BULUKU

Real Name: Nana-Buluku

Identity/Class: African God

Occupation: Sky-Father, All Father of the Vodu

Affiliations: The Vodu (The African Gods),
    Member of the
Council of Godheads

Enemies: Set, Chthon, Thanos

 

Known Relatives:
Ouranus, Atum-Re, Tecumotzin, Hunab-Ku, Gitche-Manitou, ("brothers");
    Gaea (wife, alias Nana ),
    Obatala, (son) Odudua (daughter),
    Nyambe, Aganju (Lusa), Orishaka, Olokun (grandsons),
    Asase-Ya, Yemanja (Mawu), (granddaughters),
   
Shango, Ogun, Maou, Gun, Loco, Zaca, Legba, Damballah, Sagbata (Baron Samedi), Anansi, Mmoboro, Onini, Osebo, (great-grandsons);
    Erzulie, Avlekete, Ayaba, Faa, (great-granddaughters);

Aliases: Olorun (Yoruba name), Chuku (Ibo name), Chiuke (Ewe name), Buku (Bantu name), Akongo (Congo name), Akuj (Kenya name), Mantis (Bushman name), Muluk (Mozambique), Ndriananahary (Razenes of Malagasy), Nyame (Ashanti), Quangi (Zulu),
    Ruler of the Great Beyond

Base of Operations: Ala (African heaven), Iku (African Underworld)

First Appearance: Thor I#300 (October, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Buluku possesses greater powers than any of the other African gods. On a class equal to Ouranus and Atum-Re, he might have superhuman strength (Class 100), stamina, resistance to harm and the ability to tap into and manipulate the universe’s ambient cosmic energies as well as certain undefined occult energies. The use of his power has yet to be demonstrated.

History: (African Myth) - Buluku is the ancestral spirit of the Vodu, the collective gods of Africa. Possibly descended from the Hyborian gods, he mated with Gaea in her role as Nana and fathered the Orishas, the ancient Earth gods of Africa. Among the Orishas, Nyambe succeeded Buluku as god of heaven. Aganju, however, in his role as the Dahoman sun god Lusa, fathered the Loa with Yemanja, his sister in the role of Mawu. The Loa eventually became the main gods of African religion.

(Thor I#300 (fb)) - <1000 AD> - Buluku was present in the Council of Godheads, where the gods debated how to deal with the Celestials. They were eventually forced to realize that the Celestials could destroy their realms, and so they acceded to the Celestials edict that they sever relations with mortals and stop trafficking on Earth.

(Doctor Strange III#17, 20) - In 1492, Sagbata, the god of misfortune, gave mortals the ability to create zombies a spell he created in tangent with the Elder God Chthon. Restricted from interfering in the lives of mortals by the Celestials, Buluku and the African Gods joined forces to transform the mortal, Laurent, into the first Brother Voodoo to combat the evils unleashed by Sagbata.

(Thor I#301)- In order to save the Asgardian gods, who had been killed when the Celestials melted the Destroyer, which had been housing their life forces--Thor visited each of the Godheads, petitioning them to donate a portion of life force. Each Godhead eventually agreed to donate, and the Asgardian gods were resurrected

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Thor Annual I#10) - Buluku sent  Shango helped Thor defeat the entity Demogorge. Briefly consumed by the creature, he was freed when it rejected Thor.

 

(Thor I#398)- Two African Gods, Buluku and another, possibly Nyambe and Anansi, sensed the Enchantress' grief as she raged over the apparent death of Heimdall.

(Marvel Universe: The End#2)- A group of Godheads met to discuss the actions of Akhenaten against humanity: Atar (Vedic/Persian), Horus (Egyptian), Hunab Ku (Mayan), Izanagi (Japanese), frican), Shou-Hsing (Chinese), Thor (Asgardian), Vishnu (Hindu), Zeus (Olympian), and Ndriananahary (Buluku). They also discussed summoning Those of the Forgotten Realm. Horus, who was most familiar with Akhenaten used the Eye of Ra to spy on the powerful being, but Akhenaten detected them and attacked, destroying all present, except Thor and Zeus, who managed to flee.

(Marvel Universe: The End#4 - BTS) - Thanos gained the virtually unlimited power of the Heart of the Infinite and altered time so that Akhenaten never gained his power, effectively undoing his actions and restoring those he had destroyed. However, to those who could understand or even remember what had happened, these actions were seen as the replacement of one threat with another, perhaps even worse.

(Marvel Universe: The End#5-6) - The Godheads joined together with a multitude of heroes and villains from Earth and the rest of the universe to oppose Thanos, who had gained supreme power from the Heart of the Infinite. Thanos easily wiped out every single being in the universe, but later was convinced by Adam Warlock to sacrifice himself to restore the universe to its previous state.

