History: (Sandman II #4) - Following the Shadow Creature's assault on Heaven there was civil war in Hell. Lucifer ended it by sharing his rule of Hell with Beelzebub and Azazel. Dream came to Hell to reclaim his lost helm from Choronzon, one of Beelzebub's dukes of Hell, and by the rules of Hell he had to battle for it. Dream won, and Beelzebub returned his helm after handing Choronzon over to Agony and Ecstacy. A  passing remark by Deream made about the power of dreams rankled Lucifer. Lucifer vowed to one day destroy Dream.

(Demon III #5-7) - Etrigan was loose in Hell, and raised an army with the demons exiled to Masak Madvil, the abyss, to break the triumvirate of Lucifer, Beelzebub and Belial. Belial pledged to help his son, but held back to see how his forces would do on their own. Merlin tried to warn Lucifer, who said he was being tedious and that he didn't reject the idea of more changes in Hell's hierarchy. Merlin then pleaded with Beelzebub to act, but the demon lord felt Etrigan and his plans were of no consequence. Beelzebub, followed by his Dominator chamberlain feasted on corpses and filthy when he felt a chill in his guts, sensing the demon Etrigan rallying his army against him. He had the Dominator send out a patrol of fly demons to scout out Etrigan's army, but they were completely slaughtered. Etrigan attacked Beelzebub's castle, and Beelzebub tried to stir up his troops and defend his domain, but Etrigan's army broke through. They razed the domain and blasted Beelzebub with eldritch energy, putting him down. Lucifer would cede the city of Dis to Etrigan, making him ruler of Hell. Etrigan prepared for his coronation at Masak Madvil, chaining up Beelzebub, Lucifer and Merlin. He was given the Crown of Horns, signifying his rule. He promised his subjects Hell would shatter Earth and then lay siege to Heaven. Etrigan then ripped off Beelzebub's wings and cast him into the pit of Hell. Lucifer refused to throw himself into the pit, saying he was severely disappointed in Etrigan. His end goal of making war with Heaven was a fool's errand, and he'd expected better, but knew Etrigan was a youth as far as immortals went, and lacked true wisdom. Etrigan tried to attack him, but Lucifer broke his shackles and glided off.

(Hellblazer #44 (BTS), 45) - John felt himself dying of his cancer, and slit his wrists to speed up the process. The First of the Fallen arrived to watch him die. As his life faded, Azazel and Beelzebub arrived for John’s soul. John humiliated the Devil by revealing to his fellow rulers how John had bested him. He then revealed that they were both due his soul, as he’d fooled them like fledgling demons into signing separate contracts with him. By demon law, someone was owed their due, and John told them they could go to war over his soul, but another rebellion in Hell was guaranteed to be dealt with harshly by Heaven. After the others berated the Devil long enough, and made him see that was would be suicide for all of them he agreed to help save Constantine’s life. The lords of Hell cured John’s wrist, and ripped out his cancer, but they made the process as agonizing for him as they could. The First impotently railed and threatened John. John dusted himself off, elated at having bested the lords of Hell, reminded them that it was in their best interests to keep him healthy, and shot them an obscene gesture before walking off.

Comments: Adapted to comics by Neil Gaiman & Sam Kieth.

For more information on the Biblical Beelzebub, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub.

Beelzebub received a profile in Who’s Who in the DC Universe #11 under the Hell’s Hierarchy entry.

Beelzebub had a cameo in Demon III #2, 29 and Hellblazer #46.

All characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please visit The Official DC Comics Site at: http://www.batman.com