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Kukulkán (Ahau) (Earth-616)

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History

Origin[]

The origin of the Ahau and of Kukulkán is shrouded in legend. According to ancient myths, the Sky Father Hunab Ku emerged out of primordial nothingness. He then created the Heart of Heaven which he used to create the first generation of Maya gods.[2] Kukulkán was the god of wind,[1][2] and a sky god.

Still, according to legends, the Ahau created and destroyed the world several times. Kukulkán joined the Oxlahun ti Ku, "Divine 13" lord of heaven against the Bolon ti Ku in a battle that destroyed the world.

Despite being on the loser side,[1] Kukulkán's suggested that the gods created the first mortals out of maize flour,[2] which grandmother goddess Xmucane mixed with spring water to make clay men into which Kukulcán breathed life.[1]

Human worship[]

Kukulkán was worshiped under various names for over 12,000 years[1] (during the Hyborian Age) including as Kukulcan in Ptahuacan in Antillia.[5]

The Ahau as a whole came to be worshiped by the Maya of Southern Mexico and northern Central America from 1800 BC to the 16th century.[2] The human King Kukulkán was believed to be one of the forms of the god Kukulkán.[1]

In the later centuries of the first millennium A.D., a Maya tribe who drank water from a spring that had been contaminated by exposure to a subterranean pocket of Terrigen Crystals gained superhuman powers. These Mayapan, as they called themselves, eventually gained godlike powers by absorbing lifeforce from humans, and many began to impersonate the Maya gods they had once worshipped. The most powerful of them, their leader, began calling himself Kukulkan.[6] In the 9th century AD, these "gods" had their worshippers/slaves construct a "Temple of Kukulcan" in Chichen Itza.[7] However, more than one thousand years ago, all the Mayapan were trapped within a different pyramid built specifically for that purpose by two rebellious members of their group who wanted to protect the world from their fellows.[8][9]

At some point, the Pyramid of Kukulcán was built in a Maya city-state located in the southernmost part of the Yucatan Peninsula. The name of this kingdom has never been revealed but its territory existed within the borders of what later became the nation of Santo Rico (also known as "San Rico").[10][11]

At some point, an enchanted amulet known as the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcán was created by unknown parties. When its two halves were joined together, this Pendant of Power was able to grant its wearer the powers and attributes of the god Kukulkán. However, misuse of the pendant's divine power led to a holocaust of violent upheaval during with a Maya city was showered with tons of molten lava, as if from a volcanic eruption.[12]

In the months before the Celestial Third Host arrived on Earth, a group of Eternals undertook a mission "civilize" various human tribes in South America and Central America. During their interaction with a Maya tribe, their leader Virako was known to the humans as Kukulcan.[13]

Beginning in the late 13th century AD, the rise of the Aztec culture led mortals to confuse Ahau and Tēteoh, the gods of Mexico.[2] Kukulkán was confused for Quetzalcoatl.[1]

Around the 1500s, the Ahau's worship gave way to Christianity,[2] including Kukulcán's,[1] without disappearing completely even in the modern era,[2] including some who remained faithful while assimilating into colonial society, and others who fled to the Valley of the Vanished in Central America.[1]

1940s[]

Statue of Kukulkán in , 1948

Statue of Kukulkán in Apaco, 1948

In 1948, American criminal "Big" Jim Derry located the hidden Mayan city of Apaco in the jungles of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Apaco's inhabitants, who still worshipped the Ahau, had a large statue of Kukulkán erected in the center of their city. Although Derry and his allies pretended to befriend Apaco's inhabitants and help them restore their ancestral empire, they were actually looting the city of its gold and jewels. Using a megaphone, Derry and his allies impersonated Kukulkán and tricked Apaco's inhabitants into following the edicts that emanated from the Kukulkán statue. However, Namora, who was assisting a nearby archaeological expedition, discovered Derry's deceit and alerted Apaco's inhabitants so that Derry's plan could be foiled.[4]

Modern Days[]

possessed by Kukulkán

El Tigre possessed by Kukulkán

After searching for the "hidden pyramid" for years, the treasure hunter known as El Tigre found the pyramid and the lost treasure that legend had said was near it. However, he also found one half of the Pendant of Kukulcan, possession of which bestowed upon him certain powerful mental abilities. After learning that possessing and joining both halves would grant him power without limit, el Tigre allowed his half to guide him to New York City where he found the other half on display at the City Museum. After taking that half and joining both halves together, el Tigre was mystically transformed into a reincarnation of Kukulkán.[10] Using his newfound godly powers, the possessed el Tigre transported himself back to the pyramid in Santo Rico, where he used telekinesis to remove the jungle overgrowth that had covered the ancient Plumed Serpent statute which housed the Solar Stone, the power source for the Sacred Pendant of Kukulkán. El Tigre then proceeded to restore the ruins of the surrounding Mayan city, planning to use it as a base for a new world-conquering empire populated by subjects enthralled by the increased mental abilities he now possessed thanks to the energy from the Solar Stone. His plans for world domination were opposed by the mutant X-Men, who had followed him from New York, and in the ensuing battle the Plumed Serpent idol and its Solar Stone fell into an enormous chasm, cutting the Pendant off from its power source. Without that energy supply, el Tigre lost the vast powers of Kukulkán and reverted to his powerless human form, leading to his defeat and capture.[12]

He was impersonated in recent years by Kukulkan of the Mayapan.[9]

Attributes

Power Grid[14]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Several Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (75-100 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

Paraphernalia

Equipment

  • Pendant of Kukulcán: Kukulcán used the Pendant of Kukulcán (or Pendant of Power), which allowed him to possess its wielders while coating when with golden armor-like skin, and granting them his abilities of telepathy, telekinesis and danger-detecting "sixth sense".[1]

Notes

  • The story in X-Men #25–26 is also unclear as to exactly how possessed Juan Meroz was by Kukulkán while he was wearing the complete Pendant of Kukulcán. For example, did the spirit of the god enter into, transform and control Meroz's human body? Or was it instead a less-direct form of possession, one in which the pendant endowed Meroz with powers, transformed his body and overlaid his personality with a copy of the mind of Kukulkán that had somehow been recorded/stored within the amulet? Unless the long-missing pendant reappears in some future story, any questions about it will remain unanswered.

See Also

Links and References

References

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