Lilith is the name of two

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditio ...

characters appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

. The first of these two to appear was the daughter of

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

. Like her father, she is also a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

, although her powers and weaknesses differ from most other vampires. She first appeared in ''Giant-Size Chillers Featuring The Curse of Dracula'' #1 (June

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

). The second is a demon sorceress who is known as the "Mother of All Demons". She first appeared in '' Ghost Rider'' #28 (August

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

Dracula's daughter

Publication history

Lilith, the daughter of Dracula, first appeared in ''Giant-Size Chillers Featuring The Curse of Dracula'' #1 (June

), and was created by

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's ''The New ...

and

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Lilith: a mythological study
, p.7 Most of her solo appearances were written by Steve Gerber, who would later use a supporting character he created for these stories, Martin Gold, in the two-issue miniseries ''

The Legion of Night The Legion of Night is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They were dedicated to opposing occult threats. The group was composed of Ariann Wight, Dr. Chan Liuchow, Dr. Katherine Reynolds, Marti ...

''. The character subsequently appeared in ''Vampire Tales'' #6 (August 1974), ''The Tomb of Dracula'' #23 (August 1974), #25 (October 1974) and #28 (January 1975), '' Dracula Lives!'' #10-11 (January–March 1975), ''

Marvel Preview ''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group. Publica ...

'' #12 (September 1977), ''The Tomb of Dracula'' #60 (September 1977), ''Marvel Preview'' #16 (June 1978), ''The Tomb of Dracula'' #66-67 (September–November 1978), ''The Tomb of Dracula'' (vol. 2) #5-6 (June–August 1980), ''The Uncanny X-Men'' Annual #6 (1982), and her apparent "death" occurred in ''Doctor Strange'' (vol. 2) #62 (December 1983). She made a posthumous appearance in ''Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme'' #9 (November 1989). Lilith returned years later in ''Ghost Rider'' vol. 3 #82-85 (February–May 1997), ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' (vol. 2= #20 (May 1998), ''Dracula: Lord of the Undead'' #1-3 (December 1998), ''Witches'' #2 (August 2004), ''Nick Fury's Howling Commandos'' #2-6 (January–May 2006), and ''Legion of Monsters: Morbius'' #1 (September 2007). Lilith received an entry in ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #18 and in ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005''.

Fictional character biography

Lilith is Dracula's oldest child and is his only child by his first wife, Zofia, who was forced on Dracula by his father through an arranged marriage. After Dracula's father died, he renounced Zofia and forced her and their infant daughter to leave Castle Dracula so that he could marry his second wife, Maria, the woman he truly loved. Lilith was raised by Gypsies to whom she had been entrusted after her mother's

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

. Lilith's foster-mother was the Gypsy elder Gretchin. When Lilith was a young girl, Dracula, now a vampire thanks to the Gypsy woman Leandra, attacked and murdered many Gypsies, including Gretchin's son Arni, enraging her into seeking revenge. She cast a spell upon Lilith to make her into a vampire, but one with rather different powers: unlike conventional

s, she did not fear holy symbols, was not able to be killed by being out in the daylight and did not need to sleep in a coffin lined with her native soil. As part of the curse, she would haunt Dracula, ever opposing him, until Dracula was finally, irrevocably destroyed. Whenever she was "killed", she would be reborn by her spirit taking over the body of an innocent woman who wanted her father dead; this included the ability to shift forms and clothing between Lilith's own form and that of her "hostess". Lilith normally appeared, when in her own form, as a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and a family resemblance to Dracula, dressed in a red and black skin-tight costume and cape with a bat-like ornament in her hair. As a vampire, she could change into a

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

, a bat, or

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such ...

(the latter either wholly or partially), and had limited control over weather, as well as the ability to command bats, wolves, dogs, rats and mice. Although she could drink blood, she was not dependent upon it for sustenance. In the modern era, Lilith's spirit possessed a woman named Angel O'Hara, who had come to hate her father and want him dead when he accidentally killed her husband, Ted Hannigan, after finding out that she had married him secretly and was carrying his child. Lilith killed Angel's father, but allowed her to live her life when Lilith was not using their shared body. Angel was eventually physically separated from Lilith by Viktor Benzel, a distant descendant of Gretchin and the heir, along with his brother Karl, to much of her occult knowledge; Viktor used this knowledge to create separate bodies for Angel and Lilith. At one point, Lilith and Dracula agreed to avoid each other, but the agreement broke down. When Dracula was stripped of his vampiric powers toward the end of the 70-issue series '' The Tomb of Dracula'', he asked Lilith to bite him and restore his powers, only to be refused. In issue #5 of ''The Tomb of Dracula'' magazine that soon followed, Lilith and Dracula fought once more and Dracula revealed to Lilith that the curse that made her his eternal nemesis also prevented her from being able to actually kill him. Lilith was destroyed, along with her father and the rest of Earth's vampires, when Doctor Strange used the

Darkhold The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

's Montesi Formula to eliminate vampirism and all vampires from the world. The Montesi Formula eventually weakened and both Lilith and her father returned to life. Lilith subsequently appeared as Dracula's antagonist in the three-issue ''Dracula: Lord of the Undead'' limited series in 1998, and as an agent of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos in 2006.

Reception

Lilith, the daughter of Dracula, was ranked #24 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015. In 2021, ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' included Lilith in their "Marvel: 10 Most Powerful Vampires" list. In 2022, ''

CBR.com ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' ranked Lillith Drake 6th in their "10 Most Important Marvel Vampires" list.

Mother of All Demons

The demon Lilith is an ancient demon goddess and sorceress. She gives birth to demons called the Lilin, which have lives of their own, but always remain obedient to their mother.

Fictional character biography

Lilith is an immortal who had lived in the city of pre-Cataclysm

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that bes ...

, one of its few survivors. Over the centuries, she gave birth to many of her children – (the Lilin) – including Creed, Pilgrim, Fang, Doc, Meatmarket, Skinner, and Nakota. Trapped in the leviathan

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial cre ...

by Atlantean sorcerers, she used her vast magics to influence outside affairs. While thus imprisoned, she encountered Dan Ketch's spirit, and then appeared in a vision to Blackout. Lilith was finally released from her ancient imprisonment by two unknowing scientist explorers. Discovering that her Lilin children had been scattered across the dimensions centuries ago and that many of them were destroyed by Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze, she soon made enemies of them. She recruited the Lilin and Blackout, and sent Blackout, Creed, and Pilgrim to abduct John Blaze's son, Craig Blaze. She sent the Lilin Fang to attack Morbius. She witnessed Ghost Rider and John Blaze's battle with Steel Vengeance. Alongside the Lilin, she abducted Doris Ketch, Jack D'Auria, and Arthur and Stacy Dolan. She transformed the

ers' ninjas and sent them to kill

Victoria Montesi Victoria Montesi is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Christian Cooper, she first appeared in ''The Darkhold'' #1 (October 1992), and is notable for being the first openly ...

. Alongside the Lilin, she battled Ghost Rider, John Blaze, and the Darkhold Redeemers. She then sent the Lilin Skinner to attack Ghost Rider and John Blaze. She then hired the Nightstalkers to kill Ghost Rider and John Blaze. Alongside the Lilin, she again battled Ghost Rider, John Blaze, Morbius, the Nightstalkers, and the Darkhold Redeemers. After many attempts to kill the two, her enemies list grew to include Doctor Strange,

Morbius the Living Vampire Morbius the Living Vampire, real name Michael Alexander Morbius, M.D.,''Morbius the Living Vampire'' (vol. 1) #1. Marvel Comics. Ph.D., is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Th ...

