ASMODEUS

Real Name: Asmodeus

Identity/Class: Demon (presumably Class Two)

Occupation: Ruler of a branch of Hell

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Belonging, Dracula, Lilith, Lucifer, Rzh'Arr, Gregor Smirnoff, Saturnine, Tabicantra (former servant and concubine), vampires, V'Zarr-Than, Yammuz, Yukthalok, and an army of demon-servants; Mount Avarice and the other cursed human souls of his realm; Mephisto (associate and rival)

Enemies: Belasco, Deadpool ("Wade Wilson"), Dormammu, Joseph della Reina, Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, She-Thing/Sharon Ventura), Fantastic Four (Ghost Rider/Dan Ketch/Noble Kale, Mr. Fixit/Bruce Banner, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett), Ghost Rider (John Blaze/Zarathos), Hela, Jezebel, Mephisto, Pluto, Father John Priest, Cynthia Randolph (pawn), Satana, Satannish, Tier Sinclair, Wolfsbane (Rhane Sinclair), X-Factor Investigations (Longshot, M/Monet St. Croix, Layla Miller, Multiple Man, Polaris, Rictor, Shatterstar);
indirectly Blade (Eric Brooks), Frank Drake, Inspector Judiah Golem, Katinka, Marlene McKenna

Known Relatives: Numerous offspring with Lilith; possibly Beliar (son), possible quasi-paternal relationship to Daimon and Satana Hellstrom

Aliases: Mr. Ash, Azmodeus, Ashmodei

Base of Operations: Hell (some sub-section, relatively close to Mephisto's domain)

First Appearance: Ghost Rider II#53 (February, 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Asmodeus possesses powers to be expected of a minor player in the lords of Hell. He leads an army of demon-servants, who do his bidding. He also rules the lost souls who have entered his realm of Hell. He can project blasts of mystic energy and has a limited ability to manipulate the minds of others. He can drain energy from others. He is immune to disease and aging. While he has definite power, he can be injured by the power of other demons, such as Zarathos, and he is certainly no comparison for the power of Mephisto.

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 425 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Black

History:
(Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities - Asmodeus) - Asmodeus was originally an angel who joined Lucifer's rebellion against God. He was cast out of Heaven like Lucifer's other allies and degenerated into a demon. He eventually mated with fellow cast-out Lilith, parenting many demonic offspring though most were slain by agents of Heaven.

(X-Factor I#251 (fb)) - For centuries Asmodeus waged war with the other Hell-lords to become the sole ruler of all Hell domains.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 - Lilith) - In the 13th century, Joseph della Reina thought to summon the Messiah by confronting Lilith and her latest demon consort, Ashmodei (Asmodeus); no match for Lilith, Reina was transformed into a dog.

(Ghost Rider II#53) - Asmodeus sought to make a pawn of the Ghost Rider/Zarathos in his intended campaign of terror against the Earth. To this end, he sent Tabicantra to manipulate him so that Asmodeus could enslave him. However, Tabicantra eventually turned against Asmodeus, who was forced to send V'Zarr-Than and several other demons to try to finish the job. Tabicantra sacrificed herself to destroy the demons, and Blaze was spared from his intended fate.

(Ghost Rider II#64) - Asmodeus sent another of his minions, Rzh'Arr, to Earth in another plot against Ghost Rider involving his replacement of one of Blaze's friends, Cynthia Randolph. Rzh'Arr succeeded in weakening Blaze and bringing him to Asmodeus' realm. Asmodeus attempted to steal some of the power from Ghost Rider and make him his slave. However, the Ghost Rider burst free from his bonds and overpowered Asmodeus, causing him great pain with his hellfire. Asmodeus sent the Ghost Rider back to Earth rather than face further injury at his hands.

