History
As prophesized by an old man, Imhotep and his hundred thousand brothers came one night to Bêcharadur, descending upon the city in a lightning-quick assault, completely destroying the city-state.[1]
Imhotep and his Sky-Horde appeared soon afterward over the great forest of Shem. Imhotep sent forth a destructive mist that stole the life from General Soto's soldiers, though Conan, who possessed a magical amulet, and Keiv, whom he held, were spared. Strengthened by the massive kill, Imhotep prepared to regain his freedom, but then his Sky-Horde abruptly fell from the air, and Imhotep's power waned again. He realized that though the amulet was the key to his escape from this world, its presence repulsed him, filling him with waves of fear and loathing. He vowed to someday overcome his fear of the amulet, gain his freedom, track down Pathir, and have his revenge before finally returning home.[2]
Seeing Conan as a rival, King Maddoc II sent him with untrained troops (prisoners released from the cells) to battle the savage M'Gai tribe. The battle broke up as the M'Gai leader, Kollos, on the verge of victory, fled upon sensing the approach of Imhotep.[3]
Imhotep alighted atop his winged steed, and Conan confronted him, driving him back with the amulet. Seeing this power, Kollos ambushed Conan, striking him from behind and stealing the amulet, after which Imhotep charged and then tackled Conan. Imhotep clashed swords with Conan, quickly putting the Cimmerian on the defensive. As Imhotep's horde approached from the sky, Conan's soldiers rallied to his aid, retaking the amulet. Meanwhile, Conan battled Imhotep fiercely, using his skill to hold off the vastly more powerful demon. When Imhotep became enraged at the time the battle was taking and the difficulty he was having in defeating a single mortal, Conan took advantage of the demon's careless and sliced him nearly in half with Imhotep's own sword. Imhotep collapsed and his horde fled into the sky; but when Shapur returned the amulet to Conan, Imhotep arose anew and snatched the amulet from his hands. Imhotep's contact with the amulet unleashed a burst of eldritch energy that forged an empathic bond between Imhotep and Conan such that Conan was the only one who could continue to see and hear him. Imhotep acknowledged that Conan was the first among humanity that he had found worthy of survival and that Conan was a noble being who had bested him. Telling Conan that he had broken his spirit, Imhotep knelt before him and told him he was forever his slave.[4]
Invisible to most, Imhotep was nonetheless seen by Keiv when Conan and his troops returned to El Shah Maddoc. As Conan prepared his troops to battle Maddoc and the real army, he agreed that if Imhotep helped him into Maddoc's castle that he would consider giving him the amulet. The next morning, with Keiv and Imhotep at his side, Conan led the troops to assault Maddoc's castle. After a brutal battle, Conan slew Maddoc. Afterwards, "Tetra" confronted Conan, Keiv, and Imhotep, and Imhotep recognized her as Pathir; she suddenly blew up the entire castle.[5]
After Conan agreed to be her lover, Tetra transported Conan back to the castle and then followed his instruction to return Keiv back to his human form. Forcing Tetra to accept that she actually was a demonic creature that had just taken Tetra's form, Conan broke her spirit and then slew her. Imhotep saved Conan from falling to his death as Tetra/Pathir's tower collapsed, and Conan gave him the Amulet of Pathir. Departing to return to his brothers in the void, Imhotep dropped Conan a short distance to the ground and told him that if they ever met again it would not be as allies.[6]
Many years later, while he was with Conan in Meroe, Imhotep became hunted by his own Sky-Horde, so he sent Conan to escape on his own. The Sky-Horde easily overpowered the Meroan soldiers and caused them to flee, then confronted Imhotep, bowing before him but confirming they were still under Hak-Heru's command and they had to bring him back to Kheshatta. Imhotep decapitated one of his former minions with his scythe, proving that his power had now permeated the scythe, after which he left the scythe for Conan, and then agreed to go peaceably with the Sky-Horde. Per Hak-Heru's commands, the Sky-Horde took him by force nonetheless, and they flew off to Kheshatta.[7]Attributes
Powers
Immoveable, unstoppable.
Imhotep is superhumanly durable. His skin can be penetrated by sufficiently sharp objects, and his limbs severed, but he heals almost instantly and the missing parts can be re-attached. He can supposedly survive being cut in half.[4] The limits of his ability to survive are unknown.
He can charge certain items with his own magical power, notably transforming a common scythe to a weapon able to kill lesser demons.Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Transportation
See Also
- 10 appearance(s) of Imhotep (Demon) (Earth-616)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Imhotep (Demon) (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Imhotep (Demon) (Earth-616)
- 1 invocation(s) of Imhotep (Demon) (Earth-616)
- 3 image(s) of Imhotep (Demon) (Earth-616)