Shiklah is an ancient demon succubus hailing from a royal line that is destined to rule the underworld alongside Vlad Dracula, AKA Dracula. Though she connects with mercenary Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, and learns the ways of the world in the modern age. She comes to power as Queen of the Underworld and ruler of Monster Metropolis.
Centuries-Old Demon
Before humankind’s advent, shape-changing Shiklah’s demonic family from the Middle East rules over all creatures of the night–that is until a few millennia ago when vampires overthrew Shiklah’s family and waged war against their bannermen. During the battle to preserve his bloodline, Shiklah’s father fakes the deaths of his sons, Amjad and Baqi, and seals Shiklah in a glass sarcophagus to keep her safe until the war’s end when she would be destined to marry to the reigning vampire lord to unite the underworld. Her father allegedly dies protecting her, and Shiklah sleeps without dreaming, unaware of her brothers’ survival.
Succubus with Soulfire
A long-lived succubus, Shiklah can rejuvenate and re-energize herself by draining the life force and souls from others through physical contact. She can shoot soulfire from her hands, which can cause physical harm, completely disintegrate a body, or disrupt lesser spirits. Her soulfire’s power increases with the amount of souls she consumes.
As a shape-shifter, she can switch between her humanoid and true demonic forms at will and temporarily turn into a gaseous state as part of her transformation. In physical forms, she has superhuman strength (Class 10 in humanoid form, Class 25 in demon form) and durability. She can mesmerize others with her voice or soulfire blasts and even fully control those in a weak mental state. Her human form is more vulnerable to physical and mystic attacks while her demonic form is susceptible to strong psychic attacks. Her telepathic connection to her pet, Bug, enables her to read his mind and command him. In her human form, she sometimes uses sickles imbued with soulfire to more easily rend flesh.
Ties that Bind
Shiklah hails from an ancient Monarchy, of the demonic sort. Her family is from the Middle East and they rule the night before the time of man. To protect Shiklah during a war started by vampires against her family’s bannermen, her father seals her in a glass sarcophagus and fakes the deaths of her brothers, Amjad and Baqi. It seems her father dies and Shiklah believes her brothers dead having defended their realm valiantly.
When Dracula wants to unite the Underworld, he seeks out Shiklah to become his bride. He hires the mercenary Deadpool to unearth her from her tomb. Though she falls in love with Deadpool and marries him instead. She eventually marries Dracula as well and claims to have more than one husband. She also has multiple romantic relationships while married to Deadpool, including Jack Russell, AKA Werewolf by Night and a female Gorgon.
Eternal Enemies
The most fierce challengers to Shiklah and her family are the vampires who seek to overthrow their proud rulers. The vampires coordinate a sneak attack against her family’s bannermen and the resulting war rages for centuries.
Ready to fulfill her destiny to marry Dracula and bring peace to the underworld, she finds an unlikely ally in Deadpool, the mercenary hired to retrieve her. She marries him instead to avoid an arranged marriage to Dracula, and often finds herself coming up against the vampire lord–that is until she marries him when it suits her.
A Succubus’ Story
In modern times, vampire lord Dracula, planning to usurp Shiklah’s heritage after uniting the underworld through their marriage, hired Deadpool to retrieve her from her tomb. Deadpool took the sarcophagus to Papaconstantinos, Greece where it broke open while Deadpool fought the Asterion, AKA Minotaur, who sought to rid the world of the sarcophagus’ evil. Now free and being true to her nature, Shiklah rewarded Deadpool with a life-draining kiss, which, to Shiklah’s surprise, he survived. Though ready to marry Dracula, she fell in love with Deadpool during battle-filled travels through Europe including an encounter with Daywalker Eric Brooks, AKA Blade. Blade tried to stop Shiklah’s return, and Dracula using her to unite the fractious monster underworld, but Deadpool protected Shiklah and they both fought him off.
