Marduk

History

Marduk is the ancient god of vegetation, justice, magic, law, salvation, and water as well as lord of truth, and custodian of the Tablets of Destiny. Marduk was also part of the Gods of Mesopotamia who are a race of super-humanly powerful beings with humanoid traits and were once worshiped by several of the races and cultures from circa 19,000 BC. Marduk is depicted as the God of Storms and was the patron deity of Babylon, who slowly rose to power as the head of the Babylonian pantheon. He is a complex God associated with prophecy, resurrection and thunder. He rose to power during a civil war between the gods and their prodigy known as the Igigi. It was Marduk who conquered the primeval goddess Tiamat, elevating him to the status of God-king, ruling over the Heaven and the Earth. All nature, including man, owed its existence to him. He is the son of Enki, husband of Sarpanit and father of Nabu. In the myths he rides a chariot pulled by four poisonous horses. Marduk was said to have 50 names.

He defeated Tiamat in the Enuma Elish by immobilizing her with the powerful winds while she broke into an unstoppable rage and then killed her in battle with arrows from his magical bow. After defeating Tiamat he battled and killed Kingu her son and chief of her army. Marduk than took the Tablets of Destiny from Kingu to affirm his supremacy in the universe. Marduk was said to throw lightning from the heavens and send heavy rains to flood to land of man. Seen as an almost messianic figure to the Babylonians and is said he would visit Babylon again. He demanded he be made chief deity and have authority over all creation after defeating and mutilating Tiamat as well as creating the universe with her mutilated body parts. Marduk also was noted in ancient lore to have created humans out of Kingu’s blood, and made them to be slaves to the gods.

Known Relations:

Ra (father), Damkina (mother), Anu (uncle), Mami, Ereshkigal (aunts), Zarpandit (first wife), Nebo (son), Nisasba, Nanshe, Ninsar, Uttu, (half-sisters), Enkimdu, Enbilulu, Asnan, Asarlubi (half-brothers), Enlil (Dagon), Ba'al, Hadad, Ninurta, Martu, Nusku, Nergal, Gibil, Kinyras (cousins)

History in Comics

Modern History

Marduk has been an inspiration in several comic titles throughout the years and each character published with his name has taken his aspects as a god of the air from ancient history.

Essential Story-lines

Marvel Comics

The entity known Marduk as the god of storms is one of the ancient beings calling themselves the Annunaki. He made his first appearance in the Marvel comics publication of Citizen V and the V Battalion: The Everlasting #2 (2002). Born fully mature and with great power over 5,000 years ago, he was worshiped as a deity in ancient Mesopotamia. Marduk had taken over as the ruler of the Annunaki Gods and he succeeded Ba'al after his battle with the ancient dragoness Tiamat. Sometime during his reign the priesthood of Marduk placed a griffin to stand guard over the mystical Book of the Vishanti for centuries. With the onset of other diverse religions in the world the longtime worship of the Annunaki waned and they disappeared into antiquities.

Around the time of 980 A.D. Marduk sought out the gods worshiped by the Norse and battled Thor, the regions god of storms. After the battle Thor was the victor and than stripped Marduk of his godly status and exiled him to Earth. However Marduk had retained a tiny of his powers as a former deity, including the ability to claim the souls of humans by contact, Marduk operated among humanity, joined by fellow gods Aqhat and Papa. To reclaim his lost power, he designed the Genesis Well, which could distribute the souls of mortals to him in a water-like state for him to bathe in and consume.

Marduk began various schemes, posing as curator Zoltan Nestor. He met and manipulated Destroyer (Roger Aubrey) to keep the V-Battalion from uncovering his schemes.

Marduk took over Oracle Inc. after its acquisition by Stark-Fujikawa. He began pouring its resources into Flag-Smasher's group ULTIMATUM. Marduk hoped to cause massive loss of life and absorb the souls of the fallen combatants, restoring him to his former power. When Aubrey interfered he took his soul. Citizen V (John Watkins III) battled Marduk, learning that the Genesis Well continually revived Marduk. Watkins overloaded the machines, apparently destroying Marduk.

Powers and Abilities:

Before his godlike attributes were stripped away by the Asgardians Marduk possessed tremendous powers. Marduk took power from other beings he took over, adding them to his own.After being stripped of his godhood, Marduk retained some physical superhuman abilities; he could claim human souls on contact, taking that soul at any time of his choosing, By ingesting souls, he restored some of his lost godly powers, including an increased lifespan and wound healing. Those souls are placed in the Genesis Well. He can also drain others of energy via his equipment and the waters of the Genesis Well. With the aid of the Genesis Well, when in contact with its waters, Marduk was able to heal from any wound, and siphon power from others by draining their lives. He also had equipment to enable him to manipulate others and drain energy through other means. Marduk also retained certain attribute when it came to longevity as he seemed immune to aging.