KHONSHU
Real
Name:
Chons-Re (Khonshu is his Greek name)
Occupation: God of the moon, justice and vengeance, Mentor to the Moon Knight
Legal
Status:
Citizen of Celestial Heliopolis
Identity: The general populace of earth is unaware of the existence of Khonshu except as a mythological deity.
Other Aliases: "He Who Lives Through The Heavens," Chespisichis ("He Who Gives Advice")
Place of Birth: possibly Ancient Thebes (now part of modern Luxor in modern Egypt)
Marital
Status: Single
Known
Relatives:
Ammon-Ra (father), Amaunet (mother, alias Maat), Ptah, Montu, Bes (brothers),
Taweret, Sakhmet, Rat-Taui (sisters-in-law), Imhotep, Nefertum (nephews)
Group
Affiliation:
The Ogdoad (Gods of Egypt), ally of Moon Knight and the West Coast Avengers
Base
of Operations:
Celestial Heliopolis
First
Appearance:
Moon Knight I #1
History:
Khonshu is the son of Ammon-Ra, chieftain of the Ogdoad, the first generation of the
Egyptian Gods, and his wife, Amaunet, the goddess of truth and justice who stood
judge upon the souls who passed over to the afterlife. In ancient times, Khonshu
posed as a human pharaoh at the Egyptian city of Thebes, the seat of worship for
Ammon-Ra, probably at the same time Osiris posed as a mortal ruler. Khonshu was
also described as a mentor of Horus the Younger and may have been the sun-god's
teacher and protector from his hated uncle, Seth, who overthrew Osiris as pharaoh.
The shifts of power in heaven and on earth resulted in Osiris subsequently becoming
god of the dead, and Khonshu ascending into the role of god of the moon, ousting the
god Thoth from that role. Thoth also became god of wisdom and magic and vizier to
Osiris, replacing Shu in the pantheon.
After Osiris was ousted from his role of leader of the Egyptian gods by Seth, Thoth took
the role as ruler of Heliopolis in Osiris' absence. Osiris and the Egyptian gods
were placed in a pyramid, but both Khonshu and Thoth as well as several gods
Seth did not think to be much of a threat to him were allowed left in Celestial
Heliopolis, the home of the Egyptian Gods. Khonshu, however, was so respected by
the Egyptians that the Ancient Greeks which conquered the region honored him as
well.
While Seth controlled Celestial Heliopolis, Khonshu did what he could to
preserve the honor of Egypt. For several millennia, he advised the pharaohs of
Egypt from behind a number of mortal guises, eventually departing Earth during the
Egyptians' unjust persecution of the Hebrews. Ammon-Ra, in the absence of Osiris, his
successor, however, met with the god-kings of the other pantheons of Earth to confront
the Third Host of the Celestials, who came to Earth to inspect the progress of the
human race. Ammon-Ra and the Council of God Kings challenged the rights of the Celestials to
interfere in human affairs, and Ammon-Ra made a pact to defend Earth, but the
outcome of that encounter was that all the pantheons of gods on earth swore to
forgo their active involvement in the development of mankind.
In his absence from earth, Khonshu foresaw the need for a mortal champion and
bestowed a number of gifts to his priests on Earth to safeguard for centuries
until a person worthy of wielding his objects could be found. In the
modern age, the tomb of Pharaoh Seti was discovered holding a statue of Khonshu
by noted archaeologist Peter Alraune Sr., accompanied by his daughter, Marlene.
The statue was draped and adorned with Khonshu's cape and gifts. A mercenary
named Marc Spector was discovered in the desert by Alraune's servants, and
brought within the tomb, set at the foot of the Khonshu statue. Spector was near
death but had a vision of Khonshu restoring his strength and life. Later claiming
that Khonshu had restored him to life to serve as his agent, he draped Khonshu's
cape about him and set out to defeat the man who had left him to die in the desert.
As it turned out, Marc Spector was a man of the Jewish faith, to whose plight to
the Egyptians Khonshu was sympathetic to ever since Ancient Egypt. Spector used
his wealth and Khonshu's gift to become the Moon Knight, a costumed vigilante. He
kept a statue of Khonshu in his home to honor his unseen benefactor, but it was
stolen from Spector's mansion by his enemies who smashed it into pieces. Spector
was devastated by the loss of the statue, and went insane for a time, but regained
his sanity when Marlene, who had become his lover and confidante, showed him that
the statue destroyed was only a fake, and that the true statue had been preserved.
