The GULGOL

Real Name: Presumably Gulgol

Identity/Class: Extradimensional entity of unknown character (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Nightmare

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Netherworld of Gulgol

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#122/2 (July, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: The Gulgol is a powerful being, allegedly immune to magical assaults from the likes of Dr. Strange. As it never sleeps, it is immune to the power of Nightmare. It may be immortal.

History:
(Strange Tales I#122/2 - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#9: Nightmare - BTS) - Nightmare has but one natural enemy in all the dimensions: the creature Gulgol, which never sleeps and therefore can resist his power. For ages (since the beginning of time) Nightmare guarded his realm against the Gulgol.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#11: Appendix: Other Dimensions - BTS) - The Gulgol dwells in an alien mystic realm, known only as the Netherworld of Gulgol ("the pit from which he was spawned"). the realm is accessed via magical means, and the Gulgol is its own known inhabitant. The Gulgol may be a conceptual (abstract) being who embodies man's instinct for savagery and self-preservation.

(Strange Tales I#122/2 - BTS) - Rendered powerless by Nightmare, Dr. Stange was bound in chains and brought to the Nightmare dimension. However, Strange nonetheless managed to hypnotize Nightmare using normal human skills, causing him to believe that the Gulgol, his mortal enemy, had penetrated his defenses and entered his realm. Desperate, Nightmare attempted a variety of assaults, to no avail. Strange told Nightmare that only he knew how to stop the Gulgol, and that since it was he who had summoned him, only he could send him back. Disbelieving Strange at first, Nightmare eventually relented, returning Strange's powers in return for his stopping the Gulgol. Strange then snapped his fingers, banishing the Gulgol as he removed Nightmare from his hypnotic spell.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and "Sturdy" Steve Ditko.

The Gulgol has never actually appeared in the Marvel Universe. Jean-Marc Lofficier tells me:

Neal Adams had used him (it?) as a villain in one of his SPECTREs of the 70s - which I don't have - and whoever does the profile should take a look at that SPECTRE issue as a rare case of unauthorized company x-over.

That story is from The Spectre#6, 1968,  "The Pilgrims of Peril" (art by Jerry Grandenetti and Murphy Anderson, which does look a little like Adams style) (Reprinted in Adventure Comics Digest#499 in 1983).  The Spectre travels to a Ditko-esque dimension and encounters "Nawor, demon lord of the realm of Geimpo".  Nawor does bear a slight resemblance to the Gulgol (spiky skin, wearing swim-trunks) but he is not the same creature that Dr. Strange conjured up to fool Nightmare (although I did a double-take myself when I saw Nawor; maybe he's a member of the Gulgol race)
--John Kaminski

I don't have it either, and I Googled the Gulgol and came up Ga-Ga (empty-handed).

Big thanks to John Kaminski, who provided the images of Nawor from The Spectre#6.

The fact that its realm is referred to as a Netherworld strikes me as indicating the Gulgol is some sort of Hellish being, but this is unconfirmed.

Can you believe no one else has used Nightmare's greatest enemy in over 40 years!?

In Marvel: The Lost Generation#5, Ralph Macchio reported that Roger Stern believed that all of Dr. Strange's adventures through to Strange Tales I#122 actually occurred in the pre-modern era, which would place Gulgol in that era.

Profile by Snood.