Hellenders
Encyclopedia
The Hellenders are a fictional comic book superhero team owned by DC Comics
and created by writer William Messner-Loebs
.
hunting superheroes
led by a mysterious man who goes by the alias Nathaniel. The grandson of a well-known Methodist
preacher
, Nathaniel has taken his family crusade to the next level. By working with the CIA
and FBI
, the Hellenders try to keep the citizens of Hell
from gaining access to the mortal world and destroy supernatural creatures such as vampire
s, werewolves
and ghoul
s. They travel from place to place in the Angelwing, a flight vehicle that can travel 200 miles per hour, can cloak
under radar
and has front and rear laser cannons.
had the ability to astral project
herself into various lands of myth, he feared that she would try to physically transport herself to the Underworld
after she began having violent nightmares of her former Amazon
sister Artemis
being tortured by demons in order to save her. Nathaniel feared that if Diana were to do this, the physical shift to that realm would rip open portals elsewhere that demons could use to enter the mortal realm. Because of this he assigned several Hellender members to watch Diana at all times. Unfortunately they arrived too late when Diana was finally successful in transporting herself to Artemis in the Underworld, causing the two realities to merge in some respects.
Later when Diana returned to the mortal world, Nathaniel discovered that she had returned with the once-dead Artemis with her. Due to Artemis' time in the Underworld Nathaniel sent Hellender agents to invite the rejuvenated Amazon to become part of the team. She agreed but only on the condition that her new friend Henrietta Jessup join also. Though aggravated at having to train Henrietta who was a civilian with no training whatsoever, Nathaniel agreed due to the prospect of having Artemis in the fold.
so that they could use the town as a training base when needed. Suspicious as to why an entire town would allow a team of demon hunters to move in without questions asked, Sojourner began an investigation. She soon discovered that half of the town was too fearful to speak to her due to strange disappearances of townspeople in addition to beastly sounds and chanting that occur at night. The other half of the town had been violently keeping the rest of the town quiet due to the prospect of receiving more financial backing from the Hellenders.
wishing to re-enter Heaven. Under the guise of a Fallen Angel he taught Nathaniel several spells that supposedly destroyed demons. Instead the spells strengthened the earth-walking demons. They used their newfound power to kill citizens of Waverly as a sacrifice to Dalkriig-Hath. Their sacrifice strengthened the demon greatly, allowing him to create a portal linking the Underworld to the mortal world. Using this portal Dalkriig-Hath managed to escape from his world to New Orleans in an attempt to gain revenge on Artemis.
During this ordeal Dalkriig-Hath managed to kill several Hellender members and transformed the remainder into members of his demon army. After transforming the demonic Hellenders back to human, Artemis was able to kill Dalkriig-Hath, leaving his rule to the more benevolent demon Belyllioth
. As a gesture of thanks for giving her Dalkriig-Hath's throne, Belyllioth granted Artemis one wish. Artemis wished for Belyllioth to return the lives of the Hellender members and innocents killed by Dalkriig-Hath. Belyllioth kept her promise and the Hellenders became whole again. In all, seven souls were returned: Nathaniel, Pellmell, Snow Owl, Catapult, and Signal Ray; along with the human Rebecca Fradden and her infant daughter Rosie.
during battle and ran out on the team. When asked what had happened to him Deadfall revealed that Nathaniel had ordered several Hellenders (Sureshot included) to take psychotropic drugs
in order to keep them fearless while battling the likes of demons and ghouls. Over time Sureshot's system began to reject the drug's effects. This caused Artemis to lose interest in him. Whether the team's drug use continued or not after Artemis' discovery remains unknown.
. She became a reserve member, leaving Sojourner to fill her spot as full-time member.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and created by writer William Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs...
.
