BROTHER ZED
BROTHER ZED
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, pretended to be a magic-user
Occupation: Racketeer;
posed as a voodoo houngan (priest)
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None;
coerced those who believed in him (the Societe
(voodoo worshippers) to do his bidding (including
Jezabel
and Simi Baka, Luis, and others)
Enemies: Daredevil; those he manipulated
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A 46th street tenement house on the Lower West Side, Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Daredevil I#130 (February, 1976)
Powers/Abilities: A hypnotist, Brother Zed
preyed on those who believed in voodoo, capitalizing on these beliefs
to make it appear that he had true powers. The Societe were especially
susceptible to his hypnotism as their beliefs caused them to act out
what he told them or did to them, usually suffering mysterious pain or
whatever other effect he intended for them. Brother Zed wore a black
costume with a white skeleton on it. When appearing from the darkness,
it appeared as if he actually was an animated skeleton. He also used
"voodoo dolls", and because his victims believed in him, they felt pain
when he harmed the dolls.
While Zed may have been able to hypnotize anyone
caught in his glance, his hypnotism was ineffective against anyone who
couldn't see.
History:
(Daredevil I#130 (fb) - BTS) - Brother Zed manipulated the Haitian population of New York, posing as a houngan and demanding payment from the Societe to protect them from the "death-gods".
(Daredevil I#130 (fb) - BTS) - Brother Zed superficially buried a number of chicken heads in Central Park (one of which was found by police officers Ed and Frank), intending to use their discovery to amplify the fears of the Societe..
(Daredevil I#130) - Jezabel Baka came
to the Lower West Side office of Brother Zed, who commanded her to tell
him why she had failed to make payment. She told him she had no money
since her Jebbediah had died, but he told her that if he allowed her to
fail payment, others would ask the same, and the loa would rise, and
the voodoo worshippers would die. He told her that only he could keep
the death-gods away, but that there was an expense that must be shared
by all. If she failed payment, the loa would demand a human life as
payment: her son. Terrified by Zed's threats, Jezabel saw every
misfortune that befell her as caused by Zed. She went to her husband's
old friends for help, but as she had been marked by Zed, they avoided
all contact with her. Jezabel ultimately decided to take Simi and flee
the city, but Zed confronted her, using his other pawns to take Simi
while he grabbed Jezabel. Soon after, Zed performed a ceremony in
Central Park. Telling his Societe that he had to sacrifice a symbol of
life to appease the death-gods, Zed had them bury Simi with his head
sticking out of the ground "like a beacon of light to guide the loa
Ogoun to his feast."
Jezabel's former friends refused to help her or
Simi, but Simi's cries drew Daredevil to the scene of the ritual. Zed
commanded the Societe to attack Daredevil, and when Daredevil easily
defeated them, Zed pulled out a "voodoo doll" of Daredevil, hanging it
from a noose and attempting to place Daredevil in a(n) hypnotic trance
(which failed, at least in part due to Daredevil's blindness).
Daredevil played along, pretending to fall under Zed's power, but
Daredevil then sprung forward, kicking Zed into the light and knocking
off his mask, revealing him to be a fraud. With Zed exposed, he was
powerless to affect the Societe any longer, and they left him in
Central Park.
Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown, and Klaus Janson.
Ogoun = Ogun - not really a death god
Who the heck names their daughter Jezabel (sic)?
Profile by Snood (with Ed+Frank subprofile by Chadman).
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Jezabel and Simi Baka
Like
many others, she came to New York from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Her
husband, Jebbediah, died at some point, leaving her to care for their
young son, Simi, by herself. One of the Societe (voodoo worshippers),
she fell prey to Brother Zed, who pretended to be a houngan (voodoo
priest) and tricked her into believing he had supernatural powers. When
she proved unable to pay Zed's demanded payment, he coerced the rest of
the Societe to prepare to kill Simi, but Daredevil arrived and exposed
Zed's farce. When everyone realized Zed had been tricking them, he lost
all power over them.
--Daredevil I#130 (130
(fb) - BTS, 130
images:
Daredevil I#130, p1, pan2 (Ed + Frank)
p5, panel 2 (Jezabel + Simi)
p8, panel 6 (skeleton face)
p13, panel 5 (skeleton body)
p16, panel 5 (Zed unmasked)
First posted:
08/18/2005
Last updated: 08/18/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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