SETH
Real Name: Unrevealed, allegedly Seth, possibly Suty or Sutekh
Occupation: God of death and misfortune, former ruler of Celestial Heliopolis, former god of storms
Legal Status: Exiled citizen of Celestial Heliopolis
Identity: The general populace of Earth does not believe in the existence of Seth except as a mythological deity.
Other Aliases: Set, Setesh, Setekh, Suty, Sutekh, Smai, Set-Nubti, Nubti, Typhon, The Serpent God, Lord of the Unliving
Place of Birth: Unrevealed, possibly Heliopolis (modern Cairo, Egypt)
Marital Status: Separated
Known Relatives: Geb (father), Nut (mother), Osiris, Heru (brothers), Isis (sister), Nephthys (sister/wife), Sebek, Babi (sons), Edjo, Nekhbet (daughters), Horus, Anubis, Anhur, Neper, Bata (nephews), Bast (neice), Shu (grandfather), Tefnut (grandmother), Atum-Ra (great-grandfather), Gaea (great-grandmother, alias Neith)
Group Affiliation: Leader of the Serpent's Teeth, the Black Sphinxes, the Demons of Death, the Demons of Despair and the Men in Black; former member of the Ennead (Egyptian Gods); former member of an unnamed council of death-gods, former ally of Krona and Loki; former employer of Devourer, Mongoose, Quicksand, Bison, Price, Red Norvell and Lorelei; Bushman, Morpheus, Black Spectre
Base of Operations: The Black Pyramid in Abydos (aka the Dimension of Death); also the Armageddon Complex, New York City; formerly Ombos, Egypt
First Appearance: Thor I #240
History: Seth is a member of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Ennead who once lived in Ancient Egypt and were later worshipped as gods by the Ancient Egyptians. Seth is the son of the ancient earth-god Geb and the sky-goddess, Nut, and brother of Osiris and Heru. According to ancient myths, when Seth was born, he reportedly ripped himself free of his mother to escape her. Raised as a mortal in his youth, he desired to be raised as a god when he became an adult and impersonated the ancient snake form of the Hyborian god Set in order to claim the dying religion of the god as his own and once more return it to what it once was. The Elder God Set, trapped in another dimension, could not prevent Seth's actions. Seth was assisted in his trickery by Grog the God-Slayer.
Seth, however, hated his brother, Osiris, because his followers accepted him unconditionally while Seth ruled with threats and aggressive acts. His wife, Nephthys, also preferred Osiris as a mate, and Seth mated with Gaea in her form as Neith and fathered Sebek, Babi, Edjo and Nekhbet, four of the gods of the underworld. Seeking to overthrow his brother, he sought to usurp the throne by imprisoning Osiris in a coffin and hiding it, but when Isis found it, Seth dismembered Osiris's body into fourteen pieces and cast them to the winds. Seth, however, did not count on Isis collecting the pieces and reuniting them or on Anubis inventing mummification to restore Osiris to life. After Osiris moved on to Celestial Heliopolis, long court proceedings were held by the Ennead, the major Egyptian gods, to determine if rule of Egypt should be given to either Seth or to Horus. Having seen the afterlife, Osiris returned to become god of the dead with Nephthys as his wife. Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, then claimed the throne for himself and battled the armies of Seth for several years trying to regain it.
