BAST

Real Name: Bastet

Occupation: Goddess of home and hearth, Patron deity of Wakanda

Legal Status: Citizen of Celestial Heliopolis

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Bast except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: Pakht, Cat-Goddess,

Place of Birth: Unrevealed, possibly Heliopolis (now part of modern Egypt)

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Osiris (father), Isis (mother), Horus II, Anhur, Min, Neper (brothers), Sesmu (sister), Anubis, Bata (half-brothers), Nephthys (aunt), Horus I, Seth (uncles), Sebek, Edjo, Nekhbet, Babi (cousins), Mihos (son), Sakhmet (daughter), Ptah (son-in-law), Imhotep, Nefertum (grandsons),

Group Affiliations: The Ennead (Gods of Egypt)

Base of Operations: Celestial Heliopolis

First Appearance: Thor I #386

History: Bast is the daughter of Osiris, a former pharaoh of Egypt who became King of the Egyptian Gods, and, his wife, Isis, goddess of fertility and domestication. In ancient times, Bast was the goddess of the home and as such, she became equated with cats as the protectors of the house. Ammon-Ra, the original ruler of the Egyptian Gods, fell in love with Bast, and seduced her. Bast gave birth to twins named Sakhmet, the war-goddess who took the form of a lion and to Mihos the lion-god who stood guard on the Golden Bridge to Celestial Heliopolis. Ptah-Aton, the son of Ammon-Ra, became her son-in-law as husband of Sakhmet. Like most of her family, she did not support the whims of her Uncle Seth to overthrow her father or his success to conquer the underworld.

At some point in the past, Bast became the patron deity of the small African kingdom of Wakanda, possibly replacing Bubastis, an older male deity from the Hyborian Age. Bast was worshipped in both male and female forms by the Wakandans. To a lesser degree, she was also a revered deity in the pagan Wiccan religion which is why several mortal witches keep cats as pets and familiars.

Seth eventually invaded Heliopolis and replaced Osiris as god of the dead. He imprisoned Osiris, Isis, Horus and presumably Bast as well in a pyramid for several millennia. In recent years, the Egyptian gods trapped within forced the pyramid to appear in the United States and the Asgardian gods Thor and Odin clashed with Seth as they try to free the gods trapped inside. When Odin defeated Seth, the Egyptian gods proclaimed him the reincarnation of Atum-Ra, their common ancestor.

In his second take-over of Heliopolis, Seth imprisoned the Egyptian gods again, this time draining off their powers and leaving them in a weakened but powerless state. Seth also learned that Odin was missing from Asgard, the home of the Asgardian Gods. Draining enough from Bast to keep her subservient to him, he exploited her power to become a cat and sent her on espionage and reconnaissance missions in Asgard to see if they were aware of his plans. Secretly viewing Balder ruling in Odin's absence, Bast reported what little information she gleaned from conversations from Balder ruling Asgard in Odin's absence to Odin's vizier. After each covert mission, Seth constantly cast her away to be imprisoned with the other Egyptian Gods, but Osiris managed to escape and lead the rest of the Ennead to rally the Asgardians against Seth and defeat him. 

Bast was restored to full power afterward. The Egyptian god, Khonshu, mentor to the Moon Knight, falsely believed she was related to Tigra of the Avengers, of whom the Moon Knight was a member, but he was probably prejudiced of the Moon Knight's relationship with Tigra. Bast accompanied the gods Anubis and Bes to the plane of existence known as the Dreaming to represent Osiris in order to barter for the keys to the underworld. In response to the Dream Lord's relinquishing of the keys, they repaid his favor by attending the funeral of his son. 

Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 310 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: Bast possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Bast possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Ennead (Egyptian gods). Like all of the Ennead, she is exceptionally long-lived, but she is not immortal like the Olympian Gods. She has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Osiris or Ammon-Ra or for a number of Egyptian gods of equal power working together to revive her. Bast also possesses superhuman strength and her Ennead metabolism provides her with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Ennead flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Egyptian Gods.)

Bast also has limited expertise in tapping into and manipulating magic. So far, she has only demonstrated the power to change her form into that a typical household cat and retaining her intelligence in that form. It is possible she can take on the appearances of different sized cats, such as a small domesticated cat or a full-sized panther. She is impervious to harm in these forms and can teleport at will.

Comments:
This profile details Bast's existence in the Marvel Universe where she is colored as Caucasian while the rest of the Egyptian Gods are African-American. Of course, it is unsure if this is Bast or just merely a familiar used by Seth. This is also Bast's only appearance in the MU, but it may be assumed she has been behind the scenes in the other stories as she was one of Egypt's most important deities. She has also appeared briefly in the DC Universe.

In Egyptian Myth, Bast has both a brother and an uncle named Horus due to the way the Greeks carried the records of the Egyptian gods back to Greece. This has lead to confusion about whether Seth is her brother or uncle. Since Seth in all myths has been the brother of Osiris, it may be reckoned there are two gods in the Egyptian Ennead named Horus (or more, Horus's parentage varies by the area he was worshipped). The elder Horus, also named Harpocrates and Haroeris, a god of horizons and boundaries, has yet to be seen in the Marvel Universe, except perhaps in Marvel: The End #3. He has not appeared in the DC Universe.

In the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update #4, the relatives for Sakhmet ("The Lion God") are a little askew, confusing Bast with her son Mihos (Mehen) and making her a male deity. She is also described as a "son" of Ammon-Ra rather than one of his lovers. This may be some sort of creative plot device by the writers of the Black Panther whose African tribe worship a jaguar-god who is supposed to be Bast. (In a similar plot device, the writers of the DC Universe erroneosly consider Harmonia and Discord as daughters of Ares.) See the profile for Ammon-Ra.

Clarifications:  Bast is not to be confused with:  

Last updated: 11/29/06

 

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