The ARCHENEMY

Real Name: None

Identity/Class: Magical creation

Occupation: Accumulator of magical forces (via destruction of same)

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Formerly S'ym

Enemies: Huscarls of Phemous, Lords of the Splinter Realms (Brutus Klor, Dormammu, D'Spayre, the Haemovore Kings of the Outer Dark, Hedron the Faceted, High Seers of Nox, Magik (Amanda Sefton), Malevolence/King of Pain, Mephisto, Mulgotha, Muranai, Nightmare, Phemous, Pluto, Siffror the Lifeless, Skarabrous the Stalker, Surtur, Thog, Umar, Villiven, plus "daemon lords astride phantom dragons, tyrant wizards in air-machines, queens of the damned with endless retinues, formless things that materialize in pentagrams," presumably Dweller-in-Darkness, Hellstorm, Satannish, (and all other demons lords), all gods of the underworld, and millions of others (including Aggamon, Tiboro,, and countless others)), Mindless Ones, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), other demons of the Splinter Realms

Known Relatives: Nugent (creator), arcane database (progenitor)

Aliases: Arcane creature, entity

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly traversed the various Splinter Realms;
    formerly the far future;
    formerly the Manhattan apartment of Nugent

First Appearance: (Behind the Scenes) Magik II#1 (December 2000)
    (Clearly seen) Magik II#2 (January 2001);
    (Named) Magik II#4 (March 2001)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: The Archenemy is immensely powerful. Its very nature is to destroy and consume all magical energy, which renders it immune to virtually all forms of magical attack and enables it to easily overcome even beings such as Dormammu, Mephisto, etc. It can rend and destroy whole realms, and its assaults took the form of magical glass-like shards which tore its opponents to pieces. It has been described as an "unnatural tempest that splintered the night and sent broken shards of its blackness fluttering down upon us."

"It is nameless. It is ageless. It is evil beyond understanding...the sum of all fears and malice."

 

 

 

 

 

 

History:
(Magik II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly after taking over the role of ruler of Otherplace (Belasco's Limbo) Magik (Amanda Sefton) had her Earthly aide, Nugent, create a computer program/spell that began to assemble, catalog, and codify a database of arcane lore from all sources. Magik intended this to be a powerful weapon in her ongoing war, a research engine she could rely on, based in the mortal plane, untainted by the background magics that permeate the splinter realms.

(Magik II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Nugent relocated his program from his lounge to the bathroom, so that his bathtub could drain away the secretions the program accumulated.

(Magik II#4 (fb) - BTS) - The repository of magical knowledge evolved, drawing together all the vast elements of eldritch data within it and becoming...something else. From Nugent's machine sprang the Archenemy, an absolute force of magical evil. It accumulated more and more power over an undisclosed time and then returned from the far future to conquer and safeguard the time of its birth.

(Magik II#3 (fb) - BTS / Magik II#4 (fb) - BTS) - S'ym somehow became allied with the Archenemy, which allegedly promised S'ym that he would rule over Otherplace after the Archenemy had destroyed the other Splinter Realms. S'ym took the form and identity of Duke Bleys, becoming one of Magik's chief advisors.

(Magik II#2 (fb)) - The Archenemy appeared in the skies of the Nightmare Realm, slaughtering the Silurian Guard and overrunning the fortress of Nightmare.

(Magik II#1) - The Archenemy caused a horrific nightmare in Nightmare himself before confronting the demon directly.

(Magik II#1 (fb) - BTS / Magik II#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Archenemy apparently consumed both Nightmare and much of his realm, adding it to its own power.

(Magik II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Some demons from Nightmare's realm escaped the realm's destruction.

(Magik II#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Dark Dimension of Dormammu fell under the Archenemy's onslaught.

(Magik II#2 (fb) - BTS) - Dormammu, sensing the above conflict in the Nightmare realm, traveled there and discovered Gleeg, the decapitated former captain of the Silurian Guard. Dormammu reanimated Gleeg and forced him to reveal what had happened.

