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F- MN (75)
A- EX (20)
S- AM (50)
E- SH-Y (200)
R- AM (50)
I- RM (30)
P- UN (100)
H- 345
K- 180
R- MN (75)
P- (-100)
Powers: As the Mesoamerican God of the Dead, Ahpuch must be a being of tremendous power. Unfortunately, with only one real appearance in the Marvel Universe, it's difficult to properly describe his personal abilities without a lot of guesswork. Thus, I've taken what information I could find on the internet and made my best guess.
Darkforce Generation and Control: As the lord of Xibalba, Ahpuch has the Unearthly (100) ability to conjure and manipulate Darkorce for a variety of effects. He can Imprison opponents in impenetrable darkness, smothering them or crushing them at will. If he wants the pleasure of combat, he may create weapons of darkness that inflect Unearthly (100) damage.
Death Perception: Ahpuch has the Class 1000 ability to know when someone is going to die - either naturally or violently. Body Armor: Ahpuch's withered flesh is resistant to conventional injury, providing him with Amazing (50) protection from all Physical and Energy attacks.
Invulnerability: Ahpuch has Class 1000 resistance to cold, disease, toxins and ageing. Still, he does not seem to be truly immortal.
Limitations: Those who know something of Mayan and Aztec religion (or at least folklore) know that Ahpuch's appearance on our world is preceded by the piercing cries of nocturnal owls. In Mexico today, it is sometimes said that "Cuando el tecolote canta... el indio muere" (When the great owl sings, the Indian dies).
Talents: Ahpuch also has Unearthly (100) knowledge of all nine Hell's of the Mesoamerican underworld.
Contacts: Ahpuch has some contacts with the rest of the Mayan and Aztec Pantheons. He has worked with Eriskegal, Hela, Mephisto, Pluto, Seth, Yama and perhaps other Death gods and demonic entities as well.
History: This grinning, skeletal horror has been called many different names by his countless Mesoamerican worshipers, but is usually called by his Mayan name these days...when people have the courage to speak his name at all.
In the darkest bowels of Xibalba (pronounced 'Shi-BAHL-bah' - "Place of Phantoms") are nine terrible rivers - one of scorpions, another of blood, a third of pus - and past the ninth river, is the cold, dark Hell of Metnal. There, in his windowless house, sits the gaunt, corpse-god called Ahpuch. His realm rings with the screams and shrikes of eternally tortured souls, the piercing cries of night owls and the tinkling song of funeral bells. The enterence to Xibalba can be found near Coban, Guatemala - and can be seen represented in the sky as a dark rift in the belt of stars that form the Milky Way.
As the chief Mesoamerican God of the Dead, his powers are comparable with Hela, Seth and Mephisto. His only limitation is the scarcity of new souls entering his realm. He once joined with several other death gods in an effort to unite all the various Hell's into one, but ran afoul of a greater threat in the form of Demogorge, the God-Slayer.
Though defeated along with the rest of the death gods, it is not unlikely that Ahpuch may once again attempt to acquire a new source of souls for his realm.
Description: The forms of Ahpuch are many; a skeletal corpse (sometimes with the head of a owl, giving him a distinctly Egyptian flavor) is his most common form. Often his pale, corpse form is draped with a dark cloak. His lank hair is bound with tiny bells and he wears a necklace of human eyes.
Personality: Though a vile and utterly merciless being, Ahpuch has grown tired of late. Ever since Christianity replaced the other ancient religions of Mexico, his realm's allotment of souls has shrank to a trickle. Ahpuch creeps about his dark, windowless house - listening to the screams of the damned as they echo eternally through his halls, and chuckling to himself. Still...he dreams of a flood of new souls swelling his realm. Though he seems to be weakened by the dissipation of his realm, Ahpuch is perfectly capable of decisive action - willing to leap into physical combat with a being as deadly as the Demogorge.
F- IN (40) on Earth / AM (50) in HellPowers: Though once a major power - perhaps even an actual god - Baphomet (like many of his kin) has degenerated into a lower order of being commonly called a 'Demon'. Though his powers may have once been great enough to challenge such beings as Thor and Horus, his current abilities are limited to...
