Yogah (Earth-616)

Yag-Kosha
Name	Yogah
Current Alias	Yag-Kosha and/or Yag-kosha
Aliases	Yogah of Yag
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Brief ally of Conan Formerly slave of Yara; worshiped by the Priests of Yun
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Skin	Green
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Alien
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Yag
Place of Death	Tower of the Elephant, Arenjun, Zamora, Hyboria, Earth
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Yag
Occupation	Slave Formerly rebel on Yag, worshiped as a deity in Khitai
Base of Operations	Tower of the Elephant, Arenjun, Zamora, Hyboria, Earth Formerly Lost Jungle, Khitai, Hyboria, Earth; Planet Yag
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Barry Smith
First	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)
First	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)
Death	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)
Death	Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971)

History

Origin and early years

Yag-Kosha once was Yogah and lived on the green Yag, a planet at the edge of the Universe. He and other of his race fought a war against the Kings of Yag but were defeated, so they had to leave their home planet and voyaged in the cosmos thanks to their wings. They arrived to the Earth when still the dinosaurs were and man was still not. Unfortunately, on the Earth they lost their wings. They first lived in the jungles of the East and had to defend themselves from the wild animals that populated that lands.

Pre-Cataclysmic Age

They then retired aside and observed man rising from the caverns and his cities' growth, such as those of Valusia, Kamelia, and Commoria, among other realms. They also saw the oceans swallowing Atlantis and the survivors building new cities.

Hyborian Age

During these long years, the rest of his companions died off, until Yag-Kosha was the last. He became venerated as a god in the jungles of Khitai by the Priests of Yun.

Then Yara arrived, knowing the dark magic arts. First he sat at Yag-Kosha's feet, learning his wisdom and knowledge, but one day, the sorcerer revealed his evil intentions and enslaved Yag-Kosha with his sorcery. Yara brought Yag-Kosha in Arenjun and obliged Yag-Kosha to create a tower for him. Using his powers Yag-Kosha raised the Tower of the Elephant in just one night, and Yag-Kosha used it as his house. 300 years passed while Yara continued to learn magic from Yag-Kosha, torturing him with the fire and the wheel. Yag-Kosha was chained in the Tower, blinded and his arms and legs broken. One night, Conan the Cimmerian climbed the Tower of the Elephant looking for the Heart of the Elephant, the most precious gem of all the Yara's treasure, and reached the room where Yag-Kosha's was imprisoned. There he was moved to pity by Yag-Kosha who told his history to the barbarian. Yag-Kosha felt the blood on Conan's body and knew of the two men he had killed, Taurus, on the top of the Tower, and the Kothian in the tavern. Yag-Kosha said that the third death would achieve the magic of his liberation. Then the ancient being asked to Conan to free him using his last spell of the Blood and the Gem. He asked Conan to kill him and to take his heart and to squeeze its blood on the purple gem: the Heart of the Elephant. Reluctantly Conan did so. While he was leaving the room he felt that in Yag-Kosha's body something was happening, but he had to bring the gem to Yara. In his Ebony room Conan completed the spell pronouncing the last words. Yara, stuporous from the yellow lotus effects, awakened from his sleep and grabbed the purple-red gem. Yara 's body started to shrink in size. The sorcerer tried to run away from the Heart, but an invisible magnetic force held him close. Yara turned back and climbed on the top of the Heart and soon started to sink into the Heart of the Elephant. In that wide purple sea, Yag-Kosha arrived flying above Yara, no more crippled, no more blind. The evil sorcerer tried to run away, but Yag-Kosha pursued him like a winged avenger. Then the Heart of the Elephant exploded in thousands of shimmering lights. Conan ran away from the Tower just in time to save himself from the Tower crumbling in the purple sunrise, shimmering in pieces as the Heart did before.

Attributes

Powers

It is unknown if Yag-Kosha's powers derived from his alien physiology or from magic learned in some way. He had a long life measurable in eons. His race could survive in outer space. They could fly, more quickly in outer space than within an atmosphere. His powers let him build the Tower of the Elephant in just one night. He could understand what people-race Conan belonged to only touching him with his trunk. His psychic powers included telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and postcognition. He knew how to use the Heart of the Elephant, and he was able to revive into it after being killed.

Weaknesses

Earth's atmosphere had a bad effect on Yag-Kosha's people: they lost their wings and remained entrapped on the Earth. It is unknown if it had other negative effects on their physiology or powers.

Notes

• Yogah/Yag-Kosha was created by Robert E. Howard in "The Tower of the Elephant" (March, 1933), adapted in Conan the Barbarian #4 (April, 1971) and in Savage Sword of Conan #24 (November, 1977).

See Also

• 3 appearance(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)
• 9 minor appearance(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)
• 1 invocation(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)
• 2 image(s) of Yogah (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Yag-Kosha at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe