Belasco (Earth-616)

### Early history

**Belasco** was a sorcerer in 13th Century Italy who used his knowledge of alchemy and the black arts to contact the "Elder Gods" (actually extradimensional demonic entities known as the Mabdhara, masters of the N'Garai). He forged a pact with them enabling them to cross the barrier to our dimension using a pentagonal arrangement of five Bloodstones. In return, Belasco was granted immortality and immense mystical power. He was also given a demonic appearance, as he was intended to form a new race of Earth-dwelling demons.

### Sorcerers' Guild

As part of the Sorcerers Guild he opposed Ebrok's creation of the Cat People. The group banished the Cat People to the other dimensional netherworld of the Land Within.

### Dante's Inferno

Belasco's early history was told by the poet Dante, though there was some dispute as to the veracity of these accounts. To this end, he kidnapped Bice "Beatrice" dei Portinari, beloved of Dante, to give birth to the first of this new race. He fled with her to the Atlantean outpost of Pangea, where the Elder Gods directed him to Mt. Flavius, where their summoning ritual could take place. While en route, Belasco raped Beatrice, and she was nine months pregnant by the time they arrived. He embarked onto the island, closely pursued by Dante, and took Beatrice into a network of underground passages designed to resemble Hell. Dante found them just in time to witness Beatrice dying in childbirth and, enraged, he attacked Belasco. During the battle, a pipe was accidentally struck, releasing an unknown liquid that placed Belasco in suspended animation. At some point on the island, Belasco also lost the locket containing the Bloodstones.

### Return

In recent years, the volcano mountain became active again, releasing Belasco. He quickly located the locket and found a new sacrifice, Shanna O'Hara. He placed her under his mental control and began the spell. However, just as he was almost finished, Shanna's mate Ka-Zar appeared and hurled the locket into the volcano, sealing away the Elder Gods and apparently destroying Belasco.

### Trapped in Limbo

However, he instead was trapped in Limbo, where he spent his years conquering it. Once complete, he drew the X-Men to him with the intent to use Kitty & Illyana as means for his freedom of limbo and his Elder Gods' access to Earth. They all managed to escape save the seven-year-old Illyana Rasputin, whom he made his apprentice. He shaped part of her soul into a Bloodstone, giving her great potential for power and allowing him to control her. However, upon reaching the age of fourteen, she rebelled against him, driving him from Limbo. Now its new master, she returned to her own world only seconds after the X-Men had returned, and shortly after joined the New Mutants as Magik. Magik was later deposed as the ruler of Limbo by the demons S'ym and N'astirh, the latter of whom was destroyed, and also restored Illyana's lost childhood.

Belasco eventually took control of Limbo once more. The cultist Sammy Smith, alias "the Rev" (a Jim Jones analogue) worshiped Belasco as Lucifer. The Rev fought the Punisher twice, the second time alongside the Punisher's longtime foe Jigsaw. When the Punisher killed Jigsaw, the Rev used his Belasco-granted powers to resurrect the thug, although both were defeated despite Smith's gift of demonic magic.

Belasco also turned Alpha Flight ally Witchfire against her team by influencing her demonic side. She finally was restored to normal and returned to Beta Flight, Alpha Flight's support group.

*It was strongly suggested that Belasco is Witchfire's father or at least that Witchfire believes so.*
Later, Belasco and the fear demon D'Spayre contested to corrupt Cable, the son of Madelyne Pryor, who had been the ally of S'ym and N'Astirh. Belasco banished D'Spayre and summoned himself, Cable, and Cable's ally Lee Forrester to Limbo, where S'ym threw Belasco out of his way and fought with Cable. Cable won, and he and Lee returned to Earth.

