Green Dragon Society

GREEN DRAGON SOCIETY

Membership: Brother Dawkins, Brother Ngaio, Brother Nixon, Brother Wu, Guru Chud

Base of Operations: Nepal

First Appearance: Demon III #9 (March, 1991)

History: (Demon III #9, 10) - The Green Dragon Society was an esoteric cult led by Guru Chud, who prophesized a great destroyer, and before his death told the faithful to meditate and perform ritual when the time was right so he would find them. Chud died, and his body preserved in the Society's monastery. Outbreaks of war, plague and famine came, and the Society began performing rituals to summon the destroyer. Jason Blood, who shared his body and soul with the demon Etrigan, came knocking at their gates. He'd already been turned aside by a number of other monasteries, but sought control of the demon inside him. The Society sensed Jason's power, but Brother Wu reminded them he was not the actual destroyer, prophesied to ride a million horses and bring death in his wake. The Society taught Jason meditation techniques to recover the memories Etrigan had hidden from him. He saw himself in the past as the leader of a group of druids who worshipped Gaia, sacrificing young lovers to appease the earth goddess. Jason was horrified, but filled with doubt, wondering if he was actually remembering his old past, or experiencing a false memory implanted by Etrigan to torment him. The Society told Jason to pause his meditation and join them for dinner before he completely exhausted himself, and while Jason slept they performed a ritual to tap into his power to summon their destroyer. The world continued to be plagued by unprecedented disaster and violence, so Phantom Stranger went to Nepal to visit Jason Blood. The Stranger told him he must return to Gotham to prevent the end of the world, and Jason told him to take care of whatever dangers he foresaw himself. Phantom Stranger said it was only in his power to illuminate the minds of men, not to instigate actions on his own, and Jason told him to leave. Displeased, the Stranger called forth Etrigan to plead his case to him. Etrigan blasted him with hellfire and attacked. Once the Stranger was able to get Etrigan to give a respite from battle he pleaded for him to stop the coming apocalypse, but Etrigan said the thought of humanity burning amused him, and he didn't care if his own life ended and Hell perished as well. Stranger realized his time had been wasted, so he returned Etrigan to the form of Blood. He knew the Society cultists were too blinded by their faith to heed him either, so he departed.

(Demon III #11, 12) - The Society performed another ritual, causing their monastary to rumble, and when Guru Chud's corpse fell from his chair they knew the prophecy was about to come true. Intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, the destroyer Chud foretold, approached Earth. Lobo was confused and furious that he'd been interrupted from a mission of smashing smugglers for his boss Vril Dox. He arrived at the Order's temple and demanded an explanation before he gutted them. The Order explained their guru's prophecy, but admitted they had no such spell that would return Lobo to space. Lobo demanded to see their guru, ignoring their protests the he could tell Lobo nothing. Lobo recognized the guru's corpse as his old drinking buddy Chud, an extraterrestrial Antarean, and a religious conman who set up religions on hundreds of worlds, living fat off the profits and then leaving to start the grift over again somewhere else. Lobo said he must have gotten stranded on Earth, and after searching Chud's body, found his broken personal communicator. If the communicator was functional Chud would have called him for a pickup, but since he couldn't he created the Order of the Green Dragon to bring Lobo down to Earth and destroy it out of spite for being trapped on a backward planet. The cult was dismayed that Chud was a fraud, but decided that didn't invalidate his teachings, and asked Lobo if he would still fulfill the prophecy. Lobo agreed for fun, and the Order suggested setting off the apocalypse by dropping an atom bomb on a major fault line. Jason emerged from his chambers, saying he could not allow Lobo and the Order to pass judgment on mankind. He attacked Lobo with the earth magic of Gaia he'd recently discovered he possessed, but was no match for the bounty hunter. Jason was forced to return to the form of Etrigan and they engaged in furious battle.

(Demon III #13, 15) - Etrigan and Lobo brutalized each other, with the Order watching on in confusion, but they were very evenly matched. Lobo asked if they could call a timeout so he could destroy Earth, and then resume their fight. Etrigan was intrigued with Lobo's role as the destroyer, and proposed a truce so they could end humankind together. They went to Gotham City's to get a warhead to accomplish their mission, although both Etrigan and Lobo planned on turning on each other as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Lobo was set to detonate his nuke in the fault line of Megiddo, Israel, which would unleash an earthquake that would knock Earth from its' orbit. At Phantom Stranger's urging Klarion the Witch-Boy and Jason's friend Harry Matthews cast a spell that sent Etrigan and the falling bomb off to the Beyond Region. With no end of the world in sight the Order chucked Chud's corpse from a window in the monastery and set off to find someone new to follow, considering a guru in Delhi that taught tantric yoga.

Comments: Created by Alan Grant & Val Semeiks.