iblis-sinbad-upperiblis-sinbad-fullest IBLIS

Real Name: Presumably Iblis

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (undefined realm) presumed demon magic user

Occupation: Unrevealed beyond apparently being a demon and an object of worship

Group Membership: None known

Affiliations: Presumably her demon offspring and possibly at least some of least some of the beings with whom she conceived them;
    as she lived in a temple, she likely had an unrevealed number of worshippers

Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Sue Richards, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Sinbad;
    she presumably has some knowledge +/- experience with Hercules (Heracles/Alcaeus)

Known Relatives: Unspecified djinns and demons (offspring)

Aliases: Possibly Shaitan (see comments)

Base of Operations: Temple in unidentified realm (presumably extradimensional)

First Appearance: Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad#1 (September, 2001)

iblis-sinbad-postPowers/Abilities: Iblis is an apparently immortal (or at least unaging) demonic being with great mystic powers.

    Notable among Iblis' abilities was the ability to enslave others, body and soul, merely by establishing eye contact. Affected beings initially took on horned and hooved demonic forms but -- at least if she desired it -- would turn into immobile statues.

    Sunlight in and of itself may or may not have been very painful for Iblis, but reflecting her gaze back on herself, such as via a mirror or polished glass, could turn her to stone within seconds.

    She formerly possessed the Mallet of Destiny, but she did not utilize it for anything in her brief appearance (nor were its abilities beyond being one of four items needed for Jihad's spell shown in the rest of the Mallet's appearances).iblis-sinbad-footreflect

Height: Unrevealed (approximately )
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately )
Eyes: Yellow (with vertical slit pupils (apparently red rather than black)
Hair: Brown with black streaks
Other Distinguishing Features: Iblis' tan/light brown skin has black streaks project out from the center of her face and across the rest of her body and upper arms, at least. She possesses horns and pointed ears, and digitigrade legs with cloven hooves.

History:

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad (fb) - BTS) - Iblis had some past experience with or at least knowledge of Sinbad.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad (fb) - BTS) - Under unrevealed circumstances, Iblis obtained the Mallet of Destiny.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad (fb) - BTS) - The extradimensional magic-user Jihad sought to obtain four magical items -- the All-Seeing Eye, Crystal Casque, Gauntlet of Forever, and Mallet of Destiny -- which he could use in a spell to grant himself great magical power so that he could conquer all of reality. He enlisted/coerced countless heroes over an undetermined span of time to obtain these items, but each met with failure.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad (fb) - BTS) - Under unspecified circumstances, Jihad defeated the legendary adventurer Sinbad and took his daughter Dione prisoner. Jihad transformed them both into wood and mounted Sinbad as the figurehead on his own ship. Still maintaining sentience, Sinbad learned from an oracle of the existence of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616, and he used his own mystical powers to influence Jihad's mind so he would seek out and recruit them, hoping that they could assist in Jihad's defeat.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad - BTS) - Jihad sent a powerful giant hydra to capture the F4's family and friends Caledonia, Franklin Richards, the teenage Valeria von Doom (aka Marvel Girl of Earth-99315, later realized to be the time-displaced Valeria Richards-616), and their Puppy. Jihad subsequently appeared, subduing the entire group and transporting them aboard Sinbad's ship, which was actually a transformed Jihad. Translating notes on the ship, the Four learned that they were to obtain the four items of power, which they did in order to play along, see what developed, and hopefully take advantage on any opportunity that might present itself.

iblis-sinbad-torch-mutatediblis-sinbad-r&s-mutated(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad - BTS) - Having successfully obtained the Crystal Casque and the Gauntlet of Forever, the Fantastic Four traveled to the temple of Iblis to obtain the Mallet of Destiny.

    Appreciating Iblis' demonic nature and powers, Reed instructed Johnny to perform a circuit of the temple, fusing its walls into glass, which made them mirror-like; however, at some point Johnny made eye contact with Iblis, and he began transforming into some sort of demonic creature.

    Reed and Sue similarly encountered Iblis and began their own transformations.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad) - After Johnny had called out to Reed and Sue about his transformation and found them to be transforming as well, he apologized, considering that he should have flown more quickly, burned a hotter flame or been more careful.

