Neron (DC Comics)

Publication history

Neron was first featured as the major antagonist in the DC Comics multi-title comic book crossover event Underworld Unleashed released by DC Comics in 1995. As well as the core storyline of the three-issue Underworld Unleashed mini-series (November 1995 - late December 1995), most of the DC titles published in November and December 1995 and a number of one-shot issues were also part of the series. Neron appeared in most of these. After this introduction, he was next used in several storylines simultaneously: the three-part Hell to Pay storyline in Flash vol. 2 #127 - 129 (July - September 1997), by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn, Wonder Woman vol. 2 #123 - 125 (July - September 1997) by John Byrne, and a two-part story in JLA #6 -7 (July - August 1997) by Grant Morrison, with art by Neron's co-creator Howard Porter. The last storyline continued in JLA: Paradise Lost #1 - #3 (January - March 1998), a key early story in the long process of reordering the position of Hell in the DC Universe.

Neron then appeared in New Year's Evil: Rogues (February 1998), part of the New Year's Evil storyline that ran in nine one-shot titles, followed by a two-page vignette featuring Etrigan the Demon in the one-shot anthology title DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 (1999) and ended the year with a part in the weekly series Day of Judgement #1 - #5 (November 1999) and a stand-alone tale by J.M. DeMatteis, 'Heart of Hell' in the last issue of Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #15 (Fall 1999) which fits into the Day of Judgement series.

His next appearances came in the weekly series Deadman: Dead Again #1 - #5 (October 2001) written by Steve Vance, a humorous Christmas story 'Merry Christmas Justice League, Now Die' , in JLA #60 (January 2002), and a brief encounter in 'On Duty In Hell' in Human Defense Corps #6 (December 2003). Over a year later he featured in the last four of the six parts of the 'Out Of the Past' storyline in Richard Dragon #9 - #12 (March - June 2005), then during the DC crossover event 52 Neron was involved in Week 25 (October 25, 2006) and Week 42 (February 21, 2007), followed by 'Devil May Care' in Teen Titans vol. 3 #42 (February 2007). None of these stories were critical to his character development or storyline. This was left to Keith Giffen, whose eight-issue mini-series Reign in Hell (August 2008 - April 2009, missing September 2008) featured all-out war between Hell and Purgatory and re-defined Hell in DC Comics continuity. Since then there has been one further vignette, a short non-continuity joke in typical Keith Giffen Ambush Bug style in Ambush Bug Year None #3 (November 2008).

Fictional character history

Neron is one of the major demons of Hell, a "Wishweaver", the "King of Hate", and the "Lord of Lies". It is not known how old he is, but he has claimed 'I brought the very first couple together' , and told Wonder Woman 'I am among the first that walked abroad in this universe, and my influence has been known since humanity's first fall from grace' , although it should be remembered that he is the Lord of Lies. Although he is unknown to Earth's superheroes until the events of Underworld Unleashed, the ancient villain Vandal Savage is already long acquainted with him -- 'Still making deals .. still collecting souls?' is his first seen greeting to Neron and then they discuss matters as if they are old acquaintances.

He specializes in making deals with people for their souls in exchange for their greatest desires. 'Deals are your passion, Neron. You grant us the desires of our hearts - in exchange for our immortal souls' . These deals are classic Faustian arrangements made only to further his own twisted aims; half-truths and treachery which lead to either misfortune for the deal makers or their deaths, either as a result of their own actions or by Neron claiming their souls when they fail in their tasks. In other cases he achieves his aims by offering similarly treacherous information, or by granting a person's greatest desires in exchange for the completion of a task for him—usually with similar results. To approach a victim, he will either appear before them directly, or send them a candle (a "demon stick" made from demon's blood) which, when lit, either summons him directly or brings them to Hell.

Neron appears to be unable to resist a chance to deal; he is attracted to bargaining to corrupt and gain souls. He is also attracted to purity and wishes to corrupt and destroy it wherever he finds it. Both of these attractions have led to his downfall.

Underworld Unleashed

Neron's First appearance to Earth's superheroes and supervillains occurs during the Underworld Unleashed crossover event, when he plots to take over Earth and New Apokolips by either enhancing the powers of, or offering their greatest desires to, dozens of supervillains and superheroes in exchange for their immortal souls. When attempting to tempt Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, he offers to bring back his girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, from the dead; similarly he offers to bring Jason Todd back from the dead for Batman and to bring Barry Allen back from the dead for Wally West.

