History
Satanis is a sorcerer from the Earth - but from more than one million years in the future, when the human society has reverted to a medieval-mystical world. His main rival was Ambra, ruler of the Earth and possessor of the potent Runestone of Merlin. Satanis led a revolt of sorcerers against Ambra and his daughter, Syrene, who also sought the gem but was unable to oppose her father while he held the artifact. Ambra was defeated and killed, but in his dying breath he sent the Runestone to a random time in the past. Satanis and Syrene, unable to defeat each other because their magical powers were equal, agreed a marriage of convenience to rule the world together. However, each one sought a spell to travel back in the time to search the Runestone, which both discovered simultaneously in their particular libraries, and they both traveled to the 20th century separately. The key to trigger the Runestone power was to filter the caster's power through a invulnerable body... what led the attention of the couple to Superman. The sorcerers fought between them, and Syrene was seemingly destroyed. Satanis recovered the Runestone, but before he could complete the ritual, Syrene returned from the Limbo where she has been sent (instead of being killed) and sent the artifact further into the past to buy herself time. Satanis located the stone again, but before could obtain it, was banished to Hell by Syrene.
But wasn't the end of Satanis. The sorcerer made a deal with the Lord of Hell and was returned to the Earth, but in the 14th Century, which was where the Runestone was. There, villagers who helped him to back to his former health were rewarded with pestilence and destruction.
Eventually, Satanis and Syrene converged on the Runestone's location in the 14th century, and them summoned Superman back in time too. Both Satanis and Syrene tried to use Superman's body as a filter through which they may gain the powers of the Runestone, but instead they pulled him apart into two separate Supermen, each one with a half of his powers. Syrene took the Superman who was still invulnerable and fled to another time, further in the past. Satanis followed. [1]
The other Superman found he was unable to go back in time and rescue his trapped past-half, but he was able to go forward and return to the 20th century. When he returned, the Mole revealed to the world that Superman had only half of his powers, and a new villain, the Jackhammer, challenged the Man of Steel and defeated him. [2]
The 20th-century Superman tried to go to the past either through the Time Pool or on the Flash's time-treadmill, but neither would work. Syrene drew the energy of the Runestone through the past Superman's body and killed both Supermen in the process. Lord Satanis inhabited the past Superman's dead body and continued the fight against Syrene, while, in the 20th century, the autopsy on Clark Kent's body had just begun. Clark Kent came back to life on the autopsy table as a result of his past-half being reanimated by Lord Satanis. The 20th-century Superman went to Rip Hunter and finally succeeded in using Hunter's time-sphere to return to the era in which Satanis and Syrene were battling, at a point in which Satanis had apparently destroyed Syrene.
The 20th-century Superman battled Lord Satanis (in the past Superman's body) in a showdown fight. The mind of the past Superman rebelled against the sorcerer, who was forced to leave Superman's body. When the two Superman touched, residual Runestone magic recombined them in a single, complete Superman again. Superman then punched Satanis, knocking him back to his own era, hoping that he and Syrene could keep each other occupied.
Later, Satanis participated in the "Villains War" during the Great Crisis. [3]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Magic (equal level to his wife, Syrene)
Abilities
- Occultism (equal level to his wife, Syrene)
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Runestone of Merlin
Notes
- This version of Satanis, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Related
- 12 Appearances of Satanis (Earth-One)
- 1 Images featuring Satanis (Earth-One)
- Quotations by or about Satanis (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Satanis (Earth-One)
Footnotes
  This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category." |