First Appearance: Thor
#127Origin Issue: not yet revealed
PLUTO
First Appearance: Thor
#127
Origin Issue: not yet revealed
Real Name: Pluto
Aliases: Hades (his Greek name),
Hayden P. Hellman, Mr.
Pluto, Link, Death-Man, Dark Lord, DisPater, Mantus (Etruscan name), Zeus
Katachthonius (“Zeus of the Underworld”)
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 520 lbs
Eyes: Gray, pupils are usually invisible
Hair: Black, bald on top
Distinguishing Features: None
Occupation: God of death, movie
producer
Citizenship: Olympus and Monarch of Hades
Place of Creation/Birth: Unrevealed, possibly Olympus
Known Relatives:
Persephone (niece/wife),
Chronus (father), Rhea (mother), Zeus, Neptune (brothers), Chiron
(half-brother), Hera, Demeter, Vesta (sisters), Ouranos (grandfather, deceased),
Gaea (grandmother), Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hercules, Hermes,
Triton, Consus, Vertumnus (nephews), Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Eileithyia,
Hebe, Discord, Helen, Iris, Pandia, Pomona (nieces), Aclepius, Cupid, Janus,
Deimos, Phobos, Pan (great nephews), Harmonia (great niece), Circe, Hecate,
Prometheus, Eprimetheus, Atlas (cousins), Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Japetus,
Oceanus, Ophion (uncles, the Titans), Dione, Mnemosyne, Theia, Tethys, Themis
(aunts, Titanesses), various other relatives
Known Allies: Ares, Hippolyta, Ulik Cerberus, mutates
from an alternate future Earth, Mephisto, Hela, Seth Ahpuch, Erishkigel II, Yama
Known Enemies: Hercules, Zeus, Thor, Odin, Stranger,
Thing, Hulk, Champions of Los Angeles, Demogorge
Group Affiliation: Gods of Olympus, Lords of the
Splinter Realms; former leader of Cult of Hades
Intelligence: Normal (4/10)
Strength: Superhuman Class 75 (9/12)
Speed: Superhuman (6/10)
Stamina: Godlike (9/10)
Durability: Demi-godlike regenerative (12/14)
Agility: Superhuman (6/7)
Reflexes: Superhuman (6/7)
Fighting Skills: Excellent hand-to-hand combatant, skilled in use of axe and
sword
Special Skills/Abilities: None known
Superhuman physical powers: In addition to the above
listed physical abilities, Pluto possesses virtual immortality; the ability to manipulate
vast cosmic/mystical energies for numerous purposes including powerful force bolts,
creating nearly impenetrable force fields, creating interdimensional apertures to
transport himself across dimension, creating mystical flame (to which he is himself
immune) or weapons of mystical flame; he can also weaken an opponent with his touch
Superhuman Mental Powers: none
Special Limitations: Pluto is more powerful in Hades
than in other realms, due to his ability to manipulate the energies of the underworld
Source of Superhuman Powers: Pluto is a member of the
race of superhumans known as the gods of Olympus
Personal Weaponry: Battleaxe made of nearly
indestructible adamantine through which he can focus his force bolts if he so chooses
Other Accessories: Can create various weapons as needed
out of mystical flame, such as a spear or sword, whose touch can paralyze an opponent,
Helmet of invisibility, enabling its wearer to be invisible to even other Olympians
Origin: The eldest sons of Titans Chronus and Rhea, Pluto was confined with his siblings in Tartarus, the Olympian underworld, because Chronus feared the prophecy that one of his offspring would overthrow him; however, Rhea secretly gave birth to another child, Zeus, how freed Pluto and the others from Tartarus upon reaching adulthood. The siblings joined forces to dethrone their father, Pluto using a helmet of invisibility during the battle. Having conquered Olympus, Zeus, Pluto and Neptune cast lots for creation with Zeus claiming the sky, Neptune the seas, and Pluto the underworld, responsible for watching over the imprisoned Titans. Eventually desiring companionship, Pluto fell in love with the goddess Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Pluto took Persephone by force, and Persephone agreed to stay with him, but to appease her family she had to spend equal parts of the year on Earth and in the underworld. Rarely leaving his realm, Pluto was often visited by people seeking advice from the shades of the dead or on heroic quests, such as Orpheus, Odysseus and Aeneas. As part of his Twelve Labors, Hercules broke into Hades and fought with its three-headed watchdog Cerberus, earning Pluto’s enmity. As Christianity began replacing the worship of the Olympians, Zeus limited Pluto’s control over the souls he was allowed to claim, and Pluto grew frustrated with his lessened power. Zeus also required Pluto to remain in Hades as its ruler unless he could find a fitting replacement. Furious, Pluto led his forces in an attack on Olympus, nearly triumphing, but the Olympians conquered Pluto’s forces through the efforts of Ares, god of war.
Pluto aided the Roman conqueror Tyrannus in attempting to usurp the throne of King Arthur, but the Black Knight (Sir Percy of Scandia) defeated them with the Ebony Blade. In recent year, plotting to make Hercules rule Hades in his place, Pluto disguised himself as mortal film director Hayden P. Hellman and recruited Hercules to star in a movie. When Hercules signed the binding contract, he was bound to Hades forevermore. Thor, son of Asgardian god Odin, fought through Hades’ forces to free Hercules until Pluto, disgusted by the display, shredded the contract and resumed his rule. Seeking to add the Earth to his realm, Pluto recruited a group of mutates from an alternate future (Reality-6943) and utilized them against Asgardians Thor, Sif and Balder, but Zeus noticed Pluto’s folly and forbade him from taking over Earth, banishing Pluto to Hades once again. Turning his attentions to Asgard, Pluto marshaled his forces in a mighty attack during a time when Odin could not fight back. The Asgardian death goddess Hela and Thor tried to stop Pluto, and Thor was narrowly saved from the killing blow of Pluto’s axe by the Norns (aka the Fates, who spin the web of destiny). When Odin regained his full power, Pluto and his forces retreated from Asgard. In a new plot, Pluto teamed with Ares to drive Asgard and Olympus to war with each other. Pluto kidnapped the Asgardian Krista, framing Hercules and causing Thor to attack Olympus, but Pluto’s plot was again exposed; he fled to Manhattan with Krista and balled Thor and Hercules, and departed when he realized his plot was ruined.