(Ghost Rider II#76) - Asmodeus journeyed to Mephisto's realm and attempted to convince Mephisto to relinquish control of the Ghost Rider/Zarathos to him. Mephisto saw through Asmodeus' plot to gain Zarathos as a tool in his desired conquest of Earth. Mephisto set up a contest which separated Blaze and Zarathos, and challenged them to make it through a gauntlet set up by Asmodeus. If they made it safely to the portal back to Earth, they would be freed from each other. If not, they would be trapped in Hell, and Zarathos would become a servant of Asmodeus. Mephisto decided to make things more interesting for Asmodeus by mentioning a small penalty if he failed to stop the two from escaping. Unfortunately for Asmodeus, Blaze and Zarathos cooperated and made it through the portal (although Mephisto's treachery left them still bound together). Mephisto administered his small penalty to Asmodeus, which consisted of blasting him out of existence.

(Tomb of Dracula III#1) - Asmodeus once more took reign of Hell and ordered his minions to awaken from their decade-long slumber. Leathery wings once again slapped the coldness of night. Blood once more cut through the fragile veil of flesh to bring life to those things undead. But the night was still without its lord. Asmodeus reached for those sun-bleached bones where they last lay, but could find nothing save the crippled remains of some insignificant mortal.
Thus began the search. One year more passed before was found the black soul that had long ago been skewered by silver. Asmodeus smiled (and somewhere in China an earthquake killed ten thousand) and returned the bones to their proper resting place. All was now where it should be. The rest would unfold in proper order.

(Tomb of Dracula III#1-4 - BTS) - Asmodeus may well have supplied some of the power to Gregor Smirnoff, filter from the Belonging and other experiments, that allowed him to summon the soul of Rachel van Helsing and place it into Marlene McKenna. He was also quite likely involved in the death-by-fire that occurred in the rituals of the Belonging, which resulted in the placement of the participant/victim's soul in a magical storage place. The first such death, that of Rachel Glass, was said to have opened the gates of Hell, and may
With information derived when Rachel, Marlene, and Frank Drake, Smirnoff traveled to Castle Dracula and resurrected the Vampire Lord by removing the silver spoke. As Dracula left with Smirnoff, he attempted to summon his legions (normally rats, bats, wolves, etc.). His powers "touched the loins of Asmodeus." A vast army of demon creatures, and possibly undead people, appeared to terrorize Drake and Marlene.
Later, the Belonging's collective rituals resulted in over 1600 members being consumed in flame and the power of their souls being granted to Dracula. Dracula eventually tried to absorb the full power of the mass of souls, and was blown to pieces as a result.

(New Fantastic Four#1 (fb) - BTS) - Asmodeus traveled to Earth and went to the tunnels under Las Vegas where he posed as a human under the moniker Mr. Ash. He riled up the homeless people living there.

(New Fantastic Four#1) - A few days later his actions were discovered by Father John Priest after he was told by a young pregnant woman named Molly that the other vagrants were getting angrier ever since Mr. Ash arrived. John Priest soon found Asmodeus and to the demon's surprise John could see through his true form. Asmodeus sent the angry mob to bring Priest to him, but Priest escaped.

   John Priest wished the "new" Fantastic Four would come to Las Vegas to help him against Asmodeus and they did due to the wish powers he was not even aware of.

(New Fantastic Four#1 - BTS) - Asmodeus sent a horde of demons possessing humans and aggravated vagrants to Las Vegas to riot. The rioters blocked the main street and therefore Mr. Fixit's limousine with Spider-Man and Wolverine inside, who had been brought in to Las Vegas by Mr. Fixit along with Ghost Rider. The new Fantastic Four tried to stop the rioters and Ghost Rider saw that not all of them were just human. They were afraid to hurt the people and after John Priest, who was ecstatic that the new Fantastic Four from the newspaper had actually came to Las Vegas, stopped Molly from hitting Wolverine with a steel pipe, Hulk picked up the limousine, Priest and Wolverine and jumped with them to safety while Spider-Man and Ghost Rider got away as well.

