Felix Faust
Felix Faust is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Felix Faust
This saw him study at various academic institutions around the world including dead languages in Vienna, archaeology in London and history in Sorbonne. Faust also visited ruins tied to magic such as that of Ur and Lagash in Caldea that was famous for its magicians. Felix even managed to uncover a copy of the fabled Necronomicon that hinted on the existence of certain kinds of Demons. (Justice League of America v1 #10)
Felix Faust first appeared as a sorcerer of great ambition who emerged to challenge the Justice League of America. Having uncovered ancient grimoires and mystical relics, Faust devised a plan to seize ultimate power by summoning and controlling three ancient demons that had once ruled the Earth. To bring these entities into his service, he constructed elaborate magical rituals and compelled the Justice League to collect the required relics for him, binding them with enchantments that overpowered their wills. Despite his careful preparation, the League eventually broke free of his control and disrupted the ritual, forcing Faust’s schemes to collapse and leaving him defeated and captured. (Justice League of America v1 #10) When he resurfaced, Faust returned to his studies of forbidden magic, attempting once more to use arcane powers to enslave supernatural forces. On this occasion, he directed his sorcery toward stealing the magical energies of others and bending mystical constructs to his will. He enacted enchantments that directly hindered members of the League, forcing them into situations where their abilities were restricted by his spells. However, his schemes again faltered when the combined efforts of the League disrupted his rituals, severed his hold on the magical entities he had attempted to bind, and turned his own incantations against him, leaving Faust powerless to resist capture. (Justice League of America v1 #21)
Faust continued to resurface with new magical strategies, each involving elaborate incantations and the gathering of rare artifacts or energies. In one of his early returns, he employed charms that weakened the defenses of the League and drew on esoteric sources of power that he attempted to weaponize directly against them. His spells were capable of restraining seasoned heroes and altering the battlefield to suit his advantage, showing his extensive knowledge of ritual-based sorcery. Yet, as before, the League combined their abilities to undermine his control, unravel his enchantments, and subdue him before his plans reached completion. (Justice League of America v1 #49)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Felix Faust
Around 5,000 B.C., he appeared in the legendary African empire of Kor where he met its king named Nommo. Faust claimed to be seeker of the ultimate truth and had sought out the city after hearing about its legendary Flame of Life. Upon learning of its secrets, he came to betray King Nommo ad stabbed him in the back where he attempted to claim the power of the Flame for himself. Nommo then called on the Flame of Life into himself where he gained the power he needed to banish Faust to another dimension. (Secret Origins v2 #27)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
At some point, Faust managed to discover the Eight-Dimensional Map that would lead the way to the fabled Books of Magic where he sought to acquire them. He came to establish a base of operations in the Amazon Jungle by the Peruvian border where he used his newfound power to brainwash people into forming a cult around him. During this time, he came to find a spy in his ranks in the form of Doctor Mist who he captured. (Justice League Dark v1 #9)
Afterwards, his sanctuary came under attack from the newly created A.R.G.U.S. team known as the Justice League Dark headed by John Constantine. Despite his powers, he came to be captured and sent to a prison facility whilst the team studied the map. (Justice League Dark v1 #9) Whilst alone with it, Constantine's tampering unleashed the Demon's Three who served Faust and attacked the heroes at the House of Mystery. They came to acquire the map and teleported to Faust at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters where they interrupted his interrogation by Steve Trevor. (Justice League Dark v1 #10)
As the Otherkind began their attacks on other magicians and magical beings, Felix was among the victims in which most of his mind had been wiped. When visited by Zatanna and Wonder Woman, she used her magic and correctly guessed not all of his mind had vanished as he placed safeguards. When asked how to find Mordru, he gave them a single clue to his whereabouts: Papa Midnite. (Justice League Dark v2 #8)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Felix Faust was a male human of slight, cadaverous build who dressed in the traditional accoutrements of an occultist. He wore a long, dark robe embroidered with occult sigils and concentric runes, the fabric hanging in deliberate folds that hid much of his frame; a high cowl framed a narrow, pallid face with sharp cheekbones and a hooked nose. His hands were long-fingered and often stained with ink or dust from his grimoires, and he carried a battered leather tome and a scattering of talismans—charmed rings, a metal amulet, and strips of parchment bound with string—that he used as foci for his rites. His eyes were intense and hooded, and his overall bearing combined the ceremonial ornamentation of a ritualist with the furtive movement of a man who spent most of his life bent over forbidden texts. (Justice League of America v1 #10)
