ZEMU

Real Name: Zemu

Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-6212, aka the "Earth of the 5th Dimension" or Earth-5D) technology user

Occupation: Warlord, former ruler of the Fifth Dimension; would-be ruler of Earth-616

Group Membership: His armies

Affiliations: Leader of a loyal army; former leader of entire army of Fifth Dimension; fireproof Inhuman

Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Richards, Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Inhuman Royal Family (Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Gorgon, Karnak, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Triton), "good people" of the Fifth Dimension (e.g. Phineas, Theos, Valeria)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Xemu the Merciless, Master of the Fifth Dimension

Base of Operations: The capital city of Gomath, somewhere on Earth-6212 (the Fifth Dimension); temporarily in Attilan (Himalayan location)

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#103/1 (December, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Zemu had no superhuman abilities, but he did have the backing of the army of the Fifth Dimension, which was armed with an array of advanced weaponry; among these were energy rays which could liquefy solid ground and extinguish flames, stun beams capable of dropping even the Thing, as well as cold rays, fireproof tanks, and the Thunder Horn.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Eyes: Black
Hair: None (black beard/mustache)
Skin: Blue (green in original appearance; see comments)

History:
(Strange Tales I#103/1 (fb) - BTS) - Little is known about the past of Zemu. He is a native of the extradimensional realm known as the "Fifth Dimension" (see comments). He rose to a position of power and established a tyrannical leadership with the support of his army. Not content with ruling the Fifth Dimension, Zemu sought to invade and take over Earth-616. Zemu's forces either created or discovered an inter-dimensional portal to Earth, located in a swampy area in what was left of the wilds of Long Island, New York City.

(Strange Tales I#103/1) - A house-building firm under the ownership of George Bentley sought to establish a housing development in the very region of the portal. To prevent population of this area and subsequent discovery of the portal, an agent of Zemu posed as an elderly human farmer and used an energy ray to soften the soil, causing the newly-built houses to sink into the ground. Under the advice of Reed Richards, the Human Torch investigated the unnatural sinkings and discovered Zemu's agent in action. The Torch confronted the agent, but had his powers sapped by another energy ray. The Torch was taken to the Fifth Dimension, where he was imprisoned in a chemical fluid-tank that prevented him from using his powers to stop Zemu's plot.

   But an underground resistance, led by the scientist Phineas, opposed the rule of Zemu. Seeing the Torch as their chance to overthrow the tyrant, Phineas sent his daughter Valeria and son Theos to free the Human Torch. The Torch destroyed many of the weapons used by Zemu's army and successfully organized a revolt against the tyrant. The Torch captured Zemu himself, and Phineas replaced him as a benevolent ruler of the "Fifth Dimension".

(Fantastic Four I#158 (fb)) - But eventually, Zemu escaped imprisonment, rallied his troops to overthrow Phineas' rule, and retook the position of ruler for himself. Renewing his plans to take over Earth, Zemu led a contingent of his army through an inter-dimensional portal into Attilan, the home of the Inhumans; the invaders succeeded in overpowering and capturing the Royal Family, thus taking control of the entire city.

   Zemu wished to force Black Bolt to power his Thunder Horn, in order to use its devastating power to facilitate the surrender of Earth's governments to him; Black Bolt, of course, refused. Believing that the Inhuman monarch would be incapable of witnessing the death of a particular individual, Zemu wanted to return Black Bolt's lover, Medusa--who was in New York City, serving as a member of the Fantastic Four--to Attilan. By threatening the life of Quicksilver's new bride Crystal, Zemu was able to force the mutant speedster to cooperate with him to bring back Medusa; using the dimensional transporter, Zemu sent Quicksilver to the swampy area of Long Island.

(Fantastic Four I#158) - Quicksilver arrived at the Baxter Building, and after a brief scuffle with the Human Torch, he told Medusa and the rest of the Fantastic Four about Zemu's plot. The heroes all boarded the FF's ICBM rocket and took flight to Attilan.

(Fantastic Four I#159) - The Fantastic Four arrived in Attilan and were temporarily captured, but they eventually escaped and succeeded in overpowering Zemu's troops and destroyed the Thunder Horn. Zemu himself fled back to the Fifth Dimension, only to be captured by the Human Torch, who had returned there alongside Phineas and Valeria.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.

    The people of the Fifth Dimension were originally green-skinned in Strange Tales I#103 (and pink/Caucasian on the cover). I had forgotten that, as I was working from a reprint in the 1970s Human Torch series. When David Zuckerman sent me the digital versions, I was puzzled by the green skin until I went back and checked the originals. I don't recall any explanation for this color change, but they were blue in the 1974 reprint in Human Torch I#3 as well as in 1975's Fantastic Four I#158-159 and 161-162...
    Anyway, thanks to David for the scans!

  One source claims the Fifth Dimension to be an alternate Earth, but that doesn't seem too likely, given their appearance, technology, and society. I'll call it an Earth-like (meaning laws of physics, matter, energy, etc.) planet.
The Fifth Dimension was confirmed to actually be alternate Earth-6212 in the Earth-A entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#3. Zemu's profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 further speculated: "...whose blue-skinned inhabitants may be descended from Kree colonizers or a land-dwelling Homo mermani offshoot."

   Perhaps the "Fifth Dimension" was actually an alternate Earth that was colonized by the blue-skinned Kree of its universe (which would help to explain the advanced technology).
--John Kaminski

    Ironically, it was the invasion of Attilan by Zemu's powerful army that temporarily prevented Arkon and Albert DeVoor of the Roxxon Oil Company from pulling the Fifth Dimension into a plot to pit three worlds of three dimensions against each other. Once Zemu was again overthrown, Arkon and DeVoor duped Phineas into allowing them access to his equipment, nearly destroying their planet in an inter-dimensional nuclear war.

This character's name was originally spelled "Zemu" in Strange Tales I#103, but the spelling was later changed to "Xemu" in Fantastic Four I#158.

Zemu (Xemu) has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook, from which some of this profile's information was taken.

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Zemu (Xemu) is not to be confused with:

The Thunder Horn has no known connections to:

Thunder Horn

A powerful weapon from Earth-6212/"Fifth Dimension", it was developed by Phineas. The Thunder Horn was described as a S.A.S.E.R. (Sound Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation), a variation on a LASER, using sound as its power source and output. While the explanation doesn't make much sense, it could amplify the sound produced by a normal human voice to destroy an entire mountaintop. With "a few delicate adjustments", it could also amplify "extra-normal mental energy" (as per Zemu).

After Zemu and his loyal army invaded the Inhumans' home of Attilan and captured the Royal Family, they transported the Thunder Horn to Earth. Zemu demonstrated the Thunder Horn's power by shouting into the device's mouthpiece, and destroyed a nearby mountaintop. Then Zemu planned to use the destructive voice of Black Bolt to further empower the Thunder Horn, but the Inhuman monarch refused.

Later, having studied Earth's petty squabbles, Zemu used the Thunder Horn to destroy a Chinese airbase, in an effort to start a world-wide atomic war (see comment).

But the Fantastic Four and the Royal Family escaped captivity and defeated Zemu's army, while the Thing himself tore the Thunder Horn to pieces.

(Comment: In regards to the Thunder Horn also being able to amplify "extra-normal mental energy": The unseen Invisible Girl was present when Zemu made that remark, and she was able to mentally tune in with the device; as a result, her powers were amplified to the extent that she rendered all of Attilan invisible. Consequently, when Chinese warplanes flew overhead to make a retaliatory attack, they saw nothing but the empty Himalayas.)

--Fantastic Four I#158 (Fantastic Four I#158, 159

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#158, p14, pan1 (main image - Zemu)
Fantastic Four I#158, p11, pan6 (headshot - Zemu)
Fantastic Four I#158, p11, pan4 (Zemu leads his army through inter-dimensional portal to Attilan)
Fantastic Four I#159, p8, pan3 (Zemu raves about stating an atomic war; Medusa [background])
Strange Tales I#103/1, p13, pan1 (Zemu [original skin-color])
Fantastic Four I#158, p14, pan1 (Zemu presents Thunder Horn {front view])
Fantastic Four I#158, p15, pan1 (Thunder Horn [side view])
Fantastic Four I#158, p15, pan2-4 (Zemu demonstrates power of Thunder Horn to Inhuman Royal Family)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#103 (December, 1962) - Stan Lee & Larry Lieber (writer), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayer (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Fantastic Four I#158-159 (May-June, 1976) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Rich Buckler (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)

First posted: 09/09/2001
Last updated: 08/03/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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