Etrigan the Demon

Publication history

Etrigan the Demon first appeared in The Demon #1 (August 1972) and was created by Jack Kirby. He created the Demon when his Fourth World titles were cancelled. According to Mark Evanier, Kirby had no interest in horror comics, but created Etrigan in response to a demand from DC for a horror character. Kirby was annoyed that the first issue sold so well that DC required him to do sixteen issues and abandon the Fourth World titles before he was done with them.

Etrigan returned for a four-issue miniseries in 1987, written and illustrated by Grendel creator Matt Wagner. Alan Grant followed this with a Etrigan feature in Action Comics Weekly #636-641 and a second ongoing title in 1990. The 1990 series lasted 60 issues, including two annuals. Garth Ennis took over the title beginning with issue #40. Ennis' run included the first appearance of his character, Hitman

While his first monthly comic book series was short-lived, and his second was canceled after five years, Etrigan remains a popular supporting character with occasional additional mini-series. Popular series in which Etrigan has appeared include Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (see Characters of The Sandman - Minor Angels and Demons), Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Kevin Smith's Green Arrow and Batman: The Widening Gyre, Garth Ennis's Hitman, and Cosmic Odyssey by Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola.

The New 52

DC Comics launched a new series featuring Etrigan titled Demon Knights, with issue #1 on September 14, 2011 as part of their company-wide relaunch. It was written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Diógenes Neves.

Pre/Post-Crisis

Etrigan, son of the demon Belial, is summoned by the wizard Merlin, his half-brother. Unable to gain the creature's secrets, he bonds the demon with Jason Blood, a knight in King Arthur's Camelot. This renders Jason immortal, though at times he considers this either a penance or a curse.

Centuries later, Jason Blood resurfaces in recent times, becoming a prominent demonologist in Gotham City. Jason is called to the crypt of Merlin and discovers a poem that changes him into Etrigan. Unfortunately, he is followed by the long-lived Morgaine le Fey, who lusts for Merlin's secrets. That leads to Etrigan's first major battle. Over the years, Etrigan both clashes with and occasionally aids Earth's heroes, guided by his own whims and Jason's attempts to turn his infernal power to good use.

Some time after his first appearance, Etrigan begins speaking in rhyme due to a promotion in Hell, though he is not limited to rhyme. He led the forces of Hell in the great battle against The Darkness and was in brief contact with the entity in its questions about its nature - he barely survived the attempt. His high rank would also see him guide Dream of the Endless from Hell's gates to Lucifer.

When Jason Blood's daughter was born, he decided to destroy Etrigan and hired metahuman hitman Tommy Monaghan to help him. After a battle against both Merlin and Etrigan, the two of them rescued the baby and Blood was able to steal the demon's heart, essentially neutralizing the demon and binding him to Jason's will. However, at the end of the battle to gain the demon's heart Jason Blood left the child, Kathryn Mark, with her mother, Glenda Mark. Jason told Glenda before he had left, "Take care of our daughter, Glenda. I think it would be best if she never knew about her father." Blood then skipped out on paying Monaghan the $2 million he'd promised. Etrigran became listless and ceased to rhyme. However, when Monaghan needed an edge against the demon Mawzir, he conned Blood into returning to Gotham and using Etrigan to retrieve an anti-demon rifle from Hell, all while preparing to force the demonologist to let the monster onto Earth again. Despite the real risk that Etrigan would kill him in vengeance, Monahgan traded Etrigan his heart for the Ace of Winchesters, once more forcing Blood to have the full burden and returning Etrigan to his full strength (though Etrigan went back on the deal and tried to kill Monaghan anyway).

