HORUS

Real Name: Horus-Aton

Identity/Class: Egyptian god, former Pharaoh of Egypt

Occupation: God of the sun

Group Membership: Heliopolitan gods

Affiliations: Earth Force (Earth Lord, Skyhawk, Wind Warrior), Thor,
    (Earth-Forever Yesterday) Avengers, Sphinx (Meryet Karim)

Enemies: Akhenaton, Seth, the Devourer,
    (Earth-Forever Yesterday) Mutant Liberation Front

Known Relatives: Osiris (father), Isis (mother), Sechat-Hor (foster-mother), Hathor (Sekhmet, wife/great-grandaunt), Duamutef, Hapi, Ihy, Imsety, Qebshenuf (sons), Sesmu (sister), Bast (sister-in-law), Anhur, Min, Neper (brothers), Anubis, Bata (half-brothers), Nephthys (aunt), Horus I, Seth (uncles), Khnum, Hapi I (brothers-in-law), Ammon Ra (father-in-law/great-great grandfather), Geb (grandfather), Nut (grandmother), Shu (great-grandfather), Tefnut (great-grandmother), Nun (Demiurge, great-great-great grandfather), Neith (Gaea, great-great-great grandmother), Suchos, Babi, Edjo, Nekhbet (cousins), Mihos (nephew), Sakhmet (niece)

Aliases: The Falcon God, Hor, Horos, Ra-Herakhty, Haroeris, Harpocrates, Herachte, Harendotes, Harmachis, Hermertri, Harsaphes, Hor-Hekeru

Base of Operations: Celestial Heliopolis ("City of the Sun")

First Appearance: Thor I#239 (September, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Horus possesses the conventional powers of the Egyptian Gods. He has superhuman strength (Class 75), stamina and resistance to harm and conventional injury. He cannot be killed unless a major portion of his bodily molecules are somehow destroyed and even then, it might be possible for Osiris or a group of Egyptian Gods working together to revive him. He can also tap into and manipulate solar energy for a variety of effects. He can also channel it through his staff or ankh (a religious symbol of Egyptian importance). He can also paralyze anyone with his left eye.

History: (Egyptian Myth)- Horus is the youngest son of Osiris and Isis. He was born on the island of Chemmis after Seth deposed his father and was raised in secret by the cow-goddess, Sechat-Hor. While in his absence, his mother, Isis, searched the world seeking out the location of Osiris and after Seth slew him, Horus participated in the ritual to restore him to life.

Horus subsequently challenged Seth to his own right to rule Egypt and they clashed for several years until Geb, the god of earth, arbitrated the dispute and rewarded Horus the right to rule Egypt. Seth was forced to retreat to the underworld of Abydos where he ruled over sinners and evil spirits not allowed into Duat, the afterlife ruled by Osiris.

(Marvel: The End#2 (fb))- Several centuries later, Akhenaton, a later pharaoh of Egypt, decided to turn against the gods in order to worship the one true god he called Aton. Horus and the other gods cursed him for his blasphemy as Akhenaton was abducted by extra-terrestrial travelers known as the Celestial Order.

(Thor I#240-241)- In order to conquer Celestial Heliopolis, the home of the Egyptian Gods, Seth imprisoned Horus and the rest of the Egyptian gods in a pyramid. The pyramid eventually appeared in modern times where the Asgardian god Thor sensed the gods trapped within it and bequeathed the aid of Odin to free them. In the confrontation that followed, Odin defeated Seth. Horus and the other Egyptian Gods made Odin the reincarnation of their ancestor Atum Ra.

(Marvel Two-In-One#23)- Horus was taken captive by Seth who proceeded to sacrifice him to the Devourer. The entity became too much for him to control and he freed Horus to help him defeat it. Thor and the Thing also helped to fight the creature before it escaped to earth.

(Thor Annual#10)- Osiris received word that Seth had released Demogorge the God eater and dispatched Horus to confront him. The entity proved too much for Horus to defeat and he ended up consumed by it. Once consumed himself, Thor caused a shift in Demogorge’s palate that freed him, Horus, Seth and all the other gods present.

(Thor I#398-400)- Seth stole the life forces of the Egyptian gods in his bid to conquer Asgard. Although stripped of his powers, Horus and other Heliopolitans aided Thor in battling Seth, and after Thor freed the captured life forces they were restored to normal.

(New Warriors I#11-13)- In the altered reality of Earth-Forever Yesterday, created by the Sphinx (Meryet Karim), Horus became a founding member of the Avengers (in the place of Thor of Earth-616). In this reality, he married the mutant Storm and fought the Mutant Liberation Front. He killed Commander Logan in his pursuit of the mutants Cannonball, Firestar and Marvel Man. In an attack on Maqaman Island (mainstream Manhattan), Richard Ryder realized the altered sense of reality around him and threatens to kill the cat of the Sphinx, her only memory of her lost love. Giving into the blackmail, she returned the Earth’s reality back to normal.

