History
Origin[]
The Lilin are a race of demons spawned by Lilith, along with the incubi and the succubi.[1]
Each apparently possessing unique superhuman powers, the Lilin are either immortal or extremely long-lived. It is undetermined if the first generation of Lilin were demon/human hybrids, the result of Lilith mating with other demons, or creations of some other type. Lilith and her children led a campaign of terror and death against humanity.[citation needed]
After Lilith's imprisonment (before the Great Cataclysm),[1] the Lilin were scattered across the dimensions, and those who left behind were either killed or fled into hiding (such as , some living among the humans and even breeding with them.[2]
Most of the Lilin, including Creed, didn't care much for the legend of Lilith, but others such as Pilgrim kept believing.[2]
Lilith's rebirth[]
In recent years, when the half-buried corpse of the Leviathan was discovered in the frozen wastelands of northern Greenland, the scientists exploring their find accidentally released Lilith. Using magic to peer into the future, Lilith saw that she was destined to fight a cabal of nine supernatural beings who threatened her existence. She summoned her children, but only Pilgrim, a being able to create teleportation rifts, answered her. Determined to keep the Nine from coming together, Lilith and Pilgrim set out to find other Lilin. They first located Creed, a former leader who had long ago given up the old ways, and Blackout, Lilith's mass-murdering vampire-like descendant. Though his Lilin blood was diluted by generations, Blackout pledged total loyalty to Lilith. She sent her three followers to the Quentin Carnival to make a preemptive strike on John Blaze, one of the Nine, but Blaze and his comrade Ghost Rider defeated them. Creed's body was destroyed in the encounter, and as he wanted nothing further to do with Lilin affairs, his undying head thanked the two. Lilith, however, promised Creed he would never find peace. Unknown to Lilith, Dr. Stephen Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, had become aware of the situation, and though he did not dare confront her in person less it weaken the dimensional barriers that held most of the other Lilin, he manipulated events to place the foretold Nine on a path to come together.[2]
Lilith located more of her progeny, including Doc (whose mystic knives could cut and create), Fang (able to turn into a formless mass) and Nakota (whose eyes could see and display activities from great distances). Fang was sent to kill the living vampire Michael Morbius, but the Lilin's blood transfused with Morbius' only resulted in Morbius gaining even greater vampiric qualities.[3] Just as the ranks of the Lilin began to regroup, with Skinner (a skeletal being wihth razor-sharp protrusions who dressed in the skin of his victims) and Meatmarket (whose rotted corpse-like body was comprised of his victims), so too did the Nine begin to fully emerge. Skinner, who had long since given up Lilith's cause and married a human, slew his family to spare them the horrors of his true heritage before pursuing Ghost Rider and Blaze in a failed attempt to kill them. Efforts to disperse the newly-formed Darkhold Redeemers and Nightstalkers failed as well. Impatient, Lilith opted to use her body as a gateway to return the rest of the Lilin to Earth. Dr. Strange transported the Nine to Greenland to confront the Lilin. During the battle, Lilith pulled the disembodied spirit of Dan Ketch, Ghost Rider's human host (seemingly slain in a recent battle with Blackout), through her, transforming it into a demonic beast. Ghost Rider finally defeated the demoness when he forced part of her through her own portal. With Lilith and the Lilin believed dead and defeated, the Nine dispersed, but Lilith had survived the encounter, feeding on Nakota, the lone surviving Lilin and the flesh of her dead children.[citation needed]
During the months Lilith remained in Greenland, letting the Lilin regrow inside her, the Nightstalkers encountered and destroyed Short-Circuit, another of her "grandchildren." When the time came to give birth to her brood again, she called for help and Outcast, a bestial Lilin who had refused to be at her side previously for reasons unrevealed, arrived. He tore her open, allowing the Lilin's rebirth. Pilgrim and a newly empowered Blackout were sent to find and capture the Nine (now informally known as the Midnight Sons), and they ran afoul of Ghost Rider. Centurious, Blaze's nemesis, confronted Lilith and offered an alliance, hoping to retrieve the Medallion of Power. The two launched an assault on Blaze and Ghost Rider using the Lilin and Centurious' forces, capturing Blaze as well as Ketch's mother Francis. At the same time, Morbius, fighting for control with the Lilin taint in his system, used the Darkhold to resurrect his slain love, Martine Bancroft, but actually infected her with the Lilin called Parasite. As Morbius began to give in to his Lilin blood, "Martine" manipulated him into giving his control over the it, after which he would act as Lilith's secret weapon within the Midnight Sons. Ghost Rider rescued Blaze, and the two were joined by Vengeance when Centurious and the Lilin arrived. The battle was interrupted when a near-amnesiac Zarathos was released from his prison within Centurious. Lilith, sensing the demon's power, brushed away Centurious and offered an alliance with him. Ghost Rider, however, gained control of the Medallion of Power and sent Zarathos, Lilith and the remaining Lilin to the Shadowside Dimension.[citation needed]
