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You are nothing to me--less than a speck of dust on the back of an ant. And yet you challenge me? I will destroy you with less than a thought.

The Great Trickster[]

The Adversary is an ancient demonic entity of shadows that was present since the beginning of time and sought to destroy theuniverse so he could recreate as he wished.^[8][7] He originated from adimension of chaos and darkness hidden between themultiverse,^[9] which was described as "the greatest and last gate in reality",^[10] and wished to spread it throughout the universe, overturning order simply because he wished to.^[11] He saw himself as a gamester, as he toyed with the fate of the cosmos out of sheer enjoyment. TheCheyenne came to learn of the Adversary and seeing how he used deception and trickery to achieve his goals they referred to him as the Great Trickster.

The Adversary was dissatisfied with the overall pattern of what he had made and unconcerned with the fate of individual threads, sought to reweave it again until he would be pleased, not caring how many billions of sentient beings would die in the process. As the Cheyenne believed that all things were composed of energy; the Adversary wished to burn all of that energy completely to destroy the universe.^[3] WhenDanielle Moonstar's parents,William andPeg, went on a hunting trip,^[12] the Adversary enslaved and transformed them into theDemon Bear who went on to haunt Dani for years to come.^[13][14]

Forge[]

The Cheyenne Indians had long known of the existence of the Adversary, and their shaman,Naze, himself clashed with the evil god. Naze trained the mutant known asForge from birth to combat the Adversary. However, Forge rejected the life of a shaman and instead enlisted in the United States army and went to fight in theSiancong War. During the war, Forge's own command was wiped out by enemy soldiers. Anguished and enraged by the deaths of his men, Forge used the spirits of nine of his men to cast a spell that opened a mystical portal into the Adversary's dimension, through which came demons that slew the enemy soldiers.^[2]

Years later, Forge became an inventor working for the United States government. AlienDire Wraiths invaded his headquarters atEagle Plaza inDallas,Texas since he was working on weaponry to be used against them. Naze and various members and allies of theX-Men, includingStorm, joined with Forge in battling the Wraiths. In the course of this Wraith attack, Naze was killed and his form was duplicated by one of the Wraiths. That Wraith, in turn, fell under the mystical possession of the Adversary.^[15]

Many months later, the X-Man Storm, whose superhuman powers had been suppressed by one of Forge's inventions, went to Eagle Plaza to ask Forge to restore her powers. Forge was not there, but she instead encountered the Adversary, whom she believed to be Naze. The false Naze convinced Storm that Forge had fallen under the influence of the Adversary and was attempting to destroy the Earth. "Naze" and Storm went to the mountain in the Western United States that was the "heart of his magic". The false Naze had Storm go up the mountain to stop Forge, claiming that he could not go himself since Forge had set up mystical alarms and defenses against him (Indeed, Forge had no doubt sent up such alarms and defenses, not against Naze but against the Adversary himself.) Storm fought off the demons that attacked her and then stabbed Forge, only to learn that he was actually attempting to close the dimensional gateway through which the demons were coming. In attempting to escape the demons, Forge and Storm both fell through the gateway and were transported to the Earth of aparallel dimension, on which apparently no other human beings existed. Thus the Adversary had rid himself of the two people he regarded as the only real threat to his plans to destroy and remake the universe. He offered them the chance to become the "world spirits" of the new Earth he planned to create and to be the parents of its new human race.^[16]

The Adversary had by now capturedRoma, the goddess who acted as the guardian and caretaker of the known dimensions, and held her prisoner within her ownStarlight Citadel. Forge restored Storm's ability to use her superhuman powers, and they escaped the world to which they had both been exiled, only to become prisoners of the Adversary in the Starlight Citadel.^[17]

