Etrigan is commonly depicted as a muscular humanoid creature with orange or yellow skin, horns, red eyes, and pointed, webbed ears, who frequently speaks in rhymes.

Since his conception, Etrigan has been adapted into several forms of media outside of comics, including animated series, films, and video games.

[3] He created him at the behest of DC, who saw it as likely to be more commercially successful than the Fourth World and cancelled New Gods and Forever People to facilitate work on the new title.

While his first monthly comic book series was short-lived, and his second was canceled after five years, Etrigan remains a popular supporting character with occasional additional miniseries.

[6] Series in which Etrigan has appeared include Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, Kevin Smith's Green Arrow and Batman: The Widening Gyre, Garth Ennis's Hitman, and Cosmic Odyssey by Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola.

In The New 52 rebooted continuity, DC Comics launched a new series featuring Etrigan titled Demon Knights, which debuted on September 14, 2011.

Over the years, Etrigan both clashes with and occasionally aids Earth's heroes, guided by his own whims and Blood's attempts to use his power for good.

[15] He leads the forces of Hell in a battle against the Great Evil Beast and is in brief contact with the entity in its questions about its nature - he barely survives the attempt.

[21] He battles Lobo, Klarion the Witch Boy and his gang[22] and is drawn into the Realm Beyond, where he meets the Thing-That-Cannot-Die and reunites with his older brother, Lord Scapegoat.

[25] Soon after, Etrigan is chosen as a political candidate for President of the United States and nearly succeeds in securing the Republican nomination from George H. W. Bush.

Etrigan apparently loses the restrictions imposed upon him by the wizard Merlin which turned him from evil, caused by his "murder" at the exact moment he was transforming from his human self, Jason Blood, into his demon self.

Later, due to the effects of a magical drug Satanus had infested Hell with, he was transformed into a soulless physical human, a perfect duplicate of Jason Blood.

Etrigan travels to Germany to find a crashed meteorite that contains an unconscious Jade and confronts the Justice League after attacking a squad of German superheroes.

He mocks the League by claiming they are an inferior team of substitutes, but is ultimately defeated when Donna Troy uses her Lasso of Persuasion to force him back into his Jason Blood form.

Jason apologizes for the trouble he caused and departs from the scene, but not before warning Batman and his teammates that the meteorite possesses supernatural qualities.

[35] He also was the guide to the Secret Six in their trip to Hell and led Catman to see the fate of his father, all the while amused by the confusion and pain they were suffering as a result of their visit.

Jason of Norwich had been sent to Camelot as a scribe to Merlin and was growing frustrated with life, believing he was meant for greater things and suffering from rages.

A prophecy showed that if Jason did not have some sort of quest to force him to heal himself, his rage would grow and cause him to kill his love, Madame Xanadu.

They first fought Mordru and the Questing Queen's army to a standstill before being tasked by the city of Alba Sarum to return Merlin to life at Avalon.

[38] While he successfully manipulated the Knights into letting Hell invade Avalon (and secretly felt guilty about his treatment of Xanadu), he was himself captured and used by the Questing Queen to gain access as well.

At the end of the battle, Jason was tasked as a member of Avalon's Stormwatch, but neither he nor Xanadu wanted to serve Merlin after having Etrigan forced on them again.

[39][40][41] In the present, Etrigan's body lies buried in London; it is explained that he was sealed there by his own friends because of his betrayal of them, but magic emanating from it is able to possess persons above, eventually freeing the demon, who promptly attacks Midnighter and Apollo.

[43] During Trinity War, Etrigan is among the superheroes who feel the disturbance in the magical plane when Shazam picks up Pandora's Box.

His healing factor can handle an incredible amount of damage, allowing him to recover from wounds that have removed large sections of his body.