Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
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HistoryEdit
Ancient Greece
Venus is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the oak-goddess and one of the Titans. She was born on the island of Cythera although later myths claimed she was formed by the foam of the sea. She is one of the most favored of the goddesses of Olympus and had worshipers as far away as Phoenicia, which according to some myths was her favored city. On the day of her maturity, Zeus feared that the gods would fight over Venus' hand in marriage because of her unparalleled beauty, and thus he married her off to the smith-god, her half-brother Hephaestus. This union however was much to Aphrodite's disapproval.
As a rather hedonistic goddess, Venus was most displeased to be married to the lame, sooty, hard-working Hephaestus. In turn, Venus had several affairs while wedded to Hephaestus with both gods and mortals. Most notably she cheated on him with Ares, Dionysus, and Hermes. She bore children to all of them except Hephaestus. She also bore Aeneas, the ancestor of the Romans, to the mortal Anchises. The latter union was not truly of Aphrodite's own choosing as Zeus forced her to unite with Anchises as punishment for using her powers to join the gods in unions with mortals and then taunting them with that fact. The most famous of Venus' earthly relationships was to the mortal Adonis, a Phoenician prince, one of the most attractive men in the lands ruled by Ancient Greece, although his life was cut short in the prime of his youth. Even though Venus was married to Hephaestus, her favorite lover was Ares. To Ares, she bore Harmonia and Eros (Cupid) who grew to be his mother's herald as the god of love. (Some myths claim they were children of Hephaestus.) To Hermes, she bore Hermaphroditus and to Dionysus, Venus bore Priapus - who had huge genitals magically given to him by Hera in disapproval for Aphrodite's promiscuity. Eventually alerted about his wife by the sun-god Helios, Hephaestus caught Venus and Ares together in one of their unions, and to this day Venus and Hephaestus have been estranged.



Added by Copycat989Around 50 BC, Aphrodite encountered and fell in love with Narcissus, who rejected her love. She cursed him to meet someone who would not return his love and know heartbreak and torture. Narcissus found just that when he spied his reflection in a pond and fell in love with himself eventually turning into the flower that was named after him[1].
Venus - 1940s & 1950s
By the 1940's, during an apparent absence from Zeus, Aphrodite -- adopting her Roman named Venus -- had taken over rule of the Olympians and relocated them to a new kingdom on planet Venus[2].
1948



Added by Cissy96826In these early days Della Mason regularly attempted to find ways to get Venus fired from her job in the hopes of taking her position. The first of these attempts was to alter a telegram from Whitney Hammond asking Venus to cover the story of a beauty pageant in Atlantic City. Thanks to Della's meddling, Venus instead went to Cactus City where he beauty enthralled the locals. When her appearance in Cactus City landed front page publicity for Beauty Magazine, Della's plans were ruined. Venus next accompanied Mr. Hammond to the printing press where Beauty Magazine was rolled out. There her beauty caused pandemonium among the staff, including the foreman. Hammond dragged Venus back to the office, vowing never to bring her back again. However a telegram received later that day from the planet foreman announced that Venus was welcome at any time as her appearance helped boost productivity, much to Whitney's chagrin. Noticing Venus' frequent absences (in which she had returned to her kingdom on planet Venus) Della hired two private detectives to try and find out where she disappeared to. Realizing that she was being followed, Venus used her powers to frighten them then hired them to play a prank on Della to make it look to Whitney Hammond that she had hired them to find her a new job, much to Della's chagrin[5]. Venus was next assigned to try and get an exclusive interview with Rodney Radiant, the most handsome man in the world who also bore a resemblance to Narcissus. Accepting a bet from Della to go in plain clothing, Venus learned that Rodney has spurred his old high school sweetheart Connie Lane. Confronting Radiant, Venus unleashed her full beauty and denied his love when he was enthralled and convinced him to marry Connie instead, getting the exclusive for the magazine. Eventually Apollo grew tired of Venus' constant absences from her kingdom and appeared on Earth in the guise of Paul Belvedere and obtained a job at Beauty Magazine. While on Earth, Apollo used his powers to keep the sun shining 24 hours a day until Venus agreed to return with him. Venus eventually relented, only to punish Apollo upon her return and then resumed her activities on Earth[1].
