WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
Azmodus
Personal information
Name: Unknown, possibly Azmodus
Residence: Outside of normal Space-Time
Occupation: Sorcerer, Agent of Shathan
First Appearance (Silver Age): Showcase Presents #60 (January 1966)
Character History
The full origins of the being known as Azmodus in the Earth-Two timeline are obscure. He claims to be a being of similar nature as the Spectre, a powerful ectoplasmic entity that exist on the earthly plane when bound to a mortal host. In the late 1940's, he decided to leave his home in the Astral Plane and found a mortal to serve as his host. When he entered the body, a reaction with the existence of the Spectre occurred such that he became trapped with no memory of who he was or that he was trapped in mortal form. He remained there for 20 years until his host body died, freeing him and simultaneously freeing the Spectre. Realizing his dilemma, Azmodus traveled to the Tholagga, a realm of astral evil and collected a silver bullet imbued with evil, sufficient to slay his next host but leave him free. The Spectre, he believed, would be trapped in his host forever.
Returning the Earth, he hid within the mortal form of a man named Paul Nevers. The Spectre, freed from his own entrapment, had been scouring the mystic places of the Earth for the forces that had trapped him and as he was once more drawn back to Corrigan had identified Nevers as part of his puzzle. Nevers, powered by Azmodus, had been engaged in a series of spectacular crimes in Mountain City, Colorado. Corrigan arrives and sees a man fleeing a bank robbery, immune to police bullets. Correctly guessing that it's Nevers, he tackles him, provoking Azmodus to reveal himself and thus let the Spectre free. The bullet had weakened their astral bonds, allowing the Spectre and Azmodus to engage in direct battle while their hosts engaged in fisticuffs on the mortal plane. Their efforts raged across the cosmos and through time and dimension, fling in entire planets at each other. On Earth, Corrigan overcame Nevers and as the criminal slipped into unconsciousness. Azmodus powers weakened. Seizing the opportunity, the Spectre overpowered Azmodus, eventually imprisoning him outside of normal time and space. As he slipped into stasis, he taunted the Spectre once more time: He had set in motion events of evil that could no longer be stopped (Showcase Comics #60).
The Spectre later learned the Azmodus had opened the gateway for Shathan the Eternal, a Lord of Dis, to enter the mortal realm. While the Spectre eventually repelled Shathan, the fate of Azmodus in the Earth-Two timeline remains unknown.
Powers and Abilities
Azmodus' powers were vast in scale and scope. He marshaled force physical and mystical that easily rivaled that of the Spectre, an agent of evil matching an agent of God. He was seemingly invulnerable to traditional physical harms and potentially immortal. He possessed extensive knowledge of mystical realms of evil and trafficked in them easily. The upper limits of the fully empowered Azmodus have not been defined.
Weaknesses and Limitations
The only documented weakness of Azmodus was his binding to a mortal host. The initial shock of the hosting rendered him insensate for twenty years and when his mortal form was defeated, he was weakened enough to be defeated by the Spectre. The nature of this limitation is unknown. Once weakned, Azmodus could be overwhelmed by superior magical force.
Multiversity
Earth-0
In the timeline that emerged post-Crisis, Azmodus is revealed to be Caraka, first host of the Spectre in the years following the Crucifixion. Lucifer, frustrated by the Wrath of God walking on the Earth, charged his lieutenants with its destruction and the Shathan sought to tempt the Spectre. Using a succubus named Sekuba, Caraka was convinced that he served a cruel and capricious God and rebelled and was ultimate separated as the host and instead bound to Sekuba for his blasphemy. The new combined entity was known as Azmodus and became one of Shathan's servants. After WWII on Earth-0, Azmodus emerged much as he had on Earth-Two. But here, he and the Spectre were aware of each other and engaged in battle, resulting Azmodus casting a spell of amnesia in which he was himself caught, trapping he and the Spectre in their hosts for the net 20 years (Spectre Vol. #3 25-26). The extent to which this is true on Earth-Two is unknown.
Azmodus emerged in the late 20th century battle the Spectre and Madame Xanadu. The ultimate outcome of this battle eventually sundered Azmodus back onto Caraka and Sekuba, the latter being returned to Hell. Caraka was briefly reunited with his wife Devi who had been reincarnated as Corrigan's former lover Clarice Winston, with whose death the couple re-entered the cycle of life to be reborn elsewhere. The threat of Azmodus was considered ended and he was not seen again in the timeline (Spectre Volume #3 #10-12, #26-31).
Appearances
|
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
|
Showcase Presents #60 |
First Appearance, vs. The Spectre |
Showcase Presents The Spectre Vol. 1, The Wrath of the Spectre Omnibus Volume 1., Adventure Comics #491 |