GEB

Real Name: Geb

Occupation: God of earth, former Pharaoh of Egypt, retired

Legal Status: Citizen of Celestial Heliopolis

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Geb except as a mythological being.

Other Aliases: Seb, Keb, Oeb, Kenken-wer ("the Great Cackler"), Sham-ur, Suti (“soul of Geb), "Chief of the Gods," "Father of the Gods,"

Place of Birth: possibly Thebes (now part of modern Egypt)

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Shu (father), Tefnut (mother), Nut (sister/wife), Thoth (brother), Osiris, Seth, Horus I (sons), Khnemu (cousin), Isis, Nephthys (daughters), Hathor (step-daughter), Horus, Anubis (grandsons), Bast (grand-daughter), Ammon-Ra, Nun, Kuk, Huk (uncles), Amaunet, Naunet, Kauket, Heket (aunts), Atum-Re (grandfather), Gaea (grandmother, alias Neith), Khonshu, Bes, Ptah, Montu (cousins),

Group Affiliation: The Ennead (Gods of Egypt)

Base of Operations: Celestial Heliopolis

First Appearance: Thor I #241

History: Geb is a member of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Ennead who was worshipped as gods by the ancient Egyptians. The Ennead are the descendants of a much older generation of beings known as the Ogdoad, ruled by Ammon-Ra from Ancient Memphis, possibly the most ancient pantheon of gods known on Earth. The Ogdoad are the progeny of the ancient sky-god Atum-Re who took Gaea in her role as the earth-goddess, Neith, as his wife. The Ogdoad lived on Earth in ancient times, founding the cities of Thebes, Memphis, Elephantine and others, retreating from Earth as they departed from earthly rule. Geb was born the son of Shu and Tefnut at Heliopolis. Geb succeeded his father as Pharaoh of Thebes and took his sister, Nut, to be his wife. Shu meanwhile ascended to the heavens to be god of air while Tefnut became goddess of rain. Their ancestor, Atum-Re, however, took offense by the union of Geb and Nut and ordered Shu to separate them to prevent them from siring progeny.

Geb pined for Nut to return so much that his brother, Thoth, the god of the moon, gambled with Selkhet the sun-goddess for five extra days for them to be together. Thoth was able to cast a spell to extend the night for Geb to be with Nut, and as a result, she became heavy with child. Nut bore him one child for each day of the week, their children becoming named Horus, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Whether Atum-Re foretold one of their sons would rise up against them is unknown, but as an adult, Osiris grew up to succeed Geb as king of Helioplois and become one of the most favored and beneficent kings of Egypt, uniting the Upper and Lower Kingdoms to become King of Egypt. Seth, however, grew to hate his brother, Osiris, and eventually killed him, but Osiris was returned to life by Isis and decided to depart Earth to rule Duat, the Egyptian afterlife, as god of the dead. On Earth, Horus II, the son of Osiris and Isis, continually fought Seth for his right to the Egyptian throne until Geb arbitrated between them and gave the throne to Horus and Seth dominion of Abydos, the Egyptian underworld, set aside for sinners and those not accepted by Osiris into the afterlife.

Seth soon became bored with ruling just the underworld and imprisoned his siblings and parents in a pyramid in order to seize control of Celestial Heliopolis (Duat). The pyramid soon appeared on Earth where the Egyptian Gods were freed by the Asgardian Gods Thor and Odin who slew Seth for his treachery. Geb joined the other Egyptian gods in declaring Odin the reincarnation of their ancestor, Atum-Re, in the Ceremony of Rebirth. Some years later, Seth, however, returned with a series of attacks on the Gods of Asgard. He hated the Asgardians for their intervention in disrupting his power and stole the life forces of Geb and the other Egyptian Gods in order to power his invasion into Asgard. Geb and the Egyptian gods aided Thor and the Asgardians in their battle against Geb and subsequently defeated him, regaining their stolen life energies and exiling Seth from Asgard. 

Geb now presides in the realm of Celestial Heliopolis, the other-dimensional realm of the Egyptian gods who have departed Earth. From time to time, he still revisits Egypt to recall it in its grandeur and surreptitiously share insights with the scientists exploring and examining its culture and mysteries.

Height: 5' 11"
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald, Black in his youth

Strength Level: Geb possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) 30 tons under optimal conditions. Possibly, he could lift greater weights in his youth.

Known Superhuman Powers: Geb possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Ennead or Gods of Egypt. Like all of the Ennead, he is exceptionally long-lived, but he is not immortal like the Olympian gods; 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, Atum-Re or Osiris or for a number of Egyptian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Geb 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.)

Geb also has mystical powers over the earth enabling him to create localized earthquakes in his proximity. The full extent of his powers is unrevealed, but his power level seems to have waned over time. He can create landslides, mentally move several hundred tons of rock and earth to uncover buried pyramids and levitate rocks and boulders to use as projectiles and weapons. Presumably, he has or had powers of great growth, as his form in ancient times was said to sometimes represent the mountains.  It may also be that over the past thousands of years that the strength of his power has waned significantly from lack of use during his long retirement.

Pets: Geb was represented by the goose.

Comments: This bio describes Geb as he has been seen in the Marvel Universe; he has not yet appeared in the DC Universe.

While it isn't explained in the myth, it might be assumed that Atum-Ra was against the union of Geb and Nut because he foresaw the birth of Seth as the god of evil.

Clarifications: Geb is not to be confused with:  

Last updated: 09/14/17

 

Back to Main Page