When Daniel Drumm, a powerful Voodoo houngan (priest) from Haiti, perishes at the hands of an evil occultist, he lives on as a spirit, or Loa. Magically bound to his twin Jericho, AKA Doctor Voodoo, Daniel trains his brother as the next houngan.
Haitian Houngan
Hailing from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Daniel Drumm grows up alongside his twin brother Jericho, and the pair are raised by their aunt, Matilda. Once Daniel reaches adulthood, he becomes his village’s Voodoo houngan, or priest, known as Brother Voodoo after having received training from the mystic, Papa Jambo. Believing Papa Jambo to be insane and viewing Voodoo culture as superstition, Jericho leaves Haiti and attends college in the United States. Over a decade later, Daniel falls ill from a curse placed upon him by an evil occultist carrying the name of the Voodoo serpent god Damballah. When Jericho returns to convince him to get treated in the U.S., Daniel refuses and tells him to seek out Papa Jambo and to never again run from their beliefs again. Meanwhile, Damballah kills Daniel with a Voodoo Doll made in his likeness. But this wasn’t the end of Daniel. Jericho seeks out Papa Jambo and in doing so, the mystic uses magic to summon Daniel’s spirit back from the dead and bind it to Jericho. Daniel then trains Jericho as the new Brother Voodoo.
Possession
As a spirit while bonded to his brother Jericho, Daniel gives him increased strength and stamina. Though Daniel can leave Jericho at will and possess others, controlling their motor functions while their consciousness becomes temporarily displaced. While a spirit outside of his brother’s body, he can project energy blasts that have damaging effects.
He has an extensive knowledge of Voodoo practices, having received training from Haiti’s local mystic Papa Jambo, and trains his brother to be the next Brother Voodoo, a position he holds himself while alive. After his death and subsequent resurrection, he remains a spirit but eventually becomes fully resurrected into his body. His powers as a man seem to be limited to his Voodoo knowledge.
Allies and Antagonists
Bonded to his brother, Daniel allies with Jericho’s trusted connections, including Dr. Steven Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, and Jack Russell, AKA Werewolf by Night. They also share the same enemies from their Haitian upbringing, specifically the evil occultist, Damballah. Other enemies include magician Doctor Glitternight and the fear lord Nightmare. He eventually goes up against Strange when Daniel comes to blame him for his brother’s death.
When both Daniel and Jericho perish, Victor Von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom, resurrects them, to go up against the morally-altered Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, who poses a great threat to reality.
A Spirit’s Story
Jericho often called on Daniel’s spirit to aid him against the forces of darkness, and Daniel did so by leaving Jericho and entering the body of others whom he could control. While within Jericho, he augments his strength. Daniel helped him and Werewolf by Night, battle zombies to destroy the power source of the magician and extra-dimensional being Doctor Glitternight. Daniel possessed Werewolf by Night and they successfully defeated Glitternight. Daniel departed from Werewolf by Night and returned to his spirit form.
Daniel later helped Jericho defeat Damballah by possessing one of his underlings and ripping away his Wangal, an enchanted amulet which was the source of Damballah’s power, or so he thought. Damballah sought control of Doctor Strange’s magic and attempted to do so by taking possession of Daniel’s spirit through the wangal that Jericho had around his neck. He burned down Strange’s mansion, killing Jericho’s assistant, Bambu. When Strange used the light of Agamotto to reveal the true evil, Damballah rose forth and left Jericho using Daniel’s spirit. Strange used a spell to seal Damballah in the wangal forever. With Daniel’s spirit returned to normal and bonded to his brother Jericho, Jericho bid Strange farewell and returned Damballah’s followers to their homes.
After Jericho received the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, the demonic fear lord Nightmare spread terror and fear across the Earth’s plane of existence. Daniel and Jericho ally with Daimon Hellstorm, AKA Hellstorm, and Doctor Doom against Nightmare, and all the fears Jericho experienced as a result of engaging the demon are put to rest thanks to Daniel who reminds him who he is and what he must do.
When Jericho perished during his time as Sorcerer Supreme, Daniel blamed Doctor Strange, and ended up possessing Strange’s friends, using them against the mystic. Strange used dark magic to defeat Daniel, resulting in his seeming death. But later, thanks to Doctor Doom, both Daniel and Jericho were resurrected, but with Daniel still in his spirit form. Doom knew that Daniel was the only one who could possess the rampaging sorceress and mutant Scarlet Witch, whose moral axis had been flipped. Daniel risked his very essence by entering into her madness all to make her cooperate in reversing the original spell that inverted her axis as well as many others.
Daniel tired of being a spirit bonded to his brother, and chastised Jericho for not helping resurrect him, so he allied with the clan of ninjas known as the Hand. They resurrected him in exchange for the recently deceased Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk’s body. Daniel then confronted his brother, stabbing him in the stomach for not helping restore him to life.