1949



Added by Cissy96826Soon Venus' activities on Earth gained more attention of the other Olympians on Olympus. First Jupiter returned and demanded that Venus return to Olympus. When she refused he challenged her to prove the worthiness of mortals and find the perfect couple who could not be broken within a week. Venus found them in Meg Saunders and her husband-to-be Danny. To try and break them up, Jupiter sent Apollo and Daphne in the guise of Hollywood actors to try and break them up. But this ultimately failed and Venus succeeded in winning her right to stay on Earth[8]. Venus soon gained the attention of Loki who had been banished to Hades by Zeus. He tricked Venus into going to Hades and trapped her there. Possessing Whitney Hammond, Loki attempted to ruin Venus' romance life and Whitney business. However, Venus freed herself from Hades and exorcised Loki from Whitney's body, forcing him to return to Hades before he could do any more damage[9]. Venus was next targeted by Joya the daughter of Zeus, who challenged her romance with Whitney Hammond. Venus and Hammond were transported to Olympus to stand trial. This distracted the Gods long enough for Loki to stage an attack on the realm. Realizing the errors of her ways, Joya posed as Venus and agreed to return with Loki to Hades. In the aftermath, Hammond professed his love of Venus and Jupiter returned them both to Earth[10].
1950
As the new decade advanced, Venus found herself conflicting with various Gods, super-natural threats, and other supernatural forces, while still trying to assist the lovelorn people of Earth whenever possible.
Venus first came to the assistance of a young woman named Rona Sanders who sought to find her long lost lover George Huston. After getting permission from her publisher Whitney Hammond, Venus tracked down Huston and discovered that he had become a con-man bilking women out of money and leaving them high and dry. Tricking Huston into falling in love with him and paying back the women he cheated. Venus then brought the reformed Huston to the home of Rona Sanders to find her on her death bed. Only Huston's profession of love to her could, apparently, bring her out of her illness. When Venus could not force Huston to love Rona, she appealed to Jupiter. Jupiter agreed to help and took some of Venus' love powers and transferred them to Rona Sanders. This ultimately made George fall in love with Rona, curing Rona of her illness (although it seems more likely that Jupiter merely cured Rona of her illness)[11].
Venus soon found herself once more harassed by Apollo who resumed his efforts to win her heart. Unable to return to Earth due to Jupiter's decree, Apollo made a deal with a demon named Zoroba to take his place on Olympus while his spirit was allowed to roam free on Earth. Apollo then possessed the body of Beauty Magazine employee Marvin Klee and attempted to romance Venus. Venus found herself powerless to avoid Apollo's charms. However, Venus soon learned that Zoroba was using this deal to trick Jupiter to allow Loki to reside on Olympus and leave his banishment in Hades. With Apollo stuck on Earth while Zoroba is in his real body, Venus tricked Zoroba into coming to Earth, freeing Apollo and foiling Loki's plans. Venus soon learned that her love Whitney Hammond was so despondent by seeing Venus with "Marvin Klee" prevented him from committing suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge and the couple reconciled. Venus took a large risk with her next feature for Beauty Magazine: Offering to bring out the inner beauty of any woman who wrote in. Venus sought the aid of such beings as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and others to secretly help write her answers. Della Mason, seeking to discredit and fire Venus, convinced the frumpy Minnie Glees to purposely fail Venus' attempt at beautification so that she could sue Beauty Magazine. However, Venus saw through this ploy and gave Minnie a make over in order to romance Marvin Klee[12].
