Beelzeboul (Terror foe)

BEELZEBOUL

Real Name: Beelzeboul

Identity/Class: Demon

Occupation: Ruler of his own Hell dimension

Group Membership: Hell-Lords, Lucifer's Inner Circle (including Kazaan, Olivier, Pazuzu, Xaphan);
formerly the Angels of Heaven

Affiliations: Apollyon, Roger Barbatos, Lucifer (the arch-demon), Talvuras, Vanity Fair's demons, 13 other fallen angels/demons;
formerly Louis Childs and his coven, Beelzeboul's demon servants

Enemies: Aunt Mercy, Christian & Christiana (and their children), Dragonus, Cassandra Drakonmegas, Goodwill, Charlie Hagarth, Hellfire, Magik (Amanda Sefton), Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Christine Palmer, Terror, Thald, Seth Walker,

Known Relatives: Cassandra Drakonmegas (ex-wife); Hellfire (son);
possibly Satana (daughter); possibly Daimon Hellstrom (son)

Aliases: Beelzebub, "Satan", Jean

Base of Operations: Trapped within a magic clay figurine within Limbo/Otherplace;
formerly his own little Hell dimension;
formerly Heaven

First Appearance: (Atlas) Journey into Unknown Worlds#19 (June, 1953); (Marvel) Terror Inc.#1 (July, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Beelzeboul is a demon and is not necessarily vulnerable to aging, disease and other generally human weaknesses. He was able to open portals to the normal world, though this seemed to be based around the sacrifice of one of his servants. His strength is enhanced to an undefined range, and he can probably alter hit height and appearance. While on Earth, he took a human form to seduce Cassandra Drakonmegas, but whether he had to take over the body of a human or whether he could simply take the form wasn't explored. Like many of the demons claiming to be Satan, Beelzeboul owned his own Hell dimension, and had a large group of creatures that lived there.

Like any good demon, Beelzeboul enjoys his items of evil power. His wife would often burn such objects when she found them, but he still seemed to be creating some. One of the more prominent items was the Hellfire Gun. This gun was only usable when either he or his son willed it to be so. Originally he gave it to his officer, Neith, but Terror and Hellfire stole it, and it is currently in Hellfire's possession.

History:
(Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities/Nightcrawler III#3 (fb) - BTS) - Beelzeboul was one of 14 angels who stood by Lucifer in the war against God. When Lucifer lost and was cast down, he fell into the pit (Hell), dragging his fourteen lieutenants down with him, and the fourteen angels became fourteen demons.

(Monsters Unleashed#2) - A long time ago Beelzebub was served by the evil sorcerer Talvuras, who summoned his demon master when the warriors Dragonus and Thald attacked him in his throne room. Beelzebub rose from a pit, but before Thald could hit him with his ax, the ax melted due to the heat generated by the Lord of Flies. Beelzebub then grabbed Thald and burnt him alive in his fist. Dragonus avoided Beelzebub's grasp and stabbed the demon in the chest, forcing Beelzebub to return to Hell to heal. With his master defeated Talvuras was decapitated by Dragonus, who successfully saved the maiden Zareen from his clutches.

(Pilgrim's Progress#1) - For thousand years Beelzebub and his demons targeted pilgrims on the way to the Celestial City when they reached the Wicket Gate. From Beelzebub's castle Beelzebul and his demons hurled burning arrows at the pilgrims and the demons rarely missed their target. The enigmatic Goodwill could only save those that didn't hesitate to knock on the Wicket Gate.

(Pilgrim's Progress#1 (fb) - BTS) - The pilgrims getting through the Wicket Gate had the chance to eventually reach the Vanity Fair, which was run demons trained for a thousand years by Beelzebub, Apollyon and other demons to deal with pilgrims. The judges at the Vanity Fair served Prince Beelzebub.

(Journey into Unknown Worlds#19) - Beelzebub, as the Arabian Jean, joined the explorer Charles Hagarth on his search for the Book of Satan, a tome that enabled its owner to enslave Beelzebub. For 20 years Beelzebub took the book each time Hagarth was near it and hid it at another location. Around 1963 Hagarth caught Jean stealing the book from the tomb of Assadmaian in Egypt. Hagarth shot Jean, took the tome and summoned Beelzebub, who devoured the surprised Hagarth after revealing that he was Jean all along. Beelzebub then took the book to another hiding place.

