Lucifer Morningstar is a fallen angel and the former ruler of Hell.
The most powerful and most beautiful of all angels, and one of two beings credited with the creation of the DC Multiverse, Lucifer was banished by The Presence and sent to rule over Hell after he rebelled. After ruling Hell for more than 10 billion years, he left to look for a way to escape Yahweh's Great Plan.
History[]
Origin[]
In the void before all creations that is the Primal Monitor, Yahweh created two brothers infused with unlimited might, one was Mikha'el Demiurgos, and the other, Samael, who would later come to be called Lucifer Morningstar. After they were formed, Yahweh guided them, instructed them as to how to use their powers, and then they formed the creation known as the DC Multiverse.
He was said to once be God's favorite, but when Lucifer rebelled, he was cast out of Heaven, and tasked with ruling over Hell where he was to punish the souls of deceased sinners for all eternity. Lucifer reluctantly ruled Hell for eons, gaining a fearsome reputation. He became known by many names, including the Devil, Satan, Old Scratch, Abaddon, and Belial.
Hell[]
At some point, it was said he became bored with his existence, irritated by various prejudices that mortals held of the devil, such as the idea that he purchased and traded for souls, which was untrue, or that he forced mortals to commit evil acts, ignoring the fact they had free will. He was not evil in and of himself, but punished it in others. He felt his eternal banishment an unfair punishment, that he should have to rule Hell forever because he once rebelled.
A few years before the events of Sandman, a shadow creature named The Dark challenged Heaven, which resulted in a stalemate. This tipped the delicate balance of power in Hell, and Lucifer had to form a triumvirate with Beelzebub and Azazel instead.
Lucifer first appeared in Preludes and Nocturnes and faced Dream when he went to Hell in search of his helm. Dream challenged and defeated a demon for possession of the helm. When Dream said Lucifer was being honorable in his actions, he replied, "Honorable? You joke, surely...the million lords of Hell stand arrayed about you. Tell us why we should let you leave? You have no power here - what power have dreams in hell?" Dream, however, embarrassed Lucifer with his reply; "What power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of Heaven?"[1] When Lucifer reappeared in Season of Mists, he told Dream's emissary, Cain, that when Morpheus had so embarrassed him in public, he swore then to destroy him, and seemed delighted that Dream was returning to Hell.
When the two again came face to face, Lucifer informed Dream "I've quit. I've stopped. I've resigned. I am leaving." He had emptied Hell, and was abandoning it, and that he owed the the decision to the Dream Lord. He asked Morpheus his aid in cutting off his wings and handed the Key to Hell to him, telling him, "I once swore that I would destroy you...perhaps it will destroy you and perhaps it won't. But I doubt it will make your life any easier."
Lucifer then disappeared, leaving his former realm locked, and the problems of dealing with it in Dream's hands. The dead returned to Earth, and the various gods from numerous pantheons, and other interested parties, began arriving in the Dreaming to petition for possession of the Key or to request the realm stay closed. Eventually, the rule of Hell was decided, but Lucifer had nothing further to do with it. He had retired. He was last seen on the beach in Perth, Australia watching the sunset with an old man who told him he'd had "a shit of a life" but that any God that "can do sunsets like that, a different one every night...you've gotta respect...." Lucifer admitted the old man had a point, and that the sunsets were bloody marvelous.
Time on Earth[]
Lucifer appeared briefly in The Kindly Ones, living in Los Angeles as the owner of the nightclub, Lux. The angel Remiel appeared there and asked Lucifer to relieve him of the rule of Hell. Lucifer laughed in his face.
Delirium then later asked Lucifer to help Dream against the Furies. Lucifer told her that her brother was beyond help.
Physical Appearance[]
Lucifer usually appears as a tall, dapper, and handsome man with light skin, amber eyes, and blonde or reddish blonde hair. He is eternally youthful and "beautifully made."
Personality[]
Lucifer is portrayed as sophisticated and almost charming. Beneath his charisma, however, Lucifer is a deadly and Machiavellian character, with no regard for human life or indeed any life other than those he can use to his advantage. He is a proud and vindictive fallen angel who has no qualms about using his powers, second only to those of his father. His proficiency in intrigues allowed him to remain in power in Hell for thousands of years.
