Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)

Damballah
Name	Dam-Ayido Wede or Dan-Ayido-Hwedo
Current Alias	Damballah(Haitian name)
Aliases	Papa Serpent, Serpent God, Snake-God, "Bon Dieu" ("the Good God" in French), Agaou Wedo, Anviewo, Dam-Ayido, Dan Houeza, Dan Petro, Dan Yi, Dangbe, Danger, Danger Mina, Danh, Dumballah, Damballa, Lwa Damballah Wedo (Niger-Congo)
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Vodū (African gods)
Relatives	Buluku (grandfather); Gaea/Nana (grandmother); Lusa (father); Mahu (mother); Ayida Wede (wife); Avlekete, Ezili/Oshun, Oya (sisters); Sagbata/Baron Samedi (twin brother); Age, Eschu/Eleggua, Legba, Ogun, Shango (brothers); Anansi (uncle); numerous others
Marital Status	Married
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	12′ (3.66 m), Variable
Weight	300 lbs (136.08 kg), Variable
Eyes	Irises: Black Variable
Hair	No Hair At All hair, Variable
Skin	Green
Unusual Features	Usually takes on a large serpentine form: scales
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Vodū
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Orun, the Great Beyond
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	Ala
Occupation	God of the dead; God of serpents; Sky Father (misrepresentation for the Santerian believers)
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Roy Thomas, Gene Colan
First	Dracula #2 (April, 1973)
First	Dracula #2 (April, 1973)

History

Origin

Dam-Ayido Wede or Dan-Ayido-Hwedo was the son of Lusa and Mahu, and twin brother to Sagbata. He was born in Orun, the Great Beyond.

He started as a relatively minor member of the Vodū pantheon.

He was either mistaken for the Set-Spawn known as Damballah, or impersonated him, deliberately usurped his identity and worshippers.

16th century

In the 16th century, at the start of the Atlantic slave trade, Dam-Ayido followed his enslaved worshippers to the Caribbean and to the USA's Gulf Coast. The slaves sought solace from their ancient gods, combining them with elements from Catholicism and the Holy Roman Church.

Vodū worship was consequently bastardized into:

• "Vaudou" and later "voodoo" (due to confusion with the French "vaudois", a French heresy) in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti).
• In Cuba, this merger combined to indigenous American beliefs became known as Santeria.

Dam-Ayido changed his image to comport with Western culture. He adopted the name Damballah and posed as the Vodū Sky Father and creator of the world to his worshipers, usurping his grandfather Buluku and achieving far greater prominence in the New World. Consequently, Damballah was invoked by many Haitian voodoo practitioners, over Lusa, Mahu or Buluku.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Seemingly those conventional to all Vodū, including:

• Superhuman physical abilities
  • Superhuman Strength: He can lift 25 tons.
• High resistance to disease, injury and aging

Though he appears as a snake, he can presumably shapeshift into human or other forms.

He can manipulate certain undefined occult energies associated with curses and the underworld which grants him powers over life and death.

He can grant his mortals followers with powers such as mesmerizing and controlling others.

Notes

• In the real world Voodoo Religion, Damballah is a benevolent figure, not a villainous one.

See Also

• 4 appearance(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 6 mention(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 4 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 3 invocation(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)
• 4 image(s) of Dam-Ayido Wede (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Dam-Ayido Wede on Wikipedia.org
• Damballah at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
• Damballah at the Appendix to the Marvel Universe