LUCIFER

 

LUCIFER

Real Name: Unrevealed

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #9, January 1965

Powers: The alien known as Lucifer is actually a member of an extraterrestrial species known as the Quists (aka “The Arcane”).

The source of Lucifer's powers is unknown. No other Quist or members of the Arcane have been seen sufficiently to determine what is natural for their race, and whether Lucifer's powers are unique to him. Furthermore, some of his mental powers may merely have been through the direction of advanced technology, either Dominus itself or similar equipment.

The Dominus device was designed by the Arcane to sap the willpower of other races. Once properly calibrated to a specific species, it can weaken their resistance to outside "domination", making them a helpless race of slaves. Lucifer applied the device to a city once as an early test of Dominus's power. He also used Dominus to plant suggestions in the minds of other people at a distance, guiding their actions rather than totally controlling them, or produce a form of psychic feedback that attacked Charles Xavier when he attempted to telepathically probe for Lucifer. Lucifer seemed to have some telepathic power himself, but he also seemed to direct Dominus's actions mentally, so separating out what he accomplished personally and what he merely instructed Dominus to accomplish is difficult.

In exile, Lucifer demonstrated new powers of ionic force and possession. Using a dimensional transmitter, he was able to cast his mind from the Nameless Dimension to Earth. Each time he did so, however, the effect worked differently. When he empowered Charlie Grey, Lucifer bestowed his own powers and costume on Grey. He did not physically control Grey's body, however, and served merely as a voice in Charlie's mind guiding his actions. On his next crossover, Lucifer physically left the Nameless Dimension for Earth, but found he could not remain indefinitely. He therefore physically merged with Rafe Michel, two bodies inhabiting one space in order to anchor him to the Earth. The body was Michel's, but the costume, powers, and consciousness were Lucifer's. Physically possessing an Earthman was a strain on his host, however, so Lucifer split his consciousness to possess Grover Raymond as well. Now two copies of Lucifer's mind were active simultaneously, animating Michel and Raymond independently. Even this proved too much for them, and both men died trying to support Lucifer's ionic power, sending him back into the Nameless Dimension.

When possessing a single host, Lucifer's ionic power provided superhuman strength and durability, flight, and ionic force blasts channeled from his hands. When he split his consciousness for Rafe Michel and Grover Raymond, though, his two bodies each possessed only ionic strength, and not his full measure of powers.

Most recently, Lucifer has explored splitting his consciousness among multiple bodies. He operated like a hive mind, possessing the entire town of Lago to either actively control all parties, or merely act as a guiding force that influenced their behavior in the background of their minds even when Lucifer was not directly manipulating them. He had a primary host named Heylel who demonstrated Lucifer's full range of ionic powers, but whether this meant Lucifer was physically possessing Heylel while only mentally possessing the others is unknown.