D'KAY
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Demon (Class 2) (11th century and possibly earlier to modern era)
Occupation: Promoter, deceiver
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Conqueror Worms, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Legion of Vengeance (Bacillus, Mind's Eye, Strontium-90, Vesper), Legion of Vengeance (Strontum-90, 11 unidentified demons), Mephisto, Sano Orii, Rigor Mortis, other unidentified fighters;
formerly Deacon
Enemies: Mo Chou, Deacon, Death-Sting (Miranda Ran'd-Kai), Fat Cobra, Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch/Noble Kale), Iron Fist (Daniel Rand), Iron Fist (Orson Randall), Lilith, humans
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mephisto's Hell;
formerly Hotel Inferno, Las Vegas, Earth;
formerly the Pit in Mephisto's Hell
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#116/3 (1992)
Powers/Abilities: D'Kay was a long-lived demon with the power to imbue human beings with the supernatural abilities of individual demons. He was also the master of numerous demons that served him including Rigor Mortis.
Though he was not much of a fighter himself he was a master manipulator to make others do his dirty work.
Height: 6'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 450 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Solid black (sometimes yellow)
Hair: Orange
History:
(Ghost Rider Annual I#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point around
a thousand years ago, Rigor Mortis was charged by D'Kay with the duty of caring
for the Conqueror Worm and looking after its eggs.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#116/3 (fb), [117/3 (fb)]) - D'Kay was a demon from the Pit who tried to destroy humanity by turning some greedy, stupid and impatient humans into super-powered beings. He controlled them through their sins and took over their subconscious minds. He tricked them into believing that they were heroes and the only right and righteous people around.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#116/3 - 118/3) - D'Kay appeared when Ghost Rider and Iron Fist defeated the Legion of Vengeance for the first time.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#117/3) - He cast a spell on his heroes and revealed to the real heroes that the Legion of Vengeance were his creation. He brought Ghost Rider and Iron Fist to the Pit to destroy them and pave the way for his team to destroy humanity. Ghost Rider and Iron Fist were able to resist the tortures of the Pit, and when D'Kay realized that he couldn't defeat them on his own he decided to bring them back to Earth were they had to fight the Legion of Vengeance again.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#118/3) - D'Kay feared his own creation would go rogue after some words of Ghost Rider and seemingly took their powers away from them. Ghost Rider and Iron Fist left and D'Kay laughed when the former Legion of Vengeance realized that they still had their powers. D'Kay then promised that they would return.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Iron Fist V#78 (fb) - BTS) - D'Kay was the promoter behind Iron Fist (Orson Randall)'s battle for his soul. Randall had to defeat 24 opponents within 24 hours in a cage at the Hotel Inferno in Las Vegas to regain his soul and be resurrected.
(Iron Fist V#78 - BTS) - Iron Fist (Danny Rand) and Fat Cobra arrived at Hotel Inferno after learning about Iron Fist's battle for his soul from a poster. They witnessed Orson's 10th win within 10 hours against deceased Yakuza leader Sano Orii.
(Iron Fist V#79) - D'Kay entered the locker room after Orson's tenth fight and congratulated him because the crowd was loving every second. He was accompanied by four other demons. He was surprised to run into his old enemy Iron Fist (Rand) and his associate Fat Cobra. Orson was surprised Rand and D'Kay knew each other. D'Kay then offered Rand to join the competition and offered him to bring back any person he desired from the dead if he fought for him, but Rand had no interest. D'Kay was upset by Rand's decision. He told Orson he was due for his next fight and watched as Rand and Fat Cobra accompanied Orson to the cage where Orson defeated Zadkiel's former agent Deacon.
D'Kay went to Hell where he found Rand's sister Miranda and offered her a chance to return to Earth if she defeated Orson Randall for him. Miranda took the offer.
