First of the Fallen

FIRST OF THE FALLEN

Real Name: First of the Fallen

Class: Demon

Occupation: Devil, ruler of Hell

Group Affiliation: Hell's Hierarchy

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Devil

Base of Operations: Hell

First Appearance: Hellblazer #42 (June, 1991)

Powers: The Devil was ageless, immortal, and supernaturally powerful. He possessed vast superhuman strength, durability, and was near-omniscient. The Devil could use his reality-altering magic to fulfill the wishes of those willing to sell him their souls, or to wreck havoc of his own.

History: God's first creation was an entity that would act as his conscience, but when his created found him in an inebriated state he cast him to Hell, making him the First of the Fallen.

(Hellblazer #42 (fb, BTS)) - The Devil made an arrangement with Irish occultist Brendan Finn. Finn would give him his soul in exchange for the power to amass the finest collection of spirit’s the world had ever seen. The old-fashioned nature of the bargain appealed to the Devil, and Brendan also added the challenge that he had to take Finn’s soul by midnight of the night he died. The Devil loved a challenge, especially from the mortals he saw as so far beneath him, and granted the bargain.

(Hellblazer #42) - The Devil came to take Brendan Finn’s soul, and was met in his home by infamous magician John Constantine. He snarled when Constantine hesitated to let him inside, and remarked that John’s recently deceased father was in Hell, damned by his hatred of his own son. John was infuriated, and accompanied the Devil to Brendan’s side, while the Devil recounted the details of their bargain, and said no human ever outfoxed him, because humans were arrogant and ultimately pathetic. At five to midnight John came up with a plan to save Finn’s soul, and make the Devil eat his words. He mocked Finn, and said a drink with the Devil would top the occultist’s entire career. The Devil admired his brass, and they supped of Brendan’s private beer reserve. The beer had been created by a changing spell, that transformed the holy water of St. Patrick’s shrine, which was buried under Finn’s home, into spirit. John broke the spell, causing the Devil to gag and start to explode. He raged at John, who pushed him into the pool of holy water in the shrine, finishing him off corporally. The Devil returned to Hell after his body was destroyed, enraged and throwing a childish tantrum because a mortal had bested him. John was dying of lung cancer, and he knew what would be in store for him in Hell because of his rash actions. He resolved to find a way to avoid that fate.

(Hellblazer #44, 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, and told him he‘d die every day, every minute in the most horrific way possible. 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: Created by Garth Ennis & Will Simpson.

The First of the Fallen's role in Hell mirrored that of Lucifer, but he was explicitly created to be a separate character, and not an aspect of Lucifer.