Serpent Men are a fictional race created by

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

for his King Kull tales. They first appeared in " The Shadow Kingdom", published in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'' in August 1929. They were later adapted for the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

Conan comics by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

and Marie Severin. Their first

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

appearance was in ''Kull the Conqueror'' vol. 1 #2 (September, 1971).

Origin and society

In Robert E. Howard's King Kull stories, the serpent people worship a god known as the Great Serpent. Later writers would identify the Great Serpent with the

Great Old One American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to ...

Yig and with the Stygian serpent god Set from Howard's Conan stories. The Serpent Men were created untold aeons ago by the Great Serpent. At some point, the Serpent Men had a cultural split, with one group becoming the Man-Serpents. One Man-Serpent is the titular being in the Conan story "The God in the Bowl". The seat of the First Empire of the Serpent People, during the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

era, is Valusia. Valusia is a fictional country in the Kull stories of Robert E. Howard and his stories tell, among other things, of the Serpent Men trying to conquer the world once again, around 20,000 years ago, where Kull from

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that bes ...

reigned over the Valusia Kingdom, located on the west coast of the main continent of Thuria. The ancient Serpent Empire was based on sorcery and

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world ...

, but collapsed with the rise of the

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s about 225 million years ago during the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

era. The Serpent Men originally ruled over humans in Valusia, but were defeated and almost wiped out in humanity's battle for survival against the "elder things", which predated even them. Over time, humans dominated Valusia and the Serpent Men became a legend. The Serpent Men, one of the few surviving "elder things", infiltrated human society and ruled from behind the scenes for a time, but were again discovered, defeated, and cast out in a secret war. However, they later repeated this tactic. Soon, they added the front of a Snake Cult religion, which gained power and influence within Valusia while the Serpent Men used their abilities of disguise to murder or replace each reigning monarch. Their power is eventually broken by King Kull, formerly an Atlantean barbarian who had recently conquered Valusia, and the

Pict The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

Brule the Spear-Slayer, whose society was aware of the Serpent Men's infiltration.'' The Shadow Kingdom'' by

After the destruction of Valusia, the Serpent Men escaped to Yoth, a cavern beneath K'n-yan in North America (ironically, the Pictish Isles of the Kull stories). They built subterranean cities, of which only ruins remain in the modern age. Explorers from K'n-yan visited Yoth frequently to learn more of the Serpent Men's scientific lore. Their next downfall came when they brought idols of Tsathoggua from N'kai and abandoned their patron deity Yig to worship their new god. As retribution, Yig placed his curse upon them and forced the few remaining worshipers to flee into a series of caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth.

Appearance and abilities

Serpent Men

Serpent Men are

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20 ...

s with scaled skin and snake-like heads. They possess magical abilities, the most common of which is the use of

illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

to disguise themselves as a human. In some stories, the ghost of someone killed by a Serpent Man becomes the Serpent Man's slave. Due to the shape of their mouths, Serpent Men cannot utter the phrase "Ka nama kaa lajerama." Howard's character Kull uses the phrase as a

shibboleth A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passw ...

in the story ''The Shadow Kingdom''.

Man-Serpents

These creatures, unlike their kin and predecessors, have the bodies of giant serpents and the heads of human beings with smaller snakes for hair like Medusa. Man-Serpents have hypnotic gazes and lethally venomous bites, as well as terrible crushing strength.

Cthulhu Mythos

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

and Clark Ashton Smith adapted the race for inclusion in the Cthulhu Mythos, inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's short story "

The Nameless City "The Nameless City" is a short horror story written by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in January 1921 and first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal ''The Wolverine''. It is often considered the first story set in ...

", which refers to an Arabian city built by a pre-human reptilian race. Lovecraft's story " The Haunter of the Dark" explicitly mentions the "serpent men of Valusia" as being one-time possessors of the Shining Trapezohedron. However, the Cthulhu Mythos was already connected to the works of Robert E. Howard (a contemporary and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft as well as a direct contributor to the Mythos itself). In this case, the Serpent Men were created for the very first Kull story. The character of Kull later made an appearance in a

Bran Mak Morn Bran Mak Morn is a hero of five pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in ''Weird Tales'', Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts.Rusty Burke ...

story, ''Kings of the Night'', while in another such story, "

Worms of the Earth "Worms of the Earth" is a short story by American fantasy fiction writer Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the magazine ''Weird Tales'' in November 1932, then again in 1975 in a collection of Howard's short stories, '' Worms of th ...

", Bran Mak Morn explicitly refers to

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

and R'lyeh. Many Conan stories written by Howard are also part of the Mythos.

Conan

The fictional settings of King Kull and Robert E. Howard's other creation,

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

, are linked through Howard's essay '' The Hyborian Age''. This states that Valusia, and its Thurian Age, existed in some time before Conan's Hyborian Age (the land was reshaped in between the story cycles by an undefined

cataclysm Cataclysm is derived from the Greek (), 'down, against', and (), 'wash over, surge'. It may refer to: Common meanings *Generally, any large-scale disaster *Deluge (mythology) *Doomsday event, see hypothetical risks to civilization, humans, and p ...

