Nergal

NERGAL

Real Name: Nergal

Class: Demon

Occupation: Archduke of Hell

Group Affiliation: Damnation Army, Hell's Hierarchy

Known Relatives: Enlil (father)

Aliases: Black Nergal, Nirgal, Shamash

Base of Operations: Maskan-Shapir, Hell, London, England

First Appearance: More Fun Comics #67 (May, 1941)

Powers: Nergal possessed superhuman strength and durability, and was equipped with sharp fangs and claws, as well as wings. He could give ordinary humans demonic powers, as well as restructure organic matter. Within his body were demonic hell-hounds that he could release by rending his chest. Nergal could project himself into the astral plane, and was an accomplished fighter there.

History: (Hellblazer I #6) - Nergal was a demon who specialized in covert action, disinformation, and corrupting hearts and souls.

(Hellblazer I #8 (fb, BTS)) - John Constantine was an insolent child, and Nergal taught him a lesson in manners. John would forget the incident over time.

(Hellblazer I #11 (fb)) - <1978> Magician John Constantine and the Newcastle Crew discovered a massacre at the Casanova Club. The club’s owner Alex Logue and his friends were abusing his daughter Astra, and when she could take no more she summoned the terror elemental Norfulthing, and it slaughtered them all and drove Astra mad. John planned to summon a demon using the Grimorium Verum Ben procured for him to destroy the terror elemental. John left Astra with Anne-Marie, and told Frank to burn the place if his ritual didn’t work. John and Judith tried to summon Sagatana, but the spell failed. Names were important in magic, and the spell described the demon Nergal, so he decided to chastise John and his friends for their hubris. He appeared to Anne-Marie as John, whom she lusted after, and after tormenting her convinced her to run for a nunnery. He then possessed Astra, and ripped apart the Norfulthing. Nergal, keeping his true name from John, told him of his failure, and since he’d helped John without being commanded, decided to take Astra to Hell with him. John offered himself, but Nergal told him he’d damned himself, and was already his to claim when he died. He allowed John to accompany Astra into his gaping maw, an entrance to Hell, but John panicked, and tried to escape. He made it, but Astra was swallowed whole except for her arm, which John still clung to. The Newcastle Gang torched the Casanova, and they all lost a bit of sanity, especially John, who blamed himself for Astra’s death. He’d be blamed for Astra’s death, and spent two years in an insane asylum.

(Hellblazer I #6) - Nergal tortured legions of souls in Hell, including Gen. Sunderland, an enemy of Swamp Thing’s, whom he learned a lot from. He founded the Damnation Army, empowering the human monsters he saw as worthy, to undermine the good of the UK. They clashed with religious zealots known as the Resurrection Crusade. Nergal wanted to recruit the British Boys, a local group of skinheads, but when they mistook him for a homosexual and tried to attack him he tore them to pieces. He took their mangled remains, and fused them to form the monstrous Ironfist The Avenger, and sent them to abduct John Constantine’s new beau Zed. The monster was near mindless, and Nergal had to direct his thoughts using his followers for tantric magic. John couldn’t have a monster take away his new friend, and noted that the fused boys had tattoos of Chelsea and Arsenal, two opposing soccar teams. The beast tore itself to pieces arguing about the best team. Knowing Zed was being hunted, John decided to go on the lam with her, having Chas drive them to Camden, and his friend Ray Monde’s antique shop. Nergal called John and revealed that he once chastised the magician for opposing him. He demanded John stop helping his enemies or the consequences would be severe.

(Hellblazer I #8) - John threw himself from a moving train to escape the ghosts of his past haunting him, and woke to find himself in traction, and police outside his room, wanting to talk to him about Ritchie’s death. Nergal arrived, killed the officers, and demanded John join the Damnation Army. John said his dad always taught him never to volunteer, and he’d been a loner his entire life, so why stop now. Nergal was disappointed, he’d hoped John would help him fight the Crusade as revenge for the deaths of Ritchie and Ray. John was saddened by the news of Ray’s murder, and anguished that it was more blood on his hands. Nergal finally convinced John to listen to his case by threatening to eat newborns from the maternity ward. Nergal reminded him of his part in the Brujieria case and the civil war in Hell, which had caused great metaphysical chaos. Good and evil always went in circles, but now Heaven was ready to capitalize, and use the Crusade to bring about a child of god and woman. They’d used the brainwashed Zed, renamed Mary, and Nergal chastised John for not letting him kill her. John finally agreed to help, but knew he could find a way to manipulate Nergal, who threatened him with unending death if he was betrayed. Nergal gave him a transfusion of his own blood to completely heal John, and Constantine had a feeling things would never be the same now that he had a demonic influence coursing through his veins. He escaped the hospital, and had a cigarette before formulating a plan.