 

 

 

(Marvel: The End#1-6)- Akhenaton returned to Earth after becoming used to the cosmic powers granted him by the Celestial Order. As he proceeds with conquering the Earth, Horus describes the details to the Council Elite (aka the Council of Godheads) of the circumstances of his power. Using the Eye of Ra, Horus revealed Akhenaton's current activities. Akhenaton, however, discovered the Godheads spying on him, and he slew them all except for Thor and Zeus (who fled) among with nearly all of the Earth’s heroes.

Thanos, however, with the help of the Defenders, entered the ship of the Cosmic Elite to stop it, but Thanos jumped into is energies and gained power equal to Akhenaton. He went back in time to save Doom from Akhenaton and slew Akhenton before he was received by the Celestial Order. Attacked by the restored heroes of Earth in the restored timeline, he wiped all of reality from existence briefly before restoring everything back after realizing the futility of his action. Restored back to life, Horus bore a partial memory of all that occurred.

(Incredible Hercules#116-117) - Horus attended the Council of Godheads gathered by Athena to prepare a force with which to combat the Skrullian gods. Horus helped bring the god-eater Demogorge into the fold on their side.

(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.

Comments: Adapted by Roy Thomas, William Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

There is an argument to be made for the Horus in Marvel: The End to be Horus, the brother of Osiris, rather than his son, since he does not resemble any previous image of Horus seen before in the Marvel Universe. This Horus is depicted as a Caucasian and with the animal head of a falcon/hawk seen in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

 

 

 

 

 

Earth-Forever Yesterday is a little tricky, because it appears to be an altered present. Rather than creating an alternate timeline, she instead altered reality on Earth-616 so that it was more in line with how she wished it to be. See the Earth-Forever Yesterday for further discussion on this. At any rate, it would appear (due to their "memories" of how life was before her changes) that Horus would indeed be the altered Earth-616 version, rather than an other dimensional counterpart. That is the reason I have included it in the history above. However, as with virtually all diverging realities, it would seem likely that in at least one alternate timeline, the New Warriors were unable to restore their own timeline, and Earth-Forever Yesterday may well persist in that reality. That being said, it is unclear whether Horus and the Avengers brought forth by the Time Keepers/Twisters in Avengers Forever are:

  1. The Earth-616 natives of the altered reality, simply pulled forth from the time that the reality warp was under way.
  2. Natives of an Earth-Forever Yesterday that still persists, and thus alternate dimensional counterparts of the original.

    since it's not clear, I've included it in the history section here, under Earth-616's Horus.
    --Snood.

The time period for Horus and the Egyptian Gods’ rule of Egypt would have to predate the start of Pre-Dynasty Egypt (c. 3100 BC). In the Marvel Universe, it could be almost immediately after the end of the disasters that ended the Hyborian Age as Atum-Ra, Ammon-Ra and the others through Horus gathered the ancient Stygians and brought them into what would be Ancient Egypt. This is when the Sphinx would have been made since recent discoveries indicate the original lion-headed Sphinx was constructed when Egypt was still a lush tropical jungle. The reign of Ram-Tut would have to precede them somewhat later but before 3100 BC.

Per Degaton adds: If you read the Hyborian Age essay, it would seem that the ancient Stygians simply remained in their land, and the name was changed to Egypt after the Vanir adventurers came to power. On the other hand, perhaps they migrated away from it for a time, and then were brought back to it by the Heliopolitan gods.

I suppose the rule of the gods on Earth would have been after the conquest by the Vanir adventurers. Maybe those Vanir-descended first human pharaohs came to power after the gods, so that the gods ruled Egypt during an interregnum between the Vanir conquest and the first human pharaohs.

The Aton part of Horus’ name was theoretically added after the end of the reign of Ahkenaton. It could actually be the name of the deity known as Jehovah to the Jews and Christians and as Allah by Islamics and Moslems. Coincidentally, in German/Norse myth, Gimle is used as the name of the paradise that the Asgardian gods enter after Ragnarok, but it’s also used as the name of a supreme god when they refer to “Gimle’s snowy beard” so possibly these religions creep into Egyptian and Norse mythology as well.

Profile by Will U

CLARIFICATIONS:
Horus should not be confused with:

images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#5, p44, pan1
Marvel Universe: The End#2, p6, pan2 (alternate form)

Appearances:
Thor I#239 (September, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Sal Buscema (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)
Thor I#240 (October, 1975) - Roy Thomas & Bill Mantlo (writers), Sal Buscema (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman & Len Wein (editors)
Thor I#241 (November, 1975) - Bill Mantlo (writers), John Buscema (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One#23 (January, 1977) - Bill Mantlo & Jim Shooter (writers), Ron Wilson (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Thor Annual#10 (1982) - Mark Gruenwald & Alan Zelenetz (writers), Bob Hall (pencils), Rick Bryant, Joe Rubinstein, Andy Myshynsky, Al Grodon & Kevin Dzuban (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Thor I#398 (December, 1988) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Don Heck (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor I#399 (January, 1989) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Romeo Tanghal (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor I#400 (February, 1989) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
New Warriors I#11-13 (May-July, 1991) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Avengers Forever#11 (November, 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Jesus Merino (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel: The End#1-6 (May-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)

Last updated: 06/13/16

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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