Marvel's Hell

[Knightosis]

1) Exactly who are the "Satans" of Marvel's Hell?

2) Are there multiple versions of Hell?

3) Is there a MAIN head honcho of Hell?

4) Is there even a real Satan?

[Lightbend]

Mephisto is by and large seen as the Devil of the Marvel U. While there are other beings of equal power to him, he's usually used when a Satan is called for.

Other than him, there are several Hell-king type beings: Satannish, who resembles Lucifer from the Ghosts and Goblins games for the NES. Maarduk, who was actually Damion Hellstrom's father. Those two immediately come to mind.

Mephisto's Hell is referred to as Hades usually. Most memorable use was Adam Warlock kicking Mephisto's ass in his own home during the Warlock/Silver Surfer miniseries where they fought for Shalla Bal's soul.

Kinda ironic, since she turned out to be dead all along.

[Lord S]

I don't think there is a 'Hell', (as defined in Juedo-Christianity), in the MU. From what I've seen, a deceased person's soul goes directly to the entity Death after...death. Mephisto also possesses souls, but I don't know if he grabs them after death, or if there are prearrangements, (selling your soul to the devil). Then you have guys like Apocalypse, who seem to have mastered the art of reincarnation, and may never come within the grasp of Death or Mephisto.

[Dizzy D]

1) Exactly who are the "Satans" of Marvel's Hell?
Mephisto, Satannish, Thog, Beelzeboul, Marduk Kurios, Olivier... those are the Hell Lords named that I can remember. Daimon Hellstrom was one as well for a time. A storyline in Defenders had most of them allied against the Defenders.

2) Are there multiple versions of Hell?
Yes, there are and most of them fight each other as well.

3) Is there a MAIN head honcho of Hell?
No, Mephisto seems to be the most common one, but Marduk Kurios and Satannish both are his equals. There was a story in Dr. Strange though that all these demons were in fact part of a Prime Evil that split up in all of them and Strange ended a fight between Satannish and Mephisto by threatening to merge them again.

4) Is there even a real Satan?
Not really, most of them use the Satan-identity (probably because as seen in the Hellstorm series if you know the true name of a demon you have power over him). Marduk Kurios is the one who used the Satan-identity the most as father of Daimon Hellstrom.
There is supposedly a real Lucifer, but he's never seen in the comics, only referenced.

[streator]

what's belasco's deal? i always thought he was a satan-figure.
there's austen's azazel as well.

[Expletive Deleted]

what's belasco's deal? i always thought he was a satan-figure.
there's austen's azazel as well.Belasco is a sorceror who made a deal with a demon and Azazel is an ancient mutant who's responsible for some of the myths about demons.

[Dizzy D]

what's belasco's deal? i always thought he was a satan-figure.
there's austen's azazel as well.

Belasco was an Italian, human sorcerer that was transformed into a demonic form by the Elder Gods he served.

Azazel was a mutant posing as a demon (and I won't go on an off-topic tangent here, but needless to say his claims of being the inspiration behind all demon legends are just empty boasts especially with the amount of demons the Marvel multiverse knows)

[streator]

where does belasco reside then? i always took it illyana was meant to have been in hell with him. was that just a pocket dimension or something then?
/thanks for the answers as well, expletive deleted and dizzy d.

[Dizzy D]

where does belasco reside then? i always took it illyana was meant to have been in hell with him. was that just a pocket dimension or something then?
/thanks for the answers as well, expletive deleted and dizzy d.

Belasco's realm is Limbo (not to be confused with Immortus Limbo nor with the Limbo Rom sent the Dire Wraiths too).

[The Lucky One]

This actually ties into something I've been wondering, after having read Essential Ghost Rider recently. It seems like at some point, Marvel decided it was a bad idea to have had Satan himself appearing in their comic books, so many of his prior appearances (Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, etc.) were retconned into being Mephisto in disguise. Fair enough, but how does that affect the Son of Satan's appearance in that Ghost Rider story? Daimon Hellstrom ventures into Hell to confront Satan and, as an indirect consequence, ends up saving Johnny Blaze from him... but if that was actually Mephisto (since we're later told he's the one who dealt with Johnny Blaze), why was Daimon interested in him? Was Mephisto just pretending to be Daimon's father, even though Marduk was really it? And if so, why? Has there ever been an explanation for that?

