DAEMOND
Real Name: Unrevealed, possibly Daemond
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Fortisquians) magic and technology user
Occupation: Demonic Priest
Group Membership: One of the Fortique traveling aboard the starship, the Comet
Affiliations: Balkatar (Berreg), the Cat
People, Cult of the New Order, his demon
agents, Martine
Bancroft;
former agent of the
Beyonders; associate of Rabbi Krause
Enemies: Arcturans, Caretakers of Arcturus (Kammar, Ular, Zolthar), Morbius (Michael Morbius), Tara
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Reverend Daemond, Daemond the Sorcerer
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California;
formerly Arcturus IV
First
Appearance: Adventures into Fear#20 (February, 1974)
Powers: Daemond possessed advanced technology and knowledge of sorcery, although it was usually difficult to tell which he was using. He possessed superhuman mental powers, allowing him to mesmerize others and project bolts of psycho-kinetic energy. He possessed a life span of over one hundred centuries.
Daemond used a bunch of demon creatures as servants. These creatures may have actually been demons summoned from other realms, or they could have been genetic creations designed to look like demons.
Height: 5'9" (by estimation)
Weight: 135 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Strawberry blond
History: (Adventures into Fear#21 (fb)/Adventures into Fear#26 (fb) - BTS) - Daemond was one of the natives of Arcturus IV who were sent to Earth aboard the Starship, the Comet, to oversee the protection of the Savage Land after the Great Flood, circa 10,000 B.C. (see comments). When the Comet crashed on Earth, Daemond apparently was separated from the others, who went on to become the group known as the Caretakers.
Daemond's activities over the next millennia
are undisclosed (see comments). However, Daemond's goals
differed from the teachings of the Caretakers, and he sought to bring
humanity into sorcery, etc.
(Adventures into Fear#20) - In the modern era, Daemond posed as a priest, and befriended a rabbi, Krause, a universally acclaimed bio-chemistry expert in addition to his religious calling. Krause and Daemond together encountered the living vampire, Morbius. Krause attempted unsuccessfully to cure Morbius. When the vampire's hunger took over and he broke free, Daemond suddenly revealed his true nature and took control of Morbius, forcing him to kill Krause. Daemond then sent Morbius to slay his greatest enemy, who turned out to be the woman-child Tara.
(Adventures
into Fear#21) - Tara was actually a creation of the other Caretakers who
had rebelled against them and conspired to pit them against Daemond.
Morbius could not bring himself to kill the woman-child, although he did
apparently overpower her. Morbius then encountered the other Caretakers,
who convinced Morbius to attempt to slay Daemond in exchange for their
helping him to locate his lost lover, Martine Bancroft.
Daemond
apparently (I don't think this was ever elaborated upon) knew of
Morbius' connection to Martine, and mentally ensorcelled her, forcing
her to act as his ally against the others. When Morbius arrived to
attack him, Daemond summoned the Balkatar, the title of the Cat Person
sworn to heed the summons of a human sorcerer. Daemond instructed the
Balkatar to slay Morbius by holding him pinned down until dawn arrived.
(Adventures into Fear#22) - However sunrise only hurt
Morbius, as he was not a supernatural vampire as Daemond had presumed.
Morbius broke free and fled to seek cover, intending to return later,
but Daemond ordered Balkatar to pursue, and the feline humanoid caught
up with and overpowered the sun-weakened Morbius. Arriving to see
Morbius a prisoner once again, Daemond ordered the Balkatar to slay him,
but instead the Cat Person transported his prisoner to the Land Within,
under orders from his ruler, King Gerark, leaving Daemond shocked that
the creature he had summoned had been able to defy him.
(Adventure into Fear#25) - Upon Morbius' return, he allied
himself with Tara, only to be almost immediately confronted by Daemond's
projected visage. The sorcerer unleashed a horde of demons, his
"children of the dark portals," against the pair, as well as a disguised
Martine, but upon slaying the former and defeating the latter, a
no-longer mesmerized Martine informed Morbius that the agents he had
killed had been sacrifices that Daemond had wanted slain so he could
absorb their life energies and become more powerful. Soon thereafter
Daemond confronted Morbius, Tara and Martine directly at the head of a
horde of demons, informing the vampire that his sacrifice would release
the life energy needed to unleash the swarming forces of hell and enable
Daemond to reshape the world.
