Heliopolitans are a fictional group of gods, based on
Ancient Egyptian deities, appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Publication history
Characters based on
ancient Egyptian deities were first mentioned in ''Captain America Comics'' #20 (November 1942), published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' predecessor
Timely Comics, in which
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
and
Bucky investigate the murder of Colonel Fitzpatrick, who was studying the ''
Book of Thoth'' while stationed in Egypt. The Heliopolitans' first full
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
appearance was in the story "The Terror That Creeps" by
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
and
Werner Roth, published in ''
Marvel Tales'' #96 (June 1950), and involves a man that fails to convince the public that the
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, E ...
is slowly moving to the edge of the desert, where it will be empowered by
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
and destroy mankind. The goddess Bast would later make her first appearance (as a totem) with the
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
in ''
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'' #52 (July 1966), being called only Panther God, in ''Black Panther'' vol. 3 # 21 by
Christopher Priest and Sal Velutto, it was revealed that the Panther God is
Bast.
Many of the other deities, including Horus, Isis and
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
, were introduced in ''
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
'' #239 (September 1975).
Khonshu, who became associated with
Moon Knight
Moon Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975).
The son of a rabb ...
, first appeared in ''Moon Knight'' #1 (November 1980). Joseph Muszynski argued in his book ''Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from Marvel Comics'' that the introduction of Egyptian deities "excited our tendency to enjoy variety" as the pantheon contained multiple gods and personalities as opposed to the
Judeo-Christian
The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...
religions. Ed Strauss contended that Marvel was able to dive into
ancient Egyptian religion
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present in, and in control ...
because it "had long been retired into the realm of mythology" unlike Christianity.
Fictional history
The Heliopolitans were worshipped as deities by the inhabitants of the
Nile River Valley
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
from as early as 10,000 BC. According to Heliopolitan legend, the first of these were Gaea (as
Neith), the Demiurge (as
Nun), and
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
(as
Apep/Apophis). Neith and Nun sired
Atum
Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology.
Name
Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to com ...
, the first of the
Ogdoad — the old gods. As Neith went about creating mortal life, Set desired to destroy her creations. In turn, Neith called Atum for protection. Atum and Set fought for eons until Atum transformed into the Demogorge and drove Set off. After Set's defeat, Atum begot the
Ennead
The Ennead or Great Ennead was a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology worshipped at Heliopolis: the sun god Atum; his children Shu and Tefnut; their children Geb and Nut; and their children Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. The Ennead ...
— the new gods, took the name Ra and settled in the sun.
The Ennead resided in the ancient city of
Heliopolis until their king
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
placed mortal
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s in charge so that the gods could become less involved with human affairs and relocated themselves to the extradimensional realm of Celestial Heliopolis, known to the ancient Egyptians as "
Aaru."
A few, including Bast, Sobek,
Sekhmet,
Thoth
Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a ...
, and Ptah choose to remain on Earth, integrating themselves into ''The Orisha'', the pantheon of
Wakanda.
Bast would eventually become the patron deity of Wakanda, while Sobek and Sekhmet became patrons of lesser influential Wakandan cults.
In Celestial Heliopolis, Seth murdered his brother Osiris in an attempted coup but Osiris' wife
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
, and his sons Horus and Anubis combined their powers to resurrect Osiris. Osiris then dispatched Horus to exact revenge on Seth in a battle that lasted for several hundred years, ending when Seth gained the upper hand and sealed the gods in a pyramid.
The trapped gods remained in the pyramid for several millennia until they managed to reach out to the
Asgardian god
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
. With help from Odin's son,
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
, they defeated Seth, severing his left hand as they battled, and freed the Heliopolitans.
Osiris later empowered Thor to revive Asgardians who were harmed by the
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
.
The gods of Heliopolis, powerless and calling themselves "Lost Ones", joined Thor and
Earth Force in fighting Seth and his forces again, and ultimately regained their powers after the apparent death of Seth.
Members
* Anubis — The god of the afterlife
*
Atum
Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology.
Name
Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to com ...
— The god of the sun
*
Bast — The god of pleasure, poetry & dance
* Bes — The god of luck & probability
* Geb — The god of the Earth
* Horus — The god of the sun
* Isis — The goddess of fertility
*
Khonshu — The god of the moon
* Neith — The goddess of the Earth
* Nun — The god of the watery abyss
* Nut — The goddess of the sky
* Osiris — The god of the dead
* Ptah — The god of craftsmen and architects
* Sekhmet — The god of war
* Set — The god of chaos and creation
* Seth — The god of evil
* Sobek - The god of rivers
* Thoth — The god of wisdom
In other media
The gods Bast and Sekhmet were both mentioned by T'Challa / Black Panther in the 2016
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
film ''
Captain America: Civil War'', with T'Challa explaining, "In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands, and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green
veld
Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Bots ...
where you can run forever." Bast is again mentioned in the prologue of the 2018 film ''
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
'' as having helped the first Black Panther become king of
Wakanda, and later appears in person in
Thor: Love and Thunder portrayed by Akosia Sabet.
Khonshu appears in the live-action
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
(MCU) television series ''
Moon Knight
Moon Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975).
The son of a rabb ...
'', performed by Karim El-Hakim and voiced by
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film ''Amadeus (film), Amadeus'' (1984) ...
.
This version of Khonshu is an outcast amongst his fellow Egyptian gods for waging a "one-god war on perceived injustices", which necessitates him to find and use his avatar,
Marc Spector.
Additionally, Khonshu was described by the series'
head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...
Jeremy Slater as an "imperious and sort of snotty and vengeful" deity, who is prone to temper tantrums and is dealing with his own insecurities,
adding he was more interested in a version of the character that had "his own moral failings and weaknesses" rather than one who was "always right and impervious to mistakes". Abraham called Khonshu "outrageous" and "capable of doing anything and charming his way out of it". As well, Abraham believed Khonshu was unselfish and willing to sacrifice himself the same way he demands sacrifice from others.
Horus appears in ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November 2 ...
'', voiced by
Colin McFarlane.
He is found in the Egypt area of Chronopolis and helps Captain America, Doctor Strange, and Thor fight an awakened
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy
N'Kantu the Living Mummy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character's first run was from 1973 to 1975, and was based on the popular undead mummy trope of horror fiction.
Publication hist ...
while Captain Marvel works to free Hulk from the quicksand. After Loki is defeated, Horus sees to it that Loki puts right what he has wronged in Egypt.
References
External links
*
Heliopolis at MarvelDirectory.com*
Egyptian Godsat Comic Vine
{{Marvel Comics deities
Fictional ancient people
Marvel Comics deities