Brass Bishop

Character Name
Real Name	Bishop Benedicto De Vica Severtes
Aliases
Group Affiliations
Past Affiliations	Beatriz
Relatives
First Appearance	Alpha Flight #14 vol 2
Current Status	Deceased (Resides with Mephisto)
Height
Weight
Eyes
Hair

History

Benedicto De Vica was a Bishop in Spain, who served the church loyally for many years. One day in his church, he saw a woman who he became immediately infatuated with. Realizing that the church authorities would never allow anything to come from his infatuation, he turned to darker powers. Mephisto promised that he resolve Benedicto's problem in return for his soul. Mephisto, being duplicitous in nature, tricked Benedicto, who was horrified to learn that Beatriz had become a nun. Benedicto vowed that as both good and evil had betrayed, then neither would have his soul when he died. From ancient texts, he learnt of a suit of brass that would hide the soul of the wearer, but the seams of the suit had to be sealed with the blood of an innocent woman. Mephisto, realised that a soul that was rightfully his had disappeared, so sent one of his messengers, Dargil, to seek it out. The Brass Bishop removed Dargils head[1] and demanded that Mephisto release him from the deal. Mephisto stated that he would only trade Benedicto's soul for that of Beatriz, but this was something Benedicto vowed never to do.

As the years passed and Benedicto lived beyond his natural years, his vow faded into a distant memory and he wished for a release from the longevity of his life. To this end he built a tower to heaven in a bid to take the soul of Beatriz. At the top of this tower Benedicto attempted to aquire the Solomon Seal, which would open the gates to heaven. He was thwarted at this time by the Alphan Puck and the sorcerer Modred.[2]


Years after Pucks first encounter with the Brass Bishop, Alpha Flight are assigned to investigate the disappearence of the Canadian Prime Ministers wife. She had been in the town of White Cross in Newfoundland on personal business, when all contact with the town was lost. When the team arrived in the town they found it deserted and split up to garner information. Down by the docks Puck and Flex discovered the commercial Ice Clearence ship The Navigator. Chained to the bow of the ship, is the Captain, who seemed to be possesed. He spoke of his Master then of running away. Puck told Flex to bring the rest of the team and they released the Captain. In the church, they discovered the rest of the townspeople, apart from the men who all seemed to be missing. Apart from one young girl, everyone else seemed to be in a trance and the girl told of a tower in the woods. Alpha went to investigate. The team crash landed, due to an incident on their way to the woods, but they managed to reach the tower the girl spoke of. There, they were confronted by The Brass Bishop and the entranced men who had been used as labour to construct the tower. A battle began and Puck warned the team not to let Dargil bite them, because they will become entranced and in thrall to Benedicto. They eventually mananged to enter the tower and went in search of the Solomon Seal to prevent it falling into Benedicto's hands. Modred had hidden the seal during the first encounter. Puck, while searching for the seal, was bitten by Dargil. Entranced, he led the Brass Bishop to the top of the tower and the location of the seal followed by Alpha. Pucks soul had actually been transported to one of the many extradimensional limbo's. Here he attempted to rally the souls of all the townspeople. At the top of the tower and with the seal in his posession, Benedicto attempted to open the gates of heaven, but the body of Puck refused to go through to claim the soul of Beatriz. Instead, he used the seal to crack open the brass suit, releasing Benedicto's soul. He managed this with strength gathered from the collective souls of the towns people. Another gateway appeared and through it stepped Mephisto who took the soul he had been promised years earlier.[3]

Footnotes

1. The Brass Bishop retains Dargils Head as a servant, which is connected to his suit by a chain.
2. This encounter told as a recap by Dargil : Alpha Flight #16 vol 2
3. Alpha Flight #14-16 vol 2