URIEL
URIEL
Real Name: Uriel
Identity/Class: Angel (at least the 17th century to present, possibly earlier - see comments)
Occupation: Angel
Group Membership: Angels of Heaven
Affiliations: Formerly Noble Kale
Enemies: Doghead (Francisco Fuentes), Noble Kale, Mephisto, Pao Fu
(Lian Goh), Vengeance (Michael Badilino)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Presumably Heaven
First Appearance: Ghost Rider III#92 (January, 1998)
Powers/Abilities: In additional to the typical
attributes of an angel, Uriel possessed the ability to teleport in a
blinding flash light and he always carried a flaming sword, presumably
capable of slaying demons. He was also capable of manipulating the
souls of others. (see comments)
Height: Presumably variable
Weight: Presumably variable
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
History: (Ghost Rider III#92 (fb)) - Uriel
appeared before Mephisto, who had come to claim the soul of the
transformed Noble Kale. Announcing that Noble was a good and pure soul,
unwilling to take a human life despite being transformed into a demon
servant of Mephisto, Uriel refused to allow Mephisto to fully control
Noble's soul. Briefly contemplating a battle that could potentially
destroy the world, Uriel instead offered himself to Mephisto in Noble's
place but Mephisto scoffed at the idea, claiming he could destroy Uriel
and his "children of light" easily. Mephisto then offered to allow
Uriel to settle for half of Noble's soul, which Uriel agreed to,
announcing that Noble would serve neither Heaven nor Hell. Mephisto
quickly corrected Uriel, explaining that Noble would serve both realms
as Mephisto's Spirit of Vengeance. Despite his misgivings, Uriel
decreed that Noble would seek out sin and punish it. Uriel also blessed
Noble's lineage, preventing Mephisto from directly harming any child
that came from Kale's blood. Despite Mephisto's objections, Uriel
further decreed that Noble would remain in the realm between realms in
order to remain free of undue influence, only emerging to perform his
duties as Spirits of Vengeance and returning when vengeance was served.
Uriel then departed, warning Mephisto that his hubris would be his
downfall, unaware that Mephisto then cursed Noble's bloodline so that
each subsequent Kale would become host to the Spirit of Vengeance. Once
Noble had entered the void between realms, Uriel appeared to Noble and
gifted Noble with forgetfulness so that Noble would be free of the
worry of his lost love. Uriel also gifted Noble with the identity of,
once his time in the void ended, the angel of death.
(Ghost Rider III#93 - BTS) - Having seen Uriel's
gifts to Noble Kale through Noble's memories, Dan Ketch ventured into
Blackheart's Hell realm, where he restored Noble's full memories and
gifts as the angel of death. Using his newfound power to defeat
Blackheart, Noble Kale assumed the throne of Hell.
(Ghost Rider: Finale/2) - After Noble Kale freed the
tortured souls within Blackheart's Hell realm, Uriel appeared and
denounced Kale's decision. Suspecting Uriel would show up, Noble asked
Uriel if he had a problem with free will. Uriel insisted that freeing
the souls would upset the balance of things, claiming that evil must
have a place to roost. Noble quickly replied that it could rest
somewhere else and when Uriel asked about Mephisto's inevitable return,
Noble responded that Mephisto would find his realm turned into a
democracy. Uriel continued to insist that the evil souls could not be
freed, drawing his sword and reminding Noble that he was forgetting his
place, but Noble angrily bound Uriel in chains. Noble then exclaimed
that Uriel had forgotten his place when he transformed Noble into the
angel of death and expected him to follow Uriel's hidden agenda
blindly. Noble then stared Uriel in the face and announced that Uriel
would follow Noble's agenda of freedom. Noble then banished Uriel from
his Hell realm with the departing Uriel warning that Noble would pay
for his hubris. Noble replied that Uriel could send him the bill.
Comments: Created by Ivan Velez, Jr., Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira.
While the actual date of the flashbacks to Noble Kale's origins in Ghost Rider III#92 was not outright stated, it seemed to be a very Puritan religious era in American history, which would be around the 1600s before the British colonies gained their independence as the United States of America. Given that Pastor Kale burned Magdalena as a witch in the flashbacks, it would place the flashbacks around the 1690s more specifically. Therefore, Uriel was at least active during this era and was later seen in the modern era as well. As an angel, Uriel was possibly active even earlier than the 1690s but that remains unclarified.
Uriel's exact powers were unclear. Being an angel, he presumably had more powers than just teleporting in a flash of smoke and fire. When he imagined his possible battle with Mephisto, Uriel saw himself going toe-to-toe with Mephisto without major damage to either, instead major damage to the Earth itself was caused by the force of their blows. He was also seen "gifting" Noble Kale with forgetfulness and the identity of the angel of death, suggesting some form of soul manipulation but the exact nature of how Uriel can "gift" these things to others was also unclear.
Also, despite the Ghost Rider: Official Index to the
Marvel Universe TPB stating that Uriel's next appearances following
Ghost Rider III#92 as being Blaze I#10-12, those appearances are
actually appeared of a separate ancient warrior entity called Uri-El.
Regardless of the similarities, the Angels entry in the Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe HC Vol. 1 firmly established that Uriel
and Uri-El were two separate entities.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Uriel has no KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Ghost Rider III#92, p19, pan3 (Uriel, main image)
Ghost Rider: Finale, p55, pan4 (Uriel headshot)
Appearances:
Ghost Rider III#92 (January, 1998) - Ivan Velez, Jr. (writer), Javier
Saltares (pencils), Mark Texeira (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Ghost Rider III#93 (February, 1998) - Ivan Velez, Jr. (writer), Javier
Saltares (pencils), Mark Texeira (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Ghost Rider: Finale (2007) - "Acabado" story - Ivan Velez, Jr.
(writer), Javier Saltares (pencils, inks), Mark Texeira, Klaus Janson
(inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 01/24/2015
Last updated: 01/24/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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