Etrigan the Demon
Etrigan the Demon is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, Etrigan is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied with the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound. Etrigan is commonly depicted as a muscular humanoid creature with orange or yellow skin, horns, red eyes, and pointed, webbed ears, who frequently speaks in rhymes. The character was originally based in Gotham City, leading to numerous team-ups with Batman.
Since his conception, Etrigan has been adapted into several forms of media outside of comics, including animated series, films, and video games. He is voiced by Michael T. Weiss in the DC Animated Universe, Dee Bradley Baker in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Patrick Seitz in Justice League Action, and Ray Chase in the DC Animated Movie Universe.
Creation
Kirby's former assistant, Mark Evanier, said that Carmine Infantino asked Jack Kirby to create a new monster hero. Kirby or Infantino mentioned a demon, and Kirby from that point worked on creating a demonic character. Evanier said that he was with Kirby and several others during a dinner at a restaurant, and Kirby came up with Etrigan's name, back story, and motivations on the spot. Kirby intended to create the character but pass him off to others to write and draw. However, Infantino convinced him to make the first issue and made the decision final by suspending Kirby's unprofitable Fourth World comics series. Kirby then moved full-time to the Etrigan comics.Publication history
Etrigan first appeared in The Demon #1 and was created by Jack Kirby. He created him at the behest of DC, who saw it as likely to be more commercially successful than the Fourth World and cancelled New Gods and Forever People to facilitate work on the new title. According to Evanier, Kirby had no interest in horror comics, but created Etrigan in response to DC's demand for a horror character. Kirby was annoyed that Etrigan's popularity forced him to abandon the Fourth World titles before he was done with them.Etrigan returned for a four-issue miniseries in 1987, written and illustrated by Matt Wagner. Alan Grant followed this with an Etrigan feature in Action Comics Weekly #636-641 and a second ongoing title in 1990. The 1990 series lasted 58 issues, two Annuals and one #0 issue. Garth Ennis took over the title beginning with issue #40. Ennis' run included the first appearance of his character Hitman. This series was followed by a miniseries, Driven Out. Following this, John Byrne's Blood of the Demon lasted 17 issues, and ignored much of the continuity that took place after Kirby's initial run.
While his first monthly comic book series was short-lived, and his second was canceled after five years, Etrigan remains a popular supporting character with occasional additional miniseries. Series in which Etrigan has appeared include Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, Kevin Smith's Green Arrow and Batman: The Widening Gyre, Garth Ennis's Hitman, and Cosmic Odyssey by Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola.
''The New 52''
In The New 52 rebooted continuity, DC Comics launched a new series featuring Etrigan titled Demon Knights, which debuted on September 14, 2011. It was written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Diógenes Neves.Etrigan will receive a new ongoing series in March 2026 as part of the "DC Next Level" publishing initiative.
Fictional character biography
Pre/Post-''Crisis''
Etrigan, son of the demon Belial, is summoned by the wizard Merlin, his half-brother. Unable to gain the creature's secrets, he binds the demon to Jason Blood, an arrogant knight in King Arthur's Camelot. This renders Jason immortal, which he alternately considers either a penance or a curse.In modern times, Jason Blood resurfaces as a prominent demonologist in Gotham City. He is called to the crypt of Merlin and discovers a poem that causes him to switch places with Etrigan. To his misfortune, he is followed by the long-lived Morgaine le Fey, who lusts for Merlin's secrets. Over the years, Etrigan both clashes with and occasionally aids Earth's heroes, guided by his own whims and Blood's attempts to use his power for good.
Some time after his first appearance, Etrigan begins speaking in rhyme due to a promotion in Hell, though he is not limited to rhyme. He leads the forces of Hell in a battle against the Great Evil Beast and is in brief contact with the entity in its questions about its nature - he barely survives the attempt. His high rank would also see him guide Dream of the Endless from Hell's gates to Lucifer.
Some time after this, Jason Blood and Glenda Mark attempt to separate Blood and Etrigan, an event which leads to Blood's ally, Harry Matthews, being devoured, and later turned into a pillow, by Belial. At the end of these events, Etrigan and Blood are separated. However, both begin to age rapidly without Blood's curse to sustain them. During the Cosmic Odyssey event, Blood and Etrigan are reunited.
