- —Bast[src]
History
One of the eldest of the Ennead, as early as 10,000 BC Bast was worshiped as a panther god, granting power to worshipers and descendants. The children of Bast dwelled in the mountain top city Bastet, existing as panthers but becoming human via the magical Eye of Bast gem until its theft. As the pharaoh's took rule over Egypt, many gods moved to Celestial Heliopolis, while Bast adopted a realm bordering Heliopolis and Ala (home of Africa's gods, the Orishas). Bast inherited Ra's life-giving solar heat, while his sibling Sekhmet inherited his fiery, destructive fury; both siblings had male and female forms. In Egypt, Bast was worshiped primarily in the city of Bubastis as a goddess of pleasure, dancing and music and it became a pious custom to bury mummified cats within Bast's sanctuaries. Bast protected men against diseases and evil spirits, and eventually parented a lion-head son, the war god Mahes, who was also known as Apedemak. An unidentified sorcerer created the Claw of Bast, a powerful artifact using Bast's power to restore the sick or dead, it also empowered its wielder.
Employed seven times before Egyptian leader Khafre had it broken into fragments in 2,500 BC, the Claw was reassembled in the twentieth century by Reed Richards, Francesca Fisher, and Victor von Doom, but it crumbled after being used to defeat the Sphinx and heal Reed's ailing mentor, Professor van Nuys. Bast received greater regard in 952 BC when Pharaoh Sheshonk elevated Bubastis to prominence within a kingdom.
Following the attack on the life of King T'Challa, the country of Wakanda was thrown into uproar. Shuri, sister to T’Challa and Princess of the country, had been chosen to prepare for judgment before the Panther God, with the hope that she would be acceptable and worthy to take the mantle of Black Panther. The Panther God found Shuri unworthy of the mantle due to her self-centered sense of entitlement. She was deemed arrogant and jealous of her brother’s accomplishments as the Black Panther. Shuri was dismissed to ponder her future as she would never be allowed to follow in her brother’s footsteps.
Bast heroically sacrifices herself holding off hordes of Japanese demons from Yomi to buy the God Squad enough time to flee the realm of the Japanese deities, during the climax of the Chaos War.
Not long after Rahne Sinclair returned to X-Factor[1] pregnant with Hrimhari's unborn child[2], Bastet were drawn to New York City along with many other animalistic demons and gods. Her ultimate goal for the child remains unclear, but it seems to not care about attacking and killing others to get to the child.[3]
wanted to She-Hulk to serve her to protect the world. To get rid of her, Spider-Man puts on a cow mask and pretends to be Sobek, the servant of Neith: Goddess of War and Hunting. Bastet falls for this ruse and agrees to leave.Attributes
Powers
Bast possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Ennead or Egyptian gods. Like all of the Egyptian gods, he is extremely long-lived, but he is not immortal: 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 Ammon-Ra, Osiris and Seth or for a number of Egyptian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Mihos also possesses superhuman strength and his Ennead metabolism provides him 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 has greater strength, stamina, endurance and resistance to injury than any other Egyptian god, with the obvious exception of gods like Osiris, Seth and Horus. The average male being able to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average female being able to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions. He has incredible senses, similar to but not on par with Heimdall of the Asgardians.
Bast is believed to be extremely powerful, though he typically acts through surrogates or possesses and grants power to others (usually some degree of superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses, etc.). Each of the Black Panther's is connected to Bast and derives power from his support. Bast typically appears most commonly as an immense black panther or a humanoid panther, and Bast has both male and female forms. Empowered by the sun, Bast is one of the most powerful of the Ennead, possessing scales of magical power beyond human ability to fathom, overwhelming beings as great as Mephisto and the Shadow King.
Template:New Power GridSee Also
- 42 appearance(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 20 minor appearance(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 35 mention(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 38 invocation(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 33 image(s) of Bast (Earth-616)
- 4 quotation(s) by or about Bast (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Bast (female) at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
- Bast (male) at the Guide to the Mythological Universe