Dweller-in-Darkness
The Dweller-in-Darkness is a comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Dweller-in-Darkness
In the prior universe, the Dweller-in-Darkness was noted to had caused a fracture within the M'Kraan Crystal thus bringing universal destruction so that he could absorb the fear of all the inhabitants of that cosmos. However, the Phoenix Force telepathically reached out to all life in the universe and united them in peace thus thwarting the plans of the Dweller. The universe then came to an end leading to the birth of the new universe. (Adventures of the X-Men v1 #12)
Around 18,000 B.C., the Dweller came to learn of the existence of Earth during the era of Atlantis when it resided on the surface. In this time, he came to feed off the fear generated from the wars fought between humanity and the Deviants of Lemuria. After the Atlantean sorceress Zhered-Na was banished, she came to learn of the existence of the Dwellers plans along with his plans. To best the Dweller, she came to call upon the power of the gods Agamotto and Valka though despite this aid she was unable to destroy her foe. Instead, she plunged the demon into a mystical slumber where he remained aware but was immobilised in a pocket dimension outside of Earth's dimension. From there, the Dweller-in-Darkness was able to feed off the fear created by the Cataclysm from the Celestials assault on Lemuria that resulted in the sinking of it alongside of Atlantis. Using this power, the Dweller imbued some of his consciousness with independent life, creating the entity known as D'Spayre. D'Spayre was responsible for the murder of Zhered-Na, by a neighboring tribesman, during the Cataclysm. Over the succeeding millennia, D'Spayre contested with Zhered-Na's champion, Dakimh the Enchanter, with neither able to quite gain the upper hand. Nonetheless, the Dweller gained power from the fear generated by their struggles, always getting closer to freeing himself from his imprisonment. The Dweller created several other puppets to help him spread his fear in the realms of men. (Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme v1 #33)
By the modern era, the Dweller influenced the dreams of a sculptor named Zoltan Drago who came to develop a fear gas. He then created a mask patterned after the demon as he became a masked villain called Mister Fear. (Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme v1 #33) The Dweller began appearing to a series of people, telling them that if they died, that they would live on forever. This led the people to engage in rash acts, bring about their own deaths, and often the deaths of others. Det. Blumkenn informed Hercules and Thor of the links between the series of deaths. Hercules was assaulted by the Dweller's Shade-Thralls and pulled into the sewers of Manhattan. By the time he escaped, he was a mindless wreck, wracked with terror. After he recovered, he and Thor returned to the sewers, where they were attacked by more demons and Shade-Thralls. The two gods struggled fruitlessly until Hercules shattered the roof over their heads, allowing the sunlight to shine in, and dispel their foes. Thor glimpsed the shadow of what he believed to be the mastermind of these attacks, but found only a shadow image on the wall, and realized that its true form dwelled within them all. (Thor v1 #230) The Dweller in Darkness was one of several demons who embody evil that were glimpsed by Kubik and Kosmos as they toured the universe. (Fantastic Four Annual v1 #23) The Dweller's power and influence continued to increase, and he began affecting others more directly. This again drew the attention of Det. Blumkenn, who brought in Doctor Strange and Clea. As the two sorcerers struggled against the Dweller's Shade-Thralls and the Slithe, the Dweller finally gained enough power to break free from his prison. As Strange and Clea used the White Light of Nirvalon to destroy the Shade-Thralls, the Dweller learned that Strange would be one of the greatest threats to him on Earth. (Doctor Strange v2 #30)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, the Dweller-in-Darkness was a grotesque, multi-appendaged demonic entity originating from a hidden outer realm. He possessed an exceptionally heavy, massive physical stature that vastly exceeded the proportions of an ordinary human adult, featuring an amorphous, non-humanoid build that lacked standard terrestrial symmetry. His most defining and horrific physical trait was his bulbous, hairless head, which featured an array of writhing, flexible tentacles concentrated directly around a wide, fanged mouth alongside multiple glowing, pupilless yellow eyes that opened across his visage. The Dweller-in-Darkness did not possess organic mammalian legs; instead, his lower half consisted of a massive, metallic robotic chassis equipped with highly articulated mechanical treads that supported his weight and propelled his frame across subterranean environments. He did not wear conventional woven human clothing or standard tactical uniforms, and his upper torso was instead covered in a thick, leathery dark skin texture that naturally integrated into the industrial components of his cybernetic lower framework. (Thor v1 #229)
Powers and abilities
The Dweller-in-Darkness was born a natural member of a primordial demonic species native to the extra-dimensional realm of Everinnye, meaning that on a basic feats level, he possessed absolute mastery over fear manipulation, mind invasion, and necrotic matter conversion. He was an exceptional and exceptionally powerful member of this cosmic collective, having systematically detached his own head from his original body to follow a forbidden path known as the Way of the Shamblu. He possessed the innate capability to project intense waves of psychic dread across an entire planet, effortlessly driving thousands of sentient mortals into localized madness or compliance through mere proximity. The Dweller-in-Darkness could systematically capture the souls of those who died while gripped by his induced terror, using that harnessed energy to forge autonomous shadow entities and transform human cadavers into heavy Shade-Thralls that wielded superhuman strength. He held no biological vulnerabilities to conventional mortal diseases, aging, physical blunt force, or standard kinetic weaponry, rendering his core structure invulnerable to front-line martial combat. Despite these vast, reality-bending attributes, the Dweller-in-Darkness was governed by a strict physiological framework: his reanimated shadow puppets were systematically vulnerable to concentrated bursts of holy or magical light, which could instantly disintegrate their physical forms and dissolve his localized energetic hold over the earthly plane. (Thor v1 #229)
Notes
- Dweller-in-Darkness was created by Gerry Conway and Rich Buckler where he was first mentioned in Thor v1 #229 (November, 1974).
- The character was then developed by Roger Stern and Tom Sutton where he made his first actual appearance in Doctor Strange v1 #30 (August, 1978).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Films
- In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Dweller-in-Darkness appeared in the setting of the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version was a wyvern-like creature possessing numerous tentacles where it consumed the souls of its victims and had swarms of bat-like Soul Eaters that served it. Long ago, it attacked the realm of Ta Lo and destroyed many of its cities until the dragon known as the Great Protector opposed it. Alongside the last surviving inhabitants, they were able to imprison the Dweller-in-Darkness in a cavern whose entrance was sealed for all time. Despite its imprisonment, the Dweller would reach out to receptive minds in the world over the course of a thousand years and offered them their deepest desires in exchange for its freedom. Most of these repelled until one day Xu Wenwu fell under the sway of the Dweller who took the form of his deceased wife Ying Li claiming she was imprisoned in Ta Lo and wanted her husband to free her. Thus, it was able to manipulate Wenwu into reforming his Ten Rings organization which in 2024 attacked Ta Lo and unwittingly freed the Dweller. After killing Wenwu, the Dweller battled his son Shang-Chi who with the aid of the Great Protector and his friends along with the ten rings were able to slay the demon.
Video games
- In Marvel Avengers Academy, the Dweller-In-Darkness appeared as a boss level antagonist in the setting of the mobile video game. The Dweller-in-Darkness was a powerful extra-dimensional demon from the Dark Dimension, member of the Fear Lords. He claimed to predate humanity and even before the previous universe, and that he would survive after humanity's extinction and into the next universe.
- In Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, the Dweller-in-Darkness appeared in the setting of the video game. The Dweller-in-Darkness was a pet, owned by Lady Hellbender that was killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Appearances
- Thor v1: (1974)
- Doctor Strange v1:
- Adventures of the X-Men v1:
External Links
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