Venus was again harassed by an evil suitor, this time Loki's son Son of Satan who sought to force Venus to love him. When Venus initially refused, he caused a number of natural disasters and threatened to destroy the Beauty Magazine building with a tornado. Surrendering, Venus then lulled the Son of Satan into a false sense of security long enough for her to summon the powers of Apollo to encase the Son in a fireball from the Earth's Sun and send him on a perpetual orbit around the Earth. Venus was later tricked by Della into covering a bogus story about a new editor at rival publication Lovely Lady Magazine, in an effort to get Venus fired. Venus however learned the Lovely Lady's owner Paul Banner was going broke and convinced him to sell his magazine to Whitney Hammond. Venus was later assigned to write a story on scientist Randy Dover's rocket which he intended to use to travel to the moon. Venus learned that Randy had been neglecting his fiancée and vowed to use the mission to make him focus on Ann Saunders. Successfully landing on the moon, Venus was forced to reveal her godly powers in front of Randy to protect him from creatures called Luna-Things and volcanic eruptions. This made Randy fall madly in love with her, and with the aid of Jupiter and Mercury knocked Randy out and returned to Earth. There she made it look as though the rocket mission had failed, and that everything was all a dream. Venus then scoffed at Randy, making him realize that Ann Saunders was the girl he really loved[13].
The Earth was once again imperilled when it was suddenly being pulled into the sun. Faced with the extinction of the human race, Venus tracked down the cause -- a scientist named Michael Templar. She learned that Templar built the device out of anger when rejected by a woman named Elsa, and accidentally smashed it. Broken hearted, Templar suffered from a mental block preventing him from reversing the effect. Venus then showed Michael that Elsa did not love him, but his lab assistant Maria did. When Templar could not accept Maria's love, Venus summoned the spirits of Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and others to briefly possess Maria. The inner beauty radiating from Maria caused Michael to fall madly in love with her and the two scientists worked together to save the world from annihilation. Venus was next sent to cover the a story about Professor Buffanoff who had claimed that he created a device that could travel to what he called the "third dimension". Sneaking back into Buffanoff's lab that night to get a closer look at the device, Venus was soon subjected to it, and found herself transferred into Buffanoff's mind where strange creatures dwelled and plotted to escape into the real world and slaughter the human race. Venus used her powers to convince Buffanoff that what he was doing was wrong, and the scientist committed suicide. This unleashed the creatures, whom Venus lured to Olympus where they battled Jupiter, Apollo and the Asgardian thunder god Thor who drove the creatures back into Buffanoff's mind, killing them. Venus then destroyed the invention to prevent it from imperilling the Earth again[14].
1951
At the start of the year Venus found herself trapped in the nation of Cassaroba whose sultan wished to make her his new bride. She was unable to use her powers thanks to a spell put over the area by Loki. However, when Venus was marked for death by the sultan Loki -- in a rare show of love -- removed his spell and Venus helped the locals overthrow the sultan and established a new ruler. Returning to the United States, Venus joined Whitney and Della on a cruise that was briefly stopped by the irradiated Fish People, who were spawned by atomic tests along the Pacific. Venus managed to quell the irradiated creatures with the help of Neptune[15]. Back in New York, Venus stopped a Romany hypnotist named Roberto who used his hair salon to turn women into thieves. Later she saved the city from embittered and discharged solider John Dark and his mechanized army with the aid of Ares. Venus also got assistance from Thor when she stopped the massive Creeping Death from consuming the Earth[16].
Soon Venus became involved in various strange and supernatural happenings, often investigating them in the capacity of her job at Beauty Magazine. She began to rely less on and distance herself from the other Olympian gods. Venus jointed German scientist Baron Franz Heinrich on a rocket trip to Mars where Heinrich sought to discover the Fountain of Youth. There they had a clash with Azrael whom the Baron seemingly slew. When they returned to Earth, Venus helped teach Heinrich the real "fountain of youth" was the love of his wife. Investigating a series of mysterious hangings, Venus discovered the killer to be Raoul Hamud a prisoner serving a life sentence in jail who could control ropes with his mind. She later investigated a modern day Lothario John A. Donis whom she exposed as the Olympian god Adonis who was trying to prove he was a better lover than Venus[17]. While investigating strange grave robberies, Venus discovered that the subterranean Underearth Men where transplanting their brains in the cadavers in a plot to take over the surface world. However, Venus slew them by exploiting their weakness to sunlight. Venus was briefly turned into a two dimensional cutout by insane photographer Jerome Lenz however she eventually was restored to normal. Later while investigating Professor Zorsky and his bizarre Living Dolls show, Venus was briefly placed under his hypnotic control. Venus was freed thanks to Whitney Hammond, and Zorsky was killed by a bullet from one of his own gun[18].
