Known Powers:

The Darkness is an asexual shapeless symbiotic being that requires a host in order to gain mobility. It grants the host several powers and abilities, while the darkness gains use of the host's senses. Being covered by the Darkness has an almost tranquilizing effect on the host, making them very easy to control. The Darkness can regenerate itself and can survive in any environment. It can reproduce by way of fission, splitting into one or more copies. Each copy of the Darkness is mentally linked provided that they are in the same dimension.

Notes:

Not even the Darkness knew how it came to be. It seeped from the ground one day in a Terra Novan desert and slowly began to realize that it was sentient. It was aware, but the Darkness was without form, without sensing capabilities. It assumed the shape of whatever it was resting upon. It could move itself across the ground, but only with great effort. Only vaguely aware of its surroundings, the Darkness wandered the desert for many untold years.

Then one day something wonderful happened. The Darkness made contact with another living creature. The Darkness moved to surround the strange creature to examine it. As it did so, the Darkness felt as it made contact with the mind of the creature. It easily overpowered the creature, enforcing its will upon it.

With the first of many Joinings complete, a whole new world opened up around the darkness. It could see via the creature it covered and could smell and touch and taste. Later the Darkness learned that it had merged with a lowly snake, but for those first few days it was exhilarating.

In time since that first Joining, the Darkness moved on to larger, more powerful creatures. Wild animals were its first targets and then later people became unwilling hosts. With each upgrade in host, the Darkness' knowledge continued to grow. In time it realized that it existed only to control and dominate others. It was a symbiotic relationship, as the Darkness gave its host powers, while its host gave the Darkness its senses.

The Darkness strove to conceal its existence from the unsuspecting. Over time this became an almost paranoid obsession fearing discovery. These traits were passed on to the Darkness' hosts who tended to act in secret and strike from surprise.

At first the Darkness choose powerful warriors to bond with. They were strong hosts that the Darkness desired, but the constant fighting was at counter purpose with the goals of the Darkness. It became annoying having to constantly locate a new host. Fortunately, the Darkness discovered that every few years it could split into one or two copies of itself. Each copy housed the intellect of the Darkness and was in mental communication with each other. This way it could control more than one host and the hosts could work together for the Darkness.

Later, the Darkness came to realize that those who harnessed the forces of magic were those who held true power on this world. It chose female spell casters, as they tended to avoid the direct physical conflicts of their male counterparts. Locating its target, a sorceress of great power, the Darkness struck.

The sorceress, an elfin maiden named Ectolia, fought the darkness three days before submitting to the inevitable. She became the first Lady Darkness and went on to forge a mighty empire for her unseen master. At the direction of the Darkness, Ectolia sired a series of special children who became collectively known as the Ectolians. They were elfin-like women with glossy jet-black skin who lived only to serve Lady Darkness and by extension the Darkness itself. The Ectolians became the elite warriors and sorceresses and generals of the Empire of Darkness. They were fanatically loyal followers whose behavior mirrored that of the Darkness itself. They sought to conqueror all lesser beings.

The Empire of Darkness flourished for over 5000 years, conquering most of the Northern Continent on Terra Nova. There were always pockets of resistance to the Empire's advance. One such front came from the Sorceress Tabia and her warrior consort Leander. The two and their descendents were locked in a perpetual battle that spanned hundreds of years. Finally, some 45 years ago, the current Lady Darkness was able to defeat the duo and capture Tabia's Fortress. The Ectolian Nysa was charged with holding the fortress and learning its secrets.

Years later, that Lady Darkness passed the Darkness on to the sorceress known as Ashley, who became the newest Lady Darkness. Later, the Darkness was exiled to Earth far away from its Terra Novan Empire along with its host and her consort. Just recently the Darkness managed to return to Terra Nova. Having learned of the existence of other Earths in other dimensions, the Darkness now plans to extend its Empire to entire other worlds.

The Darkness has just completed the Joining, splitting off two copies of itself. One covered the Earth heroine known as the Enchantress, while the second enveloped the Morbane known as Lady Zee. The Enchantress version of Lady Darkness was dispatched back to Earth to lay the seeds of conquest, while the Lady Zee version has traveled to a different Earth, one where no one possesses super powers.

For more details on the current Lady Darkness, see her Biography. The Darkness was created by Spectrum.

Appearances:

Avengers # 2, 3, 5, 7-10, 12-13, 26-30, 32 - Present
Muskateer #23
Troubleshooters # 21, 26