Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)

Erlik
Real Name	Erlik
Aliases	Erlik of Turan, Black Erlik, Dark Erlik, Yellow God, Yellow God of Death, Yellow Hand of Death, others
Relatives	Tengri, Gaea (parents/creators); Koyash, Kuara, Ulgen (brothers); Ay (sister); Raktavashi (son); Lilitu, Ardat Lili (alleged scions) Zabibi (possible daughter through the high priest of Raktavashi)
Status
Citizenship	Ergenekon
Occupation	God of death, and evil
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Black
Hair	Black
Origin
Origin	Tenger
Universe	Earth-616
Creators	Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, John Buscema (see notes)
First Appearance	Conan the Barbarian #19 (October, 1972)  (Mentioned) Conan the Barbarian #120 (March, 1981)

History

Origins

Erlik was a Tenger, sired by Tengri, the god of the Eternal Blue Sky who predated all things in central Asia, and coupled with Gaea to create the god Erlik, Gaea providing a physical body by shaping it from mud, and Tengri imbuing it with life essence (or kut).

Erlik became prideful and arrogant, forcing Tengri to banish him to the underworld, where he became the god of death and evil. Tengri replaced Erlik as architect of the Earthly plane with Ulgen. The banished Erlik descended upon humanity with sin and disease, even finding a small group of worshipers during the Hyborian Age centuries before the other gods became popular.

Pre-Cataclysmic Age

In the days of ancient Zarfhaana, Erlik was stated to be "but a devil to frighten children".

In ancient Valusia, mortally wounded nobleman Vonndhar was granted eternal life by Erlik, in exchange for his service.

Great Cataclysm aftermaths

After the Great Cataclysm, circa 18,000 BC, the prophet known as the Tarim was worshiped as Erlik's living avatar and brought Erlik worship to Hyrkanian tribes, who founded the Turanian Empire.

Around the same time, Erlik was worshiped in Pathenia, a remote northern realm. where was located the Temple of Erlik.

Age of Acheron (13,000 BC)

Circa 13,000 BC, before the Fall of Acheron (and the end of the Age of Acheron), Erlik was considered a "minor godling of the steppes", at least by Acheronian priest of Set Kheperu.

Hyborian Age

Age of Conan (10,000 BC)

Erlik achieved prominence around 10,000 BC. and was worshiped in Turan and Hyrkania,

Around that point, Vonndhar relinquished his life to Erlik to restore his would-be-lover Jenna of Shadizar.

Through the Tarim, and allied with the Celtic goddess Scathach, Erlik arranged for Sonja of Hyrkania to become a mighty warrior.

The Lemurians, Hyrkanians and Turanians were the ancestors of the Huns, Mongols, Tartars and Turks.

Modern Age

Erlik was worshipped by the xenophobic Khirgiz tribe of Afghanistan, descendants of the Mongols.

Notes

• Robert E. Howard based the character and god "Erlik" on the Mongolian god rlik, or Erlik Khan. He also wrote an El Borak story, "The Daughter of Erlik Khan" (published in 1974), adapted as the Conan story "**" in Savage Sword of Conan #235 (July, 1995; the final issue of the original run of Savage Sword of Conan), written by Roy Thomas and penciled by John Buscema.
• Another Marvel character, Erlik Khan (first appeared in Strange Tales Vol 2 #6, September, 1987), is presumably based on the same god, although he bears little resemblance to its inspiration.

Links and References

• 3 Appearances of Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)
• 1 Minor Appearances of Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)
• Media Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616) was Mentioned in
• 2 Images featuring Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)
• Quotations by or about Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616) 
• Erlik at Wikipedia.org
• Erlik at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe

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• Search this site for: Erlik (Tenger) (Earth-616)

Footnotes

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