KTHARA

Real Name: Kthara

Identity/Class: Demon (Class II)

Occupation: demon--that's good enough, I think.

Affiliations: member of Satan's court;
    Gloria Hefford, Ravenstorm  (former hosts)

Enemies: Basilisk, Satana, Son of Satan (Hellstorm), Thing;
    Gloria Hefford and Jedediah Ravenstorm;
    the people of the town of Lawless.

Known Relatives: none

Aliases: Demon-Mother, Gloria Hefford, Mother of Demons, Jedediah Ravenstorm, She who Rules the Outer Dark

Base of Operations: formerly Hell;
    formerly Lawless, Arizona
    formerly Los Angeles, California

First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight I#24 (October, 1975)

 

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Kthara is a powerful demon, able to possess others, alter her size and form, control inanimate objects, generate winds, cast illusions, influence the minds of others, and many other powers. Almost certainly her powers were markedly limited when acting through a human host. It is also possible that the powers she has demonstrated are merely illusion.

    She can summon and control a small group of lesser demons.

 

 

 

History:
(Marvel Spotlight I#24 (fb) -BTS) - Kthara's exact origins are uncertain, but she claimed to have been in high standing in Satan's Council of Hell. She also claimed to have been ten thousand thousand (that's ten million to you and me, kids) years old. She referred to having been freed after that length of time, perhaps referring to the length of time she had spent in Hell.

(Marvel Spotlight I#24) - Kthara was summoned by the unwitting Gloria Hefford of the Church of the Dark Father, who performed a satanic ritual (invoking the Triad). Kthara instantly took possession of Gloria, stealing her soul in the process, and using her as the vehicle to escape her imprisonment. Another member of the Church tried to rush in to save Gloria, but Kthara stole his soul as well, killing him.

(Marvel Spotlight I#24 (fb) -BTS) - Kthara slew nine to eleven more victims.

(Marvel Spotlight I#24) - Both Satana and the Son of Satan were drawn towards Kthara and Gloria for varying reasons, but Kthara manipulated Daimon into believing Satana was the source of the evil he had detected, and Kthara amplified his powers and influenced his mind so that he could destroy her. Unbeknownst to Kthara, Satana was revived and restored by the Basilisk. Disturbed by slaying his own sister, Daimon returned to Gloria's house, only to have Kthara reveal herself, drain his energy and bind him in preparation for a sacrifice as her twelfth victim. His sacrifice would allow Kthara to free her Ravagers on the Earth to claim and rule it.
    Satana returned and confronted Kthara, who responded by summoning a group of minor demons to slay her. Satana freed Daimon, but when she and her brother proved unable to injure the demon mother, Satana then summoned the powerful Basilisk from within her. The Basilisk smashed Kthara, rent her body and ravaged her soul, and dragged her, screaming, back to Hell.

 

 

(Marvel Two-In-One#14 (fb) - BTS) - Kthara somehow escaped Hell once again and took possession of the spirit or form of Jedediah Ravenstorm in the ghost town of Lawless, in Southern Arizona.

(Marvel Two-In-One#14) - The energies in Lawless were detected by both the Son of Satan and Mr. Fantastic, who sent the Thing to investigate. As Ravenstorm, Kthara attacked the pair and had them at her mercy, until Daimon realized who she really was and cast off her illusions. Daimon next skewered Kthara/Ravenstorm with his trident, driving Kthara's demon form from Ravenstorm's body/spirit. However, as Kthara dropped her hold over Ravenstorm, she also released the souls of the people of Lawless, who had been held in thrall by Ravenstorm's curse for one hundred years. Before they passed into eternity, the souls had but one craving: revenge. The spirits swarmed over Kthara, rending her limb from astral limb, until both she and the spirits faded into nothingness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema.

    Since Kthara is a demon-spirit, there's no reason to believe that she was permanently destroyed. More likely, she is imprisoned somewhere deep in the depths of one of the realms of Hell.

Kthara  is referred to as "She who Rules the Outer Dark." As pointed out by Jean-Marc Lofficier, the Outer Dark might refer to the same demons encountered by Lady Daemon. Same writer (Claremont), same name. Coincidence?

    Bill Mantlo wrote the MTIO story. I've heard people wonder what ever happened to him. My understanding is that he suffered brain damage from a closed head injury (essentially too much swelling of his brain with an intact skull), is no longer able to write, and is cared for by his brother. For further info, please see here: http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/comics/Rom/comic/mantlo.shtml
    Our appreciation goes out to Bill and his work with the obscure, especially in resolving plotlines. Our best wishes go out to Bill and his family, as well.

    Jedediah Ravenstorm's story was recapped on page 25 of the 2006 "Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files" book, in the form of a local modern-era newspaper article following the Thing/Son of Satan confrontation with Kthara and Ravenstorm. The article places the town of Lawless more specifically in Arizona's Vulture Mountains, presumably not far from the real-life Arizona town of Wickenburg as the article is from the Wickenburg Moon, a (fictional) newspaper from that town. The article notes that "The Lone Star Saloon was one of the few buildings to survive with minimal damage, and his [Ravenstorm's] portrait, painted on the wall in the Lone Star Saloon and much-weathered but still clear, glares angrily at those willing to brave what remains of his town."

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

The town of Lawless, Arizona, has no known connection to:

Jedediah Ravenstorm

He was part Cherokee and part white man, with a soul as black as night. In the mid-19th Century, he cut a bloody swath through the centers of fashion...the cities of the East...
    He left before it got too hot for him, heading west, where the pattern was repeated endlessly. Ravenstorm crossed the Colorado desert and built himself a town. He called it Lawless...and some say it was built on the blood of all the men he'd killed on his way to the top. But, some of the townspeople were upright, law-abiding people, and after awhile they got tired of taking orders from an outlaw. On December 31, 1875, Ravenstorm was hanged by the good people of Lawless, and a year later the town was deserted. Everyone was gone.

    Ravenstorm had apparently placed a curse on the people of Lawless, which killed them and trapped their spirits within the town.

    Kthara apparently reanimated both Ravenstorm's spirit and body as when she finally left it, she disrupted his curse and freed the people of Lawless from the town in which they had been trapped. The vengeful spirits then attacked and apparently destroyed Kthara.

--Marvel Two-In-One#14 (14(fb), 14

 

Last updated: 05/28/04

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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