Soon after, Venus was lured to the office of the Corpo Construction company by Sylvia Corpo who believed herself to be the Queen of the Gargoyles and believed she was commanded by the stone gargoyles in her building, Venus managed to escape with her life, but Corpo was not so lucky. By this time, it appeared that Della had given up on her rivalry with Venus and the two worked together to expose Mr. Natas was behind the disappearances of people in the town of Corona Way. They discovered Natas was a crematorium owner who believed himself to be Satan himself. To avoid capture, Natas jumped into his own incinerator. Soon after, Venus came to the aid of her co-worker Betty and exposed her step-father as the one responsible for driving her mother insane[19]. Venus next accepted Lord Etherington's invitation to investigate his castle which he believed was haunted by the ghost of his daughter. The truth, as Venus soon learned, was that Cathy Etherington was sealed in an upper chamber of the castle to die by her father and she spent the last decade using the secret passages in the castle to haunt her father in revenge. Back in New York, Venus noticed that he co-worker Jimmy Rogers was becoming increasingly moody. Visiting him at home she was surprised to find that somehow his drawings had come to life and assisted him in stopping his mad creations. The surface world was next terrorized by the Undersea Titans, until Venus realized that they would turn into living statues once dried of their moisture. With the aid of the military the creatures were forced back into the depths of the ocean[20].
1952
In 1952, Venus investigated a series of massive tidal waves that struck newly developed costal homes built by Seacret Real Estate. Venus investigated the owner, Diana Seacrest. Venus soon uncovered that she was really Neptunia, daughter of Neptune. She was causing the floods out of revenge against the United States for their atomic bomb tests, believing that these tests had killed her father. Venus easily defeated Neptunia, and Neptune has since turned up alive and well, the rumours of his death proven false[21].
Venus' conflict with Neptunia is the last recorded clash between Venus and other Olympian gods, and her powers seemingly faded once more, likely due to another decree from Jupiter. However, even though she was lacking in power, this did not stop Venus from encountering the supernatural and macabre. She and Whitney Hammond investigated a medium that they presumed was a fraud, but were surprised when not only did the medium prove that he could summon spirits, he also was able to reunite two deceased lovers. The couple next took another cruise where they encountered the so-called Demon from the Deep an apparition of a murderer who was shot dead on the ship hours earlier. Fleeing from the Demon, the couple found the killer's original body. Upon seeing his mortal form the Demon discorporated into nothingness. Back in New York, Venus was working late one night when a delivery man gave dropped off an unsolicited package. The package contained the so-called Box of Doom. The spirit inside tempted both Venus and the delivery man to open the box. Venus was able to resist it's offers of great power, but the delivery man was not so strong. Opening the box, he was transformed into a vampire and attacked Venus. Fleeing into a subway, Venus slew the vampire by ramming a stake through his heart[22]. Also during this period, Venus encountered the shape-changing hero Effigy, although the details of this encounter are mostly unknown[23].
As the 1950s came to an end, Venus soon began to notice that her lover, Whitney Hammond, was growing old and would eventually die. Unable to bring herself to watch this happen, Venus then abandoned her mission on Earth and returned to Olympus, where she remained for many decades[24]. During her absence from Earth, a Siren co-opted Aphrodite's Venus identity and was active as a costumed crime fighter during the remainder of the 1950s[25].
1960s



Added by NausiatedModern Age
Powers and AbilitiesEdit
Powers



Added by Copycat989Venus possesses the various superhuman attributes of an Olympian.
Superhuman Strength: Like all Olympians, Venus is superhumanly strong. Her strength is about average for an Olympian female and she can lift about 25 tons.