In the years that Horus's mortal descendants ruled Egypt, Horus and the Ennead were worshipped as gods with Seth considered as one of the darkest of the gods of the underworld. Around 2950 BC, the young mutant En Sabah Nur manifested his powers for the first time around the age of 17 while he worked as a slave. It was then that a statue of the god Seth spoke to him of a greater destiny. Nur, years later, became known as Apocalypse. Shortly thereafter, perhaps after Seth had departed earth for Celestial Heliopolis, or even centuries later, the being known as Apocalypse used his shape-changing abilities to appear as Seth on Earth, fermenting war and chaos throughout the Egyptian Empire and thus further spurring along human evolution. The center of Seth's cult of worship was the city Ombos in the Upper Kingdom, where Seth enjoyed greater influence than in the lands further down river. The worship of Seth often fell on hard times but always experienced periods of intense revival, never remaining in the background permanently or for long. One such period of intense revival was circa 1675 BC during the Hyksos domination. Perhaps with Seth's aid, the Hekaukhasut or "rulers of foreign lands" conquered the ancient Egyptians before they had mastered either the horse or the chariot which had likely helped the mounted Hyksos more than Seth. The foreign conquerors were avid worshippers of the aggressive god, building many temples to him and likening him to their own storm-god, Baal, of the Anunnaki. The Hyksos capitol during their reign in Egypt was Avaris, another older center of Seth worship. The Ancient Greeks meanwhile identified Seth with Typhon, the enemy of the Olympian gods. While the Hyksos dominated the Nile Delta, they attempted to wipe out the worship of all other gods and impose Seth as the supreme deity of all Egypt. Ultimately, the Hyksos were overthrown and defeated by the Egyptians led by the Theban royal family. This victory was possibly achieved with the help of Khonshu in the guise of another moon-god, Yah, in whose honor many of the royal family were named.
Eventually, Seth defeated Horus after centuries of struggle. The decisive victory for Seth took place simultaneously with the sea battle at Actium, in which the Roman forces of Octavius Caesar defeated the navies of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony around 30 BC. By now, Osiris had succeeded Ammon-Ra as ruler of the Egyptian Gods. Seth overthrew him and imprisoned the Egyptian gods in a pyramid and later conquered Celestial Heliopolis, the realm of the Gods of Egypt.
In recent years, Seth became aware of Thor on Earth and sought to gain dominion over all the realms of the gods linked with Earth, but to do so, he believed he had to conquer Asgard, home of the Asgardian gods. He sent a multitude of rats to gnaw at the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Ash, where they were discovered by Balder and Sif, who vanquished their protector. Shortly thereafter, the pyramid containing the imprisoned Egyptian Gods appeared in the United States, and Thor and Odin, the Chieftain of the Asgardian gods, appeared to free the gods trapped in it. Seth appeared with his Army of the Unliving to try and stop them, but Odin defeated him by severing Seth's hand with a bolt of energy. Freed from the pyramid, Horus cast his uncle from the Golden Bridge into Heliopolis.
Seth later attempted to reclaim Heliopolis by sacrificing his nephew Horus to a monster called the Devourer, but the entity went on a rampage and he had to release his nephew to help fight the creature. Thor and the Thing appeared to assist in destroying the Devourer and Seth was ousted once more.
A short time later, Seth plotted with other gods of the dead to unite their realms. Seth and Hades plotted with Mephisto to expand their realms by uniting them. Enlisting the death-gods Ahpuch, Eriskegal, Hela and Yama into the plot, they began merging their respective realms but instead released the primeval Demogorge from the dawn of time who confused them as degenerated gods and began consuming all of them. The primeval entity went on to consume Thor and the warrior-gods coming to the rescue, but Thor caused a shift in the creature's palate and reversed Demogorge back into Atum and in turn released all those consumed. Disillusioned by their encounter, Seth and the others abandoned their plans over the humiliation of their experience.
Seth eventually conquered Heliopolis once more, but to hold his position, he absorbed the life forces of the Ennead and imprisoned Bes for his good luck in order to lay siege to Asgard. He took Odin out of his battle with Surtur, making him his prisoner. In turn, he made Grog his second-in-command and finally, he transformed three mortals into powerful allies known as Earth Force. Seth, however, was opposed not only by Balder, Sif, Tyr and the other Asgardians, but also by Asgard's trolls, dwarves, and Frost Giants, as well as the Asgardians’ former enemies, the Celtic Gods, and eventually his empowered creations, Earth-Force. Seth easily dispatched Earth Force, but they slowed him down just enough as Surtur searching for Odin flung the Black Pyramid at Thor who had freed him then fought Seth as he transformed into a huge serpent. His skull pierced by the Black Knight's Ebony Blade-like body hurled by Hogun the Grim; Seth weakened and shrank out of sight with the life-energies he had stolen from the Egyptian gods returning to them. With his defeat, Asgard and Heliopolis returned to normal. The Egyptian Gods also resurrected Earth Force and sent them back to Earth, still bearing the mark of their powers, the Sign of Aton.
