Nergal (Earth-616)

Nergal
Name	Nergal
Aliases	Meshlamtea (in Sumer), Erakal (in Babylon)
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Ally of the Sebettu (possible member)
Relatives	Dagon (father); Ninlil (mother); Ereshkigal, Allatou (wives, see notes)
Marital Status	Married
Physical Characteristics
Eyes	Irises: Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Annunaki degenerated into demon
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Dilmun
Occupation	Co-sovereign of Irkalla; Underworld god; Representation of the negative aspects of the sun: Pestilence, fever, plague; Sometimes regarded as a war god
Base of Operations	Yaralet; Irkalla Formerly Dilmun
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Roy Thomas, John Buscema
First	Conan the Barbarian #30 (June, 1973)
First	Conan the Barbarian #30 (June, 1973)

History

Origin and early years

Nergal was the son of Dagon and Ninlil.

Irkalla

...

Nergal rarely stayed in Irkalla and often ventured on Earth to spawn war and blood thirst. He led both mortals and gods against their enemies, and often tried to seize power from Marduk.

The Sebettu (or Isirru in Babylon), a group of seven gods, often followed him into battle, spreading famine, drought and pestilence among their enemies to prevent survivors. He was possibly part of the group as well.

Pre-Cataclysmic Age

Before Kull's reign over Valusia circa 18,500 BC, a mystic relic he had empowered, the Hand of Nergal, fell to Earth.

Other recountings state that the talisman could be Nergal's real hand, and that its fall on Earth occurred during the Hyborian era.

His rival Tammuz empowered a counter-talisman known as the Heart of Tammuz to oppose it. The Hand was used by many dark sorcerers, including Xaltotun of Acheron around 13,000 BC, and was always by the Heart of Tammuz.

Hyborian Age

Circa 10,000 BC, when Conan and his friends brought the Heart of Tammuz side by side with the Hand of Nergal, the brutal, hulking, misshapen shadowy form of Nergal, more like to some stupendous ape than a man, appeared from the magical talisman and began fighting its counterpart. Although it seemed to be winning, Nergal eventually dissolved before the vengeful embrace of all-pervading brightness.

Modern era

In modern era, Nergal is considered a demon and was married to the demoness Allatou.

Notes

It is stated that it is unclear if Nergal has two wives, Ereshkigal and Allatou, or whether the two are connected. Ereshkigal is also known as Allatu in Babylon, and it is speculated that she maintained prominence and avoided demon degeneration by either expelling her demonic aspects (Allatou) or by trading both her husband and her Babylonian name to a demon who became Allatou.

See Also

• 2 appearance(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)
• 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)
• 4 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)
• 6 invocation(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)
• 2 image(s) of Nergal (Earth-616)