Lucifer is the name of two unrelated characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. One is an alien supervillain of the X-Men and the other is a villain of Ghost Rider and is referred to as the Prince of Darkness.
The first Lucifer first appearance was in The X-Men #9 (Jan. 1965) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. [1] He is an agent of the Quists, an alien race who are also known as the Arcane.
| Lucifer | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The X-Men #9 (Jan. 1965) [2] |
| Created by | Stan Lee and Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Quist |
| Notable aliases | Agent One |
| Abilities | Telepathy Ionic manipulation |
The alien being known as Lucifer was born on the planet Quistalium, in the Quistraa star system in the Milky Way Galaxy, who had invaded many worlds. He first comes to Earth as an advance agent for the invasion of Earth by the Arcane (also known as the Quists), and places several humans under his hypnotic control, allowing him to take control of a small area. This invasion is foiled by a young Charles Xavier (later Professor X, leader of the X-Men). In retaliation, Lucifer drops an enormous stone block on Xavier, leaving him paraplegic.
Lucifer returns to Earth years after paralyzing Xavier and battles Xavier once again in the Balkan Mountains. He has a device attached to his own heart that will set off a bomb if he is killed, but it is defused by Cyclops. [3] Lucifer later manipulates the Blob and Unus into framing the X-Men as criminals. He is thwarted by the X-Men and teleported from Earth by the Quistalian Supreme for punishment. [4]
Lucifer is exiled to an alternate realm known as the "Nameless Dimension". There, he uses "ionic energy" to give himself superhuman strength and the ability to project force beams from his hands, in addition to his apparently pre-existing telepathic powers. He continued to try conquering Earth by using his "dimensional transmitter" to imbue humans with ionic energy and turning them into his minions. [5] [6] After several failed attempts, Lucifer's masters "terminate" him for his failures and replace him with the computer Dominus. [7]
| Lucifer (Prince of Darkness) | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | First mentions: Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976) Full appearance: Ghost Rider vol. 6 #1 (Sept. 2006) |
| Created by | Daniel Way, Javier Saltares, and Mark Texeira |
| In-story information | |
| Notable aliases | Prince of Darkness, Prince of Lies |
| Abilities | Immortality Superhuman strength Immense demonic power |
Lucifer is a supervillain in Marvel Comics, mostly associated with Ghost Rider.
Lucifer is a powerful entity whose true history is unknown. It is believed that he was once an angel who led other angels in banishing the N'Garai from Earth and led a group of followers in a rebellion against God. Following his defeat, Lucifer and his lieutenants were cast down to Hell as punishment, where they transformed into demons over time.
Lucifer believes that, if he extinguished Ghost Rider's human soul, he could be made into a soulless killing machine who he could use to extinguish all humanity. [8] For years, Lucifer with the aid of the other Hell-lords had made many attempts on Ghost Rider's soul, but all have failed.
Lucifer is ultimately defeated by Blaze and exiled back to Perdition, and senses Zadkiel's apparent triumph over Heaven from Hell. However, after Zadkiel is unable to truly control Creation and the ultimate power that sparked it, God returns in wrath and condemns Zadkiel to eternal torment from Lucifer. [9]
During a later storyline, Lucifer escapes from Hell by 'following' Ghost Rider during his latest escape from Hell, with the transition splintering Lucifer's soul into 666 fragments that 'manifest' on Earth in the bodies of those who had recently died at the moment Ghost Rider crossed over. [10] Lucifer would regain his full strength if he can arrange for his various hosts to be killed by others; he cannot commit suicide as this is a sin that would send him back to Hell. As each Lucifer fragment dies, their strengths are transferred to the other hosts, until eventually the last few hosts become so powerful only Ghost Rider can kill them. Eventually, the Ghost Rider is able to 'kill' one Lucifer fragment by ramming a truck's gear-stick through its brain and breaking its spine, [11] leaving the fragment in a brain-damaged and paralysed state but biologically still alive, allowing Ghost Rider to defeat what Lucifer believes to be his final host. The host is killed by Ghost Rider's ally Dixie and the police. [12]
As the Chaos King Amatsu-Mikaboshi launches his invasion of the divine and infernal realms associated with Earth at the start of the "Chaos War" storyline, the last surviving bastion of Creation, Lucifer, along with the other powers of Hell, confronts Amatsu-Mikaboshi, only to be consumed by his primordial darkness. [13]
The Quist version of Lucifer has a gifted intellect, and extensive knowledge of advanced Quistalian science and technology, and talent as an inventor using this technology. Lucifer has acquired the ability to manipulate ionic energy for various effects, including enhancing his physical strength and leaping ability to superhuman levels, creating protective force fields, and projecting powerful concussive bolts. Lucifer could also "fuse" his physical and mental "essence" with another sentient being. In doing so, Lucifer created a psychic link between himself and his "host." The "host" retained his own will but was in constant psychic contact with Lucifer. The "fusion" endowed the host with some of Lucifer's superhuman powers for as long as the merger lasted. Lucifer could fuse with at least two hosts simultaneously. Lucifer also had limited telepathic abilities, and had the ability to create and maintain a psychic link with his host or hosts while fused with them. Lucifer used a ray gun firing unknown forms of destructive energy. He later made use of Dominus, a highly advanced computer complex created by the Arcane that could blanket a world with mind-deadening rays, enabling the Arcane to enslave its populace. Dominus was operated by "Ultra-robots," which could fly and project destructive energy beams. Lucifer also used teleportation devices for transportation. All of this paraphernalia was designed by Lucifer himself and Quistalian scientists.
The demon version of Lucifer can create interdimensional portals, perform image projection, demonic possession, do mystical force blasts, illusion casting, shift shape and size, matter manipulation, raising the dead, manipulating the dead, and regenerating the corpses of those he inhabits. Lucifer does not need to eat, drink, or sleep. He is also immune to aging and disease.
In the novel Shadows of the Past by Michael Jan Friedman, the alien Lucifer captures Professor X and replaces him with an ionic energy duplicate who is loyal to him and possesses Xavier's memories and powers. Lucifer traps Xavier in the Nameless Dimension with him and utilizes Xavier's clone in an attempt to create a portal and return himself to Earth. Xavier makes contact with Jeffery Saunders, the mentally handicapped grandson of a recently deceased friend, whose limited mental state made him more 'open' to Xavier's influence. Using Jeffrey's body, Xavier helps the X-Men capture his clone and retrieve a component of Lucifer's portal. When the portal opens, Xavier manages to return to Earth, and the portal is subsequently destroyed by Cyclops. When the X-Men return to the X-Mansion, the duplicate Professor X is found to have ceased to exist while imprisoned. [14]
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