Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616)

History

8th century

Abdul Alhazred was born in the 8th century in Saudi Arabia.^[1][6]

The same century,^[7] he created the legendary Necronomicon, a powerful black magic tome patterned after the Darkhold,^[1] or inspired by it.^[8]

Pellucidar

At some point, Alhazred's spirit became trapped in the realm Pellucidar, a pocket dimension formerly accessed within subterranean Earth. It has been hypothesized that he died in Pellucidar or that his spirit was transported there by the Great Race of Yith. Alhazred's spirit was stored within the crystal of the reptilian Mahars of Pellucidar.^[1]

20th century

Tarzan

Around 1920, a lieutenant in a minor band of slavers was caught stealing from his captain and hid in a cave, where he found a portal to Pellucidar. Energies released from the Mahar crystal allowed Alhazred's mind to control the thief, transforming him into a more powerful version of Alhazred's own body before the portal closed. Alhazred took command of a band of slavers and forced them to unearth the portal to Pellucidar. One of the slaves fled from the caverns but was pursued and slain by Alhazred's slavers. This murder was seen and avenged by Tarzan who then pursued Alhazred into Pellucidar. The slavers had also captured an African princess, Ayesha, to serve as a sacrifice to the crystal in hopes of Alhazred regaining his full power. Tarzan and Ayesha separated from Alhazred who took command of a cannibal tribe and used their ship to speed his journey, ultimately arriving at the jungle Mahar city. Meanwhile, the Mahar had built a sonic weapon using the crystal, preparing to taking over Pellucidar. Locating the Mahar city, Ayesha found the weapon's controls, turning it against Alhazred and his allies and slaying Alhazred's pet hawk. The Mahar attacked Ayesha in their control room, and she was forced to blow up the control device to save herself. Alhazred recovered and revealed his intent to sacrifice his allies to the crystal to gain more energy. However, Tarzan then arrived, following a stampede of dinosaurs and other creatures driven to frenzy by the sonic weapon. Alhazred attacked Tarzan, planning to sacrifice him instead, but the crystal began feeding off his own energies as well, and he was now vulnerable to other assaults. Alhazred was driven into the crystal, which drained all of his power and life energy, causing him to crumble into ashes.^[9]

Wolverine

While trying to take over Tyger Tiger's syndicate in Madripoor, Abdul hired a group of various mercenaries to kidnap Tyger Tiger and Archie Corrigan, which included: Stump, Sheik, Scarface, Dumas, Rhys, and Barrett (aka Chief).^[10] When Abdul encountered Wolverine, he sent demons against him. His plan backfired and Abdul was banished to the realm of his demons.^[11]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Abdul was considered a superhuman,^[6] has a number of magical abilities. He can teleport (usually appearing and disappearing in a cloud of green smoke) and mesmerize others. He has superhuman strength and durability, but this may be only a reflection of his ability to control the perceptions of others. His also able to summon demons from another realm.^[1]

He was shown to withstand a direct gun shot at the head without suffering any damage (as if the bullet was swallowed by the shade under his hood),^[12] or take a punch of Logan in the gut without even moving.^[13]

Weaknesses

If anybody can mentally resist psychic attack by the demons he summons generates a powerful feedback that banishes him to the realm of his demons.^[1]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

His powers are presumably magnified with the possession of the Necronomicon.^[1]

Notes

• Abdul Alhazred was created by H. P. Lovecraft in "The Nameless City" (1921), and was adapted in Tarzan #15 (August, 1978).
  • "The Nameless City" was inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs in "At the Earth's Core" (1914).^[14] Marvel Comics tied the works of the two authors in a story cycle going from Tarzan #15 (August, 1978) to #23 (April, 1979), whose featured protagonist Tarzan was also created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Links and References

• 17 Appearances of Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616)
• Minor Appearances of Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616)
• Media Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616) was Mentioned in
• 3 Images featuring Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616)
• Quotations by or about Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Abd-el-Hazred (Earth-616) 
• Abdul Alhazred at the Marvel Appendix
• Abdul Alhazred on Marvel.com
• Abdul Alhazred at the H.P. Lovecraft Wiki

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Footnotes