SUMA-KET

Real Name: Suma-Ket

Identity/Class: Uncertain (see history and comments), Post-Hyborian (and possibly long before) and modern eras

Occupation: Warrior-mage, king of the Unforgiven Dead;
    former ruler of Atlantis

Group Membership: Unforgiven Dead (Artys-Gran, Socus)

Affiliations: Faceless Ones, Leviathans, Nereids, Old Ones

Enemies: Atlanteans (Homo mermani), Avengers of 1,000 AD (Black Panther/Nehanda, Bodolf the Black, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist/Princess Gale, Murkfoot, Phoenix Witch/Theodosia Szardos, Thor/Odinson), Dara, Fen, Harran, Kalen, Morel, Namor, Neptune, Olympian Gods, Tamara Rahn, Seth, Tiger Shark, Vashti

Known Relatives: Artys-Gran (wife)

Aliases: Lord of the Old Ones, Lord of the Unforgiven Dead, Prophet King of Ancient Atlantis

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly the Grey Waters;
    formerly Atlantis;
    formerly a place north of the Antarctic kingdom of Atlantis

First Appearance:
    (Behind-the-Scenes) Namor the Sub-Mariner I#35 (February, 1993)
    (Seen and named) Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (March, 1993)

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Suma-Ket had superhuman strength, though much less so then Namor, and durability; he could rally from repeated direct hits from an enraged water-soaked Namor without injury. His greatest power was derived from magic, which prevented even Neptune and the gathered forces of Atlanteans from killing him, though Namor's hybrid human-Atlantean nature, combined with the use of the Sacred Trident of Neptune,  apparently was powerful to overcome this. He could fire magical bursts, summon and command monsters from the ocean's depths, and he also used magical weapons, such as his sacred blade, with which he impaled Namor, and his magical trident, from which he could project devastating magical powers. He would regularly perform blood sacrifices to the Old Ones for further power.

Height: 6'4"
Weight: 230 lbs.
Eyes: Solid red
Hair: Grey

History:
(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - The origins of Suma-Ket and the Unforgiven Dead remain a mystery. Ket is a necromancer and possibly a demon--he is the stuff of dark legends come to life.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Suma-Ket was a warrior-king, a priest, and a visionary to his people, and he claimed to have visions of and speak to his gods.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38(fb)) <5800 BC (see comments)> - Suma-Ket and his tribe came from the North as the savior of the city of Atlantis. Ket claimed his people to be wise men who could rid Atlantis of the plague of the Faceless Ones; in return, they wished merely to settle among them.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38(fb)) - Suma-Ket freed the Atlanteans from the terror of the Faceless Ones, banishing the monstrous creatures from the city. In awe of his mighty battle prowess and great mystical powers, the Atlanteans followed Ket, slaying their king Harran, the son of Kamuu, and proclaimed Ket as King of all Atlantis.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - The seemingly messianic Suma-Ket transformed into a demonic tyrant, bringing to Atlantis a new way, a new religion.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (fb)) - Ket built an immense temple in the city dedicated to his dark gods, declaring himself prophet of the new way, and his wife priestess of the blood rites.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS  / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Ket's court was an evil place, where unspeakable things were practiced, including infant sacrifice, and creatures stalked the land.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (fb) - BTS) - Ket sent the Nereid to seek out all who hid and deliver them to him.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Great quantities of Atlantean blood was spilled to fuel his forbidden magics.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Atlanteans worshipped Suma-Ket, hoping not to incur his wrath; but as their children fell in the name of his abominable religion, their prayers turned to cries of vengeance.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS) - According to Ket, Atlantis was on the brink of glory undreamt of in all its history, but the people wavered and weakened; they could not see the righteousness of his way nor bear the burden that had to be born.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (fb)) - Kalen, grandson of Kamuu, and wearer of the sacred armor of Atlantis, returned to Atlantis after a long journey and beheld his people's plight. He urged his people to return to the ways of Neptune; in anger, Kalen slew one of Ket's tribe as she prepared to sacrifice yet another child to her thirsty gods. That act rallied Atlantis, and the people rose up against Ket and Artys-Gran and all their dark court.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37 (fb) - BTS / Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (fb)) - Ket's host was defeated by the rebellious lords of Atlantis (with the aid of Neptune himself) in a bloody battle that turned the oceans indigo with blood, but the Unforgiven Dead were strong and could not be destroyed.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS) - The lords of Atlantis banished Ket and his court beyond the Earthly plane to the Grey Waters, a mystical prison that was not quite death, but was certainly not life.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (fb)) - Artys-Gran, last of the Unforgiven Dead, was slain and her body hidden. In this way, Suma-Ket's covenant with his dark gods was broken.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36 (fb) - BTS) - As Ket fell, he prophesied that he would return when the blood of his people possessed the blood of Kalen.
    There they waited for millennia, forgotten, save in myth and legend.

