VICTORIA MONTESI
Real Name: Dr. Victoria "Vicki" Montesi
Identity/Class: Human/demon hybrid;
citizen of Italy, Vatican City and USA
Occupation: Occult investigator; former medical resident
Group Membership: Midnight Sons (Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider/Dan Ketch), Children of the Midnight Sun (Yuvraj Singh, others);
formerly Darkhold Redeemers (Sam Buchanan, Louise Hastings, Jinx, Modred the Mystic),
Midnight Sons (Blade/Eric Brooks, John Blaze, Frank Drake, Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange, Ghost Rider/Dan Ketch/Noble Kale, Hannibal King, Morbius, Vengeance/Michael Badilino)
Affiliations: Anti-Carnage Task Force (Manuela Calderon, Claire Dixon, Man-Wolf/John Jameson, Toxin/Eddie Brock), the Blood (Caretaker, Foundry, Raydar, Seer, Truthsayer), Agatha Harkness, Midwife, Punisher (Frank Castle), Sabretooth (Victor Creed),
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Tulip (Tamlyn Hamato), Jubulile van Scotter;
former lover of Natasha "Nash" Salvato;
former pawn of Chthon;
briefly linked to the Monstrosity
Enemies: Broodlings of Chthon, Carnage (Cletus Kasady), Chthon, Chthonic Brotherhood (Brother Gregori, others), Darkholders (DeGuzman, others), Diabolique, the Dwarf, the Fallen (Atrocity, Embyrre, Metarchus, Patriarch, Ranter), General Mark Hamilton, Mr. Hayward, the Lilin (Bad Timing, Blackout, Bloodthirst (possessing Morbius), Dark Legion, Doc, Fang, Meatmarket, Nakota, Outcast, Parasite (possessing Martine Bancroft), Pilgrim, Sister Nil, others), Lilith (Mother of Demons), Mercy (Norman Zachos), N'Garai, Paralyzer (Randall Darby), Raze (Claire Dixon), Spider-X (Brian Kornfield), Reverend Styge (James Sharp), Switchblade (Eric Brooks), Morton Thurnton, Troids, Donald J. Walsh, Lt. Frank West, Zarathos, Zzzax
Known
Relatives: Monsignor Vittorio Montesi (adoptive father),
Chthon (father), unidentified mother, Giuseppe Montesi (adoptive uncle, deceased),
Paolo Montesi, Giacomo Montesi Marcello Montesi (adoptive ancestors, deceased), extended relations through Chthon
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile;
formerly Louise Hastings' mansion in New Hope, Pennsylvania (see comments);
formerly Rome, Italy
First Appearance: (In vision) Ghost Rider III#28 (August, 1992); (actual) Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1 (October, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: Victoria is actually a
human/demon hybrid of some sort, or at least a human infused with
black magic. Her major superhuman power would be the ability to
sense whenever a page of the Darkhold is accessed. In addition,
she proved invisible and undetectable to the N'Garai demons. She
is a trained physician (either an intern or resident, or early in
her career, although her area of interest is unknown). Her time
spent opposing the forces of the Darkhold gave her some
experience with hand to hand combat and the use of conventional
firearms. She is fluent in both English and Italian.
While using the Darkhold's Spell of Healing, Victoria could
instantly heal others from otherwise fatal wounds.
Victoria can draw her own blood with a dagger to mystically form a pentagram from her own blood that summons demons she knows or of whose presence she was aware of. She can also banish demons back to Hell.
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1 (fb) - BTS) - Victoria Montesi is descended
from a long line of priests who safeguarded and prevented misuse
of the Darkhold, the Book of Sins.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - A special clause in the Catholic Church allowed these priests to marry, in order to continue their bloodline.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#14 (fb) - BTS) - Unbeknownst to all save his doctor, her father, Vittorio, was sterile.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#145/2 (fb) - BTS) - Realizing how critically important it was to carry on the family line, Vittorio succumbed to the temptation to use the power of the Darkhold. Using its magic, he fathered Victoria.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1 (fb) - BTS) - Her mother was American. Victoria grew up regarding her father's teachings and warnings as mere superstition, and as she grew older, they grew further apart.
Victoria went to Medical School, and she fell in love with Nash Salvato. When Victoria revealed that she had fallen in love with another woman, Vittorio virtually disowned her. During her first year of medical residency at St. Anthony's Hospital in Rome, Italy, she shared an apartment with Nash.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1) - During the events of the storyline
referred to as the "Rise of the Midnight
Sons", the demon-queen Lilith and her
children, the Lilin, were released from a long period of
imprisonment. In the chaos that ensued, a number of groups and
individuals gathered together to combat these demons. At the same
time, the Dwarf and the Other began actively manipulating people
to use pages from the Darkhold, in order to gain power for their
lord, the Elder God Chthon.
