ANUBIS ANUBIS
Real Name: Anpu (His name in Egyptian, Anubis is the Greek rendering of his name)
Identity/Class: Egyptian God
Occupation: God of funerals and mummification
Group Affiliation: Heliopolitan Gods (particularly Isis and Osiris)
Affiliations: Ap-uat AKA Wepwawet (fellow god that
shared his role in funerary rites and guidance of the dead through the
underworld);
Khet (his familiar);
N'Kantu/Living Mummy (agent);
former subjects Jackal Knight (Randall Spector), Legion of the Unliving (Black Spectre/Carson Knowles, Chainsaw, Master Sniper, Plasma/Leila O'Toole, Midnight/Jeff Wilde, Taurus/Cornelius van Lunt), Nephrus;
former pawns Brett Carson, Mindstar (Silas Warden), Moon Knight (Marc Spector);
worshipped by Anubis the Jackal (See Clarifications), Sons of the Jackal
Enemies: Ammon-Ra, Bast, Invisible Woman (Susan Richards), Seth (Serpent God of Death), Mindstar, Shuri, Storm (Ororo Munroe),
Michael Taine, unidentified soul, Wakanda;
formerly the Son of Satan (Hellstorm;
as result of a temporary deception since resolved)
Known Relatives: Qadesh (wife, allegedly; See Comments), Osiris (father), Nephthys (mother), Upuaut (son), Qebehet (daughter), Bata (brother), Horus, Anhur, Neper, Min (half-brothers), Hatmehyt (sister-in-law), Geb (grandfather), Nut (grandmother), Seth, Harpocrates (uncles), Isis (aunt, foster mother) Bes, Khonshu, Khnum, Montu, Ptah, Shu, Sobek (great-granduncles), Bast, Sekhmet (Hathor), Seshat, Tefnut (great-grandaunts)
Aliases: Jackal-god, Lord of Death and Rebirth, "lord of the mummy wrappings", Sekhem Em Pet (name for Anubis as a son of Osiris), Sekhem Taui (name of Anubis as a form of Osiris, his father)
Base of Operations: Celestial Heliopolis;
Palace of Death and Rebirth; the
Court of Anubis (both presumably pocket realms within the dimension of Heliopolis)
First Appearance: (In shadows) Son of Satan#5 (August, 1976);
(named) Son of Satan#6 (October, 1976);
(fully seen) Son of Satan#7 (December 1976)
Powers/Abilities:
Anubis presumably possesses the conventional attributes of the
Egyptian Gods including superhuman strength (Class 25 or more), stamina,
vitality, and resistance to harm. He also has several undefined
skills, presumably magical in nature, to perceive spirits, cross dimensions
(such as into the Dream dimension), and to shapeshift
from god, to jackal-headed god and back into a jackal. He can also
fire unspecified energy blasts from his eyes. Anubis' powers are vastly amplified within his Palace of Death
and Rebirth--with minimal effort, he was able to separate the
souls and bodies from powerful beings such as Mindstar and the
Son of Satan.
Weakness: Anubis is apparently unable to harm someone who possesses an
ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life.
History:
(Egyptian Myth) - Anubis is the
son of Osiris and Nephthys. According to one myth, he was sired through the
trickery of the treacherous Nephthys over her brother Osiris, and was abandoned
by his mother at birth, being raised instead by Osiris' sister-wife Isis.
As he grew, Anubis followed his father who became pharaoh by conquering the
world.
In ancient times on the seventeenth day of the month of Hathor, during the
twenty-eighth year of Osiris' reign, Seth killed Osiris and overthrew
Osiris as pharaoh. After this, Anubis invented mummification
as a means of preserving his father's body for restoration back to
life. He also showed the mummification process to the Egyptians as a means of
preserving their dead.
