| Dazaar, the Arch Fiend | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Real Name |
Irma Plavatski |
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First Appearance |
Dazaar the Arch-Fiend (in New Nick Carter Weekly #372, February 13, 1904) |
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Original Publisher |
Street & Smith |
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Created by |
Frederic Van Rensselaer Dey |
Origin
Irma Plavatski was a beautiful Russian princess and a cousin to Nick Carter's old enemy, Olga, Queen of the Russian Nihilists. Irma claims to be periodically possessed by an evil Tibetan magician named Dazaar. She was, in fact, possessed by the centuries-old Tibetan Ascended Master who had also possessed seven other bodies, before making Irma his permanent vessel. For this, Dazaar had been expelled from the Great White Lodge and had since formed his own satanic organization bent on world conquest. He was expelled because it was forbidden to switch bodies with a female, as females were more likely to feel love and compassion. In fact, Irma had fallen in love with Dazaar's arch enemy, Nick Carter and sent an assassin to kill his wife, Ethel.
Carter captured Dazaar, and the magician was sentenced to death. However, she managed to fake her death with a Tibetan substance and later had Buck Granger, one of her hypnotized minions, dig her body out of its grave, and revive her. The hit on Carter's wife was successful, but some time after Ethel's death, Carter began dating his beautiful neighbor, Cora Tempest. Irma/Dazaar was furious and kidnapped the girl. Later, she kidnapped Nick Carter himself, with the intention of making him marry her on pain of death. However, it was actually Chic Carter in disguise, and Nick came to the rescue. In the final battle, in a temple of vampires, Irma shot herself, believing it was the only way to free Nick from the most dangerous enemy he ever faced.
Dazaar was a master of disguise and was capable of killing a man with a throwing knife from several hundred yards. Dazaar was also a great mystic capable of hypnotizing men and women to act against their will. He was also capable of transferring his mind into the bodies of others. Dazaar may have possessed other mystical powers besides. Dazaar also commanded a worldwide network of satanic fanatics.
Original Appearances in New Nick Carter Weekly
- 372 (February 13, 1904) Dazaar the Arch-Fiend
- 373 The Queen of the Seven
- 374 The Sign of the Dagger
- 375 The Devil Worshipers
- 376 The Cross of Daggers
- 377 The Last of the Seven
- 394 A Princess of Hades
- 395 A Compact with Dazaar
- 396 (September 30, 1904) In the Shadow of Dazaar
Italian Version
In the Italian translation, Irma is presented as a former girlfriend of Nick Carter, who appears to him 5 years after she has died, her body having been selected as the vessel of Dazaar's consciousness in order to baffle the great detective who stands in his way of world domination. In this version, it is Ida Jones who is kidnapped, rather than Cora, and Dazaar does not sacrifice herself, but instead, falls dead when she realizes that she can not solve the eternal mystery of love.
