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"Look, if the internet is a garden hose, this book is Niagara Falls, blasting the universe's deepest thoughts through your eyeballs."
"It's a piece of technology, a tool."
"So's a grenade, until it's in the hands of a child."
Holden Radcliffe and Melinda May[src]

The Darkhold, also known as the Book of Sins or the Book of Spells, is an ancient book of spells and unspeakable power. The book is made of dark matter from the Hell dimension.

History

Search for the Darkhold

"Well, you know where to find it?"
"No one ever has. Not Daniel Whitehall, not the Red Skull, not even Nick Fury himself."
Robbie Reyes and Phil Coulson[src]
Darkhold File

The S.H.I.E.L.D. file about the Darkhold

The Darkhold was created in the Hell dimension and was made of dark matter. It was said to contain infinite knowledge. Over the course of history, many individuals searched for the ancient Darkhold, including Red Skull, Daniel Whitehall, and Nick Fury.[1]

In the 21st century, Lucy and Joseph Bauer found the Darkhold in the basement of the home's former owner and opened it. When Lucy touched it, she discovered she could read the text in English, whereas when Joseph touched it, he could read it in German.[2] As she studied the Darkhold, Lucy became obsessed with it.[3]

Momentum Labs

Bauer-discouvery-darkhold-lockup

Joseph and Lucy Bauer read the Darkhold

"It was a mistake. We never should have taken it. We should've left it buried!"
Joseph Bauer[src]

The Darkhold helped Joseph Bauer in building the Quantum Particle Generator in Momentum Labs in order to help him allegedly create matter out of thin air when in truth the machine was siphoning energy from another dimension. The engineer of the project, Eli Morrow, desired the book for himself. He tried to reason with Joseph to give him the book, but he refused to give it to him. One day, Morrow put all the Momentum Labs workers inside the machine in order to kill him and take the book for himself.

JBauerReadingDarkhold

Joseph Bauer reading from the Darkhold

Morrow personally attacked Joseph, but the latter refused to tell him where he had hidden the Darkhold,[4] so he put him into a coma. Unbeknownst to Morrow, Bauer and three of her co-workers Hugo, Frederick, and Vincent transformed into spiritual entities, contained within the special boxes that were created with the Darkhold's knowledge. Years later, Lucy visited Joseph and snapped him out of his coma to get the current location of the Darkhold.[1]

Targeted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Darkhold5

Eli Morrow reads the Darkhold

Upon heading back to where the Darkhold was found by her and Joseph, Lucy found herself unable to read it in her current state. In order to get the Darkhold read, she and her remaining ghosts Hugo and Vincent had to infiltrate South Ridge Penitentiary in order to spring Eli Morrow from his prison. Lucy was successful in her mission at the cost of Hugo and Vincent who were taken out by Ghost Rider. At the Pasadena Momentum Laboratory, after killing the security guards there, Lucy had Eli touch the Darkhold and the text appeared before them in Spanish.[2]

Coulson - Darkhold - May - AOS406

Melinda May takes and hides the Darkhold

With the knowledge of the book, Morrow managed to rebuild the Quantum Particle Generator in an abandoned Roxxon Corporation power plant. As S.H.I.E.L.D. stormed into the building, Phil Coulson found the Darkhold unguarded. He asked Melinda May to bring it back to the Quinjet and hide it.[4] Following Coulson and Leo Fitz's sudden vanishing, May thought about using the Darkhold to save them. She told that to Alphonso Mackenzie, but he tried to talk her out of it, claiming that Coulson had explained that the book was dangerous.

