Real Name: Yen-Lo Wang

Occupation: God of the dead

Legal Status: Citizen of Ta-Lo

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Yen-Lo Wang except as a mythological deity.

Other Aliases: Yen Wang, Yen Kuang-Yeh, Ti Tsing Wang Pu'sa (Hindu name), Kshitigarbha (Buddhist name), Yama Raja (Sanskrit name),

Place of Birth: possibly Mount K'un L'un (Mount Uluz Muztagh near Barkhatu, China)

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Ru-Shou (possible father), Huang Fei Fu (possible mother), Meng-po Niang-niang (niece/wife), Yu Huang Shang-Ti (possible brother-in-law), Xi Wang Mu (possible sister), Ba Niang, Qi Gu Niang, Song Zi Niang, Wang Mu Niang, Chih Nu Niang (sisters-in-law),

Group Affiliations: The Gods of China, The Yama Kings,

Base of Operations: Feng-Tu

First Appearance: (behind the scenes) Thor Annual 10

History: Yen-Lo Wang is a member of an other-dimensional race of beings known as the Xian, who were worshipped as gods by the Ancient Chinese. The Xian were the original rulers of China, their mortal descendants becoming the later emperors of China, but China did not become a unified kingdom long after Fu-Xi, the earth-god, gave culture and knowledge to mortal man in 2950 BC. His descendants lost their claim to the throne as the Gods of China fought bitterly amongst themselves for their right to rule China. Around 2165 BC, Yu Huang Shang Ti unified China as an empire and after his rule departed Earth to become ruler of the gods of China.

There is not much known about Yen-Lo Wang's origins. He is possibly the son of Ru-Shou, the god of misfortune, who controlled the lands of Western China before the reign of Yu Huang. Along with Gong-Gung, Chu Jung and Gou Mang, Ru Shou each ruled one of the cardinal points of Western China with Gong-Gung to the North, Chu Jung to the South, Gou Mang to the East and Yuang-Shi at the center. These brothers were always at war with each other with a war between Gong Gung and Chu Jung shattering Mount Buzhou which resulting in a flood that covered China during the reign of Emperor Yao. However, after China unified into an Empire, Yu Huang possibly granted Yen-Lo Wang with dominion over the other-dimensional realm of Feng-Tu, a dimension set aside for the shades (astral spirits) of the worshippers of the Chinese Gods. Worshipped in China as a god of the dead, Yen-Lo Wang shared dominion of Feng-Tu with a bureaucracy of other underworld gods. The Chinese underworld was composed of ten-interconnected courts or levels, each one was ruled by a different figure. These deities were known as the Yama Kings, who are believed to be gods or deified mortals. The first level was ruled by Tsi-Kuang wang who received the spirits of the dead and sent them to their appropriate destinations. As god of mercy, he sent the accidentally deceased to Wang-Si Ch'eng, the god of rebirth. Chu Jiang, the god of punishment, ruled a level reserved for thieves and murderers, and Song Di, the god of thieves, ruled a level reserved for sinners guilty of disloyalty and rebellion. Wu Chang, the god of writing, who transcribed the deeds of mortals after death, ruled a level reserved for cheats and counterfeiters. In addition to governing the underworld, Yen-Lo Wang, ruled the fifth level where spirits were judges by the deeds they committed in life. P'ien-Ch'eng ruled the sixth level where he punished those guilty of offending the gods. T'ai Shan, god of destiny, ruled the seventh level and punished grave robbers. P'ing-T'enf at the eighth level punished the pious, Tu-Shi at the ninth level punished those who wrote or created obscene material and Chuan-li-wang, the god of transmigration, decided where souls went in their next life before delivering them to Meng-Po Niang-niang, goddess of amnesia, whose sacred waters removed the memories of the past lives of those spirits she received. The most bottom layer was populated by demons in charge of the punishment of souls. 

At some point, Yen Lo Wang courted the goddess Kwannon and took her to the underworld. Once there, she began to show compassion to the spirits she encountered there. Once Yu Huang discovered Yen Lo Wang was being too merciful with the dead, he replaced him with Tsi-Kuang wang as god of the underworld with dominion over the Yama Kings over Yen-Lo Wang. Yen Lo Wang returned Kwannon to Earth afterward.

At some point in the Earth's history, a colony of humanoid aliens of extra-terrestrial origin crashed their spacecraft near Mount K'un-L'un in Western China. Mount K'un-L'un was the site of an inter-dimensional access point between Earth and Ta-Lo, the realm of the Chinese gods, and the ship's warp-drive engines somehow caused a permanent, oscillating rift between Ta-Lo and the Earth's dimension, causing their settlement to shift between earthly space periodically and Ta-Lo. This dimensional breach possibly somehow extended to Feng-Tu because these humanoids began appearing in Feng-Tu and were possibly accepted as representatives of the Chinese gods on Earth.

In modern times, Taoism, the worship of the Chinese gods, was overwhelmed by foreign religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism, and although he still had modern day worshippers, Yen-Lo Wang was no longer acquiring as many new acquisitions to his realm as he had in ancient times. Yen-Lo Wang was subsequently visited by Seth, the Egyptian god of evil, and Hades, the Olympian god of the dead, in a plot to merge their respective lands of the dead to acquires more souls to their realms. A much more noble deity, Yen-Lo Wang remained uninterested in their plot and refused them than become a part of their schemes.

Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 385 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Yen-Lo Wang possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) 65 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Yen-Lo Wang possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Xian or Gods of China. Like all of the Xian, he is extremely long-lived, but he is not immortal like the Gods of Olympus. He has aged at an extremely slow rate since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow 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 a god of significant power, such as Yu-Huang, Yuang-Shi or Xi Wang Mu or for a number of Chinese gods of equal power working together to revive him.  Yen-Lo Wang also possesses superhuman strength and his Xian metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Xian flesh and bone is around three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Chinese gods.)

In modern times, Taoism, the worship of the Chinese gods, was overwhelmed by foreign religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism, and although he still had modern day worshippers, Yen-Lo Wang was no longer acquiring as many new acquisitions to his realm as he had in ancient times. Yen-Lo Wang was subsequently visited by Seth, the Egyptian god of evil, and Hades, the Olympian god of the dead, in a plot to merge their respective lands of the dead to acquires more souls to their realms. A much more noble deity, Yen-Lo Wang remained uninterested in their plot and refused them than become a part of their schemes.

Yen-Lo Wang also has some limited abilities to tap into and manipulate mystical energies relating to the chi or life force. He can sense and perceive ghosts or astral spirits, drawing them forth from mortal beings and creating a semblance of death, later restoring them without harm to the mortals involved. He can teleport anywhere within Feng-Tu, but his ability to teleport is not as precise when he is in other dimensions. A beneficent deity, he is not reckless with his powers as other gods of the dead, instead reserving his power toward those unworthy of his presence. He can control and alter the reality within Feng-Tu to resemble realms of paradise per his individual subjects, although most gods are immune to these illusions.