    Iblis then appeared, advising "flame-boy" that it would not have mattered, as his fate had been sealed the moment he entered her temple. She continued that while they were heroes, they were but mortals, while "Iblis is eternal, the mother of djinns and demons. Against me you have no hope."

    Presumably at the same time, she transformed Johnny, Reed and Sue into statues.

    Having escaped eye contact with Iblis, Ben then punched out a pillar in her temple, causing it to start to collapse. Iblis advised him that this would not harm her but that the destruction of her temple would just crush the statues she had made of his companions.

    However, Ben instead caught the collapsing temple.

    Marveling at this and noting that not even "fabled Heracles" was capable of such a feat, Iblis nonetheless pet her arms around the Thing and told him that it did not matter as sooner or later he would have to open his eyes, after which he would be hers, body and soul.

    Explaining Reed's plan, Ben lifted the temple into the air, and Iblis screamed at the sunlight as she gazed at her reflection in the polished glass. As she turned to stone, she proclaimed, "A thousand thousand curses be on the House of Sinbadddd."

iblis-sinbad-upprofpet(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad - BTS) - With Iblis' defeat, Johnny, Reed and Sue returned to their standard forms, and Ben found the Mallet of Destiny.

(The Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad - BTS) - After departing Iblis' temple, the Fantastic Four claimed the All-Seeing Eye, restored Sinbad as well as their children and Dione, and ultimately defeated Jihad.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Pascual Ferry.

    I am not a master of theology, but some superficial searches show that Iblis is either an alias or a manifestation of Shaitan, the father of demons in Islamic religion. The Marvel Universe/Multiverse is far from reality, and in Reality-616, there are many demons or demon-like beings using the names of gods or demons. So, we don't know if this Iblis has any relationship to Shaitan or Satan characters (see comments).

    It is unclear, to me at least, whether Iblis' temple was in the same dimension as Jihad, some other alien realm, or some other location familiar to Sinbad. We only saw her temple.

As I was working on this profile I searched the name and recalled its significance in Islam, but then I searched "Sinbad Iblis" and found the novel "Sinbad and the Rise of Iblis." I initially assumed the novel was an adaptation of one of the original stories or at least from the 20th Century and that Claremont used the character based on that story, but then I saw that it actually came out in 2023. Further, the story is described as a "re-imagining" of Sinbad, which likely would be an alternate reality version.

Loki confirmed:

    I checked Project Gutenberg to find a copy of Richard Burton's Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night (the best known English version of the Arabic 1001 Nights), and volume 6 of 10 includes the seven Sindbad stories, the Seven Voyages. Thanks to the text being searchable I was able to find that Iblis is mentioned in that volume, but only once, on the story for the Five Hundred and Seventieth Night: "One of the sons of Iblis had an idol of red carnelian, whereof I was guardian."

    But Sindbad's Seven Voyages are recounted from the Five Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night through to the Five Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night, so Iblis isn't mentioned until after the last Sindbad tale. 

    Claremont may have used Iblis because he knew the name from Arabic lore, though 2001 was prior to online wikis, so he'd have had to have done research from books. Or, and I suspect this might well be the case given we know Claremont is a fan of SF in general and since it's where I first heard the name Iblis, he might have watched the original Battlestar Galactica, which featured Patrick McNee as Count Iblis, an evil member of a incredibly powerful alien race who had formerly been known as "Mephistopheles," "Diaboles," and "The Prince Of Darkness."

    This profile was completed 05/29/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent the stories and characters of Sinbad.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Iblis should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad#1, pg. 20, panel 1-3 (Johnny, Reed & Sue mutated);
          panel 5 (upper/main);
       pg. 21, panel 4 (knees up, posterior view);
       pg. 22, panel 1 (mostly full, frontal view);
          panel 4 (hoof & reflection);
          panel 5 (enraged, petrifying, upper profile)
Appearances:
Fantastic 4th Voyage of Sinbad#1 (September, 2001) - Chris Claremont (writer), Pascual Ferry (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Andrew Lis (assistant editor), Bobbie Chase (executive editor)

First posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated: 05/29/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters