Mephisto
Real Name: Darned if I know!
First Appearance: Silver Surfer (first series) 3
What's His Problem? Mephisto is among the most powerful of the universe's known demonic forces. He rules a hellish dimension populated by lesser demons and the spirits of mortals who were foolish enough to bind themselves to him, but he always seeks to expand this realm and his own power by corrupting more mortal souls for his collection.
Powers: Mephisto is a seemingly immortal and invulnerable being capable of almost unlimited feats such as strength augmentation, size changing, levitation, teleportation, force blasts, invisibility, matter restructuring, illusion casting and interdimensional travel; however, he has very tangible limitations. His powers are at their peak in his home dimension but negligible at best on the earthly plane, though he can pull living mortals into his realm under certain conditions. He cannot read minds and is incapable of mentally controlling anyone who has not voluntarily submitted to his power, so he often relies on guile and cunning to corrupt or demoralize his targets. The only demons who rival his power are Satannish, Thog and the so-called Satan, father of Daimon Hellstrom. These beings have served as both allies and rivals to Mephisto in the past. Heck, according to some storylines, these beings may even be Mephisto! -- editor Jeanne
Favorite Quote: "Truly, evil is its own reward. Can any other being know such unbounded joy?" (Mephisto Versus... 4. Big Red reflects on how much he loves his work after pulling a sneaky scam on the death goddess Hela and tormenting scads of mortal heroes in the process. The guy needs a hobby...)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: Pure souls are most delicious to Mephisto, so he's often trying to corrupt or otherwise break the spirits of Earth's super-heroes. He has a particular obsession with the Silver Surfer, whom he's tried to enslave many times, and has also made several attempts at capturing the soul of Thor. Other heroes he's bedeviled include the Fantastic Four, the Defenders, Johnny Blaze, Spider-Man, the Avengers, X-Factor, the X-Men, Daredevil and Doctor Strange.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Mephisto's subjects serve him strictly out of fear or obligation, and he's infamous for spreading misery wherever he goes. Even his own offspring (such as Blackheart) have been known to turn on him, though he has a loyal daughter named Malevolence in the alternate 31st century future timeline of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Most Despicable Act: As a cosmic being who fancies himself the embodiment of evil, Mephisto is constantly doing terrible things to good people. He once aided his fellow master demons in converting the entire planet Earth to a living hell of unending torture, but the Defenders reversed it. He later played a part in the seeming destruction of the Scarlet Witch's children. More recently, he romanced and seduced the Silver Surfer in the guise of the Surfer's deceased lover, Nova. Perhaps his most despicable act, though, was his capriciously spiteful murder of Mockingbird before the eyes of her husband, Hawkeye, after the Avengers interfered in one of Mephisto's plans -- a senseless and petty act of pure, irredeemable evil.
by Sean McQuaid
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