On Forge's native Earth, the Adversary had jumbled elements of many different time periods at Eagle Plaza. The X-Men fought against the resulting chaos while their actions were televised across the world by reporterNeal Conan. The X-Men, their friendMadelyne Pryor, and Conan were all transported to another dimension, where they invaded the Starlight Citadel. Forge and Storm regained their freedom as the X-Men fought and distracted, the Adversary, who now abandoned Naze's form and revealed his true appearance. The X-Men and Pryor willingly agreed to sacrifice their lives so that Forge could cast the spell needed to close the Great Gate and defeat the Adversary. In casting the spell Forge transformed the X-Men and Pryor into beings of pure energy, which Forge gathered together and hurled at the Adversary, forcing him through a mystical portal which sealed shut behind him. According to Forge, the deaths of the X-Men and Pryor had assured that the Adversary would be sealed away for all time. Forge and Neal Conan then returned to Eagle Plaza on Earth. Conan's telecast of the X-Men's battle against the Adversary and their deaths were seen by viewers all over the world.

However, Roma then used her great powers to return the X-Men and Madelyne Pryor to life. Roma explained that the Adversary must not be thus confined forever since, through the chaos he brings, his power could become positive change and growth. However, she said, the Adversary had indeed been "bound for an age" by Forge's spell.^[18]

Haven[]

In a subsequent turn of events, the Adversary re-entered the Earth realm, propelled by the misguided machinations of the nefarious villain known asHaven. Upon his arrival, the Adversary swiftly dispatched Haven, his malevolent collaborator, into bringing forth the apocalypse, only to face Forge, leading the government-endorsed mutant ensemble,X-Factor. The heroes worked together to bring down Haven and her cult.^[19][20]

Return[]

Later, the Adversary properly returned to the X-Men's dimension due to the misguided antics of Haven, having possessed her unborn child. The Adversary killed Haven upon his birth but was again confronted by another formidable adversary in the form of Forge and X-Factor, after Forge reclaimed his mystic heritage. This time, Forge had risen to the occasion, harnessing his ancestral mystic legacy with newfound determination. Forge marshalled his enhanced powers to confront the Adversary once more, emerging triumphant in a battle that tested the very fabric of reality.^[21]

The Adversary again returned, this time taking possession of Forge himself. ThankfullyX-Force managed to free Forge of his possession and ensnare the Adversary within a mental prison deep within the subconscious ofDr. Nemesis.^[22]

Navid Hassan[]

Navid Hassan became apprentice of theSphinx.^[23] When the Sphinx awakened Navid's power, he became possessed by the Adversary, the Sphinx's benefactor.^[8] After helping the Sphinx retrieve numerous Egyptian artifacts from the San Francisco Museum of Egyptian Culture,^[24] Navid and his mentor targeted the Grandview Museum inManhattan, where theMask of Amenhotep was being displayed in an exhibition. Navid was confronted by his sister, who had become a member of theHowling Commandos ofS.H.I.E.L.D.. During the ensuing fight against the Howling Commandos, the Adversary revealed that he had possessed Navid and started to mutate the boy's body to his image. Using the Mask of Amenhotep, the Commandos cast the Adversary away, forcing him to leave Navid's body, and disintegrating it in the process.^[8]

Black Panther[]

The Adversary returned and adopted the moniker of the Sefako, Twice-Risen God. He ventured to the realm ofWakanda, where he was venerated as a deity in theKinamasi Region. He unleashed the long forgottenOriginators to spread chaos across the nation, and defeatedShuri who was empowered by the Griot. He was then confronted by theBlack Panther and Storm who brought an end to his reign by sending him back to his dimension through a portal opened byZawavari.^[25]

Riverwalker[]

Upon the death ofRiverwalker's parents in car crash near theCrossroads, the young boy bargained with the Spirit World to be saved from the accident. The Adversary answered his prayers and saved Riverwalker, seizing the opportunity presented by the young boy's vulnerability. It latched onto him, an insidious shadow haunting his every step, whispering promises of power and retribution in exchange for servitude. Riverwalker, burdened by grief and longing for solace, unwittingly struck a pact with this sinister being, sealing his fate to its whims.^[26][27]

