Evenor (pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis, Man-Thing character)

EVENOR

Real Name: Evenor

Identity/Class: Pre-Cataclysmic Era god (?)

Occupation: Guardian of the City of the Golden Gate;
former King of pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Namor, served by undines

Enemies: Ellen Brandt, K'ad-Mon of the Fallen Stars, Man-Thing

Known Relatives: Leucippe (wife), Cleito (daughter), Neptune (son-in-law);
Atlas and Gadeiros (Emulous in Greek), Amphiris and Euaimon, Mniseus and Aftochthon, Elasippos and Mistoras, Azais and Diaprepis (grandsons);

Aliases: Lord of the Water Spirits

Base of Operations: The undersea City of the Golden Gates, formerly a part of pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis;
possibly Hyborian Era through modern era

First Appearance: Man-Thing III#6 (May, 1998)
(named) Man-Thing III#7 (June, 1998)

Powers/Abilities: Evenor's full abilities are undefined. He can survive on land or under sea, transform humans and others into amphibious form, transport himself and others across the planet, and even neutralize the energies of a being as powerful as K'ad-Mon. His powers are presumably much greater within the City of the Golden Gate than they are elsewhere.

History:
Not all of the information fits 100% with established Marvel Chronology, so take it with a grain of salt (or let me know if you can figure out how to put it all together).

(myth/legend) - Evenor was one of the earthborn primeval men, or autochthons (offspring of the soil), who were the first to make their homes in Atlantis, living in a hill in the center of Atlantis. Via fellow autochthon, Leucippe, Evenor sired a daughter Cleito. After Evenor and Leucippe died suddenly, Poseiden married Cleito and altered the landscape, making the hill impregnable. And so he carved circular belts, three of sea and two of land around the hill isolating it completely, for at that time sailing was unknown. He also brought up springs of warm and cold water producing all kinds of food. Poseiden and Cleito had five pairs of twins who, along with their descendants, ruled the ten provinces in which Poseidon had divided Atlantis. The island and the ocean were called after Poseidon's first-born Atlas, who was also king over his brothers. The brothers, and the descendants of their ten royal houses ruled over many other islands, and also over the Mediterranean peoples living west of Egypt and Tuscany. The ten kings, who governed each his own province, are said to have assembled every fifth year and every sixth year, administering the public affairs and delivering judgment according to the law which Poseidon handed down to them and, according to records inscribed in a pillar of orichalcum.

(Man-Thing III#7 (fb) - BTS) - Cleito ruled the Ten Kingdoms of Atlantis--each of which was under direct control of her five pairs of twins--from its capitol, the City of the Golden Gate. Pilgrims journeyed there, seeking hope in times of hopelessness, relief from suffering, absolution from sin.

(Man-Thing III#7 (fb) - BTS) <18, 000 BC> - When the Cataclysm drowned the Ten Kingdoms, the City of the Golden Gate was believed utterly destroyed. In reality, Cleito, Evenor, and a number of undines or nereides (sea sprites) remained within the sunken city.

(Heroes Reborn#1-4 - BTS / Man-Thing III#7 (fb) - BTS) - When the Nexus of Realities shattered (as a result of the heroes breaching the dimensional barrier from Franklin Richards' Counter-Earth), a portion of the fragment became lodged within the Shroud of Cleito. The fragment actually became part of the Shroud retroactively, back to the dawn of its creation. Knowing that K'ad-Mon and/or the Man-Thing and Ellen Brandt would seek to remove the Nexus Fragment from the Shroud, and thus desecrate it, Evenor made plans to prevent this from happening.

(Man-Thing III#7 (fb) - BTS) - After Cleito's death, Neptune--reborn at some unknown point in time--made guarding the sacred Shroud of Cleito his holy mission.

(Man-Thing III#6) - Evenor confronted Ellen Brandt within the swamps of the Florida Everglades.

(Man-Thing III#7) - Evenor transported Ellen to the City of the Golden Gate, remaking her so that she could survive at the ocean depths. The K'ad-Mon possessed Man-Thing transported himself and Namor (who had been sent to his side by Neptune to deal with the fate of Atlantis) to the Gates of Wonder and then into the city. Evenor explained to Namor, Ellen, and K'ad-Mon/Man-Thing that to remove the Nexus fragment from the Shroud would desecrate the Shroud of Atlantis' holy mother, which he could not allow. K'ad-Mon/Man-Thing attempted to take the Nexus fragment by force, at which point Evenor transformed him back into a helpless Ted Sallis.