Victoria began to have visions every time a page was used. Not
realizing the significance of these visions, she dismissed them
as stress. The Darkholders, a cult worshipping Chthon, recognized
Victoria's hereditary significance and targeted her for
assassination. They planted a bomb on her apartment door, but
Nash was the victim instead. Victoria recovered after three days,
but Nash was left in a coma.
Interpol, at the request of the Vatican (and Vittorio Montesi
himself), assigned agent Sam Buchanan to protect Victoria.
Buchanan helped defend Vicki from an attack by more Darkholders,
and then they ended up joining forces with Louise Hastings
against Donald Walsh, who had activated the Darkhold's Chameleon
Worms spell. The struggle was joined by Lilith and some of her
Lilin, but the heroes were aided by Ghost Rider/Dan Ketch and
John Blaze. Together they succeeded in destroying Walsh and
driving off the Lilin.
(Ghost Rider III#31) - Vicki, Sam, and Louise again encountered the Lilin, alongside the rest of the Midnight Sons.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#2) - Vicki and the other "Darkhold Redeemers" encountered Morton Thurnton, who was using a Darkhold "Spell of Finding," that led him to General Mark Hamilton, who helped Thurnton get his hands on a Gamma Bomb.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#3-4) - Vicki and the others were joined by Sabretooth in the town of Perfection, South Carolina, where Aurora Poule used a Darkhold Spell--summoning the N'Garai to slaughter the residents of the town.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited#1/2) - Vicki, Sam, and Louise encountered Mercy, a criminal using another page of the Darkhold.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#5) - Alongside the Punisher, Vicki and the others battled the zombies of Rev. Styge, who was using a Darkhold spell of resurrection.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#6-7) - Vicki and the others traveled to Hawaii, where they opposed the Darkhold "Memory Spell" of Mr. Hayward, which sought to repeat the events of the Pearl Harbor attack. They also encountered Dr. Strange, Agatha Harkness, and the Scarlet Witch, as well as Modred the Mystic, during this struggle.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#8-10) - Aboard an airplane, Vicki and the
others fought the effects of a Darkhold "Wish Spell".
These events joined them with Jinx, Louise's grandson.
Meanwhile, Sam Buchanan had never believed in magic, and thought
all of their encounters involved high-tech tricks. He also
believed that the reason Victoria knew about the use of the
Darkhold pages was because she was secretly in league with the
Darkholders. Working with his superior in the CIA, DeGuzman, he
ambushed Victoria and the others, and then turned Victoria in.
However, DeGuzman was the leader of a sect of the Darkholders,
and attempted to have Victoria killed. Buchanan realized his
mistake before it was too late, and rescued Vicki. DeGuzman and
his Darkholders, meanwhile, were slain by the demon-child
Diabolique.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited#2/2) - Vicki, Sam, and Louise encountered Frank West who had utilized a Darkhold spell and became a victim of the Troids.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#11) - Blade used the Demogorge page of the Darkhold to gain great power in an effort to wipe out all forces of magic. Vicki was one of his first victims, and was killed by him in his new Switchblade persona.
(Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#13) - Vicki and all others slain by Switchblade were conveniently resurrected when Louise used the Darkhold itself to reverse the Deomogroge spell, curing Blade of the Switchblade/Demogorge identity.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#12) - Diabolique learned the truth about Victoria from another demon, the Whisperer.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#13 (fb) - BTS) - In an effort to save Nash, Victoria used a Darkhold "Spell of Healing", which resulted in the creation of Monstrosity, which retraced Vicki's steps and slew all it encountered.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited#3) - Vicki, Sam, and Louise, alongside the rest of the Midnight Sons, encountered Spider X, Zzzax, and the Paralyzer.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#13-14) - Eventually Vicki realized what was going
on and managed to renounce the spell. Monstrosity was banished,
but Nash died as well.
The fact that the Montesi family was supposed to be
"incorruptible," and yet Victoria had used a page of
the Darkhold, led Hastings to investigate Victoria's past.
Hastings learned Victoria's true nature, as actually being a
creation of the Darkhold.
(Morbius: The Living Vampire I#13) - Victoria felt the effects of Morbius use of the Darkhold Page of Resurrection, which he used on Martine Bancroft.
(Nightstalkers#14) - Victoria arrived with the other Darkhold Redeemers at Cypress Hills Cemetery for a meeting with the other Midnight Sons. They watched Blaze and Ghost Rider claim that they had killed Lilith, while the Nightstalkers wouldn't believe them. When a mist from the Shadowside began to spread from the cemetery, Victoria joined a team consisting of Buchanan, Blaze, Ghost Rider and King to find proof for Lilith's survival.
