Character Name: | Deimos |
Publisher: | DC Comics |
Debut: | 1st Issue Special #8 (November 1975) |
Creators: | Mike Grell (writer & artist) |
Real Name: | Deimos |
Species: | Homo Magi |
Homeworld: | Skartaris |
Powers: | See powers and abilities |
Deimos is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary for the superhero Warlord. He is a wicked sorcerer created by Mike Grell debuting in 1st Issue Special #8 (November 1975),[1] and is a distinct character from the Olympian god of the same name, a different DC Comics character who is an enemy of Wonder Woman.
Initially Deimos used advanced New Atlantean science to achieve his ends, later he became an adept of black magic. Deimos was a high priest of the kingdom of Thera who used knowledge hidden in the legendary Scrolls of Blood to ascend to the throne of that city-state. Not content with a single city-state, he plotted to conquer all of Skartaris only to be foiled by Travis Morgan—now known as the Warlord.
Deimos was killed by Morgan after kidnapping the hero's paramour, Tara. However, he was soon resurrected by one of his lackeys using the Mask of Life. Deimos initially pretended to be a sorcerer, but his power actually came from access to New Atlantean technology. After being resurrected by the Mask of Life, Deimos became immortal and could transform himself into a serpent or dragon. He could also summon demons from an unknown dimension to do his bidding. The vengeful Deimos kidnapped and cloned Morgan's son Joshua to do battle with his father. Morgan slew both the Joshua clone and Deimos.
Deimos was resurrected several more times before striking a bargain with the Evil One. The Evil One brought the would-be conqueror to life a final time, but stripped him of his powers. Eventually, Morgan and Deimos entered combat for the last time, and Deimos was killed and his head thrown to a wolf pack.
In the 2015 crossover storyline Convergence, Brainiac transports the heroes of various key cities from Earth's multiverse and throughout history to the planet Telos and forces them to engage in deadly combat. The heroes of Earth-2 soon encounter the hidden city of Skartaris, and make an alliance with Deimos to overthrow Brainiac's envoy, a being named Telos, but are later betrayed when Deimos reveals he has captured the various time travellers of the Multiverse and uses their power to defeat Brainiac and instigate a crisis that will remould the multiverse in his image. He is challenged by heroes from all worlds and nearly defeats them all, but is killed the cosmic power of Parallax-era Hal Jordan. The release of chronal energies threatens to destroy the entire Multiverse, with no ensuing reboot. Ultimately a new Waverider is able to summon Brainiac back, who helps Parallax and the pre-2011 incarnation of Superman to travel back in time to DC's original large-scale reboot crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and alter its outcome, thus recreating the multiverse.
Deimos had no inherent powers, utilizing New Atlantean technology and pretending to be a sorcerer. After dying and being revived by the Mask of Life, he became immortal and could transform into a dragon or serpent and summon demons. He later lost these abilities after being revived once more by the Evil One.