D'Kay had his four demons take Rand and Fat Cobra to his skybox while Orson had to leave for his next fight. D'Kay had Fat Cobra's deceased mother with him and once again asked Daniel to fight for him. Daniel offered to fight for Orson and offered his soul in case he lost, but D'Kay declined that offer. D'Kay introduced Fat Cobra to his mother and promised to make Daniel a counteroffer he couldn't refuse as soon as Orson's next fight had started. When Miranda entered the cage Daniel was shocked and attacked D'Kay, but his demon henchdemons stopped him and Fat Cobra. The henchmen were defeated and Daniel ordered D'Kay to stop the fight immediately, but more demons had already arrived to protect D'Kay from the duo. D'Kay then offered Daniel the chance to save his sister and Fat Cobra a chance to save his mother by fighting for him.
(Iron Fist V#80 - BTS) - Iron Fist and Fat Cobra took D'Kay's offer and were allowed to enter the cage and stop the fight between Miranda and Orson.
(Iron Fist V#80) - D'Kay entered the cage with Fat Cobra's mother and several demons. He explained to the crowd the new deal. Daniel, his half-sister Miranda, Orson and Fat Cobra would battle the remaining 12 opponents of Orson Randall in a battle royal. The losers would spend eternity in Hell. D'Kay sent in his new Legion of Vengeance as Orson's remaining opponents and told his usual henchdemons to watch and learn from them. D'Kay watched his demons fall and ultimately be defeated when Orson Randall sacrificed himself to destroy the last two demons with the power of his Iron Fist, sending the last demons flying right into D'Kay skybox. After his Legion of Vengeance's defeat a demon informed D'Kay Mephisto would like to have a word with him. Mephisto was really mad at him for losing two souls (Miranda and Fat Cobra's mother).
(Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons) - D'Kay informed Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), current king of Hell, of an uprising on the sixth level of Hell. Armed with a machine gun D'Kay joind Ghost Rider and a horde of demons against the demons and damned that tried to escape Hell, including Deacon. The uprising was quelled.
(Ghost Rider IX#1) - D'Kay fought alongside Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) and a horde of demons against loyal followers of former ruler Mephisto. The demons escaped through a portal to Earth and Ghost Rider followed them.
Left behind in Hell, D'Kay guarded the portal. Lilith approached him and ripped out his heart when D'Kay told her that he had orders to let nobody near the portal.
Comments: Created by Joey Cavalieri & Shawn McManus.
I don't believe D'Kay is this demon's actual name. I assume he had the epiphany to call himself D'Kay during the 1990s when it was cool to mizzpell everythang, boyz.
BTW looking at the main image in this profile I assume the other demons seen were not just D'Kay's underlings, but demonized versions of the ones that were empowered by him in the past including the Legion of Vengeance from Marvel Comics Presents. Just a guess, but it seems like an obvious nod to the original story.
It became clear to me that it was actually them when I realized that one of the demons fighting Iron Fist and his allies in the cage was still wearing the remnants of his Stronium-90 costume. Mind's Eye and Vesper are easy to identify as well, but I am not sure which one could be Bacillus. Maybe D'Kay didn't employ him.
This was previously a sub-profile under the Legion of Vengeance, but his return in Iron Fist kind of warranted an expansion to a full profile.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
D'Kay has no known connections to
images (without ads)
Iron Fist V#79, p3, pan10 (main)
Marvel Comics Presents I#116, barcode side, p8, pan4 (D'Kay, past)
Iron Fist V#79, p9, pan1 (full body)
Appearances:
Marvel Comics Presents I#116-118 (1992) - Joey Cavalieri (writer), Shawn McManus (artist), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Ghost Rider Annual I#1 (1993) - Joey Cavalieri (writer), Kirk Van Wormer (pencils), Brad Vancata (inks)
Iron Fist V#78-80 (May-July, 2018) - Ed Brisson (writer), Damian Couceiro (artist), Mark Basso (editor)
Ghost Rider IX#1 (December, 2019) - Ed Brisson (writer), Aaron Kuder (artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons#1 (April, 2020) - Ed Brisson (writer), Roland Boschi (artist), Chris Robinson (editor)
First Posted: 06/12/2004
Last updated: 07/12/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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