Despite Blood's own doubts about himself, when the Justice League vanished during their attempt to rescue Aquaman from the past, Batman's emergency program — designed to assemble a substitute Justice League in the event that the originals were ever killed — selected Blood as the team's magic expert, a pre-recorded message Batman had left for Blood assuring the sorcerer that he would not give Etrigan the keys to the Watchtower unless he was certain he could be controlled. While working with the team, Jason spent some time reinforcing the Watchtower's magical defences. During the subsequent fight with Gamemnae, Jason sacrificed himself to free Zatanna from her control, although he later escaped Gamemnae's quagmire spell thanks to the Martian Manhunter telepathically prompting his transformation into Etrigan. The crisis resolved, Jason handed his duties as the League's magic expert over to Manitou Raven, newly arrived in the present, before departing.

The series Blood of the Demon, plotted and drawn by John Byrne, and scripted by Will Pfeifer, began in May 2005. Etrigan apparently loses the restrictions imposed upon him by the wizard Merlin which turned him from evil, caused by his "murder" at the exact moment he was transforming from his human guise, Jason Blood, into his demon self. It turns out that the incident has resulted in Jason Blood being able to exert some will over Etrigan's violent nature, whereas previously the two remained separate, only one existing at a time. Blood of the Demon ended with issue #17 in July 2006.

Etrigan later attempts to use Lucifer's trident to take control of Hell. A makeshift Shadowpact team successfully takes the Trident from him and flees to the supernatural Oblivion Bar. Etrigan follows and battles the team inside the bar. He is turned into stone via magical pistols and is used as a hat rack. The pistol's magic would return Etrigan to normal at sunrise, which never happens within the bar.

Etrigan takes part in the war for control of Hell on behalf of Neron, duelling Blue Devil. Later, due to the effects of a magical drug Satanus had infested Hell with, he was transformed into a physical human, a perfect duplicate of Jason Blood. Blood, meanwhile, has taken steps as to interfere with any possible attempts of Etrigan's to re-merge.

During the Blackest Night, Blood's body is possessed by Deadman, who invokes Etrigan's transformation, using his flames to hold back the Black Lanterns.

Etrigan briefly appears in the prelude to the JLA/JSA crossover during the Brightest Day event. Etrigan travels to Germany in order to find a crashed meteorite that contains an unconscious Jade, and is drawn into a confrontation with the Justice League after attacking a squad of German superheroes. He mocks the League by claiming they are an inferior team of substitutes, but is ultimately defeated when Donna Troy uses her Lasso of Persuasion to force him back into his Jason Blood form. Jason apologizes for the trouble he caused and departs from the scene, but not before warning Batman and his teammates that the meteorite possesses supernatural qualities. The meteor is later revealed to be the Starheart, a legendary entity that has the power to possess metahumans with magical or elemental abilities.

Etrigan is shown aiding the JLA during their mission into Hell, where he helps Hawkman defeat a demonic beast. He also was the guide to the Secret Six in their trip to Hell and led Catman to see the fate of his father, all the while amused by the confusion and pain they were suffering as a result of their visit.

The New 52

In The New 52 the 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe, his past and origins are largely changed. Before the Dark Ages, Etrigan was a rhyming demon (one not yet good at rhyming) in Lucifer's service and after too many indignities, he led a rebellion. Lucifer waited until the last moment before handing him over to Merlin: the two had struck a deal. Jason of Norwich had been sent to Camelot as a scribe to Merlin and was growing frustrated with life, believing he was meant for greater things and suffering from rages. A prophecy showed that if Jason did not have some sort of quest to force him to heal himself, his rage would grow and cause him to kill his love, Madame Xanadu; at the Fall of Camelot, Merlin bonded Etrigan to Jason in an attempt to provide this quest.

Now immortal, Jason and Etrigan came to an agreement and shared their existence. Madame Xanadu began traveling with Jason only to find Etrigan had now begun falling for her as well and would slaughter innocents if he thought she and Jason were happy together. In order to placate the demon, she pretended to be in love with him and cuckolding Jason.