After the remerging, the relationship between Blood and Etrigan becomes even more contentious. Drawn to Hell by the Archfiend Asteroth, Etrigan stops Asteroth's attempt to sacrifice Glenda Mark, Randu Singh, Merlin and Blood himself. Etrigan followed these events by overthrowing the triumvirate of leaders in Hell and taking the symbol of authority in Hell, the Crown of Horns, for himself. Separated from Blood via the Crown's power and about to destroy him, Merlin reminded Blood of his own power. Jason Blood speaks the incantation and remerges with Etrigan, with both returning to Earth. There, he fought Lobo, Klarion the Witch Boy and his gang and was drawn into the Realm Beyond, where he met the Thing-That-Cannot-Die and was reunited with his older brother, Lord Scapegoat.
Upon escape from the Realm Beyond, Etrigan and Blood agree to work together and team with Batman and Robin against the Howler. Soon after, Etrigan is chosen as a political candidate for President of the United States and nearly succeeds in securing the Republican nomination from George H. W. Bush. During his political run, he attempts to gain Superman's endorsement, but is denied it.
Blood and Mark later have a daughter named Kathryn. Knowing Etrigan will not tolerate such a distraction, Blood hires hitman Tommy Monaghan to kill the demon. After a battle against both Merlin and Etrigan, the two of them rescue Kathryn and Blood steals Etrigan's heart, essentially neutralizing him and binding him to Blood's will. At the end of the battle, Blood leaves Kathryn with her mother, hoping that she never meets him. Following these events, Etrigan becomes listless and ceases to rhyme. When Monaghan needs an edge against the demon Mawzir, he cons Blood into returning to Gotham and using Etrigan to retrieve the Ace of Winchesters, an anti-demon rifle, from Hell, all while preparing to force Blood to return Etrigan to Earth. Despite the risk of Etrigan killing him in vengeance, Monahgan trades Etrigan his heart for the Ace of Winchesters, once more forcing Blood to have the full burden of their merging and returning Etrigan to his full strength.
When the Justice League vanishes during their attempt to rescue Aquaman from the past, Batman's emergency program — designed to assemble a substitute Justice League in the event that the originals were ever killed — selects Jason Blood as the team's magic expert. Batman creates a pre-recorded message assuring Blood that he will not give Etrigan the keys to the Watchtower unless he is certain that he can be controlled. During the subsequent fight with Gamemnae, Blood sacrifices himself to free Zatanna from her control. However, he escapes Gamemnae's quagmire spell thanks to Martian Manhunter telepathically prompting his transformation into Etrigan. The crisis resolved, Blood passes his duties as the League's magic expert to Manitou Raven before departing.
The series Blood of the Demon, plotted and drawn by John Byrne and scripted by Will Pfeifer, began in May 2005. Etrigan apparently loses the restrictions imposed upon him by the wizard Merlin which turned him from evil, caused by his "murder" at the exact moment he was transforming from Jason Blood into his demon self. The incident resulted in Blood being able to exert some will over Etrigan's violent nature, whereas previously the two remained separate. Blood of the Demon ended with issue #17 in July 2006.
Etrigan later attempts to use the Trident of Lucifer to take control of Hell. A makeshift Shadowpact team successfully takes the Trident from him and flees to the supernatural Oblivion Bar. Etrigan follows and battles the team inside the bar. He is turned into stone via magical pistols and is used as a hat rack. The pistols' magic would return Etrigan to normal at sunrise, which never happens within the bar.
Etrigan takes part in the war for control of Hell on behalf of Neron, duelling Blue Devil. Later, due to the effects of a magical drug Satanus had infested Hell with, he is transformed into a soulless duplicate of Jason Blood. Blood takes steps as to interfere with any possible attempts of Etrigan's to re-merge.
Etrigan briefly appears in the prelude to the JLA/JSA crossover during the Brightest Day event. Etrigan travels to Germany to find a crashed meteorite that contains an unconscious Jade and is drawn into a confrontation with the Justice League after attacking a squad of German superheroes. He mocks the League by claiming they are an inferior team of substitutes, but is ultimately defeated when Donna Troy uses her Lasso of Persuasion to force him back into his Jason Blood form. Blood apologizes for the trouble he caused and departs from the scene, but not before warning Batman and his teammates that the meteorite possesses supernatural qualities. The meteor is later revealed to be the Starheart, a legendary entity that has the power to possess metahumans with magical or elemental abilities.
Etrigan is shown aiding the JLA during their mission into Hell, where he helps Hawkman defeat a demonic beast. He also was the guide to the Secret Six in their trip to Hell and led Catman to see the fate of his father, all the while amused by the confusion and pain they were suffering as a result of their visit.