Blaze and Satanus

Blaze and Satanus are demonic hybrid children of the Wizard Shazam and an unnamed Hellhound demoness who assumed human form in order to seduce Jebediah during his time as Champions of the Cannite gods, calling himself Vlarem or the Champion. Shortly after their birth, the twin children would be banished by the Cannite gods along with their mother back to their home netherwolf, having found his act to be displeasing as Jebediah learned the lesson to resisting sexual temptation. However, the two would embrace their demonic heritage and forsake their humane one, with Blaze holding the most hatred for their father.[2][3]

Blaze and Black Adam standing over Shazam as seen in The Power of Shazam! #10 (December 1995).
Art by Jerry Ordway.

Later in her life, Blaze is involved in the creation of Superman's enemies the Silver Banshee and Skyhook. A red-skinned demoness with horns, she disguises herself as Metropolis nightclub owner Angelica Blaze in order to steal souls. In one altercation, Superman follows her to Hell to fight for the souls of Jimmy Olsen and Perry White's son Jerry (who, in fact, was the son of Perry's wife Alice and Lex Luthor). Superman manages to save Jimmy Olsen, but Blaze succeeds in killing Jerry White, whose selfless sacrifice saves his soul.[4]

Conversely, Satanus resembles a traditional demon, with large horns that protrude from the front of his head and dark red skin. He wears a heavy Roman-style helmet which buries his face in shadow. Blaze and Satanus fight each other for possession of Blaze's domain, using Superman as a pawn. Satanus has an Earthly identity and disguises himself as Collin Thornton, the publisher of Newstime magazine, who had previously hired Clark Kent as editor.[5] At one point, Blaze also clashed with Jared Stevens.[6]

In the Powers of Shazam!, Blaze appears as the main antagonist in the first few arcs of the book, being responsible for the creation of Sinclair Batson, the rich cousin of Billy Batson who vehemently denies relations, through the wishes of his corrupt uncle, Ebeneezer Batson. She also plots to extract her revenge on her father as well as release the ultimate evil entity dwelling within the Rock of Eternity. She teams up with Black Adam but is foiled by the combined might of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and many of his allies in the process. Satanus also appears as a ally to foil his sister although he later returns to rescue her from certain doom.

Blaze and Satanus are two of the many supervillains involved in the Underworld Unleashed crossover event. Both are pawns in the demon Neron's plans to give many of the DC Universe's supervillains and superheroes their heart's desires in exchange for their souls or for completing a task for him.[7]

Satanus reveals to Superman that he is Collin Thornton when the Spectre arrives in Metropolis as part of his mission to destroy all evil magic during the Day of Vengeance miniseries as part of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s plot.[8]

Blaze and Satanus are major characters in the Reign in Hell miniseries. In this story, they have become the rulers of Purgatory and lead a rebellion against Hell by offering "hope to the hopeless", which has never happened before. They are opposed by Neron, other demons and the magical superheroes of the DC Universe.[9]

Blaze contacts Mary Marvel, offering to restore her lost powers in exchange for killing Freddy Freeman so that she can have his powers. Mary appears to go along with it, seemingly poisoning Freddy; however, when Blaze arrives, Freddy gets up and fights her, eventually impaling her on an iron statue and using his lightning to send her back to Hell. Now, Blaze seems to be interested in manipulating Osiris.[10]

Satanus sends the Justice League to Hell, where the League thwarts Satanus' plans to get the nine pieces of Dante's mask. Satanus attempts to use the mask to become all-powerful, but is prevented by Plastic Man, who is possessed by the mask. The mask is then destroyed by the combined efforts of the League and Zauriel helps the League escape from Hell.[11]

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Blaze and Satanus' histories of the characters changes. Unlike the previous iterations, it is unknown if the character's relationship with the Wizard Shazam remains intact, as the character is changed to be an aboriginal deity whose real name is Mamaragan. The nature of their abilities and characterization differs; Blaze is portrayed capable of speaking in simplified language and Satanus is portrayed as a supreme overlord of an extra-dimensional demonic underworld correction the Dark Realm. Relations between the characters also isn't specified.

Blaze is revealed to be an inmate at the block, having previously been trapped in a xeno-containment unit by Dr. Shay Veritas, who felt forced to trapped her due to her hostility when the Block accidentally brought her aboard the research facility alongside a portion of her home realm. She is later set freed when Veritas attempted to persuade Blaze to defeat Supergirl and Lobo. While the two were later teleported out of the Block to prevent further damage, Blaze escapes after using a transmuted computer terminal to determine the location of Supergirl and track her down and uses her magic to teleport out.[12]

In her original incarnation, Blaze is considered a powerful demon of supernatural might; In her home called the Nether Realm, her power is virtually limitless and can both animate rock and control all of the fire and lava within the realm at will. Additionally, she has the power to control the souls of others, transport herself between dimensions, and alter both her size and appearances. Those who fall prey to her demonic powers are forced to do her bidding as her servants.[13] In much later storylines, she eventually absorbs the power of her brother, ascending her to higher levels capable of enthralling the likes of Etrigan and ruling Hell in place of both her brother and Neron.[9] In personal combat, she is strong enough to engage in battle with Captain Marvel (Freddy), who remarked her strength to be equal to that of the demigod Hercules.[10]

After the New 52, Blaze retains some of her sorcery in which includes transmutation, invisibility, superhuman and the power to bend space. Veritas speculated, despite admitting to not fully comprehending Blaze's powerset, that she was the only being capable of contending with both Supergirl and Lobo, a Kryptonian and Czarnian respectively.[12]

In his original incarnation, Satanus is considered a powerful demon of supernatural might like his sister; he is capable of producing eldritch energies, transporting himself through different dimensions, and also alter the size and appearance of himself at will. He sometimes carries a mystical gnawed, forked staff that can produce blasts of mystical hellfire.[14] Unlike her sister, however, he retains a sliver of powers inherited from his father in which allows for supernatural effect by invoking "Shazam"; when used, he reverted Neron to a more vulnerable, depowered form.[9] After the New 52, Satanus's power differs slightly; he possess a supernatural physical prowess derived from a demonic nature and has powers including dimensional travel, the ability to alter reality, and flight.[15]