| FELIX FAUST | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky |
Felix Faust
PERSONAL DATA
Aliases: Uses the body of Dekan Drache, also briefly harbored the immortal spirit of Hermes Trismegistus.
Occupation: Sorcerer, professional criminal, former Curator of Special Literature at Star City Public Library.
Known Relatives: Sebastian Faust (son), Fauna Faust (daughter, deceased).
Group Affiliation(s): Former member of the Crime Champions, Injustice League I, Secret Society of Super-Villains; the Conclave; The Society; Sorcerer Kings
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 172 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown, balding
First Appearance: Justice League of America #10 (March 1962): "The Fantastic Fingers of Felix Faust!"
Creators: Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky
OVERVIEW
An ancient, powerful magician who has plagued the people of Earth on many occasions.
HISTORY
The first recorded whereabouts of the mighty sorcerer now known as Felix Faust is from circa 5.000 B.C., at which time he appeared in the legendary African empire of Kor. The king of Kor was Nommo, prime wizard of his time, and the guardian of the mystic power called the Flame of Life. The evil sorcerer battled Nommo, attempting to use the Flame's power to his own corrupt ends. Nommo then called the Flame of Life into himself, defeating the sorcerer by banishing him to another dimension.
In the mid-1920s, a madman and wannabe-magician named Dekan Drache stumbled upon the dimension and managed to open a portal to it. Released, the sorcerer destroyed Drache's soul and entered his body. However, though alive on Earth once more, the sorcerer found his powers drastically reduced.
Obsessed with restoring his mystic might, the sorcerer read the story of how the man called Faust had sold his soul to the devil for supernatural powers, and decided to do the same. Inspired by the story's main character, the sorcerer now called himself Felix Faust and began a never-ending quest for mystical knowledge. He studied dead languages in Vienna, archeology in London, and history at the Sorbonne. He visited the ruins of Ur and Lagash in Chaldea. He even unearthed a copy of the Necrominon, the book of black magic written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. He studied ancient parchments, old palimpsest, and the clay tablets of long-dead conjurers. Though actually managing to halt his aging quite successfully, Faust eventually realized that he would never again be as powerful as he was before his milliennia-lasting imprisonment. After having fathered two children, Felix Faust desperately sold the soul of his own son, Sebastian, to the demon Nebiros, in exchange for magic powers. To his dismay his son got the power instead.
About ten years ago, Felix Faust finally managed to put one of his master plans in motion. Speaking a forbidden conjuration, he summoned the hellspawn known as Abnegazar, Ghast, and Rath, immensely powerful creatures who had ruled the Earth for billions of years before being banished by beings known as the Timeless Ones. Faust hoped for the demons to give him the power he craved, but to summon them to Earth permanently, three magical objects were needed - the red jar of Calythos, the green bell of Uthool, and the silver wheel of Nyorlath. These objects had been hidden by the Timeless Ones where no normal man could possibly retrieve them. With the demons' aid, Faust mystically took control of members of the Justice League of America who then recovered the mystic artifacts. But before Felix Faust could use them to become the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, the Justice League managed to defeat him.
Felix Faust returned to fight the Justice League time and again, occasionally allying himself with other super-powered criminals such as the Crime Champions, Agamemno's Injustice League, and Funky Flashman's Secret Society of Super-Villains. Always hungry for mystic power, always failing to get it, Faust inevitably ended up in prison.
During one of his sentences, Faust made an honest attempt to reform. Paroled soon after, he became Curator of Special Literature at the Public Library of Star City. There, he came in contact with the secret journal of the ancient sorcerer Nostromus, whose evil spirit possessed Faust. The Justice League managed to defeat Nostromus and free Faust, but the evil had left its mark in him, and Felix Faust soon returned to his wicked ways, battling the JLA as well as other heroes, including Blue Devil, the Phantom Stranger, the Creeper, Man-Bat, Black Orchid, and Madame Xanadu.
Later, Faust learned that his arch nemesis Nommo - now known as Doctor Mist - was still alive and still possessed the Secrets of the Flame of Life. Faust kidnapped Mist and tortured him to reveal the location of the Flame, but with the help of Zatanna, Mist succeeded in driving the evil wizard away.
Once again, Felix Faust attempted to use the three talismans to summon the Demons Three and get his supreme magical power, but was thwarted by the Outsiders. About this time, Felix Faust's two children started appearing in public; the now-soulless Sebastian Faust, who did not choose the paths of his father and instead joined the heroic Outsiders, and Fauna, an animal-powered daughter with an evil streak, who fought the Outsiders as a member of Strike Force Kobra, later dying in one of their battles.
Felix Faust was briefly a member of the inner circle of the Conclave, an grouping of virtually every mystic on Earth, good and bad. He quit the organization shortly before it was taken over by the corrupt Amethyst.
Recently, Felix Faust realized that he had broken taboos from which there was no absolution, no dispensation. The only thing that could save him from an eternity in Hell (a reality he had seen), was if he could become immortal. He consulted the great ancients: Nicholas Flammel, Caligliostro, Vandal Savage, and they all pointed him towards the Egyptian wizard Hermes Trismegistus. Trismegistus' mummified body could be found at the Smallville Museum of Marvels, and with an ancient spell, Felix Faust managed to resurrect Trismegistus, hoping to learn his secrets of immortality.
Unfortunately, Trismegistus was not pleased to be resurrected. As an immortal, he had went to considerable trouble to commit suicide centuries ago. Believing death to be a better place for all, he now decided to destroy the living universe with his Emerald Tablet, a mystical artifact of destructive power. Felix Faust barely managed to flee and contact the Justice League for help. He convinced the League that the only way to save the universe was to recover the Emerald Tablet and use its power to defeat Trismegistus. Using her magic lasso, Wonder Woman was able to make sure that Faust told the truth, and so the League members did as he told them.
Unknowingly both to the Leaguers and Felix Faust himself, Hermes Trismegistus had possessed Faust, manipulating him to do his work. When the League brought back the Tablet, Trismegistus almost succeeded in using it to fulfill his plan of destruction. However, the resurrection of Trismegistus had weakened the barrier between life and death. The ghosts of former JLA members appeared and opposed him. The deceased Leaguer Ice made the ultimate sacrifice a second time, destroying the Emerald Tablet.
Felix Faust regained his senses, but the spirit of Hermes Trismegistus was now trapped inside him. By this, Felix Faust was granted the immortality he craved. Imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, Faust was still afraid to die, but now equally afraid to live, doomed to listen to Trismegistus' noiseless screams inside his own mind. -JLA Annual #2
Hermes Trismegistus finally resurfaced during the event known as “Black Baptism”, when the Egyptian wizard worked together with the demonic Diablos to open a permanent portal between Hell and Earth. The plan was thwarted by JLA and Felix’ son Faust. The soul of Hermes Trismegistus was seemingly destroyed and Felix Faust was freed from his influence. When last seen, Felix Faust attempted to make peace with his son Sebastian.
POWERS AND WEAPONS
Felix Faust is unschooled in physical battle, and a sub-par hand-to-hand combatant. He is, however, a master sorcerer able to control vast amounts of natural power affecting organic matter. Unlike more powerful magicians, Faust generally requires books or scrolls of spells to focus his powers.
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Felix Faust in chronological order click here (1962-2011) and here (2011-present)
PROFILE REFERENCES
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #8 (October 1985)
Who's Who Update '88 #1 (August 1988)
Who's Who in the DC Universe #7 (February 1991)