Darkhold Binary

Aida reads the Darkhold

In the Playground, May showed Holden Radcliffe the Darkhold and asked him to read it in order to save Coulson and Fitz. Radcliffe read the book but immediately closed it, saying that it was too much knowledge for a human mind. May, however, still tried to convince him to use the knowledge; however, it was Radcliffe's android assistant, Aida, who volunteered to read the book. With the knowledge she received, Radcliffe built for her the Inter-Dimensional Gate and Laser-Coupling Gloves, which helped her bringing Coulson and Fitz back to Earth.[5]

Targeted by Holden Radcliffe

DarkholdFoundByAida

Aida finds the Darkhold in the Playground

"I only glimpsed it but it opened my eyes to possibilities beyond my wildest imaginings, it can show us how..."
"How to live forever?"
"It's a bit more complicated but yes. Man could once and for all break the bonds of his mortal restraints."
Holden Radcliffe to Aida[src]

While reading the book, apparently, Holden Radcliffe noticed a way to prevent death. The idea had corrupted him and he developed an obsession for the Darkhold, causing him to betray S.H.I.E.L.D.. As part of his plan to steal the book, he programmed Aida to appear as if she had become self-aware via reading the Darkhold as well as taking Melinda May hostage and replacing her with an Life-Model Decoy.

BP Aida's Death

Aida being stopped from taking the Darkhold

Radcliffe planned that Aida would be seen as though she wanted to steal the book for herself. At the same time, Director Jeffrey Mace hid the book in his office and cloaked it, as Mace and Phil Coulson figured out that it was for the best that the Darkhold be destroyed. Radcliffe then initiated his plan, as Aida attacked the base and stole the book. However, Aida was destroyed by Alphonso Mackenzie, and Coulson retrieved the Darkhold in the process.[6]

AIvanov-ReadingDarkhold

The Superior reading parts of the Darkhold

Coulson then brought the book to Billy Koenig, who had passed it to his brothers. When LT Koenig returned it to Billy, he hid it inside the Labyrinth. The Watchdogs, assisted by Radcliffe, tried to take the book, but were stopped by S.H.I.E.L.D. However, LMD May took the book and brought it to Radcliffe. Anton Ivanov wanted to use the book to kill both Inhumans and Coulson.[7] Ivanov then briefly read the book, which gave him the answer to use Radcliffe in order to fight the Inhumans. Radcliffe later also read the Darkhold.[8]

Aida's Plan

File:Darkhold-SelfControl.jpg

Aida gives the Darkhold to Anton Ivanov

Under Holden Radcliffe's request, Aida used the Darkhold to improve the Framework so it would be a virtual world. With the knowledge provided by the Darkhold, Aida created a full Life-Model Decoy body for the severely wounded Anton Ivanov. While Ivanov's head was inside a jar, his brain controlled the body remotely.[9]

The Darkhold showed Aida how to accomplish her ultimate goal: to become a human being. Using the Quantum Batteries, Aida could create for herself a human body, so she would no longer be chained to Radcliffe's protocols. Leo Fitz designed for her the machine inside the Framework (known as "Project Looking Glass") and Ivanov's men built it on his oil platform.[10] Aida successfully created a living body with Inhuman abilities.[11]

Aida - Darkhold - AOS421

Aida making her new plan to use the Darkhold

Ivanov told Aida that with the help of the Darkhold, they could ensure that the real world would become its replica in the Framework.[12] Due to Aida's creation, a rift in Hell was created. The Spirit of Vengeance inside Robbie Reyes wanted to retrieve the Darkhold to Hell and kill Aida. Reyes passed to the other side and returned to Earth and came after the book. Aida managed to escape with the Darkhold before the Ghost Rider could get his hands on it. Later on, Ivanov, controlling LMDs of himself and Sergei Mishkin, brought the Darkhold to the International Inquiry Committee and told the attendees to read the book, intending for it to corrupt their minds to make them follow his anti-Inhuman crusade.