(Wakanda#3/2) - Around 1,000 AD a cult abducted Wakandan sorcerer Zawavari and used him in conjunction with mystical artifacts to amplify a spell to free Suma-Ket from his extradimensional exile, but a group of avenging heroes from that era stopped them. Nehanda of Wakanda used her sonic shield to bar Suma-Ket's return to Earth and then used her soul sight to locate an outer realm to banish him to a new prison.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#39 (fb)) - In 1958 the halfling Socus located the dying Fen amongst the ruins of Atlantis (destroyed by Paul Destine). He took her to a place of evil and somehow transferred the spirit of Artys-Gran into the body of Fen, switching Fen's spirit into Gran's body. This initiated the first part of Ket's prophecy.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#39 (fb) - BTS) - Fen's true body (possessed by Artys-Gran) was magically rejuvenated.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#35 - BTS) - Socus sacrificed Byrrah, whose royal blood opened the doors which imprisoned Suma-Ket.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36) - Suma-Ket promised his people that they would be forgotten nevermore. Slaying a few Atlanteans abducted by his people, Ket used their sacrifice to summon back the first of his host, the Nereids. He was pleased to learn from Socus that a new form, both pleasing and powerful, had been found for Artys-Gran, and that, as Fen, she sat on the throne of Atlantis.
    Soon after, Socus appeared to Artys-Gran, informing her of their lord's return and warning her about weaknesses she was showing in her control of Fen's form. To prevent Suma-Ket from learning of these, Socus dispatched the Nereid to slay Seth, as well as Tiger Shark, who had offended her. Namor drove the Nereid off, slaying one of their number in the process.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37) - Ket used a mystic crystal to view Namor, Tamara, Tiger Shark, Seth, and Morel, plotting to slay Namor, the heir to Neptune to fulfill the prophecy of his people to regain their past glory. Socus warned him that as he and the Nereid had only just passed through the Grey Water, they were not at their full power. Nonetheless, Ket sent the Faceless Ones to overwhelm and capture the above five, binding them in mystic chains. Ket confronted his captives upon their revival, but Namor dodged the strike of his sacred blade, causing it to instead sever his chains. Namor smashed Ket across the room, but the warrior-mage returned the favor with a magical burst. Ket then prepared to slay Tamara to keep her alien blood from blaspheming his holy place, and as Namor leapt across the room to stop him, Ket turned and shoved the sacred blade through Namor's torso. Ket and Socus left Namor to die as they returned to Atlantis, but Neptune himself then arrived, freed the other prisoners and rekindled the spark of life within Namor, giving him the sacred armor of Atlantis which Kalen had worn to defeat Ket millennia before.
    Meanwhile, Artys-Gran (as Fen) prepared a great feast of Thanksgiving to celebrate her return, making sure the children were included.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38) - As the feast celebration began, Suma-Ket rallied his people to march on Atlantis, trumpets blaring. Ket's people's trumpets summoned monstrous creatures from the depths. One of Atlantis' heralds warned of the approach of Suma-Ket, his people, and the Leviathans, but when Dara attempted to rally the Atlanteans against them, Artys-Gran/Fen struck him down. She assured the people that she would protect them, and she took an Atlantean child with her as she prepared to transform the royal castle back into Suma-Ket's temple of old.
    Meanwhile, Namor and his allies slew one of the remaining Nereids (who had been sent to slay Vashti), and forced information from the remaining two. Namor sent Tamara and Tiger Shark back to Atlantis, while he, Vashti, Seth, and Morel took the Nereids to seek out his entombed mother.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner I#39) - Suma-Ket expressed his pleasure to Socus for successfully bringing them towards the fulfillment of his prophecy.
    Namor traveled to the previous Antarctic Atlantis, defeated the member of the Unforgiven Dead who guarded Fen's tomb, and freed his mother, who was trapped in Artys-Gran's form. Artys sought to convince the Atlanteans that they must sacrifice an infant to the gods of the Unforgiven Dead in order to appease them and spare them from devastation, but she was weakened by the release of the true Fen, stalling her until Tamara and Tiger Shark could arrive and reveal her true nature. The delay of the blood sacrifice barred the Unforgiven Dead from entering the city of Atlantis, but when Dara attempted to restrain the woman who had usurped Fen's body, another Atlantean believed Dara to be the traitor and slew him with a spear. This served as the sacrifice that allowed the Unforgiven Dead to storm the gates of Atlantis.
    The true Fen, having learned of the Unforgiven Dead's magics while in Artys-Gran's body, opened a magical portal to Atlantis, and Namor, Morel, Seth, Vashti, and Fen (in Artys-Gran's body) arrived to oppose Suma-Ket and his people.

