Real Name: UnrevealedAL KADHDHAAB
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Bedouin magic- and technology user, active for several centuries up to 12th Century
Occupation: Magician, warlord and would-be assassin, thief and conqueror
Group Membership: Leader of his own group of Bedouins
Affiliations: Adam Destine
Enemies: Adam of Destine, Sujanaa Min Raghbah
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout Holy Land and Persia in the 12th century A.D.
First Appearance: ClanDestine I#5 (February, 1995)
Powers/Abilities:
Al Kadhdhaab claimed to be a sorcerer with limited capabilities.
Somehow, Al Kadhdhaab learned of Sujanaa min Raghbah's fateful vision
and prophesied the latter's death; and he also found Raghbah's hidden
lair. Al Kadhdhaab's power was not enough to protect him from the
djinn's aggressive magic, nor was it enough to defeat Raghbah.
Al Kadhdhaab was also a wealthy man with multiple followers of both sexes who catered to his whims and were willing to kill at his command.
Al Kadhdhaab knew how to use a small crossbow in combat, and could also fight with the curved dagger or jambiya that he wore on his belt.
A Bedouin, Al Kadhdhaab was able to speak with an English man, Adam, meaning that either of them knew the other's language (Adam had been in Holy Land for years and may have been fluent in Arabic) or that the sorcerer used some spell to ensure communication.
Height: Unrevealed (normal to large in stature, so perhaps 5'10" to 6'1")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 170-190 lbs.)
Eyes: Light green
Hair: Black, with moustache and goatee
History: (ClanDestine I#5 - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2) - Al Kadhdhaab was a wealthy Bedouin lord with wealth and resources, active in the territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the 12th century. He was also a magician and rival of the sorcerer Sujanaa min Raghbah. Al Kadhdhaab knew that, centuries earlier, Raghbah had come into possession of a mystical gem containing a powerful djinn. This female spiritual entity, enslaved to the gem's possessor, had fulfilled most of Raghbah's desires and had allowed him to rule Persia for centuries. Al Kadhdhaab coveted this power and wished to kill Raghbah to get the gem; but Raghbah was protected against this enemy and they both knew it. Al Kadhdhaab learned, however, of a prophetic vision Raghbah had had in which a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man killed him; and the Bedouin intended to find this person and lead him to Raghbah, after which he would betray his minion to get the gem.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb)) - In 1184 AD, young Englishman Adam of Ravenscroft, blond and blue-eyed, had an accident on his farm and, in agony, had hallucinations in which he saw both Raghbah and al Kadhdhaab, but most vividly the sphere containing the djinn. The djinn made contact with Adam, and he miraculously recovered, going on to adopt the moniker Adam of Destine.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2) - In 1189 AD, Adam joined the Third Crusade and traveled to the Holy Land, prevailing in several battles without injury; he assumed himself to be protected by the so-called angel of his vision. Al Kadhdhaab learned of Adam and, believing correctly that he was the one chosen to kill Raghbah, sent his own followers to capture Adam. In the process, al Kadhdhaab's agents killed four soldiers, allies of Adam's, and captured Adam using a sleeping gas; al Kadhdhaab moved Adam so he'd awake in a tent with three beautiful handmaidens escorting him. After Adam awakened, al Kadhdhaab entered with two guards and introduced himself as a potential ally; he apologized for the deaths of the soldiers, offering to punish those responsible. With half-truths and withholding key information, al Kadhdhaab convinced Adam to join his quest against the evil wizard Raghbah; Adam was mildly suspicious, but also naive enough to believe al Kadhdhaab, and he accepted.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb)) - Al Kadhdhaab organized a caravan to go to Raghbah's lair in the Zagross Mountains in Persia, and he convinced Adam that only the chosen one, supernaturally protected, could enter Raghbah's lair. However, al Kadhdhaab himself secretly entered behind Adam. Al Kadhdhaab's plan was to wait for Adam to kill Raghbah, and then to kill Adam before Adam claimed the gem. Al Kadhdhaab stayed hidden while Adam, in Raghbah's treasure room, confronted Raghbah and finally killed him as prophesied.