Impatient, Dracula sent the mind-controlled Werewolf by Night, to London after Shiklah, but Shiklah freed Werewolf from Dracula’s control and learned from him that her brothers were alive in Monster Metropolis. After her pet dragon, Bug, visited Monster Metropolis, Shiklah was devastated to learn Dracula had slain her brothers to make her the family’s sole heir. Seeking revenge and to end Dracula’s schemes, Shiklah married Deadpool.
She freed her imprisoned allies in Monster Metropolis and confronted Dracula, who vowed to destroy both Shiklah and Deadpool. Dracula psionically forced Shiklah to human form, then used the Gorgon Medusa’s head to petrify her. Deadpool used exposed bones in his own severed arm to impale Dracula; Deadpool’s blood somehow poisoned Dracula, impeding Dracula’s healing abilities. A second exposure to Medusa returning her to flesh, Shiklah banished the vampires from Monster Metropolis, ending their rule. Shiklah became Monster Metropolis’ new ruler, with Deadpool helping her acclimate to the modern era.
After an official wedding ceremony with friends, Deadpool and Shiklah honeymooned in Tokyo, Japan; when they returned home, Dracula sent enhanced Nosferatu vampires after Shiklah’s warriors. Using the Fantastic Four’s time platform, Deadpool traveled to the past to recruit light manipulator Alison Blaire, AKA Dazzler, as his secret weapon while Shiklah pretended to negotiate a truce. As Shiklah and Dazzler destroyed the remaining Nosferatu nests, Deadpool left to save his recently discovered daughter Eleanor “Ellie” Camacho from the terrorist organization Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army to Unite Mankind, AKA U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. Though Shiklah appreciated Deadpool’s love for his daughter, she wished to make proper heirs with him.
When the telepathic Johann Shmidt, AKA Red Skull, caused a global hate-wave, Shiklah sealed off Monster Metropolis to protect her people and was displeased when Deadpool left again to look after Eleanor. After Deadpool returned mentally inverted by a spell cast by Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Victor Von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom, his new peaceful and loyal nature annoyed Shiklah, but she still supported his endeavors. After Doom, Scarlet Witch (possessed by the spirit of Daniel Drumm) and Red Skull reversed the inversion spell, Deadpool reverted to insanity, leaving him troubled. To purge his melancholy, Shiklah sent Deadpool into the world for adventures.
In the Middle East, he found a burial site with more sarcophagi like the one in which he had found Shiklah. After Deadpool revealed these to her, Shiklah sent Deadpool home, then dug up the first of 99 warriors, whom she ordered to dig up the others so they could conquer the world with her.
Later, after a Multiversal collapse, an all-powerful Doctor Doom created Battleworld from reality's fragments. There, Shiklah from Earth-61610 was still betrothed to Dracula, who had slain Deadpool. Leading the Howling Commandos into battle, she fought against Dracula’s Monster Metropolis reign and defeated the vampire. Though Doom’s Thor Corps killed her for slaying her master.
Shiklah back in Earth-616, however, was alive and well, though not satisfied with Deadpool’s negligence. She sought out other romantic partners like Werewolf by Night and a female Gorgon, claiming that Deadpool was one of her husbands. When one of her oldest subjects was killed by humans, Farcus, she did not get the justice she desired. In her rage, she assembled a war party to take over New York City. She used the Scepter of the Manticore to call forth demon armies to her cause.
Though Deadpool brought Dracula into the fray to turn the vampires in Shiklah’s army against her, Dracula instead proposed to her and they get married! Though Shiklah’s people refused to be ruled. Shiklah and Deadpool engaged in a physical altercation but ended up in each other’s arms over the ordeal. Shiklah asked Wade why he burdens himself with humans and afterward comes to realize that she has better things to do if her people don’t want to be ruled. She left Wade with a succubus kiss that knocked him out and rejoined Dracula. She invited him to abdicate the underworld’s throne with her since they weren’t wanted, and they did so.