(Egyptian Myth/Literature: The Tale of Two Brothers) - During one of his absences, Anubis' wife, Qadesh, the goddess of sin, attempted to seduce Anubis' brother, Bata, the bull-god. Refused by him, she screamed rape, and Anubis pursued his brother as far as the Nile where Bata insisted on his innocence. Finally believing him, Anubis turned around and slew his wife. While under the protection of Khnemu, the god of the Nile, Bata called upon Ammon-Ra for a wife of his own. Ammon-Ra instructed Khnemu, his son, to give his own daughter Hatmehyt as a wife to the bull-god. She, however, turned out to be unfaithful and showed Bata's enemies how to defeat him. Anubis subsequently found his brother's body and restored him to life. In one version of this story, a pine tree had sprung up from where Bata was buried. Anubis tricked Hatmehyt into swallowing a splinter from the tree and Bata sprang forth from, killing her in the process.
(Fantastic Four I#607 (fb)) - Millennia ago the war of the gods had ended and Anubis sought to take Ammon-Ra's power. He enslaved the beaten Ammon-Ra, but the sun god had outsmarted Anubis by leaving his knowledge (apparently stored in his heart) with Bast where Anubis wouldn't find it. Bast hid Ammon-Ra's heart in Wakanda.
(Egyptian Myth) - When Osiris returned as a god of death and of resurrection, Anubis, as well as the god Ap-uat, became a guide over funerary rites and was responsible for carrying souls from the underworld to Osiris' heavenly kingdom.
(Tales of the Zombie#4/3 - BTS) - Anubis was invoked by an Egyptian man who sought to create a zombie for him so that he could use it to force a woman to marry him. The spell succeeded, but the woman eventually turned the zombie against him and murdered him.
(Son of Satan#7 (fb)) - Thousands of years ago, the soul of an unspecified man was placed in Anubis' care. Anubis kept the soul within a bronze idol in his realm. However, at some point the soul escaped, fled his keep, and inhabited the forms of other men and women, always staying one step ahead of Anubis.
(Thor I#240-241 - BTS) - In later times, Seth replaced Osiris as ruler of the dead. Growing discontent with that role, he overthrew Osiris who had replaced Ammon Ra as ruler of heaven. Seth then imprisoned him and all the Egyptian gods, possibly keeping Anubis' mortal form in a preserved state within a pyramid for a millennia as well. When the pyramid appeared in the Twentieth Century, the Asgardian Gods clashed with Seth to free them. The ancient gods of Egypt then proclaimed Odin the reincarnation of their common ancestor Atum (Ammon-Ra).
BTS - Anubis empowered Silas Warden to become Mindstar and sent him to find and return an escaped soul. Anubis taught Mindstar that all men and women are stars, and all humanity a cosmos.
(Son of Satan#5 (fb) BTS) -
Mindstar located the soul within District University student
Michael Taine. However, Mindstar's assault raged out of
control--killing Taine and allowing the desired soul to escape. To prevent Anubis from learning of his failure, Mindstar imbedded
Taine in the wall in the shape of an ankh.
Mindstar then convinced Anubis that the soul he sought was the
darksoul portion of Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan.
(Son of Satan#5) - As Daimon Hellstrom investigated the death, Anubis' visage appeared in the mirror. Later, after Mindstar had fought and been driven off by the Son of Satan, Anubis spoke to Warden from the shadows of his mansion, expressing concerns over his behavior and ability while encouraging him to wait until the time would be right.
(Son of Satan#6) - Anubis, rightly suspecting that
Mindstar had an agenda of his own, entered the dreams of another
District University student, Brett Carson, and drew him towards a
specified cavern. Within the cavern, Carson encountered a gem
which transformed him into a monstrous form which made him the
servant of Anubis.
Meanwhile, Mindstar pulled Hellstrom through a series of pocket
realms, ultimately bringing him to the Court of Anubis.
