Asmodeus Villain
Real Name: Dr. Charles Benton.
Occupation: Surgeon, cult leader.
Identity: Secret.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no known criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Unrevealed.
Place of Death: New York City, New York.
Marital Status: Widower.
Known Relatives: Children (names unrevealed); wife (name unrevealed, deceased).
Group Affiliation: Sons of Satannish; pawn of Satannish.
Base of Operations: New York City, New York.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: DOCTOR STRANGE: SORCERER SUPREME #.
History: A former colleague of neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange, Charles Benton became despondent after the death of his wife in an automobile accident. Like Strange, Benton eventually turned to the occult; unfortunately for him, his studies in the occult led him not to the Ancient One's order of sorcerers at Kamar-Taj but to the Sons of Satannish, a cult of demon-worshipers dedicated to the demon Satannish, whom the cult confused with the Judaeo-Christian Satan. Each member of the Sons took the name of a demon from the Bible or other Abrahamic texts; Benton took the name Asmodeus, one of the demons from the Testament of Solomon. (What relationship that Asmodeus has with the demon Azmodeus, who has menaced the Ghost Rider, is currently unknown). Over time, Benton, as Asmodeus, came to control the Sons of Satannish as their leader.
Benton had always been resentful of Strange for his success, and secretly rejoiced when the latter's hands were crippled. (That Strange was exceedingly arrogant about his skill did nothing to endear him to any of his colleagues, either.) After a time, Benton discovered that Strange had become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, which also made Strange Satannish's natural enemy as well. At first, Benton visited Strange in his capacity as a surgeon, asking Strange to be a consultant at the hospital. Strange was initially wary because he'd parted ways with the hospital in bad terms years before. After several visits, however, Benton had seemingly convinced Strange to return as a consultant at their old hospital.
On Strange's third consulting visit, however, Benton and the Sons of Satannish ambushed him in an unused operating theater. Despite Asmodeus's planning, the Sons were no match for Strange. During this encounter, Asmodeus attempted to summon Satannish, and arrogantly tried to command the demon to destroy Strange. Satannish, however, decided that this affront by one of his "pawns" was too great, and killed Asmodeus, claimed his soul, and carried it to his hell dimension.
Whether Asmodeus will return in a new demonic form in the future has yet to be determined.
Age: 48.
Height: 5' 9".
Weight: 185 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Black.
Uniform: Red long-sleeved knee-length tunic with a gold open diamond on the chest, red pants, dark gold gloves, black boots, red half-face cowl set with horns on the side, black belt, red cloak with a high collar, metallic bracers.
Strength Level: Asmodeus possessed the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engaged in moderate exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Asmodeus was a sorcerer, a practitioner of magic. Strictly speaking, Asmodeus and other human sorcerers do not have superhuman powers; only the ability to manipulate mystical energy lies within an Earth-born sorcerer, not the energy itself. Theoretically, any living person can tap into an infinite amount of mystical energy. However, each person is limited by his or her own amount of training, discipline, knowledge, and enlightenment as to the mystical arts.
Asmodeus's magic was derived from three major sources: powers gained by tapping the universe's ambient magical energy and employing it for specific effects (teleportation, illusion-casting, energy projection); powers gained through invoking entities or objects of power existing in mystical dimensions tangential to his own; and powers drawn from tapping the energies of unwilling subjects, usually through death, to power his spells. (The last is commonly known as "black" magic.) The most commonly invoked entity was Satannish; Asmodeus invoked Satannish for every spell he cast, except for casting subtle illusions which were able to (temporarily) fool Doctor Strange, although it may be that Strange was just not paying attention.