(Ghost Rider III#44) - Victoria comforted reporter Linda Wei after she was saved by Ghost Rider and Blaze from attacking Lilin. She was present when Lilith, her children and Zarathos attacked them and followed Caretaker into the catacombs beneath the cemetery to escape. Their enemies caught up with them, but Doctor Strange used a force field to hold back Zarathos and the others demons and then brought Victoria and her allies to the Sanctum Sanctorum through a portal.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#143/1) - Victoria, Morbius, Strange and Caretaker made it to the Sanctum Sanctorum, but Ghost Rider, Blaze and Vengeance were redirected when the Lilin Pilgrim and Girth used their powers.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#15) - Victoria began to have morning sickness at the Sanctum Sanctorum, despite the impossibility of natural pregnancy. Buchanan grew concerned, but Victoria assured him that it was probably just the breakfast not agreeing with her or effects of the mist.
(Morbius: The Living Vampire I#16) - Victoria sat on a couch with Buchanan and listened to Strange, Caretaker and the others ramble on about what they should do next. Morbius arrived and told them that Louise Hastings had been killed by Modred, which shocked Victoria. Martine Bancroft, possessed by the Lilin Parasite, entered with the help of Morbius, who was controlled by the Lilin Bloodthirst, and broke the protective barrier around the Sanctum Sanctorum. Victoria was not much help during the battle against the Lilin, but Buchanan did his best to protect her.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#60) - Victoria's mind began to unravel when the Lilin Scatter started spreading the mist inside the Sanctum Sanctorum. She referred to herself as Chthon, but Strange used a spell to send her to sleep and then opened a portal for her and Buchanan to transport them to relative safety somewhere else in the Sanctum Sanctorum.
(Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#17) - After Doctor Strange destroyed the Sanctum Sanctorum, Victoria and the others fled through a portal opened by Caretaker to Blood's Nightclub. She joined the others when they attacked Cypress Hills Cemetery and helped hold the Lilin back while Blaze, Ghost Rider and Vengeance closed the rift to the Shadowside.
(Nightstalkers#15) - After Lilith, the Lilin and the mist were gone, Strange explained to Victoria and the others that a new threat had come through at the last moment. Zarathos and the Fallen easily knocked out Victoria and the others, but Zarathos didn't kill them because he wanted to see them suffer.
(Ghost Rider III#45) - Victoria returned to the Nightclub with the others and learned that the Fallen were members of the Blood and planned to convert the other Blood to serve Zarathos or kill them.
(Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#16) - Modred teleported the Darkhold Redeemers to a jungle in Central America to find the Blood Truthsayer and protect her. They encountered a local, actually the Fallen Metarchus in disguise, who showed them the right direction. Victoria still felt queasy and Buchanan was concerned. They found Truthsayer, who had no interest to help them. Victoria tried to convince her otherwise and told her how they had sealed the gate powering the Darkhold Pages at Cypress Hills Cemetery, but Truthsayer assured Victoria that not only the Fallen had slipped through the gate because she knew that the gate used to power the Darkhold was not at Cypress Hills Cemetery. Victoria asked for the truth, but Truthsayer wasn't willing to shatter the lies Victoria's life was built on. While Modred fought Metarchus, Victoria asked for the truth again. Flooded by memories Victoria couldn't make sense of what Truthsayer was trying to show her, but before Truthsayer could reveal the truth to Victoria, Truthsayer was killed by Modred, who claimed that it was Metarchus, who at the time was posing as him.
Modred teleported the team back to Los Angeles where they visited Louise Hasting's grave. The Darkhold Redeemers went their separate ways and Modred teleported Victoria and Buchanan back to the ruins of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#145/2) - Shortly after this,
Victoria at last learned her own true nature, as the spawn of
Chthon, now pregnant with him (magic, ya know?) and
preparing to deliver the demon into the mortal plane. These
events pulled her away from Buchanan, and the Redeemers dissolved
permanently.
The N'Garai attempted to abduct Vicki to the realm of Chthon, but
she was saved by Dr. Strange.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#146/3) - Doctor Strange fled with Vicki through a portal back to the Sanctum Sanctorum.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#61) - Dr. Strange brought Victoria to his Sanctum, which had been destroyed. He then brought her to the Forge Canal, his temporary base of operations, and placed her within a stasis box, to halt the flow of time around her in an effort to prevent the birth of Chthon. As she slept, she had somewhat incoherent dreams.
(Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#18 (see comments)) - Victoria and Buchanan rejoined the Midnight Sons in Cypress Hills Cemetery.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#72) - Sister Nil observed Victoria within the stasis box.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#78 - BTS) - Modred the Mystic, again under the influence of Chthon, burst in the Tempo Building, another temporary HQ of Dr. Strange, and attempted to free Victoria. Strange duped Modred with a false image of Victoria, and then banished him to Thailand.
