ULLIKUMMIS

Real Name:  Ullikummis

Identity/Class: Mesopotamian God

Occupation: God of rain and vegetation

Group Membership: Mesopotamian Gods

Affiliations:  Ally of Dagon;
    worshipped by the Mesopotamian peoples;
    unknown connection to Mephista

Enemies:  Baal (aka Hadad)

Known Relatives:  Enlil (father, alias Dagon), Upelluri (mother); Ninlil (stepmother, alias Kamrusepas),
    Hadad (alias Teshub), Ninurta, Martu (uncles);   
    Shamash, Nanna (half-brothers);
    Anu (grandfather), Asherah (grandmother),

Aliases:  Aleyin (Babylonian name), Melqart (Phoenician), Telepinu (Hurrian), Aruna (Hittite)

Base of Operations: Ancient Sumeria;
    possibly Allatum or a realm of Hell ruled by Mephisto (see comments)

First Appearance:
    (mentioned) Dr. Strange III#26 (February, 1991);
    (pictured, possibly): Dr. Strange III#28 (April, 1991)

Powers: Ullikumis has not been actually seen, so his level of power is uncertain
    Ullikumis likely possesses powers and abilities above most of the ancient Mesopotamian gods, such as incredible strength, stamina and resistance to harm. There is some indication he could create rain and influence the growth of plants with it.

History: (Mesopotamian Myth) Ullikummis is the son of the god Enlil who deposed his father, Anu, as Ruler of Ancient Sumeria. Anu cursed him to have three horrible children. Those children became Namtar (Mot), Shachar and Shalim.

Enlil was deposed by his brother, Hadad who became known as Baal (Teshub to the Hurrian tribes) who was guided and protected by their uncle Ea (Oannes), the sea god. In order to retrieve his throne, Enlil retreated to the shore of the sea and pounded upon the rocky cliffs to summon the ancient sea-goddess Upelluri, whose own father had been deposed by Anu many years ago. She bore Enlil a son named Ullikummis who eventually grew to gigantic stature.  (According to later myth, Enlil conceived Ullikummis from the rock and the youth was carried by Upelluri.)

Ullikummis was protected and raised by his stepmother, Ninlil, who tried to dissuade him from war. Hadad, however, eventually saw Ullikummis coming from a far and abdicated the throne for Enlil to claim it. Hadad then went to Ea for advice on how to slay Ullikummis. Ea gave him a saw with which to cut through the sinews of Ullikummis’ ankles. Tragically wounded, Ullikummis was killed by Hadad who then reclaimed the throne after ousting his brother.

(Dr. Strange III#26,27, Ghost Rider III#12, Dr. Strange III#28 - all BTS) - The empath Topaz came to seek help from Dr. Strange to exorcise the Hittite demon Ullikumis who had possessed her. In order to facilitate this exorcism, they needed the hair of a werewolf in wolf form (which they obtained from Jack Russell), the talon of a vampire in its bat form (which they got from Victor Strange), and fire from a demon (which they obtained from the Dykkors). However, when it came time for the exorcism, Strange revealed that he knew it had never been Ullikumis possessing Topaz, but rather another demon, who turned out to be Mephista, daughter of the demon-lord Mephisto. She had pretended to be Ullikumis, possessed Topaz, and devised the above required elements for exorcism all to get close to Dr. Strange. Mephista wished to enlist Strange's aid against her father, for leaving her for dead after her most recent defeat.

Comments: Partially adapted by Roy & Dann Thomas, and Chris Marrinan.

     There is some confusion in the actual myth. Enlil reportedly deposes his father, Anu, as King of the Gods and Anu escapes by retreating to Heaven (named in a few later texts as Dilmun). Now, if Enlil is deposing his father to rule Dilmun, it leaves to question why Anu would have to escape TO the heavens. It might be theorized that these stories, which have been recreated from broken hieroglyphics, some even missing parts of the stories, might actually be describing ancient lineages and succession rites of forgotten kings. If that is the case, then Anu, Enlil and Hadad ruled the gods from Earth while their predecessors (The Mesopotamian “Titans”) still controlled the heavens.

