Eli Morrow

Elias "Eli" Morrow was the maternal uncle of Robbie and Gabe Reyes and a former employee at Momentum Labs. Witnessing the experiments being done by his coworkers, Morrow began to crave the power for himself, and betrayed his colleagues, turning them into ghost-like entities before attacking Joseph Bauer in order to find the Darkhold, but Bauer fell into a coma before revealing its location, and Morrow was imprisoned at South Ridge Penitentiary. He was later kidnapped by Bauer's wife, Lucy in order to force Morrow to use the Darkhold and reverse the process. However, Morrow tricked her and managed to fulfill his original plan, entering the machine and obtaining the power of creating matter at his own will. In the final battle against the S.H.I.E.L.D., Morrow was killed by Ghost Rider, who revealed himself to be Robbie.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
====Under-Appreciated Scientist====
Morrow grew up in Southern California where, despite some petty theft as a kid, he proved himself as an exceptional scientist by not only being one of the very few from his high school to graduate from college, but the only one to get a PhD afterwards. Despite his education and brilliant scientific mind, Morrow continued to struggle to find his way in the world of science, finding himself disrespected by others due to his poor upbringing, yet did his best to provide for his sister, Juliana who had by then began a family. He continued living in Los Angeles with his nephews Robbie and Gabe Reyes, raising them like they were his own when their parents died.
====Working for Momentum====
While Morrow was at Momentum Labs working as a top engineer, Doctor Lucy Bauer and her husband Joseph spearheaded a project to build a machine that could defy the laws of physics to generate materials. Despite being months away from a beta test, Morrow was called into work as the team had seemingly had a sudden breakthrough and were ready for a test, using Quantum Batteries which Joseph had built. Morrow watched a test in which the Bauers seemingly created some carbon out of fine air with a blast of energy.
While the team celebrated the breakthrough, Morrow was horrified, noting that such power was impossible and should not be done as it broke the first law of thermal dynamics. Expressing his thoughts to Lucy, Morrow was informed that the plans for the machine came from a book known as the Darkhold: However, Joseph pulled Lucy away before she could explain anymore about the book, warning Morrow to keep it quiet and not ask too many questions about it. Morrow became captivated by the book and planned to give himself powers by using it, even if that meant betraying the Bauers.
Morrow watched as Joseph slowly had a mental breakdown due to his work with the Darkhold, fearing for their own safety, Morrow tried to get the book away from him only to be attacked with mugs Joseph threw at him. Morrow confronted Lucy, claiming the power cells they were working with could kill them all if misused. Lucy revealed to Morrow that the Darkhold had revealed it was possible to generate matter themselves, without the machine. While Morrow desired this power for himself, he lied and told Lucy he wanted to destroy the book, claiming he only wanted to protect them.
====Betraying his Co-Workers====
Fearful of Morrow's growing obsession with the Darkhold, Joseph Bauer hired the Fifth Street Locos to assassinate him, but the gang instead attacked Morrow's nephews, Robbie and Gabe Reyes. The incident left Gabe a paraplegic and Robbie to be the new Ghost Rider unknowingly although both brothers did survive the shooting. Furious, Morrow decided to steal the book and used the Quantum Batteries to kill all the other scientists, Frederick, Vincent, and Hugo, leaving no remains behind for anybody else to discover.
Morrow made his play for the Darkhold, using the Quantum Particle Generator to seemingly kill Lucy Bauer, but the experiment in fact turned them into ghost-like entities contained within four boxes designed by the Darkhold. He then went after Joseph and tried to beat the Darkhold's location out of him, but Joseph stubbornly refused to give it up. Morrow's assault put Joseph into a coma, and Morrow was then sent into South Ridge Penitentiary for attempted manslaughter, claiming that he had attacked Joseph because his experiments had killed the rest of their team.
===Reacquiring the Darkhold===
====Visit in South Ridge Penitentiary====
While serving him in South Ridge Penitentiary, Morrow was visited by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. Coulson asked Morrow about his time working at Momentum Labs but Morrow refused to answer, claiming he did not want to look back on the past. Coulson, however, explained the ghosts of Lucy Bauer and several of their co-workers had returned to terrorize Los Angeles. Morrow did not want to believe what Coulson said and stonewalled him, despite Coulson suggesting that his cooperation could get him out of jail.
Morrow was more open when Robbie Reyes arrived later that same day to talk to him on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s behalf, promising that they only wanted to help and protect the world. Once they had briefly had a chat about the Hell Charger's condition and how Gabe Reyes was doing, Morrow told him about what happened at Momentum Labs and why he put Joseph Bauer in a coma, claiming that it was Joseph who was responsible for the team's deaths by conducting dangerous experiments that had caused an explosion. He also claimed that Bauer would be looking for the Darkhold, although he also advised that his nephew not to go anywhere near it.
====South Ridge Penitentiary Riot====
Morrow soon became the target of Lucy Bauer, who intended to capture him to read the Darkhold. Upon the revelation of this danger, Morrow was found by Robbie Reyes and another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Alphonso Mackenzie, who were working together to rescue him. Once his cell door had been opened with a Pick-Lock Device, Morrow expressed his horror and Reyes getting involved, although decided to come when he realized he could reclaim the Darkhold for himself.
Morrow was quickly escorted by the pair through the prison and towards the exit of the South Ridge Penitentiary, all amidst the widespread chaos of prisoner riots and fights. Mackenzie was soon forced to leave the pair in order to use his Shotgun-Axe to assist several trapped workers. Before they could get outside, Reyes made the choice to leave his uncle to then deal with some personal matters involving Santino Noguera, telling Morrow to head for the exit and regroup with S.H.I.E.L.D. out there who would be waiting to collect them both, promising he would catch up with him.
As Morrow made his way out and searched for Phil Coulson and the other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he was instead intercepted by Lucy Bauer, who ordered him to march towards an ambulance to escape. As he followed Bauer's orders, Morrow paused, leading to Bauer threatening to put her ghostly hand through his head which would cause his brain to become infected by horrific visions until his heart gave out. Knowing Bauer wanted him dead, Morrow did as he was instructed and they made their escape from the prison before S.H.I.E.L.D. found them and could rescue him.
He was then forced to travel to the Pasadena Momentum Laboratory, where Bauer killed the guards and led him into the reactor room. Bauer revealed her intentions for Morrow: he was to read the Darkhold and return her to human state before completing their work on the Quantum Batteries as, due to her current ghostly form, she was unable to read the book. Hesitantly, Morrow opened the book and began to see words form on the pages in Spanish, enticed him with its knowledge and giving him the information he needed to become powerful and gain superhuman abilities.
====Gaining Power====
Escaping from their Pasadena Momentum Laboratory before they could be discovered, Morrow and Lucy Bauer found a new laboratory in a Roxxon Power Plant, which they knew could generate all of the power that they would need for their new experiments. There, they recreated the Quantum Batteries and then prepared to complete the experiment, when Morrow noted how unstable the plant was, Bauer ignored his warnings and just told him to work faster.
While Bauer noted how she wished Joseph Bauer could have been there to see it, Morrow reminded her of her husband's many crimes, including putting Gabe Reyes into his wheelchair by hiring the Fifth Street Locos to assassinate him. While Bauer continued to ignore Morrow's warnings, he simply reminded her that everything that had happened was due to the Darkhold's influence on them; however, as he was still unable to stop Bauer, he continued his work in order to complete the device and finally gain the power that he had secretly desired ever since he had first learned of the Darkhold.
Stepping back into the laboratory, Morrow discovered that Bauer was gone and agent Phil Coulson had arrived, seeking to bring him to safety. When Morrow demanded to know where the Darkhold was, Coulson responded it was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody for safe keeping. Morrow then refused to be rescued, as he was now very close to finally achieving his goals. Morrow sealed himself inside the machine, revealing his true intentions before he recommended that Coulson escape the facility and activated the chamber, embracing his final moments before he would receive all of his new powers.
The result blasted a wave of incredible inter-dimensional energy across the facility which had seemingly destroyed all remains of life except for Morrow's, with Coulson vanishing without a trace along with Leo Fitz and Robbie Reyes who were also on the mission to rescue Morrow. Emerging out of the chamber, Morrow tested his new abilities and found that he could now create matter seemingly from nothing, looking down at his hand as he created a shard of pure carbon. Assuming Coulson and the others were dead, Morrow left the room just before S.H.I.E.L.D. could locate him.
While fleeing the facility, Morrow was stopped by a S.H.I.E.L.D. squad who were ordered to apprehend him. Morrow demonstrated his newfound abilities by creating a stick of carbon, which defied the laws of conservation of mass. When one of the agents had asked him to drop the carbon, Morrow did so, but then abruptly murdered all members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad, causing carbon shards to materialize though their bodies to rupture the bones out of their own bodies and impale them. Morrow fled the facility before anyone could stop him, leaving a wall of carbon behind to cover his tracks.
====Los Angeles Decimation Plot====
Having built himself a small army composed of the Chinatown Crew and several convicts of the South Ridge Penitentiary recruited prior to the riot and set up headquarters in the Chinatown Crew's base of operations, while Morrow was creating an enlarged version of a Quantum Battery with a Demon Core inside, he was interrupted by Peng, who warned him that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were surrounding their headquarters and were preparing to attack. When Morrow ordered Peng to keep them all busy, Peng turned to the other members of the Chinatown Crew and noted how Morrow had not yet paid them for their work and therefore they would not fight for him any longer.
Morrow responded by demonstrating his new powers by lodging diamonds in Peng's throat and ordered his men to cut his lungs if they wanted any for their payment. This terrified the other members of the Chinatown Crew into working without question while Morrow continued constructing his Quantum Battery, saying that he'll show S.H.I.E.L.D. what he was making. Knowing that he the headquarters would soon be attacked, Morrow lay a trap in which any agents stepping inside would set off a bomb, almost killing Yo-Yo Rodriguez in the process when the bomb was set off.
====Confronted by Ghost Rider====
Returning to the Quantum Battery, Morrow discovered to his horror that Robbie Reyes was there. Despite Morrow trying to convince Reyes to leave now, he discovered that Reyes was in fact there to kill his uncle and began transforming into the Ghost Rider. Left with no other choice, Morrow impaled Reyes with a shard of carbon which went through Reyes' chest, however did not kill him, seeing his survival, Morrow noted that Reyes had clearly been keeping this secret identity from everybody, including his very own family.
Morrow noted how he had heard stories of the Ghost Rider while inside the South Ridge Penitentiary, when he questioned how it had happened, Reyes explained it was the night of the drive-by shooting, although Morrow still tried to put the blame on Lucy and Joseph Bauer. Reyes confronted Morrow over the deaths he had caused, noting how Gabe Reyes looked up to him as a father, however Morrow refused to accept Reyes' accusations, and he instead ranted about the lack of respect he had gotten while he had been working for Momentum Labs under the Bauer's leadership.
Morrow explained how throughout his entire life he had never gotten respect and that nobody believed in his abilities, seeing him as a failure and a cheater. As he explained what his powers had become, Morrow told Reyes that he had now become a god, Reyes noted the devil was coming for him as he attempted to turn back into the Ghost Rider, so Morrow was forced to impale him again. As Reyes stood trapped in the battery in utter agony, Morrow reminded him he had been given the chance to leave and whatever happened would be his fault before walking away from the room.
====Showdown with S.H.I.E.L.D.====
As Morrow showed off his new power to Robbie Reyes, he was then interrupted by the arrival of the Chinatown Crew who had brought in the captured Phil Coulson, who claimed Morrow was not a god, but still merely a petty thief. While Morrow questioned how Coulson was still alive, he was insulted as Coulson noted that he clearly knew nothing about what was really happening while also checking on Reyes' condition, before confronting Morrow for causing such agony to his own nephew.
Coulson explained to Morrow that he was not creating matter from nothing, but was stealing it from another dimension which was causing earthquakes that would soon cause a massive explosion that could destroy Los Angeles. Morrow, however, insisted that the Darkhold had shown him how to create life after death and that's what he was planning, to use the Demon Core in order to wipe out the world and replace it with new life. As Reyes transformed back into the Ghost Rider, Coulson then called on his S.H.I.E.L.D. team to charge into the room and attack all of Morrow's men.
