10 Worst Members of the Hellfire Club

Sebastian Shaw

When the X-Men have faced the Hellfire Club in the past, more times than not Sebastian Shaw has served as Black King. But Shaw started not as king, but as the Black Bishop. The White King at the time saw Shaw as ambitious and tried to kill him, but Sebastian and his ally Emma Frost retaliated—and took over the club!

Emma Frost

Emma Frost became White Queen of the New York branch when Shaw took it over, and the telepath also served double duty as headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, where her Hellions served as an evil counterpart to Professor Xavier’s New Mutants. Emma Frost once switched bodies with Storm to infiltrate the X-Men, and many years later actually joined the team!

Jean Grey

The X-Man known as Phoenix joined the Hellfire Club as their Black Queen after Jason Wyngarde, otherwise known as the villainous Mastermind, corrupted her. It didn’t work out so well; their manipulations of Phoenix turned her into the evil Dark Phoenix, who turned on them and the rest of the universe!

Selene

The centuries-old sorceress from Nova Roma joined the club as Black Queen after offering another Phoenix, Rachel Summers, and the New Mutant Magma as initiation “gifts.” She served in the role across several incarnations of the club, and even tried to use the Upstarts to kill off the rest of the Inner Circle so she could rule it.

Magneto and Storm

The Hellfire Club and the X-Men formed an uneasy truce after fighting Nimrod, the near-unbeatable mutant-hunting robot from the future. That truce turned into an alliance, bringing both Magneto and Storm into the club as a joint White King—until the X-Men “died” in Dallas, and Magneto claimed both the White King and Black King roles for himself.

Shinobi Shaw

Sebastian Shaw’s son led the Upstarts against his father’s Hellfire Club, seemingly killing most of them and eventually imprisoning Selene, who instigated the revolt. Shinobi took the role of Black King, but his short-lived reign ended when his father revealed he hadn’t died and took the Inner Circle back from his son.

Margali Szardos

As a member of the London branch of the Hellfire Club, the sorceress Margali Szardos served as the Red Queen; in England the Inner Circle consisted of black and red “royalty” instead of black and white. While in that role, the UK Hellfire Club attempted to unleash a demon trapped under London, but Excalibur stopped them.

Blackheart and Daimon Hellstrom

When Selene took over the Hellfire Club after Sebastian Shaw departed, she recruited the ruler of Hell, Mephisto’s son Blackheart, to serve as her Black King—making them literally a "Hellfire Club." They captured Damion Hellstorm, who the Fantastic Four freed, and Hell’s other favorite son became the club’s White King for a time in an attempt to balance out the darkness.

Roberto da Costa

The New Mutant—and current Avenger—Sunspot had a long history with the Hellfire Club, as his father once served as White Rook. Roberto became Black Rook during Selene’s reign as Black Queen, but when Sebastian returned and became Lord Imperial over all Hellfire Clubs worldwide, he promoted Roberto to Black King of the New York chapter.

Kade Kilgore

During the Schism event, a kid named Kade Kilgore took control of not only his father's arms manufacturing company, but also the Hellfire Club. Kilgore served as Black King and brought in other children, including a descendant of Dr. Frankenstein, as his Inner Circle. They even started their own Hellfire Academy, which clashed with Wolverine’s students at the Jean Grey School.