Nine beings with ties to the occult were brought together by Doctor Strange to fight Lilith and her demonic children, Lilin. The various individuals who made up the initial group already had their own involvement with Lilin, but most were unaware of the full magnitude of their situation until Strange magically brought them together to stop Lilin's foray into Greenland. The disparate warriors were not formally grouped at the time, and some of them were openly hostile to some others, working together only for the need to deal with the most imminent threat posed by demons. Despite this, Strange still collectively called them the Nine after sending most of them away after the battle. The Nine fought with Lilith and Lilin on several occasions. They were forced to fight Blade when he was made a 'Switchblade' by Darkhold
