Lady Death

• Also known as Hope,Illadra,Lady Demon

Lady Death begins her life in comic books as the siren who inspires Evil Ernie to achieve Megadeth, but she was not always the Queen of Hell, and she did not always seek to destroy all life on Earth. As we learn once she gets her own mini-series and her past unfolds, she was once a human girl named Hope in medieval Europe, the daughter of nobleman, Matthias and his Viking wife, Marion. Hope's mother dies and 10 years later she still lives with her father. One night, Hope sees her father feeding his the souls of his subjects to demons, and he constantly sends his men off to unnecessary wars and death, including Hope's friend, Niccolo. The people are unhappy with Matthias' actions, and rumors of witchcraft circulate. Plague follows the armies back home, and the town forms a mob to take Matthias out of power. He is assassinated. The townspeople also burn Hope at the stake for witchcraft, and out of desperation she chants the spell she heard Matthias use to summon demons. The demons allow Hope safe passage to Hell as long as she renounces her humanity, and so Hope "lives" on, but must face her father in Hell. Luckily, Lucifer sees her as a useful weapon to use against Matthias. He adds to her power to help her in this cause. When Lady Death learns that Matthias did not best Lucifer in battle, but is actually possessed by him, she goes to defeat Lucifer herself, and she succeeds. Lady Death absorbs Lucifer's soul and he curses her never to again walk the Earth as long as the living walk the surface. Lady Death turns Hell into the Endless Graveyard with one grave for every soul on Earth she must collect before she might return.