(Hellblazer I #10) - John made love to Zed / Mary, knowing Heaven would spurn her for the presence of her demon seed. The Crusade summoned angels, and had one of them enter Zed, but it soon fled, sensing John’s demonic presence inside her. Heaven was displeased with the abysmal failure of the Crusade, and utterly destroyed their stronghold, killing all within, including Zed, who welcomed death for her failure. Nergal gloated and celebrated with his Damnation Army after retrieving the lone Crusader, one of his own spies. He sensed a disturbance in the Green, and realized that John had betrayed him, allowing Swamp Thing to borrow his body so he could conceive the prophesized child with Abigail Arcane. Nergal sent his hell-hounds after John, who was in the astral plane. When they failed, he himself pursued, swearing murder, and even daring to follow John into the Green. John was forced to retreat into his own body, as Abby finished making love to it. She was disgusted, and left, telling him they had no further business. John asked Swamp Thing if he fought Nergal in the Green, and the elemental responded that Nergal fled, but warned John that his revenge would come, and he mentioned Newcastle. John walked back to his flat, and found it destroyed, with all his neighbors brutally slaughtered, their limbs scattered everywhere. He finally recognized Nergal’s work as the same he’d seen in Newcastle, and a hatred he found beautiful engulfed him. He went to his room to review the Newcastle file.

(Hellblazer I #12) - Nergal furiously sought Constantine, but the magician hid behind wards. Agony and Ecstasy, the enforcers of Hell, had orders from the triumvirate to punish Nergal if he couldn’t avenge John’s offense against the netherworld. They reminded him that they had no claim on John’s soul because he’d thrice defied Hell, and by their rules was a free man. Nergal failed to find John, and pleaded with Agony and Ecstasy for mercy when John reached out through the astral plane and called him to Newcastle for a confrontation. The enforcers admitted that it would make great sport, so they allowed Nergal the chance to avenge Hell. Nergal found John’s hideout in a scrap yard, and John’s body was occupied by Ritchie Simpson, a magician who lived in cyberspace. He told Nergal that John was in the computer waiting for him, and Nergal allowed Ritchie to send his mind into cyberspace. John had Nergal so worked up and full of bloodlust, that he didn’t realize he’d pursued him to the edge of Heaven, where angels tore him apart. Ritchie assumed control of Nergal’s body, and returned John’s soul to his own. Agony and Ecstasy appeared to tell John that by their rules he’d bested Hell, and was a free man, but guaranteed him that one day he’d willingly enter Hell as one of their own. They couldn’t allow Ritchie to roam Earth as a new demon, and dragged him to Hell to teach him their ways.

(Hellblazer I #271-273) - Word reached Hell that John Constantine had proposed to his friend Epiphany, and the demons relished his suffering and didn't like the idea of him being happy. Nergal left Hell to talk to the succubus Gloria, who'd been exiled from Hell, and was living the glamorous life of a soccer star's wife. Nergal wanted her to seduce Constantine, so he'd be the one responsible for wrecking his own happiness. Gloria was reluctant, but Nergal reminded her that he could end her comfortable life very easily. Gloria met John at his flat, and he resisted her advances, threatening to put a spell on her that would make her frigid. She told him she was being coerced, and begged him to hide her from Hell like he'd done for Chantinelle. He said he'd sleep on it, and she coerced him into letting her stay on the sofa. John got blind drunk, and made a protective circle around himself before passing out, but failed to finish it properly. Nergal appeared to watch Gloria work, and she said she felt bad because he had true feelings for Epiphany, but Nergal insisted she do as she was told. John woke up and pushed Gloria off, and she was surprised that she hadn't made him fall madly in lust. He kicked her out, and Nergal told her she was losing her touch. Gloria said she refused to try and ruin Constantine, so Nergal eviscerated her.

(Hellblazer I #274) - Nergal .possessed Chas, and had him try to run John and Epiphany over with his cab, but a synchronicity spell gave John luck enough to dodge. Chas crashed, and the steering column ruptured his groin, so he had to be taken to the hospital.

(Hellblazer I #275) - Terry Greaves met with his associate O'Reilly, giving him money to ensure his Afghan colleagues wouldn't target his daughter's wedding. The demon Nergal choked O'Reilly, took the money, and convinced the Afghans to do his bidding. They attacked John and Epiphany's wedding, but were taken out in a firefight with Terry's men. Nergal claimed Epiphany as his own, but she was protected by her Aleister Crowley wedding ring, because Nergal both missed Aleister as his lover, and feared him as his killer. The Demon Constantine had taken John's place at the wedding, and when he attacked Nergal, the demon lord ripped his heart out. The real Constantine was behind the scenes, and took the opportunity to rip out Nergal's spine, having power over him because Gloria had whispered his new true name to him with her final breathe. Constantine assured Nergal was dead for the moment, and they had their proper wedding.

Comments: Adapted to comics by Gardner F. Fox and Howard Sherman.

Nergal was a Mesopotamian deity. For more information see Wikipedia.

Nergal received an entry in Who’s Who in the DC Universe #11 under the Hell’s Hierarchy entry.