The Adversary, fueled by its insatiable thirst for dominance, laid out a twisted scheme that entangled the lives of both Riverwalker andEcho. The Adversary recognized Echo's significance—a threat to its machinations—and sought to erase her from existence by severing her familial lineage, thereby disrupting the delicate tapestry of destiny. Riverwalker, bound by his pact, became an unwilling pawn in the Adversary's grand design. He was tasked with delaying Echo's arrival at The Rez, the sacred ground where their paths would intersect. Each delay orchestrated by Riverwalker served to prolong the inevitable confrontation, granting the Adversary more time to enact its sinister plans.^[28]

The Adversary was a demonic being that embodies destruction andchaos. He predated thecurrent universe's creation and may have had an hand in the destruction of theprevious universe which led to the current one's creation. His full powers' extent is unknown, but he displayed massive destructive powers. He managed to destroy Forge's mountain of power, a nexus of magical energy, not only on Earth-616 but also on other realities. Besides this he could also use his powers to corrupt magic and realities with his chaos, as when he attempted to corrupt theStarlight Citadel which would allow him to affect theMultiverse and thetimestream.^[32] In his true form, the Adversary was not composed of physical matter but energy. He could be affected by magic but was invulnerable to most forms of physical force.^[3] Despite the threat he poses, the universe required the Adversary in order to exist, as he embodied chaos that opposed order, both of which needed each other to exist, and if he were to truly die then order would cease.^[10]

• Superhuman Strength^{[citation needed]}
• Superhuman Speed^{[citation needed]}
• Superhuman Stamina^{[citation needed]}
• Near-Invulnerability^[10]
• Summoning: He could summon demons and other supernatural creatures to do his bidding.^[33]
• Energy Manipulation: The Adversary seems capable of virtually any power-- including wielding massive amounts of energies.^[34] Seemingly possessed unlimitedmagical powers.^[35]
• Avatar Form: As the Adversary didn't exist in the material world, but was an noncorporeal entity existing in a higher dimension,^[36] he could affect reality only through avatars, either by creating vessels for him to use orpossess people.^[31]
• Illusions: He is adept atdisguise by taking forms of others or possessing them. His true form may not yet be revealed, although he has appeared casting off disguises to reveal a demonic shadow with glowing eyes.^[11] The Adversary also attempted to trap Echo in one of his illusions.^[7]
• Interdimensional Teleportation: He can enter and leave different planes of existence and dimensions at will as shown when he effortlessly accessedOtherworld,^[17] andcreate whole realities to act as prison for Forge and Storm.^[35]
• Reality Warping: He could affect not only reality, but through the Starlight Citadel he could corrupt and destroy all realities and future possibilities which horrifiedDestiny.^[33] While within Haven, the Adversarygranted her enough power to temporarily erase theX-Factor from reality.^[37]
• Time Travel: The Adversary could travel through time as shown when he chased down Echo.^[38] He also causedDallas tointermingle with its past and future iterations.^[35]
• Lifeform Fusion: He abducted Dani Moondtar's parents and fused them together to create the evil Demon Bear.^[14]
• Extrasensory Perception: The Adversary couldtrack any individual he targets, unless they are magically hidden.^[39]
• Resurrection: He could restore the life forces of others, bringing them back from death as shown Forge forced him to resurrect three members of X-Factor.^[40]
• Faith Empowerment: As a god, the more people believed in him, the more the Adversary's power grows.^[34][41]
• Soul Absorption: The Adversary can devoursouls,^[34] and evenabsorb entities like the Phoenix Force.^[7]
• Immortality: The Adversary had been present since the beginning of time, and is nearly impossible to be killed.^[7]

• Adversary first appeared as Naze inUncanny X-Men #188 and later in his true form inUncanny X-Men #227.
• It was suggested byAnnihilation that itself, the Adversary, theShadow King, theFirst Fallen, leBete Noir, and theGoblin Force are all different aspects of the same thing.^[30] Interestingly, several of them are known oppositional entities to thePhoenix Force.
  • The connection between the Adversary and Annihilation was first hinted inX-Men: Red (Vol. 2) #13 where Storm described the force behind the latter as "adversarial" and something she had faced before.

• "Adversary" is an English translation of the Hebrew śātān, usually rendered into English as Satan.

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