(Adventures into Fear#26) - When Morbius tried to attack
Daemond the sorcerer snapped a lamppost with his magic, causing it to
fall and knock the vampire out. Resuming control over Martine he
transported Morbius to his lair to be sacrificed. The Caretakers wished
to prevent Daemond from obtaining this power and sent their agents to
stop him. When this failed, they teleported in to confront him
themselves. In the height of the battle, Tara suddenly reappeared and
extracted Morbius. Realizing his captive was gone, Daemond accepted a
temporary truce with the Caretakers when they informed him that Tara
could kill them all. They located their quarry back to the Caretakers'
base, where Tara attacked both groups, claiming that Daemond had once
been a member of the Caretakers until she messed with their memories to
create his current identity and generate the enmity with them. Taking
control of the as yet unborn Children of the Comet the Caretakers had
been gestating and forcing them to attack Daemond and their creators.
Morbius, however, then attacked and apparently slew Tara by draining her
blood. In her death-throws, she destroyed Dameond's base, causing it to
explode and kill everyone except Morbius, who escaped.
Comments: Created by Mike Friederich and Paul Gulacy, then Steve Gerber and Doug Moench.
Tara claimed to have manipulated Daemond to make him separate from the Caretakers and pose as a demon sorcerer to generate further violence to feed her. This could have been said purely for inflammatory value, and I see no reason to believe her. All pictures of the Caretakers acting over the millennia show only the three who have always been together. The creation of the Children of the Comet was initiated in the last century, so Tara strikes me as a big, fat, liar. ...That, and the fact that the whole last issue seemed to be a desperate attempt to end a saga where the writer had no idea how to do so. I'll stick with my version until I see further evidence to the contrary.
Although this is never stated or implied, I find it more likely that Daemond, rather than the other Caretakers, was the one who created the first Werewolf. His interest in sorcery and demons just fits better. His interaction with the Balkatar might imply that it was also he who guided Ebrok to create the Cat People.
Also, the great cataclysm and sinking of Atlantis is usually stated to be around 18,000 B.C. A second cataclysm, resulting in the splitting of the Euro-African continent, has been reported to have occurred @ 9,500 B.C. The Caretakers are supposed to come to Earth just after the sinking of Atlantis, but their story brings them to Earth @ 8,000 B.C. Perhaps they have the Arcturan equivalent of Alzheimer's syndrome.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Daemond has no known connections to:
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Daemond sent a force of demons, his "children of the dark portals" (so presumably summoned by opening portals to other realms, the same way he had summoned the Balkatar) to battle Morbius and Tara, intending them to die at the vampire's hands so he could absorb their life energies. These demons varied in appearance but were mostly in green garb, relatively short, and armed with a variety of melee weapons. Morbius slew them all as intended. --Adventures into Fear#25
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The Cult of the New Order were masked adherents who served Daemond. They gathered to be present for Daemond's intended sacrifice of Morbius, and when the Caretakers' agents crashed the party the adherents fought them, resulting in the annihilation of both groups. One of the Cultists, the one furthest left, seems to be a believer in the maxim "Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman, in which case be Batman." --Adventures into Fear#26
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images: (without ads)
Adventures into Fear#26, p1, pan1 (main image)
Adventures into Fear#26, p2, pan1 (close-up of face)
Adventures into Fear#26, p6, pan5 (psychokinetic energy eyes)
Adventures into Fear#25, p14, pan1 (Daemond surrounded by his demons)
Adventures into Fear#26, p13, pan4 (death)
Adventures into Fear#25, p4, pan2 (Children of the Portals)
Adventures into Fear#26, p5, pan3 (Cult of the New Order)
Appearances:
Adventures into Fear#20 (February, 1974) - Mike Friederich (writer),
Paul Gulacy (writer), Jack Abel (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Adventures into Fear#21 (April, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Gil Kane
(pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Adventures into Fear#22 (June, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Rich
Buckler (pencils), Luis Dominguez (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Adventures into Fear#25-26 (December, 1974 - February, 1975) - Steve
Gerber (#25) & Doug Moench (writers), Frank Robbins (pencils), Frank
Giacoia (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
First Posted: 09/03/2001
Last updated: 11/04/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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