Marvel Database
Register
Advertisement

Apollo is a member of the Olympians, a group of humanoid beings that hail from the pocket dimension; Olympus. He was worshipped by the Humans of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Olympian god of Light,[10] of the Sun,[10] Music,[citation needed] Poetry,[citation needed] Prophecy,[citation needed] Medicine,[citation needed] and Inspiration.[citation needed]

History

Origin[]

Born to the Titaness Leto,[1] Apollo was the eldest of the six Olympian sons of Zeus,[citation needed] and his second child, after Artemis who, birthed instants before, helped Leto deliver Apollo shortly she gave birth to her brother.[11]

As Zeus's jealous wife Hera prohibited Leto from giving birth on solid group by mystically compelling all the interconnected lands to reject her, she took refuge and[11] had to deliver the twins on the floating island of Delos.[1]

To show her gratitude, Leto would later secure Delos with four pillars.[1][11]

The siblings soon discovered their natural talent for archery and, using arrows forged by Hephaestus, slew the Earth-serpent Python that Hera had sent to attack Leto.[11][1]

Early years[]

Upon reaching adulthood, Apollo impregnated Coronis, daughter of King Phlegyas of the Lapiths, and she gave birth to their son Asklepios, god of medicine.[1]

Apollo was among the gods who opposed Hercules and his attempts to convince Zeus to wage war against the Asgardians.[12] He was a witness when Zeus granted a portion of his power to Thor to assist in resurrecting the Asgardians that were slain by the Celestials.[13] Apollo helped Thor and other storm-gods and light-gods from other pantheons fight off Demogorge the God-Eater. Apollo and the other gods were consumed by Demogorge, but were later saved by Thor.[14]

At some point, the lust of Apollo fall upon Cassandra, prophetic daughter of King Priam of Troy. As she refused his favors, he decreed that no one would believe her prophecies.[15][16]

He was presented at the (Zeus-decreed) wedding of sea-goddess Thetis and Peleus, greatest of the Achaean warriors, which would cause the events that would lead to the Trojan War (orchestrated by Zeus to decimate Earth's overcrowded population).[15] His son Asklepios[17] and grandson Machaon would join the Achaeans.[18]

At some point, he asked Apollo and Poseidon to built impenetrable walls around his city, but refused to pay for their services, enraging them.[19] It is unknown if Apollo participated in Poseidon's retaliation in 1264 B.C.[19]

Trojan War[]

After reaching Troy, the Achaeans attacked the neighboring cities, including Troy-allied Chryse where Achilles enslaved Chryseïs, daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, who went to Agamemnon.[17]

In the ninth year of the war, Chryses caused Apollos' arrows to rain death on the Achaeans, causing Agamemnon to surrender her (and making him take another slave in place from Achilles, leading to a quarrel during which Achilles refused to fight).[17]

Wishing to avenge his friend Patroclus and Antilochus, Achilles forced the Trojans into the city, but Apollo ordered him to back off from the gates. As Achilles threatened him and pursued the Trojans against his command, Apollo went to Paris and guided his arrow to Achilles' vulnerable spot, eventually killing him.[20]

He later guided as well Philoctetes, who killed Paris using the Bow of Heracles.[21]

Achaean seer Calchas later told Odysseus that Cassandra's brother Helenus would venture to a far temple of Apollo, and thus threatened him, learning what elements were to be gathered for Troy to fall.[18]

Apollo later witnessed the battle from Olympus, such as Telephus' son Eurypylus clash with Achilles' son Neoptolemus.[18]

When the Achaeans finally entered the city, Apollo's temple was surrounded by the Argives' flames. Along with Poseidon, Apollo was seemingly of the Gods who made the journey back to Greece difficult to some of the Achaean warriors.[22]

Phoebus Apollo (Earth-616) from Venus Vol 1 3 002

Apollo circa 1948

20th Century[]

