HORUS
Real
Name:
Horus-Aton
Occupation:
God of the sun, former Pharaoh of Egypt
Legal
Status:
Citizen of Celestial Heliopolis
Identity:
The general populace of earth is unaware of the existence of Horus except as a
figure from mythology. He was well known in Ancient Egypt.
Other
Aliases:
The Falcon God, Hor, Horos, Ra-Herakhty, Haroeris, Harpocrates, Herachte,
Harendotes, Harmachis, Hermertri, Harsaphes, Hor-Hekeru
Place
of Birth:
Chemmis, Egypt
Marital
Status:
Married
Known
Relatives:
Osiris (father), Isis
(mother), Seshat (foster-mother), Nephthys (aunt),
Horus I, Seth (uncles), Anhur, Min, Neper (brothers),
Bast, Sesmu (sisters),
Duamutef, Hapi II, Ihy, Imsety, Qebshuf (sons), Hathor (wife), Khonshu,
Khnum, Hapi I (uncles), Ammon-Ra (father-in-law), Anubis, Bata (half-brothers); Geb
(grandfather), Nut (grandmother), Shu (great-grandfather), Tefnut
(great-grandmother); Suchos, Babi, Edjo, Nekhbet (cousins), Mihos (nephew);
Sakhmet (niece)
Group
Affiliation:
The Gods of Egypt (The Ennead), ally of Thor and the Thing
Base
of Operations:
Celestial Heliopolis ("City of the Sun")
First
Appearance:
Thor I #239
History:
Horus is the youngest son of Osiris and Isis, who once ruled on Earth as
pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Osiris and Isis were actually members of an
extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Ennead, a second-generation of
beings descended from the Ogdoad, who were worshipped as gods in the centuries
following the end of the Hyborian Age. Ammon-Ra, Ruler of the Ogdoad, had
bestowed his brother, Shu, as ruler (pharaoh) of the land known as modern Egypt
before departing earth. Shu reportedly instructed and civilized mortal man in
how to erect cities and create pyramids similar to the earlier Atlantean
civilization before the Hyborian Age. When he departed Earth to join Ammon-Ra in
the heavens, he left his throne to his son Geb, who in turn left it to his son
Osiris when he departed earth. Osiris was hated by his brother, Seth, who then
sought to depose his brother and take the throne for himself. He created an
enchanted coffin and tricked Osiris to lay within in it and then sealed him up
within it. Seth cast the coffin to the Nile to be rid of his brother and ousted
Isis and her children from power, taking the throne of Egypt for himself.
Isis
fled for the island of Chemmis and found shelter under her half-brother, Khnemu,
god of the Nile. She gave birth to Horus in secret and departed Chemmis to
search for Osiris on Earth. In her absence, Horus was raised to adulthood by a
number of goddesses, most notably the cow-goddess, Hathor. Isis subsequently
found Osiris, but Seth appeared and ripped his brother apart, scattering the
pieces to the winds. Isis collected the pieces and gathered them together. With
the help of several gods, including Horus, Anubis and others, they successfully
restored Osiris to life. During the time the spirit of Osiris had been away from
his body, he had discovered the realm of Duat, the location of afterlife where
mortals departed after death and then departed earth himself to rule it so that
other mortals might find their way to it. Before departing, Osiris named Horus
as his rightful heir and worthy ruler to the throne of Egypt.
Ammon-Ra,
meanwhile, decided to retire as King of the gods and named Osiris as his
successor. Together, they created the realm of Celestial Heliopolis, which was
named for what was then the capital of Egypt on Earth.
Horus
hated Seth for the dishonors to his father and subsequently challenged Seth to
his own right to rule Egypt. Geb, the god of earth, arbitrated the dispute and
rewarded Horus the right to rule Egypt, and Seth was forced to retreat to the
underworld of Abydos where he ruled over sinners and evil spirits not allowed
into Duat ruled by Osiris. Horus meanwhile took the goddess, Hathor as his wife,
and fathered the gods Duamutef, Hapi II, Imsety, Qebshuf and Ihy who became
funerary deities to the Egyptians. Unwilling
to accept his fate, Seth continued to clash with Horus for several centuries.
Seth, finally, however, managed to defeat Horus through treachery at the same
time as the sea battle of Actium in which the forces of Rome lead by Octavius
Caesar defeated the navies of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her lover, Marc
Anthony. The triumphant Seth entrapped Osiris, Isis, Horus and a number of the
Egyptian gods within a great pyramid that he sank beneath the sands, and
conquered the other-dimensional realm of Heliopolis with his armies of the
undead. Seth declared that Horus and his family would never be released until
their ancestor Atum-Ra finally returned to Earth.
In
recent years, the pyramid appeared in the United States, and Osiris, Isis and
Horus cast a spell over the Asgardian god Odin, causing him to believe he was
the reincarnation of Atum-Ra. (Whether there is any connection between Odin and
Atum-Ra is unknown.) Odin’s son, Thor tried in vain to force Osiris and the
others to release Odin from this spell and accompanied Osiris, Isis and Horus
into Heliopolis where they confronted Seth’s undead armies. Thor realized
that, unless stopped, Seth would then menace Earth and Asgard next. Therefore,
Thor entered into battle with Seth and with the help of Odin, defeated Seth.
Horus then cast Seth from the Golden Bridge of the Gods, and Osiris reclaimed
his rightful place within Celestial Heliopolis.