He tricks five members of Flash's Rogues Gallery (Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Mirror Master II, and Weather Wizard) into causing a series of explosions that killed them. When seen from the sky, the five explosions resemble the points of a pentagram and the symbol, combined with the deaths of the supervillains, creates a gateway which enables Neron to travel to Earth and to corrupt humanity. Many supervillains and superheroes are either approached directly with deals for their souls, or given candles which, when lit, either summon Neron to them directly or bring them to Hell. About 50 supervillains have their powers enhanced to varying degrees as a result.

Ultimately Neron is scheming to take over Earth, and to obtain a "pure soul" that he can corrupt. Initially everyone assumes this refers to Superman's soul, but he actually seeks the soul of Captain Marvel. In the end, he is thwarted by Trickster (who suggests Captain Marvel should accept the deal) and the most powerful members of Justice League America, including Captain Marvel, though not before causing mass chaos and worldwide destruction on Earth, killing the alien despot Mongul and sending away a number of other supervillains who had refused his offer. Neron makes a deal with Captain Marvel to not conquer Earth, but Captain Marvel's soul is too pure for Neron to touch; Neron, however, had to honor the deal. Critical to later events, he also makes a deal so that the Spectre-Force will not act against him, and reveals that he wants Spectre as his slave and ultimately as his replacement in Hell.

After the Underworld Unleashed event, an unknown number of Neron's candles still exist and cause major trouble for their owners, and others, in later years.

The Flash: Hell to Pay

Two years later, the soulless Rogues previously killed by Neron's treachery return to cause havoc in Keystone City, causing Flash to challenge Neron for their souls after gaining an audience in Hell by using a candle that Pied Piper had kept, all of which Neron had supposedly planned. Neron offers Flash a deal for the Rogues' souls, but he refuses and is allowed to leave Hell with the original Flash, Jay Garrick, whom Neron had captured earlier. Knowing that the now almost-immortal Rogues are too powerful, Neron's ploy is that Flash will be forced to bargain to save Keystone City. Neron refuses Flash's soul and asks for his love for news reporter Linda Park instead, because of its purity. He gets it, and Linda's soul also, which she bargained earlier in exchange for Neron not going after Flash's soul. Neron planned this in order to use Flash's Speed Force to enter and rule Heaven, but the plan backfires and the essence of their love corrupts him, forcing him to frantically offer Flash and Linda a deal to take their love back.

Immediately afterwards he captures Wonder Woman and Artemis in Hell as part of a plan to bring about the downfall of his enemy Etrigan the Demon. After being seriously hurt by Artemis in the ensuing battle, he kills Wonder Woman.

JLA: Paradise Lost

Next, Neron's ambitions for Heaven are furthered when he notices chaos and 'strife between the orders of angels' when Asmodel, a King-Angel who has waited a million years to rebel against Heaven, and Zauriel, an angel who knows his secret, use Earth as their battlefield. Asmodel makes a deal with Neron to help in his plans to take over Heaven, but at the last moment of the assault on Heaven Neron abandons his support and returns to Hell.

Immediately after this he is once again defeated by Trickster and also defeated by an agent of Heaven.

Day of Judgment and after

Etrigan the Demon causes trouble in Neron's realm by bonding Asmodel (who is bound in Hell and being tortured by Neron) to Spectre (who is awaiting a new host after the death of Jim Corrigan). Spectre freezes Neron for this. In the chaos caused by Hell's realms invading Earth, Neron uses Superman's body as a gateway, and once again attempts to claim the Spectre-Force for himself. He is thwarted when Spectre chooses Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern II, as his new human host instead, and is punished by his fellow Hell-lords for using Hell's power for his own pleasure. His royalty is stripped from him, and he is demoted to the position of a Rhyming Demon—Etrigan's plan all along. Later it is disclosed that Superman was not just used as a conduit to Earth, but was actually replaced by Neron in disguise while Superman's soul was battling for Lois Lane's soul in Hell.