Over the centuries, Jason became known as Jason o' the Blood and Etrigan continued to practice his rhymes. By the Dark Ages, he and Etrigan became the centre of a rag-tag team of adventurers, the "Demon Knights": Jason/Etrigan, Xanadu, Vandal Savage, Shining Knight, the Horsewoman, Saracen inventor Al Jabr (The Numbers in Arabic), and the Amazon Exoristos (The Exile in Greek). They first fought Mordru and the Questing Queen's army to a standstill, before being tasked by the city of Alba Sarum to return Merlin to life at Avalon. (Both Jason and Etrigan were enraged at having missed the chance to get him to separate them) Etrigan plotted to betray his teammates' souls and Avalon itself to Lucifer, in order to curry favour. While he successfully manipulated the Knights into letting Hell invade Avalon (and secretly felt guilty about his treatment of Xanadu), he was himself captured and used by the Questing Queen to get access as well. Lucifer believed Etrigan had done this deliberately and condemned him; outraged, the demon refused to serve anyone again. At the end of the battle, Jason was tasked as a member of Avalon's Stormwatch but neither he nor Xanadu wanted to serve Merlin after having Etrigan forced on them again. Jason vowed to not let the demon out so often.

In the present, Etrigan's body lies buried in London, it is explained that he was sealed there by his own friends because of his betrayal of them, but magic emanating from it is able to possess persons above, eventually freeing the demon who promptly attacks Apollo and Midnighter. The entire Stormwatch then battles Etrigan but even after being defeated, he is able to possess a host and flees.

During the "Trinity War" storyline, Etrigan the Demon is among the superheroes that feels the disturbance in the magical plane when Shazam picks up Pandora's Box. In the timeline of The New 52: Futures End, Zatanna is romantically involved with Etrigan.

Etrigan

Even among demons, Etrigan is considered to be extremely powerful. He has above superhuman strength (mystically enhanced) to the degree that he can stand against other powerhouses such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lobo. He has a high degree of resistance to injury and can project hellfire from his body; usually from his mouth. He has a very high command of magic. Other powers include mystically enhanced fangs and claws, enhanced senses, super speed, agility, telepathy, energy blasts, and precognition. His sadomasochistic nature allows him to enjoy pain as if it were pleasure, making him generally fearless in the face of combat and torture. His healing factor can handle an incredible amount of damage, allowing him to recover from wounds that have removed large sections of his body.

As seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, it appears that he also has some matter manipulation power on a molecular level. His powers can be extended by other magical devices, such as the Crown of Horns. Etrigan is also provided with insight to religious aspects and other forbidden or secret knowledge.

Jason Blood

Jason Blood is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant. His skills include mastery in swordsmanship. Jason is also adept at magic, and is often called upon to act as an advisor or investigator in occultic matters (such as in the series Arkham Asylum: Living Hell). He also has limited precognition and telepathy. Jason is technically immortal as he is connected to the demon Etrigan. He also has the combined experiences of all the time since he was bonded to the demon. Jason Blood shares all of Etrigan's weaknesses.

In order to transform into Etrigan, Jason must recite the poem from Merlin's crypt (though usually he only recites the last 2 lines):

Change! Change! O' form of man!
Release the might from fleshy mire!
Boil the blood
in the heart for fire!
Gone! Gone! O' form of man
And rise the Demon Etrigan!!

To return to human form, this poem must be recited:

Gone now, O Etrigan!
And rise again (or rise once more) the form of man!

The poem does not have to be spoken for it to work. For instance, in one adventure, Blood is magically transformed into a fly. Unable to speak, Blood wrote out the poem in the dust in a desperate hope of it triggering the change; it proves successful and Etrigan emerged in his true form with full power.

Limitations

Etrigan has all the limitations usually associated with a demon, including a weakness towards holy powers and iron. Additionally, when Green Arrow once shot a "fire extinguisher arrow" into his mouth, Batman told Etrigan that the only way to stop the pain was to change back to Jason Blood.

His command of magic is strong, but considered to be less than his father, Belial, and half-brother, Merlin the Magician. Additionally, Belial granted "power of Etrigan" to both Merlin and another son, Scapegoat.

He is also helpless against those with powers strong enough to control Etrigan, such as Morgaine le Fey. Also, Jason Blood has longevity due to his betrayal of Merlin.

Other versions

Television

Film

Video games