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#89-90) - Chthon sent the Midwife to Earth. She made her way into the Tempo Building and freed Victoria from the stasis box, allowing her pregnancy to rapidly progress into labor. Strange sensed this and entered Chthon's realm in an effort to drive him back. Chthon easily overpowered Strange and forced him back to Earth, but not before Strange could drive a wedge of his own greatest power into Chthon. As the labor progressed on Earth, Strange tapped into Victoria's spirit, her inner "goodness", and used it to magnify the wedge within Chthon. The force of this magic was great enough that Chthon would risk his own life by coming to Earth. As a result, the labor (and apparently the pregnancy (?)) was terminated.
Victoria survived.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Carnage II#10 (fb) - BTS) - When Yuvraj Singh was still a boy in the Punjab he was saved by Victoria Montesi and the Children of the Midnight Sun from acolytes of the Chthonic Brotherhood, who had attacked his village. (see comments)
(Carnage II#7 (fb) - BTS) - For a decade Victoria and the Children of the Midnight Sun kept searching for the Darkhold, which had disappeared.
Victoria Montesi was alerted by a government contact about a failed mission to capture Carnage in an abandoned mine in West Virginia that involved followers of Chthon and the Darkhold. She received the page Manuela Calderon had torn from the Darkhold.
(Carnage II#8 (fb) - BTS) - Barry Gleason, the cultist owner of the Grey Ridge Mine, was found dead by Victoria Montesi's allies. It was obvious that Carnage had killed him and had taken the Darkhold from him.
(Carnage II#7 (fb)) - After she got chewed out by her superiors in Washington DC for the failed mission to capture Carnage, Claire Dixon was approached by Yuvraj Singh and Victoria Montesi. The latter introduced herself as a representative of the Children of the Midnight Sun and made it clear that she and Dixon both wanted to go after Kasady because he posed a threat to the whole world. She offered Dixon a ride in a limousine because she wanted to talk to her about what would come next.
Shortly after, Dixon, with Victoria and Singh at her side, approached John Jameson and Manuela Calderon at a bar in Washington with a proposal to join them. Victoria took a ride in her limousine with her new allies and showed them the page from the Darkhold. She explained the threat the book posed and that it was even worse because it was now in the possession of Cletus Kasady. She knew that Kasady needed an altar to tap into the Darkhold's full potential and with the one in West Virginia destroyed, the next one was somewhere in Indonesia. Jameson and Calderon agreed to join Victoria's mission.
Victoria and Singh waited outside a FBI "Black Site" prison compound while Man-Wolf (Jameson), Calderon and Dixon freed Eddie Brock from the facility. Victoria assumed that Carnage was already in Jakarta, Indonesia and that they needed to head there as well as fast as possible.
(Carnage II#8 (fb)) - Victoria and her team took a private jet to Jakarta. During the flight Victoria explained the origins of the Darkhold, how it corrupted anyone that read from it and that its true purpose was to open a gateway for Chthon to return to Earth. She showed the others pictures of the dead Barry Gleason, who had the Darkhold with him when he got killed by Carnage. Victoria explained again that Carnage needed an altar and that the page Calderon had torn from the book revealed the location of an altar.
Victoria and her team arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta. Victoria's allies in the area had identified the local Chthonic Brotherhood and their leader Brother Gregori, who had named himself after Gregori Russoff, a werewolf and former owner of the Darkhold. John Jameson wasn't pleased to hear that the Darkhold was connected to werewolves. Singh then informed Montesi that Carnage had been called by the cultists and was taken to a freighter at the port in Jakarta Old Town. When they arrived they found a crime scene with dead cultists all over the place. Carnage, who was apparently influenced and protected by the Darkhold, had escaped the cultists and had taken the freighter, known as Caspian Sea, with Brother Gregori to reach the island where the altar was. Montesi decided to examine the weapons used by the cultists because they were obviously good enough to capture Carnage temporarily. Montesi told Singh to get them a fast ship so they could catch up with the freighter.
(Carnage II#9 (fb) - BTS) - Jameson and Calderon were still skeptical of Montesi and the Children of the Midnight Sun she represented despite the yacht Sanctus they were on, the private jet that brought them to Jakarta and weapons they had received from them for their hunt on Carnage.
(Carnage II#9 (fb)) - Victoria and her team caught up with the freighter and Victoria was sure they would find Carnage and Brother Gregori on it. She provided the team with armors and bullets that had Chthonic symbols etched into them that should be able to harm Carnage before they boarded the Caspian Sea. They found numerous corpses on deck that Carnage had tried to infect with his symbiote. According to Victoria he still didn't understand the Darkhold, which was the reason why he needed Gregori and the altar. Victoria and her team continued their way to the engine room, but on their way there found more corpses hanging from the ceiling and the infected Captain Horton, who begged for death. After Horton revealed how the freighter's course was set on autopilot and how Carnage had used the Darkhold to mutate the crew, Eddie Brock gave him his wish and shot him. Victoria and her team were then attacked by more mutated crewmen and Victoria ordered everyone to retreat when she realized that there were too many of them. They lost sight of Claire Dixon during the chaos.