(Terror Inc.#5 (fb) - BTS) - Beelzeboul sought to create a son via a human woman, intending that this son would serve as a living battery drawing in the black energy (sin) of mankind, storing it up as a charge of pure evil. This would give the Hell-Lords the power to break through the walls of reality in force and lead to an unstoppable assault on man.

(Terror Inc.#3 (fb) ) - The demon Beelzeboul, in human form, came to Earth, married, and impregnated the human Cassandra Drakonmegas.

(Terror Inc.#5 (fb) ) - Upon finding proof of her husband's demonic nature, Cassandra stabbed him with a knife provided by Rekrab, a man very much in the know of the occult world. Being dragged back to his Hell, Beelzeboul hit Cassandra, snapping her neck in the process. As he disappeared, he at least gained some satisfaction in knowing that even if he couldn't have his son, neither could his wife. Despite her condition, Cassandra fought on to live at least a bit longer, until medics arrived and induced labor on her. Mikal Drakonmegas was born. The use of the mystic dagger, etc. prevented Mikal from gaining the darksoul that would have accomplished the demons' plot.

(Fantastic Four Annual I#20 - BTS) - Doctor Doom invoked Beelzebub, Satan, Baphomet and Thog when he summoned Mephisto to Earth.

(Pilgrim's Progress#1) - Beelzebub and his demons hurled burning arrows at Christian when he reached the Wicket Gate, but he was lucky because he didn't hesitate to knock on the gate and was pulled through by the enigmatic Goodwill before he could be killed.

(Pilgrim's Progress#1 - BTS) - At the Vanity Fair Christian and his new ally Faithful were judged by Beelzebub's underlings. Faithful ended up burnt at the stake, only to rise to the Celestial City first following his sacrifice, while Christian escaped with the help of Hopeful, another prisoner.

Later Goodwill warned Christian's wife Christiana of Beelzebub when she, her children and Aunt Mercy passed throught he Wicket Gate.

(Terror Inc.#1 (fb) ) - The international arms dealer, Roger Barbatos, gained an audience with Beelzeboul, who gave him total protection from his enemies in exchange for his soul.

(Terror Inc.#3 - BTS) - Beelzeboul sends several of his agents to a lighthouse on Earth, where he and his wife lived, to bring him his son, Hellfire.

(Terror Inc.#4) - In his Hell, he awaited the arrival of his son, after his servants defeat...

(Terror Inc.#5) - Coming upon Hellfire and Terror, he watched as Terror bit back into his son with the Hellfire Serpent's fangs, draining his Darksoul from him. In exchange for this dead, Beelzeboul hands Terror his contract with Barbatos, and the mercenary departs. Beelzeboul lifts the powerless Mikal Drakonmegas up, and prepares to kill him, when Terror swoops back to save him. Once more, Beelzeboul is stabbed with the knife, this time by his son. The wound opens a portal to Earth, and Terror and Hellfire rush into it, escaping the grasps of (a) devil.

(Nightcrawler III#1-3 - BTS, 4) - Beelzeboul joined Pazuzu and other demons of Lucifer's court in a failed bid to access Earth with the help of Louis Childs and his coven. Stopped by Nightcrawler, Seth Walker & Magik he was left trapped in a statue that Magik stashed away in her castle in Otherplace/limbo.

(Deadpool Team-Up#896 (fb) - BTS) - Beelzebub built an ice road through Hell, but it was melting fast. Highwayman was hired by an unidentified client to smuggle dead souls over the ice road. He offered the job to his brother U.S. Ace, who had become his employee.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Doctor Strange: Damnation#1 (fb) - BTS) - Mephisto claimed that Beelzebub had mocked him for years for not getting Hitler's soul (see comments).

Comments: Created by DG Chichester and Jorge Zaffino.

Historically, Beelzeboul has been a synonym for Beelzebub, a fallen angel from the Bible.

