NECRODAMUS

Real Name: Necrodamus

Identity/Class: Human magic user

Occupation: Sorcerer

Group Membership: (Necrodamus fascimile only) Legion of the Unliving (Amenhotep, Baron Zemo/Heinrich Zemo, Black Knight/Nathan Garrett, Count Nefaria, Inferno/Joseph Conroy, Nebulon the Celestial Man, Red Guardian/Alexi Shostakov, Star Stalker)

Affiliations: Beleth, Bloodhound, Calizuma, Demon of the Dark, demons, N'astirh, Osiris, Ragnar the Dark Dwarf, Razan the Night Jackal, Undying Ones;
(fascimile only) Grim Reaper (Eric Williams), Lloigoroth

Enemies: Angels (Barachiel the angel, Michael the archangel, others), Aron the Watcher, Blade (Eric Brooks), Defenders (Doctor Strange, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner), Dragon Man, Ebony, Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Ms. Marvel/Sharon Ventura, Thing/Ben Grimm), Ghost Rider (John Blaze), Agatha Harkness, Kang, Mantis, Satana (Satana Hellstrom), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Vision

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Vision

Base of Operations: His home in Gethsemane Flats;
   formerly Otherplace/limbo;
   formerly mobile on Earth

First Appearance: Defenders I#1 (August, 1972)

Powers/Abilities: Necrodamus possessed natural magical affinity, though his skills greatly increased in accordance to various masters he had sworn himself to.  Necrodamus sought to slay innocents in the name of his masters in order to achieve a more youthful and stronger appearance.  Necrodamus could wield numerous spells, including the casting of an impenetrable barrier, minor mind-control skills, and teleportation.  In his youthful form, Necrodamus had super-strength capable of matching the Hulk's.  Necrodamus wielded a powerful dagger capable of piercing the Hulk's hide.  Necrodamus once wielded a box of souls granted him by an unidentified master.  While in the Vision's form, Necrodamus wielded the Vision's powers of density control, intangibility, flight, and solar beams.  As a disembodied spirit, Necrodamus could travel the Earth freely.  Necrodamus once inhabited the body of a corpse.

Height: 5'; (strengthened) 6'4"
Weight: 120 lbs.; (strengthened) 300 lbs.
Eyes: Black; (strengthened) Solid white
Hair: Bald

History: (Fantastic Four I#324 (fb) - BTS) - Necrodamus was born in a "shriveled body."  At some point, he discovered that, by sacrificing innocents, his form could be more youthful and powerful.

(Defenders I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Necrodamus made a pact with the Undying Ones, who'd been denied entrance into the Earth dimension, and agreed to kill the Sub-Mariner in exchange. 

(Defenders I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Necrodamus mind-controlled Namor and placed him in an impenetrable mystic barrier. He then instructed the Silver Surfer, who'd been mentally subjugated by Calizuma, another servant of the Undying Ones, to drop Namor in the Hulk's path.

(Defenders I#1) - Necrodamus retrieved Namor, and briefly mind-controlled the Hulk into informing Dr. Strange of Namor's fate, wanting to best the Defenders, who were the Undying Ones' greatest foes.  Necrodamus revealed that when the stars were properly aligned, he would murder Namor, and gloated that the heroes were powerless.  Necrodamus gave them one hour to free Namor, then disappeared, knowing Strange's spells and Hulk's strength could not accomplish the task.  Necrodamus soon relocated Namor's body to an underground cavern, where the Demon of the Dark protected them.  After the Hulk defeated the Demon, Necrodamus was reborn in his youthful form.  Necrodamus battled the Hulk briefly, stabbing the behemoth with a dagger that pierced the Hulk's chest.  While he was distracted, Dr. Strange helped Namor escape the barrier and the two heroes, joined by the human Bruce Banner, held Necrodamus's blade off long enough for the star alignment to change.  His chance for victory passed, Necrodamus reverted to his older form and teleported away, vowing revenge.  The spell gone, the Hulk was healed.

(Avengers I#128) – Having made contact with other gods, Necrodamus agreed to kill Agatha Harkness in exchange for his youth.  He attacked Harkness at Avengers Mansion, where she’d been training the Scarlet Witch.  Necrodamus seemingly defeated Harkness and was reborn in his powerful form.  He held a box full of souls and planned to add both women’s souls to it.  He battled and defeated Harkness' cat, Ebony, before the Scarlet Witch unleashed an unexpected hex that destroyed the box and swept up Necrodamus in a maelstrom, disappearing.

(Marvel Team-Up I#130 (fb)) – Necrodamus was swept up in a "screaming gale of souls" for a long period of time, his hatred of the Scarlet Witch anchoring him to Earth.  He finally gathered enough strength to return to Earth.

(Fantastic Four I#324 (fb) - BTS) - Necrodamus's soul ended up in Otherplace, where it wandered for some time before making contact with Otherplace's masters, including N'astirh, to be given access to  Earth again in return for fealty.

(Fantastic Four I#323/324 (fb) - BTS) – Necrodamus wandered the Earth, looking for an innocent to sacrifice.  He spied on Aron the Watcher, Dragon Man and the Human Torch.  He found Kang, who was holding Mantis hostage.  Sensing the uniqueness of Mantis' life, he chose her as his sacrifice and kidnapped her.

(Fantastic Four I#324) – Necrodamus held Mantis in restraints behind an impenetrable barrier and waited for the planets to line up before he sacrificed her.  The Fantastic Four arrived with Kang to rescue Mantis.  They tried solar flares, super-strength, and futuristic weapons on the barrier unsuccessfully.  N'astirh approached Necrodamus to remind him of his oath of fealty.  When Kang and the Human Torch managed to divert the planet Mercury from aligning with the other planets, Necrodamus found himself unable to finish the sacrifice and his form dissipated, seemingly returning to Limbo.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Spirits of Vengeance#3 (fb) - bts) - Necrodamus freed the half-goddess Razan the Night Jackal from her 2000 year imprisonment, knowing she would be beholden to him afterward.

