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| Charles Benton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Charles Benton | |
| Reality: | Earth-616 |
| Aliases: | Asmodeus |
| Alignment: | Villain |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Race: | Human |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Cult leader |
| Affiliation: | Sons of Satannish |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 1969 (publishing year) |
| Place of death: | Tiboro Dimension |
| Base of Operations: | New York |
| First: | Doctor Strange, Vol. 1 #169 |
| Final: | Doctor Strange, Vol. 1 #178 |
| Creators: | Roy Thomas; Dan Adkins |
Charles Benton was a mystical supervillain who went by the name of Asmodeus. He was a recurring foe of Doctor Strange and first appeared in a flashback sequence during the origin story in Doctor Strange, Volume 1 #169. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Dan Adkins. His final appearance was in Doctor Strange #177 with a brief appearance in issue #178.
Biography[]
Charles Benton was a former medical colleague of Doctor Stephen Strange. Charles wanted to emulate all aspects of Stephen's life, including his later career as Sorcerer Supreme. Charles became a cult leader calling himself Asmodeus and formed a mystic coven called the Sons of Satannish. As a masked villain, Asmodeus fought against Doctor Strange several times. (DS: 169)
Charles coveted the mystic tome known as the Vishanti. He tried stealing it from Doctor Strange who, along with his paramour Clea, fought against him. Asmodeus and the Sons of Satannish banished Strange and Clea to an otherwordly dimension and Strange allowed him to believe that he had successfully taken the Vishanti from him. When he tried to read it however, he learned to his dismay that it was but an illusion. Benton's plan was to learn one very important spell; one that would grant him ultimate mastery of the world - the Spell of Fire and Ice. With this spell, Charles hoped to summon the Asgardian giants Ymir and Surtur - avatars of ice and fire to the Earth dimension. The energy required to power the spell was great however and so Asmodeus needed to recite the Trance of Transferal, which siphoned all of the mystic powers away from the Sons of Satannish and imbued him with their life energies.
After doing so, Asmodeus cast another spell which gave him the appearance of Doctor Strange. He went to Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum where he consulted with the Ancient One. The Ancient One, not immediately realizing that he was dealing with an imposter, allowed Asmodeus access to the true Vishanti. Though he only had a few moments to peruse it, he succeeded in learning the Spell of Fire and Ice. By this point however, Doctor Strange had escaped from the other dimension and returned to the Earth realm. The two fought against one another, but Charles had a weak heart and could not endure a prolonged mystic conflict. He suffered an intense heart attack, but before dying he invoked the words, "Thermidorus, Frigibus, Nihilius", which freed Surtur and Ymir from their prisons. (DS: 177)
Abilities[]
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Notes & Trivia[]
Appearances[]
Asmodeus appeared in six issues of the original Doctor Strange comic book series. His first appearance was actually in flashback in Doctor Strange #169 where he was seen in his civilian identity of Charles Benton. His first modern appearance was in issue #173 where he was also seen in his Benton identity. Along with his cult brethren, the Sons of Satannish, Asmodeus was the central villain in issues #175-178. Asmodeus also appeared in Giant-Size Defenders #2.
See also[]
- Doctor Strange
- Satannish
- Sons of Satannish
External links[]
References[]
 This article relates to characters who are villains of Doctor Strange. Major Villains
Recurring Villains
Minor Villains
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