Spector apparently developed great faith and guidance from the statue, believing
that Khonshu was working through it to him, but it has never been confirmed if this
is accurate, or just part of Spector's beliefs. As Moon Knight, Spector eventually
joined the Avengers.
Spector eventually decided to retire from his life as Moon Knight, and sold off
the statue, which was purchased by a demonic entity claiming to be Anubis the Jackal,
one of the other Egyptian gods, but he was actually an old enemy of Khonshu from
primeval Egypt. Spector began to have dreams in which Khonshu appeared to him,
attempting to draw him back into his role as Moon Knight. Finally, Spector returned
to Egypt and met the Priests of Khonshu, who equipped him with new weapons and a new
Moon Knight costume. The weapons had been made by the Avenger Hawkeye during a trip
through time to Ancient Egypt. They also told Spector that he would now receive the
supernatural power of Khonshu when the moon rose. Spector set out and defeated Anubis,
using the new weapons and powers he had received, and retrieved his statue, which had
protected him from being buried when Anubis' temple collapsed.
It is believed that it is sometime during this time that Khonshu became interested
with Spector's teammates in the Avengers and took up residence within Spector's body
as the Moon Knight without his knowledge. Spector would often speak to Khonshu within
his head, and benefited not only from his patron's power, but the psychological
stability it afforded him as well. In this manner, Khonshu dealt with Mockingbird's
preoccupation with death, and took issue with Spector for loving his teammate Tigra,
who in his eyes worshipped the sun but not the moon.
Eventually, Daimon Hellstrom released Khonshu from the Moon Knight for help against
the ghosts of the first two Phantom Riders, but Khonshu's presence on Earth attracted
the attention of Seth, who was then invading Asgard. Attempts to destroy Khonshu as a
possible threat to their invasion were met with resistance from Hellstrom, the current
Phantom Rider, Moon Knight, Tigra and Mockingbird, during which Moon Knight's new
weaponry was destroyed. Khonshu then departed from Marc Spector permanently to join in
the battle with the other Egyptian gods to help defend the Asgardians against Seth.
Khonshu never wavered in his guidance of the Moon Knight and continued to appear in
visions before Spector. He even appeared once to Marlene, who had become Marc's
lover, and told her where to find
Spector. Spector's brother, Randall, however, joined forces with the Cult of
Khonshu in a plot to replace Marc Spector as Khonshu's avatar on earth. They
destroyed Spector's statue of Khonshu, and then used a scientific means to instill
Randall with energy from the moon during a certain celestial alignment. This power was
only temporary, and Randall fled after being wounded by the Moon Knight. Khonshu returned
later to inform Spector of the return of Seth, warning him that he would soon have to
confront him. Moon Knight eventually became an opponent of Seth's underlings on earth
as Seth sought to conquer earth.
From the African land of the dead, the spirit of Moon Knight joined with that of T'Challa,
the Black Panther, in a quest to find Khonshu, in hopes that he might restore the damaged
link between T'Challa and the goddess, Bast,
patron goddess of Wakanda. Initially, they were led astray by the demon Nightmare, posing
as Khonshu, before encountering the true Khonshu, who took the form of a young boy-king as
he once ruled in Egypt. He gave the heroes a Book of the Dead to serve as their guide through
the spirit realm.
Height: 6' 10"
Weight: 410 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Unusual
Physical Features: In one appearance, Khonshu took the form of a young boy.
Strength
Level: Khonshu possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) 25 tons
under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Khonshu possesses the conventional physical
attributes 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 at
an extremely slow rate 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 or Osiris or for a number of Olympian gods of equal
power working together to revive him. Helios also possesses superhuman strength
and his Olympian metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance
in all physical activities. (Olympian flesh and bone is about three times as
dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympians' superhuman
strength and weight.)
Khonshu
also has
great mystical prowess to tap into and manipulate certain undefined energies of
the universe for certain purposes. He has limited powers to cure injuries and
bring mortals back from the brink of death. He can cross and traverse dimensions,
such as from earth to Celestial Heliopolis. He can also alter his form with
illusions and attain an
Weapons: Khonshu wields a silver staff topped with the sign of the ankh,
a symbol of everlasting life.
Comments:
This bio pretty much
sums up Khonshu’s appearances in the Marvel Universe. It
is unaware if he has appeared in the DC Universe.
Special thanks to Michael Hoskins and Jeff Christensen from the Marvel Appendix for their help in compiling Khonshu's Moon Knight appearances!
Last updated: 11/29/06