From there, Lilith launched a full-scale assault on Earth using a magical mist as a doorway into the world. As it spread across the planet, the Lilin arrived back on Earth, and soon confronted the Midnight Sons yet again. A Lilin time-manipulator named Bad Timing led the initial charge, but his defeat by the Nightstalkers led the Midnight Sons back to Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Lilith, Zarathos and several Lilin awaited. Elsewhere, Blackout, Meatmarket and Dark Legion (who could create duplicates of himself) viciously attacked a police station, intent on massacring the humans there. Vengeance (Michael Badilino) staved off the killers until Ghost Rider arrived, followed shortly by Dr. Strange, who offered his Sanctum Sanctorum as a refuge for the heroes during the chaos.[citation needed]
As the mists spread, more Lilin encountered several other of Earth's supernatural protectors. The Scarlet Witch found herself trapped in cyberspace, where she defeated the computerized Lilin called Pixel. Jack Russell, the Werewolf, stopped a mob of diminutive "goblin" Lilin from razing a small town. Devil-Slayer encountered the bizarre sub-race of baby-like Lilin called the Infinks.[citation needed]
Lilith had Pilgrim attempt to transport Ghost Rider and his companions to her, but they instead ended up in the lair of the obese Lilith Girth and his second, Skitter. Before Dr. Strange could retrieve them, they learned that there was a traitor within the Midnight Sons. Unbeknownst to them, that traitor, Morbius, was fighting alongside the Nightstalkers and the Darkhold Redeemers against a vast horde of Lilin on the Brooklyn Bridge. Morbius led them to a hideout, where he murdered Louise Hastings of the Redeemers and allowed the Lilin to infiltrate the sanctuary. Morbius then led the Lilin to Strange's Sanctum, where they attacked the remaining Sons. There, Strange helped Morbius gain control of his body again and they contained "Bloodthirst," Morbius' Lilin aspect. Scatter, a tiny Lilin withe the powers of speed and disorienting others' minds, gained access to the Sanctum, followed shortly by the enigmatic succubus Sister Nil. In the chaos, the building was destroyed, leaving Strange and the Sons surrounded by Lilin. They fought their way back to Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Lilith had consummated her union with Zarathos. When a dimensional rift was opened, the Midnight Sons' ally Caretaker ordered them to use the Medallion of Power to close the rift first before destroying Zarathos. They did so, and the power sucked Lilith and the nearby Lilin back to the Shadowside Dimension. When Zarathos was defeated some time later, Lilith promised to leave the Lilin behind and focus instead on the demon-child she and Zarathos conceived.[citation needed]
A few Lilin remained on Earth after this, however. Morbius found a fatally wounded Lilin child who had wanted no part of her mother's war. He tried to save her, despite his fellow son Hannibal King's objections, but ultimately failed. Morbius, now fully aware of what inhabited Martine, struck at her until Parasite emerged. The Lilin was almost immediately struck down by Embyrre, a member of the race known as the Fallen, who had emerged from the same dimensional rift that entrapped Lilith and her brood. Though Parasite no longer inhabited her form, Martine survived. Determined to rid himself of the Lilin blood in his system, Morbius underwent a a complete blood transfusion. Once drawn from his system, the Lilin blood, having interacted with Morbius's unique physiology, became a new sentient being called Bloodthirst. This new Lilin tried to kill its former host, but was destroyed instead. Meanwhile, Sister Nil returned to pursue Doctor Strange, who intrigued her. Initially he held her in mystic binds, and over time she became his ward as she attempted to learn about humanity. Skinner was found and transported to the facility known as the Black Hole, where he again encountered Ghost Rider. When the Black Hole was destroyed, Skinner escaped and went after Ghost Rider once more, but Ghost Rider and John Blaze literally beat the Lilin into submission. He was transferred to the Vault afterwards. Blackout also resumed his vendetta against Ghost Rider and forsook his Lilin lineage, returning to his mercenary ways.[citation needed]Miscellaneous
Type of Government
Representatives
Bad Timing, Blackout, Bloodthirst, Creed, Dark Legion, Doc, Fang, Girth, Infinks, Meatmarket, Nakota, Outcast, Parasite, Pilgrim, Pixil, Scatter, Short Circuit, Sister Nil, Skinner, Skitter, Spitfire
- See also: Category:Lilin
See Also
- 57 appearance(s) of Lilin
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Lilin
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Lilin
- 2 mention(s) of Lilin
- 9 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Lilin
- 6 image(s) of Lilin
- 24 representative(s) of Lilin