(Carnage II#10 (fb)) - Victoria and her team got cornered by the mutated crewmen, but shot their way through and made it to the kitchen where they found a map. Victoria told the others that the last time she saw Dixon, she was heading for the engine room. She didn't want to go after her because Carnage was their main target and she wanted to make sure that he couldn't escape again. She ordered Singh and Jameson to head down to the fuel hold and place explosives with a 30 minutes timer there. She wanted Calderon and Brock to accompany her to the engine where she hoped they would find Dixon. Calderon was surprised that Montesi had brought explosives, but apparently destroying the ship was always a potential strategy of Montesi. When Brock told Montesi that he was out of bullets, Montesi revealed to him that she was in possession of the symbiote activator that could release the Toxin symbiote from him though like Dixon before her she was not willing to use it yet. Victoria felt the engine room when she reached it with Brock and Calderon and released the Toxin symbiote to fight Carnage. They confronted the monster and demanded to know where Dixon was, only to learn that she had been infected by a symbiote and was now called Raze by Carnage. While Raze attacked Toxin, Montesi took a shot at Carnage and to his surprise her bullets actually hurt him. Calderon and Montesi kept raining bullets on Carnage, but were forced to flee when the 30 minutes timer for explosives was almost up. Unable to kill Carnage, Montesi told Calderon to flee with her and hope that sinking the ship with Carnage and the Darkhold was enough to get rid of the threat. Toxin soon joined them, but Carnage and Raze caught up with them on deck. Montesi cut off Carnage's arm while Calderon shot him. Montesi's team made it off the freighter only seconds before the explosives blew up the fuel tanks.
(Carnage II#6 - BTS) - Jubulile van Scotter saw the explosion from her boat the Cinga and soon picked up Cletus Kasady, who had escaped on a lifeboat.
(Carnage II#6) - Victoria and her team picked up Jubulile van Scotter, who was floating on a lifeboat on the Indian Ocean, after escaping Carnage.
(Carnage II#7) - Victoria and her team were shocked to learn from Jubulile that Carnage was still alive. Victoria told her that they were her friends because Carnage was their enemy as well.
(Carnage II#10) - Jubulile told Victoria and the others that a woman named Claire Dixon had just approached her on the yacht. They told her that this was impossible because she was dead.
Victoria and the others had a meeting to discuss Carnage and what he had done to Jubulile, who was now somehow psychically connected to him and could see what he did. Montesi learned from Jubulile that Carnage had found another ship and was headed for the island. Montesi then ordered Jubulile to use the coordinates she learned from the charts to bring them to the island. Montesi still believed that Dixon was dead, unaware that she was waiting on the yacht's anchor.
(Carnage II#11) - Montesi and her team found the fishing vessel that Carnage had taken and they found more bodies, but also a few crewmen missing. Montesi ordered to go ashore the nearby island to find Carnage. On the beach they found the tracks of Carnage and three mutated crewmen that headed inland. They also found the remains of a stranded 200 years old whaling ship. Montesi ordered everyone to stay close to Jubulile because she could lead them to Carnage. Montesi felt that Calderon's feelings toward her were conflicted, but Montesi didn't give her any explanations (including the weird fact about saving Singh when he was still a child). They soon found a graveyard and found proof that the island was a nest for the Broodlings of Chthon, which attacked them. Jubulile surprised the others by taking some of the Broodlings out during the confrontation and Montesi assumed that this was due Carnage's attempt to infect Jubulile actually working. Montesi and her team continued their voyage through the jungle and eventually found the village of the Broodlings where Carnage was cooked above a fire.
(Carnage II#12) - Montesi could do nothing for Jubulile, who suffered because she was feeling Carnage's pain and memories. They stayed in a safe distance until Calderon showed Montesi that the Broodlings had the Darkhold. Montesi planned to circle around to the hut where the Darkhold was kept and steal it while the Broodlings were busy with Carnage. Brock wasn't having it because Jubulile was suffering and Montesi changed the plan to include Singh and Jameson causing a distraction to allow Brock to free Carnage as Toxin. Montesi, Calderon and Brock headed into the village after Man-Wolf (Jameson) and Singh attacked the Broodlings from the other side. Montesi made it to the hut, but Raze stole the Darkhold right in front of her and Montesi's bullets missed her. Toxin and Raze freed Carnage, who took the Darkhold and escaped with Raze to head to the altar on the island. Meanwhile Toxin criticized Montesi for not believing Jubulile when she told them that she had encountered Raze (Dixon). Montesi took responsibility for her mistake and helped her team fight off the Broodlings until Jubulile told them that she knew that Carnage was heading to a temple on the island. Montesi demanded to know more and had to be held back by Brock because she was hurting Jubulile, but Montesi already knew that Carnage was headed to the temple to find Chthon.