The team led by Jeffrey Mace stormed in and attacked Morrow and the Chinatown Crew, with Melinda May and Alphonso Mackenzie taking them on in hand-to-hand combat before Yo-Yo Rodriguez charged through the battle with her super-speed, giving her allies the advantage they needed to easily overpower the team and put Morrow into the Quantum Battery. As a gateway to hell opened up underneath them created by the other members of Coulson and Mace's team, Reyes completed his transformation while Morrow attempted to escape before he could fall into their trap.
While Coulson used the Hellfire Chain to free Ghost Rider from the shards of carbon he was still impaled with, Morrow tried to get out of the core before he died of Palladium poisoning. Unwilling to allow Morrow to escape without being punished for his actions, however, Ghost Rider let go of the chain and instead grabbed ahold of Morrow, trapping him inside the core. Ghost Rider then proceeded to engulf Morrow's entire body in flames, causing him to scream in agony as he burned to death before they were both dragged into the other dimension and seemingly disappeared forever.
==Personality==
As his nephew Robbie Reyes stated, Eli Morrow was a "good man who did a bad thing". However, it became clear that the prolonged influence of the Darkhold had driven Morrow insane due to the lack of respect and recognition for his engineering talents and intelligence his entire life. His ego and insecurities were exacerbated by the magical book, driving him to murderous intent. Morrow violently beat his colleagues to near-death when they stood in his way of claiming the Darkhold and even turned them into ghosts despite the risks of using the Quantum Particle Generator. Once he gained the powers of matter creation Morrow completely lost his mind and his vengefulness that he harbored his entire life took over.
Morrow brutally killed several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents when they stood in his way and even attempted to murder his own nephew, Reyes after he was revealed to be the Ghost Rider. He claimed himself a God and announced his desire to destroy a city and its entire populace to prove his abilities to everyone. However, when he was in jail Morrow retained some form of humanity when he was detached from the Darkhold. He expressed disgust over Joseph Bauer for crippling Gabe Reyes due to their attempted assassination on him and Lucy Bauer's own willingness to kill thousands of people to cure herself from her ghostly state. Any humanity vanished, however, when Morrow saw a chance of obtaining the Darkhold yet again.
Despite his dark traits, Eli Morrow loved his nephews dearly, raising them as if they were his own children. He loved them so much them when learning that Joseph Bauer hired the Fifth Street Locos to assassinate him, but ended up nearly killing his nephew Robbie, and his other nephew Gave was put in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Morrow swore vengeance on Bauer and anyone affiliated with them, as shown when he brutality turned his teammates and Bauer's wife into incorporeal ghosts and beat up Bauer into a coma. He also seemed to have shared a close relationship with his late sister, providing for her and her family to the best of his abilities and caring for her sons after she died. After the Darkhold corrupted him, he still retained his love for his nephews to some extent as he offered Robbie a chance to spare his live, after finding out he is the ghost rider, but was visibly sad when he declined an vowed to kill him for all the bad things he has done. After that rejection, Morrow lost all care for Robbie due to the Darkhold warping his mind and was willing to kill him to stop the Spirit of Vengeance for destroying himself.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Powers===
*Matter Creation: Morrow gained the ability to create and manipulate matter to shape and move objects even at a distance from himself, by successfully using the Quantum Particle Generator on himself. Originally only able to create , he later learned to produce more complex elements, like and , and even compounds like water. Morrow erroneously assumed that he was creating matter from nothing, violating the ; in reality, he was channeling and transforming the quantum energy of another realm of existence.
===Abilities===
*Master Engineer: Morrow has a PhD in engineering and helped create a machine to create matter using the Darkhold. He did this with Momentum Labs.
*Expert Tactician: Wanting the power of the Darkhold, Morrow tricked his team and tried to use the machine to give himself powers. This eventually turned the others into ghost-like beings and sent him to jail. Years later, Morrow was able to get out of jail with the help of his cousin, Robbie Reyes. He then used this opportunity to trick Reyes and S.H.I.E.L.D., successfully completing his goal. However, it was eventually foiled by Ghost Rider.
