STYGIAN CASINO

Classification: Extradimensional (Hades) afterlife casino

Creator: Pluto (Hades)

User/Possessors: Aegis (Trey Rollins), the Ancient One (Yao), Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Blink (Clarice Ferguson), Cerberus, Amadeus Cho, Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna), Goliath (Bill Foster), Hercules (Heracles), Hippolyta, Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart), Namorita (Namorita Prentiss), Pluto (Hades), Elvis Presley, Puck (Eugene Judd), U-Go Girl (Edie Sawyer), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne);
    formerly Bucky (James Barnes)

First Appearance: (mentioned) Incredible Hercules I#128 (June, 2009);
    (seen) Incredible Hercules I#129 (July, 2009)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Stygian Casino served as a portal to the Erebus region of Hades. Its entrance was on Earth in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but once entering, patrons found themselves in Erebus. Those within the Stygian Casino who win a jackpot are restored to true life in some fashion.

    Upon entering, Hercules experienced a vision of his original mortal death but it is unclear if anyone who has died before will experience visions of their prior deaths or if this vision was exclusive to Hercules.

History:
(Incredible Hercules I#129 (fb) - BTS) - Pluto, ruler of the afterlife realm of Hades, coveted gems and gold and, in an effort to augment his hoard of riches, he created an Earthly entrance to Hades in the form of the Stygian Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. As Pluto became more involved in the Olympus Group on Earth, he spent less and less time in Hades handling his duties to the dead, leaving them indefinitely in the region of Erebus in a section of the Stygian Casino where they constantly gambled on the chance of being restored to life. At some point, the hero Bucky won his way back to life.

(Incredible Hercules I#128 - BTS) - During a battle between Norman Osborn's Avengers, the Olympus Group, Athena, Amadeus Cho and Hercules, Athena had Hercules and Amadeus Cho exit the battle while Pluto was busy fighting Osborn's Avengers and she told Cho and Hercules to meet her at the Stygian Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

(Incredible Hercules I#129) - Once at the Stygian Casino, Athena dressed Hercules and Amadeus Cho in suits and gave them casino chips for the boatman so they could enter Hades and retrieve the deceased Zeus. Despite being angry that Athena had neglected to mention that he was there to retrieve Zeus, Hercules nonetheless entered the Stygian Casino alongside Amadeus Cho and immediately upon entering, Hercules experienced a vision of his original mortal death. Upon recovering, Hercules continued into the Stygian Casino, passing the performing Cerberus before meeting with Athena's deceased former champion, Aegis. Aegis led the two heroes into the part of the Stygian Casino that was in Erebus, an area of the afterlife that souls passed through on their way to Hades, where numerous deceased individuals were gambling at a chance at returning to life. While passing through, Hercules noticed his fallen former ally Wasp and attempted to convince her to leave with him but Wasp's focus remained on trying to win a resurrection and she told Hercules to go away. Aegis warned Hercules against breaking any rules in the Stygian Casino on their way to Zeus lest they alert Pluto to their presence there. Hercules and Amadeus were then ushered out of the Stygian Casino, passing a winning Jack of Hearts as they made their way to Charon, ferryman of the dead. When Charon demanded ten thousand casino chips payment to ferry Hercules, Hercules and Amadeus Cho returned to the Stygian Casino in hopes of winning enough payment to give Charon. Hercules found his experiences in the Stygian Casino depressing, feeling as if there was no true rest for the fallen, while Amadeus Cho used his brains to count cards, winning over a hundred thousand and drawing the attention of Casino workers. One of them soon attacked Amadeus and Hercules came to his aid, freeing the captive Cerberus to distract the Casino guards while he and Amadeus absconded with all of the Casino chips they could hold. They then fled the Stygian Casino back to Charon, who reluctantly accepted his payment and agreed to ferry them to Tartarus, where Zeus was being held.

Comments: Created by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Ryan Stegman and Terry Pallot.

    It's interesting how many the deceased superhumans in the Stygian Casino have "returned" to life since the Casino appeared. The Ancient One, Banshee, Blink, Darkstar, Hippolyta, Jack of Hearts (who won his resurrection while Hercules & Amadeus Cho were there!), Namorita, Puck and Wasp have all returned to life. While some were retconned to seemingly have not been dead in the first place, they were gambling at a chance of being restored to life and Incredible Hercules I#129 established that those in the Erebus section of the Stygian Casino were not truly dead nor alive but rather, in the realm between life and death. For those retconned to have never actually died, they must have never truly crossed over before winning restoration to life in the Casino. In some cases, some of the characters truly crossed over into death before returning to the Casino and getting close to a resurrection, only to return to true death. This would be the case with U-Go Girl, as she was clearly in the afterlife in X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl then was seen in the Casino then was dead again in Giant-Size X-Statix#1.

    Since the Casino hasn't been seen since Incredible Hercules I#129, we don't know its status since the fall of the Olympus Group. It could very well still be active but those gambling inside might not stay as long since Pluto has returned to his duties as head of Hades.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Stygian Casino has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Incredible Hercules I#129, p2, pan3 (Stygian Casino, main entrance)
Incredible Hercules I#129, p6-7, pan1 (Stygian Casino, interior)

Appearances:
Incredible Hercules I#128 (June, 2009) - Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (writers), Dietrich Smith (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Incredible Hercules I#129 (July, 2009) - Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (writers), Ryan Stegman (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)

First Posted: 10/25/2024
Last updated: 10/25/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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