Pluto next allied with several Hell-lords and other demons in a complex scheme, forcing Zeus to stand down in order to avoid the combined attack. Pluto had Zeus command his supporters Venus (Aphrodite) and Hercules to marry Pluto’s allies Ares and Amazon queen Hippolyta, an event that would neutralize two of Zeus’ key champions in any future conflict with Pluto since Olympians were legally forbidden to oppose their spouses. Hercules’ allies, the mortal heroes later known as the Champions, intervened and fought Pluto’s forces before convincing Zeus that Pluto’s alliance with the demons must have been contingent upon his promising Zeus’ death; realizing he had been tricked, Zeus called off the weddings and banished Pluto back to Hades.
Pluto later allied with the Titan Typhon, sending him against Hercules, but Typhon was humbled by the Avengers. When the cosmic Stranger noted a massive energy smelter Pluto had created eons ago in hopes of destroying Olympus, he traveled to Hades with coerced allies the Thing and Hulk to thwart this plot. Pluto hoped to drive the Stranger into the smelter, but was driven in himself and wrong believed dead. Seeking revenge on Thor, Pluto allied with Thor’s brother, the trickster god Loki, and kidnapped mortal Jane Foster to lure Thor to Hades. Loki then transported the powerful Asgardian Rock Troll Ulik to Hades to fight Thor, but Ulik turned on Pluto, who ultimately had to be saved by Thor. Humbled, Pluto returned Thor and Foster to Earth. Pluto and several other gods and demons presiding over realms of the dead, including Mephisto and Hela, chose to combine their realms to increase and share their power, but this act inadvertently released the entity Demogorge the God-Slayer, who quickly devoured all those involved; Thor reversed the process, his valor convincing Demogorge that the current gods’ time had not yet come.
After Hercules was injured in a battle alongside the Avengers, Zeus grew furious and sentenced the Avengers to life in Hades. Pluto enjoyed torturing the heroes until they escaped and won Zeus’ favor once again. Later, seeking to exploit the temporary warrior’s madness afflicting Thor, Pluto allied with Ares and attacked Thor, who savagely beat Ares. Pluto convinced Zeus that Thor had initiated the attack and Zeus prepared to go to war with Asgard until Ares admitted that Thor was innocent. Zeus furiously banished Pluto to Hades, this time forbidding Pluto ever leave his realm again. Communicating in secret, Pluto and Loki agreed to trade foes with each other, and Loki unsuccessfully manipulated Typhon and other Hades denizens into attacking Hercules. Keeping his end of the bargain, Pluto astrally convinced Thor’s enemy the Flame (Hrinmeer the elf/fire demon hybrid) to fight against Thor, but Loki foiled the plot for his own reasons. Somehow leaving Hades again and disguising himself as the mortal Link, Pluto formed a group of mortals into the Cult of Hades, designed to worship him. He manipulated Cult member Victoria into gathering Hercules and the other Champions, in whose minds Pluto had placed a false spell that would resurrect one of the mighty Titans on the Earth to ravage it. The Champions and mutant heroes X-Force turned the Titan against Pluto, however, forcing Pluto to abandon the plot.
Now on friendlier terms with Zeus, Pluto helped Olympus recover after it was pillaged by the Dark Gods of Narcisson. Pluto’s ally Hippolyta desired revenge on the Fantastic Four for their defeat of Hippolyta’s mortal minions, the Bacchae, and Pluto supported her in kidnapping several of the Fantastic Four’s allies. The Fantastic Four and Hercules convinced Persephone to change Pluto’s mind, and he let the humans return to Earth. At the request of the Asgardian Enchantress, Pluto helped mortal heroes the Thunderbolts enter the Hell-lord Mephisto’s realm. When the powerful extradimensional entity Dormammu sought to conquer the various realms of the dead, Pluto allied with Hela and the Hell-lord demons to oppose Dormammu, using an idea proposed by the mortal Hellcat to drive Dormammu away. The Lords of the Splinter Realms – an ancient coalition of gods and demons ruling various nether realms – then allies with the mortal ruler of Limbo, Magik (Jimaine Szardos/Amanda Sefton) to vanquish the Archenemy, a mystical threat to their realms.
Pluto teamed with the Asgardian sorceress Lorelei, the Ice Queen, in binding the mortal Samantha Parrington to an Asgardian chooser of the slain, a Valkyrie, planning on using the Valkyrie to command an army of the dead with which to conquer Earth. Pluto betrayed Lorelei, though, trapping her in another Valkyrie form and leaving her amnesiac on Earth. Establishing a temple on Earth that would hide his actions from Zeus, Pluto took his Valkyrie and marshaled his forces in an attack on Earth, though Earth’s Defenders team opposed them. Regaining her will, Lorelei fought Pluto for control of Valkyrie while the Defenders smashed the temple down, an act which allowed the realms of the dead free access to Earth beyond Pluto’s control. Valkyrie (Parrington) broke free from their control, and Zeus, finally noticing Pluto’s deception, promised to punish Pluto, who fled with Lorelei at his side. Apparently in Zeus good graces once again, Pluto and other gods later assumed mortal identities on Earth, with Pluto establishing himself as a leader in organized crime.
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