Real Name: UnrevealedSUJANAA MIN RAGHBAH
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Persian magic-user active for several centuries up to 12th Century
Occupation: Magician, ruler of Persia
Group Membership: Ruler of Persia
Affiliations: The djinn Elalyth (former slave)
Enemies: Adam Destine, Al Kadhdhaab, the djinn Elalyth, several unidentified treasure plunderers
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Own citadel accessible through a breach in Zagros Mountains, Persia (currently Iran)
First Appearance: ClanDestine I#5 (February, 1995)
Powers/Abilities: Sujanaa min Raghbah was a powerful magician, able, on his own, to seize a gem containing a supernatural djinn and to enslave the djinn to do his bidding. Thanks to the djinn, Raghbah obtained material wealth (including gold, jewels, buildings and weapons), lived for centuries (though showing aging effects on his body) and, in the words of al Kadhdhaab, secretly controlled Persia and caused widespread pain, disease and suffering. The surroundings of his fortress were a wasteland of decay and rot, apparently a side-effect of his use of magic.
Raghbah's known spells were actively initiated by him, often using specific hand and arm movements. Raghbah's magic allowed him to telekinetically manipulate objects and people, even against their will. Raghbah's magic blew up the armor Adam of Destine was wearing, immobilized him mid-air and held a floating scimitar to his neck. He also fired energy bolts that damaged Adam, although the latter was supposedly protected from physical damage (Theoretically, Adam's protection was given by the djinn and, if Raghbah's attack used the sameself djinn's power, it could overcome Adam's defenses). If Raghbah was distracted, however, his magicks ceased to have any effect. Raghbah has also had visions that revealed the future.
Raghbah's power had two known limitations: He was unable to make the djinn love him, though had he tried for centuries; nor could he prevent the prophecies that arose from his own visions. In one of these, Raghbah saw that a young blond-haired, blue-eyed man would kill him, and when that happened, with his dying breath Raghbah acknowledged that he could not outwit fate.
The Persian Raghbah 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 (perhaps 5'6" - 5'10"
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 140-160 lbs. )
Eyes: Red
Hair: Bald; black mustache and goatee
Unusual features: Grey skin. Scrawny hands. Extremely long fingernails. Two hoops in the right ear, one hoop in the left ear.
History: (ClanDestine I#5 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2) - Centuries before 1184 AD, the sorcerer Sujanaa min Raghbah obtained a huge mystical gem encasing a female spirit entity, identified in legend as a djinn. Raghbah used the gem's power to fulfil his wishes, which included wealth, longevity and a fortress palace accessible only through a gap in the mountains of Zagross, but he failed to win the djinn's love. Eventually, Raghbah went mad; it has been theorized that this was either because of hos romantic failure or because contact with the gem could cause insanity.
Over several centuries, Raghbah remained in his citadel, from which he was secretly harming his environment and ruling all of Persia, even if just a few had even heard his name. Some of those who knew of Raghbah were daring adventurers who challenged Raghbah's magic in an attempt to get their hands on his gem or his other treasures; but the wizard's magical defences protected him: Those who dared enter his domain died, their corpses remaining on the treasure they intended to steal. Raghbah lived for centuries like this, not realizing that he was devoting his life to protecting possessions that were of no benefit to him or anyone else, and that his selfish use of magic was turning both his territory into a desolate wasteland, and his own body into a corpse-like monstruosity.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb) - BTS) - In 1184 AD, teenage English farmer Adam of Ravenscroft had a near-fatal accident from which he miraculously recovered, after having a vivid dream in which his mind contacted that of the djinn's. In his trance, Adam also saw the face of Raghbah, but was more impressed by the beauty of the angelic djinn. Known since then as Adam of Destine, he believed that the djinn, whom he took to be an angel, had saved his life and given him supernatural protection. At some point, Raghbah also had a fateful vision in which he saw Adam of Destiny kill him. Raghbah's rival wizard, Al Kadhdhaab, discovered this prophecy.