(Son of Satan#7) - Mindstar summoned Anubis, who was now convinced that Mindstar had developed plots and aspirations other than his own. Anubis sent his newest agent (the transformed Brett Carson) to attack both Mindstar and Hellstrom. In the course of the battle, all three combatants fell through a portal into Anubis' Palace of Death and Rebirth. Anubis stripped them of their physical forms and confronted their astral selves. Without the ankh to shield him, Anubis was able to read Mindstar's mind and fully realize his deception. As a result, Anubis ended his vendetta against Hellstrom, planned to destroy Mindstar as punishment, and imprison Mindstar's soul within his realm. Hellstrom, however, blamed Anubis for Mindstar's behavior and did not think that he should become a prisoner of Anubis' realm. As such, Hellstrom offered to defeat and contain Mindstar if Anubis would allow him to go free. The Son of Satan successfully overpowered Mindstar, and Anubis stripped Mindstar of his powers and returned him to Earth as Silas Warden. Hellstrom was also sent back to Earth, as was Carson, in his original form; his memories of his transformation and subsequent adventures erased.
(Marvel Preview#8/4: "The Curse of Anubis") - Two archeologists, Sir Reginald Thompson and Dr. Lionel Hemphries, uncovered the preserved form of Anubis. Thompson scratched his hand on its tooth, and thus brought about Anubis' resurrection in his form.
(Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu I#1 - BTS) - A modern day priest of Anubis, Sheikh Ahmad Azis declared himself the reincarnation of Aram-Set and named himself Anubis the Jackal. He was killed in a confrontation with Moon Knight, avatar of the Egyptian god of vengeance, Khonshu.
(Legion of Monsters: Satana#1) - N'Kantu (the Living Mummy) summoned the spirit of Nephrus, hoping to force Nephrus to either restore him to full life or to allow him to die. Nephrus was unable to do so, and Anubis appeared in response to a soul being drawn from his realm. Anubis' familiar, Khet, tried and failed to retake the Orb of Ra by force. Anubis ultimately offered to allow N'Kantu to die, but only after N'Kantu served as his agent, killing others and giving their souls to Anubis. Given the choice of who it was that he would kill, N'Kantu agreed to this offer.
(Secret Warriors I#10) - Anubis was present when Phobos (Alexander Aaron), son of Ares, was found worthy by the Council of Godheads to be a god.
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(Fantastic Four I#607 - BTS) - Anubis sent groups of undead warriors to Wakanda to retrieve Ammon-Ra's knowledge for him. After the third attack T'Challa called in Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman for help. (Fantastic Four I#608) - Shuri, Storm and Invisible Woman traveled the Celestial Path in search of Anubis while T'Challa and Mr. Fantastic had an audience with Bast in Wakanda's City of the Dead. The three women were soon attacked and overpowered by Anubis and his army of jackals and undead warriors. T'Challa managed to convince Bast to make him Black Panther again, but at the same time keep his sister alive, which led to Bast coming to the aid of Shuri, Storm and Invisible Woman as a giant white panther and chomping Anubis in half. |
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(Moon Knight VII#14 (fb) - BTS) - Anubis called in a favor with Moon Knight to help dogs in NYC controlled by a madman to attack rich people.
(Moon Knight VII#14 - BTS) - Moon Knight freed the dogs and told one of them to tell his master that Khonshu would protect them and to tell his master that they were even.
(Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood#1/2) - Some guy stole the Crimson Scarab and used it to summon and enchant Anubis to conquer New York City. Anubis crashed through a warehouse wall while under the control of that guy, but Moon Knight kicked the guy's butt and retrieved the Crimson Scarab. He promised Anubis to keep the Crimson Scarab safe in his vault to prevent anyone else from ever enchanting Anubis again. Anubis then faded away.
(Moon Knight: City of the Dead#3 (fb)) - Randall Spector pledged himself to Anubis after arriving in Duat following his most recent demise and was granted power and a mission as Anubis' avatar Jackal Knight.
(Moon Knight: City of the Dead#1 (fb) - BTS) - Additionally Anubis used his magic to bring the souls of other deceased enemies of Moon Knight to Duat to serve as Jackal Knight's Legion of the Unliving.
