BAIAME
Real Name:
Baiame
Occupation:
Chieftain of the Australian Gods, god of earth and creation, Totemistic god of
the Kamilarui tribes
Legal Status:
Citizen of Celestial Bullima
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Baiame except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases:
Biame, Byame, Banaitja, All-Father, Great One
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives:
Yhi (possible mother), Bunjil, Batayang, Nepele (brothers), Binbeal, Nurunderi, Gion (nephews),
Kunnanbeili, Birrahgnooloo (wives), Daramulum (son), Gnowee (daughter),
Bunbulawa, Bara (grand-daughters), Wuluwaid (grandson), The Wawalag Sisters
(great-granddaughters), Tame
(possible cousin), Gaea
(ancestor, alias Eingana)
Group Affiliations: The Gods of Australia, ally of the Oceanic Gods, member of the Council of Godheads
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: Thor I #300
History: Not much is known about the origins of Baiame except that he is a descendant from the primal earth-goddess, Gaea, through her role as Eingana, the Australian mother-goddess. Possibly related distantly to the Oceanic gods of the Polynesian and Hawaiian Islands, Baiame is descended from ancient unidentified primal deities who remain as yet unknown. According to Aborigine myth, the Australian gods discovered Australia during a mythical period of time known as the Dreamtime and sculpted the land and region in order to make it hospitable to the animals that lived there. (According to Australian tribes, all history exists in three different time periods. The modern age exists in Real Time when mankind exists, the memories of our ancestors taught to their descendants exist in Past Time and then there is a period of time before mankind existed which is called the Dreamtime. Some references inaccurately refer to Celestial Bullima, the realm of the Australia gods, as the Dreamtime.) The Australian gods then introduced human beings into Australia and gave them sovereignty and dominion over the beasts of the land and of the earth itself. The Australian gods then departed for a sacred gathering place named Bullima atop Mount Oobi-Oobi in the Highlands of Central Australia before eventually departing the Earth's dimension altogether. (According to later myths, it is said the Australian gods sculpted man and animals from inanimate matter, but this is not accurate with later modern discoveries.)
Baiame was the undisputed leader of the Australian gods in the
absence of his forefathers. Possibly the son of the sun-goddess, Yhi, he and his brothers lived on earth as chieftains of
various tribes of men who would become the ancestors of the multiple tribes of
Australia. Unlike the other gods of earth, Baiame and his brothers had to hunt
and fish for food among their worshippers and huddled by firesides at night as
he passed down his laws and teachings. He took two mortal wives named
Kunnanbeili and Birrahgnooloo and instructed them where to find freshwater to
drink near the spring at Coordigal and warned them not to swim in it. When he
went away to hunt for fresh meat, Kunnanbeili and Birrahgnooloo became confused
and thought they were allowed to swim in the water as long as they didn't drink
from it. While they were swimming in the waters, they were discovered by two
Kurrian crocodiles who devoured them, but upon realizing who they had swallowed,
the crocodiles fled the river through underground rivers into the Narran River.
When Baiame came looking for his wives and discovered the evidence of what had
happened, he overtook the crocodiles and overwhelmed them by placing traps in the
Narran River. Catching the crocodiles in his traps, Baiame slashed open their
bodies and freed his wives alive from the belies of the crocodiles which he then
skinned and salted for meat. Contented over their fortune and luck, Kunnanbeili
and Birrahgnooloo promised to never break his laws again.
Kunnanbeili and Birrahgnooloo conceived Baiame several
children, but he chose to elevate Birrahgnooloo over Kunnanbeili to live beside
him as mother of all gods. Among their sons was Daramulum, the moon-god, who had
been born with a body of stone. Baiame later decided to eavesdrop on mortals to
covertly discover what mankind thought of him. To do so, he disguised himself as
a wirinun, (medicine man) to keep from being recognized, but he later shed this
disguise from his body to reveal his identity. Birrahgnooloo used Baiame's
mortal disguise to mystically weave Daramulum a better body out of flesh. Afterward, Baiame sent
Daramulum to live on earth in his place to carry out his designs for mankind and
care for them by punishing evil-doers. Daramulum also became known by the name
Thurmelin. His daughter, Gnowee, became goddess of
the sun to the Australian aborigines. Baiame and his wife later departed earth,
leaving the welfare of mortal man to his children. His great-grandchildren,
the Wawalag Sisters,
were considered ancestors of all the Aborigine tribes of Africa. After several centuries, eventually
Daramulum and Gnowee departed earth for one last time after realized that mortal
man had reached a point they did not need gods.
Around 1000 AD, Odin, Chieftain of the Asgardian Gods and Zeus, Ruler of the
Gods of Olympus asked Baiame to meet with the
heads of the other races of gods who were once worshipped by mortals to
discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials. Odin, Zeus and Vishnu,
the Ruler of the Hindu Gods, went to confront the Third Host of the Celestials on behalf of all the Earth’s
gods. However, they had to pledge not to interfere with the plans the Celestials
had with humanity after the Celestials threatened to seal off the gods’
interdimensional passageways connecting the gods’ dimensions with earth. As a
result of this pledge, the Australian gods had to promise lessen their trafficking with
earth, although by this time, it had been several centuries since they had
intermingled with mortals, having all left earth to preside in Celestial Bullima. The Fourth Host of the Celestials would decide to spare earth from
destruction. The life forces of the Asgardians were used to animate the
Destroyer to confront the Celestials, but were lost after the destruction of the
Destroyer. Baiame had made a vow to Odin to volunteer the required life energies
to revive the Asgardians and Thor who was not present on Asgard when the
Asgardians volunteered their life-energies visited Celestial Bullima to obtain the
required energies.
Unlike a majority of earth's gods, Baiame is quite content to
look upon earth content to realize he is no longer needed on earth, but he is
always ready to use his powers to benefit mortal man. As a member
of the Council of Godheads, he has accompanied Tame of the Oceanic Gods to share
information and debate the threats posed to earth by beings like Demogorge,
Thanos and Akhenaton.
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 475 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Strength Level: Baiame possesses superhuman strength to an unknown
degree. The typical Australian god can lift (press) around 30 tons, but his
strength level could be even greater, possibly enabling him to lift (press)
around 75 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Baiame possesses the conventional physical attributes
of the Australian gods; he is extremely long-lived, but he is not immortal like
the Olympian gods. He has 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 Bunjil,
Batayang and Nepele or for a number of
Australian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Baiame also possesses
superhuman strength and his godly metabolism provides him with far greater than
human endurance in all physical activities. (The flesh and bone of the
Australian gods is about three
times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to their superhuman
strength and weight.)
Baiame also has more power to tap into and manipulate mystical
energies over any other Australian god. Although his level of power is unknown,
it is known he could control the weather, move at incredible speeds beyond mortal
perceptions, pass through dimensional borders and create physical illusions
which he could shed like an exterior disguise. His exact level of power is
unknown, but he could be just as powerful as Zeus and
Odin.
Abilities: Baiame is an excellent hunter and tracker skilled in the use
of a boomerang. He is described as a most beneficent and caring deity.
Pets: Baiame is served by a sentient crow named Wahn, who may be normal animal sustained by divine means, or a deity in animal form.
Comments: This bio pretty much contains Baiame's major mythological info with his Marvel Universe appearances. Although separated by some two thousand kilometers of ocean, some interesting comparisons can be made with the Aboriginal Gods of Australia and the gods of the Maori of New Zealand, one of several branches of the Polynesians. This would seem to suggest that there is some tenuous as yet undefined link and comparison between the Australian and Polynesian gods.
Last updated: 06/07/07