ARIELLE

Real Name: Arielle

Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-93060/"Ultraverse") extraterrestrial (Godwheel)

Occupation: Unemployed (youth; likely a student under royal tutors or just her father's tutelage)

Group Membership: The kingdom formerly ruled by her father and Marina/Lady/Queen Tavon

Affiliations: Her father's knights (notably Thanadar)
    formerly Necromantra (Thanasi, aka "Marinna)

Enemies: Necromantra (Thanasi, aka "Marinna"), Slithors;
    presumably Lord Pumpkin

Known Relatives: Lord Tavon (father, deceased), unidentified mother (deceased), "Marinna" (Necromantra/Thanasi, step-mother)

Aliases: Lady Arielle;
    Ari (nickname from father and Marinna)

Base of Operations: Unidentified castle on the Godwheel, Reality-93060

First Appearance: Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1 (April, 1995)

Powers/Abilities: Arielle was a brave and good-hearted young girl, willing to assault one of the giant serpentine Slithors to help a seemingly innocent woman.

    She carried a dagger with which she was able to stab a slithor.

    She was intelligent and wise enough to question the actions and motivations of her adoptive mother, "Marinna."

History:

    It is unrevealed whether Arielle was born before or after this time.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1 (fb) - BTS) - Arielle was named after a brave knight.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3 (fb) - BTS) - Arielle observed that her father treated his foes with respect.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1 (fb) - BTS) - Arielle's mother perished under unrevealed circumstances. To escape the void in his life, Tavon thrust his all into his kingdom and his daughter.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1) - Encountering a stranger (secretly the evil sorceress Necromantra, left virtually powerless) in the fields of her father's kingdom unaware of an approaching slithor, Arielle called the woman not to move and warned her of the giant snake creature behind her. Arielle then rushed forward, leading the slithor to follow her, and she advised the stranger that she could then distract it in return, giving her (Arielle) a chance to escape it. Intending to flee and leave her savior to die, Necromantra instead tripped on a rock, attracting the slithor to bite her in the leg while she was off-balance.

    Arielle rushed back and leapt atop the slithor, stabbing it in its dorsal musculature and telling it "leave <the woman> alone," but she was swiftly thrown to the ground. As the slithor prepared to kill them both, Lord Tavon and his knights (including Ranadar) fired multiple arrows into the slithor, apparently killing it. After seeing to Arielle, who told him that the woman was hurt, Tavon sent Ranadar to get the woman to a healer at once.

    Back in Tavon's castle, as the woman recovered, Tavon introduced himself and Arielle, who told their guest that she was named after a brave knight. The woman -- noting them both to be very brave -- told them to call her Marinna before explaining that her mother had tried to kill her and then abandoned her on the ground where Arielle had found her (see comments).

     Expressing gratitude for their hospitality, Marinna assured them that she would leave when she was strong enough. Ari started to prompt her father, but he agreed with her intent, and he asked Marinna to stay as long as she wished.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1 (fb) - BTS) - In the ensuing days (weeks?, months?), Tavon was seduced by and fell in love with Marinna, oblivious to her evil nature. They were engaged to be married.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1) - As Marinna prepared for the wedding, Arielle visited her, telling her she looked beautiful, and receiving the compliment in return. She thanked Marinna for coming into their home, noting that both she and her father had been lonely since her mother had died. Marinna assured Arielle that she would never leave her.

    Arielle attended the wedding of Tavon and Marinna.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1 - BTS) - Having regained some of her mystic power, Necromantra slew Lord Tavon.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#2) - Standing beside Marinna, who put her hand on her shoulder, Arielle attended her father's funeral.

    When the time came for the two of them the light the funeral pyre, Arielle didn't feel that she could do it, but Marinna assured her that she could and she held Arielle's hand, guiding the tearful girl to do the deed.

    Arielle then asked Marinna who had hated her father enough to have done this to him, and Marinna told her she did not know but promised to find out.

    As Lady Tavon, Marinna succeeded Lord Tavon as ruler of the kingdom.

    That evening, Arielle had a nightmare and went into Marinna's room and found Marinna awaking in a start from her own nightmare (about Mantra seeking her out, exposing her true identity, and vowing to slay her). Arielle asked Marinna if she could sleep in her bed, and Marinna agreed and comforted her to sleep.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#2 - BTS) - Marinna subsequently framed King Salman as Lord Tavon's murderer and accused him of trying to have his way with her, after which she led her knights to war against Salman's kingdom. When Salman's wizard promised him victory via necromancy, Salman promised him Lady Tavon when he tired of her, but the wizard noted he would rather have the late Lord Tavon's daughter; Salman agreed to this.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#2) - Arielle expressed to Marinna her concerns that people seemed to like the war: While wishing her father's killers to be punished, she did not want it to be at the cost of so many. Marinna told her that this is the way it had to be, but assured Arielle that she would never be harmed. Although Arielle noted that she was not afraid of that, Marinna told her that she (Marinna) was.

