The Annunaki or Gods of of the Hyborian Age are a race of superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who were predominantly worshipped by ancient humanity during the Hyborian Age, a non-specific period of time that existed between the last Ice Age and up to the beginning of written records, roughly between 18,000 years ago to around 4000 BC. The Annunaki were worshipped by the majority of ancient tribes and cultures presiding on Earth in kingdoms and regions with ill-defined boundaries and borders that were constantly changing. Several of these kingdoms and territories were Hyperborea, Aquilonia, Stygia, Cimmeria and Nordheim among others; each of whom had their own specific gods and rival gods, although some gods, such as Mitra, were more widespread.

The Hyborian gods were known to preside on Earth, typically areas within the domain of their worshippers, like Crom, who dwelled on a peak somewhere in the Eiglophian Mountains of Cimmeria, now part of modern Germany. Ymir dwelled in the frozen wastelands of Valhalla beyond the regions of Aesgaard and Vanaheim, which later became modern Scandinavia. Several regions had their concept of a god of death or a dark god who claimed the spirits of their worshippers who are believed to have dispatched them to relative underworlds individual to these gods, however, many of these beings have turned out to be Elder Gods or demons, such as Set. 

The precise origin of the Annunaki is unrevealed. The worshippers of the Hyborian Gods did not share legends or histories of their respective gods beyond that of the religious importance of their deities to their own cultures. One of the oldest of the Elder Gods was  Gaea, the primordial earth-mother, who first materialized on Earth shortly before other life appeared. She and her brother Chthon were among those Elder Gods who inhabited the land masses of the Earth (as opposed to the sea or skies), and may have had something to do with forming certain geological patterns. Although Gaea was humanoid in form, most of the Elder Gods were not. Except for Gaea, the Elder Gods eventually degenerated into demons; in other words, these Elder Gods became parasitic entities, needing to feed on the life energies of other beings in order to survive. Since humankind had not yet been born, these Elder Gods began preying on each other. Fearing that the demons’ battles would destroy the newly evolving life on Earth, Gaea called upon the Demiurge, the sentient life force of Earth’s biosphere, and gave birth to the first of the next generation of gods, Atum, who was dedicated to the consumption and elimination of the evil, which the evil gods had wrought in their degeneration into demons. Atum killed virtually all the Elder Gods, although some, like Chthon and Set, escaped into other dimensional worlds. Gaea was the only Elder God to exist on Earth, and she infused her godly life essence into all living beings on Earth. She then mated with the Demiurge and sired many of the first gods who are believed to have been the Annunaki or Gods of the Hyborian Age. Many of these first gods are believed to have been gods like Ymir, Crom and Mitra; these gods later siring younger gods, like Atali, who served them. Other Hyborian Gods were demons like Set and Chthon who managed to gain worshippers from even beyond the Earthly realm. Other dark gods or demons coalesced out of the mystical energies left over from Atum's war with the Elder Gods and became demons like Mephisto and Satannish.

The Annunaki were worshipped on Earth for several thousand years until around 9,500 years ago. During this time, they remained somewhat distant to their worshippers and antagonistic to them except when demanding worship. However, toward the end of the Hyborian Age, global upheavals occurred whose after effects continued for several thousand years afterward, devastating their domains, scattering or destroying their cults and reshaping the Earth. Many of the Annunaki are believed to have lost their lives as a result or were conquered and slain by the ascendant gods which now rose up on Earth, such as the Ogdoad and the Anunnaki, the Gods of Egypt and Mesopotamia, considered the oldest of the gods of Earth. Several of the Gods of Sumeria are believed to have been former Hyborian gods, like Anu, or to have usurped the worship rites of old forgotten Hyborian gods, like Enlil and Hadad who took the names Dagon and Baal. Around 3500 BC, the Egyptian god, Seth, took over the last known worshippers of the god Set. In the Far East, Mitra became known as Mithras, one of the Adityas, the ancestors of the ascendant Hindu Gods. Other gods who became known afterward are the Titans, who were overthrown by the Olympian Gods, and the Aesir and the Vanir, who opposed Ymir for worshippers in modern-day Germany and Norway, and who eventually became known as the Asgardians. 

Though the Annunaki have been largely forgotten or overwhelmed by the ascendant gods which replaced them, a few of them are believed to still be active, possibly due to the fact that the gods which usurped them have now retreated to several pocket universes or "god worlds" now linked to the homelands of their worshippers. The original Baal and Dagon are still called upon by practitioners of the dark arts while Elder Gods like Set and Chthon still struggle to escape the other dimensions to which they were exiled. 