(Carnage II#14) - While her team made their way through the jungle they heard Man-Wolf hunting pigs. Victoria gave Manuela a history lesson about the inhabitants of the island and opened up about her own past with Chthon. She grew closer to Manuela and offered her to call her Vicki. Moments later Victoria's team was attacked by Broodlings and Victoria ordered Singh to get Jubulile to safety, but they were saved by Man-Wolf, who ripped apart the attacking Broodlings before he disappeared back into the jungle. They soon caught up with Man-Wolf, who turned human again after Manuela destroyed the Starstone. Though John Jameson deemed himself a danger to the rest of the team, Manuela insisted he stayed with them and Victoria, who found Manuela's initiative attractive, agreed. Jubulile felt that Carnage had arrived at the altar and that the Children of Chthon had been waiting for him there. Victoria was sure that the Broodlings had been preparing him for a blood ritual and asked Jubulile to lead them to Carnage, but Jubulile told her that they were already too late.
(Carnage II#15) - Broodlings ran past Victoria and her team when they made their way into the temple. Victoria knew that Carnage was casting the spell to bring Chthon to Earth when the temple crumbled beneath their feet. They made their way inside and witnessed Carnage, who believed he could control Chthon, but Victoria knew he was wrong. Victoria planned to amplify Jubulile's psychic connection to the Carnage symbiote and stop him by forcing Brock to merge the Toxin symbiote with her, but before they could go through with the plan, Raze killed Singh and Victoria and her team went after her. Brock finally merged the Toxin symbiote with Jubulile, but Chthon had already arrived.
(Carnage II#16) - Victoria was shocked at the rise of Chthon, but still saw hope when she saw what Jubulile had turned into. Jubulile was sure she could stop Chthon, who had to feed first in order to grow. Jubulile did the same by absorbing Raze's symbiote into herself. While Jubulile attacked Chthon directly, Victoria took the Darkhold and, after Manuela gave her the page she had ripped out back in West Virginia, cast a spell that absorbed psychic energy from everyone on the island and beyond to increase the powers of Jubulile to banish Chthon from Earth and send him back to his dimension. Victoria then used the Darkhold against Carnage to destroy his Darkhold-enhanced symbiote, leaving Kasady by himself.
In the aftermath Victoria's brief romance with Manuela came to an end in Cape Town, South Africa because Victoria had to deliver the Darkhold to the Children of the Midnight Sun first. Victoria was sure they would see each other again.
(Crypt of Shadows III#1/3) - In a dream Victoria was threatened by a Troid, who sent Morbius after her. Victoria woke up next to her girlfriend (possibly Calderon, but with dyed hair...or a new one) and told her to go back to sleep. She looked at a picture of the late Louise Hastings and wished she was there to help her because the vision of the Troid and Morbius was the first she had in years.
Victoria tracked down Morbius with the help of the Children of the Midnight Sun and found him in an alley on the Lower East Side taking care of a small-time criminal. She saw the Troids surrounding Morbius and shot one sitting on his shoulder before confronting Morbius for dealing with demons now. He assured her that he had no clue what these creatures were. Morbius fell under control of the Troids and began hunting Victoria, but Jinx appeared and revoked the spell he had cast to get his revenge on Morbius for killing his grandmother because he didn't want to endanger Victoria. With the Troids gone, Victoria made sure that Morbius wouldn't kill the apologetic Jinx. Victoria was impressed how much his powers had improved and left with him after telling Morbius that the only reason it was so easy for the Troids to possess him was because of his violent nature.
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(Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#1) - Victoria was called in for help in El Fasha, Iraq by locals. She entered a cave to oppose a demon possessing a man and drew a pentagram with her own blood to summon Lilith to deal with the demon. She told the people outside that the previously possessed man needs medical help and then left. Still in Iraq she had something to drink when she was approached by Johnny Blaze. She already knew that he was there to ask her for help against Blade and was willing to kill Blade if necessary. (Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#2) - Victoria had a nightmare/vision about Chicago Med Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. She told Johnny about it and told him that they had to go to that hospital first to stop whatever evil was going on there and if Johnny, Dan and Tulip didn't join her she would go by on her own. Johnny, Dan and Tulip agreed to join her because they all had the same dream. Victoria, Johnny, Tulip and Ghost Rider arrived just in time at the hospital to save a nurse from a vampire during the unending night. Victoria tried to explain that something evil was bleeding over into this reality at this hospital. When Blade seemingly attacked them only to flee immediately, Victoria knew that it was not Blade, but a trick by whatever evil was at the hospital to get them to leave. Victoria was going to close the door to the other side and formed a pentagram with her blood to get rid of the sleeper from Hell that had been awakened in this place. (Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#3) - Victoria used the nurse's fear to trap the demon at the hospital in the form the nurse feared the most. Victoria then banished the demon back to Hell and Ghost Rider cleansed the remains with his burning chain. The hospital was free again and the Midnight Sons' work was done. |
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Comments: Created by Christopher Cooper and Richard Case.
