History
Annunaki / Early years
Origins
Ba'al was born (as Hadad) in Nippur, Sumer (modern-day Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq) from Anu and Asherah, and became the storm god of the Annunaki.
At some point, he married war goddess Anath.[2]
Annunaki Civil War
When Tiamat and her son Kingu attacked the Annunaki, Ba'al -with the help of his brother Ea- usurped the throne from another brother, the Dagon, who had succeeded to Anu and whom they perceived as ineffective.
Ba'al was himself drove from the throne by Dagon's son, the monstrous giant Ullikummis, whom Ba'al and Ea would incapacitate after severing his feet with an enchanted saw.
After the war, Ea's son Marduk became ruler of the Annunaki.[2]
Trapped in afterlife
Seeking the secrets of life and death, Ba'al went into the underworld of Irkalla. There, death god Mot (possibly Nergal) tricked him into eating from the table of the dead, entrapping him in the afterlife.
His wife Anath defeated Mot, ensuring Hadad's resurrection.[2]
Demon / Ruler of Gehenna
After Anu's edict to break most of their ties with Earth and return to Dilmun, many Annunaki feared to lose their influence over the mortal spheres. They were approached bythe ancient demon Marduk Kurios who tempted them with everlasting power. Those who accepted the trickery deal's terms were turned into demons,[5] including Ba'al.[2]
After his degeneration into a demon, Ba'al ruled the people Gehenna (near modern-day Jerusalem, Israel),[2] circa 13,000 BCE.[6] Gehenna was a place of evil, human sacrifice and cannbialism,[2] where the refuse of humanity was buried and burned.[6] A place of legendary unspeakable evil, the residents of Gehenna committed unholy atrocities in Ba'al's name.Wolverine Vol 2 13 Ba'al led his followers through various perverse and hideous rituals, including drinking the blood of human beings.[6]
It is believed that God was so offended by the atrocities committed in Gehenna that he sent forth[6] a proud warrior known as "the Hand of God", armed with unbreakable steel and divine might. The Hand of God slew Ba'al,[2] but his inherent evil was so strong, that it literally spilled forth from his dead body Wolverine Vol 2 12 and entered a glittering multi-faceted stone.[2] Cut by his own followers, Wolverine Vol 2 13 this enchanted rock became known as the Gehenna Stone.[2] Ba'al's followers rebelled against the Hand of God, [6]3 but the Hand of God persevered, splintering the Gehenna Stone into pieces with his sword and slaughtered the Gehennans. He then scattered the fragments,[2] to the four winds insuring that Ba'al's soul could never reconstitute itself until Doomsday. These fragments remained undiscovered for centuries and as such, Ba'al's evil remained dormant.[6]
Modern days
In the late 20th century, a few fragments of the Gehenna Stone were uncovered and Ba'al's spirit awakened. As more and more pieces were discovered, Ba'al recovered enough strength that he was able to take possession of a mortal host and reconstitute his corporeal form. From there, he used his power to create his Baalist followers, pseudo-vampires who lived and died at Ba'al's command. To achieve his full might however, he needed all of the pieces of the Gehenna Stone.[7]
One of the fragments was discovered by the mentally unstable Burt Corrigan, a man who patterned himself after famous heroes of the silver screen, not the least of which included Indiana Jones. Corrigan found a Gehenna Stone fragment while on an expedition in Egypt. He donated it to the San Francisco museum of antiquities, but upon discovering the gem's true power, decided to finagle his way onto the board of directors so he could steal it.[6]
Ba'al learned that Corrigan possessed the fragment and sent his pseudo-vampires after him. Fortunately for Corrigan, he had help. His brother Archie was present in San Francisco, as well as Archie's friends, "Patch" (aka Wolverine) and Jessica Drew. The Baalists failed to kill Corrigan and Ba'al had to personally intervene at which point he came into conflict with Wolverine. Wolverine attempted to kill Ba'al with his claws, but Ba'al repulsed his efforts with powerful blasts of energy that electrocuted Wolverine.[6]
Ba'al encountered Wolverine a second time shortly thereafter. Having acquired the Gehenna fragment in Burt's possession, Ba'al headed towards Madripoor to find the last missing piece. Wolverine, Archie, Burt and Jessica followed Ba'al's airplane and Wolverine sky-dived from one plane to the other to face Ba'al once again. Ba'al used his power to mutate one of his Baalist's into a gigantic, monstrous creature, hoping that this being would be enough to defeat Wolverine. The fight was brutal, but Wolverine succeeded in defeating the creature by electrocuting him with circuitry from the plane's control panel. This however, caused the plane to crash. Wolverine was able to sky-dive back to Archie's plane before the other vessel went down, but it appeared as if Ba'al had died in the crash.[8]
