Origin
Born in the far distant future to the rulers of the Sheeda nation, and thus the dying Earth, Melmoth eventually rose to the position of king. During his early reign he married and had one daughter, Rhiannon. Following the death of his first wife, he married again. Shortly thereafter the Sheeda came into possession of Aurakles‘ mighty time-dreadnought, the Castle Revolving. Melmoth lead his people back in time to harrow Aurakles’ civilisation, discovering a way to sustain their own corrupted and dying society by stealing from those who had gone before. He continued leading these forays into the past until the time of Camelot, when he was betrayed and abandoned by his wife, Gloriana Tenebrae. Forced to return to his people the long way, he took control of undead Camelot as King Mordredd the Dead, and lead the remains of the civilisation to wrack and ruin. Abandoning it, he wandered the planet for centuries, plotting revenge against his wife. During this time he met and impregnated all the women of the lost Roanoke colony, inadvertently creating the half-Sheeda witch-society of Limbo Town. During his wanderings he recovered the Undry Cauldron, and used its waters to replace his blood, becoming truly immortal and indestructible. He provided a small sample of this new blood to Victor Frankenstein to aid in the creation of his monster. He and the monster later had a centuries-long rivalry that resulted in numerous clashes through the years. At some point he became a businessman, and set up an empire of slave labour on Mars to acquire gold.
Creation
Melmoth was created by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving. He made his first appearance in Seven Soldiers: Klarion #2. He is loosely drawn from several mythological and literary sources, most notably Melmoth the Wanderer.
Major Story Arcs
Seven Soldiers of Victory
Melmoth encounters the recently-arrived Klarion and immediately recognizes him as a resident of Limbo Town. He shows Klarion the wonders of the world above, and convinces Klarion to join up with his child-gang, the Deviants. He uses the children to steal a subterranean drill, and sends one of the members to Mars to work in his hard labour gang there. He takes the drill and several soldiers and attacks Limbo Town, but is driven back by the combined efforts of the witch-people and Klarion. Abandoning the effort to control Limbo Town, he travels to his mines on Mars with a group of his business partners. There, he is attacked by Frankenstein, whom he manages to briefly subdue with a necromantic hex before one of his slaves rebels. He is defeated when Frankenstein feeds him to the flesh-eating horses on Mars; though technically living still, his body becomes discorporated.
Powers and Abilities
A Sheeda, Melmoth possesses all the traits and abilities inherent to his race, including an inherent magic, the exact nature and extent of which is unknown. He is intelligent and conniving, and a skilled and ruthless leader. His lifespan is massively prolonged by magic, and after the introduction of the waters of the Cauldron of Rebirth and Plenty into his body, he is completely immortal and able to regenerate himself from any wound, given time.