(Man-Thing III#8) - Evenor allowed Namor to kneel before the Shroud of Cleito, while the power of K'ad-Mon, via the Staff of the Creator, transported Ted, Ellen, and Namor into the distant past, before the sinking of Atlantis. There they traveled to the Temple of Cleito, where Cleito herself gave them the Nexus fragment, then blessed them in their continuing journey.

Comments: Adapted by John Marc DeMatteis and Liam Sharp.

Evenor is a real character from the legend of Atlantis; just do a Google search...unfortunately, you pretty much find different versions of the above myth.

It is hard to gel the legends of Atlantis of the real world with the history of Atlantis in the Marvel Universe. The real world legend dates back to close to 10, 000 BC, the city was first established in the Marvel Universe sometime around 25, 000 B.C. The real world legend has it sinking around 2400 B.C., but in the Marvel Universe, it sank around 18, 000 B.C., which is apparently WAY before the birth of Poseidon.
Possibilities:

The Atlantean Gods are way older than we might have originally thought.
The Atlantean Gods have cycles of life or exist in non-linear time, or perhaps Neptune traveled back in time
Evenor was not associated with pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis in the Marvel Universe, but rather with the post-Cataclysmic world colonized by Homo mermani in 6,000 B.C.
    I don't have it all worked out yet, but this would appear to make the most sense when looking at the aquatic Evenor we saw in the pages of the Man-Thing.
    However, they referred to him as an antediluvian god (meaning before the Great Flood) and referenced the cataclysm that sank the kingdoms of Atlantis...
    In addition, Evenor refers to the Shroud as existing untold thousands of years ago.
    It could be that Evenor existed in ancient, pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis, and that Cleito did not become Neptune's mate until after the sinking of Atlantis (which might have been what caused Evenor and Leucippe to die suddenly--though then you have the problem of Atlantis being named after Atlas, Cleito's son...). Perhaps Evenor was then somehow reborn, either before or after the death of Cleito. Possibly Neptune transformed them into sea creatures, or perhaps they had the power to do so themselves. Perhaps it was Neptune or Evenor who created the first Homo mermani? I prefer the latter of the two.

There have been multiple floods in the Marvel Universe, and there is no reason one couldn't have occurred in 2400 B.C., too. I have to think that the writer was writing the story based on the real world history. Perhaps the City of the Golden Gate was separated from Atlantis proper long ago. Again, I don't have it all worked out yet, but that's the way it looks to me.

Sources: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Atlantis.html

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Atlas, the original King of Atlantis according to Greek Mythology, son of Poseidon, grandson of Evenor, not seen in the MU, has no known connection to:

Atlas the Titan, brother of Prometheus--Journey Into Mystery I#124
Atlas, Cyclops, son of Poseidon and brother of Polyphemus, (Not seen in the Marvel Universe)
Atlas, Steve Rand, Hollywood stuntman who became insane after disfigurement and battled the Werewolf (Jack Russell), @ Werewolf by Night I#22
Atlas, Erik Stephen Josten, member of the Thunderbolts, former agent of Baron Heinrich Zemo, @ Avengers I#9

The undines of the City of the Golden Gate have no known connection to

UNDINES - water elementals--Son of Satan#6
UNDINES - --Thor I#466

The City of the Golden Gate has no known connection to:

City of Gold- see EL DORADO --Avengers I#30

City of Gold (Children of the Night, Jaguar Priest, Viracocha) - Aztec/Inca city within Bermuda Triangle Warp--Skull the Slayer#7

City of the Golden Gate

The ancient capitol of pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis, it was the greatest of the Ten Kingdoms and the site from which Cleito ruled.

It sank during the Great Cataclysm and presumed to have been destroyed. It's location is unknown (whether it is indeed physically within the oceans of the world, as opposed to within some magical plane) but it can be accessed via mystic means. It contains the holy shroud of Cleito

--Man-Thing III#7 (8(fb), 7,8

undines

Sea sprites that swell within the City of the Golden Gate and serve Evenor.

--Man-Thing III#7

images:
Man-Thing I#6, p8-9
Man-Thing I#7, p3 (undines)
    p16 (city, modern)
    p19 (Evenor, face)
    p21 (Evenor, body)
Man-Thing I#8, p10-11 (city ancient)

Appearances:
Man-Thing I#6-8 (May-July, 1998) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Liam Roger Sharp (pencils/inks), Mark Bernardo (editor)

Last updated: 11/06/04

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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