Faust’s personality was defined by a single-minded hunger for arcane power and a readiness to sacrifice any ethical restraint to obtain it. He acted with clinical patience when preparing long-term rituals, speaking and moving with the brittle calm of someone who measured outcomes in terms of magical advantage; when circumstances demanded, he became coldly manipulative, subjugating or deceiving others to serve his designs. He displayed contempt for conventional heroism and an impatience with those who interfered, yet he preferred schemes that allowed him to work from the shadows—assembling relics, arranging wagers with infernal forces, and binding wills—rather than meeting opponents in straightforward combat. During his confrontation with the League he exuded the composure of a scholar accustomed to the catastrophic consequences of meddling with eldritch beings, treating citizens and champions alike as mere elements in experiments to be controlled. (Justice League of America v1 #10)
According to him, he became obsessed with attaining magic after learning the story of Faust having sold his soul to the Devil for supernatural power. (Justice League of America v1 #10)
He was known to had a number of children across his life including his son Sebastian Faust. (Outsiders v2 #1: Alpha) Felix also had a teenage daughter who went by the name of Fauna Faust. (Raven: Daughter of Darkness v1 #7)
Powers and abilities
As a human sorcerer, Faust possessed no extraordinary physiology beyond that of a normal man. Faust’s basic powers derived entirely from learned, ritualized sorcery and the use of arcane implements rather than any innate metahuman trait. He performed lengthy incantations that shaped ambient mystical energy into directed effects: binding spells that wrested control of other wills, conjurations that called forth and shackled demonic entities, and pattern-based enchantments that hardened into solid constructs or energy barriers when needed. His magic depended on books, glyphs, and physical foci—each rite required precise words, drawn sigils, and charged artifacts—so his feats were powerful but methodical; interrupting the ritual or destroying the focus could collapse the effect. In combat he combined summoning (calling daemon servants), enchantments (compelling or paralyzing opponents), and transmutative rites (warping areas of reality into traps), demonstrating deep knowledge of archaic lore and the practical application of ritual magic against superhuman adversaries. (Justice League of America v1 #10)
It was shown that he was knowledgeable of soul magic which he came to teach his son. (JLA: Black Baptism v1 #4)
Faust had the power to brainwash people to save him where he could turn them into loyal cultists to serve him. (Justice League Dark v1 #9)
Notes
- Felix Faust was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky where he made his first appearance in Justice League of America v1 #10 (March, 1962).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, Felix Faust made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Justice League, Felix Faust appeared as a supporting antagonist in the animated television series first season episode "Paradise Lost" where he was voiced by actor Robert Englund.
- In Justice League Unlimited, Felix Faust appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series episode "The Balance" where he was voiced once again by actor Robert Englund.
- In Young Justice, Felix Faust was a minor antagonist in the animated television series episode "Misplaced" where he was voiced by actor Dee Bradley Baker.
- In Constantine, Felix Faust appeared as an antagonist in the live-action television series episode "Quid Pro Quo" where he was portrayed by actor Mark Margolis.
- In Justice League Action, Felix Faust appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series episode "Hat Trick" where he was voiced by actor Jon Cryer.
Films
- In Justice League Dark, Felix Faust appeared as a minor antagonist in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Enrico Colantoni. He resided in his grandly named Observatory of the Cosmos that was enchanted with dark magic and hidden from normal humans.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Felix Faust appeared as a boss character in the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Brian Jepson.
Appearances
- Justice League of America v1: (1962)
- Secret Origins v2:
- JLA: Black Baptism v1:
- Justice League Dark v1:
External Links
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