-D, also wondering how they explain Jesus Himself appearing to save Johnny...

[DDM]

1) Exactly who are the "Satans" of Marvel's Hell?

There are several demonic beings with different origins. However, all of them seem to be spawned by the same concentrated evil that permeates the multiverse. Demons are defined in the Marvel Universe to be parasitic in nature, usually feeding on souls. The Elder Gods are the most powerful demons since they are the first to manifest in this reality. Set the serpent, Chthon is responsible for the Darkholde (which created more demons), among others. Only Gaia did not turn into a demon. The second group of demons to manifest are Mephisto, Satannish, Zarathos, the Dweller in the Darkness, Nightmare, Shuma-Gorath, etc al. There are also extradimensional demons not native to the Earth dimension such as the N'gari. Dormammu is also considered a demon.

2) Are there multiple versions of Hell?

Yes, but a true Hell does not exist in the Marvel Universe, just other dimensions where the demons live.

3) Is there a MAIN head honcho of Hell?

No.

4) Is there even a real Satan?

No. Damien Hellstorm & Satanna's father was often referred to as "Satan" but always with quotes. He was not the true Satan because there is no Satan.

[Jolly Mon]

So, playing Devil's Advocate (pun intended), could Marvel be said to be anti-Judeo/Christian since Satan plays such a large role in both religions?

And if there is no Satan/Hell, is there a God/Heaven? If not, are characters who profess to be Christian like Nightcrawler just dupes?

My personal feeling is that there is actually both in the MU, just they are wise enough not to make them comic book fare. :D

[The Lucky One]

Well, Jesus personally stepped in to save Johnny Blaze from Mephisto, so there is that. (Meph later claimed it was a trick, but I believe that was even later shown to be a lie of his to dishearten Blaze.) For the most part, though, I think Marvel prefers to stay away from directly involving the Big Guy and to use analogues like Adam Warlock, the Silver Surfer, and Longshot instead.

-D

[Dizzy D]

This actually ties into something I've been wondering, after having read Essential Ghost Rider recently. It seems like at some point, Marvel decided it was a bad idea to have had Satan himself appearing in their comic books, so many of his prior appearances (Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, etc.) were retconned into being Mephisto in disguise. Fair enough, but how does that affect the Son of Satan's appearance in that Ghost Rider story? Daimon Hellstrom ventures into Hell to confront Satan and, as an indirect consequence, ends up saving Johnny Blaze from him... but if that was actually Mephisto (since we're later told he's the one who dealt with Johnny Blaze), why was Daimon interested in him? Was Mephisto just pretending to be Daimon's father, even though Marduk was really it? And if so, why? Has there ever been an explanation for that?

-D, also wondering how they explain Jesus Himself appearing to save Johnny...

That specific story has actually been the source of a lot of discussion on the Appendix-site: the conclusion was that it was probably the Marduk-version of Satan doing Mephisto a favour (because otherway around Daimon would probably recognise that Satan as not being his father, but Mephisto).

[Knightosis]

Many thanks for the response fellas. :D

Could I possibly get a list or even, an "heirarchy" of the Marvel demons?

[thik_3rd]

1) Exactly who are the "Satans" of Marvel's Hell?
Mephisto, Satannish, Thog, Beelzeboul, Marduk Kurios, Olivier... those are the Hell Lords named that I can remember. Daimon Hellstrom was one as well for a time. A storyline in Defenders had most of them allied against the Defenders.

i thought hellstorm was currently. plus don't forget hela.

[Dizzy D]

i thought hellstorm was currently. plus don't forget hela.

He probably still is, true. I just haven't seen Daimon Hellstrom in ages.

Hela is more a Deathgod and not a demonic entity IMHO (Yes, her realm is called Hel, but it's rather different from Hell and yes, demons actually means gods, but that besides. Centuries of Judeachristian dominance also affects definitions).