DEATHURGE

 

DEATHURGE

Real Name: Unknown

First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One (Vol. 1) #71, June 1981

Powers: Deathurge is a wraith-like superhuman entity whose origin is unknown and who appears to be a messenger of death. Deathurge can fly at great speeds, become intangible at will, and draw forth from his non-reflective ebony body a variety of simple weaponry such as spears, axes, and bows and arrows. These weapons, also non-reflective black, appear to be made of the same unknown substance as Deathurge's body. When these weapons strike Deathurge's target, the target dies, a blackness spreading from the spot where the weapon bloodlessly struck and passed through the target's body. If the weapon happens to pass through someone other than Deathurge's target, that person will feel the sensation of numbing coldness but will not blacken or die. Deathurge's targets are apparently only those who have at least to some degree craved death and oblivion.

Deathurge's origins are not known. He may or may not be a supernatural being such as a demon or ghost. He may or may not be an abstract entity like Master Order or the In-Betweener. He may or may not be a physical being granted new life in a quasiphysical form such as the Eternal Chronos or Drax the Destroyer. It is not known what connection, if any, Deathurge has to the personification of Death.

Deathurge was first observed in the employ of the superhuman offspring of an Inhuman and a Deviant named Maelstrom. Although Maelstrom sometimes treated Deathurge as if he were a personal messenger or minion, Deathurge clearly served Maelstrom for reasons of his own. Deathurge was dispatched to slay the clonal bodies of Maelstrom's three prime minions and twice was commanded to slay clonal bodies of Maelstrom himself. A third clonal body of Maelstrom dismissed Deathurge when he realized they were at cross purposes. He later appeared on the planet Uranus in an attempt to convince the costumed super-hero Quasar to commit suicide.