ANDRAX
ANDRAX
Real Name: Presumably Andrax (see comments)
Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments) giant monster type; presumably pre-Cataclysmic era, but possibly distant past
Occupation: God of life and death to an unidentified people
Group Membership: Unrevealed; he was allegedly the last of his kind
Affiliations: Worshipped by the Children of Andrax, including their high priest and presumably the "Bride of Andrax"
Enemies: Chane of the Yellow Hair;
it is unrevealed whether any or all of his unidentified sacrificial victims
considered him their enemy or not
Known Relatives: None (he was allegedly the last
of his kind);
there's no evidence the Children of Andrax were anything
other than a human tribe worshipping him
Aliases: Andrax the Last
Base of Operations: Forest in an unidentified land
First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 (April, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Andrax's great size granted him enormous strength (perhaps Class 10-25 or greater) and some manner of resistance to injury (it is unrevealed whether he was superhumanly durable, or his immense size just made other assaults limited to more superficial portions of his body, etc.). He possessed large, sharp canine teeth, as well as a short tail he may or may not have been able to use as a blunt weapon. He also possessed a dorsal crest/fin running from the back of his forehead all the way down to the base of his tail, as well as a pair of fin-like projections extending laterally from his cheekbone range.
It is unrevealed whether Andrax had human level intelligence vs. a greater or lower level.
He had an interest in receiving a recently slain human female as sacrifice during harvest (possibly in multiple seasons?). Whether this was purely for food, or for other interests is unrevealed (he "gazed rapturously" at one such victim).
Height: Approximately 60' tall
Weight: Approximately 110 tons
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white story)
Hair: None
History:
(Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 (fb) - BTS) - Andrax was allegedly the last of his
kind. At some point (apparently at least a generation ago), he
established a relationship with a tribe dwelling in relative proximity to his
home; they worshipped him as their god of life and death. At each harvest, they
sacrificed a young woman as tribute to him; he wandered out of the forest and
claimed the tribute, which he took back into the woods with him.
(Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 - BTS) - Happening across the site of the sacrifice, Chane of the Yellow Hair tried to save the woman, but the priest slew her as Chane tried to escape with her.
(Savage Sword of Conan#63/2) - Andrax emerged from the forest, swatted Chane -- who stood over the dead woman's body -- through the air into a nearby lake. Without giving Chane a second glance, Andrax picked up the dead girl's body, gazed rapturously at it, and then began heading back into the forest, his massive strides swiftly taking him out of sight.
Comments: Created by Gil Kane.
What is Andrax? Deviant mutate? Alien? Spawn of some other god or god-like being? some other terrestrial race that roamed the Earth in the distant past? The world may never know...
Did Andrax originally come to feed on the people periodically, and then they came up with the idea of the tribute? Or did they just fear he would attack and came up with the tribute on their own? Again, we may never know.
We don't know that anything the priest said about Andrax was true...it may have just been myth/stories made up by his people to explain the creature...and we don't even know that his name was really Andrax, either...
He reminded me a bit of Gog, but that's probably just because Gog was also drawn by Gil Kane.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Andrax should be distinguished from:
high
priest of Andrax
He led the ritual sacrifice that Chane interrupted. He repeated exhorted to his people, the Children of Andrax, the need to sacrifice the victim so Andrax would spare them.
A staunch believer in the need for the tribute to Andrax, he reiterated the need over and over again, and when Chane attempted to escape with the intended sacrifice victim, he hurled a dagger and slew the victim, fearing that otherwise Andrax would destroy them all.
After Chane had learned Andrax was real, the priest further told the story of Andrax. After telling Chane they merely did what they had to to do survive, he laughed maniacally as Chane departed.
--Savage Sword of Conan#63/2
We don't know whether the high priest was the one who started the ritual of sacrifice to Andrax or whether he was one in a line of succession.
"Bride of Andrax"/sacrifice
victim
She was a member of the Children of Andrax tribe. Though allegedly born into the role of being a sacrifice victim, she was fearful when her time approached. Seeing the fear on her face, Chane cut her free, threw her over his shoulder, fought off the tribesmen, and attempted to escape with her; however, the high priest hurled a dagger that slew her. Andrax soon arrived, swatted aside Chane, picked up her body, gazed rapturously at her, and then departed with her into the forest.
Though she was indeed afraid, there's no evidence that she was actually resisting the sacrifice. She didn't say a word when Chane picked her up; she just went along passively and met with her death a couple minutes later than intended.
--Savage Sword of Conan#63/2
Children
of Andrax
Dwelling on the edge of a forest, this tribe at some point came to worship the immense creature they called Andrax as their god of life and death. They began to sacrifice a young human woman at each harvest, as a tribute to prevent him from slaughtering them all. The rituals were conducted by their high priest.
A number of the tribesmen fell before Chane's blade (though it's not clear how many actually died) when they tried to stop him from rescuing their sacrifice victim. It's unrevealed how large the tribe was before or after the assault.
--Savage Sword of Conan#63/2
Note: There's no evidence the tribe was anything other than normal humans worshipping Andrax, rather than actually being any relation to him. They sacrificed women to Andrax for a length of time sufficient that a young adult woman had been born into the role of sacrifice victim.
images: (without ads)
Savage Sword of Conan#63/2, pg. 1, panel 1 (Chane on his stallion);
panel 2 (Chane
upper body, showing necklace);
pg. 3, panel 1 (altar);
pg. 4, panel 3 (high priest face);
panel 5
(victim cut free);
pg. 5, panel 3 (Chane fights
tribesmen);
pg. 7, panel 1 (sacrifice victim
struck by dagger) ;
pg. 8, panel 1 (Andrax arrives);
panel 3 (Andrax
swats Chane);
pg. 9, pg. 4-5 (Andrax departs with
victim)
Appearances:
Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 (April, 1981) - Gil Kane (writer, artist), Danny
Fingeroth (associate editor), Lynn Graeme (consulting editor), Louise Jones
(later Simonson; editor)
Last updated: 03/03/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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