(New Fantastic Four#1) - John Priest led the new Fantastic Four to Asmodeus in the tunnels under the city, but Priest panicked when they got surrounded by Asmodeus and his demons and wished he and the new Fantastic Four got away. Wolverine, Spider-Man and Mr. Fixit ended up back in New York City inside the Fantasticar in Four Freedoms Plaza while Priest ended up in a casino in Reno. Ghost Rider was left behind in the tunnels with Asmodeus and his demons.

(New Fantastic Four#2) - Ghost Rider threatened to take out the human hosts of the demons, but Asmodeus knew he was bluffing. Asmodeus' demons captured Ghost Rider and Asmodeus had no problem telling Ghost Rider that he had come to Las Vegas to witness the syzygy (all planets of the solar system lining up). Ghost Rider fought back, speared Asmodeus with his chain, but Asmodeus could not be killed that easily because he was a Hell Lord. Asmodeus stabbed Ghost Rider with his own chain, but Ghost Rider then just used the individual links against the demon-possessed humans. Asmodeus switched plans because it took the demons too much time acclimating to their human hosts and summoned damned souls from Hell to possess the vagrants instead. Asmodeus sent his army of the damned to deal with Ghost Rider and then joined the rest of his army in the riot in Las Vegas. When he saw Human Torch (Johnny Storm) in the sky he sent a demon to possess him as well to have a superhuman agent to deal with Mr. Fixit, Spider-Man and Wolverine.

(New Fantastic Four#3) - Mr. Ash watched the possessed Human Torch fight the three heroes and temporarily took out Wolverine. Mr. Fixit knocked Human Torch out, but had to leave for work while John Priest returned to the tunnels under the city and freed Ghost Rider, leaving Spider-Man alone against his possessed friend Human Torch. Wolverine rejoined the fight, but even stabbing Human Torch in the back with his Adamantium claws was not enough to keep him down.

(New Fantastic Four#4) - Mr. Ash stayed on the sidelines cheering on the possessed Human Torch in his fight against Spider-Man, Wolverine and Mr. Fixit, who had no real plan against the possessed hero. The arrival of the real Fantastic Four ended the battle when the Invisible Woman trapped Human Torch in a force field and choked him out. Thing and Mr. Fantastic caught Mr. Ash, who was surprised by the arrival of the Fantastic Four, but moments later this didn't matter anymore because Saturnine, the guardian of the road of lost souls, was brought to Earth by Mephisto and emerged from the street.

(New Fantastic Four#5) - While he was still held by Mr. Fantastic, Asmodeus returned his demons back to Hell to wait for further instructions. He finally showed his true form to the heroes and introduced them to Saturnine, who was the mastermind of this whole scheme to use the syzygy to bring Hell to Earth. Saturnine failed miserably against the two versions of the Fantastic Four and Asmodeus did nothing to help.

(X-Factor I#251 (fb) - BTS) - At some point the powers from Heaven grew tired of the battle between the Hell-lords and intervened. They declared that whoever slew the seven billionth person walking Earth would rule all Hell (the Hell-lords would be allowed to keep their domains, but one of them would be in charge of all of the others) (see comments)

(Deadpool Team-Up#892 (fb)) - Satana lost her soul to Asmodeus, Belasco, Dormammu and Mephisto (all four were posing as humans at this point) in a game of dice. Afterward they quarreled about who would get her to gain control over Hell (she is heir to Marduk Kurios' part of Hell after all).

(Deadpool Team-Up#892) - Satana hired Deadpool to get back her soul from the demons. After the demons revealed their true nature to Deadpool they beat him up. Satana married Deadpool so he could lay claim to her soul. Asmodeus ultimately won the right to marry Satana in another game of dice with the other three demons. Satana and Deadpool entered Asmodeus' domain, surprising him with their marriage. Asmodeus fought Deadpool to reclaim the right to Satana, but was sliced in half by Deadpool's mystically empowered swords (thank you Satana). With her soul reclaimed from Asmodeus, Satana left Deadpool again (with their marriage annulled).

(Journey Into Mystery I#627 (fb)) - Asmodeus attended the Devil's Advocacy to talk about the Serpent (Cul)'s actions on Earth.

(X-Factor I#249) - The demonic Warders created a passage to the different Hell realms at the New York Botanical Garden in form of a volcano. They battled X-Factor, but before the volcano closed Asmodeus and the other Hell-Lords passed through to Earth.

(X-Factor I#250) - The Hell-Lords teleported X-Factor, Jezebel, Strong Guy and Tier to the Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Surrounding X-Factor they were determined to kill Tier and finally end their war.

(X-Factor I#251) - Still surrounded by Asmodeus and the other Hell-lords X-Factor were protected by Layla's force field. When Pluto destroyed the force field the Hell-lords went after Tier immediately, but Madrox managed to nearly escape with Tier. Asmodeus and the other Hell-lords were shocked when Jezebel stabbed her father Mephisto in the back and teleported with X-Factor and Tier back to their destroyed HQ.

(X-Factor I#252) - From afar Asmodeus, Satannish, Mephisto, Satana and Hela watched Pluto fight X-Factor and get killed by Tier. They were shocked that the legend was true that the seventh billion person walking Earth could kill them on Earth. Asmodeus commented that Pluto's participation in the contest was now over and that Pluto had to watch from the sidelines. Because nothing was going according to plan Mephisto attacked the other Hell-lords to start the final war among them.

(X-Factor I#254) - In a snowstorm, surrounded by their armies Asmodeus and Hela battled (wherever they were at that point). Asmodeus believed Hela to be defeated and stabbed her body after knocking her to the ground, but it was merely an illusion and he got cut in half moments later by Hela, who mocked him for falling for such a trick. Hela then fell for an illusion as well and was slain by Mephisto.

(X-Factor I#256) - Aided by Jezebel X-Factor secretly entered Mephisto's domicile on Earth. Tier slew the Hell-lords Satannish, Asmodeus, Hela and Pluto in the room where Mephisto had kept them imprisoned without mercy. Upon their deaths they all returned to their respective portion of Hell. When Satana arrived to offer the Hell-lords to pledge their allegiance to Mephisto and aid him against X-Factor she found their corpses and was slain by Tier as well.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Doctor Strange: Damnation#1) - Asmodeus started working as security in Mephisto's Hotel Inferno in Las Vegas. When Doctor Strange entered, he brought him to Mephisto, who was already waiting for him.

Comments: Created by Michael Fleisher and Donald Perlin.

He was called Azmodeus in his first two appearances, and then Asmodeus in the last one. The OHotMU I Appendix refers to him as Asmodeus.

Any demon can come back any time. How many times has Mephisto been "destroyed"? For my money, I like to think Asmodeus is now Azmodeus, the servant of Master Pandemonium.

Comments on Tomb of Dracula's Asmodeus:

Asmodeus is not seen on a single page of the limited series, but his activities are mentioned in narrative throughout, and it would seem as if he were the behind-the-scenes manipulator of all of the supernatural events seen in this series. His demons are seen on-panel.
There are a number of extremely vague and ambiguous statements in this series, and so I have done my best (after reviewing Dracula's full continuity for his profile, and reading through this series for the third time) to attempt to clarify what they mean. The only definitive actions of Asmodeus are the participation in the resurrection of Dracula (as quoted above) and the release of a bunch of demons to assist Dracula again Frank Drake.