*Bilingualism: Eli Morrow is fluent in his native Spanish and English.
==Equipment==
===Other Equipment===
*Darkhold: Lucy Bauer forced Morrow to use the Darkhold and create a machine that could return her to her physical form. The Darkhold caused his mental state to deteriorate, as he planned to create a machine to manipulate life.
*Quantum Batteries: Morrow used Joseph Bauer's quantum batteries to power a machine he was building for Momentum Labs. Wanting the Darkhold for himself, Morrow trapped his coworkers in the batteries, causing them to take on ghost-like qualities. He attempted to make a larger version with a inside, but was trapped inside himself.
*Quantum Particle Generator: During his attempt to claim the Darkhold, Morrow used Momentum Labs' quantum particle generator to trap his coworkers in Quantum Batteries. Lucy Bauer attempted to force Morrow to recreate the generator, but was stopped by S.H.I.E.L.D.
*: Morrow attempted to use a demon core to wipe out life and replace it with new life, placing the core inside an enlarged quantum battery.
===Vehicles===
*Hell Charger: Morrow used his car to drive to work at Momentum Labs.
==Facilities==
*Reyes Residence: Morrow lived with his nephews in a house in Los Angeles until his arrest.
*Pasadena Momentum Laboratory: Morrow worked for Momentum Labs in their laboratory in Pasadena, where he attempted to help build a Quantum Particle Generator. However, he attempted to claim the Darkhold for himself, turning against his coworkers. Lucy Bauer later brought Morrow back to the laboratory so that she could force him to read the Darkhold and build a new generator.
*Chinatown Crew Headquarters: Morrow built an enlarged Quantum Battery in the Chinatown Crew's headquarters, planning to use the inside to wipe out life and replace it with a new life. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked Morrow, who was killed by the Ghost Rider.
===Prisons===
*South Ridge Penitentiary: Morrow was imprisoned after his brutal assault on Joseph Bauer, who left him in a coma. Morrow would regularly be visited by his nephew Robbie Reyes, and also later met Phil Coulson as he was pursuing Lucy Bauer. Eventually, Morrow was released from his cell by S.H.I.E.L.D. before being abducted by Lucy on his way out of the prison.
==Relationships==
===Family===
*Juliana Reyes † - Sister
*Alberto Reyes † - Brother-in-Law
*Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider - Nephew and Killer
*Gabe Reyes - Nephew
===Allies===
*Chinatown Crew
**Chen † - Former Cellmate
===Enemies===
*Momentum Labs
**Lucy Bauer † - Former Colleague and Attempted Victim
**Joseph Bauer † - Former Superior and Attempted Victim
**Vincent † - Former Colleague and Attempted Victim
**Hugo † - Former Colleague and Attempted Victim
**Frederick † - Former Colleague and Attempted Victim
*S.H.I.E.L.D. - Former Allies
**Jeffrey Mace/Patriot †
**Phil Coulson †
**Alphonso Mackenzie
**Daisy Johnson/Quake
**Melinda May LMD †
**Yo-Yo Rodriguez
*Peng † - Former Employee and Victim
==Appearances==
Appearances for Eli Morrow
==Trivia==
*In the comics, Eli Morrow was the estranged paternal uncle of Robbie Reyes and Gabe Reyes, a serial killer, and a . After being shot by the police, he merged his soul with his nephew Robbie Reyes, becoming the Ghost Rider.
*Eli's abilities in matter manipulation are akin to those of supervillain Molecule Man.
*Eli Morrow's ability to create matter involved drawing energy from the Hell dimension is akin to the Ancient One's explanation of magic.
==Behind the Scenes==
*Eric Brown was a stunt double for José Zúñiga in the role of Eli Morrow.
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Characters
Category:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Characters
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Category:Males
Category:Black Hair
Category:Brown Eyes
Category:Scientists
Category:Criminals
Category:Villains
Category:Momentum Labs Employees
Category:South Ridge Penitentiary Inmates
Category:Multilingual Characters
Category:High Body Count
Category:Enhanced Individuals
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Characters Killed by Ghost Rider