So the Montesis are incorruptible, and its only because Victoria was a product of dark magic that she succumbed to the Darkhold, right? Well then what about her father, Vittorio? He should have been incorruptible, too!
Victoria Montesi is pictured with the Midnight Sons as they enter the lair of Zarathos and the Fallen in Spirits of Vengeance#18. She shouldn't be with them, because Strange had already taken her to the Forge Canal and placed her in stasis.
The Darkhold Redeemers team chose the building in New Hope as their base because it was literally right across the street from the hospital that Vicki's dying lover Nash was staying in. Nash's parents were her legal guardians, so they would have chosen the hospital. They hated Vicki, so the hospital wasn't chosen because it was convenient for where Vicki would be staying; rather the house was chosen as it was close to the hospital. This means none of the Redeemers could have owned it prior to the group moving in. It's possible Louise was the one who actually bought and therefore owned it.
--Loki
Victoria, Louise Hastings and Sam Buchanan were first seen in two visions. First in Ghost Rider III#28 and next through Nakota's eyes in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#2. Additionally they appeared in promotional material in other books before their first actual appearance in Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1.
In Carnage II#10, Victoria's assistant, Singh, who looks at least fifty (John Jameson's words), mentions that Victoria saved him from the Chthonic Brotherhood when he was child. This makes Jameson wonder how old she is, since she only looks 35. In Carnage II#14 Manuela Calderon queries her about this (John clearly shared what he had learned), and Victoria neither confirms nor denies it, but does go into her background as being Chthon's offspring, which kind of suggests she is admitting she is older than she looks.
Secret Wars (2015) and its aftermath of NEAR-exact restructuring of Earth-616 leaves room for certain continuity loopholes.
--Loki
--Grendel Prime
Victoria Montesi comment(s) from Donald Campbell:
Although I liked the 2016 Carnage series, I didn't actually read it when I first bought it and didn't get interested until the later issues, after I learned that Chthon was involved. Sadly, I've never taken the time to pull out the early issues and read it all from the beginning. As a result, it wasn't until reading the updated Victoria Montesi profile that I learned of the chronological problem that it introduced into her life story. Specifically, if Victoria didn't believe in the supernatural until she was an adult and a doctor, then how could she have helped rescue the fifty-plus-year-old Yuvraj Singh when he had been a child?
My first thought was that maybe Carnage II writer Gerry Conway had just forgotten that Marvel Time passes far more slowly than real world time and that he hadn't taken into account that comics that are published "X" years apart don't usually represent events that occurred "X" years apart in the MU. However, that doesn't work because Carnage II was published only 24 years after Victoria's first appearance, not enough to account for the fact that Victoria supposedly helped save Singh over 40 years ago.
While looking over the list of explanations provided by Loki, I realized that there was one possibility that had been omitted, an explanation that really shouldn't be used if there is any good alternative. And that explanation is...time travel.
Suppose that, after Victoria survived the events of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#89-90, the last storyline from the 20th century in which she appeared, something happened that caused her to travel back in time at least forty-five years. And let's suppose that, as Loki suggests, her supernatural origin might have caused Vicki to age far more slowly than normal humans. And finally, let's also suppose that, since by then she did know that magic was real, this older Victoria decided to become involved with the Children of the Midnight Sun in their fight against the evil influence of Chthon and his followers.
If you add time travel to the equation, the contradictions melt away. The young Vicki who was born about thirty-five years (or about twenty years before FF#1) didn't believe in magic but her older self, the one who traveled back in time, did. This would make it possible for her to help rescue Singh when he was a boy, before she was even born.
Admittedly, I think that time travel should be the Continuity Fix of Last Resort, something that shouldn't be used if there are any other viable options, but sometimes it's the only way that continuity can be preserved without completely rewriting/wrecking the previously-established stories. I think this is one of those times.
Plus, it would itself make for an interesting story, should anyone think to write it. How and why did Vicki travel back in time? The obvious answer would be some form of magic, but whose? Was it her choice or did someone else do it to her? How did she react when she found herself in the past? How did she make sure that people in the past didn't realize that she was a time traveler? Given that she apparently always used her real name, how did she keep anyone from connecting her to the "other" Victoria Montesi, her past self? After all, the Montesi name is famous in certain mystical circles. Inquiring minds would want to know. I know that I would.
--Donald Campbell
She received a profile in the King in Black Handbook (May, 2021).
Profile by Snood. Update by Markus Raymond (2016-NOW).
CLARIFICATIONS:
Victoria Montesi has no known connection to:
Nash Salvato has no known connection to:
She was Victoria's
former lover. Her career is unknown, although she was a blackbelt
in karate. They lived together in Rome, Italy before Nash was
nearly killed by a bomb left for Victoria by the Darkholders.
