Luciphor

Luciphor aka The Cobra
First appearance:	"The Cobra"
Created by:	Lee Falk and Phil Davis

Luciphor aka The Cobra is a character from the Mandrake the Magician comic strip that first appeared in "The Cobra", the very first Mandrake story.

Fictional Character Biography

The Phil Davis Era

The Cobra

The Cobra was a fanatical leader of a powerful secret society that sought control of the world. The first time Mandrake talks about the Cobra, he describes him as his archenemy - and a powerful magician as well.

When Mandrake came face to face with the Cobra, he learned that the Cobra had enslaved thousands of men to work in his gold and diamond mines. The slaves appeared faceless as the Cobra had mentally erased the faces of his slaves and controlled them mentally and physically. The gold and diamonds he used for his inventions, powerful weapons of mass destruction such as; explosives, deadly gases and death rays.

Mandrake put an end to the Cobra's plans to rule the world when he destroyed his hideout and laboratory and magically transformed the Cobra into a real cobra.

The Cobra

The Cobra had managed to become himself again and returned powerful and strong, with a new hideout and laboratory.

This time he had developed a method for producing gold using lead, zinc and copper. And a deadly gas that lowered the oxygen level in the air so that the victims suffocated. With the help of these two powerful weapons, he aimed to become emperor of the world. With the gold he could bribe most people, and those who would not be bribed he could use the deadly gas on.

Mandrake managed to find the Cobra in his hiding place and during the fight that followed, the Cobra fell off a high cliff - a fall no one could survive.

The Fred Fredericks Era

When Mandrake was asked who the Cobra was, he told that he had met the Cobra when he was a young boy. He had spent a few years at the College of Magic and Luciphor was one of the teachers there, a brilliant magician. One day Luciphor robbed the college, fled and turned his vast powers to criminal use. By the time Mandrake had grown up and left the college, Luciphor had become the Cobra - Mandrake's first and most deadly opponent. Mandrake battled the Cobra for several years before the Cobra died in a fire in his own lab.

This time hiding his face (scarred and disfigured in battle with Mandrake) behind a menacing silver mask.

The Cobra's main goal is to acquire one of the two powerful Crystal Cubes which increase mental energy. These are guarded by Mandrake and Theron.

In later years, the Cobra abandoned his silver mask as his face had been reconstructed through surgery. The Cobra is sometimes accompanied by his assistant Udd.

Story References

Family

Mandrake learned that The Cobra's true identity was Luciphor, Theron's oldest son — thus making The Cobra Mandrake's half-brother.

Notable appearances

The Cobra has appeared in these stories:

Year	Daily/Sunday	Title	Comments
1965	Sunday	"The Cobra Returns"	with a silver mask and real name Luciphor
1967	Daily	"The Return of Evil - The Cobra"
1969	Daily	"The Cobra Strikes (The College of Magic)"
1971	Daily	"The Rogues"
1974	Daily	"The Cobra and the Cube"
1974	Daily	"The Search for the Cobra"
1975	Daily	"The Frame-Up"	just a glimpse at the end
1979	Daily	"Mandrake's Gangster Gallery"
1981	Daily	"Mandrake's Family"	Mandrake's half brother
1984	Daily	"Behind Death's Door"	without the silver mask
1989	Daily	"King Kered"
1992	Daily	"The Book of Criminals"
1995	Daily	"Pursuit of the Cobra"
1997	Sunday	"Mandrake Marries Narda"
1997	Daily	"Mandrake's Wedding at the College of Magic"
1998	Daily	"Mandrake's Wedding at Xanadu"
1999	Daily	"Siege at Xanadu"	first time in the strips, Luciphor and Derek meet each other as adults
2007	Daily	"Dangerous Music"
2012	Daily	"Melody of Doom"
2013	Phantom Sunday	"Mandrake's Bon Voyage"