(Incredible Hercules#116-117) - Ndriananahary (Buluku) attended the Council of Godheads meeting gathered by Athena to prepare a force with which to combat the Skrullian gods.

(Heroic Age: Prince of Power#1) - The Council met to discuss who would be the greatest hero of the heroic age. Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor were proposed by some, and Athena told them with certainty that it was Amadeus Cho.

(Heroic Age: Prince of Power#2) - When Vali Halfling of the Pantheon extinguished the Promethean Flame that granted Olympians their immortality, Athena screamed in pain. She was comforted by Izanagi. Threatened by Vali's threat to attain everything he needed to gain full omniscience all Council members returrned to their respective realms.

(Chaos War#1) - The Council of Godheads summoned Hercules and Amadeus Cho before them to judge them on Hercules' recent empowerment and actions in preparation for the arrival of the Chaos King (Amatsu-Mikaboshi). Overwhelmed by his new power and outraged that the Godheads didn't use their power to do anything, Hercules attacked them, battering them about until Thor arrived and convinced Hercules to get himself under control.

(Chaos War#3) - Chaos King duped Hercules into identifying the location of the Council's throneroom, allowing the Chaos King to lead his hordes there to attack. The Godheads swiftly fell before the assault.

Comments: Adapted by Roy Thomas, Jean-Marc Lofficier, Dan Thomas, and Jim Valentino.

    It is unsure if any of the ancestor gods of myth such as Buluku, Ouranus, Atum-Re, Tecumotzin, Hunab-Ku, or Gitche Manitou, at least in the Marvel Universe, are one and the same deity. It would seem unlikely, at least for Buluku, as he has been seen interacting with the Marvel Universe in the last millennia or so.

    In African myth, Nana-Buluku was the ancestor god of the African Gods, a deity combining both female and male characteristics, but this is actually a combination of the names of the earth and sky deities.

    According to Doctor Strange II#17, the Spanish invading Haiti confused Vodu, the name of the African Gods with "Vaudois" and called it Voodoo. The stories also suggest zombies did not exist before that time so earlier accounts of zombies and living dead must have been created by other gods and/or entities.

    Other members of the Council of God Kings shown from other issues includes Zeus, Odin, Osiris, Vishnu, Tezcatlipoca, Itzamna, Viracocha, Nuada, Svaros, Manabozho and Quetzalcoatl in at least one alternate reality--that's not all of them. See the Godhead profile--Snood. The gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon by several accounts seem to have degenerated into to demonic entities. As yet, no gods from Finno-Ugrian myth have appeared in the Marvel Universe except on the names of several individuals from the Hyborian Age. The only figure to appear from Oceanic myth is Pele the volcano-goddess.

    My book on African spirits places a lot of importance as Nyambe as ruler, judge and Great Spirit. Lusa is mentioned only as the sun-god who fathered the Great Twins of which Shango and Damballah are two of. In the MU, I would surmise that Buluku supersedes them both to keep disension out of the Voodoo Gods and their relations the Orishas.

Profile by Snood & Will U

 

 

 

(What If II#38) In an alternate quantum reality, Buluku, representing the gods of the Orishas and the Loa, met with the other god-kings of the other pantheons to discuss the threat of Seth invading Asgard. Mephisto also attended the conference to represent the gods of death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLARIFICATIONS: Buluku should not be confused with:

There are no known comparisons.


Appearances:
Thor I#300-301 (October-November, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), Keith Pollard (pencils), Gene Day (#300) & Chic Stone (#301) (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Thor Annual I#10 (1982) - Mark Gruenwald & Alan Zelenetz (writers), Bob Hall (pencils), Rick Bryant, Andy Myshynsky, Al Gordon & Kevin Dzuban (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Thor I#398 (December, 1988) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Don Heck (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Dr. Strange III#17 (May, 1990) - Roy Thomas, Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier (writers), Geof Isheroowd (pencils), Mickey Ritter (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Dr. Strange III#20 (August, 1990) - Roy Thomas, Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier (writers), Geof Isheroowd (artost), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel Universe: The End#5-6 (July-August, 2003) - Jim Starlin (writer/pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Incredible Hercules#116-117 (June-July, 2008) - Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (writers), Rafa Sandoval (penciler), Roger Bonet (inker), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power#1 (July, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writrers), Reilly Brown (pencils), Terry Pallot with Jason Paz (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power#2 (August, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writrers), Reilly Brown (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Chaos War#1 (December, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)
Chaos War#3 (January, 2011) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)


First Posted: 01/21/2003
Last updated: 06/13/2016

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