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Venom (vol. 2) #13.3 (Apr. 2012):
“Circle of Four: Part Four”
by Jeff Parker, Julian Tedesco

Venom (vol. 2) #13.3

Title: “Circle of Four: Part Four”

Medium: comic

Cover date: Apr. 2012

Publisher: Marvel
Written by: Jeff Parker
Art by: Julian Tedesco


37 characters in this story:

Character
(Click links for info about character
and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)
Religious
Affiliation
Team(s)
[Notes]
Pub. #
app.
Red Hulk Red Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross)
(lead character)
supporting character villain hero
CBR Scale: I Catholic; atheist
Code Red; Control...  Marvel 350
X-23 X-23 (Laura Kinney) hero
CBR Scale: I religiously untrained
League of Losers; New X-Men...  Marvel 190
Mephisto Mephisto villain
CBR Scale: D Devil
Six-Fingered Hand; The Cabal Marvel 381
Ghost Rider Ghost Rider (Alejandra Blaze) hero
CBR Scale: M Spirig of Vengeance;
demonically empowered
Hispanic Marvel 31
Blackheart Blackheart
(details) 
villain
CBR Scale: D demon
The Cabal; The Hellfire Club
[Mephisto's son]
Marvel 85
demons demons villain group
CBR Scale: D demon
[generic unnamed demons] Marvel 2,000
Encephalon Encephalon
(corpse)
villain
CBR Scale: D demon
The Antitheses
[demon created by Blackheart as antithesis of Red Hulk]
Marvel 5
Spider-Man Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
(vision)
hero scientist
CBR Scale: I Protestant
Secret Defenders; Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends...  Marvel 10,664
Captain America Captain America (Steve Rogers)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: I Protestant
Redeemers; Secret Defenders...  Marvel Timely 5,992
The Hulk The Hulk (Bruce Banner)
(vision)
hero scientist
CBR Scale: I Catholic (lapsed)
Hulkbusters; Pantheon...  Marvel 4,551
Iron Man Iron Man (Tony Stark)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: I futurist; technophile; mostly secular; sometimes prays; Alcoholics Anonymous
Force Works; Illuminati...  Marvel 5,673
Thor Thor (Donald Blake)
(vision)
hero deity
CBR Scale: D Norse/Teutonic deity
Asgardian; Cosmic Avengers...  Marvel 4,362
Doctor Strange Doctor Strange (Dr. Stephen Strange)
(vision)
hero clergy/religious leader
CBR Scale: D occult
Illuminati; Midnight Sons...  Marvel 1,687
Wolverine Wolverine (James Howlett / Logan)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: S raised Protestant; sometimes atheist; has practiced Buddhism; skeptical seeker
Alpha Flight; Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy...  Marvel 10,615
Hawkeye Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: U Christian (denomination
unknown)
Chain Gang; The Avengers...  Marvel 1,515
Captain Marvel Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: I Protestant
Operation: Lightning Storm (leader); Starjammers...  Marvel 784
She-Hulk She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: I Christian (denomination
unknown) - nominal
Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg-ampersand-Holliway; Heroes for Hire...  Marvel 952
Venom Venom (Flash Thompson)
(vision)
supporting character
CBR Scale: I Alcoholics Anonymous
U.S. Army Marvel 718
Red She-Hulk Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross)
(vision)
supporting character
CBR Scale: S Catholic (former novitiate)
Code Red; Home Base... 
[girlfriend (later wife) of Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk)]
Marvel 463
A-Bomb A-Bomb (Rick Jones)
(vision)
supporting character
  Loners (founder); The Avengers (honorary member)...  Marvel 572
Norman Osborn Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)
(vision)
villain
CBR Scale: U manifestly non-religious
Cabal of Scrier (leader); Dark Avengers (leader)...  Marvel 417
A.I.M. A.I.M.
(vision)
villain group
CBR Scale: S Scientism
[terrorist] Marvel 390
Spider-Woman Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
(vision)
hero
CBR Scale: I Wundagorian Transhumanism
(raised); HYDRA (former)
Heroes for Hire; HYDRA...  Marvel 353
Mockingbird Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse)
(vision)
hero
  S.H.I.E.L.D.; The Avengers... 
[was Hawkeye's wife]
Marvel 293
Doctor Octopus Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius)
(vision)
villain hero scientist
  Sinister Six; The Masters of Evil...  Marvel 1,006
M.O.D.O.K. Superior (George Tarleton)
(vision)
villain
CBR Scale: S Scientism
A.I.M. (leader) Marvel 199
Betty Brant Betty Brant
(vision)
supporting character
CBR Scale: I Students of Love (temporary)
[former girlfriend of Peter Parker (Spider-Man)] Marvel 612
The Symbiote
(vision)
supporting character villain
CBR Scale: I alien; vengeance
[sentient black costume Spider-Man obtained on Battleworld] Marvel 16
She-Hulk She-Hulk (Lyra)
(vision)
supporting character hero
CBR Scale: M female supremacist
(Femizonian)
A.R.M.O.R.
[daughter of Hulk, Thundra; raised in dystopic future]
Marvel 16
The Avengers The Avengers
(vision)
hero group
  [1st app: The Avengers (vol. 1) #1 (Sep. 1963)] Marvel 100
Weapon X Weapon X
(vision)
supporting character group
  [1st app: Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 1) #72 (Mar. 1991)] Marvel 270
New Avengers
(vision)
supporting character group
    Marvel
The Symbiote Warriors The Symbiote Warriors
(vision)
villain group
CBR Scale: I N.A.
[made by Blackheart from X-23's blood and Toxin symbiote] Marvel 3
Ghost Rider's mother
(vision)
supporting character
CBR Scale: U religious
Hispanic
[raised daughter (Ghost Rider) in a Nicaraguan temple]
Marvel 1
General Reginald Fortean General Reginald Fortean
(vision)
supporting character
  black; U.S. Air Force Marvel 32
U.S. Army U.S. Army
(mentioned) 
supporting character group real/historical person
  [military unit] Marvel DC 1,801
The Antitheses The Antitheses
(mentioned)
villain group
CBR Scale: D demons
[demons created by Blackheart as opposite of heroes] Marvel 5

Lots of characters appear in this issue. The four main characters are the heroes Red Hulk, Venom (Flash Thompson), Ghost Rider (Alejandra) and X-23. The devil Mephisto creates personalized "paradises" for each of them in which their hearts desires are granted, just so he can torture them by taking away those paradises and twisting their stories so that they are personal hells.

All of this is essentially an elaborate illusion created within Hell by Mephisto. Other than the four main heroes, Mephisto, and Blackheart all of the character "appearances" in this issue can be classified as illusions or hallucinations, and all or nearly all are "cameo" appearances.