Satan

Satan is a character from the Spawn universe and the absolute ruler of Hell. His role was represented by many demonic lords, including Malebolgia and Mammon, until Satan himself made his debut in Spawn #158.

Appearance
Satan made his first appearance in Spawn #158. He stands at 7 feet tall with red skin, red-glowing eyes, inhumanly muscular with a prehensile tail twin God behind the newly empowered Katie Fitzgerald.

History
The Lord of Light and Prince of Darkness, Satan is the supreme ruler of Hell, and twin brother to God. They are but two of the many children of the Mother of Existence, the creator of the universe and gods and goddesses. The Mother gave each of her children a world to mold in whatever way they desire, and gave the Earth to God and Satan. Of all her offspring, they became her most bitter disappointment. The two squandered their talents in endless squabbling, making the Earth their playground. Whatever one created, the other destroyed. Over the millennia, their bickering grew into hatred, and in the end they declared war on one another. Despite their endless hatred, they created something special and unique from the energy of The Mother herself, the beings known as humankind. While created to serve as God's lapdogs, Satan gave them the gift of free will. In death, they are raised and randomly selected to join the armies of Heaven or Hell in the final war, known as Armageddon. Rather than let her children use them as cannon fodder, the Mother decided to intervene and removed her children from their kingdoms. Heaven and Hell were left to fend for themselves. In spite of their faults, she could not destroy them for two reasons: they were her children and she loved then and the fact that she could not destroy them even if she desired to do so, they are her own flesh and blood and just like her, they are immortal and all-powerful. However, she brought back God and Satan as the human children of Terry and Wanda Fitzgerald, Jake and Katie Fitzgerald respectively, in order to give them an appreciation for humanity and change their ways. This plan failed, as the twins simply became more insane than before and wreaked further chaos on Earth. God and Satan have since regained their memories, powers and kingdoms and are bolstering their armies for the final push that will begin Armageddon.

The stage for Armageddon is Earth. Humans are killed, and the world is in utter chaos/order. Spawn intervenes on Earth's behalf and becomes the third main power in the war after being transformed into a god after eating from The Tree of Life and Death in The Garden of Eden. Spawn faces off against the Hellspawn of Satan's army, declaring that the Earth realm belongs to him. Calling him a traitor for breaking his oath, the Hellspawn from all the ages converge on their "brother." Spawn battles the Hellspawn, calling upon the earth to swallow them, returning them to Hell. Hearing of this, Satan sends all of his remaining warriors after Spawn. Fearing that Spawn will unbalance Armageddon, God does the same. These events are watched by Mammon and a cloaked figure, whom Mammon responds to as a subordinate. During their exchange it is implied that all is going according to their plan, and Mammon says that he should have never been doubted. As Heaven and Hell attack Spawn, he calls to himself all the power given to him by the Mother, and in a single display of power destroys the armies of Heaven and Hell, along with the rest of humanity.

Laughing, he dismisses his act as a way to halt the Armageddon itself, leaving God and Satan without soldiers to use in their battle. He then asks the Mother to restore his children to their former glory and powers, but refuses to fight them. They eventually incinerate Spawn, then proceed to their endless battle, fighting by themselves, in a barren, scorched Earth.

Spawn, now given the powers of a god and the protection of the Mother, gains the power to recreate Earth, restoring everyone to life, but leaving humanity every memory of the Rapture. God and Satan have no role in the "new" Earth, because they're trapped in their perception of a barren Earth until they cease their seemingly endless fight, and Spawn, with his last act as a god himself, closes every door between Hell, Heaven and Earth. Recently, Satan has willingly handed control of Hell to The Omega Spawn (Al Simmons).

Powers and abilities
Satan possesses nigh-omnipotence. Being the supreme ruler of Hell, every other Lord, including Mammon and Malebolgia, must answer to Satan's will. In his absence, Malebolgia served as the grand master of Hell, creating a massive army of Hellspawn to destroy Heaven.

It would seem that Satan's strength is so grand that he is highly feared by the other demons in Hell. For example: with the recent reappearance of Satan in Hell, Mammon seems to have fallen out of his place of power. Even his former servant Thamuz seemed ready to turn upon Mammon and destroy him at Satan's command. However, Mammon manages to save himself from Thamuz by offering Satan a way to increase the ranks of Hell's army - namely, triggering the San Andreas Fault. The only being in Hell who equals Satan is The Omega Spawn.

Trivia

 * For many years readers were led to believe that Malebolgia was the Devil in the Spawn universe, then after his defeat, Mammon was thought to be the devil, but the real Satan would eventually appear in issue #158, confirming his existence.