(Moon Knight: City of the Dead#1 - BTS) - On Earth the Anubis worshippers known as the Sons of the Jackal tried to slay the youth Khalil Nasser, the host of Osiris' soul, to send him to Duat to the Jackal Knight so he could finish the Ritual of Osiris and raise Duat to Earth. Moon Knight saved Khalil and brought his nearly dead body to Hunter's Moon, who kept him alive while Moon Knight traveled to Duat to return the boy's soul to Earth.
(Moon Knight: City of the Dead#4 - BTS) - Jackal Knight finished the Ritual of Osiris to gain full control over Duat by using the stolen power from Osiris' young host and began to raise the City of the Dead in the name of Anubis to the land of the living.
(Moon Knight: City of the Dead#5 - BTS) - Nasser's soul ended his own life in Duat to release Osiris and allow him to take back all the power Jackal Knight had stolen from him. Without Osiris' power Jackal Knight was defeated by Moon Knight. Osiris promised Moon Knight to oversee Randall's confinement and that he would be cleansed of Anubis' blight before he faced judgment.
Comments: Anubis was adapted by John Warner, P. Craig Russell, and Sonny Trinidad.
Anubis in Egyptian Myth
In the myth, Anubis and Bata's enemies are never named, but they are agents of a Pharaoh. It is likely they are minions of Seth during one of the times he usurped Osiris' position as King.
Also in myth, Anubis' wife is generally never named, rather she is called a goddess of wine and sin. Qadesh is, however, named in a separate myth as the goddess of sin and vice, so it's likely that she's the same person as Anubis' wife.
If Anubis and Bata are full brothers then that would mean that Osiris willingly or unwillingly had yet another encounter with his sister Nephthys. In the myth, the brothers are referred to as being of one mother and one father, whatever that may mean.
Anubis in Marvel Comics
Is Anubis behind the scenes in Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu#1? He may well have sensed Ahmad Azis taking his name, looked down upon the guy, and thought, "What a jackass!" (or jack-al-ass, or something to that effect).
The exact chronological order of Marvel Preview#8 and Son of Satan#5-7 remains uncertain, as both titles came out in 1976. In the Son of Satan issues he worked via dreams and shadows and reflections on Earth, sounding more like a spirit than a physical being. Given this observation I placed his physical resurrection in Marvel Preview#8 after the Son of Satan saga.
Son of Satan#7 was forced to become the end of the current storyline due to the imminent cancellation of the title. As a result, there is a rushed and pretty unsatisfying conclusion to the ongoing plotline. Son of Satan#8, written by Bill Mantlo, did come out, but it did not deal with the previous plotlines. Most relevant to this entry is the lack of resolution or explanation of the soul that escaped Anubis. Who was it and why/how did it end up in Anubis' care? Where is it now? What's my name and where do I live!!?? (Perhaps the soul that was sought after was that of Ahamd Azis aka Anubis the Jackal, and he retrieved it in Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu#1.--Kyle)
John Warner had some fixation with red gems and octopus-like creatures. The dreams of Brett Carson looked suspiciously like the origins of Ulysses Bloodstone, involving the Bloodgem and Ulluxy'l Quan Tae Syn.
Non-canon Anubis appearances in Marvel Comics
Hellstorm: Son of Satan (2006-2007): The MAX title's main problem was that Osiris was considered dead ever since ancient Egypt in the story and that just doesn't work with Osiris' other appearances over the millennia and the modern era in other Marvel Comics.
Moon Knight (2016-2017): Jeff Lemire's run exists, but I am not sure if anything in this series was actually real in context of the story.
Profile by Will Uchtman and Kyle Sims. Update by Markus Raymond.
