El Diablo

EL DIABLO

Real Name: Chato Santana

Class: Human magic-user

Occupation: Hell's assassin, formerly crimelord

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: unnamed brother (deceased), unnamed sister

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: L.A., formerly Mexico

First Appearance: El Diablo III #1 (November, 2008)

Powers: El Diablo possessed superhuman durability, and controlled fire, including flaming guns, whip, and horse named Sombra. His powers only worked against the evil, and could not harm innocents. El Diablo could see the sins of the wicked.

History: (El Diablo III #1, 2) - Chato Santana was born in Mexico, later immigrating to the United States. With the help of his gang Los Reyes Locos he became a crimelord and had a decade of success. He used some of his proceeds to build a hospital in his home village, and didn't see himself as a bad guy, blaming the system that made crime so attractive to him. During an arms deal with H.I.V.E. his gang was busted by Agent Aaron and S.W.A.T. He almost escaped, but his second-in-command Jorge shot him, tired of his boss not allowing him more control of the gang. Chato woke up in the prison hospital ward, and Aaron was eager to get him to roll on his gang. He gave him psych patient Bob Olsen as a roomate, and warned him that his last few roommates had committed suicide. He moved on to putting him in the same hospital room as Lazarus Lane, saying the last few people sharing the room had died in their sleep. Chato was unphased, talking to the seemingly unconscious Lane at length about his life. Chato refused making a deal with Aaron, even one that involved all charges being dropped and S.T.A.R. Labs fixing his severed spine. Aaron gave up, and leaked the word that Chato had squealed, knowing his gang would kill him. Jorge ordered a hit on him, and Chato, blustering away, was stabbed in his hospital room. He awoke in the spirit world, where Lazarus Lane revealed himself as the Wild West hero El Diablo. He said Chato was like him, too tough to die, and offered to pass on the mantle of El Diablo to him. Chato accepted, becoming Hell's hitman, and killing the gang members that tried to kill him before riding off on his demonic horse with Lane. El Diablo woke up back in human form in New Mexico, and Lazarus, appearing as a spirit, told him the curse would direct his mission. Lane told him they were in Sky City, New Mexico, where Vicente de Zaldívar, a conquistador, oppressed the people before becoming a demon and stealing their souls. Lazarus had once clashed with him and lost, and told Diablo it was his turn, but the curse clearly wanted him to drag his crippled body there by himself . Once Diablo arrived he regained his powers, and battled Zaldivar, torturing him, and promising to let him go free if he released the souls in his possession. Zaldivar complied, and Diablo blasted him with his hellish guns. Lazarus told him the cruel way he was going about things was not the way of El Diablo, and Diablo asked him why Zaldivar claimed the Diablo's served someone named Chutriel. Diablo said he wanted revenge on Agent aaron, and Lazarus objected that the curse would not allow him vengeance. Diablo ignored him, and located Aaron in the office of federal prosecutor, who'd been murdered by the demonic entity Vorpal. Voral attacked Diablo, who recognized him as Bob Olsen, and Vorpal told him the curse of El Diablo was his by right before fleeing. Diablo tried to kill Aaron, but the curse would not let him. Aaron didn't know why Diablo thought he was responsible for his condition; he was only doing his job pursuing him, and it was Jorge who'd crippled him. Aaron believed Diablo when he said he was Hell's hitman, and revealed that Jorge was an undercover officer gone rogue, and was operating out of Mexico City.

(El Diablo III #3, 4) - El Diablo found that Los Reyes Locos were now in business with the Council, H.I.V.E. and Intergang, and slaughtered their members to get Jorge's location. Diablo got a call from Lane, and demanded to know more about Chutriel. Lane said a rabbi once called him a son of Chutriel, an angel who sided with Lucifer in his rebellion against god, and who later refused to be redeemed so he could torture the souls of Hell. Lane noted that White Owl, the man who gave him the curse, was a Native American, and not of the Judeo-Christian faith, so he suspected it could be nonsense. When he finally caught up with Jorge his weapons vanished, because Lane was drawing on his power to battle Vorpal. Early into the battle he lost all of his El Diablo power, and Jorge stabbed his femoral artery, causing him to bleed out. He was still determined to see the man who betrayed him die, so he strangled him to death. Vorpal beheaded Lane, bringing his head to his demon master Ninhursag. She told him El Diablo had slain his enemy Jorge Ramos, and Vorpal was to use him to raise an army in Hell to oppose El Diablo. Diablo felt lost without Lane, but the curse kept directing him. He killed Jerry Pena, his former best friend in the Locos, and Pena's wife and young son, who were also involved in gang activity. Chato set himself up in Phoenix with a new wheelchair accessible house, and reconnected with his old girlfriend Julie. She'd dumped him because of the Locos, but she was the only one he trusted and he desperately needed her help, and promised he was done with gangs. She helped him research Chutriel in the library, and they talked to a rabbinic scholar who told them the Chutriel myth of redemption showed up in several other religions, including Mesopotamian. Agent Aaron was waiting for him at home, demanding an explanation for the slaughter of the Pena family, but was convinced by Diablo's explanation. He told Diablo that without Jorge leading them H.I.V.E., Intergang and Council members had continued on their own as the operation Cerberus. They'd set up an organ harvesting business with the Locos, and were using the council's tech to clone the organs. Diablo broke into the lab, but Vorval had been there first, using the cloning technology to create an Invunche, which slaughtered most of Cerberus. Diablo killed the creature, and returned home only to find that Vorpal had murdered Julie. In a rage he visited a VA hospital and killed several disgraced soldiers. He finally gave up, confronting Vorpal and telling him to kill him.

(El Diablo III #5, 5) - El Diablo bared his neck to Vorpal when the Freedom Fighters arrived. Unbeknownst to Diablo he'd been acting on behalf of S.H.A.D.E. through their agent Aaron, but when he killed the VA patients they were sent to put him down. El Diablo had no intention of returning to jail, and made an uneasy alliance with Vorpal to fight them. He recognized Phantom Lady as a killer, and his curse allowed him to threaten her life before Uncle Sam intervened. Diablo was not impressed with Uncle Sam, saying he might be the flashy American dream, but Diablo was the guts and reality. Crimelord though he was he pointed out that he was a self-made man. Black Condor recognized Vorpal as a fellow avatar, and Vorpal was pleased to tell him that Diablo's death would mean freedom for Chutriel. Diablo berated Phantom Lady, telling her the people she protected would be horrified if they knew what a monster she was, and she turned her black light on him, separating him from Chutriel, who was snatched up to Hell by Ninhursag. The powerless Santana was arrested, and after a trial was sentenced to death. A powerless Chato was sent to the electric chair, but when he was jolted the headless spirit of Lazarus appeared to him, telling him the curse wouldn't let him off so easy, and he once again became El Diablo. Diablo found the cave where Ninhursag was to give birth to her child by Chutriel, a being that she intended to unite Hell and Earth. Diablo battled an army of Invunches before fighting Vorpal. Ninhursag gave birth to Ghatanothoa, who devoured her. He offered Diablo a chance to be his general, but Diablo refused. Vorpal, Diablo, and the newborn god fought, with Vorpal losing his blade hand in the process. Diablo stabbed Ghatanothoa to death, and was more determined than ever to continue his mission.

Comments: Created by Jai Nitz & Phil Hester.