This story, with Asmodeus gaining control of Hell (or a realm of it anyway), would likely seem to fit in at some point after Mephisto might have been temporarily destroyed, such as in Fantastic Four I#277 (at the hands of Franklin Richards) or in Silver Surfer III#100. However, as this might represent one of myriad realms of Hell, this placement is not critical.
More critical is how the resurrection of Dracula fits in. When Asmodeus searched for the bones of Dracula, he looked at Castle Dracula, where the vampire lord had been destroyed by Quincy Harker in Tomb of Dracula I#70. Dracula was not there, because he had been since resurrected by Florence Embers in Tomb of Dracula II#1. Asmodeus could not find Dracula anywhere on Earth. This is because Dracula had been destroyed by the Montesi Formula in Dr. Strange II#62. After some searching, he eventually located the soul of Dracula, perhaps because in Dr. Strange III#18, Marie LaVeau invoked a spell to recreate the Lord of the Vampires. This spell apparently disrupted the Montesi Formula, which--in its full form--had made it impossible for any vampire to exist on Earth. The effects on Varnae possibly may have carried over to other Lords of the Vampires, or at least Dracula, who is the only one to have held that title for any significant length of time besides Varnae himself.

Asmodeus--as can be seen by the clarifications below--is a pretty popular demon name, apparently just under Satan, Lucifer, and what-not. So it may be that a bunch of demons have taken that name, to capitalize on it, or it may be that a single demon has taken multiple forms and motivations and power levels, or all of the above. Take your pick. Moot point. Dorcas Farkas.
At any rate, a demon striving for this name would likely seem to be one of the Class Two demons, along the lines of Mephisto, Thog, etc. These beings appear to originate from Earth, but from a much later time period than the Class One demons, the Elder Gods.

The Tomb of Dracula story was written under the Epic Comics imprint, and so is not inherently part of Earth-616 continuity. However, as discussed under the Dracula and Smirnoff profiles, they fit in pretty well and even explain some otherwise unexplained gaps in continuity.

I placed the interference of Heaven in the war between the Hell-lords after Hellcat in Satannish's profile for various reasons. One reason was Satana's presence in the flashback, which made it impossible to have happened before the modern era. Another reason was that after the Hellcat mini the Hell-lords preferred to sit at tables and talk rather than wage war against each other. For Asmodeus this doesn't mean much because he was pretty much not at the top of the food chain at that point in time. Maybe he wasn't even present.
--Markus Raymond

The New Fantastic Four series took place after their storyline with De'Lila.

In Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Other Monstrosities the Ghost Rider foe Asmodeus was revealed to be the same as Asmodeus, the unseen demon connected to the Belonging from Tomb of Dracula III.

You want to talk evil? Asmodeus has been seen in a thong! That's not right!

Thanks to Mike Castle for providing the scans for Ghost Rider II#76.

Profile by Snood. Updates by Markus Raymond (New Fantastic Four).

Clarifications: Asmodeus, the demon from Hell, should be distinguished from:

Mount Avarice

It was a mountain of lost souls who, during lifetime had been concerned only with themselves, shunning contact with their fellow man. When they reached Hell, they were punished for their sins by being forever entwined with one another, eternally united in a tangle of selfish desires. Blaze and Zarathos attempted to ride over the mountain of people, but Blaze's own solitary life connected him to them, and they attempted to pull him down into their mass. Zarathos stopped to save him, realizing he needed Blaze's help to escape the gauntlet. Later still, as they approached the finish, Zarathos blasted the roof of the cavern, causing it to collapse and crush those making up the mountain.

--Ghost Rider II#76

Rzh'Arr

Rzh'Arr was sent to Earth in another plot against Ghost Rider. Rzh'Arr exchanged places with Cynthia Randolph, a reporter covering the Quentin Carnival, and seduced Blaze, kissing him and draining his energy. Rzh'Arr used that energy to form a doppelganger of the Ghost Rider that subdued the original. He then brought the Ghost Rider to Asmodeus in Hell. The Ghost Rider broke free from his bonds and blasted Rzh'Arr, who fled.