This was not the case however, and Ba'al returned soon after. He eventually arrived in Madripoor at the court of the country's undisputed leader, Prince Baran. Baran was now in possession of the final piece of the Gehenna Stone. Ba'al offered to make Baran immortal in exchange for the stone, but grew impatient with Baran when he didn't immediately commit to a decision. He took the last fragment and was finally able to make the Gehenna Stone complete.[9]
Wolverine and Jessica Drew arrived at the castle, and Wolverine had a third encounter with Ba'al. During their fight, Ba'al found himself suddenly scared of Wolverine, but could not understand why. It's implied that that Wolverine was a descendant or the reincarnation of the Hand of God -- the warrior who first slew Ba'al ages ago. Wolverine stabbed at the artifact with his Adamantium claws, shattering it once again. With Ba'al's powers quickly waning, Wolverine moved in for the kill. His claws pierced Ba'al through the chest, and the impact of the blow drove both warriors out of the castle window and onto the rocks below. Wolverine rose to his feet, but Ba'al staggered up onto the beach only to fall, apparently dead.[10][9]
A being such as Ba'al however, can never truly die and he resurfaced a few years later to plague the occult warrior known as Blaze.[citation needed]Attributes
 |
Powers
Ba'al possesses superhuman powers above most of the Mesopotamian Gods.
Superhuman Strength: Ba'al possesses great superhuman strength, the exact limits of which are unclear. However, he is significantly stronger than most other members of his panetheon, or even other god pantheons. Whereas the average male Mesopotamian god can lift roughly 30 tons, Ba'al is able to lift at least 75 tons but no more than 100 tons.
Superhuman Speed: In spite of his great size, Ba'al is capble of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human specimen.
Superhuman Stamina: Ba'al's advanced musculature is far more efficient than that of a human and produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity. While the full limits of his stamina aren't known, Ba'al is able to exert himself physically at peak capacity for at least 24 hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him.
Superhumanly Dense Tissue: As with all members of his race, Ba'al's bodily tissues have about 3 times the density of the same tissues in the body of a human being. This contributes somewhat to Ba'al's superhuman strength and also makes him considerably heavier than he appears to be.
Superhuman Durability: Ba'al's body is considerably tougher and more resistant to physical injury than the body of a human, and even most other known gods. Ba'al can withstand falls from tremendous heights, powerful energy blasts, high caliber bullets, great impact forces and temperature extremes without sustaining injury.
Superhuman Agility: Ba'al's agility, balance and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human specimen.
Superhuman Reflexes: Ba'al's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human specimen.
Regenerative Healing Factor: In spite of his physical resilience, it is possible for Ba'al to sustain physical injury. If injured, however, his unique metabolism and lifeforce enables him to rapidly heal virtually any damaged or destroyed bodily tissue at a level considerably greater than most other gods.
Immortality: Like all members of his race, Ba'al is functionally immortal in the sense that he has not aged since reaching adulthood, and is immune to the effects of further aging. He is also invulnerable to all known Earthly diseases and infections. Unlike most other gods from Earth's pantheons, Ba'al's spirit is able to survive even if his body is completely destroyed. Eventually, Ba'al is actually able to use his powers to reform another body for himself in a way similar to the demonic being Mephisto. As a result, it maybe impossible for Ba'al to be completely destroyed.
Energy Manipulation: Ba'al possesses the ability to manipulate great amounts of mystical energy for a number of purposes. He can project powerful energy blasts of concussive force as well as blasts of intense heat. As a former storm god, Ba'al is able to manipulate and control the weather including torrential rains, hurricane force winds and projecting powerful bolts of lighting. Ba'al is also capable of bestowing superhuman abilities on other living beings or even inanimate objects.Abilities
Paraphernalia
Weapons
See Also
- 10 appearance(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 16 invocation(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 12 image(s) of Hadad (Earth-616)
- 2 quotation(s) by or about Hadad (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Ba'al-Hadad at the DC Database Project
- Ba'al-Hadad at the Marvel Appendix
- Baal-Hadad at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
References
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; Ba'al's entry
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #3 ; Council of Godheads' entry
- ↑ Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; Annunaki's entry
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Wolverine (Vol. 2) #13
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wolverine (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ The Gehenna Stone Affair
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 1