It was eventually revealed that Illyana's best friend Kitty Pryde had received Illyana's Soulsword after Illyana had died; in dying, she had bonded the Soulsword to Kitty's own essence. After Kitty's team Excalibur fought off several claimants to the sword, Nightcrawler's girlfriend Amanda Sefton was given the sword. She then gave the sword to her mother, Margali Szardos, who was in turn kidnapped by Belasco and brought to Limbo. Nightcrawler and Sefton freed her, and Sefton secretly took the sword and adopted the code-name Magik for herself. Belasco and his allies, the N'Garai demons, fought the X-Men again soon after, but were defeated by the X-Men with the assistance of the new Magik, who revealed herself to be Amanda Sefton.

### Quest for Magik

Belasco had been cast into an even lower level of hell by his disappointed gods, but was eventually able to ritually sacrifice a low level demon to regain access to the Limbo dimension after looking in on Earth and seeing a version of Magik alive there. Belasco fought and defeated everything that the new Magik, Amanda Sefton, threw at him and cast her out of Limbo. Belasco was unable to find Magik alive again on Earth but sensed her presence on the New X-Men (who were unaware they had encountered her when the Scarlet Witch altered the world).

Belasco questioned and tortured them, during which it was revealed that Belasco was also seemingly in love with Magik as well as desiring her powers. Belasco was eventually defeated by the partially resurrected Illyana, once again having become Darkchild and lacking a soul, alongside Pixie who stabbed him with her Souldagger.

### Satana's Soul

Satana visited the Apache Diamond Casino and took part in a high stakes poker game with what she thought were collegiate nerds. But it was revealed that they were Belasco, Mephisto, Asmodeus, Dormammu, and Lucifer in disguise. She lost her soul during the game so enlisted Deadpool to help get it back. He attacked the gamblers cutting them to pieces and revealing their true natures. Satana found a loophole and married Deadpool to break the deal, they tried to kill Deadpool but due to his healing factor they couldn't break the "Till death do us part" clause.

### Chaos King

When the Chaos King confronted Marduk Kurios to steal his power, Belasco joined the Hell Lords and many other Demons, but they were defeated. He returned to his throne when Hercules defeated the Chaos King.

### Danny Ketch

He was visited by Danny Ketch, who was asking for help in stopping his corrupted brother, Johnny Blaze, at the time the ruler of Hell. Since Ketch asked about the Necrosis, Belasco made him fight his Spirit of Corruption, the host of Necrosis. After Ketch won, Belasco gifted him the Blight Blade and Necrosis, making him the new Spirit of Corruption.

### Man-Thing

Magik revealed to Ted Sallis that he got his powers partially thanks to Belasco. The demon was then summoned by Jennifer Kale and then brought to the Dreadscape by Sallis and the Man-Thing to finally have a confrontation.

### Madelyne Pryor, Queen of Limbo

Magik decided to give up the throne of Limbo to Madelyne Pryor, something that Belasco sensed before it could've happened. He sent S'ym and an horde of demons to foght the two women and Wolfsbane and Mirage, who were with them. After the attack failed, Belasco, now calling himself the Red King still managed to kidnap them all except for Illyana. Magik, helped by a past version of herself and by her brother helped everyone escape from him and the Goblin Queen became also the queen of Limbo.

When Madelyne, aided by Chasm, a clone of Spider-Man, and his lover Hallow's Eve started an invasion of Earth-616's New York City, Mary Jane Watson and Black Cat fell into Limbo. They were found by Belasco, who was now wearing his own skin as clothes. He promised to make them return to Earth, only if they managed to steal something for him: his own Soulsword. Now that the Earth and Libo are overlapped, it was revealed that his lost Soulsword was hidden in the Screaming Tower by one of his spell that required him to skin himself alive. What Belasco did not reveal to the two was that the Soulsword bonds with the first person that touch it and that the only way to retrieve it was to kill the holder of the sword. When the two women encoutered S'ym, he explained to them the actual functioning of the Soulsword: the two touched the sword together, they both became half-holders and Belasco failed to kill them when they returned to his castle. Then they attacked, immobilized and dethroned him, putting S'ym on his place instead. Enslaved, Belasco was forced to send Black Cat and Mary Jane Watson home. He was then transformed into a table by his new boss.