There is also some confusion regarding the relationships of Hadad and Enlil. Hadad is often called his son as is Ninurta, the god of lightning. In the Hurrian text, they are referred to as brothers and Ninurta is called protector of the south wind while his brother Martu (Amurru) protects the west wind. If  Hadad and Enlil represent east and north, it would make it make them more like brothers as described in the Hurrian and Hattic texts.

Elements of Ullikummis’ story obviously parallel Zeus dethroning Cronus, Jason slaying the giant Talos by his ankles as well as the weakness of Achilles and his ankles.

• ULLIKUMIS in the MARVEL UNIVERSE -- or not!!!

  Well...I pulled the name Ullikumis off of my Index to the Dr. Strange series, and had forgotten that he wasn't really in it. Anyway, the profile's done now in case he ever does really appear.
    So...where is Ullikumis in the Marvel Universe:

•     Dead. He's dead and gone forever. Just like Aunt May. Whoops, I mean like Norman Osborn.  hmmm...Bucky?
      He'll stay dead only if no writer ever takes any interest in him, which IS likely.
•     Dead, and in one of the Realms of the Dead. His spirit went to Allatum, the Mesopotamian Underworld ruled by Ereshkigal/Eriskegal. It's equally possible that: a)  Mephista knew he was safely tucked away in Allatum by conferring with her fellow "death goddess" (sort of), and so she took his name, knowing that he wouldn't show up to blow her cover, and b/c who the frick even ever heard of Allatum to check it out anyway?  b) Ereshkigal traded the spirit of Ullikumis to Mephisto--or Mephisto just stole it--and Mephista had encountered him in her father's realm, and impersonated him for similar reasons to above.
•     Living in the Zone of the Forgotten Ones, a realm of Gods no longer worshipped on Earth, as mentioned in Marvel Universe: The End#2.

And why did everyone refer to him as a Hittite Demon?

Why Hittite?

• Technically, I believe the name Ullikumis was Sumerian. The Mesopotamian Gods were also worshipped by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Hittites, Mesopotamians, Philistines, and Phoenicians. His Hittite name was Aruna, which doesn't have quite the same quality as Ullikumis to me--though they could have just as easily called him a Sumerian...anyway...bottom line is it's artistic license. Dorcas Farcas.
• Also, Kumarbi is yet another possible name for Dagon/Enlil, in the Hittite mythology, so they were on the ball on that one, at least. Tushub, another name for Baal, comes from the Hurrian mythology, which I believe is quite close to that of the Hittites.

Why demon?

• I'm pretty sure the Hebrew people condemned all polytheistic religions as devil worship, and so any texts may refer to them as demon. It seems an ignorant mistake for Dr. Strange to make, but maybe he was just stringing Mephista along to see what her game was.
• There is some evidence that a number of the Mesopotamian Gods have degenerated into demons of the millennia. If you don't believe me, check out: Baal, Dagon/Enlil/El, Eriskegal/Ereshkigal, Inanna/Ishtar, Lilith, Marduk, Moloch, Ningal, etc. Whether these demons are the true Mesopotamian Gods, or demons posing as the Gods, or whether the Gods usurped the names of older demons (just like Seth did to Set), is unclear.
• The spirit of Ullikumis could have degenerated into a demon after millennia in the underworld of Ereshkigal or Mephisto.
• Take your pick.

...that's a lot of discussion for someone who never even showed up...
;)

Nick, the Squid, has promised a Baal profile for close to a year now. I'll link to that when/if it exists.
Yeah, Nick, I'm talking to you, ya bastich!!!

--Snood!

Ullikummis is mentioned in the Annunaki entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update#3.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• any other character with a similar name

Appearances:
None

Last updated: 08/09/03

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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