Apollo joined a number of the other Olympian gods to the planet Venus when they were under the brief rule of the goddess Venus. In 1948, Venus had returned to Earth and taken up a job as a model and editor of Beauty Magazine. When she returned to Venus, searching for 10 of the most beautiful women under her rule to use in a magazine spread to compete against rival publication Lovely Lady Magazine, Apollo helped Venus gather the women she needed.[23]

Phoebus Apollo (Earth-616) from Venus Vol 1 3 001

Disguised as Paul Belvedere

Later, having grown tired of Venus' frequent absences from her kingdom, Apollo travelled to Earth to see what took her attention there. Taking on the guise of Paul Belvedere, Apollo got a job at Beauty Magazine to find out why Venus was so interested in the lives of mortals. Finding this task unworthy, Apollo made it so that the sun remained for up to 24 hours a day until Venus agreed to return to her kingdom with him. She agreed, and both returned to the planet Venus. Once there; however, Venus used her restored powers to force Apollo to remain on the planet, effectively preventing any further meddling, before returning to Earth.[2]

Once more loyal to Venus, Apollo assisted her in locating Hera, who used the name Juno at the time.[24] Apollo next helped Venus in gathering a number of male Olympians to pose as mortal boyfriends in order to make Venus' lover, Whitney Hammond, jealous.[25]

Zeus soon returned, taking his Roman name of Jupiter. He sought to return Venus to Olympus, and agreed to the following challenge: Venus had a week to find two mortal lovers who could not be tempted away from each other. Venus found this couple in Meg Saunders and her husband-to-be Danny; Jupiter then enlisted Apollo and Daphne to go to Earth and try to split the couple apart. Both went to Earth, posing as Hollywood actors, and attempted to split the couple up. When charm did not work, Apollo made it appear as though Meg murdered him, so that when she was arrested, Daphne could move in and seduce Danny. This plan ultimately failed.[3]

Later, when Asgardian trickster, Loki came to Earth to force Venus into marrying him, Apollo lent his power to assist her in beating him, but to no avail. It was not until she readily sacrificed herself to Loki that Jupiter stepped in and rescued her.[26]

In 1950, Apollo once more sought to claim the heart of Venus, but his petitions to Jupiter to allow him to return to Earth were denied. Undeterred, Apollo travelled to Hades and made a deal with a demon named Zoroba to have the demon possess his body while Apollo's spirit travelled to Earth. Unbeknownst to Apollo, Zoroba used his position to convince Jupiter to free Loki from his exile in Hades and allow him to reside at Olympus.

Apollo found his spirit form unable to interact with Venus, and so he possessed the body of Beauty Magazine artist Marvin Klee. This time, Venus could not find herself able to resist Apollo's advances; however, she eventually learned what Zoroba was doing, and when she informed Apollo, he attempted to return to his body, but found he could not do so while Zoroba possessed it. Venus then tricked Zoroba into coming to Earth, freeing Apollo's body and allowing his spirit to return to it. This thwarted Loki's attempts to get free from his exile, and Apollo was punished by Jupiter for his actions.[27]

Apollo later redeemed himself when defending Olympus from invasion by monsters that were literally spawned from the mind of mad scientist Professor Buffanoff. However, the creatures were too powerful, and could not be stopped until Venus tricked them into returning to the dying brain of their creator, where they perished at last.[28]

In 1951, when Apollo learned that Venus was trapped in Cassarobia, he became worried: Olympians' powers were prohibited in the area by Loki. However, Loki was convinced to lift his spell, and Venus managed to overthrow the sultan of Cassarobia.[29]

Modern Age[]

When Hercules was gravely wounded fighting the Masters of Evil, Zeus blamed the Avengers for his condition, while the Avengers accused Zeus of the injuries and asked Apollo for his help against Zeus. Zeus learned quickly of this betrayal and struck down Apollo and other Olympians who had joined the Avengers. Both saw the errors of their ways, and Zeus had all the gods sent to Olympus save for Apollo, who was held back to heal Captain America's broken legs and Dr. Druid's head.[30]