464 points
| ST: 10 [0] | HP: 10 [0] | Speed:5.50 [0] |
| DX: 11 [20] | Will: 14 [10] | Move: 5 [0] |
| IQ: 12 [40] | Per: 14 [10] | |
| HT: 11 [10] | FP: 11 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Threshold: 30 | ||
| Dmg: 1d-2/1d | BL: 20 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 8 | Parry: 9 | DR: 12/4* (uniform) |
Languages: Ancient Green (Accented) [4]; Ancient Hebrew (Accented) [4]; English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Latin (Accented) [4].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Eidetic Memory [5]; Energy/3 (Pact: Satannish, -10%) [54]; Fit [5]; Healer 4 [40]; High Manual Dexterity 3 [15]; Hospital Rank 2 [8]; Illusion/3 [30]; Inert Matter/2 (Pact: Satannish, -10%) [18]; Magery 0 (Subtle Aura (-5 to Mage-Detection Rolls), +20%) [6]; Magery 1 (Illusion Realm Only, -40%; Solitary Ceremonial, +10%; Subtle Aura (-5 to Mage-Detection Rolls), +20%) [9]; Magery 2 (External Energy Only, -60%; Pact: Satannish, -10%; Solitary Ceremonial, +10%; Subtle Aura (-5 to Mage-Detection Rolls), +20%) [12]; Organization Rank 2 [4]; Spirit/3 [60]; Status 2 [0*]; Wealth (Very Wealthy) [30].
Perks: Spirit Contract (Satannish) [1].
Disadvantages: Black Magic Taint -5 [-15]; Callous [-5]; Post-Combat Shakes (12) [-5]; Secret Identity (Imprisonment or Exile) [-20]; Stubbornness [-5]; Vow (Destroy Dr. Strange) [-10].
Quirks: Ambitious [-1]; Careful Planner [-1]; Conceited [-1]; Lip Service (Hippocratic Oath) [-1]; Tiny Hands [-1].
Skills: Acting (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Artist (Drawing) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Brawling (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Climbing (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Connoisseur (Wine) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Detect Lies (H) Per+0 [4] – 14; Diagnosis/TL8 (H) IQ+4 [4] – 16; Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Electronics Operation/TL8 (Medical) (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Fast-Talk (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; First Aid/TL8 (Human) (E) IQ+4 [0] – 16†‡; Force Sword (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Gambling (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Holdout (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Innate Attack (Projectile) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Lifting (A) HT+0 [2] – 11; Occultism (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Physician/TL8 (Human) (H) IQ+4 [4] – 16†; Physiology/TL8 (Human) (H) IQ+4 [4] – 16†; Pickpocket (H) DX+1 [8] – 12; Running (A) HT+0 [2] – 11; Shadowing (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Sleight of Hand (H) DX+1 [8] – 12; Sports (Racquetball) (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Stealth (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Surgery/TL8 (Human) (VH) IQ+4 [8] – 16†; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 11; Throwing (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4] – 12.
Magical Realm Skills: Energy (VH) IQ+3 [12] – 15§; Illusion (VH) IQ+4 [12] – 16#; Inert Matter (VH) IQ+3 [12] – 15§; Spirit (VH) IQ+3 [12] – 15§.
Starting Spending Money: $80,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +1 from Wealth and +1 from Hospital Rank.
† Includes +4 from Healer.
‡ Defaulted from Physician.
§ Includes +2 from Magery.
# Includes +3 from Magery.
Role-Playing Notes:
Benton was almost as self-centered and arrogant as Dr. Stramge was before Strange lost the use of his hands; after learning some magic himself, Benton may even have been more arrogant. He hid his arrogance behind a facade of professionalism, but he was arrogant enough to believe he could command his patron demon.
| BRAWLING | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Brawling Punch | 1d-3 cr cr | C | 9 | – | – | 10 | |
| – | Brawling Kick | 1d-2 cr cr | C, 1 | n/a | – | – | 10 | |
Design Notes:
1. Hospital Rank is based on Merchant Rank but built as 4 points per level, lacking the "domination" clause as per guidelines in GURPS Social Engineering. Likewise, Organization Rank is based on Organized Criminal Rank found in Social Engineering, being 2 points per level.
2. My own thought is that Stephen Strange and Charles Benton would have worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital on Madison Avenue. YMMV, of course.