History
Raul Bushman was born in the small African nation of Burunda to the Domi Tribe, a group of humble farmers. At a young age, his family was driven off their land by European entrepreneurs. He despised the indignity his family suffered and turned to violence, operating as a mercenary and terrorist for hire. To strike fear into his enemies, he gave himself a Death's Head facial tattoo and fitted his jaws with steel teeth. He completed jobs all across the continent, earning a fortune working for the highest bidders.[8] He worked with many other mercenaries and it was in Cairo where he met Marc Spector and "Frenchie" Duchamp.[9] On one mission together, they slaughtered a group of rebels on the Egyptian border, not knowing Marc's brother, Randal Spector, was with in the group and ended up getting shot and left for dead among the rest swearing vengeance against Marc and Bushman.[10]
The team were working on a mission in Sudan and at the border with Egypt when they came upon Dr. Peter Alraune and his daughter, Marlene, in order to steal the Ancient Egyptian gold Alraune had discovered. When Bushman killed Peter Alraune to find the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti II, Spector punched Bushman to protect Marlene. Furious, Bushman mortally wounded him in the desert,[11] killing everyone in the place except for Marlene, Frenchie, and a villager willing to tell him the secrets of the tomb. While lying near death, Spector encountered the spirit of Khonshu and adopted the identity of Moon Knight. In this new guise, Spector defeated Bushman.[12][13]
Bushman eventually surfaced in Harlem, New York operating in drug trafficking and gambling ring. Still hoping for revenge Bushman the led to a fight with Moon Knight which he lost leaving him beaten broken as he was arrested by the N.Y.P.D..[12] Escaping custody, he became convinced that Moon Knight owed his origin to him, not to Khonsu. Bushman decided to prove this point, by destroying the Statue of Khonshu Spector had taken from the tomb. Bushman hired the Midnight Man to steal the statue from Spectres mansion.[14] When Moon Knight found him and the statue Bushmen destroyed it with explosives believing he derived his power and purpose from the statue. This sent Moon Knight insane until Marlene told him the statue was nothing but a fake. After which Moon Knight raided Bushman's Brooklyn base arresting him again and having him deported.[15]
Bushman subversively returned to Burunda and staged a coup, claiming that the president's office and dubbing himself "General Bushman". Under Bushman's reign entire towns were burned to the ground and their citizens put to death. Exploiting his status as a foreign ruler,[16] Bushman opposed Moon Knight through New York's Buranda consulate hiring the the Glitch Brothers to track Moon Knight's activities and secure Marlene's capture.[17] Bushman brought Marlene to Burunda with him and ransomed her for $10 million but Moon Knight bested him and rescued Marlene.[18] Then Bushmen attempted to revive Burunda's economy, with coca fields, intended to create a production system of cocaine. However a rival Central African drug cartel moved against employing the mercenary Arsenal to combat Bushman's army in turn.[19] Arsenal recruited Moon Knight to help in the fight, but learning of his true motivations, Moon Knight broke ties, and then helped the local rebels and overthrew Bushman while Arsenal installed a puppet dictator in Bushman's place.[20]
Bushman was later hired by rogue CIA agent Richard Blaine to disrupt the peace talks between the United States of America and Russia. Blaine arranged for Moon Knight to be there during the assassination attempt on the Russian President and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in Frenchie and Marlene to kill the Russian president, and Moon Knight. However, Moon Knight realised his friends were under Blaine's control in time to prevent the assassination and restore both to normal.[21] He was later jailed, but eventually escaped alongside Black Spectre, and recruited by Seth the Egyptian God of Death, who manifested himself through a dream manipulating Morpheus on the Seth's orders.[22] Bushman helped plant Seth's statue at the United Nations intending for him to inhabit the vessel and use the mystical influence over the UN delegates to plunge Earth into World War III. But Khonshu guided Moon Knight to oppose the plot and defeat Bushman. But during he fight Bushman shattered Moon Knight's leg.[23]
Finally, Bushman was seemingly killed by Moon Knight after a brutal rooftop battle. In an attempt to bring their feud to an end, Moon Knight used the sharp end of his Crescent Dart to carve off Bushman's face.[24] After this, Spector believed he was continually visited by Khonshu in the form of a faceless Bushman, so that he was reminded of "his greatest work".[25] He continued to follow him in Bushman's form for the next few missions.[26]
Bushman was supernaturally resurrected by criminal overlord The Hood[27] to be recruited as part of his force, which included Ghost Rider foe the Scarecrow, to combat Moon Knight after he returned to New York.[28] When investigating a warehouse at the docks, Moon Knight was ambushed and shot by Bushman, the two engaged in a violent fight and Bushman ended up impaled by a machine gun. As Moon Knight was about to carve off Bushman's face once more, a vision of Khonshu appeared, yelling at Moon Knight to obey him. Bushman pleaded for Moon Knight not to take his face off and Moon Knight reluctantly left it intact.[29] Bushman survived and was interned in Ravencroft Institute,[30] nonetheless he eventually got out and began dealing crack and arms alongside Crossfire.[31][32]
Bushman was eventually approached by the Sun King, who wanted his help to kill Marc Spector. Bushman initially dismissed him until Sun King displayed his pyrokinetic powers.[33] Together, they forced Spector's ex-girlfriend Marlene Alraune to lure Marc to her house.[34] In the subsequent fight, the villains escaped with Marlene[35] and Bushman used her as leverage to force Moon Knight to travel with him to the Sun King's base of operations in Isla Ra. During the boat trip, Bushman taunted Marc and threatened Marlene. Despite being restrained, Moon Knight broke free and beat up Bushman, using one of his Crescent Darts to cut off two of his fingers.[7] As soon as the Sun King was defeated in a ritual combat against Spector, Bushman fled.[36]
Bushman was seen again working with Baron Zemo and Taskmaster,[37] before being captured and incarcerated in Ravencroft Institute.[38][39] He escaped not long afterwards alongside most of the inmates.[40]Attributes
Abilities
- Bushman is an adept swordsman, marksman and unarmed combatant. He has extensive experience in guerrilla warfare and battle tactics.[8]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Notes
- Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #1, Bushman is 6'2". However, Frenchie, who is 6'3" as said in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #2, said in Moon Knight #9 that Bushman towers over him.
See Also
- 36 appearance(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 15 minor appearance(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 15 mention(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 25 image(s) of Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
- 2 victim(s) killed by Raul Bushman (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 5) #3
- ↑ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #2
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #13
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #3
- ↑ Moon Knight #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Moon Knight #192
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #3
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 8) #12
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #37
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #16
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Moon Knight #1
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 8) #13–14
- ↑ Moon Knight #9
- ↑ Moon Knight #10
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2–3
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #11–12
- ↑ Marc Spector: Moon Knight #13–14
- ↑ Moon Knight: Divided We Fall #1
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 5) #2
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 5) #4
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 5) #8–10
- ↑ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #2
- ↑ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3–4
- ↑ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5
- ↑ Vengeance of the Moon Knight #6
- ↑ Civil War II: Kingpin #2
- ↑ Moon Knight #190
- ↑ Moon Knight #189
- ↑ Moon Knight #190
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Moon Knight #191
- ↑ Moon Knight #193
- ↑ Black Widow (Vol. 7) #2
- ↑ Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula #1
- ↑ King in Black: Thunderbolts #2
- ↑ Ravencroft #4
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update Vol 1 3