When Hera and Hades summoned the other Olympians together and revealed their plans to eliminate Hercules and Athena, Apollo was the most vocal against it.[31] Apollo later appeared at Hercules' funeral with Athena, Poseidon, Hades, and Hebe.[32]

Following the massacre of the Olympians by the hand of the vengeful goddess Nyx,[33] Apollo resurfaced as part of the reborn pantheon. However, the Olympians were revived as savage warmongers who razed planets and took tribute in blood and treasure, regularly rotating in and out of reality aboard the floating city of New Olympus.[8] The Guardians of the Galaxy clashed with the Olympians when they intercepted New Olympus in an attempt to stop the gods' rampage.[8] They succeeded, but Star-Lord was stranded in the other side of reality alongside the Olympians.[34]

During their encounter, Star-Lord had become entangled with the Olympians and their power was locked away in himself and his Element Gun. Star-Lord lived unaging in the otherdimensional world of Morinus for over a hundred years until enough uses of the Element Gun freed enough of the Olympians' power to enable their return. Star-Lord lured the Olympians away from Morinus, using the Gateway to return to his home dimension.[35] The Olympians pursued him to reclaim their full power,[36] and confronted him and the Guardians of the Galaxy on Daedalus 5.[37] During their final battle, Apollo was killed by Star-Lord by unleashing a burst of energy that actually burnt the Sun God to death.[9]

Attributes

Power Grid[40]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Bulletproof:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Warp:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Speed of Sound:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (25-75 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

Olympian Physiology: Apollo possesses the conventional superhuman physical attributes of an Olympian god.[1] However, some of which are quite common among the Olympians, including:

  • Superhuman Strength: Apollo is substantially stronger than the average male Olympian and is capable of lifting about 50 tons.[1]
  • Superhuman Speed: Apollo is capable of running or moving much faster than even the finest human athlete.
  • Superhuman Stamina: Apollo's highly advanced musculature produces substantially less fatigue toxins, during physical activity, as a result, he can exert himself at peak capacity for a several days, before fatigue toxins in his blood begin to impair him.
  • Superhuman Durability: Apollo's body is superhumanly resistant to physical injury. He is capable of withstanding high caliber bullets, great impact forces, piercing and cutting from razor sharp iron, and falls from great heights, without sustaining injury. Among the Olympians his durability is surpassed by his siblings Ares and Athena, equaled bye Hermes and surpases Hefestos and Artemis.
  • Superhumanly Dense Tissue: Like all Olympians, Apollo's skin, muscles, and bones are about three times denser than similar human tissue, contributing to Apollo's superhuman strength and weight.[1]
  • Regeneration: Should Apollo suffer injury, his highly efficient metabolism allows him to heal with superhuman speed and efficiency. However, Apollo is unable to regenerate missing limbs and organs and would require access to magic to do so.
  • Immortality: Like all Olympians, Apollo is truly immortal and cannot die by any conventional means.[1] He has not aged since reaching adulthood and is immune to the effects of aging.[1] Apollo is also immune to all Earthly diseases and infections.[1]
  • Precognition: Apollo can mentally foresee events of alternate realities and predict them with a certain amount of accuracy.
  • Godly Decrees: Apollo was able to decreed that no one would believe Cassandra's prophecies.[15]
  • Allspeak: Like all Olympians, Apollo can communicate in all languages, Earth's dialects, and various alien languages known as the Allspeak (also called All-Tongue).

Abilities

Apollo is a good hand to hand combatant. He is also a master archer and musician, specializing in playing the harp.

Weaknesses

Death by Unnatural Means: While he can't die of old age, Apollo can die of unnatural causes like being skewered in the chest[7] and being burned to death.[9]

Ambrosia Consumption: Despite his immortality, Apollo still needs to consume the Olympian Ambrosia to remain deathless and virtue otherwise he will start to age or even die by turning to dust.[38]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Bow and arrows

Transportation

Dimensional teleportation using his own powers and Sun Chariot

See Also

Links and References

References

Advertisement