Weakened, Seth retreated to his Armageddon Complex in New York City where he acquired a bio-engineered reptilian body and directed his operatives Mongoose, Quicksand and Bison in an attempt to steal Inferno-42 from SHIELD before they could dispose of it. The attempt failed due to Thunderstrike, Luke Cage and the defection of Bison. The vigilante, Bloodaxe, however, tracked Seth to his base and fought him. Not possessing enough power to defeat him, Bloodaxe returned with Stellaris and Thunderstrike. In the course of their battle, Seth placed his brand on Thunderstrike, but their battle was ended when one of Thunderstrike's attacks shattered the Armageddon Complex, allowing water to flood the location. Seth departed and later met up with Loki, who had been forced to spirit form following his last plot to humiliate Thor. Loki enlisted Seth to aid him in gaining a new physical form identical to his true form, and they both plotted against Thunderstrike, who was now empowered with all of Bloodaxe's abilities. Seth attempted to sway Thunderstrike to his side, but it proved unsuccessful and with his powers vastly increased, Thunderstrike was able to destroy Seth once more.
Under unrevealed means, Seth managed to restore himself to life. He directed a human minion named Price to destroy Yggdrasil, the Asgardian World-Tree. Odin took advantage of this action to try and prevent Ragnarok from occurring by making Yggdrasil believe it had already occurred, casting the Asgardians into mortal forms. Seth meanwhile dispatched his minions, the Men in Black, to prevent the Asgardians from regaining knowledge of their true identities. While the Men in Black were successful in slaying Red Norvell, a mortal ally of Thor who now possessed a portion of his godly powers, the other "Lost Gods" slowly regained their memories.
Seth's secret lab within Yggdrasil was soon accidentally discovered by the Wrecker, one of Thor's enemies. Seth beat him savagely to prevent anyone else from finding the lab, but several of the Lost Gods confronted Seth in the laboratories where Yggdrasil was being controlled. Seth nearly killed Freddie Moyer, the mortal form of Fandral the Dashing, but his comrades saved him with the Golden Apples of Idunn. With Odin in his clutches, Seth resurrected Red Norvell and Lorelei to capture the other "Lost Gods.” When Loki reverted to his original form with his memories intact, he switched sides and joined forces with Seth. Loki however proved to be fooling Seth all along to save Asgard from destruction, and the two of them fell into combat. Seth transformed Loki into wood to keep him from interfering with his plan and sent Red Norvell to restore the remaining Asgardians to their true forms so that when he destroyed Yggdrasil it would recognize and destroy them all. However, once restored to their normal forms, the Asgardians rallied by Odin were able to defeat Seth and dismantle his machinery.
Some time after this, an ancient statue of Seth was discovered in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti III by archaeologist Simon Darkover who was swiftly killed by it. The statue fell into the custody of the criminals Morpheus, Bushman and Black Spectre, foes of the Moon Knight, who recruited it for his future plans. In the afterlife, Khonshu confronted and informed the Moon Knight in his public identity as Marc Spector of the return of Set and an ancient war was now being renewed and he was needed to do battle with this dark force. Seth further manipulated the three to use the statue to curse diplomats at an upcoming United Nations conference. Morpheus used his illusion powers to make U.N. security think the statue was a gift from the Egyptian president and having them install it in the general assembly room. Consequently, Seth's magical influence would implant feelings of rage and anger amongst all present ending the peace talks and bring about war. Spector confronted Morpheus in his helicopter before he could reach the U.N. Helicopter pad that was carrying the statue of Seth and managed to push the statue out of the wildly careening helicopter to its destruction and then escaping the copter before it crashed.