    When Salman's wizard's giant gargyole came for Marinna, it turned and pursued Arielle, who asked if it had killed her father. When Marinna, in the form of Necromantra, flew and fired mystic blasts at it, Arielle asked how she could do such things, but Marinna guided her inside for protection and told her they would speak of it later. Necromantra subsequently destroyed or banished the creature by duping it into slaying Salman and his wizard.

    Marinna later told Arielle that she believed that creature was what had slain her father. Arielle noted that it must have been a very evil thing, but Marinna told her that it may have just been fighting for its life or the life of something it loved.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3) <24 hours after her father's funeral> - Arielle stood by Marinna as Queen Mother Kalina (Salman's mother) showed her the graves of her son and his troops, and she gasped in shock when Marinna took offense at Kalina's tone and demanded the title of queen and Kalina's crown for having defeated her son's forces. Marinna, now queen, shushed Arielle, but later sought her out and found her placing flowers on the graves. Arielle expressed sadness of the many dead, like her father, and she noted that someone ought to remember them, even if they were supposed to be the enemy.

    Noting that to be quite civilized, Marinna then brought her to tour the new castle, and Arielle asked why she had humiliated the queen mother like that. Marinna told her that you sometimes had to treat enemies that way and that her father would have understood, and Arielle acknowledged that but expressed concern about how Marinna was so different around other people, and she shared that she sometimes wondered if Marinna would ever turn against her. Marinna assured Arielle that she would never do that, but she also told her that she was the daughter of a lord and the step-daughter of a queen now, and that she must act the part. Arielle responded that while she did not understand yet, but that maybe that was because she was too civilized...

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3 - BTS) - One of the enigmatic Tradesmen later confronted Necromantra, claiming to own her via a barter previously arranged with Mantra, and Necromantra banished the Tradesmen after absorbing the life force of her loyal knight and lover, Rogor.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3) - Having heard the commotion, Arielle rushed to check on Marinna, ignoring the orders of a knight who could not keep up with her. With Necromantra having returned to her Marinna appearance and noting Rogor to have been slain by some malignant force, Arielle hugged her, having feared Marinna might share her father's fate. Arielle asked if it was the thing that had slain her father and if it would come back, and Marinna told her that she did not know but that they would not be there to find out.

    After they departed in Marinna's caravan, Arielle noted Marinna's worry and asked if it was something she had done, but Marinna assured her that she could never do anything but please her. Marinna told Arielle that whatever was bothering her was her own concern, but Arielle told Marinna that anything that worried her was her (Arielle's) concern, too. Noting that this made it easier to bear, Marinna went to check on their arrival time.

    As soon as Marinna had left the chamber, a Tradesman appeared, causing Arielle to cry out.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Tradesman trapped Arielle within a handheld containment unit.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3) - After returning and finding Arielle thusly, Necromantra instructed the Tradesmen to let Arielle go, as it was her (Necromantra) they wanted. Nonetheless refusing to hew to the bargain, Necromantra ultimately released the gargoyle creature. which she had apparently previously absorbed, and it apparently slew the Tradesman.

    Necromantra then released Arielle, returning her to her normal stature, and reverted to her Marinna appearance as Arielle regained consciousness. Arielle noted how she had felt small and captured like a mouse, but Marinna assured her that it was a bad dream and that she should go back to sleep. Marinna promised Arielle that she would not let anything harm her.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3 - BTS) - Fearing further direct contact with Necromantra, and they agreed to make an arrangement with Lord Pumpkin to capture her.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4) - Arielle was present alongside Marinna as Lord Pumpkin entered the throneroom and confronted her, after which Marinna instructed her guards and Arielle to leave her.

    As Necromantra battled Lord Pumpkin, Arielle spied into the room, noting that Marinna was using her sorcery again and wondered if it would be enough to defeat her attacker. As Necromantra absorbed the life forces of knights slain by Pumpkin, he spotted Arielle, grabbed her and hurled her across the room. Necromantra generated a wind that saved Arielle from being dashed against the stone flooring and brought her to her side, but then Arielle noted that she had "eaten" those poor men like the gargoyle demon had done. Telling Arielle they would speak of this later, Necromantra told her to get behind her as she turned and blasted Lord Pumpkin.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4 - BTS) - Lord Pumpkin was soon after teleported away by the Tradesmen, who gave him the Infinity Power Gem to help him regain his throne and defeat Necromantra in exchange for a promise to turn her over to them.

(Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4) - Arielle relocated Necromantra, asking her why --- with the sorceries she wielded -- she had not saved her father. Necromantra reminded Arielle of how weak she was then, and Arielle asked what had killed her father: "Was it that horrid Lord Pumpkin?" As Necromantra struggled to answer, a guard announced Lord Pumpkin's return. Preparing for the battle, Necromantra told Arielle to go to a safe place, but she refused, and she demanded to know the truth about her father, insisting that she was old enough to know. Promising to do so later, if they survived, Necromantra gave her the wedding gift necklace Lord Tavon had given her and told her that she loved her, even more than her father. Arielle argued that that was not right, but Necromantra departed, telling a guard to take her to safety.

    Nonetheless, Arielle, insisting she was not afraid, ran back to the fight, where Necromantra had fallen and about to be taken away by the Tradesmen. Arielle offered herself in Necromantra's stead but was considered valueless by the Tradesmen and refused. Necromantra asked her why she would offer herself in her stead, and Arielle told her that it was because her father loved her. Very weak and hungry for power, Necromantra told Arielle to go, but, even as the demon gargoyle emerged from her form, Arielle reminded her that she shared the name of a brave knight and that she was not afraid. As the creature grabbed her, Arielle called out for her father, after which it apparently absorbed her life force and passed it on to Necromantra.

See the comments regarding the final page of Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4.

Comments: Created by by Mike W. Barr, Gabriel Gecko, and Stephen Baskerville.

    Arielle was a really likable character, and she actually brought out some good in the otherwise totally evil Necromantra. Who knows if we'll ever get more Ultraverse stories, but I would like to see that the Tradesmen preserved Arielle somehow, and she went on to rule her father's kingdom to a new era of peace and prosperity.
    Regardless, Necromantra has appearances after Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4, so she eventually escaped or was released from the Tradesmen's' custody.

    The chronology and characters in the Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra series was a bit hard to follow.

•     In Prime I#13/Ultraverse Premiere#3/3 and the Lord Pumpkin story in Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3, after a king had a wizard create Lord Pumpkin as the playmate for his wicked son, Lord Pumpkin eventually slew the son and then the king and queen, imprisoned the wizard in the castle's dungeon, and and took over the castle.
•     In Sludge#3 and the Lord Pumpkin story in Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#3, Lord Pumpkin abandoned his kingdom to travel to Earth and become a crimelord.
•     In Lord Pumpkin#0, a knight named Arielle led her men to invade Lord Pumpkin's castle and found him missing. 
• Via manipulation from Mr. Mischief, Arielle and her men traveled to Earth to confront Lord Pumpkin.
•     In the Necromantra story in Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1, Lord Tavon's castle is shown as a seemingly older and more damaged version of Lord Pumpkin's castle from Lord Pumpkin#0, and the wizard who created Lord Pumpkin is shown to be still imprisoned there (until Necromantra kills him).
  
• Also in that story, Lord Tavon's daughter, Arielle, notes that she shares the name of a brave knight,.
•     In the Necromantra story in Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#2, Lord Tavon is noted as having brought prosperity to their people after the advent of the evil one.

    I can’t figure out what is supposed to be going on on the last page in Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4

(I cropped out the top image, which is just a crow flying over (the crow having been an enigmatic figure in the Lord Pumpkin stories, questioning and/or commenting on his motives, behavior, actions, etc.):
    Necromantra was captured by the Tradesmen.
    The Tradesmen had granted Lord Pumpkin the Infinity Power Gem to help him subdue Necromantra for them, after which Loki of Reality-616 reclaimed the gem -- via using the young girl that Lord Pumpkin had betrayed and killed in Lord Pumpkin#2. Lord Pumpkin was left, powerless, tied to the cross like scarecrow, as he had been in #2.
    Necromantra is there, with her wedding necklace, along with a young girl in shadows (the girl from #2, or Arielle?).  Someone is putting something in Lord Pumpkin's mouth (the necklace?), and then the crow has the necklace at the end.
    WTF?

