MELMOTH	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Grant Morrison

PERSONAL DATA

Aliases: Mordredd the Undead, Melmoth the Black, possibly many others
Occupation: Businessman, formerly King of the Sheeda
Place of Birth: Summer's End
Marital Status: Divorced
Known Relatives: Gloriana Tenebrae (second wife), Misty Kilgore (daughter), Unnamed first wife (deceased), The Croatoans (descendants)
Base of Operation: Mobile
Group Affiliation(s): The Sheeda
Gender: Male
Eyes: Black
Hair: None
First Appearance: Seven Soldiers: Klarion #2 (October 2005)
Creators: Grant Morrison

OVERVIEW

Melmoth was a king from the distant future who was usurped by his evil wife and tossed back in time to the 81st century B.C. Having made himself immortal through the Cauldron of Rebirth, he has been waiting for thousands of years to get revenge.

HISTORY

One billion years into the future, mankind has been replaced, either through evolution, genetic engineering, or other means, by the Sheeda. In the course of that time, the Sun has died, the Earth is a wasteland, and there is no culture to speak of. However, this all changed when a time ship from the distant past arrived in this bleak future. The Sheeda managed to reproduce the ship and thus followed their visitors back in time (over 5,000 years) to a period where mankind, aided by the New Gods, was at the height of civilization. Jealous of the people of this period, they stole its resources and laid waste to it, barely leaving enough for the humans to start over. This was the first Harrowing, and since that time, the Sheeda have used their time-dreadnaught to go back in time to find advanced civilizations, which they then destroy and scavenge.

Melmoth was the King of the Sheeda, but then his wife Gloriana Tenebrae usurped him and left him to die in the first Camelot (there've been several throughout history), which peaked in the 81st century B.C. There, he was known as Mordredd the Undead, but the civilization was completely destroyed by the Sheeda when it became a utopia.

Determined to exact revenge on his wife, Melmoth found the Cauldron of Rebirth and gained immortality. His activities since then are mostly unknown, though it is known that he posed as the devil in Roanoke in the 16th century and seduced enough of the women there to create a whole civilization of Sheeda half-breeds who now inhabit an underground town. Later, in the 19th century, he sold some of his immortal blood to Dr. Frankenstein, who used it to bring his monster to life.

In 1870, Melmoth, calling himself the Ringmaster of Maggots, attempted to destroy a town using maggot-hominids. However, he was stopped by the monster Frankenstein, and a battle ensued, culminating in Frankenstein shooting Melmoth's head off to prevent him from commanding his maggot-hominids. The monster, exhausted, sank into the ground, resting for over 130 years.

During the 20th century, Melmoth amassed funds for his battle against his wife, either through legal means or otherwise (one of his business pursuits involved mining for gold on Mars, using kids for slave labor.)

More recently, he encountered one of his genetic descendants, Klarion the Witch-Boy, who had arrived in Manhattan after escaping trouble in Limbo Town. Fascinated by Klarion's complete lack of knowledge of the modern world, and eager to plunder whatever Limbo Town had to offer, Melmoth immediately took the boy in, offering him and his cat Teekl food and a place to stay in exchange for service in the Deviants, a gang of kids. After getting them to steal a sapper drill for him, Melmoth manipulated the Deviants, attempting to make Klarion the new leader of the gang. This in turn caused the current leader Billy Beezer to get jealous and attack Klarion, who stopped Billy with the threat of a death curse. The other Deviants sided with Billy, and thus the boy was set up to be downsized from the gang.

That night, Melmoth sent Beezer to the gold mines. Upon discovering Melmoth's treachery, and his subsequent plans to storm Limbo Town, Klarion left the Deviants to their own devices and went home to try and stop Melmoth's plans. The other Croatoans, however, refused to believe Klarion's warnings and nearly burned him for heresy, but they were interrupted by Melmoth's arrival.

Melmoth captured the town easily thanks to his army, but Klarion became a monstrous Horigal and attacked, managing to rip one of Melmoth's arms off and knock him into the fire. Melmoth, being immortal, survived, but he retreated, vowing to eliminate the Witch-Boy and his people later.

Later, while touring the mine with his investors, the badly burned and disfigured Melmoth was attacked by the monster Frankenstein, who sought to finish the job he had begun 130 years earlier. Melmoth almost managed to enslave Frankenstein with a Grundy brand (which allows the user to control certain types of undead beings) but was struck at the last minute by a vengeful Beezer, allowing Frankenstein to feed Melmoth to the Martian horses. Melmoth was devoured, and the Martian mines were closed.

Melmoth is presumably still alive, though it will likely take time for him to regenerate, having been digested.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Melmoth is immortal, and thus killing him is extremely difficult, assuming it's even possible. He also possess some knowledge of magic and advanced science, and he is highly skilled at manipulating people.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Melmoth in chronological order click here