Superhuman Speed: Venus can run and move at speeds superior to even the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Stamina: Venus' musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of ordinary humans, and most other Olympians for that matter. She can physically exert herself at peak capacity for several days before the build up of fatigue toxins in her blood begins to impair her.
Superhumanly Dense Tissue: Venus' bodily tissues have about 3 times the density as the bodily tissues of a human being, contributing somewhat to her weight and superhuman strength.
Superhuman Durability: Venus' body is much harder and is more resistant to physical injury than the body of a human being, and most other Olympians. She can withstand great impact forces, can withstand high caliber bullets, falls from great heights, powerful energy blasts, and exposure to temperature and pressure extremes without being injured.
Superhuman Agility: Venus' agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Reflexes: Venus' reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.
Immortality: Venus, like all other Olympians, is functionally immortal. She hasn't aged since reaching adulthood and is immune to further aging. She is also immune to the effects of all known Earthly diseases and infections. However, this doesn't mean that she can't be killed.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite her resistance to injury, it is possible to injure Venus. If injured, however, her godly life force enables her to rapidly heal damaged tissue with much greater speed and efficiency than a human being, and most other Olympian gods. She can't, however, regenerate missing limbs or organs without the aid of powerful magical assistance.
Energy Manipulation: Like all Olympians, Venus has the ability to manipulate great amounts of energy for a number of purposes. Venus is particularly adapt at changing her shape to appear as another humanoid being and she can even adopt the form of animals such as dolphins. Venus can also teleport herself across great distances, even dimensions such as teleporting from Olympus to Earth. Venus can also render herself invisible form mortal eyesight for an indefinite period of time. As the goddess of love, Venus has the mystical ability to arouse love and passion in others and transform weapons into objects of peace. The only known beings who are immune to her love-power are the goddesses Artemis, Athena, and Vesta.
Enchantment: Venus has the ability to enchant mortals and gods alike, making them fall in love or lust after her, allowing her to bend their wills.
Teleportation: Venus has the ability to teleport, which she used regularly during the 1940s and 1950s, allowing he to travel between Earth and planet Venus in a matter of moments[3].
Imposition: In one instance, Venus showed the ability to impose herself into flat surfaces, such as a poster and appear to be part of the surface[5].
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Abilities
- Venus is a master of all the arts and sciences of physical love, and she has extensively studied the subject of emotional/sentimental love.
- She can breathe underwater and swim at great speed.
- Venus possesses the abilities of a siren, including to affect men with her song, which reflects her mood - her song usually causes abrupt lust in a subject, but a song sung while she cries will cause acute despair.
Weaknesses
Unlike most Olympians, Venus has had virtually no combat training or experience.



Added by DoNConoscenteParaphernaliaEdit
Equipment
Venus wears an enchanted girdle called the Cestus that enables the wearer to charm anyone to become a love-slave by arousing love and sexual passion in others at the wearer's will. It can also neutralize or transform all weapons of war into objects that can be used for peaceful purposes.Transportation
Dimensional teleportation using her own powers.
LinksEdit
- 47 Appearances of Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- 33 Images featuring Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Quotations by or about Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Character Gallery: Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Fan-Art Gallery: Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Aphrodite at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
Discover and Discuss
- Search this site for: Venus · Aphrodite Ourania · Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Search the Forums for: Venus · Aphrodite Ourania · Aphrodite Pandemos (Earth-616)
- Discuss this and other characters on the forums
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Venus #3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Venus #1
- ↑ Champions #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Venus #2
- ↑ Marvel Mystery Comics #91
- ↑ Venus #4
- ↑ Venus #5
- ↑ Venus #6
- ↑ Venus #7
- ↑ Venus #8
- ↑ Venus #9
- ↑ Venus #10
- ↑ Venus #11
- ↑ Venus #12
- ↑ Venus #13
- ↑ Venus #14
- ↑ Venus #15
- ↑ Venus #16
- ↑ Venus #17
- ↑ Venus #18. Data of the other two Venus stories shouldgo here.
- ↑ Venus #19
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Marvel: The Lost Generation #5
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #12
- ↑ Agents of Atlas #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z hardcover Vol. 12