). The Serpent Men didn't, however, appear in any Conan story written by Robert E. Howard himself. They made a reappearance in " Shadows in the Skull" by L. Sprague de Camp and

, the last of the stories collected in '' Conan of Aquilonia''. In that story, Conan encounters a colony of Serpent Men hiding out in what would correspond to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

- the remaining allies of his arch-enemy, the sorcerer

Thoth-Amon "The Phoenix on the Sword" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in '' Weird Tales'' magazine in December 1932. The tale, in which Howard created the chara ...

, after Conan eliminated all of his human allies. These are in fact Serpent Women, who magically show an alluring female appearance to King Conan and plan on sacrificing him while Thoth-Amon watches from hiding. Their deception is discovered by Conan's teenage son, Conn, who sees at first what appears to be a beautiful girl - but her reflection in a burnished shield reveals the woman's true identity by showing him a serpent-like head. Conan and Conn eventually settle their conflict with Thoth-Amon, while the Aquailonian knights slay all of the Serpent Women. In '' The Temple of Abomination'' - written by Howard and completed by

Richard L. Tierney Richard Louis Tierney (August 7, 1936 – February 1, 2022) was an American writer, poet and scholar of H. P. Lovecraft, probably best known for his heroic fantasy, including his series co-authored (with David C. Smith) of Red Sonja novels, fe ...

- the Irish pirate Cormac Mac Art encounters a single Serpent Man still dominating a sinister temple in a forsaken corner of King Arthur's Britain.

Marvel Comics

Serpent-Men have also appeared in

. They first appeared in '' Kull the Conqueror'' #2 and were adapted by

and Marie Severin. Since then, they have been imported into the Conan comics, as well as other adaptations and Conan pastiches. The original Serpent Men were a race of reptilian semi-humanoids, who were created by the demon Set and ruled areas of prehistoric Earth. Due to the efforts of Kull and Conan, the original Serpent-Men became extinct about 8,000 years ago. However, since then, numerous human worshipers of Set and his demonic progeny such as Sligguth have taken on reptilian characteristics to different extents. Some, like the people of Starkesboro, are only partially transformed. Others become hosts for the spirits of long-extinct original Serpent Men, who transform their bodies into duplicates of their own, complete with their power to take the form of any human. Some modern Serpent Men encountered Spider-Man in the modern era. A Serpent Man passed himself off as the ghost of

Uncle Ben Benjamin Franklin Parker, usually referred to as Uncle Ben, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the superhero Spider-Man. He is the husband of May Parker and the ...

to be part of an illusion that Spider-Man ascended into Heaven. To gain Spider-Man's trust, a Serpent Man posed as Devil-Slayer to attack the Serpent-Men. After Spider-Man experienced some memories about Kull, the Devil-Slayer imposter took Spider-Man to the cave where the Spider People resided and Spider-Man lifted the statue of the Spider God Omm (who was fooled into thinking that Spider-Man was one of his own due to his radioactive blood) after a fight with the Spider People. Once in the sewers, Spider-Man was duped by the Devil-Slayer imposter where they encountered the

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

members Doctor Strange,

Clea Clea Strange () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by co-plotters Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Clea first appeared in the Doctor Strange feature in ''Strange Tales'' #126 (November 1964). ...

Gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry wall ...

, Hulk,

Namor Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies I ...

, and

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36 ...

. When Spider-Man asks the Defenders to pronounce the words on the card, they could not and the Serpent Men shed their disguises. After destroying the statue, Spider-Man freed the Defenders (which had the true Devil-Slayer among them) as Doctor Strange banished the Serpent Men to Limbo. The human followers of the Serpent-Men were allowed to leave unmolested. Russel Daboia is a Serpent Man/demon hybrid that fought the Avengers alongside

Nicholas Scratch Nicholas Scratch is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is predominantly a foe of the Fantastic Four and Patsy Walker. Publication history Nicholas Scratch first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #185 (Au ...

and the

Salem's Seven Salem's Seven is a fictional team of magical beings and former supervillains appearing in Marvel Comics. They were initially foes of the Scarlet Witch and the Fantastic Four, but became allies to both. All seven are the children of Nicholas Scr ...

.''Avengers 2000 Annual'' #1

In other media

The Serpent Men were the main antagonists in the

animated series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

'' Conan the Adventurer''. The Serpent Men were personified by the wizard Wrath-Amon. The show retained the Serpent Men's ability to infiltrate human society in disguise, although this disguise failed in the presence of meteoric "star metal" in which contact with anything made of star metal sent a Serpent Man back to "the Abyss." The Serpent Men appeared in the video game '' Marvel Heroes''. This version of the Serpent Men have a snake tail instead of legs. A Serpent Man appears in The Deathless Snake, the last story in Edward M. Erdelac's Rainbringer: Zora Neale Hurston Against The Lovecraftian Mythos.

Notes

References

External links

Serpent-Men
at Marvel Wiki
Serpent Men
at Comic Vine
Chaosium: "The Children of Yig", a study of the serpent people
* * {{Conan Comics characters introduced in 1971 Conan the Barbarian characters Cthulhu Mythos species Fantasy creatures Literary characters introduced in 1929 Fictional reptilians Kull of Atlantis Robert E. Howard characters