Body Armor : Baphomet has Good (10) resistance to physical attacks, Remarkable (30) resistance to Energy and Monstrous (75) resistance to Fire and Heat. When in one of the Hell's that the Marvel Universe is populated with, his resistance to Physical attacks in Remarkable (30), Energy is Amazing (50), and Fire/Heat is Unearthly (100)
Fire and Hellfire Generation : Baphomet can generate and project fireballs with Monstrous (75) ability and range. In the Hells, his ability rises to Unearthly (100)
Flight: Though not yet shown in any comic, Baphomet has usually been depicted with wings. Let's just assume that he can fly with Remarkable (30) speed (15 areas)
...he may (and likely does) have other, unrevealed powers.
Equipment: Baphomet often uses...
Sword : Baphomet is skilled in the use of ancient weapons, and has been depicted welding a sword in combat. As one of the great generals of the Hells, his sword is doubtless of superior quality. It can be assumed that it is of Unearthly (100) material strength, and he can inflict Amazing (50) Edged or Blunt damage. In the Hells, his enhanced Strength raises the damage to Monstrous (75).
Armor : When wearing his hell-forged armor, all his protections and resistances are raised +1CS
Limitations: Aside from the diminution of his stature and power in the spiritual world, Baphomets only limitation is his inability to enter our world without either being summoned by wizards or dispatched by a being of sufficient power.
Talents: Occult, Mystical Origin, Demomoligy, Weapon Specialist (Swords +2CS), Military Leadership.
Contacts: Baphomets few contacts are either various witches and sorcerers who know how to call him into the world, or his current masters. It is possible that Daimon Hellstrom could count as a contact, as they did fight side-by-side once. Granted, they had a common foe at the time.
History: The origins of the being called "Baphomet" are conflicted, though it seems certain that he's one of the innumerable beings that came about after the Elder Gods roamed the world, but before humanity was created.
Historically, he was first mentioned towards the start of the 1300's - his name possibly being a corruption of the Arabic 'Abufihamat' ('father of understanding') - and worshiped by some humans, including Aleister Crowley and the degenerate members of the Knights Templar. He has perhaps seduced worshipers of other gods by pretending to be either "Pan" or "Satan" (the symbolism of the goat in Satanic imagery is inspired by him), but is currently just another of the hordes of minor demons who serve the more aggressive powers of Hell.
He has acted as an agent of other beings calling themselves "Satan" (perhaps Mephisto in disguise, or Thog, Satannish, Marduk Kurios, or any of the other 'Lords of Hell'), and would likely act as such in the future. He has battled Daimon Hellstrom (the 'Son of Satan') before, has acted as the guardian of one of the gates to Hell, and once battled along side Daimon in an effort to defeat the more powerful threat of the "Possessor."
Description: Baphomet most often appears as a hairy, muscular humanoid with the head of a goat OR simply goat-like features. In his role as the 'Guardian of the Gates of Hell', he wears a suit of Greco/Roman-looking armor and wields an enchanted broadsword. He has on occasion manifested as a giant stone statue of himself, and historically is depicted with wings, cloven feet, a female upper-body (breasts and all) and a candle above his head as a symbol of wisdom and masculinity.
Personality: Baphomet is a straight-forward, no-nonsense being. He's a fellow of some authority both in mythology and the hells, but he's fully aware that he once held greater power. He takes his duties as a military leader seriously.
F- RM (30)
A- MN (75)
S- AM (50)
E- SH-Z (500)
R- RM (30)
I- AM (50)
P- UN (100)
H- 655
K- 180
R- MN (75)
P- 0
Powers: Resistances: As a goddess, Ereshkigal has Class 1000 resistance to all earthly Fire, Cold, Toxins, Diseases and Ageing.
Body Armor: Ereshkigal has Good (10) protection from Physical or Energy attacks.
Imortality: Ereshkigal is one of the most ancient of all human deities. She is functionally immortal, and cannot be slain by conventional means. Even if her Endurance and Health are reduced to 0 she does not die.
Hellfire Generation: Ereshkigal has the ability to generate Monstrous (75) Hellfire.
