GABRIEL the DEVIL-HUNTERGABRIEL the DEVIL-HUNTER
Real Name: Gabriel ?? (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human, magic user
Occupation: former Warrior for Heaven; former writer for World Gossip Weekly; former exorcist and priest
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Isaac Christians/Gargoyle
(caretaker);
Desadia (former partner);
Asura and Ingenuity Lee (used him as a pawn);
the Reverend Joshua Crow, Fantastic Four, Agatha Harkness,
Hellstorm, Red Wolf (Thomas Thunderhead), Franklin Richards, Avram Siegel (former allies);
father Artemis, Jennifer Christopher, Veronica Miller, Soulfire
(treated by him); Mrs. Chesterton, Charlotte Christopher, Father
Lazar, Esteban+family Maldonado, Dr. Craig Miller
(friends+families of his victims)
Enemies: Ambassat, Belial, The Black School, Catherine, Mr. Chesterton, Jaine Cutter, Hellstorm, Salem's Seven, Satan (or a demon using his name), Nicholas Scratch, Vermiphage, We of the Darkness and Slime, and other unnamed demons
Known Relatives: Andrea (wife, deceased), Desadia (common-law wife)
Aliases: Gabriel Rosetti (see comments)
Base of Operations: Fire Lake, Massachusetts; formerly the House of Blue Light; an office in the thirteenth floor of the Empire State Building, New York City
First Appearance: Haunt of Horror#2 (July, 1974)
Powers: Gabriel originally possessed
training and mystical abilities enabling him to perform
exorcisms. When he could not accomplish this, he could often
contain or quiet a demon, to minimize the stress and damage it
could cause. He frequently used the power of the emotion love as
a weapon against the demons. Despite his abilities, Gabriel was
almost constantly plagued by demons, who wished to possess him.
This had a devastating effect on him over time.
Gabriel had the scar of a cross burnt onto his chest, which acted
as an actual weapon against some demonic creatures, as well as a
focus for his own will power and faith.
At least for a brief period, his spirit was augmented by the
spirit of Andrea, his dead wife.
While serving the Asura, he possessed one of the two Breathing
Guns (one of which had been used by Al Capone). This gun had the
power to wound or kill demons, even those of great power. He also
was chock full of (and quite heavily addicted to) the drug K,
which made him susceptible to the control of the Asura.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Eyes: (left only) Brown
Hair: Brown with white streak
History: (Monsters Unleashed#11(fb))-Gabriel was originally a scholar at Columbia University.
He was happily married, and was expecting his first child by his
wife, Andrea. However, one day Gabriel returned home to find his
wife dead. She had been horribly mutilated, and much of the
damage clearly had occurred after she had died. However, every
door and window in the house was lockecd from the inside, and the
murder weapon was still clenched in her own hand.
(MonstUnl#11(fb)/(HoH#2(fb))-Three months later, Gabriel was
possessed by the demon Catherine, who forced him to tear out his
own right eye. Catherine forced him to destroy the sacraments in
his house and set them on fire. Gabriel summoned the will to grab
a red host cross and push it against his bare chest. This act,
and the faith it represented, drove the demon from Gabriel. Desadia became Gabriel's partner in his career
as an exorcist. (HoH#2)-<June 17, 1974>-Father Lazar
called Gabriel to the Cathedral of Saint Benedict to exorcise the
demon possessing Father Artemis. Gabriel quickly recognized the
demon as Catherine, the former witch who had previously possessed
him. Catherine again attempted to possess Gabriel, but his force
of will prevented her. Without a body to possess Catherine ceased
to exist...or so it would seem. (HoH#3)-<August 13, 1974>-Dr. Craig
Miller requested Gabriel's aid to exorcise the demons calling
themselves We of the Darkness and Slime. The demons had possessed
his daughter, Veronica, and she was now making sexual advances on
him. The demons actually had attempted to possess Gabriel earlier
that same day, but were forced out by the sudden appearance and
distraction of Desadia. Gabriel threatened the demons while
swinging a knife at Veronica. He told them that if he killed
their host, they would die as well. The demons fled her body and
Gabriel was able to stop his blade in time to save Veronica. The
demons possessed Dr. Miller and assaulted Desadia, but Miller,
anticipating this, had taken poison and died soon after being
possessed. Desadia was freed with the death of the demons trapped
within Dr. Miller. (HoH#4/5)-<August 24, 1974>-Gabriel and
Desadia traveled to London for an exorcism involving Mr.
Chesterton, a satanist. While en-route, the demon attempted to
possess Gabriel, but between the cross on his chest and his own
will, he fought it off. The demon then possessed the pilot and
forced him to strangle himself, but Gabriel flew the plane to
safety. The demon took control of Desadia, but he was able to
drive it out by shocking her with a hard slap across the face.
