History
Origins and Early Years[]
Yothga, the crimson devil-flower, was a plant-life originated from planet Yag (which has been hypothesized to be Pluto).[1] This plant was a souls-consuming vine.[2][3]
Eons ago,[3] seeds from it drifted from the black gulfs of space, down to Earth,[1][3] possibly growing thick even before the First Men came to be.
This scene was witnessed through visions of the past produced by the Mirrors of Tuzun Thune by King Kull of Valusia, during the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, circa 18,500 BC, while Brule hypothesized they predated humanity.
It was said that its roots stretched right down to Hades where they swarmed with maggots,[3] or Hell where devil-things clanged to them.[2]
Pre-Cataclysmic Age[]
By the Age of Kull, circa 18,500 BC, the vines were present in the unexplored southern jungles of Thuria.
Visiting the unexplored southern jungles to retrieve the Amulet of Ka, Kull, Brule, Ethias, and Akreon encountered the cursed vines.[3]
Hyborian Age[]
During the Hyborian Age of Conan, circa 10,000 BC, Tsotha-Lanti managed to overpower and entrap his rival Pelias in the Scarlet Citadel of Khorshemish, capital of Koth.
For ten years, Pelias remained trapped by the vine, until he was freed by King Conan of Aquilonia, himself a prisoner of Tsotha-Lanti in the Scarlet Citadel, who cut it down.[2]
Description[]
Yothga was known as "the crimson devil-flower".[1] It is a black,[3] thick vine, covered with crimson blossoms and strangely pointed leaves. Yothga used its great crimson to "kiss" its victims.[2]Powers and Abilities
Abilities
The vine could suck.[3] or suck the very souls of those it entrapped. Magic users could not remember their sorcery while the vine drank their souls.[2]
it could also react at the pace of a human.[2][3]Notes
- Yothga was created by Robert E. Howard in "The Scarlet Citadel" (Weird Tales; January, 1933), adapted in Savage Sword of Conan #30 (June, 1978), written by Roy Thomas and penciled by Frank Brunner, in which the vine is only named "devil-flower".
- In Marvel Comics, the vine was named by "Yothga" only in part IV of "Gods of Earth of the Hyborian Age"; "Demi-Gods and Demons", by Robert L. Yaple, and published in Savage Sword of Conan #9 (December, 1975).
- In "The Amulet of Ka" (Kull the Conqueror (Vol. 3) #2; July, 1983), Kull mentions he witnessed in the Mirrors of Tuzun Thune the drifting of seeds that came to be man-hunting "Black Vines" in the Unexplored Jungles of Thuria. Those visions were never mentioned nor depicted in the appearances of the Mirrors, but the description of a vine that feed on the soul of its victims, which seeds drifted eons ago in space before settling on Earth, and whose roots stretch down to Hades and are covered with creatures fits the description of Yothga.
Trivia
- There is no known relation between Yothga the crimson devil-flower and the Devil-Flower worshiped as a god by the Gemba Tribe, and introduced in the Trojak story "The Devil-Flower" (Daring Mystery Comics #5; June, 1940), written by an unidentified writer and penciled by Arnold Hicks.