HELLSTORM

 

HELLSTORM

Real Name: Daimon Hellstrom

First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #1, September 1973

Powers: Known as both "Hellstorm" or the "Son of Satan", Daimon Hellstrom is the child of a mortal woman and one of the many Hell-Lords of the nether dimensions, known either as Satan or Marduk Kurios. Daimon possesses both a human soul and a "Darksoul", representative of his father's taint and power. Though his strength and endurance are heightened slightly by the Darksoul, his primary ability is the generation of soulfire, a mystical and spiritual energy that takes the form of normal-looking flame. He can produce soulfire as a source of light or heat, blast through solid barriers, heal wounds and other injuries, or assault opponents physically and metaphysically, striking directly at their souls to cause pain, unholy terror, unconsciousness, etc. He often uses a trident made of netheranium to gather and focus his soulfire in blast form. The netheranium was a psycho-sensitive metal, making it capable of sensing various kinds of mystical energy, and protected against attacks of the same.

Initially, Daimon's Darksoul would become active at night, consuming him in soulfire to reform his clothing into his Son of Satan robes and altering his personality to make him colder and more manic. He would soon learn to integrate his two halves, but maintained the ability to summon and displace his costume at will, day or night. The Son of Satan lost his powers for a time after the Darksoul was removed from his body, but his mystical potential began to return slowly on its own, and he first adopted the name Hellstorm in this period. Daimon began to die without his Darksoul, though, and it was returned to him through an arcane ritual, and his "human side" was rather weakened by the incident. After killing his father in battle, Hellstorm was anointed with the black halo and became ruler of his father's nether-dimension of "Hell", with all the power that came with it. Hellstorm's soulfire is now dramatically more potent, and he can summon and dispatch his trident with a gesture, even recreating a new one to serve as the symbol of his power if the previous one is destroyed.

Hellstorm is able to use his extra-dimensional access to Hell to travel to and from that dimension at will, as well as between different points on Earth. He can sense electrical energy in his surroundings and manipulate it to a certain degree, causing mechanical systems to turn on or off, or explode by causing a power surge to shoot through them. Daimon also possesses certain telepathic abilities, allowing him to read certain surface level thoughts from other people. If he is in a hurry, Hellstorm can forcibly compel someone to reveal everything they know to him, although this process tends to permanently unhinge his victims, leaving them manic and more than a little insane afterwards. His power is now tied to the realm of Hell, making his energies wax and wane depending on the number of dead souls under his care, and the number of living souls who worship or fear him.

Daimon Hellstrom has an advanced degree in demonology. His expertise in demonology is entirely self-taught, and he is a highly experienced exorcist with knowledge of mystic rites.

AGATHA HARKNESS

 

AGATHA HARKNESS

Real Name: Agatha Harkness

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #94, January 1970

Powers: Agatha Harkness is a witch of unrevealed age and claims to be many centuries old. One of Earth's dozen or so most powerful witches, she has tapped into this universe's infinite store of ambient magical energy and learned to manipulate it to a variety of effects.

Her most potent spells seem to be precognitive, communicative, analytical, or manipulative of living beings' minds, though she has cast powerful transportation spells and lent tremendous power to others. She generally does not engage in direct magical combat due to the physical limitations of her advanced age. The sources of her magic include natural forces, extra-dimensional beings, and her own innate energies. Her spells frequently require a variety of mystical components, including but not limited to charmed circles, arcane chants, and the use of enchanted items. Her aging has been dramatically slowed, presumably through magical means.

Agatha has a familiar, Ebony, a possibly demonic cat which can regenerate from virtually complete destruction, transform into a panther or a giant humanoid feline, and through which Agatha can see, hear, and occasionally cast spells. Agatha's home, Whisper Hill, has been destroyed or vanished on multiple occasions, but it has always been just as quickly restored through magic.