Shuma-Gorath () is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

appearing in American comic books published by

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 ...

Publication history

Shuma-Gorath first appears as an adversary for Doctor Strange in '' Marvel Premiere'' #10 (September

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

), created by writer

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early lif ...

and artist

Frank Brunner Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s. Early life Brunner attended Manhattan's High School of Art and Design. He was in the same graduating cl ...

. The character's name is taken from

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 ...

's short story "The Curse of the Golden Skull", which features a dying magician named Rotath invoking the "iron-bound books of Shuma-Gorath" in a curse against humanity. Heroic Signatures holds the rights to the Shuma-Gorath name, due to its use in Howard's story, along with additional elements related to the

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'') ...

and

Kull of Atlantis Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a reject ...

mythos, which is licensed to

Fictional character biography

During Earth's pre-history Shuma-Gorath ruled the world, and demanded

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

until eventually banished by time-traveling sorcerer Sise-Neg. The entity eventually returns during the

Hyborian Age The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian. The word "Hyborian" is derived from the le ...

, but is imprisoned within a mountain by the power of the god

Crom Crom or CROM may refer to: Places * Crom, a townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland * Crom Estate, a Northern Irish National Trust Property ** Crom Castle * Ben Crom, a mountain in the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland * Cr ...

. Shuma-Gorath continues to be an influence on Earth until it was returned to its home dimension by Crom. When the entity tries to return to Earth via the mind of the

Ancient One The Ancient One is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was the mentor of Doctor Strange and was his predecessor as Sorcerer Supreme. The character was voiced by Michael Ansara in the 1978 te ...

, his disciple Doctor Strange is forced to kill him to prevent this. Years later, Strange battles Shuma-Gorath in its home dimension, and although victorious, he gradually becomes a new version of the entity. Strange commits suicide to prevent this transformation and is resurrected by an ally. Sorcerer

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 ...

summons the entity to Earth, but it is driven back by the combined efforts of Doctor Strange, the

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

, 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 ...

and villain Diablo. Shuma-Gorath is eventually revealed to be one of the four undying extra-dimensional " multi-angled ones" guiding a metaphysical invasion from a dimension called the " cancerverse". In attempting to destroy

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

itself, the entity and its allies are rendered inert by the conceptual form of Death and subsequently are trapped in the cancerverse when it is destroyed.''Thanos Imperative'' #6 (November 2010) Shuma-Gorath survives and once again attempts to invade Earth but is repelled by the superhero team the

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

with the Spear of Destiny. During the 2011 " Fear Itself" storyline, Shuma-Gorath is among the demons to meet at the Devil's Advocacy to discuss the threat of the Serpent and what this means to them. During the 2013 "

Infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions am ...

" storyline,

Thanos Thanos is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, and first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 ( cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Deviant w ...

' servant

Ebony Maw Ebony Maw is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a prominent member of the Black Order, a team of aliens who work for Thanos. The character has made several appearances in media, such as a ...

manipulates Doctor Strange into summoning Shuma-Gorath to the streets of New York. The creature is met by

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie ...

and his new team of Avengers. Blue Marvel arrives at the scene of the battle and flies through Shuma-Gorath's head, destroying its physical manifestation. Shuma-Gorath's astral body possesses a crowd of people in New York City and attempts to recreate itself on Earth. It is weakened through mystical attacks by

Power Man Power Man may refer to: * Luke Cage, a Marvel Comics superhero, originally called Power Man * Erik Josten, a Marvel supervillain later known as Smuggler, Goliath and Atlas * Victor Alvarez, the current Power Man introduced in the mini-series ''Shad ...

and

White Tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and e ...

and finally banished by

Monica Rambeau Monica Rambeau is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the character debuted in ''The Amazing Spider-Man Annual'' #16 (October 1982). Moni ...

, who penetrates Shuma-Gorath's eye as a ray of light and disperses the entity from within. The ''Last Days of Magic'' storyline describes Shuma-Gorath as responsible for destroying the home planet of the character Imperator, leader of the Empirikul, by sending a group of evil sorcerers after his family. This leads the Imperator to dedicate his life to destroying magic in every universe. Later, during a battle,

Dormammu Dormammu () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #126 (Nov. 1964), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Debuting in the Silver Age of Comi ...

states to Doctor Strange that he helped the Empirikul in finding Shuma-Gorath, who was defeated by the Imperator. Doctor Strange later banishes Dormammu to Shuma-Gorath itself, who was visibly wounded and seeking revenge.

Powers and abilities

Shuma-Gorath is an ancient force of chaos, the immortal, nigh-invincible, and godlike ruler of nearly a hundred alternate universes, capable of energy projection,

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

levitation Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

, altering reality, and

sympathetic magic Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Similarity and contagion James George Frazer coined the term "sympathetic magic" in ''The Golden Bough'' (1889); Richard Andree, however, ...

, among many other feats. He is described as being vastly more powerful than other mighty demonic enemies, such as Satannish and

Mephisto Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition. Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to: Film and television * '' Méphisto'', a 1931 French film * ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German-Hungarian film based ...

, and is capable of automatically destroying multiple galaxies through aura-pressure alone.

Other versions

In the "Venomized" event, a Poison Shuma-Gorath was present in the Poison Hive's invasion of the Prime Marvel Universe, fighting

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

and

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, successfully bonding a symbiote to the latter.

In other media

Film

A creature based on Shuma-Gorath, renamed Gargantos after another green, one-eyed octopus monster from Marvel's '' Sub-Mariner'' comics due to rights issues with owner Heroic Signatures, appears in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

film '' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' (2022). This version is a creation of

Wanda Maximoff Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...

, with the purpose of capturing

America Chavez America Chavez is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, Chavez was the second character to use the moniker Miss America, after Madeline Joyce. Chavez first appeared in ' ...

so the former can use her powers for her own, before it is killed in battle by Doctor Strange.

Video games

* Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in ''

Marvel Super Heroes Marvel Super Heroes may refer to: * ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' (comics), several Marvel Comics publications * ''Marvel Super Heroes'' (video game), a 1995 arcade game * '' Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems'', a 1996 platform game * ''Marvel Supe ...

'', voiced by Frank Perry. * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in ''

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is a crossover fighting video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'' and the second installment in the ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' series. The game was first released as an arcade game in 1997. It th ...

'', voiced again by Frank Perry. * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes'', voiced again by Frank Perry. * Shuma-Gorath appears as an unlockable playable character through DLC in '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'' and '' Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', voiced by Paul Dobson. * Shuma-Gorath is featured in the Doctor Strange virtual

pinball game Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

for '' Pinball FX 2''.

Roleplaying games

Shuma-Gorath is described as an ancient being that predated humanity, and possibly predated the Earth, in the Conan RPG.

References

External links

Shuma-Gorath
at Marvel.com * * {{Marvel Mystic Characters created by Steve Englehart Comics characters introduced in 1972 Fictional demons and devils Fictional monsters Marvel Comics characters who have mental powers Marvel Comics demons Marvel Comics supervillains