    It is highly unlikely Beelzeboul is really Daimon Hellstrom's father, though it is possible that Beelzeboul is just another alias of Marduk Kurios. I personally believe that Rekrab was just mixing his myths up, and Beelzeboul is just the ruler of a (much) smaller Hell dimension who also claims to be Satan (it's all the rage with demon types), thus leading to confusion (Hellstrom = the Son Of Satan, after all)
    See also the comments on the entry on Marduk Kurios for discussion (ad nauseum) on this issue--Snood.
    Another good idea is that Satan is actual a conglomeration of demons who merge and split off from each other at different intervals, taking on aspects like Mephisto, Satannish, Thog, Marduk Kurios, Beelzeboul, etc. Thus there could be SOME relationship b/t Hellstorm and Hellfire.

One thing I found interesting about the Terror INC series is that there seems to be a lot of similar characters to those already in the Marvel universe, but not quite. With Barbatos you have a bulky crime boss similar to the Kingpin, with Hellfire you have a less experienced Daimon Hellstrom, and with Beelzeboul, you have a dollar store Mephisto.

The Dragonus story from Monsters Unleashed I#2 is a reprint from Phase#1 (September, 1971). The character is owned by writer and artist Frank Brunner. Pilgrim's Progress was based on the book The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which is to Come (1678) by John Bunyan. The comic was part of Marvel/Nelson's collaborated Christian Classics Series. Both of these appearances are kind of on the fringe continuity-wise, but will be left in the profile in italics because I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be continuity. One of them feels like it could easily fit into the Hyborian era (the Dragonus story), while the other is just about a devote Christian and his family going to Heaven even though they are not dead yet (but they were really afraid of doomsday and decided to go there).
--Markus Raymond

Beelzeboul has been revealed as a member of Lucifer's Inner Circle in Lucifer's profile in Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities.

The whole Beelzebub mocking Mephisto for not getting Hitler's soul is a bit of a mistake! Hitler was seen in Hell a few times and specifically in Mephisto's Hell in Thor I#205, but maybe this isn't the case anymore after Secret Wars III. Check Adolf Hitler's profile to learn more.

Thanks to Gammatotem for pointing out the appearance in Journey into Unknown Worlds#19. Though the alias Beelzebub was also used by Mephisto on occassion it is more likely that Beelzebub in this appearance was Beelzeboul, whose alternate name is actually Beelzebub.

Thanks to Mike Castle for pointing out Monsters Unleashed#2, Pilgrim's Progress#1, Deadpool Team-Up#896 and Doctor Strange: Damnation#1.

Profile by: Zerostar. Updates by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:

Satan

The Imps have no known connection to:

IMP (Pandora Destine) - ClanDestine—Marvel Comics Presents#158

Neith has no known connection to:

NEITH - the name used by Gaea as the mothergod of the Egyptian pantheon, as revealed @ Thor I#300

Vulkanus has no known connection to:

VULCAN - the Roman name for the Olympian God, Hephaestus--Thor Annual#5
Vulcan ( ) - First Line --Marvel: Lost Generation#7
VULCAN ( ) - criminal, led gang. Kyphosis,superhuman strength and durability (app)--BlackGoliath#3
VULCANN the BLOODSMITH 2099 - demon, kidnapped and aged Joaquim Navarro to adulthood--XMen 2099#32

Cassandra Drakonmegas
The mother of Mikael Drakonmegas, Hellfire, and former bride of Beelzeboul. In her teenage years, she became pregnant from a boy in her high school. After a horrible abortion experience, it was believed she could no longer bear a child. But after her marriage to Beelzeboul, she found she was indeed pregnant once more. Throughout their marriage, Cassandra found many items which suggested that her husband was more than a man, and whenever she found these items, she would toss them in the fireplace, hoping to burn them out of existence.

Somehow, she got into contact with the librarian of the occult, Rekrab, who sent her a knife which could dispatch of her demonic husband. Confronting him, she slashed at him with the knife, cutting him open. Before the knife could have it's desired effect, the demon disguised as a man hit her, snapping her neck. But as he was sent back to his Hell dimension, she fought to hold on to her life, for the sake of her child. When the doctors arrived, there was nothing they could do for her, her spine destroyed from the blow, but they were able to induce labour, and with her death, Mikal Drakonmegas was born.

--Terror Inc.#3 (Terror Inc.#3, 5

Beelzeboul's Servants

Ghasta
Spikes protrude from Ghasta's shoulders, and his hands are in fact sharpened claws. During the battle in the lighthouse, he attacks Hellfire, who sends him back to Beelzeboul's Hell with his own claws.