created by Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum....
). Satana and her brother were groomed by their father to be evil, but Daimon
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:He first appeared in Ghost Rider Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics...
rejected these teachings, while Satana embraced them.
When Satana was still a child, her mother, Victoria Wingate, discovered her husband and children's true nature and was driven mad. Daimon was raised by servants, while Satana was taken to her father's particular Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
-dimension (of which there are many in the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
) and taught black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
. As a reward for her devotion to him, Satana's father gave her a familiar
Familiar spirit
In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits were supernatural entities believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic...
named Exiter, with whom she formed a close bond. Satana began studying magic under her father and the demon Dansker. In Hell, her soul was bonded with an evil spirit called the Basilisk (not to be confused with the Basilisk) in order to increase her magical power.
As an adult, Satana was banished to Earth by the Four as a succubus
Succubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
, draining the souls of men. When she does this, the victim's soul transforms into an ethereal butterfly; Satana then consumes its essence by eating it. She also possesses the ability to gain strength through the use of weapons that were used to kill a living being. In order to do this, she merely places a portion of her own blood on the chosen weapon. She used both her magic and sexual wiles to get the victims she needed.
N'Garai
The N'Garai are a fictional race found in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:The N'Garai first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #96 , and were created by Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum....
. Exiter tried to fend them off but was killed trying to protect his mistress. Though she was too late to save her beloved Exiter, Satana gained her revenge by killing Cruz and consuming his soul. She confronted her father, who was disguised as Miles Gorney, and defied him by saving Michael Heron's soul from him. Some time later, Satana was seemingly destroyed by her brother Daimon Hellstrom, but she defeated the demoness Kthara. She was transformed by the Camarilla of the N'Garai into a human, Judith Camber. She was restored to normal, and destroyed the Camarilla.
Eventually, however, the demon she had been bonded to began to desire its freedom. The Basilisk managed to put a curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
on Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
, basically turning him into a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
. With the help of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, Satana was able to free Strange's soul from the curse, but the Basilisk was released in the process, and stabbed her in the back with a mystical blade. Satana died laughing, however, because their life-forces were still bound together; by killing her, the Basilisk had sealed its own fate as well. She had thus sacrificed her life to cure Strange of lycanthropy.
As a supernatural being, however, Satana's death was not permanent. Her spirit returned to her father's realm of Hell for a time, until she and a cabal of demons arranged to have her soul (among others) placed into a soulless body on Earth. There she began to build her powers again, preparing to return to Hell and conquer her father's realm.
At some point she apparently died again. In the short lived Marvel series Witches
Witches (Marvel Comics)
Witches is a supernatural comic book limited series that was published by Marvel Comics in 2004. Plotted by Bronwyn Carlton, with scripts by Brian Walsh, it featured art by Mike Deodato and Will Conrad.-Publication history:...
, Satana is resurrected again by Doctor Strange and teamed with two other magic-wielding females to defeat a powerful mystic enemy called the Hellphyr, which was a front for her father Marduk Kurios. According to that series, the three witches formed a coven in order to protect the Tome of Zhered-na (a powerful Book of Shadows
Book of Shadows
A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious texts and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Originating within the Gardnerian tradition of the Craft, the first Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner sometime in the late 1940s...
belonging to the Kale family) from would-be thieves such as Doctor Strange.
After a brief cameo in Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
's Howling Commandos
Nick Fury's Howling Commandos
Nick Fury's Howling Commandos was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Running six issues before its cancellation and cover-dated December 2005 to May 2006, the series featured a fictional team set in the Marvel Universe, consisting of supernatural characters employed as a unit...
, Satana has been shown to have reverted back to her former wicked ways; reaping souls in Manhattan and plotting her father's overthrow from the comfort of a desecrated church. Despite her fatherly conflict, Satana revealed that for every mortal victim she takes, she must offer the 10th victim as supplication to her father. The Hood
Hood (comics)
The Hood is a fictional character, a supervillain, and a crime boss in the . Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the character first appeared in The Hood #1 .-Publication history:...
seeks her out to find out more information about Dormammu. Some time after the fall of the Hood, Luke Cage and Doctor Strange attempt to apprehend her for working with the Hood and to get her to join the Thunderbolts. She is initially resistant, but happily agrees when she realizes she will get to work with Man-Thing
Man-Thing
The Man-Thing is a fictional character, a monster in publications from Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in Savage Tales #1 , and went on to be featured in various titles and in his own series, including...
.
Powers and abilities
Succubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
; she has some innate mystical abilities inherited from her father, as well as some granted her by him. As a succubus, she is able to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human male souls to increase her abilities and magical power; for a time, Satana had to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human souls periodically to survive. She has the ability to manipulate magical forces for a variety of effects, including inter-dimensional teleportation, levitation, and the projection of concussive bolts of eldritch energy in the form of "soulfire" or hellfire. She also had a limited ability to hypnotize
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
her victims and control their minds psionically. If she touches an object used to kill someone (like a knife or sword) she can absorb its "blood energy" to become stronger in proportion to the souls the weapon has taken. She also has superhuman strength. For a time, she had the ability to contain the Basilisk, a powerful demon, within her spirit and to release it to do her bidding and then return within herself. Satana also trained in the mystic arts and learned how to cast spells
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and perform witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. She was trained by "Satan" in the use of her demonic powers.
The Supernaturals
In a 4-part alternate reality mini-series, called The Supernaturals, Satana is Melissa Ramos, a Catholic girl who is possessed by a demon. She is recruited by a magician named Brother VoodooBrother Voodoo
Brother Voodoo is a fictional character, a supernatural superhero in the Marvel Universe. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Gene Colan, he first appears in Strange Tales #169...
, along with alternate versions of Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night is a fictional character, an antiheroic werewolf in the Marvel Comics universe. The Werewolf by Night first appeared in Marvel Spotlight vol...
, Black Cat
Black Cat (comics)
The Black Cat is a fictional character, a superheroine in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 ....
, Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is...
, and Gargoyle
Gargoyle (comics)
Gargoyle is a name shared by two fictional characters appearing in the Marvel Comics universe.-Gargoyle :-Publication history:The Gargoyle appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 , and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
to fight a mystical threat. This version of Satana has mystical control over fire, as well as the power to fly. Despite her demonic possession, she has a very pure soul, and was going to be offered as a sacrifice by a demon called the Jack 'O' Lantern, until she was saved by Werewolf by Night.
Video games
- Satana appears as one of the patrons at a demonic bar in Morrigan's ending for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two WorldsMarvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worldsis a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
.