--Ghost Rider II#64

Tabicantra

Tabicantra, aka the She-Witch, may have originally been human, but was sent to Hell, where she became Asmodeus' servant. She believed all of her human morals had been washed away in her centuries of service to Asmodeus, but found herself smitten with Johnny Blaze. Asmodeus sent her to Earth to weaken Blaze, so that every time he turned into the Ghost Rider, he would lose more and more control to Zarathos, and eventually be unable to return. For reasons unknown, Asmodeus limited himself to a set timetable for this to occur, after which the effect would where off if the final transformation had not occurred. Tabicantra arranged several threats to Blaze to force him to become the Ghost Rider, but she eventually turned against Asmodeus and defended Blaze. She blasted Blaze from behind, incapacitating him, in order to prevent him from making the last critical transformation. She fought off R'Zarr-Than and the other demons sent by Asmodeus to force the transformation. Ultimately, she drew on her own life force to destroy the demons, and she died as well. She could fire destructive blasts of energy able to shatter a steel bridge, set objects on fire, and a number of other magical powers.

--Ghost Rider II#53

V'Zarr-Than

V'Zarr-Than was sent to Earth to force Blaze to transform into the Ghost Rider one last time, so that Asmodeus would get control of his soul. He and his demon horde were fought off by Tabicantra, who sacrificed her own life to destroy them.

--Ghost Rider II#53

Yammuz and Yukthalok

They were two minor demons sent to stop Blaze and Zarathos from completing Asmodeus' gauntlet. They cut loose a pre-set boulder to crush the two, but Zarathos meleted the ground beneath it, halting its motion. Zarathos temporarily exhausted his power and collapsed, after shattering the boulder to escape the oncoming Mount Avarice.

--Ghost Rider II#76

images
OHOTMU A-Z SC#1, Asmodeus profile (main, based on Ghost Rider II#53, Cover)
Ghost Rider II#53, p2, pan2 (head shot)
New Fantastic Four#2, p20, pan3 (as Mr. Ash)
Doctor Strange: Damnation#1, p12, pan8 (Hotel Inferno security)
Ghost Rider II#76, p13, pan7 (Mount Avarice, left)
Ghost Rider II#76, p13, pan6 (Mount Avarice, right)
Ghost Rider II#64, p3, pan6 (Rzh'Arr, body shot)
Ghost Rider II#64, p1 (Rzh'Arr, head shot)
Ghost Rider II#53, p3, pan3 (Tabicantra, head shot)
Ghost Rider II#53, Cover (Tabicantra, body shot)
Ghost Rider II#53, p20, pan4 (V'Zarr-Than, head shot)
Ghost Rider II#53, p18, pan3 (V'Zarr-Than, body shot)
Ghost Rider II#76, p16, pan5 (Yammuz and Yukthalok)

Appearances:
Ghost Rider II#53 (February, 1981) - Michael Fleisher (writer), Don Perlin (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Ghost Rider II#64 (January, 1982) - Michael Fleisher (writer), Jack Sparling (pencils), Tom Sutton (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Ghost Rider II#76 (January, 1983) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Don Perlin (pecnils), Dave Simons (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Tomb of Dracula III#1-4 (1991) - Marv Wolfman (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Terry Kavanagh & Mark Powers (editors)
Deadpool Team-Up#892 (August, 2010) - Dave Lapham (writer), Shawn Crystal (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Journey Into Mystery I#627 (November, 2011) - Kieron Gillen (writer), Richard Elson (art), Ralph Macchio (senior editor)
X-Factor I#249-250 (February-March, 2013) - Peter David (writer), Leoanrd Kirk (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
X-Factor I#251-252 (April, 2013) - Peter David (writer), Leoanrd Kirk (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
X-Factor I#254 (June, 2013) - Peter David (writer), Leoanrd Kirk (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
X-Factor I#256 (July, 2013) - Peter David (writer), Leoanrd Kirk (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Doctor Strange: Damnation#1 (April, 2018) - Nick Spencer & Donny Cates (writers), Rod Reis (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
New Fantastic Four#1-5 (August-December, 2022) - Peter David (writer), Alan Robinson (artist), Martin Biro (editor)

First Posted: 11/01/2001
Last updated: 11/15/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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