History
Azazel claims that many years ago an ancient horde of demon-looking mutants from biblical times called the Neyaphem were in an epic battle with a group of angelic over-zealous mutants, named the Cheyarafim. They were victorious in the battle and vanquished the "evil" mutants to an alternate dimension for all eternity. The Neyaphem's leader, Azazel, was the only one who was able to breach the dimensional void for brief periods of time due to his teleportation powers. His only hope to return to earth was by impregnating women because his children are linked to his dimension.
About twenty years ago, Azazel began mating with women who had strange appearances, at least with looks and abilities other women didn't have. He met Mystique in Germany, when she was married to a rich castle lord named Baron Christian Wagner. With Christian unable to give her children, Mystique was introduced to Azazel, whom Christian knew as a business partner. Mystique had an instant attraction to him, and although she was hesitant to betray Christian, she gave in to Azazel and they made love. Not much later, Mystique was pregnant with Nightcrawler.
While Mystique had actually fallen in love with Azazel, he seemed only to be interested in impregnating her, when in truth Azazel found himself actually loving Mystique, making her the only woman he ever truly loved. Shortly after his "Mission" was complete, Azazel left Mystique, knowing that she would be safe being the woman that she was. Soon afterward, Mystique killed Christian and buried his body because he suspected her betrayal. A few months later, Mystique gave birth to a child. Due to the shock and the strain of the boy’s difficult delivery, Mystique lost concentration and accidentally revealed her true form. Considered a demon, Mystique was chased away by an angry mob.
Barely escaping, she tossed the baby down a ravine. The child was teleported away, apparently by Azazel, and given into Margali Szardos’ care. Azazel had past relations with women before, resulting in the births of Abyss and Kiwi Black. Azazel sired several dozen other children, who were all mysteriously called to gather and sacrifice themselves on the island known as the Isla Des Demonas. Doing this would open a portal and bring his army to earth to destroy the Cheyarafim, allowing the demonic mutants to live in the world and find their place in it.
The mutant children worked together in a zombie-like state and opened the portal to Azazel's dimension, but the X-Men had followed Kurt to see where he was going and jumped into the portal. Once inside, Azazel took great pleasure in toying with the team, having them believe that he was actually Satan. In the end, Azazel was not able to free the Neyaphem because the portal had to be opened in an area where Cheyarafim blood could not be found. Archangel was present at the time and as such the portal was destroyed. Azazel vanished in grief and has not been seen since.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Azazel displays a number of super-human abilities during his appearances; these include:
Immortality: His aging process is greatly enhanced and he can apparently regenerate injured or missing cells from even near-fatal injuries:
Teleportation: He is able to transport himself and additional mass across inter-dimensional distances.
Paralyzation: He possesses ability to generate bolts of paralyzing energy.
Shape-shifting: Can disguise his appearance through unknown means.
Will Bending: Ability to manipulate minds giving him influence over others.
Weaknesses
Azazel can only spend limited time on Earth without the assistance of his children. He and all other Neyaphem are negatively affected by the healing blood of the Cheyarafim which causes their body to begin to breakdown.
Trivia
Many mystical beings such as Mephisto, Blackheart, Satannish, Dormammu and Hela, have made slight references to the leader of the Neyaphem to be much more than he seemed and had a strange set of 'ties' to mortals. Though Mephisto has openly stated that Azazel possesses a great strength unattainable by true demons. Azazel has claimed that he once battled Mephisto and others for the title of "Satan".