| Shadow King | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Amahl Farouk |
| Species | Ancient entity andhuman mutant |
| Team affiliations | Dark X-Men Gladiators Brotherhood of Mutants Jacob Reisz Master of the Games Anansi Lenny Benny Cypher Karma |
| Abilities | Telepathy Possession Immortality |
TheShadow King (Amahl Farouk) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, primarily as an enemy of theX-Men. His nemesis is the X-Men's leader,Professor X, while he also figures into the backstory of the X-ManStorm. As originally introduced, Farouk was ahuman mutant fromEgypt who used his vasttelepathic abilities for evil, taking the alias Shadow King. Later writers established Farouk as the modern incarnation of an ancient evil entity.[1]
The Shadow King has appeared in various adaptations ofX-Men stories. The character's live-action debut is as the primary antagonist in the television seriesLegion, portrayed byAubrey Plaza andNavid Negahban.
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Created by writerChris Claremont and illustrator/co-writerJohn Byrne, the character the Shadow King first appeared inThe Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979) as the telepathicmutant Amahl Farouk.[2]
X-Treme X-Men andX-Men: True Friends reveal the Shadow King to be an entity of theastral plane which has existed since the dawn of humanity, an ethereal demon preferring to enslave the bodies oftelepaths andpsychics and use their capabilities to enslave others. As a side effect of its greed, hedonism and lack of self-control, the Shadow King's long-term telepathic hosts are often morbidly obese.[1]
The Shadow King's origins are unclear. All that is known is that he was living in Morocco until the 1800s before taking Farouk as a host. He claims to be amultiversal manifestation of the dark side of the human consciousnesses, spawned by the first nightmare, and has since been feeding on the shadows in their souls, transferring from host to host since the dawn of humanity.[3]
The Shadow King was known as Amahl Farouk in 1936, working for two ofAdolf Hitler's special agents (Wolfgang von Strucker andGeist). Farouk planned to use a magic spell to strike down the British royal family, leaving Von Strucker's and Geist's ally, Lady Windermere, on the throne. When Farouk conducted a mystical ceremony, he accidentally brought backPhoenix Force hostRachel Summers and her teammateShadowcat (Kitty Pryde). Von Strucker began to doubt Farouk's abilities. The Shadow King quickly possessed Rachel Summers and, as Shadowcat escaped, allied herself with Alasdhair Kinross. Farouk kidnapped the heir to the throne,Lilibet, and fled to Edinburgh. When Shadowcat tried to reach Summers telepathically, she found Farouk in control. Pryde surprised Farouk by calling him "Shadow King", enabling her to escape. Farouk took control of Kinross and tried to kill them both, but Pryde used her phasing powers to disrupt Kinross's nervous system and knock him out.
Although Farouk was going to sacrifice Kinross to demons in return for a spell which would annihilate the British monarchy, he was interrupted by Kitty and his crystal knife shattered. The demons entered Farouk's body, overpowering him. He began dispersing energy, killing all the Nazi soldiers; von Strucker accused him of treason and tried to shoot him. Farouk transformed into the Shadow King and tried to force Pryde and Kinross to fight, but they were saved by the youngLogan. Phoenix unleashed her power on Farouk, but she was subdued and possessed. Lilibet escaped, fleeing toHolyrood House. Farouk possessed the house's servants and sent them and Phoenix in pursuit. Logan ambushed Farouk, von Strucker and Geist, but Farouk had Summers and the servants attack him. Farouk then possessed Pryde and Lilibet.
Pryde began talking about the future and the fall of Hitler; Lilibet attacked Farouk, disabling him enough for Pryde to disrupt his nervous system (stunning them both and giving Summers time to regain control of herself). Farouk recovered and tried to retake his prisoners, but Phoenix fought on the astral plane. Phoenix was going to kill him when Pryde struck them with the Sword of Scones, causing them to return to their bodies; Farouk's body was supposedly destroyed by an energy blast from the sword but later when questioned by Rachel if they had killed Farouk, Pryde reveals that they had for the moment only weakened him.[4]
In 1971, Farouk returned and metV-Battalion leaderJames Watkins Jr. Watkins offered him V-Battalion support if Farouk could obtain information about the Everlasting. Farouk gave Watkins the name of Marduk.[5]
Farouk became a crime lord in Egypt, controllingCairo's Thieves Quarter, where a youngCharles Xavier'spocket was picked by the childOroro Munroe. After Xavier stopped her and retrieved his wallet, he was struck by a bolt ofpsionic energy. When he recovered, he discovered that the source of the attack was a nearby tavern, where he met Farouk. Sitting at separate tables, they conversed telepathically. Farouk told Xavier that he sensed another telepath nearby, and the attack was a warning to stay clear of the area.
He unsuccessfully tried to persuade Xavier to join him in his criminal activities; Xavier believed that people with such gifts should use them to better the world. They assumed astral form, and Xavier defeated Farouk on the astral plane with a fatal psionic attack. Farouk was Xavier's first encounter with an evil mutant, which led to the formation of theX-Men. His psyche still on the Astral plane, Farouk awaited another chance to fight Xavier (whom he now feared).[6][7]
The Shadow King became aware of a young mutant,Karma, a member of theNew Mutants with the psychic ability to possess other beings. In one of the team's earliest missions, Karma was apparently killed in an explosion atViper's hideout. However, the Shadow King used Karma's powers against her to possess her.
As Karma, the Shadow King rebuilt his worldwide empire while indulging his gluttony through her body. He used her to control the Gladiators, a group of mutants, by using a holographic image of leader Alexander Flynn.[8]
The Shadow King used the Gladiators to abductMagma andSunspot, forcing them to fight in an arena until teammatesCannonball andMagik, along withShadowcat andDazzler, tried to rescue them. In their battle to escape the Gladiators, Cannonball and Shadowcat recognized their antagonist as Karma (not realizing that she was controlled by the Shadow King).[9]
The team followed Karma toMadripoor, where they were subjected to Karma'smind control, except for Magik andMirage. The remaining New Mutants andStorm fought their teammates in Cairo, where Karma took control of Storm and Mirage. Magik, realizing that Karma was possessed by the Shadow King, released her teammates from Karma's control and Karma from the Shadow King.[10][11] After losing his host, the Shadow King transferred toCypher. Karma challenges him to a psychic duel. She wins and Shadow King flees to the astral plane.[12]
The Shadow King resurfaced during the "Muir Island Saga" many years later in the body of deceasedFBI agent Jacob Reisz when Storm had been sent back to childhood by the Nanny and woke up with amnesia. OnMuir Island, he also controlledMoira MacTaggert andValerie Cooper, after which he sent Cooper to killMystique. Shadow King attacked and possessed the telepathLegion and usedCerebro to look for Storm.
The Shadow King set a trap to capture Storm. When he tried to possess her mind she involuntarily hit him with a lightning bolt, and he soon found her withGambit. They worked together to fight him, escaping with the Shadow King's hounds in pursuit. Mystique defeated Valerie Cooper and impersonated her, appearing on television to report Mystique's death. Part ofCarol Danvers separated fromRogue and traveled to Muir Island, where she was forced to fight Legion and Moira MacTaggert. Although she defeated them, she was possessed by the Shadow King. He compelled her to go to theSavage Land to find Rogue, but she was defeated on arrival byMagneto.[13] The Shadow King, with his ambitious schemes, was afraid of being identified by other telepaths. He needed a nexus between the astral and psionic planes to generate a disturbance which would affect other telepaths.Polaris' powers had been recently altered byZaladane, and he chose Polaris as his nexus.
Jean Grey tried to access the astral plane with Cerebro, but the Shadow King overrode Cerebro's defenses and noticed that Jean had lost her telepathic powers and was helpless. He tried to turn her into his Shadow Queen, butPsylocke, unaware of who he was, threatened him with her psi-blade but ended using it on Jean instead, returning her to the physical world; however, they could not remember the details of the encounter and his identity was not yet compromised.[14] His control over Muir Island was only uncovered when Professor X probedColossus' mind after the latter tried to kill him.[15]
The X-Men sent a task force which included Storm, Forge, Gambit,Banshee,Wolverine, andJubilee to remove his influence. The Shadow King sent his slaves to defend the island, and they defeated the invaders. Xavier understood that he needed a human host and a nexus to continue his exploits, and planned to cut both the links. Mystique revealed herself and shot Jacob Reisz in the head, destroying his brain and killing the Shadow King's human host.X-Factor discovered that his nexus was Polaris, but the Shadow King took possession of Legion. He ordered the slaves to hide underground because he was going to use Legion's power to destroy the surface of Muir Island. Jean Grey's telekinesis protected X-Factor and the X-Men.[16]
Xavier then used Jean as a psi-anchor to fight the Shadow King in the astral plane, but he was defeated; reveling in making Xavier suffer, he issued psychic attacks so intense that they manifested as physical damage, breaking Xavier's legs and crippling him in the process.Archangel,Colossus,Cyclops, and Storm joined Jean in the astral plane to help Xavier, unaware of Legion's body nearby. Although they gave Xavier willpower and energy, the possessed Legion destroyed a large swath of Muir island; upon awakening, Xavier acknowledges that his physical damage has returned him to a paraplegic state. Forge uses Psylocke's psi-blade on Polaris, breaking the Shadow King's link to the nexus, after which his energy dissipated overcoming the X-Men. Xavier and Jean tried to absorb whatever they could and shield the others. Xavier offered the Shadow King a chance to redeem himself, but he opted for the void and Legion was left in a coma.[17]
After the Onslaught incident in which Charles Xavier lost his powers, the Shadow King could return to the physical world since the psionic plane had lost its guardian. Posing as "Ananasi", the Shadow King took over the African tribe who worshiped Storm. After attacking one of her relatives, Psylocke took Storm to the astral plane to fight "Ananasi" only to find the villagers’ minds set up in a distinct pattern. Before they can discern the reasoning, "Ananasi" attacks Psylocke and brings up her past failures and how she was always considered a redundant Jean Grey-wannabe. Ainet finds Storm and tells her the truth, but "Ananasi" buries Storm under bones of her dead friends before she can tell Psylocke the truth. Psylocke falls into Ananasi’s trap and accidentally hits one of the villagers with her psi-blade. This caused a chain reaction that cripples the entire psionic plan itself, damaging the collective subconscious of every being on Earth (the basis of the psi-plane) as well as all psi-sensitive in the corporeal world. Humans experienceddéjà vu, nightmares, migraines or nosebleeds, and those born with psionic, telepathic, or intuitive abilities were maimed; Jean andNate Grey,Cable,Emma Frost,Chamber, and Bianca LaNiege were devastated."Maddie" Pryor (Nate Grey's psionic construct from Madelyne Pryor's psionic remnants) was obliterated, andDoctor Strange andSpider-Man were also affected while Psylocke is left as a discombobulated mess, as "Ananasi" reveals himself to be the Shadow King, now free of any opposition on the Psionic Plane.[18] With the world's telepaths crippled, the Shadow King ascends to dominance and, one by one, begins to corrupt mankind. He explains to Psylocke that although he was defeated and thought dead by Charles Xavier at Muir Island, as long as one dark thought exists inman, he can live. He went into hibernation, for the lack of a better word. He eventually bids her farewell forever as he teleports away and Psylocke turns to stone and then falls apart. Yet theCrimson Dawn saves Psylocke once again and resurrects her, this time with an all black psi-form and the ability to command the shadows of the Psionic Plane, which allow her to go undetected by the Shadow King. She eventually confronts the Shadow King and pretends to be tempted by his offer to become the Shadow Queen to distract him while Storm freed the other X-Men. However Farouk saw through the ruse; Psylocke sent the X-Men to the physical world and takes the fight directly to the Shadow King, who stretches his powers to the maximum to infect every mind on Earth. Psylocke is intoxicated by the power, but keeps her focus and discovers that the Shadow King has left his nexus, the soul of every person on the Psionic Plane, exposed as his body unravels to reach every mind. Psylocke uses her shadows to contain the nexus and the Shadow King is trapped, but only as long as Psylocke focuses her telepathy on him, which means she can never use her powers again or else he will be set free. Psylocke leaves the Psionic Plane for the last time and reveals what happened to Storm.[19]
Sometime later the Shadow King reached Psylocke's mind when she is forced to use Cerebro to cleansed Logan of the Death persona with a little push from each of Logan's closest friends, but Archangel experienced a metamorphosis of his own from his close contact toApocalypse's handiwork.[20] The Shadow King eventually managed to convince Psylocke to release him in order to help Archangel but before she reaches him, Archangel himself mysteriously appears on her mind and stop her from setting him free, sending the Shadow King back to his prison when Psylocke disconnected herself from Cerebro.[21]
The Shadow King was eventually released from his prison when Psylocke perished in combat with the mutant hunter, Vargas. Once again free, he possessed the Reavers and attempted to attack the X-Men. However, Rogue used her acquired memories as well as Sage's computer like mind and attacked the Shadow King, binding his core as Psylocke had done.[22]
Due to the events of House of M, the Shadow King was released from his prison and was able to escape to an alternate reality, Earth-6141.[23] Once there, he possessed their version of Professor X and then corrupted the original X-Men (whom he called theDark X-Men). He maintained constant telepathic contact and control over them and forced them to kill all the heroes of their world. The Scarlet Witch's Decimation Wave enabled the Shadow King to bring himself and his team toEarth-616 to gain revenge on those who had crossed him. He tried to killCaptain Britain with the controlledNew Excalibur, but was again defeated by Psylocke (who was revived by her brother,Jamie Braddock).[24] The Dark X-Men tried to free Xavier from his prison with the help ofLionheart. Lionheart sealed the Shadow King in Dark Xavier's body, releasing the Shadow-X from his control and killed Dark Xavier therefore sending the Shadow King back to the Astral plane.[25]
The Shadow King reappeared inWakanda, where he killed a Wakandan priest and framed former New X-Men memberGentle. He then controlledBlack Panther to confront his longtime enemy (and T'Challa's wife) Storm. The Shadow King intended to break Storm psychologically, forcing her to choose between the X-Men and her husband. He forcedCyclops to attackEmma Frost and the rest of the X-Men in California and forced the Black Panther to wreak havoc in Africa. While Storm raced to save the Black Panther and the X-Men, she recognized a third option: to take down the one responsible for making her choose. Storm defeated the Black Panther and flew with Gentle to San Francisco, taking down Gentle and the rest of the active X-Men (controlled by the Shadow King). She struck Cyclops (the Shadow King's host) with a bolt of lightning, stopping his heart and forcing the Shadow King to possess Storm. This was a trap; when he entered Storm's mind, the Shadow King found the panther godBast waiting for him. Storm revealed that she allowed the Wakanda panther god to hide in her mind to avenge the Shadow King for violating T'Challa's mind. Bast devoured the Shadow King's astral form. Farouk's plan to cut Storm off from her relationships instead strengthened them.[26]
The Shadow King's nexus survived however and when he recuperated he took over a military base's nuclear facility to use its missiles, aiming them atUtopia and New York. The X-Force headed to the military base after losing contact with Deadpool (who was investigating the psychic emanations felt by Betsy), learning that the Shadow King controlled the base.
He told Psylocke that her mind is an open book to him, and releases Archangel from his psychic prison in Warren's memory in revenge; Archangel cuts off the Shadow King's "head", erasing Betsy's memory and enabling her to kill the man who was under the Shadow King's influence.[27] The Shadow King gave a reporter photographs of Warren killing the military, forcing the squad to apprehend their teammate and seek help fromDark Beast.[28] As Farouk, the Shadow King appeared as a member ofDaken'sBrotherhood of Evil Mutants (consisting ofSabretooth,Mystique,Skinless Man,Blob, and theOmega Clan) in a plot to attack theX-Force.[29]
He created an illusion of the Professor and Angel to catch Psylocke off-guard, expressing disappointment at the ease of defeating the warrior who caged him. Farouk was with the Brotherhood as they watched the apparent death of the X-Force. He, Creed and Daken showed Evan that his life was a computer-generated illusion and he was a clone of Apocalypse. The Brotherhood unsuccessfully planned to compel Evan to put on Apocalypse armor, make the Shadow King control him and destroy Jean Grey's school.[30] Psylocke locked the Shadow King in Omega White's body and entrusted it to her brother, Captain Britain.[31]
Apparently Brian or someone at his command had sealed the Shadow King's host body in a tomb in theGobi Desert where it was eventually found instasis erroneously trapped inside Omega Black's body by the Crimson Pirates and unwittingly released by their telepath, Bloody Bess. He possessed the Pirates except for Bess, who appealed toNightcrawler for help. Nightcrawler and Bess fought the Pirates and the X-Men, who were controlled by the Shadow King. He was defeated when Bess and Psylocke threw off his mind control and sent Nightcrawler against him armed with Psylocke's psi-blade, which stunned him long enough to be interred again in Omega Black's body.[32]
The Shadow King has since been revealed to be imprisoned in the Astral Plane, but still trying to force his way out to the physical world. He began targeting psychics to build a web in order to escape the Astral Plane and the first one was Psylocke, who fell prey to him and would have released him if not for the intervention of Rogue, Old Man Logan, Warren, Bishop, Gambit and Fantomex. Knowing now that others psychics can fall prey too, Psylocke sends to the Astral Plane her teammates to defeat the Shadow King, unaware that he had changed, now half-human half-spider and is waiting for them. He also reveals that he has imprisoned in his realm the astral form of Professor Xavier.[33]
As they arrive, they quickly fall into the Shadow King's illusions and if they don't break it their bodies and souls will fall under his control. Old Man Logan suddenly remembers everything and helps the other X-Men realize that the Shadow King is affecting their memories. As the room they are in transforms, they see three doors in front of them. Logan mentions that while the Shadow King is controlling things there are two minds involved in whatever they are in, which is how he figured out the play was fake.[34] In the battle's final moments, Shadow King spread a psychic infection on London before the X-Men ultimately defeated him with Fantomex donating his body to Professor X's astral form while his mind remained in the Astral Plane.[35][36] Professor Xavier now using the alias of X, controlled the psychic infection which was soon afterwards revealed to be actually Proteus which X unwittingly reconstituted back. X then convinced Psylocke to form a psychic network and draw its power to push back Proteus' influence, however the Shadow King had planted a portion of himself in Xavier's mind and took advantage of this strategy and accessed the network to escape from the Astral Plane through X's body.[37] After the Shadow King defeated the X-Men, X managed to recover and worked together with Psylocke to create a deeper psychic network to defeated him once and for all. X erased the memories of all of the X-Men involved in his return save for Psylocke so she could watch over him in case the Shadow King wasn't truly gone from his mind.[38]
During the "Empyre" storyline, Amahl Farouk is among the psychic mutants that are summoned to Genosha to help deal with a seed pod-type bomb that is vulnerable to psychic attacks,[39] and it's revealed that Amahl and the Shadow King are actually two different individuals. Having been born in Egypt Eyalet, to a merchant trader, during the sixteenth century, Amahl Farouk is a mutant whose psychic powers emerged at a young age. Amahl then used them to protect the market from thieves, until tragedy would eventually arrive to the market in the form of a plague. The young Amahl sat with his dying father and tried to use his telepathic powers to prevent the inevitable, suggesting that his telepathic powers likely allowed him to "feel" his father's death as partly his own. With his father dead and the market gone, the young mutant had nothing to tether him to the city until he was approached by the Shadow King, who promised the boy a chance to never be alone again. From that moment on, Amahl was immersed in darkness as he joined with the Shadow King. Also while Amahl Farouk himself has already been seen onKrakoa, it wasn't clear if the Shadow King was still a part of the mutant's life, until a group of young mutants finishes their training and head for the caves on Krakoa, far from their instructors. There, Amahl Farouk, clearly still possessed by the Shadow King, awaits them to listening intently to the young X-Men and doubtlessly planning something sinister for the youngest mutants.[40]
In time, the Shadow King sets his plans in motion and begins seducing several young mutants who are unsure of themselves, includingGabrielle Kinney andRahne Sinclair.[41] However, Gabrielle begins to suspect Farouk and is subsequently killed by Rahne, whom he had placed under his mind control.[42] Gabrielle is resurrected, and confronted by the senior New Mutants, Farouk draws them and Gabrielle's clique into the astral plane.[43] The young mutants confront the Shadow King, encouraging Farouk to dissolve his connection with him, restoring his human mind and personality. Scarred by his connection with the Shadow King, Farouk leaves Krakoa, with the endorsement of the New Mutants, to undergo rehabilitation.[44]
Originally presented as a telepathic mutant second only to Professor X, the Shadow King is a multi-universal ethereal entity extending into each reality as a tendril of its larger self. It was spawned by the first nightmare, and preys on the bodies of powerful psychics. He uses captive psychics to enslave others, while feeding off their negative energy. He causes the captives to slowly merge with his own essence.[45]
An alternate universe variant of the Shadow King from Earth-295 appears inAge of Apocalypse. This version is an agent of Apocalypse who became a disembodied, cloud-like entity after Charles Xavier destroyed his body.[46][47]
In an alternate universe, the Shadow King conquered theHellfire Club.[48] In theMutant X dimension, he merged withProfessor Xavier to form an evil being.
An alternate universe variant of Amahl Farouk / Shadow King from Earth-1610 appears inUltimate X-Men. This version isStorm's lover and the leader of the group of thieves which she andLady Deathstrike are a part of.[49] After Storm's mutant powers manifest, she accidentally electrocutes Farouk, rendering him comatose.[49] Farouk's mind enters another dimension, where he encounters theBrood and becomes the Shadow King.[50]
An alternate universe variant of the Shadow King appears in theUltimate Universe. This version isShinobu Kageyama, a Japanese boy and member of a mutant cult.[51]
An alternate universe variant of the Shadow King, inspired by theX-Men: The Animated Series incarnation of the character, appears inSecret Wars.[52]
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