| Deities of Death | |||||||
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| Members | Dormammu Death Pluto Hela Mephisto | ||||||
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- Deities of Death is from the Non MAU video The Invincible Iron Man.
The Deities of Death are a group of powerful entities who embody the concept of death and destruction. They are responsible for destruction of China by the Demon Elementals and the legacy of the Mandarin.
Members[]
- Dormammu: Powerful interdimensional traveler.
- Death: Living embodiment of the end of life.
- Pluto: Olympian God of the underworld, death, and the dead. Possibly the leader of the group.
- Hela: Asgardian Goddess of Death.
- Mephisto: Demon in Christian mythology.
History[]
The formation of the Deities of Death and histories of each member is unknown.
Around the year 1000 BC, the Deities of Death became aware of a mortal man named Mandarin, who ruled China as emperor during what would be called the Mandarin Dynasty.
As the ruler of the first dynasty of China, he ruled through violence and evil. At some unknown point, he had children.
Mandarin began to fear death, knowing that his reign would end. He wanted to preserve his empire, so he had his people build a temple to him that was not completed until he was close to death. The people then carved a Terracotta Army to protect the temple.
Unsure of whether or not that would be enough, Mandarin decided to forge a covenant with the Deities of Death members Dormammu, Death, Pluto, Hela, and Mephisto. However, the pact carried a high price: Mandarin had to sacrifice every life within his empire.
To help Mandarin collect the souls, the deities gave him five Demon Elementals, a Dragon Spirit, Earth Spirit, Ice Spirit, Fire Spirit, and Wind Spirit. In the following year, Mandarin and the Elementals stripped the land of all living things. His temple soon became filled with the bodies of the dead.
When the last drop of innocent blood was spilt, the pact was sealed. The Elementals then became statues around one of Mandarin, waiting for a day when they would be needed once again.
For the souls, the deities gave Mandarin five jeweled rings, the Bands of the Underworld, that would grant him eternal life and all the power of the underworld. The bands were conduits to the afterlife.
Pluto took particular interest in Mandarin and watched over his progress.
What he did not know was that the gifts would not be his until he passed through the very gates of death. Eventually, Mandarin died and upon his last breath, the land poured over his city, the center of his empire.
Somehow, he was placed in a large coffin in a hidden room at the bottom of his temple. Large dragon statues where placed on it in the hopes that it would prevent it from ever being opened.
His legacy became a myth. His descendants, who survived the slaughter sought the bands in the hope of resurrecting their ancestor. Meanwhile, the Jade Dragons guarded over the city stopping any who would raise the temple from the Earth. Eventually, Tony Stark of Stark Enterprises used his technology to raise the temple. The last of Mandarin's descendants, Li Mei, allied with Stark to gather the bands from the resurrected Elementals. She became possessed by Mandarin's spirit and attempted to kill Stark, as part of the prophecy of the Iron Knight. Tony reminded her of their love for each other and Li Mei took off the bands, stopping Mandarin but killing herself in the process.
Background[]
Though none of the members are named, they all have the same appearance as the characters.
Dormammu's model is based on the version seen in Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, which had a cameo by Li Mei. Hela would reappear in Hulk vs Thor and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
The team was made up for the video. The characters have not yet ever teamed up together.
The team appeared in a deleted scene that was supposed to be the opening and origin of Mandarin. Since nothing in the video contradicts the events, they can be considered canon.