, the

Witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

, the Nightstalkers and the Midnight Sons. In her first attempt she and most of her children were killed. Many months later her children were reborn with the assistance of Meatmarket, a child that Lilith did not expect would help her. This time they are allied with Centurious the Soulless Man. Their goal was to claim the mystical artifact called the Medallion of Power, and kill its inheritors, John Blaze, Daniel Ketch, and

Vengeance Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...

. Lilith and her offspring betrayed Centurious and allied with his most hated enemy, Zarathos. However, the Midnight Sons banished Lilith and her offspring to the Shadowside. Zarathos was later turned into stone and killed. Lilith returned to the stony Zarathos, saying she abandoned her old offspring and replaced it with his offspring, promising vengeance for the both of them. Lilith was one of several demonic beings imprisoned within Avalon at the start of the

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term i ...

, but was then freed by Pete Wisdom during Captain Britain and MI3's battle with the

Skrull The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Skrulls first appeared in '' Fantastic Four'' #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They originated ...

s. Lilith subsequently joins Satannish and the other freed creatures in killing the invading Skrulls, after hearing them state that any magical creatures that do not serve the Skrulls will not be tolerated. She later joins Dracula's inner circle as he plans to invade the United Kingdom.

Powers and abilities

Lilith is widely described as one of the most magically skilled demons in the Marvel Universe; regarded as both a sorceress and a goddess. She is able to manipulate eldritch energy for several effects; to strike her opponents and even obliterate them when she exerts her full power on lesser creatures, conjure protective shields capable of protecting vampires from sunlight, fashion new Lilin either from nothingness or by converting other creatures, and to teleport herself or summon others. She is far more powerful and resilient than any of her children, making her a considerable challenge for the likes of Ghost Rider. Additionally, she is able to summon her demon children to Earth's dimension and the more demons she "births", the more her physical strength increases. Through her genesis based attributes Lilith can literally give birth to countless races beyond those of the demonic lilim; ranging from humans to mutants and mystical beasts, etc. She can just as easily revitalize any of her fallen brood through the act of rebirthing after they die. She does so either through natural copulative procreation, consuming prior offspring, conjuring them out of nothingness, conversion of other species or through asexual reproduction. Her power also enables her to transmigrate living souls consumed into new entities, respawning them as any given species she desires at a later date in time. She can even rebirth herself; as her prior forms often burn out over the course of time, into a younger stronger body than the last.

In other media

* The second incarnation of Lilith appears as a boss in '' Ghost Rider'', voiced by

Carolyn Hennesy Carolyn Lee Hennesy (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress, author and animal advocate. Hennesy's early work consisted of guest appearances and roles in shows and television movies, including '' Dark Justice'' and in '' Deadly Invasion: Th ...

. * The second incarnation of Lilith makes a cameo appearance in Morrigan's ending in '' Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3''. * The second incarnation of Lilith appears in '' Marvel's Midnight Suns''.Firaxis reveals Marvel's Midnight Suns, a "tactical RPG" that's less XCOM than you might think
Eurogamer, 25-8-2021. This version is a powerful sorceress who previously worked with her sister, the Caretaker, to defeat Hiram Shaw. When Lilith tried to take the ''

'' from him and sacrifice her infant child to claim its power, the Caretaker fought her as well. In response, Lilith struck a deal with the ''Darkhold''s creator, Chthon, to serve him in exchange for sparing her child. Chthon agreed and transformed her into the horned "Mother of Demons". She was eventually placed into eternal slumber until

HYDRA Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

awakens her in the present in a bid for world domination.

References

External links

* * *
Lilith
at the Marvel Database Project {{Subject bar, portal1=1970s, portal2=Comics, portal3=Speculative fiction, d=y Characters created by Andy Kubert Characters created by Gene Colan Characters created by Howard Mackie Characters created by Marv Wolfman Comics characters introduced in 1974 Comics characters introduced in 1992 Fictional Romanian people Lilith Marvel Comics Atlanteans (pre-cataclysm) Marvel Comics characters who use magic Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics demons Marvel Comics female superheroes Marvel Comics female supervillains Marvel Comics vampires Mythology in Marvel Comics