Seth was later plucked against his will by Krona as a potential ally against the Avengers and the Justice League of America. In trying to learn the secrets of the universe, Krona had attacked and destroyed Galactus in order to try to recreate the Big Bang that had destroyed the universe. In order to hold his position outside the timestream, Krona sent Seth and his army of criminals against the Avengers and the Justice League of America, Seth confronted Dr. Fate, who held him back with a spell. When the heroes defeated Krona and destroyed his base, they succeeded in restoring the universe to its normal state. Seth was restored back to his other-dimensional realm, possibly with no memories of his battle with Doctor Fate.
In one alternate future of the Twenty-First century, Seth showed up as leader
of the Soldiers of the Serpent in order to conquer the Earth but was defeated by
Spider-Girl working with the new-generation Avengers.
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 395 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: Black
Unusual Physical features: Seth is missing his right hand.
Strength Level: Seth possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift
(press) about 75 tons under optimal conditions, although the loss of his right
hand prevents him from lifting great weights.
Known Superhuman Powers: Seth possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Ennead (Egyptian Gods). Like all Egyptian Gods, he is extremely long lived, but he is not immortal like the Olympian gods. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any known conventional means. He is immune to all known terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for Osiris, Geb or a number of gods of equal power working together to revive him. Seth does have some superhuman strength and his own Ennead metabolism gives him 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).
Seth also possesses the power to tap into and manipulate energies of an occult nature including aspects concerning death itself. Apparently, he can induce death in a person by merely touching them. Seth can project powerful bolts of concussive energy from his hands. He can mystically speed up the aging process in some beings, causing them to become elderly in seconds. He can also project powerful hypnotic energy from his eyes in order to bend anyone's will to his own, but he is ineffective against certain powerful gods, such as Osiris, or earthly mystics such as Doctor Fate. He can also change form at will and can become an enormous serpent still capable of sentient speech. He can also raise and command hordes of the undead at will. In ancient times, he could conjure intense sandstorms capable of burying whole pyramids within minutes.
Weaponry: Seth often employs a black, serrated blade attachment to the prosthesis replacing his right hand. It is likely this blade was forged from some unbreakable eldritch material akin to adamantine, uru or Rhine gold. In Egyptian hieroglyphs and mythology, Seth also employed a long spear to drive down the throat of the demon-serpent Apophis when that monster attempted to devour Ammon-Re each night as his ship passed through the underworld. In Ancient Egypt, he used a mystical sceptre, which weighed over 4,500 pounds, which is believed to have passed on to Horus.
Limitations: Seth has greater superhuman strength than the typical Egyptian god, but the loss of his right hand prohibits him from lifting or throwing great weights.
Comments: This bio describes Seth as he has appeared in the Marvel Universe; it is unrevealed if he has appeared in the DC Universe. Much of Seth's early history is an adaptation of myth set in a Marvel scenario to explain several idiosyncrasies between the various myths as well with the Marvel and DC stories. Part of which is the confusion between Horus the nephew and Horus the brother as well as Osiris as ruler of the Egyptian gods over Ammon-Ra.
Several death gods known in myth do not join Seth and Pluto in uniting their realms. Of these, Yen-Lo Wang (Chinese), Emma-O (Japanese), Chibiabos (Anasazi) and Hina (Oceanic) might still have worshippers today. Chibiabos, Arawn (Celtic), Tuonetar (Finnish) and Pikuolis (Slavic) would be benevolent deities who turned down participation. Damballah (African) might not be on good terms with Seth as would Vichama (Incan) with Ahpuch.
Clarifications: Seth should not be confused with:
Last updated: 02/12/12