They eventually tracked Chesterton to Stonehenge, from which he
was leading a black mass. When Gabriel confronted the demon, who
claimed to be Satan, it had taken control of Chesterton, and it
slew the rest of the Satanists and mocked their worship. Gabriel
used the power of his love to force the demon out, but it left
Chesterton a corpse. (HoH#5)-<Nov 30, 1974>-Desadia found
Gabriel completely drunk in a bar after he had been missing for
several weeks. He had been tortured by dreams and had sunken deep
into despair. Desadia pulled Gabriel out of the bottle and got
him back to work. (MonstUnl#11)-<January 16, 1975>-Desadia
brought Gabriel to the home of Mrs. Ramirez, who was being
haunted by the corpse of her husband, Esteban. Gabriel discovered
that Esteban's corpse was possessed by the demon Belial. He
journeyed to Esteban's grave, from which Belial emerged. Gabriel
called on the power of Heaven to assist him, and a bolt from
above shattered a large statue in the graveyeard, causing it to
fall on Esteban's corpse. Belial was cast out, but Mrs. Ramirez
also died, after seeing her husband's animated corpse. As they
returned home, Andrea Gabriel's death certificate spontaneously
combusted (mmm...symbolic), and Gabriel finally accepted
Desadia as his wife. (OHotMU 2006#9 - BTS) - At some point in the 70s Gabriel worked together with Red Wolf (Thunderhead). (Fantastic Four I#222-223)-Desadia notified
Gabriel of the possession of Franklin Richards by Nicholas
Scratch. Gabriel went to the Baxter Building and forced Scratch
to reveal himself. He accompanied Agatha Harkness, Franklin, and
the Fantastic Four on a trip to New Salem, to confront Scratch.
Gabriel nearly exhausted himself keeping Scratch subdued on the
trip. Upon reaching New Salem, they were all captured by Salem's
Seven, whose power was augmented by Scratch. Scratch sought to
use Franklin's power to expand the dark realm which imprisoned
him, spreading it across Earth. Gabriel, together with Agatha
Harkness, took the love felt by the Fantastic Four for Franklin,
and forged it into a weapon to drive Scratch out. The Fantastic
Four prepared to offer their thanks, but Gabriel was nowhere to
be found. (Marvel Comics Presents#106/4)-Gabriel, having
long been plagued by demons, began to crumble under their
relentless onslaught. He was so weakened that the cross on his
chest, once the symbol of his strength, had been inverted, into a
symbol of satanic worship. Desadia convinced him to help oppose
the demon possessing Senator Bill Bohannon, who was a
presidential candidate. As Gabriel struggled with the demon he
realized it was Catherine, the demon who had forced him to pluck
out his own eye in the past. Catherine assaulted the demoralized
Gabriel, and taunted him with claims of his wife Andrea serving
her in Hades. Andrea's spirit then separated from Desadia and
joined with Gabriel, giving him the strength to fight off and
exorcise Catherine. His strength restored, Gabriel's cross
returned to its correct position. Desadia awoke without any of
her memories, and Gabriel decided that hit was his turn to be
strong for her. Gabriel didn't do so well at being strong, and
Desadia was somehow eventually lost to him, stolen by the forces
of evil. (Hellstorm#5(fb))-Gabriel exorcised the demons
possessing Jason Maldonado (one of the demons remained within
Jason, and later merged with him to become Soulfire). (HellSt#1)-Gabriel had let his skills and faith
atrophy again, and had abandonned his career completely. In
addition to a career as a writer (doing mock occult stories for
the World Gossip Weekly), he was perfomring mock exorcisms for
people with a fetish for the occult. His charge for these
performances was exactly one month's rent and the cost of a
bottle of rum. (Hs2)-As Gabriel struggled to regain his fate,
he revealed that Desadia had been stolen from him by the forces
of evil. (Hs7-10)-Gabriel interviewed Rev. Joshua Crow,
who had claimed to be able to revive people long comatose and
thought to be braindead. After witnessing Crow in action (and
apparently successful) Gabriel felt a strong resurrenge in his
faith and promptly fell in line behind Crow. Deciding that
Hellstorm might attempt to take down Crow, who was doing God's
work, Gabriel bought a gun to defend Crow. (Hs12-14)-Gabriel's resolve soon collapsed, and
he was next seen stinking drunk, his back covered with infected
cuts from whipping himself. He was located by Ingenuity Lee, who
brought him to the House of Blue Lights. There Lee got him hopped
up the drug "K" which allowed his spirit to commune
with the Asura, the Assassins of Heaven. They convinced Gabriel
to become their servant. (Hs18)-The Asura sent Gabriel to slaughter the
Ambassat, aka the Ambassadors of Satan. He gladly attacked the
Embassy of Satan, guns blazing, and wiped them out to the man
(and woman). He stuffed the high priest's body with
gasoline-soaked rags, filled his head with gunpowder, and burned
down the Embassy. Thus he passed his test by the Asura, neither
