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:
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:
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