(Spirits of Vengeance#3 (fb)) - Necrodamus discovered where the 30 pieces of silver had been buried with Judas Iscariot, and he pieced together that they were mystically enhanced and capable of killing angels. Working with Razan the Night Jackal, he killed guards and bribed officials in order to get the silver.

(Spirits of Vengeance#1 (fb) - bts) - When an angel tried stealing Necrodamus’ silver, he ordered Razan to shoot him. The angel, with a silver bullet inside him, fled.

(Spirits of Vengeance#1) - Necrodamus was furious to hear that the demon had given the silver bullet to Ghost Rider (John Blaze) and Son of Satan before dying. He sent Razan and the Bloodhound to retrieve it.

(Spirits of Vengeance#2) - In Mexico, Necrodamus commissioned Ragnar the Dark Dwarf to create a powerful weapon, but it couldn’t be finished without the missing silver. Later, in Bethsemane Falls, he slaughtered a group of angels, including Barachiel, with silver bullets in front of a group of demons.

(Spirits of Vengeance#3) - The demons warned Necrodamus that he would need stronger weapons to kill archangels. Ragnar the Dark Dwarf then reminded Necrodamus that he needed the 30th silver piece to finish the weapon. Razan, a group of demons, and the Bloodhound killed Edwin, battled Son of Satan and Ghost Rider, and retrieved the silver, but Bloodhound was lost. Razan returned the silver to Necrodamus, who had Ragnar finish developing the Archangel Killer, a sword.

(Spirits of Vengeance#4) - Necrodamus opened up the box containing the Archangel Killer, as Razan talked about being imprisoned by her father Osiris. He then met with Beleth, realizing he was being used, but he planned to slay archangels at the upcoming Covenant meeting.

(Spirits of Vengeance#5) - As angels fought his demons, Necrodamus rushed into the Covenant meeting with the Archangel Killer and tried to kill Michael the Archangel, but Ghost Rider intercepted he blast, his vengeance spirit purifying the silver so it was no longer effective. Ghost Rider turned on Necrodamus, threatening to make him pay, but Razan saved the sorcerer, rushing him to freedom and announcing that her debts to him were now paid.

(Scarlet Witch III#5 - BTS) - Necrodamus heard Agatha Harkness was alive and invited her to tea.

(Scarlet Witch Annual I#1) - In New Salem, Necrodamus was planning an attack on the Scarlet Witch, proposing that Agatha Harkness join him in killing the heroine and stealing her powers, but Agatha stabbed Necrodamus instead, then sent the undead after him.

Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, and Frank Giacoia.

New main image scanned by Markus Raymond.

Profile by Chadman.

    I'm not sure exactly when Necrodamus died.  His death seemed sure in the MTU appearance, but he came back.  I guess he really did die at the end of his Fantastic Four appearance, or perhaps his soul just got snatched up for the Legion's membership.  Necrodamus was most definitely singular in purpose.

    Necrodamus has an entry in Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic.

While many consider the 2017-2018 Spirits of Vengeance to be volume 2 of the series, the first series to use that title was actually called "Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance" whereas the 2017-2018 mini was only called "Spirits of Vengeance." - Proto-Man

CLARIFICATIONS:
Necrodamus has no known connections to

• any other characters not mentioned in this profile

    While the origins of the Demon of the Dark are unknown, he acted to protect Necrodamus in an underground cavern and was savagely beaten by the Hulk.

    The Demon of the Dark's powers are unknown.  It likely had some measure of super-strength and endurance.

--Defenders I#1

Necrodamus (fascimile)

(Avengers I#353) – Seeking revenge on the Avengers, the Grim Reaper forced a plane to crash and used the corpses to create fascimiles of various dead Avengers foes.  Necrodamus animated one of these corpses, still possessing his own superpowers.  Christened the Legion of the Unliving, the villains battled the Avengers. 

(Avengers I#354) – Necrodamus and Amenhotep attacked the Vision, able to touch his intangible form, but they were waylaid by his solar beams.  After the Reaper was consumed by Lloigoroth and the villains returned to their graves.

--Avengers I#353 (Avengers I#353-354

images: (without ads)
Spirits of Vengeance#4, p11, pan6 (main)
Avengers I#128, p10, pan4 (muscle man)
Avengers I#128, p8, pan1 (robed)
Defenders I#1, p11, pan6 (Demon of the Dark)
Avengers I#353, p15, pan1 (fascimile)

Appearances:
Defenders I#1 (August, 1972) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Defenders I#2 (October, 1972) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), John Verpoorten (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#128 (October, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Joe Staton (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Team-Up I#130 (June, 1983) - JM DeMatteis (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Tom Defalco (editor)
Fantastic Four I#323, 324 (February, March, 1989) - Steve Englehart (writer), Keith Pollard (penciler), Romeo Tanghal (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Avengers I#353 (Late September, 1992) - Len Kaminski (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Ariane (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Avengers I#354 (Early October, 1992) - Len Kaminski (writer), M.C. Wyman (penciler), Alexandrov & Ariane (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Spirits of Vengeance#1-5 (December, 2017-April, 2018) - Victor Gischler (writer), David Baldeon (artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
Scarlet Witch III#5 (July, 2023) - Steve Orlando (writer), Russell Dauterman (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
Scarlet Witch Annual I#1 (August, 2023) - Steve Orlando (writer), Carlos Nieto (artist), Wil Moss (editor)

First Posted: 04/07/2006
Last updated: 11/18/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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