knowing or caring that the Asura had consumed the one woman he
had sent to escape before his assault. (Hs20/2)-Gabriel ambushed Jaine Cutter in her
old apartment and stole the Breathing Gun, her weapon which could
wound or kill demons. (Hs21)-Gabriel ambushed Hellstorm at the door
of his mansion in Fire Lake. Hellstorm reacted quickly,
deflecting his first shot (with the Breathing Gun) with his
trident, although it shattered from the bullet. Hellstrom
struggled with Gabriel, who got off another shot, blowing a hole
through his left leg. In their struggle, Hellstrom pulled Gabriel
into the mansion, which contained wards preventing anything
angelic or demonic from entering it. As Gabriel was pulled into
Fire Lake, the "K" (made by, or maybe FROM angels) was
forcibly pulled from his body. The sudden "Detox from
Hell" left his an incoherent, babbling idiot. Hellstorm
asked Isaac Christians, the Gargoyle, to look after Gabriel, who
was now an invalid. Comments: Created by Doug Moench and
Billy Graham (not the televangelist) Gabriel's first wife's name was listed as
Andrea Gabriel on her death certificate, in Monsters
Unleashed#11, indicating that Gabriel was his last name. His
first name was never given. The Hellstorm series called him
Gabriel Rosetti, which may or may not be his real name. OHotMU Horror 2005 revealed that Gabriel Rosetti is just an alias and Gabriel's real surname was not revealed yet.
After months of grief,
Gabriel could think of nothing worth living for, other than God,
and so he took the vows of priesthood.
As Gabriel left the cathedral, Desadia stepped from the shadows
to greet him for the first time, speaking the words and using the
voice of his dead wife, Andrea.
<December 2>-Gabriel and Desadia went to Harlem to help
Charlotte Chrisopher, whose infant daughter, Jenny, had been
possessed several days before. After some struggle, Gabriel was
again able to use the power of love to cast the demon out. He did
this by planting a big, fat kiss on Charlotte.
Gabriel received a notice warning him to "Beware the Black
School," and contacted Avram Siegel, an expert on satanic
cults. Siegel directed Gabriel to San Francisco, where, with the
help of the courage provided by a large number of drinks, he
infiltrated the School. Gabriel interrupted a ritual to save an
innocent victim and found the leader to be Daimon Hellstrom.
Hellstrom overpowered Gabriel and prepared to kill him, but then
the real Hellstrom (now Hellstorm) attacked and defeated the fake
one (a demon from hell). Hellstrom then revealed that it was he
who had sent the note to Gabriel, in order to help him regain his
faith, anticipating a need for his help in the future.
Crow was, in fact , filling the bodies of the comatose people
with spirits released from Hell. Hellstorm learned of this and
confronted Crow, who had to stop Gabriel from trying to kill
Hellstorm. Hellstorm revealed the truth, and convinced Gabriel to
help bring in the souls of the damned. Gabriel was sent to Queens
to locate that resurectee, but it was killed by other spirits
from Hell before he could locate it.
These events shook Gabriel's faith ever more. He got drunk again
and was soon haunted by the spirit of Desadia, who pushed him to
commit suicide. Gabriel actually had the gun in his mouth and was
considering it, when Desadia told him that "Vermiphage is
still laughing." Realizing that this was no hallucination,
he shattered his bottle of liquor, and vowed to save Desadia (the
real Desadia under control of demonic forces? demons possessing
as Desadia? drunken hallucinations? Any or all of the above?).
--Markus Raymond
Desadia will get the next profile. When she does, this link will work, and you'll be able to find out more about her.
I'm not certain, but I'm guessing that the Empire State Building has no thirteenth floor. I'd guess that would just add to Gabriel's mystery.
The years in the early stories are topical, but there's no reason why the months and days can't be correct. I don't know whether the dates have any significance.
Moench created Gabriel after being inspired by the movie, The Exorcist. He even detailed how events conspired against him to write the stories, as was the case in the movie...Spookie...well, not really, but it was probably intended to be, and you can read about it in Haunt of Horror#3.
Hellstorm was an outstanding series...the good news is, if you can find it, you can probably buy the whole run for about $5.00. All three writers Rafael Nieves, Len Kaminiski, and Warren Ellis saw good use for Gabriel. I wonder what the first two ultimately had planned for him. I'd especially be interested in getting some background (and follow-up) information on Vermiphage (translates as the Eater of Vermin), who is apparently the one who took Desadia.
Satan. I'd guess that the demon possessing Chesterton was just a poser.
Gabriel got an entry in OHOTMU Horror 2005.
Clarifications: Gabriel has no
connection to:
Last updated: 12/19/01
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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