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History

Naga, a member of the Homo mermanus species, was born five hundred years ago in Lemuria, a submarine continent in the Pacific Ocean. Through some means, Naga became the emperor of Lemuria and a worshipper of serpent god Set, who considered Naga a valuable servant. The Lemurians discovered Set's long-lost Serpent Crown and Set convinced Naga to hold the Crown. Naga ordered one of his lackeys to get the crown from the skeletal hands of its previous owners, but the lackey died when trying. However, Naga could hold the crown himself and wear it on his head. Apparently, Set wanted Naga to conquer the world in his name. As a mark, Set provided Naga with reptilian features to make him similar to Set himself.[1]

Set, satisfied with Naga, explained him how to grease the crown with some fish oils to stop his aging - however, this effect could not last if the Crown was not on Naga's head. Thus, Naga ruled despotically for centuries with the Crown, although, in time, his features became more and more reptilian. Even Naga's subjects, the Lemurians, began to share this features. During his time as a despot, he resorted to torture, murder and prison of any subject he could consider his enemy. He was mad even before his immortality, and this made it worse.[2]

Many rebellions against Naga appeared, but he used his powers to annihilate them. A group of telepathic young Lemurians formed a dissident movement and, under the leadership of Piscastos, stole the Serpent Crown while Naga was sleeping. They ran away and used a special serum to allow them breath air. They found a small city in the Antarctica and settled there; they would be known as the Ancients.[3]

Without the Crown, Naga began to grow old. He formed a group of warriors, The Searchers, and sent them after the Crown, but they failed for decades.[2]

Meanwhile, the High Priestess of Set and half-Lemurian mutant Llyra manipulated senile Naga to arrange her a marriage to Naga's oldest surviving son, Prince Merro, wanting to became empress of Lemuria herself.[4]

Finally, a Searcher named Karthon found the Serpent Crown in the hands of Prince Namor of Atlantis. Karthon took both the Crown and Namor to Lemuria. Naga took the crown again, expecting to recover his youth, but that did not happen: He stop aging, but he did not became younger. He also recovered his other powers. To break Namor's will, Naga killed a Lemurian woman and used an illusion so that Namor would believe that the corpse was that of his lover, Dorma.[5]

Karthon respected Namor as a foe, and begged Naga for mercy in the name of his faithful Searchers. However, Naga destroyed the Searchers (except for Karthon) in a simple show of power, and threw Namor to a Colosseum to fight for his life while he and his people watched for fun. Namor survived the fights and Naga offered him a grace: Namor could choose the next beast he would fight. Namor chose "The most dangerous beast of them all: The beast called Naga!". Naga jumped to the Colosseum, opened a rift in the ocean floor and ordered Namor to jump there using his mind control.[6]

But Namor resisted, wanted to avenge Dorma. Naga then showed that the corpse was not Dorma's, and broke the illusion. Karthon recognized the corpse as his sister's and, suddenly mad, betrayed his ruler and stabbed him, saving Namor. Namor placed the Serpent Crown on Naga's corpse, so that Set could only hold a dead's mind. Besides, due to the recently created rift, an earthquake destroyed the Colosseum and swallowed Naga and the crown.[6]

Years after Naga's death, human Hugh Jones fell under the influence of the Serpent Crown and conjured the spirit of its previous holders to fight the Scarlet Witch and the Thing. One of these spirits was Naga's.[7]

Years later, Deviant priest Ghaur allied with the new empress of Lemuria, Llyra, to re-build the Serpent Crown and sacrifice seven super human women, The Brides of Set to bring Set physically to Earth. Ghaur mind-probed the Crown and unwittingly freed Naga's spirit, who wanted to recover the Crown's power. Naga fought Ghaur in a will duel until both of them and Llyra vanished due to Set's power and his fight against different super-heroes. After that, the Brides of Set threw the Crown to a new rift.[8]

Attributes

Powers

  • Resistance to Cold
  • Swimming
  • Water breathing due to gills on his neck; can breathe both freshwater and saltwater; however, cannot breathe air. Can resist water pressure in the ocean, and see perfectly underwater.

Abilities

Has shown some administrative skills to govern Lemuria.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

  • Serpent Crown: As a wearer of Set's Serpent Crown, Naga is a user of different powers, including:
    • Energy Shield
    • Illusion Generation
    • Improved Psyche
    • Improved Strength
    • Matter Transformation only affecting objects he was touching himself and to a maximum mass of 85 pounds
    • Mind Control
    • Mind Reading affecting only superficial thoughts; probing required an effort
    • Mystic Energy Bolts
    • Levitation
    • Retarded Aging
    • Telekinesis including the ability to create rifts in the ocean floor.
    • Teleport

Transportation

  • Levitation throughout the Serpent Crown

Trivia

  • Naga is also the name a mythological race of snake-men in Southern Asia, considered monsters in India or ancestors of the people of Cambodia. In Sanskrit and many languages derived from it, Naga means "snake" or "dragon". Notice that the name has been used in other media as in Naga the Serpent, a character in the anime Slayers or fictional monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, Warcraft or World of Darkness.

See Also

Links and References

References

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