Nash remained in a coma at the Summertide Convalescent Home in New Hope, Connecticut until she finally gave up her ghost when
Victoria accessed the Darkhold in an effort to save her. Nash
made her see that it was not worth it. Nash's parents (Ned & her unidentified mother) did not
approve of her relationship with Victoria because they were very religious, and they blamed Vicki
for her injuries and subsequent death.
--Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1 (Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1, 13, 14
Note: Her full first name was revealed in Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#13 by her parents.
images: (without ads)
King in Black Handbook, Victoria Montesi profile (main, refurbed version of Ghost Rider III#31, p6, pan1)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1, p4, pan7 (Victoria Montesi head shot)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#4, p13, pan6 (Victoria Montesi armed and dangerous)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#7, p13, pan5 (Victoria Montesi body shot)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#13, p22 (transformed by Darkhold)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#72, p8, pan1 (pregnant in a time dilation field)
Carnage II#7, p8, pan5 (new head shot)
Carnage II#9, p9, pan4 (rune armor)
Carnage II#16, p15, pan3 (casting Darkhold spell)
Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#1, p26, pan4 (with dagger, about to draw her own blood)
Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#2, p20 (demon summoning pentagram formed from her blood)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1, p5, pan4 (Nash Salvato)
Appearances:
Ghost Rider III#28 (August, 1992) - Howard Mackie (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#2 (September, 1992) - Howard Mackie (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Chris Warner (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#1 (October, 1992) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Ghost Rider III#31 (November, 1992) - Howard Mackie (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#2 (November, 1992) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#3 (December, 1992) - Chris Cooper (writer), Tony Harris (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#4 (January, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Norman Felchle (pencils), Mark McKenna & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#5 (February, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case & Al Bigley (pencils), Mark McKenna & Ariane Lenshoek (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#6 (March, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case & Al Bigley (pencils), Stan Woch & Ariane Lenshoek (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#7 (April, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited#1/2 (April, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Joe Quesada (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#8 (May, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#9-10 (June-July, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bob Downs (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited#2/2 (July, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Dan Lawlis (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#11 (August, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bob Downs (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#13 (August, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert, Dan Green, Klaus Janson & Frank Spinks (inks)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#12 (September, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Morbius: The Living Vampire I#13 (September, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Ron Wagner & Henry Martinez (pencils), Andrew Pepoy & Sam de la Rosa (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited#3 (October, 1993) - Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Chapter 1: Mort Todd (writer), Mike Witherby (pencils), Tom Smith (inks)
Chapter 3: Mort Todd (writer), Ken Meyer Jr. (artist)
Chapter 4: Mort Todd (writer), Dougie Braithwaite & Vince Giarrano (pencils), Cam Smith & Vince Giarrano (inks)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#13-14 (October-November, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Nightstalkers#14 (December, 1993) - Steven Grant (writer), Andrew Wildman (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Ghost Rider III#44 (December, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#143 (December, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Reggie Jones (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#15 (December, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Morbius: The Living Vampire I#16 (December, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Isaac Cordova (pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#60 (December, 1993) - David Quinn (writer), Melvin Rubi (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Evan Skolnick (editor)
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#17 (December, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Henry Martinez (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers#15 (January, 1994) - Steven Grant (writer), Andrew Wildman (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Ghost Rider III#45 (January, 1994) - Howard Mackie (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins#16 (January, 1994) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bob Downs & Malcolm Jones III (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#145 (January, 1994) - Chris Cooper (writer), Reggie Jones (pencils), Rey Garcia (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#146 (January, 1994) - David Quinn (writer), Geoff Isherwood (artist), Richard Ashford (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#61 (January, 1994) - David Quinn (writer), Melvin Rubi (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Evan Skolnick (editor)
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance#18 (January, 1994) - Howard Mackie (writer), Henry Martinez (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#72 (December, 1994) - David Quinn (writer), Peter Gross (pencils), Peter Gross & Lee Sullivan (inks), Evan Skolnick (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#78 (June, 1995) - David Quinn & Evan Skolnick (writers), Marie Severin (pencils), Peter Gross (inks), Marie Javins (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#89-90 (May-June, 1996) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Kev F Sutherland (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Carnage II#6 (May, 2016) - Gerry Conway (writer), Mike Perkins (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)
Carnage II#7-12 (June-November, 2016) - Gerry Conway (writer), Mike Perkins (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
Carnage II#14-16 (January-March, 2017) - Gerry Conway (writer), Mike Perkins (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
Crypt of Shadows III#1/3 (December, 2022) - Chris Cooper (writer), Ibrahim Moustafa (artist), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt#1-3 (July-September, 2024) - Bryan Hill (writer), Germán Peralta (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 03/25/2002
Last updated: 09/30/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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