To regain his place in Hell's pantheon, Neron next tries to collect a number of dead superheroes' souls: Deadman, Flash II (Barry Allen), Robin II (Jason Todd) and Superman (who has been killed by Doomsday). Unable to enter Superman's body himself, he discovers that his surrogate Caldera is rejected by Superman's body also, so he uses Caldera's soul as the fourth of the five souls he requires. He then turns his attention to Green Lantern II (Hal Jordan), tricking Deadman into saving Green Lantern from death during his battle with Mongul, ensuring Neron will have the chance to tempt Green Lantern later in his history after he has destroyed the planet Oa and thus win back his position in Hell. Neron erases Deadman's memory of him so he cannot prevent this from happening, but is thwarted when Spectre restores his memory and Deadman changes the future by ensuring Caldera dies before Neron can offer him a deal.

Despite this setback, Neron appears to have somehow regained his position and powers within two years, after which the demon Calcabrina offers Neron the souls of 66 members of the Human Defense Corps in an attempt to deflect both the Corps and other Earthly forces from war with him (although the deal is never completed, as it is interrupted by the Corps launching a successful rescue bid in an attack on Hell). A year after this he tries to make a deal with Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter and fails.

52

Under thrall to Neron, Felix Faust plots to deliver him Elongated Man/ Ralph Dibny's soul at its moment of greatest despair. Pretending to be Doctor Fate, he attempts to convince Dibny that he can resurrect his dead wife, Sue, and teaches him magical skills, but is tricked by Dibny, who has known for some time that he is not Doctor Fate and that Neron is responsible for the plot. When Neron appears, he is goaded by Dibny into killing him, but discovers Dibny has tricked him and has established a circle of binding around Doctor Fate's tower which can only be undone by the person who created it. Neron is trapped in the Tower of Fate with Faust.

The binding does not last long; through some unknown method, Neron soon finds a way to escape and makes a deal with Kid Devil, granting him the superpowers he has always dreamed of in exchange for his soul when he reaches 20 years old if his trust in his idol Blue Devil is broken. Typically Faustian, he then reveals Blue Devil was responsible for Kid Devil's aunt Marla Bloom dying and had hidden the fact from him.

Reign in Hell

Neron is opposed by the demons Blaze and Satanus, who attempt to take control of Hell while he is imprisoned in the Tower of Fate. The hordes of Purgatory invade Hell under their command and influence Hell's demons against Neron by offering hope and redemption for the damned. To defeat the legions of the damned, Neron has Lilith, the Mother of Monsters, recall all of her children to Hell to fight on his side. Despite this, and when Neron seems to be victorious, he is killed by Satanus, who had used the cover of war to infect Hell with a magical microbe that reverts demons into humans. For Neron the infection causes the many demonic entities he had consumed over the millennia to be driven from him and, no longer a match for Satanus, he is beheaded.

DC Rebirth

Neron is the one keeping Apollo as a prisoner in Hell.

Powers and abilities

Neron is normally portrayed as being one of the most powerful magical creatures in the DC Universe; almost invulnerable and able to warp reality and raise the dead. However, despite manifesting great strength and magical powers on occasion, he normally relies on a bargain to obtain human souls and only claims them when the deal is up or when they fail their side of the deal. He is able to give superheroes and supervillains magic-based powers (as he did with Kid Devil), greatly enhance a metahuman's existing powers, and has the ability to assume a human-like appearance - although he sometimes uncontrollably reverts to a demon form when angry. He possesses immense physical strength, as evidenced when he killed Mongul with his bare hands or when killing demons. He is also adept at creating items of power, for example Ocean Master's trident, or more common items such as the Secret Six's recently acquired "Get Out of Hell Free" card or a box of Cuban cigars for Joker. If killed, he returns to his own domain and is considerably more powerful while there, even at times depicted as near omnipotent while in his realm.

Neron is unable to refuse a deal and has often been tricked out of the deals he has made with mortals (especially Trickster, who outdealt him twice). He is also unable to deal with pure souls, such as that of Captain Marvel or Superman, and when he took the love that Wally West (Flash) and Linda Park had for each other, he discovered to his dismay that the purity of it began to corrupt him to the extent that he began to feel compassion for the damned souls in his realm. He is also unable to 'alter the fundamental laws of the universe' .

Other information