Flight: Ereshkigal's wings (and her former position as a Sky Goddess) allow her to fly at Unearthly (100) speed (40 areas, 600 mph)
Undead Creation and Control: Ereshkigal has Shift X (150) power over the dead of her realm and those who believed in her when they lived. She usually uses this to control the dead of her realm (who all have the statistics of conventional Zombies - FASE of RM and RIP of PR), but could also use it to raise an army of Skeletons (FASE all GD and RIP of Sh0), but only in the portion of ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) where she was worshiped.
"The Word of Wrath": Ereshkigal has knowledge of secret words and invocations that can strike dead even a supposed immortal. At the utterance of the "Word of Wrath" and striking her foe (for Amazing (50) damage), a victim must make an Endurance test against Sh-X (150) intensity, or start losing Endurance ranks. When Endurance has reached Shift 0, Ereshkigal utters the "...cry of guilt", and then the victim dies...even if the target is supposed to be immortal.
Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.
She spoke against her the word of wrath.
She uttered against her the cry of guilt.
She struck her.
Inanna was turned into a corpse,
A piece of rotting meat,
And was hung from a hook on the wall....
Limitations: Ereshkigal is unable to manifest herself in the upper planes (such as the court of Anu, Olympus or Asgard), as she is now a creature of the underworld.
Talents: Ereshkigal has Class 1000 knowledge of the Occult, Demonology, Rituals and Ancient Mesopotamia.
Contacts: The rest of the Mesopotamian pantheons, as well as other "Death Gods" of the various pantheons.
History: In ancient Mesopotamian myth, Ereshkigal was a sky goddess who was borne away by the dragon Kur, and enthroned as the Queen of the underworld. Later, she married Nergal, the son of Enlil, who she'd fallen in love with when he was sent to visit her. If he refused, she threatened to raise the dead 'so that they will outnumber the living', and conquer the surface world. He was so enraged that he stormed down the steps into the underworld, shattered the seven gates, and burst into her chambers...but was so struck by her beauty that he embraced her and wiped away her tears.
With Nergal at her side, Ereshkigal has ruled over Attalu ("Land of No Return", where the weeping dead eat mud and dust) and the seven Annunaki (her grim and horrible Judges of the Dead) for thousands of years, but more recently her realm has been silent. As her former worshipers have embraced other religions (mostly Islam and Christianity) the former flood of souls to Attalu has dried to a trickle. More than any of the other Death gods, she had a reason for bitterness. It has been several thousand years since she had a steady supply of souls, and her great temples in Kutha and Sippar have been rubble since long before the birth of Christ.
Recently, she and several other "Death Gods" attempted to break down the walls and unite their realms into one vast, single hell (so they could pool their resources in the face of modern religions success), but instead were all slain by Demogorge, the God-Slayer. The heroes of the various pantheons had to unite to defeat the Demogorge and rescue their various Death gods. She may not yet have recovered from this humiliation, but it's certain that she's still scheming in an effort to bring new souls to Attalu.
It's possible that she has enjoyed some small success in luring modern Wiccans into her realm by convincing them she's an aspect of their "Goddess". For that matter...perhaps she is.
For a more complete history, go to her page at the Appendex of the Marvel Universe.
Description: A pale, winged woman with black hair and blood-red lips. She's beautiful, but when angered her face grows corpse-like and her lips turn black. She is winged (as fits her origin as a sky goddess), and usually dresses in dark, revealing garments. Unlike several of her fellow gods of ancient Mesopotamia, she has not yet devolved from a goddess to a demon.
Personality: Though she can be tender, Ereshkigal is a violent goddess, with a love of death and bloodshed. She is jealous and scheming in nature, and the slow withering of her position and pantheon have made her bitter.
F- AM (50)
A- RM (30)
S- AM (50)
E- CL. 1000
R- MN (75)
I- MN (75)
P- UN (100)
H- 1130
K- 250
R- MN (75)
P- 0
Powers: Fire and Cold Manipulation and Generation: As befits the god of so many Hot and Cold hells, Yama should be able to tap into the substance of his realm and both project and manipulate great Heat and Cold with Unearthly (100) ability and range. When in his realm of "Naraka", his ability to manipulate these forces rises to Shift-X (150) in both ability and range.
Resistances: Yama has Class 1000 (1000) resistance to Fire, Cold and all earthly Toxins, Disease and Ageing.