Raghbah was aware that Al Kadhdhaab was actively trying to kill him, but he knew that the latter could not succeed on his own.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb) - During the Third Crusade, in 1191 AD, Adam of Destine, then a soldier in the Crusades, traveled to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, where Al Kadhdhaab found him and recruited him to kill Raghbah following the prophecy. al Kadhdhaab convinced Adam they were saving the innocents from an evil wizard. Slightly suspicious, Adam agreed and traveled to Zagross in al Kadhdhaab's caravan, but Adam was to enter the palace alone, because the prophecy, as narrated by al Kadhdhaab, forbade anyone else to cross the entrance.
(ClanDestine
I#5 (fb)) - Adam found Raghbah's treasure chamber, with armored corpses
of frustrated past thieves on top of the loot, and approached the gem.
Raghbah showed himself, used his magic to immobilise Adam and, speaking
to him and the djinn, tried to find out why the djinn loved Adam
instead of Raghbah; Raghbah, realizing that al Kadhdhaab had sent Adam,
warned him that the Bedouin was seeking power for himself. Raghbah's
insanity caused him to torture Adam, knowing that this would not please
his beloved, and then he offered Adam to share the djinn's power.
Adam, however, was firm and selfless, explaining to Raghbah that his quest for power had only turned him into a decadent man, locked in his own kingdom with wealth that brought him nothing: His rich clothes were in tatters and his moral ugliness was reflected in his face and body. This disconcerted Raghbah, who for a moment came to his senses and stopped concentrating on his power. Released by Raghbah's distraction, Adam grabbed his sword and pierced Raghbah's chest as he prepared a new aggressive spell. Raghbah expired, realizing that he could not escape his fate.
(ClanDestine I#5 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2) - Although Al Kadhdhaab attempted to seize the djinn immediately afterwards, he failed and was destroyed when Adam released the creature. The djinn destroyed Raghbah's treasure room, wreaking havoc on his palace and apparently destroying Raghbah's corpse. The djinn took care, however, so that Adam was unharmed, and she began a romance with him.
Comments: Created by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.
Sujanaa min Raghbah (سجناء من رغبة) means "prisoner of desire" in Arabic. It is not a given name.
Some information about Raghbah is given by Aa 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; yet 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 other weapons.
In ClanDestine I#5, Adam tells the story of how he killed Raghbah 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 killed Raghbah before fighting in Jaffa, and remember it the other way round), he may have killed Raghbah 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
Raghbah's lair is in Zagros Mountains, a 1,600-kilometer mountain range that exists in real life across several countries including the historical territory of Persia. The territory including Zagros had been known as Persia, particularly by Westerners. In Marvel continuity, Zagros Mountains have later appeared in Secret Warriors#25, SHIELD Infinity#1 and SHIELD II#4, the two last issues misnaming them as "Zargos Mountains." In that plot, the Zagros Mountains have stored augmentation/rejuvenation chambers designed to keep people in stasis for centuries, which have been of the interest of Aries (Leonardo da Vinci), the Forever Man (Michelangelo Buonarroti Simoni) and Night Machine (Nikola Tesla). This depot is apparently not related to Raghbah's lair - the mountain system is big enough to host several secret lairs.
Sujanaa's kingdom in the Zagross Mountains of Persia was later revealed to actually be the Valley of Yden. The land is a part of the Djinn (Elalyth) and she is for some reason unable to leave it. So, does this mean that Sujanaa somehow entered Yden and captured the Djinn? Or did he capture her elsewhere and bring her to that valley where she henceforth became trapped? The fact that it was once stated that "No power on Earth (could) enter Yden unbidden" suggests that there must be more to the story.
--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
Raghbah is mentioned in ClanDestine's profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z I#2
This profile was completed 06/31/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Skippy Farlstendoiro.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Sujanaa Min Raghbah has no known connections to:
images:
ClanDestine I#5, p15, pan5 (main)
ClanDestine I#5, p15, pan2 (head shot)
ClanDestine I#5, p16, pan6 (stabbed)
Appearances:
ClanDestine I#5 (February, 1995) – Alan Davis (writer, pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Paul Neary (editor)
First posted: 09/05/2021
Last updated: 11/12/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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