Having just checked out the pages in question, and the issues that they reference back to (specifically Lord Pumpkin#2):

In Lord Pumpkin#2 there's the unnamed young girl who feeds LP (despite his protests that he doesn't want any food) and eventually frees him after he promises to be her friend, a promise he immediately breaks. He then kills both her parents, and accepts help from a talking crow, but only after it extracts a promise from him to not hurt the girl - another promise he immediately breaks.

Skip to the end of LP/Necromantra#4. LP has taken over the kingdom, when the young girl he slew appears again, brought back by Loki, and proceeds to remove the Infinity Gem, then both are transported away (teleported) in wisps of smoke. On the next/last page:

pan1 the crow flies overhead. Given everything, I suspect the crow is either Loki or a servant thereof (crow might be analogous to Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin).

pan2:  LP is back on the cross, so presumably that's where Loki sent him and the girl. Loki (or the girl on his behalf) must have taken his candle, rendering LP again unable to move. Necromantra comes along - I guess she got away from her captors or they granted her some sort of temporary release. Given the crow's presence, and assuming the crow does represent Loki, the trickster god may have had a hand in freeing her. Or maybe not. How she got away is really not clear, but she must be at least temporarily free again. The girl's silhouette is seen at LP's feet. 

pan3: The girl (not Necromantra) puts food in LP's mouth, just as she used to do when she was alive.

pan4: Necromantra looks wistfully at the necklace she was given as a wedding gift, and which she gave to Arielle because she'd genuinely come to care for the child. I'm guessing she regrets what happened, or at least Arielle's fate if not what she did to anyone else.

pan5: And since the necklace is a painful reminder of killing Arielle, Necromantra then drops it and walks away. The girl's spirit continues to feed LP, while the crow pecks at the necklace - which may be nothing more than the fact that crows are notorious for being attracted to shiny objects.
--Loki

    That all seems reasonable…it’s all so vague, but that’s more sense than I could make of it.
    I knew Lord Pumpkin was back where he was on the cross when the girl found him, but I wasn’t sure if that was the same unidentified girl or not.
    I was kind of hoping Arielle had not had her life/soul consumed by Necromantra, but I guess she did...

    This profile was completed 07/13/2023, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Arielle, the daughter of Lord Tavon, should be distinguished from:

• ARIELLE of Reality-93060 - a knight of the Godwheel and the namesake of Lord Tavon's daughter--Lord Pumpkin#0
  
• ARIEL - Coconut Grove, male ancestor of the Fallen Angel Ariel, inspired character in Shakespeare’s play--[Fallen Angels#7]
• ARIEL - William Shakespeare's character in the play "The Tempest", based on the male Ariel from the Coconut Grove--The Tempest
• ARIEL - Zephyrland, Four, musician, discovered means to break Virago's spell with music--Sub-Mariner I#64
• ARIEL - see SHADOWCAT. pseudonym used by Katherine Pryde in several universes, including Earth-616 briefly and more notably Earth-811--Marvel Graphic Novel I#5, Uncanny X-Men I#202 (respectively)
• ARIEL - Coconut Grove, mutant, Fallen Angels, originally sent to earth to gather mutants for her scientists to study, organized Fallen Angels and brought them to Coconut Grove, imprisoned with them when they discovered she was a mutant, helped friends to escape, exiled on Earth--Fallen Angels#2
• ARIEL of Earth-1298 - see JEAN GREY of that reality--Mutant X#1 
• ARIEL of Earth-83037 - time-traveling woman from the future, sister of Bartow, accidentally traveled to modern day Earth-8107, allied with Spider-Man and others against Doctor Octopus (Octavius), fell in love with Spider-Man--Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: "Spidey Meets the Girl from Tomorrow"
• ARIEL - princess/sorceress from the Gerber-associated cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian--Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon (October, 1980)
• ARIEL - mermaid who wanted to experience life on land-The Little Mermaid
• other "Ariel" characters, groups, items, events, races, or places...

Appearances:
Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#1-3 (April-June, 1995): Necromantra stories - Mike W. Barr (writer), Gabriel Gecko (penciler), Stephen Baskerville (inker), Roland Mann (editor)
Lord Pumpkin/Necromantra#4 (July, 1995) - Dan Danko and Mike Barr (co-plotters), Jerald DeVictoria (assistant editor), Roland Mann (editor); Dan Danko (writer), Jeff Lafferty (penciler), Pav Kovacic (inker) - pg. 1-8. 17-20, & 28-31; Mike W. Barr (writer), Gabriel Gecko (penciler), Stephen Baskerville (inker) - pg. 9=16, 21-27, & 32

First posted: 09/14/2026
Last updated: 04/16/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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