Nathaniel
The Hellenders are a group of demonDemon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
hunting superheroes
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
led by a mysterious man who goes by the alias Nathaniel. The grandson of a well-known Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
, Nathaniel has taken his family crusade to the next level. By working with the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, the Hellenders try to keep the citizens of Hell
Hell (DC Comics)
Hell is a fictional location, an infernal underworld utilized in titles published by DC Comics. It is the locational antithesis of the Silver City. The DC Comics location known as Hell is based heavily on its depiction in Judeo-Christian mythology...
from gaining access to the mortal world and destroy supernatural creatures such as vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
and ghoul
Ghoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s. They travel from place to place in the Angelwing, a flight vehicle that can travel 200 miles per hour, can cloak
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
under radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and has front and rear laser cannons.
Amazons
When Nathaniel discovered that Wonder WomanWonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
had the ability to astral project
Astral projection
Astral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
herself into various lands of myth, he feared that she would try to physically transport herself to the Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
after she began having violent nightmares of her former Amazon
Amazons (comics)
The Amazons of DC Comics are a fictional all-female society of superhumans, based on the Amazons of Greek mythology. There have been three major incarnations of these Amazons, one before the Crisis, and two after. What two of these groups have in common is that they are the race which produced...
sister Artemis
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine, a comic book character published by DC Comics. She debuted in Wonder Woman Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine, a comic book character published by DC Comics. She debuted in Wonder Woman Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is...
being tortured by demons in order to save her. Nathaniel feared that if Diana were to do this, the physical shift to that realm would rip open portals elsewhere that demons could use to enter the mortal realm. Because of this he assigned several Hellender members to watch Diana at all times. Unfortunately they arrived too late when Diana was finally successful in transporting herself to Artemis in the Underworld, causing the two realities to merge in some respects.
Later when Diana returned to the mortal world, Nathaniel discovered that she had returned with the once-dead Artemis with her. Due to Artemis' time in the Underworld Nathaniel sent Hellender agents to invite the rejuvenated Amazon to become part of the team. She agreed but only on the condition that her new friend Henrietta Jessup join also. Though aggravated at having to train Henrietta who was a civilian with no training whatsoever, Nathaniel agreed due to the prospect of having Artemis in the fold.
New Blood
Artemis, calling herself the new codename Requiem, proved to be a valuable asset to the team as she spoke and understood demonic languages and was merciless at destroying demons. She also trained Henrietta, now a reserve Hellender calling herself the codename Sojourner, in various fighting forms. They discovered that Nathaniel had used his vast fortune to pay off the town of Waverly, PennsylvaniaWaverly, Pennsylvania
Waverly is a small unincorporated community in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in the late 18th century by settlers from Connecticut, along The Warriors' Path.- History :Waverly was originally called Abington Center...
so that they could use the town as a training base when needed. Suspicious as to why an entire town would allow a team of demon hunters to move in without questions asked, Sojourner began an investigation. She soon discovered that half of the town was too fearful to speak to her due to strange disappearances of townspeople in addition to beastly sounds and chanting that occur at night. The other half of the town had been violently keeping the rest of the town quiet due to the prospect of receiving more financial backing from the Hellenders.
Demon war
It was later learned that Artemis' demon prince husband Dalkriig-Hath was able to convince Nathaniel that the demon was a fallen angelFallen angel
Fallen angel is a concept developed in Jewish mythology from interpretation of the Book of Enoch. The actual term fallen angel is not found in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Christians adopted the concept of fallen angels mainly based on their interpretations of the Book of...
wishing to re-enter Heaven. Under the guise of a Fallen Angel he taught Nathaniel several spells that supposedly destroyed demons. Instead the spells strengthened the earth-walking demons. They used their newfound power to kill citizens of Waverly as a sacrifice to Dalkriig-Hath. Their sacrifice strengthened the demon greatly, allowing him to create a portal linking the Underworld to the mortal world. Using this portal Dalkriig-Hath managed to escape from his world to New Orleans in an attempt to gain revenge on Artemis.
Belyllioth
Belyllioth is a fictional demon published by DC Comics. She debuted in Artemis: Requiem #1 , and was created by William Messner-Loebs and Ed Benes.-Fictional character biography:...
