Azotharoth (Earth-616)

Azoth / Azotharoth
Name	Azotharoth
Aliases	Azotheroth, Azoth, the Dreaming One, the Dreaming God Dagoth, (seemingly error, see notes) Azuth (typo)
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Red
Hair	No Hair At All
Unusual Features	Large, bat-like wings on his back, pointed ears, long horn on his forehead, three fingers and a thumb on each hand and four toes on each foot.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Outer God; Demon-God
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Occupation	God of pain and hate
Base of Operations	Formerly Hasperas' Temple, Azoth Peak
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas
First	Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth #1 (February, 1990) (First appearance, as Azoth)Avengers #353 (July, 1992) (First mention as Azotharoth)
First	Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth #1 (February, 1990) (First appearance, as Azoth)Avengers #353 (July, 1992) (First mention as Azotharoth)
Death	Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth #1 (February, 1990)
Death	Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth #1 (February, 1990)

History

Origins

Azotharoth, also known as Azoth and Azotheroth, was one of the Outer Gods, though he was stated to be one of the Old Ones, an usual mistake occurring often enough to be considered the same.

Early years

In the times before the apparition of mankind, the Gods stalked the Earth and warred against each others. Azoth battled one of his peers, who defeated him by removing his horn from his forehead.

He went to sleep in his lair, in the Hasperas' Temple on Azoth Peak (which only access was the Labyrinth of Azoth), and could only be awakened when the stars aligned in a particular pattern.

Mortal worship

The forefathers of Rammon, along with black-skinned warriors in the Temple of Ibis, guarded the Eye of Ibis and had the ancestor of the Kezanki to guard the Crypt of Shadows of the Kezankian Forest where was hidden the Horn of Azoth (who could be retrieved only using the Eye of Ibis). Azoth was among the evil entities opposed by the god Ibis.

Since allegedly about a million years ago (it was stated in the Hyborian Age circa 10,000 BC that the worshipers of Azoth had schemed for "a thousand thousand years"), Azoth was later worshiped as the Dreaming One, including by Strabo. His monks allegedly fed the poor and buried the dead, in honor of their god, but those bodies were in fact stock-pilled in Azoth's temple for "a thousand thousand years", in order to sustain him with blood. Others feared him as a god of pain and hate whose reign would mark the end of Man as ruler of Earth.

The Iron-Bound Book of Skelos decreed that the daughter of Azoth's high priest would stand naked before him, to restore his horn unto its place.

Hyborian age

Karanthes led the worship of Azoth in Zamora, with white-robed monks doing good deeds, such as feeding the poor and burying the dead, in Shadizar, while processing at night.

In order to awaken Azoth (for him to struck down the temples of Mitra, Ibis, Ishtar and all other gods, and establish himself as the just and eternal ruler of all humans, and his priests elevated as his intermediates), High Priest Karanthes had his daughter Natari, with Strabo, to convince Conan to steal the Eye of Ibis from the Temple of Ibis, then used it in the Crypt of Shadows to recover the Horn of Azoth.

Soon, panic stroke the people of Shadizar, who fled as Karanthes was awakening Azoth. Meanwhile a commando composed of Conan, Rammon (son of Rammon), Shumballa and Dahomi entered the temple to stop Karanthes.

Upon his awakening, Azoth slew Karanthes, the priests, and tried to take grasp of Rammon and Natari, until Conan managed to remove the horn again, killing him and ending the curse. The horn withered in dust.

Modern Age

The Grim Reaper invoked the names of Azotharoth and Nigguraab in order to transform captured humans into the Legion of the Unliving, to battle the Avengers.

Attributes

Powers

At least the Horn of Azoth wasn't destructible.

Notes

• This character was created by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway in "Conan, King of Thieves", an early script for the movie Conan the Destroyer (1984). As the script had drifted away from Thomas' and Conway's original plot, they decided to adapt that early script into Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth (February, 1990), basically "Conan, King of Thieves" with a few changes of names to avoid confusion: The character's name was changed from Dagoth in the movie and its adaptation in Marvel Comics Super Special #35 (December, 1984; written by Michael Fleisher and penciled by John Buscema) to "Azoth" (Azoth was nevertheless once called Dagoth in Conan: The Horn of Azoth)
  • Azoth was specifically listed as being a property of Conan Properties.
• Azotharoth's name was created by Len Kaminski in Avengers #353 (September, 1992), in which he created Niggurab, after creating in the previous issue Lloigoroth and Yog-Sokot as well, names likely to have been inspired by the gods of the Cthulhu Mythos.
• In the demons' profile of the Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 (September, 2007), Azotharoth is stated to appear first in Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth #1, where only "Azoth" is featured, making of "Azoth" and "Azotharoth" seemingly the same being.
  • The Old One Azotheroth mentioned in The Inner Planes, Marvel Tarot #1 (August, 2007), was seemingly an alternate spelling of Azotharoth.
• Previously stated to be an Old One, Azotharoth has been classified in the demons' profile of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 (July, 2008) to be one of the Outer Gods, stated to be "mistaken for Great Old Ones often enough for all to be considered one and the same."
• It is hypothesized by readers and non-official sources that Azoth could be Azathoth, a character created by H.P. Lovecraft. Azotaroth being an Outer God seems to be another hint towards him being either Azathoth (an Outer God himself) or a reference to him.

See Also

• 1 appearance(s) of Azotharoth (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Azotharoth (Earth-616)
• 1 invocation(s) of Azotharoth (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Azotharoth (Earth-616)
• 1 victim(s) killed by Azotharoth (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Azoth at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe