| Pluto | |
|---|---|
 Pluto as depicted inThe Defenders vol. 2 #4 (June 2001). Art byErik Larsen. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Thor #127 (April 1966) |
| Created by | Adapted from the mythologicalHades by Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Hades |
| Species | Olympian |
| Team affiliations | Gods of Olympus Death Gods |
| Notable aliases | Hades, Hayden P. Hellman, Aidoneus, Mr. Pluto,Dis |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, stamina and durability High-level magical energies Regenerative healing factor Energy-draining touch Invisibility via helmet Immortality Ability to command the spirits of the dead under his dominion |
Pluto is afictionaldeity appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is based on theGreco-Roman god of the same name.
Pluto first appeared inThor #127 (April 1966), and was created by writerStan Lee and artistJack Kirby.[1]
Pluto is the Olympian god of the Underworld, death, and the dead, and is the Monarch of Hades. Much of the character's story parallels that of traditional Greek mythology. To wit, after defeating their fatherCronus, Pluto and his brothers Zeus andNeptune as well as his sistersHera,Hestia and Demeter drew lots to divide Cronus' empire among them. Pluto gained control of theUnderworld as the judge of the dead. In theMarvel Universe, Pluto is depicted a scheming god who plans to overthrow Zeus.
His most infamous act is when he takes Zeus' andDemeter's daughter, his niecePersephone (also known as Kore) as his wife against her will. This event goes on to cause him some dismal failures in the future; for instance theAvengers once defeat him when Persephone issues an edict against him. He also became a major enemy ofHercules, when the young Hercules captures Pluto's dogCerberus as one of hisTwelve Labours.
When worship of the Greek gods dies out, Zeus forbids Pluto to take anymore souls into his underworld. He became bitter and begins a long history of plotting against his more powerful brother. After numerous failures, Zeus decrees that Pluto can only leave the Underworld if he finds someone willing to rule in his place. Pluto travels to Earth and disguises himself as Mr. Hellman, afilm producer, and invites Hercules to make a film about himself.[2] Hercules signs the contract into ruling the underworld unaware of that the contract actually binds him to serve as ruler of the Olympian underworld in Pluto's place, as he believes the film is about him conquering the Netherworld by defeating Pluto.Thor learns of Pluto's deception and challenges him on Hercules' behalf. Pluto sends Thor into the Olympian Underworld where his goal is to defeat Pluto's minions. After witnessing Thor's remarkable progress which destroys much of the Underworld which Pluto has spent centuries building, Pluto becomes disgusted and destroys the contract, releasing Hercules.[3] Pluto next invaded Earth with mutates from an alternate future. He clashed with Thor, and was thwarted by Zeus.[4]
Pluto attempts to invade bothOlympus, home of the Greek gods andAsgard, home of Thor and his fellowAsgardians on numerous occasions, each without success. Pluto forms an alliance withAres, his nephew and Olympian god of war, and attempts to foment war between Olympus and Asgard, but is defeated in combat by Thor.[5] Pluto eventually makes an alliance with other death gods and demons. He allies himself withHippolyte, the queen of the Amazons, and Ares, who also believes that Zeus refusal to force the humans to worship them is a mistake. However Hippolyte only wants Hercules to be hers and has no interest in Pluto's desire to be worshipped by humanity again. Pluto attempts to sponsor the divorce of Hercules andHebe to marry Hercules to Hippolyte as well as Ares to marryVenus. According to Olympian law, Hercules and Venus are not allowed to fight their partners when Hippolyte and Ares assist Pluto in conquering Olympus. However, this plan was exposed byGhost Rider, and ultimately fails as Zeus, after some hesitation at first, finally forbids the unions.[6]
Pluto later allied withUlik andLoki against Thor.[7] Pluto sought to create a "nether-hole" that would destroy the universe. He fought and defeated theStranger, but was defeated by theThing and theHulk, whom the Stranger had brought with him.[8] Pluto allied in a scheme with other death gods and demons. He was devoured byDemogorge, but released by Thor.[9] Pluto later held theAvengers prisoner in Tartarus at Zeus's behest, but the Avengers battled their way out and escaped.[10]
To circumvent Zeus' decree, Pluto attempts to conquer Earth with the help ofLorelei. Pluto transforms Lorelei into a copy of theValkyrie and drains her of her power and memories. He then uses the absorbed power to take control of the real Valkyrie to turn Earth into a realm of the dead itself. The Valkyrie's presence masks his own influence and Zeus' decree still allows Pluto to annex other realms of the dead. Pluto is eventually stopped by theDefenders who bring Lorelei along, thinking her to be their teammate. The clash of the two Valkyries releases Lorelei from the spell and together they turned on Pluto and ended his plan.[volume & issue needed]
With the disappearance of the Asgardians afterRagnarök, Zeus fears for the continued existence of the Olympians as well and decides that they should mingle among humanity to hide from any force threatening them. Hades (Pluto) becomes amafia-inspired crime lord, joking that he is still a lord of the underworld. The Olympians eventually return to Olympus, where they come under siege by the Japanese godAmatsu-Mikaboshi.[11]
Hera and Pluto take over the Olympus Group, the modern day seat of power for the Olympians, through the shares inherited by Hera from Zeus and by buying out Poseidon. They declare the company has a new major goal: the deaths ofAthena and Hercules.[12] Pluto appears with the Olympus Group whenNorman Osborn's Avengers storm one of the Group's warehouses. There, Pluto grantsDaken an unsolicited prophecy of the day, month, and gruesomeness of Daken's death. Daken attacks Pluto to little effect, and is in turn overwhelmed by Pluto's army of mafioso undead.[13]
Hercules and Amadeus Cho enter Pluto's underworld, its new entrance being an Atlantic City casino where deceased heroes and villains can try betting their way into resurrection. There, they find Pluto has begun a trial with Zeus as the accused, ostensibly in the name of all his victims in Hades, with 501 deceased jurors holding court in a mockery of Athenian justice. Pluto hopes that removing Zeus will increase his own power within the pact made in prehistory among Pluto, Poseidon and Zeus to divide creation into their respective realms. He tries to prevent Hercules from interfering by offering him the soul of Hercules' adoptive father, who tells Hercules to rescue Zeus instead. Zeus is eventually found guilty, and submits to his sentence: he drinks from theLethe river, erasing his memory, and is reborn on Earth as a child. With Zeus removed from their clutches, the dead turn against Pluto immediately, as he is now the sole accessible cause of their suffering.[14]
Pluto subsequently reappears at Hercules' funeral, in the company of Athena (now the leader of the Olympians), Apollo, Poseidon, andHebe.[15]
DuringChaos War, Pluto is seen arguing with Persephone whenHela appears telling him thatAmatsu-Mikaboshi is attacking the realms of the dead. Pluto releases various spirits, both blessed and damned, to fight for his realm, freeing Zeus, Hera, Ares, various mortal heroes (includingBanshee,Swordsman, andYellowjacket) and various mortal villains (includingAbomination andIron Monger).[16]
Pluto is a member of the race of immortals known as the gods of Olympus. Among his race, his superhuman strength is equaled only by Neptune and Ares, and is exceeded only by Zeus and Hercules. Pluto's body is also virtually tireless, granting him almost limitless stamina. Pluto has proven capable of withstanding powerful impact forces, temperature extremes, and powerful energy blasts all without sustaining damage. Like all other members of his race, Pluto is immortal in the sense that he is immune to the effects of aging. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and is also immune to all known diseases. It would take damage that severely discorporated his body to cause his physical death. He is able to recover from damage with a greater speed and extent than most other members of his race.
Pluto controls vast magical powers, equaled only by Neptune, and second only to Zeus amongst Olympians, and has faced Earth's Sorcerer Supreme,Doctor Strange, in direct magical combat.[17] Pluto can generate powerful energy blasts; temporarily increase his physical attributes; bestow superhuman powers upon other beings or objects; manipulate time on a considerable scale, from simply accessing other eras (including alternate futures) or creating impenetrable time funnels; create highly durable force fields; create weapons of mystical flame, whose touch can paralyze and harm an opponent, even gods such asHercules, and is capable of interdimensional teleportation.[18]
As a Death God, Pluto has a pact withDeath that allows him to claim the souls of any worshipper of theGreco-Roman Gods, and order those under his command. He is capable of draining the energy and life-force from those that he touches, even other gods. The various Death Gods can either act as allies or competitors depending on the situation. Pluto is more powerful within Hades than in other realms, due to his ability to commune with and manipulate the energies of the Underworld. On Earth, he can command armies of undead.[13]
Although he typically prefers to use minions, Pluto is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, skilled in the use of battleaxes and swords made of the enchanted, virtually indestructible, "adamantine" (from which the fictional metal,adamantium, was named), and can use them to channel his powers. He wears Olympian battle armor made of the same material.
Pluto possesses a helmet that renders him invisible and undetectable, even to fellow gods; he sometimes rides a mystical chariot capable of flight and travelling to other realms, and he has made occasional use of potent mystical items such as the Gem of Tartarus, which encased the four originalDefenders within an enchanted pillar, though the Gem itself was fragile and swiftly shattered.
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