NICHOLAS de BELLRAIS

Real Name: Nicholas de Bellrais

Identity/Class: Human; would-be magic-user;
    active circa 1349 A.D. and presumably a few decades before that;
    presumably a citizen of the Kingdom of England;

Occupation: Priest

Group Membership: The Catholic Church

Affiliations: He was respected and trusted by his own parishioners, who were unaware of his betrayal of them
At least formerly Mephisto;
    possibly formerly Celia Goth

Enemies: Celia Goth and his apparently unnamed baby son by Celia, Mortigan Goth (later aka Immortalis); Mary Goth (Celia's mother) was presumably not a fan, either;
    he tried and failed to sacrifice his own congregation

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Father Nicholas

Base of Operations: Unrevealed (presumably Hell)

First Appearance: Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#1 (September, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Nicholas de Bellrais had extensive knowledge of the Catholic faith, and he could speak Latin fluently.

    However, he was corrupt, seducing at least one young woman and then presumably (see comments) framing her for the murder of her own child and having her hanged.

    He also had the mystic knowledge to summon and to make a deal with Mephisto, and he was willing to betray and sacrifice the souls of his entire congregation and to personally slit the throat of an infant. 

History:
(Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#1 (fb) - BTS) - A Catholic priest in Horsham, England, Nicholas de Bellrais impregnated Celia Goth.

(Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#1 (fb) - BTS) <1349 A.D.> - Their son died soon after birth, and de Bellrais ripped the infant's lungs from his body and threw them in a tub of water. When the lungs floated, de Bellrais used this as proof that the child had drawn breath before his death, and he concluded that Celia must have smothered the child. Backed by this seeming evidence, de Bellrais had Celia hanged.

    Meanwhile, with the plague having reached reached their village, de Bellrais made a deal with the Hell-lord Mephisto to gain immortality to survive the plague. Writing a contract in Latin, de Bellrais convinced his parishioners that God had forsaken them and that they needed to make a deal with the Devil. However, the contract actually stated that they would give their souls to Mephisto and Mephisto would grant de Bellrais immortality. As the congregation trusted de Bellrais and could not read Latin, they signed the contract.

    Meanwhile, Celia's brother, Mortigan, having returned home to find the Black Plague having reached his village, called on the Devil to save him. Mephisto appeared before Mortigan and challenged him to a game of chess for his soul vs. granting him immortality. During the game, Mephistotold Mortigan the story of the hanged woman (not revealing her to be his sister) and De Bellrais.

    Goth won, achieving immortality, but then returned home to find his mother dying of the plague, and she told him that his sister had been hanged by de Bellrais the day before for allegedly murdering her child. Furious at having been a day late to save his mother or sister, Goth headed to de Bellrais' church, but prior to entry he was confronted by Mephisto. The demon revealed that he had made a deal with de Bellrais and that Goth was welcome to watch the drama unfold, but that if he interfered, Mephisto promised him a thousand years of suffering.

(Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#1 (fb)) - As de Bellrais reiterated to his congregation that they must turn to the ancient gods and called on Mephisto, the Hell-lord entered the church, with Mortigan watching from behind. Speaking to Mephisto in Latin so the parishioners would not understand, de Bellrais explained his deceit. Mephisto approved the contract, and he demanded the youngest child to seal the deal. Although the mother of an infant girl refused to give up her child, the father punched her back and took the infant, telling her that she had lost children before and that it was better it die and they live to have others.

    As de Bellrais held the baby by her ankles and prepared to slit her throat, Goth felt the devil's eyes daring him to interfere. Goth weighed a child's life and the parishioners' souls against a thousand years of suffering. Trying to rationalize refusing to act, Goth told himself that these people had helped de Bellrais hang his sister.

(Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#2 (fb)) - Mortigan rushed forward and pulled de Bellrais' dagger-holding hand away, telling him to stay his hand and that he would not harm this child. When Mephisto reminded him of the consequences, Mortigan realized that he had been tricked, and that the only way out was to die instead. He asked Mephisto to spare the child and these people, and he offered his soul in their stead. After Mephisto tore away Mortigan's soul, de Bellrais asked about their bargain, and the Hell-lord laughed before vanishing in flames.

    When de Bellrais asked what he had done, the weakened Mortigan replied that he had saved them and saved the child. Father Nicholas instead told the people that Goth had stolen their chance to be saved and condemned them to the plague. He then convinced the parishioners to stone Goth to death for his treachery. And they did, knocking him unconscious and incapacitating him with severe brain damage.

(Mortigan Goth: Immortalis#2 (fb) - BTS) - Weeks later, Mortigan awakened within a plague pit, surrounded by the dead congregation and presumably infant whose souls he had saved only for them to all die from the plague. Mephisto taunted Mortigan with the details of the contract, naming him Immortalis after the Latin used by de Bellrais. When Mortigan told him Mephisto he would fight eternally, the demon lord responded by telling him that for every hurt Immortalis did him, he'd visit on his soul a thousand times more. Mephisto's curse was that Immortalis would watch suffering, knowing he might help, but certain that he dare not.

    Goth eventually learned that Mephisto would torture his soul regardless, so he opposed the demon in subtle fashion.

Comments: Created by Nick Vance and Mark Buckingham under the Marvel Frontier Comics subset of the Marvel UK imprint.

    It is not confirmed (or even directly implied), but I think it is most likely that de Bellrais slew his own son and framed Celia for it. Presumably, he didn't want evidence of his breaking of his own vows of celibacy. And who knows if their relationship was even willing of Celia's part. Father Nicholas was a very bad man...

   This profile was completed 11/08/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Nicholas de Bellrais should be distinguished from:

• DeBLASIO, AMBER - daughter of Phil, manipulated Wolverine in effort to track down her father--Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk#1
• DeBLASIO, PHIL - former Mafia underboss and boyfriend of Katrina McCann, disappeared decades ago after confrontation with Wolverine--Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk#1
  
• DeBOUVIER, SIMONE - social worker, investigated whether it was safe for Franklin & Valeria to live with the Fantastic Four--Fantastic Four III#528
• other "Nicholas," "de" and/or "Bellrais" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
  

First posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 11/08/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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