Clarifications:
Anubis should not be confused with:
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He was a student at District University who was briefly caught up in the plot of Anubis. When Mindstar began to prove unstable, Anubis sought another agent to replace him. Anubis invaded his dreams, turning them into bizarre nightmares that made him unable to sleep. After a nice shot of liquor, Carson went out for a drive. Anubis directed Carsons' subconscious (or unconscious?) mind, bringing him to a specified cavern. Within the cavern was a gem, and when Carson touched that gem, he was transformed into a monstrous creature under Anubis' control. |
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After Mindstar brought the Son of Satan to
"The Court of Anubis," Anubis traveled there as well
and sent his new servant to attack them both. After a short
struggle, all three combatants were knocked through a portal into
Anubis' Palace of Life and Death. Upon arriving there, Anubis
allowed Carson to return to his original form, bereft of the
memories of his transformation--leaving him quite befuddled. Carson remained clueless and was sent back to Earth after the
battle--his memories of his transformation and subsequent
adventures erased. |
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He was another student at District University,
who somehow became the host of the enigmatic soul sought by
Anubis. Taine had some interest in the occult, and it was during
some unexplained ceremony that he was discovered and attacked by
Mindstar. The assault was more powerful than intended, and Taine was
killed, although the soul was released and escaped again. To
prevent Anubis from learning of his failure, Mindstar imbedded
Taine in the wall in the shape of an ankh. |
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Presumably some pocket realm of Heliopolis, this was a realm to which Mindstar could travel, and it also served as a portal to Anubis' Palace of Death and Rebirth. --Son of Satan#6 (7 |
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Presumably some pocket realm of Heliopolis, this was a realm under the control of Anubis. Here Anubis' power is supreme. With minimal effort, he was able to separate the souls and bodies from powerful beings such as Mindstar and the Son of Satan. --Son of Satan#7 |
images:
Son of Satan#7, p4, pan5 (main)
Son of Satan#7, p5, pan5 (head shot)
Son of Satan#7, p13, pan2 (full body)
Fantastic Four I#608, p13, pan3 (Anubis and his army)
Fantastic Four I#608, p16, pan3 (Anubis ripped apart)
Moon Knight VII#14, p4, pan1 (deal with Moon Knight)
Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood#1/2, p7, pan1 (enchanted giant form)
Moon Knight VIII#3, p14, pan1 (great shot, but just in Moon Knight's head)
Son of Satan#6, p8, pan4 (Brett Carson)
Son of Satan#6, p9, pan5 (Brett Carson, transformed; first version)
Son of Satan#7, p5, pan7 (Brett Carson, transformed; second form)
Son of Satan#5, p9, pan14 (Michael Taine)
Son of Satan#6, p1 (Court of Anubis)
Son of Satan#7, p12, pan1 (Palace of Death and Rebirth)
Appearances:
Tales of the Zombie#4/3 (March, 1974) - Tony Isabella (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Son of Satan#5 (August, 1976) - John Warner (writer), Craig Russell (pencils), Sonny Trinidad (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Son of Satan#6 (October, 1976) - John Warner (writer), Ed Hannigan (pencils), Sonny Trinidad (inks), Archie Goodman (editor)
Son of Satan#7 (December, 1976) - John Warner (writer), Sonny Trinidad (artist), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Preview#8/4 (Fall 1976) - Russ Jones (plot), John Warner (story/editor), Val Mayerik (artist)
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu I#1 (June, 1985) - Alan Zelenetz (writer), Chris Warner (pencils), E.R. Cruz (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Legion of Monsters: Satana#1 (August, 2007) - Robin Furth (writer), Kalman Andrasofszky (art), Ralph Macchio (consulting editor), John Barber (editor)
Secret Warriors I#10 (January, 2010) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four I#607-608 (August-September, 2012) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Karl Kesel (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight VII#14 (June, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Ron Ackins (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood#1/2 (July, 2022) - Murewa Ayodele (writer), Dotun Akande (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight: City of the Dead#1 (September, 2023) - David Pepose (writer), Marcelo Ferreira (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight: City of the Dead#3 (November, 2023) - David Pepose (writer), Sean Damien Hill (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight: City of the Dead#4 (December, 2023) - David Pepose (writer), Marcelo Ferreira (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Moon Knight: City of the Dead#5 (January, 2024) - David Pepose (writer), Marcelo Ferreira (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 08/06/2002
Last updated: 10/26/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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