Body Armor: Remarkable (30) protection from Physical and Energy attacks.
Immortality: Yama (like all the Vedic gods) is functionally immortal. Even reducing him to Shift 0 Health and Endurance will not kill him, and he will eventually reform from nearly any level of damage.
Weapons: Iron Rod : When he feels the need to engage in physical combat, Yama will strike with a rod of supernatural iron (CL. 1000 Material Strength), inflecting Monstrous (75) physical damage.
Noose : Yama carries a loop of Monstrous (75) strength rope in his left hand, with which he can pull the soul of any mortal out of their body. This automatically works on the dead, as he collects their souls in this manner. If the target is alive and unwilling, he must first strike them (a Fighting FEAT), entangling them spiritually if the noose strikes. On the following turn, the Noose inflects Unearthly (100) damage, and continues to do so every combat turn until the victim reaches 0 Health.
Mount: Water Buffalo: Yama's Water Buffalo is a mighty beast, capable of leveling tall buildings and slaying armies if need be. Though unnamed in myth, he is surely an intelligent and noble creature.
F: AM(50), A: GD(10), S: UN(100), E: ShX(150), R: EX(20), I: MN(75), P: UN(100), H: 310, K: 220, Body Armor: Yama's Water Buffalo has Unearthly (100) protection from all Physical and Energy attacks. Resistance: It's dense flesh provides it with Amazing (50) protection from Physical and Energy attacks Immortality: Yama's Water Buffalo is just as immortal as Yama himself. Horns: Yama's Water Buffalo is a dangerous opponent, capable of inflecting ShX (150) blunt damage in physical combat.Travel: Yama's Water Buffalo may move over land, sea and through the air with Unearthly (100) speed (40 areas, 600 mph), and Teleport or cross through different dimensions with Class 1000 ability.
Limitations: Though he is one of the most powerful gods of the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu is by far his superior. If any believing follower of Hinduism or Buddhism begs for mercy in the name of Vishnu, Yama is obliged to spare them the suffering of hell.
Talents: +1CS with his Iron Rod and his Rope. He also has Class 1000 knowledge of both ancient and modern Asia, as well as the Hindu and Buddhist religions.
Contacts: Yama is a deity both Hinduism and Buddhism. As such, he has contacts among both pantheons, and millions of believers on Earth. He has also worked with several other Death Gods (Pluto, Ahpuch, Seth, Eriskegal, Hela and Mephisto), and may be willing to do so again.
History: In Indian tradition, Yama was the first man to die, thus becoming the god of the dead by virtue of having entered into the afterlife first. As the ruler of "Naraka", it is Yama's duty to judge dead Buddhists and Hindu's that pass through his realm, sending them to an appropriate afterlife for whatever time they deserve. As both Hindu's and Buddhists believe in reincarnation, this is usually a temporary condition. After the soul has worked off it's lingering karma, the soul passes back into the mortal world and is reincarnated. The Buddhist tradition of the many hells of "Naraka" is particularly vivid, and heaven help the man who finds themselves condemned to the terrible hell of "Mahapadma"- where the body is frozen solid, then broken and scattered, or "Samghata" - where the dammed are smashed into jelly by hot irons.
But recently, he united his power with several other Death Gods (Pluto, Ahpuch, Seth, Eriskegal, Hela and Mephisto) in an effort to increase his powerbase and bring ultimate balance to the realms of the dead....by uniting their various Hells into a single, infinite realm. Unfortunately, their rituals awoke a greater power ("Demogorge, the God Eater") who consumed them all. Yama was only released after Thor led Tawa, Quetzalcoatl, Shango, Indra, Apollo and Horus against the Demogorge, ultimate freeing the wayward Death Gods. Yama has abandoned this project, though he may have joined it under false pretences in the first place.
Description: Yama is a handsome man, though his green or red-tinted skin betrays his otherworldly origins. He either appears as an Indian or Asian man, and most always wears red garments. When angry his skin turns deep red, his eyes blaze brightly and his frown deepens.
Personality: Yama is a noble and powerful being, fully aware of his position and the god of Death. As a judge, he is keenly interested in justice and balance, and has acted to aid his fellow Death gods in the service of this balance.