Ghost Rider Returns Hell

Ghost Rider takes the Darkhold into a portal

However, Ghost Rider managed to steal the Darkhold before that could happen. Afterwards, though Reyes asked to take the Darkhold, Phil Coulson asked that he wait, since he intended to use the book in order to lure Aida into a trap. Thus, Coulson held the book close to him when he returned to the Playground. When Aida came for him, having been fooled by Fitz into thinking he was planning to use the Darkhold against her, he revealed himself to be possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance and used its power to destroy her. Afterwards, Coulson handed the book to Reyes, who then opened a portal to Hell and took the Darkhold with him, thereby ensuring that it could no longer corrupt any more innocent lives.[13]

Used by Morgan le Fay

Morgan le Fay - Darkhold - R306

Morgan le Fay opening the Darkhold

"So, uh, what was that book Morgan was reading last night?"
"It's her book of spells. Don't you have one?"
Nico Minoru and Bronwyn[src]

The Darkhold was eventually acquired by Morgan le Fay, who planned to use the knowledge contained in the ancient book to conquer the Earth. It became Morgan's most prized possession. Having escaped from the Dark Dimension, Morgan stored the book at the Essex Tower Hotel.

Runaways S3 -000145

The Darkhold is used in a witch ritual

Morgan took the Darkhold to the ritual room, where a ceremony was held to induct Nico Minoru into her Coven of witches. The Darkhold was opened by Morgan during the ritual, with Minoru getting curious about the book. The next morning, Minoru asked Bronwyn for information about the book.[14]

Doorway to Darkness

Robert Minoru - WizGlass - Darkhold

Robert Minoru finds and reads the Darkhold

"Permit my entry into night, and allow the darkness find its light."
Nico Minoru using a spell from the Darkhold[src]

In order to rescue Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru planned to steal the Darkhold from Morgan to cast the spell required to return to the Dark Dimension. She and her mother Tina infiltrated the Essex Tower Hotel to retrieve the book. When Tina freed Robert from Morgan's Crow Necklace spell, he offered to help his wife and daughter in the search for the grimoire. Robert successfully located the Darkhold in a secret room.

Morgan le Fay - Darkhold - R307

Morgan le Fay takes the Darkhold from Robert Minoru

While Robert was using his WizGlasses to record the necessary pages to help Nico to access the Darkhold's spells, including a page with the phrase "doorway to darkness", Morgan sensed that he had found the book. Once Robert finished recording the necessary pages, he try ran from the secret room with the Darkhold. However, Morgan immediately teleported to Robert and took the book from him. Angry at the Minoru family's attempt to steal the Darkhold, Morgan mentioned her connection to the Darkhold and how sacred the book was before killing Robert with her powers.[15]

This section requires expansion

Banishing Morgan le Fay

To be added

This section requires expansion

FitzSimmons' Illusion

"That's not a good book. That's a bad book, bad story, very poorly written."
Leo Fitz[src]

During a recreation of shared memories of Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons induced by the Chronicoms, Fitz realized that the book a child Simmons wanted him to read from was an illusion of the Darkhold. Fitz, who remembered that the book was dangerous as it had been involved in the creation of the Framework's fascist world, immediately rejected the book, calling it "very poorly written".[16]

Capabilities

The Darkhold is a book of spells. It provides the reader the instructions to make their desires come true, written in the language the reader would fully understand.[2] The instructions guide the reader to their ultimate goal by showing them how to build items, some of which harness energy from other dimensions.[5] Therefore, even brilliant scientists, like Leo Fitz, cannot understand how the creations work.

However, the secondary ability of the book is to corrupt the reader's mind and create a dangerous obsession over the Darkhold. A person who has used the Darkhold for a long time may not want others to even touch it. Even a brief skim through the book can corrupt the reader's mind, like in the case of Holden Radcliffe, who, despite recognizing the danger the book poses and not even attempting to read it properly, allowed himself to betray his friends simply to regain possession of the book. Abiotic beings, such as the Life-Model Decoy Aida, can also become corrupted if they read the book. The Darkhold can even corrupt people who have yet to read it; an example is Eli Morrow, who attempted to murder his Momentum Labs coworkers after learning the capabilities of the machine they were building.

Known Inventions

Appearances

Appearances for the Darkhold

In chronological order:

Trivia

  • In the comics, the Darkhold is the ultimate dark grimoire, a collection of all evil spells in existence that was gathered by the Elder God Chthon. Pages of the Darkhold were copied into the Book of Cagliostro.
  • The cover of the book features an ambigram, which makes the writing on it reads "Darkhold" from both directions.

References

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