(Magik II#1) - Nugent showed his work to Magik, who was pleased with his progress. Nugent prepared to transcribe the Book of Eibon into the database.

(Magik II#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Archenemy appeared in Muspelheim, annihilating Surtur's demon guards, extinguishing the eternal flame on Surtur's blade (Twilight?), possibly destroying Surtur as well, and leaving the realm a burnt out husk.

(Magik II#1 - BTS) - Demons from Nightmare's realm assaulted the fortified wall of Otherplace before being fought off by Magik and her forces, including Vitchen and assisted by Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner). Dormammu then appeared in Otherplace, confronting Magik.

(Magik II#2) - Dormammu forced Gleeg to tell his story to Magik before allowing Gleeg release from the agony of life-death. Dormammu proposed an alliance against their unnamed foe, though Magik was hesitant to trust the demon-lord. Wishing proof, Magik and her armies accompanied Dormammu to the realm of Muspelheim. After surveying the destruction, they encountered the Archenemy itself, which slaughtered Magik's warriors and Dormammu's Mindless Ones alike. Magik used a stepping disk to transport herself, Dormammu, Nightcrawler, and Vitchen back to Otherplace, escaping the destruction that the others faced.
    Magik checked in on Nugent, who reported that his machine was already stocked with three-quarters of the world's arcane data. She instructed Nugent to keep at it, as she feared she would have need of the database soon. Nugent tabulated the information Magik gave her and predicted that the next target would be Hades (more correctly, Mephisto's realm of Hell). Magik then traveled to Hell and confronted Mephisto, forcing him to listen to what she had to say. Magik then showed him that the Archenemy was at the gates of Hell itself.

(Magik II#3) - As the Archenemy lay waste to Mephisto's beast legions and kingdom, Mephisto struck out at the Archenemy, attempting to destroy it and having virtually no effect on the entity. With no other choice, Mephisto accompanied Magik back to the Otherplace, escaping Hell before it fell under the Archenemy's assault. Deciding that only a united force could oppose the Archenemy, Magik called a convocation of the Lords of the Splinter Realms. After much debating, the Lords agreed that they had no choice but to put their trust in each other, and they made a pact of union, merging the Splinter-Realms into a single base from which they could act via a collective showering of energy, mingling of oaths, and mixing of demon-blood.
    However, almost immediately after they had done so, Magik's advisor Duke Bleys was revealed as her enemy S'ym, who was serving the Archenemy. As the Archenemy itself arrived at the merged realm, S'ym revealed that they had actually made the Archenemy's job easier by creating a single easy target.

(Magik II#4) - Magik blew the Horn of Harrowing, calling the various Lords and their servants to confront the Archenemy, who paused briefly--as if stayed by the sight of such formidable resistance--before beginning its onslaught. Two hundred thousand died in the first second, and the Archenemy moved on, crushing the walls of the United Realm underfoot. As her allies fell before the Archenemy, Magik convinced them to unite their power once more and focus them through her so that she could cast a spell of divination to understand the nature of their foe. As soon as she understood what it was, she transported Nightcrawler to Manhattan, where he destroyed Nugent's machine. Weakened by the destruction of its source of power, the Archenemy fell before Magik and her Soulsword, which destroyed it.

    With the Archenemy destroyed, the United Realm swiftly splintered anew. Many of the demon-lords were able to re-form over time.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Liam McCormick-Sharp.

Other Death Gods that might have some affiliation with Hellstorm include:  

This is pretty much an effort of the Marvel UK which was published by mainstream Marvel. Abnett, Lanning, and Sharp were all prominent MUK writers.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

images:
Magik II#1, p13, panel 1 (computer)
    #3, last page (light image)
    #4, p8, vs. Lords of the Splinter Realms
        p10 (face)

Appearances:
Magik II#1-4 (December, 2000 - March, 2001) - Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (writers), Liam Sharp (penciler/inker), Mike Marts (editor)

First Posted: 07/23/2005
Last updated: 09/04/2011

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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