(Namor I#40) - Namor and Suma-Ket battled fiercely, strength against magic, while Seth decapitated the Artys-Gran-possessed Fen as punishment for her actions. Namor was struck down from behind by another of the Unforgiven Dead, and the Atlanteans, Tiger Shark, and Tamara fought hard against their attackers. From outside the city, the rest of the Unforgiven Dead blared their trumpets, which myth foretold as the heralds of death, sending the Atlanteans into blind panic, but Vashti and the true Fen rallied their people to fight again, to fight with everything they had against those who would destroy them.
    Suma-Ket became discouraged as the Atlanteans overcame their fears, but he renewed his battle against the recovered Namor, conjuring a dark trident to destroy him. Namor was driven back by the trident's force, but one of his people then brought him the sacred trident of Neptune. The two locked in combat once more, and Namor plunged Neptune's trident into his chest, slaying him.
    Without Ket's power to sustain them, the Unforgiven Dead became just the dead, the corpses falling to the ground where they were consumed by the ravenous Faceless Ones.
    Socus slew the true Fen (in Artys-Gran's body) before escaping.

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Bob Harras and Jae Lee.

Several statements refer to the Unforgiven Dead having been imprisoned for 5000 years, but the true date of their imprisonment can be defined by the statement that the Unforgiven Dead arrived in Atlantis in the third decade (20-30 years) after the death of Kamuu, the first king of sunken Atlantis. Kamuu was king around 6000 BC (12000 years after the Great Cataclysm in 18000 BC), and Atlanteans have lifespans around 150 or so years, so 5900-5800 BC would seem like the time of their arrival (meaning they had been imprisoned for closer to 8000 years).

The origins of the Unforgiven Dead were not clearly identified.

The Unforgiven Dead were also known as the Old Ones, but I'll refer to them as the Unforgiven Dead to clarify them from the demonic race of Old Ones as described above, whom they apparently worshipped. At one point, Ket is described as worshipping the Elder Gods, but I'd ASSume that to be just confusing the nomenclature, though none of their gods are actually named.
    See Elder Gods for clarification.

Neptune: "The Unforgiven dead are followers of the old ways, of deities both foul and fell. Dark and evil beings are they whose cruelty offended the very gods of Olympus."

Suma-Ket has a full entry in OHotMU 2006 A-Z#11. In this entry the name of Harran, son of Kamuu, was revealed.

Profile by Snood. Update by Markus Raymond (Wakanda).

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

images: (not including ads)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#40, p15, panel 2 (full body)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37, p21, panel 1 (face)
Wakanda#3, p21, pan3 (ca. 1,000 AD)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36, p2-3 (outstretched arm)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#37, p11, panel 3 (sword)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#40, p16, panel 2 (trident)

Appearances:
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#36-37 (March-April, 1993) - Bob Harras (writer), Jae Lee (artist), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#38 (May, 1993) - Bob Harras (writer), Jae Lee (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz, Shawn McManus, Chris Ivy, Malcolm Jones & Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#39 (June, 1993) - Bob Harras (writer), Jimmy Palmiotti (pencils), Howard Rourke (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Namor the Sub-Mariner I#40 (July, 1993) - Bob Harras (writer), Scott Kolins (artist), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Wakanda#3/2 (February, 2023) - Evan Narcisse (writer), Natacha Bustos (artist), Wil Moss (editor)

First Posted: 05/21/2005
Last updated: 10/25/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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