. As a gesture of thanks for giving her Dalkriig-Hath's throne, Belyllioth granted Artemis one wish. Artemis wished for Belyllioth to return the lives of the Hellender members and innocents killed by Dalkriig-Hath. Belyllioth kept her promise and the Hellenders became whole again. In all, seven souls were returned: Nathaniel, Pellmell, Snow Owl, Catapult, and Signal Ray; along with the human Rebecca Fradden and her infant daughter Rosie.
Secrets revealed
Artemis and fellow Hellender Sureshot were close to forming a relationship due to mutual interest. This changed however during the Dalkriig-Hath affair as Sureshot had a seemingly psychotic breakPsychotic break
A psychotic break is a term used to describe an occasion of a person experiencing an episode of acute primary psychosis, either for the first time or after a significant period of relative asymptomaticity. Several types of psychoactive drugs have been shown to correlate with psychotic breaks...
during battle and ran out on the team. When asked what had happened to him Deadfall revealed that Nathaniel had ordered several Hellenders (Sureshot included) to take psychotropic drugs
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
in order to keep them fearless while battling the likes of demons and ghouls. Over time Sureshot's system began to reject the drug's effects. This caused Artemis to lose interest in him. Whether the team's drug use continued or not after Artemis' discovery remains unknown.
Exit Artemis
Learning that Etrigan the Demon was loose in Gateway City, Nathaniel dispatched Artemis to destroy him. Her mission was unsuccessful as she discovered that the demon was benevolent and resided in the body of the innocent immortal being Jason Blood. After being reunited with Wonder Woman and the Amazons on this assignment, Artemis wanted to return to her Amazon tribe on ThemysciraThemyscira
Themyscira is a fictional island nation in the DC Comics universe that is the place of origin of Wonder Woman and her sister Amazons. Known as Paradise Island since Wonder Woman and the island's first appearance in All Star Comics #8 , it was renamed "Themyscira" with the character's February...
. She became a reserve member, leaving Sojourner to fill her spot as full-time member.
Team members
- Nathaniel (Leader) - Razor sharp hook for a hand and novice sorcerer. Lost his hand during a battle with a "creature of the night".
- Sureshot (Team Captain) - A master of arsenal and projection weapons. Formerly known as Mr. Weapon, the living arsenal.
- RequiemArtemis of Bana-MighdallArtemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine, a comic book character published by DC Comics. She debuted in Wonder Woman Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine, a comic book character published by DC Comics. She debuted in Wonder Woman Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is...
- AmazonAmazons (comics)The Amazons of DC Comics are a fictional all-female society of superhumans, based on the Amazons of Greek mythology. There have been three major incarnations of these Amazons, one before the Crisis, and two after. What two of these groups have in common is that they are the race which produced...
warrior. - Sojourner - Novice Amazon. Real name is Henrietta Sojourner Jessup. Originally wanted to be a police officer.
- Deadfall - Artificially enhanced with a double Y chromosomeY chromosomeThe Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
. TestosteroneTestosteroneTestosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
and strength control. - Shock Treatment - Marcia Hargis from Far Castle, Pennsylvania. Possesses electricity based powers and flight. Nathaniel's advisor and bodyguard. Mother's name is Lila, brother's name is Danny and sister's names are Beth and Jessie.
- Myst - Vapor transformation. Team's training coach.
- Spiral - Cyclone generation.
- Corrode - Physical decomposition powers enhanced by a power suit.
- Rewind - Unknown. Could possibly be an alternate name for Spiral as he/she is never physically shown.
- Warhammer - Super strength, durability and hand held weapons master. One of the first to join the Hellenders. Fanatical about preserving "good".
- Download - Android.
- Snow Owl - Cold generating former KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent from RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. - Pellmell - Speedster from Manchester, England. According to Artemis he never knows when to stop, in a good way.
- Signal Ray - TelepathTelepathyTelepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and telekineticPsychokinesisThe term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
from BosniaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. - Catapult - Former ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
soccer star with bionicBionicsBionics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.The word bionic was coined by Jack E...
limbs.