Relationships to Other Pantheons: The connections of the Annunaki to the modern Gods of Earth are unrevealed, but it is possible that many of them, such as Buri, who may have been the Grey God of the Cimmerians, are now retired while others, such as Those Who Live Above In Shadow, have learned to exploit the worship of their successors. It is known that the shadowy beings known as Those Who Live Above In Shadow lived off the life energies of the Asgardian cycles of destruction and rebirth until Thor put an end to these cycles. Crom's whereabouts are unknown, but his worship was recognized by Tigernmas, a King of Ireland in the 16th Century BC.

==Characteristics==

Body Type: Various, usually Humanoid
Avg. Height:  (Humanoid) 6' 0"
Eyes:  (Humanoid) Two
Hair:  (Humanoid) Normal
Skin:  (Humanoid) Normal
Limbs:  (Humanoid) Two
Fingers: (Humanoid) Five with opposable thumb
Toes: (Humanoid) Five
Special Adaptations: The Annunaki are exceptionally long-lived, but they are not immortal like the Olympian gods; they age very slowly upon reaching adulthood, but they are not invulnerable to death. They are physically more durable than human beings; their skin, bone and tissue being three times more durable and dense than similar tissue in human beings.

==Powers==

Avg. Strength Level: All of the Annunaki are superhumanly strong with the average male being able to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average female being able to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Powers: The Annunaki possess superhuman strength, stamina, longevity and resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for altering their appearance, communicating over long distances, teleporting through dimension barriers and casting spells. 
Known Abilities: The Annunaki have equal potential to armed and unarmed combat equal to human beings, but are more inclined to practice and wield magic.

==Miscellaneous==
Type of Government: None
Level Of Technology: Magic
Cultural Traits: The Gods of the Hyborian Age were known to take a variety of animal and humanoid forms with the humanoid gods usually appearing in the customary attire and form of their respective worshippers.
Names of Representatives: Anu (Zamora), Ashtoreth (Shem), Asura (Vendhya), Atali (Hyperborea), Bel (Shem, Zamora), Borri (Hyperborea), Crom (Cimmeria), Dagon (Kush), Derketo (Shem), Dweller in the Pit (Zug), Erlik (Hyrkania, Turan), Ghost Snake (Picts), Grim Grey God (Hyperborea), Gullah (Picts), Gwahlur (Black Kingdom), Hanuman (Zamboulah), Ibis (Aquilonia, Ophir, Zingara), Ishiti (Stygia), Ishtar (Shem, Koth), Jergal Zadh, (Picts), Jhil (Black Kingdom), Julluah (Black Kingdom), Lir (Cimmerians), Manannan (Cimmerians), Mitra (Aquilonia, Argos, Corinthia, Nemedia, Ophir, Zingara), Nergal (Shem, Acheron), Omm (Acheron, Shem), Oranah (Hyrkanian), Pteor (Shem), Scathach (Scythian), Set (Aquilonia, Ophir, Zingara), Shokkoth (border Kingdoms), Stag God (Hyrkanian), Tammuz (Dhem, Acheron), Tsathoggua (Stygia), Yaamai (Aquilonia), Yajur (Kosala, Khitai Yun), Ymir (Hyperborea), Yog (Zuagir), Zug (Stygia), et al.

==Comments/Trivia==

• The Gods of the Hyborian Age are not actual mythological deities; they were invented by author Robert E. Howard, the creator of the "Conan The Barbarian" mythos and expanded upon by successive writers, who often named them after known figures from mythology, legend and folklore.
• The Cimmerians are a historical people first named by Homer who placed them on the north shore of the Black Sea. Having made several invasions into Asia Minor, they all but disappeared after the defeat of Lydia in the Seventh Century BC.
• Annunaki (Anunnaki, Anunaki, Ennuki, Ennugi...) is a Sumerian word which translates as "People of Anu," representing the assembly of the high gods of Sumer or the Sumerian Pantheon as a whole. Many of the Sumerian gods were adopted into Babylonian religion where they were known as the Igigi or "heavenly ones."
• This bio dates the Hyborian Age, as specified by Howard E. Carter, the author and creator of "Conan the Barbarian," as occurring between the last Ice Age and the beginning of written records. In the Marvel Universe, the Hyborian Age is pushed even further back, between 18,000 and 9,500 BC.