Prior to his fall, Lucifer was described as having been the wisest, most beautiful, and most powerful of all the angels in heaven, and he retained these traits even after his fall. Despite his egotistic and narcissistic tendencies, he does follow something akin to a code of honor; Lucifer refuses emphatically to lie, which he considers crass and undignified, he insists on paying his debts, and keeping his word.
There are few individuals in the universe he respects, his brothers Michael and Duma among them. There are only two, however, he could be argued to care about, Mazikeen, his demon consort, and his niece, Elaine, although his actions on their behalf are often for his own benefit, and it is an open question if he would help them otherwise.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Nigh-Omnipotence: Unlike average Fallen Angels, possibly due to being an Archangel, Lucifer retained his nigh omnipotent powers, instead of them fading away completely. Lucifer is able to manipulate any external force for any effect he desires. He cannot, however, create something out of nothing; for this he needs the Demiurgic force of his brother, Michael, and later his niece, Elaine. Together, Michael and Lucifer are capable of creating anything from living beings to entire multiverses. Lucifer is even stronger than the Endless, and the only known beings able to rival or surpass his power are Michael and the Presence.
- Omniscience
- Omnipresence
- Cosmic Awareness
- Dimensional Travel: Lucifer is capable of traveling throughout realms at will. By projecting flames from his hands, Lucifer is able to create portals to hell. He is even capable of opening doorways to the Void, a space outside of creation. He was also able to splinter a dimensional gateway to a world of his own creation across the multiverse, creating millions of gateways.
- Energy Projection
- Enhanced Intellect
- Flight: Through the use of his large, angelic wings, Lucifer is able to fly.
- Immortality: Lucifer will never grow physically old and can live forever. He is billions of years old. Only the Presence is said to have the ability to destroy him.
- Interstellar Travel: Lucifer can travel throughout the reaches of space and time where no human body could survive
- Magic: Lucifer was able to cast a spell on a door, so that if a person opened it, it would unmake the rest of creation.
- Molecular Reconstruction: Lucifer was capable of manipulating residual energy of the cosmos to create suns.
- Necromancy: As a psychopomp, Lucifer can choose the soul's destination if he kills a person or supernatural being (as a demon). He killed Musubi by her own will; she allowed it to free herself from Izanami's service.
- Pyrokinesis: Lucifer is able to call forth the fire of the various suns he has birthed. He is able to control it on small scales such as shaping a flame to his will, or on a larger scale such as when he is creating suns.
- Thermal-Blast: Lucifer can generate powerful blasts of flames at will.
- Disintegration: Lucifer can incinerate beings with his flames.
- Reality Alteration: Lucifer is capable of shaping reality at will.
- Superhuman Stamina: Lucifer is able to function without rest or sleep. He was capable of walking for nine days straight without stopping and showed no signs of strain.
- Superhuman Strength: Lucifer possesses vast superhuman strength. He was strong enough to throw a person into orbit.
- Superhuman Speed: Lucifer has been said to be able to circle the planet before his image leaves your eye.
- Time Acceleration: Lucifer sped up the flow of time by a vast amount when creating a universe, in order to make the process happen faster.
- Telekinesis: Lucifer was capable of telekinetically flinging knives at goons, and slicing them into chunks.
- Wings: As a fallen angel, Lucifer possesses large angelic wings.
Abilities[]
- Deception
- Genius Level Intellect
- Indomitable Will
- Occultism
- Swordsmanship
Weakness[]
- His power seems to have no limit, but he actually does have one real weakness; he can not create something out of nothing .
Behind the Scenes[]
- He is largely based on Lucifer Morningstar in John Milton's Paradise Lost, though adapted to the Vertigo/DC universe.
- Lucifer means "Bringer of Light", "Light Bearer" in Latin. His name in Hebrew was Samael, which means "severity of God."
- Lucifer is also known as The Devil, The Lightbringer, Atse'Hashke, The Maker, and The Mocker.
- Another name for Lucifer is Helel meaning "shining one".
- The character was physically modeled after rock musician David Bowie.