(ClanDestine
I#5 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2) -
Sympathizing with the imprisoned djinn, Adam intended to free her
rather than enslave her but, before he could do so, al Kadhdhaab
treacherously shot him in the back with his crossbow, wounding him.
Though impressed by Adam's ethics, al Kadhdhaab still used his
advantage to stab Adam in the belly with his jambiya, to give him a
quick death. Leaving his pawn barely alive on the ground, al Kadhdhaab
anxiously approached the gem to finally claim his prize. With a
last-ditch effort, however, Adam cut the rope that bound the gem to the
ceiling; the gem shattered as it hit the floor, freeing the djinn. The
djinn unleashed its power as a savage elemental force that annihilated
al Kadhdhaab and wreaked havoc on Raghbah's fortress. The djinn,
however, took care not to harm its savior, Adam, and even healed his
wounds.
Comments: Created by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.
Al Kadhdhaab is not a name, but an epithet meaning the Deceiver or the Great Deceiver. It is used historically to refer to the 7th-century preacher Musaylimah.
Al Kadhdhaab claims not to be a Saracen in ClanDestine I#5, and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2 confirms that he is a Bedouin. Bedouins in the twelfth century were nomadic tribes, not necessarily of Islamic religion or associated with the sultanates and factions openly involved in the Crusade.
Some information in the plot is given by al Kadhdhaab, who is later proven to be untrustworthy. Al Kadhdhaab claimed that contact with the gem turned the user crazy and that this had happened with Raghbah; however, al Kadhdhaab himself was trying to get the gem. Al Kadhdhaab also said that only Adam could enter Raghbah's domain's safely, but al Kadhdhaab sneaked there after Adam. Lastly, al Kadhdhaab talked about Adam's protection that would allow only him to survive Raghbah, but Adam was vulnerable to Raghbah's magic and to Al Kadhdhaab's crossbow and jambiya.
In ClanDestine I#5, Adam tells the story of how he met al Kadhdhaab in 1191 AD, after having survived the battles of Acre, Arsuf and Jaffa without any injury. Yet, the battle of Jaffa took place in summer 1192 AD. Still, Adam is reminiscing upon long-past events in his life; he may be wrong about either detail (He may have met Al Kadhdhaab before fighting in Jaffa, and remember it the other way round), he may have met Al Kadhdhaab at a later date, or maybe the battle of Jaffa took place earlier on Adam's reality.
Adam stated that he had survived the Battle of Acre (fought in October of 1189), the Battle of Arsuf (fought on September 7, 1191) and the Battle of Jaffa (fought in late July and early August of 1192). Adam could have fought in the Siege of Acre and the Battle of Arsuf but was only in "a" battle fought near Jaffa sometime in 1191. Maybe the Saracen defenders of Jaffa who surrendered to King Richard three days after the Battle of Arsuf just fought a bit more on Earth-616 than they did in the real world? Or maybe there was the same amount of fighting but Adam of Destine just happened to take part in the fiercest of the fighting? Either explanation works and does not require Adam to have misremembered his past.
--Donald Campbell
When Adam entered Yden in ClanDestine II#5, he encountered visions of "Al Kadhdhhaab" and "Sujana min Raghbah" (yes, that's how the names were spelt) that repeated things that they had said to him back in 1191 A.D. Since Adam later stated that time itself was sundered to reveal shadows of his past, these could have been apparitions of past events. Alternatively, since the words they spoke were not exactly what Adam recalled them saying in ClanDestine I#5, they could have just been hallucinations that Adam was experiencing.
--Donald Campbell
Al Kadhdhaab is mentioned in ClanDestine's profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2.
This profile was completed 06/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Skippy Farlstendoiro.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Al Kadhdhaab has no known connections to:
Appearances:
ClanDestine I#5 (February, 1995) – Alan Davis (writer, pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Paul Neary (editor)
First posted: 09/06/2021
Last updated: 11/12/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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