The Dweller in the Dark

PHASE 1

PHASE 2

The Dweller in the Dark
Portrayed by None.
Known Aliases:
Affiliations:	Independent

Socked By:	Rei
Introduction:	Darkness Within

Too long I have waited for this day. I need more.

An ancient evil long imprisoned in another dimension, the Dweller found a way to escape - by possession of the young mutant girl called Tandy Bowen. Defeated twice, it is now trapped inside Tandy's mind, for as long as she can manage it.

Biography

The Dweller is what nightmares are made of, an ancient demon that creates and feeds on fear. At one point it was the ally of Cul Bor'son, heir to the Asgardian throne who was called the God of Fear. Cul generated fear in much the same way the Dweller did, and when Cul was usurped by his brother Odin, the Dweller joined with Cul to defeat Asgard's new king. Cul was defeated and the Dweller fled to Earth.

After wrecking fear and havoc on humanity, the Dweller was trapped centuries ago by a witch named Zhered-Na. As the Dweller could not be killed, instead a prison was made for it, utilising the witch's staff. While trapped, the Dweller created D'spayre and Spite to avenge it and to release it from the prison.

Phase 1

In August 2014, D'Spayre and Spite succeeded in bringing the Dweller to the human realm, giving him Tandy Bowen's body to take over. The demon was later separated from Tandy's body by a mixed group of SWORD agents and the mansion's magic users and banished back to the demon world with D'Spayre, while Spite was killed. The staff which was used to bring him back remained in the possession of Amanda Sefton at the X-Force offices.

Phase 2

Unknown to Amanda and the rest of the mansion, the Dweller and D'spayre were freed from their prison in May 2019 by agents of the Society of Thule working ito free Cul Bor'son, an ancient ally of the Dweller also imprisoned on Earth. With powerful enchantments hiding the escape, the Dweller again possessed Tandy Bowen, using an amulet given to it to avoid setting off the mansion's wards against evil. For a month, 'Tandy' fooled the residents of the mansion while slowly collecting Cul's Worthies together, until one of the magical hammers was brought to the mansion by the X-Men. As Susan Storm succumbed to the hammer's call and became Skirn, the Dweller revealed itself during their escape from the mansion. After several more encounters, the Dweller was temporarily imprisoned in Tandy's mind by Jean Grey and Amanda Sefton, and secured by Thor and a gift from Baldr.

During the final confrontation with Cul, the Dweller attempted to escape its bonds and resume possession of Tandy's body, however her force of will, combined with help from Marie-Ange Colbert and Doug Ramsey, kept it trapped. Fooling Cul into believing she had been possessed again, Tandy was able to get close enough to Cul to release all of her stored light daggers, weakening him enough for Doug to kill him with Thor's Odinsword. The display of power put Tandy into a temporary coma, and it wasn't until Amanda, Jean and a group of Tandy's friends entered her mind and helped her defeat the Dweller that she was able to recover. The Dweller is now trapped in Tandy's mind, taking on the form of a metal statue in the 'foyer' of her mental theatre.

Powers/Abilities

The Dweller has superhuman strength and though his hosts can be harmed physically, it cannot. Like D'Spayre it has the ability to generate fear but to a greater degree. The Dweller can also transform living beings into Shades to do its bidding.

The Shades are humanoid looking shadows. They have mass and they can be damaged/killed by stabbing them. If stabbed in their shadow form, they will disappear into a poof a smoke. The Shades are actually the spirits of the humans. They can be turned back to their normal selves once Dweller's powers weaken. However, the longer they stay as a Shade the worse their mental state will be.