Seth
eventually captured Horus, Osiris and Isis once more. Seth held Horus as a
sacrifice to a creature called the Devourer, but when the Devourer became too
much for him to control, he became obliged to release his brother and with the
aide of Thor and the Thing, the Devourer was defeated. Seth fell from power once
more, and Horus was rescued. Indebted to Thor, Horus carried out his father’s
wishes to join Thor in battle with several other gods against the Demiurge
released by Seth in alliance with several other death-gods. Although briefly
consumed by the beast, Horus was rescued from the primeval entity after Thor
willingly entered the beast and forced a change in its palate to release him and
all the other consumed gods.
Horus
and several of the Egyptian Gods were eventually recaptured by Seth and
mystically drained of their godly powers. Seth used their energies in his desire
in conquering the universe, and invaded Asgard in his first step of his overall
plan. Although bereft of his powers, Horus went to Asgard’s defense joined by
Osiris and Isis and helped to switch the loyalties of Earth Force from Seth’s
influence toward the side of the Asgardians. Odin once more confronted Seth and
defeated him, draining him of his stolen energies and restoring Horus and the
other weakened Egyptian gods to full power.
Through
her manipulation of powerful mystical energies, Maryet Karim managed to
restructure reality and rewove the timeline so the Egyptian Dynasties never
ended. In this altered timeline, the Egyptians lead invasions into Europe and
North America and conquered much of Earth. Horus became a founding member of the
Avengers in this reality as a rough counterpart to the mainstream Thor. Horus
also took the mutant Ororo Munroe (Storm) as his wife and made her a goddess.
Karim called herself the Sphinx as the undisputed empress of Earth in this
timeline, but during a battle
with the Mutant Liberation Front in this altered reality, Richard Ryder, developed
a sense of déjà vu and realized the altered sense of reality around him. He
confronted the Sphinx and took for ransom her cat, her only memory of a lost
love, threatening to kill it unless she restored the timeline. Giving into the
blackmail, she returned the Earth’s reality back to normal. Despite this
reality having come to an end, it still remained in existence within the
countless myriad universes in existence. This Horus was among the Avengers of
this timeline brought by the Time Keepers to oppose the mainstream Avengers
during the Destiny War.
In
the restored timeline, the sorceress Circe (not to be confused with the goddess
Circe) set into motion a sequence of events to force the gods of Earth into
granting her a source of infinite power. To combat Circe, Osiris stripped Kent
Nelson of the mantle of Doctor Fate and gave it to his wife, Inza Cramer, little
knowing this had been orchestrated by Circe to obtain the powers for herself.
Nelson confronted Horus and a host of the Egyptian gods in Egypt for an
explanation. Working as a mediator, Thoth, the god of time, claimed it was all
in the course that Inza would prove to be a more worthy champion, thereby
placing Inza in a place to be corrupted by Circe. After the Justice League of
America defeated Circe, Osiris realized the manipulation and guided Nabu, the
original Doctor Fate to grant the mantle of Doctor Fate upon a new worthy
champion, Eric Strauss.
Height:
6’5”
Weight:
425 lbs.
Eyes:
Brown
Hair:
Black
Strength
Level:
Horus possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) 75 tons under
optimal conditions.
Known
Superhuman Powers:
Horus possesses the conventional powers of the Egyptian Gods. Like
all of the Ennead, he is extremely long-lived, but he is not immortal like the
Gods of Olympus. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any
conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to
conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his godly life force would
enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such
magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him
a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant
power, such as Ammon-Ra, Osiris or for a number of Egyptian gods of equal power
working together to revive him. Horus also possesses superhuman strength and his
Ennead metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance in all
physical activities. (Ennead flesh and bone is about three times as dense as
similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the
Egyptian gods.)
Horus also has some innate power to tap into and manipulate magic to some extent, and can also conjure solar and microwave energies, particularly the Ra-related powers of the sun, for a variety of effects. He can also channel it through his staff or ankh, the religious symbol of everlasting life, as a force of beneficent energy capable of repelling or shattering matter. He can wield it as a healing force and conjure rays upon he can fly upon or walk through the air. He can also paralyze anyone with his left eye. The full measure of his powers are unknown, but it is possible he is almost as powerful as Osiris himself.
Transportation:
Horus sometimes travels on earth by means of a horse-drawn chariot.
Comments:
This history largely describes Horus of the Marvel Universe; he has not yet been
confirmed in the DC universe or elsewhere.
The
Aton part of Horus’ name was theoretically added after the end of the reign of
Akhenaton. It could actually be the name of the deity known as Jehovah to the
Jews and Christians and as Allah by Islamics and Moslems. Coincidentally, in
German/Norse myth, Gimle is used as the name of the paradise that the Asgardian
gods enter after Ragnarok, but it’s also used as the name of the supreme God
when they refer to “Gimle’s snowy beard,” indicating that perhaps even as
gods of earth, these pantheons honor and pay tribute in some way to another more
powerful guiding creator-force of the universe.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Horus should not be confused with:
·
Horus,
aka Heru-Ur, god of boundaries, brother of Osiris, @ Marvel: The End
·
Horus,
god of health, son of Montu
·
Horus,
falcon trainer of Anubis the Jackal, @ Moon Knight II#1
·
Horae,
Olympian goddesses of season
·
Horse,
Dormammu's priest, @ Dr. Strange II#6
·
Horse,
member of China Force, @ Alpha Flight I#69
· Horusians, aliens who impersonated the Egyptian gods, @ Incredible Hulk II#145
Last updated: 11/29/06