Shadow King
The Shadow King is a comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
The Shadow King
It was said that when the first dreams came in the night that the Shadow King was born in the first nightmare. (X-Treme X-Men 2001 v1 #1) As a being of pure telepathic energy, the Shadow King manifested on the astral plane where he took human hosts unaccounted years with this being a requirement for him to have a link to the physical world. (X-Factor v1 #69)
After Farouk powers developed, he first achieved power over himself where he used his mind to explore the infinite potentials of fleshly experience and then to transcend their limitations. It was then that he learnt to control those around him, eventually feeding on the shadows in the souls of others. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #279)
Prior to World War II, the Shadow King had become an ally of the Nazi's and was head of a conspiracy that sought to destabilise as well as overthrow the British monarchy. In his guise as Amahl Farouk, he plotted with Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and Geist who were both agents of Adolf Hitler, to perform a mystic ceremony that would show Lady Windermere to be the true heir to the throne of England, as opposed to the current King of England Edward. Lady Windermere supported the British fascist party's Oswald Mosley, and the Germans hoped that by placing Mosley in charge of England they would, at best, gain an ally in the coming war and, at worst, have England remain neutral in that same war, ensuring an easy victory for Germany. After insisting on a heavy fee, Farouk arranged to perform this ceremony in the cellar of Lady Windermere's castle. Farouk performed a mystic ceremony, which somehow interacted with the energies of Phoenix Rachel Summers when she stood at the site a circle of standing stones at Stonehenge several decades later. This saw both Rachel and Kitty Pryde being pulled back in time. Kitty escaped and was discovered by Alasdhair Kinross, but Rachel was captured by Farouk who used his psychic powers to place her in a trance. At first, Strucker was skeptical after of Farouk's power after the ceremony's disruption. Afterwards, Kitty and Alasdhair investigated castle Windermere where the castle butler notified the higher ups of their arrival. Unable to locate Kitty or Alasdhair, they kidnapped Lilibet who was Alasdhair's younger cousin and the future Queen Elisabeth II where they took both her and Rachel to Edinburgh. Kitty and Alasdhair pursued in a spitfire, but Farouk took control of Phoenix and sent her to attack the duo. (X-Men: True Friends v1 #1)
Over time, he came to establish himself as the ruler of the Thieves Quarter. (X-Men v1 #117)
Shortly after encountering a young Storm, Xavier walked by a restaurant in Cairo when he was suddenly hit with a powerful psychic attack. Realizing the culprit was inside, he confronted Farouk. The two engaged in a fierce battle on the astral plane. Xavier defeated Farouk, whose body slumped over in his chair. But Farouk's evil mind continued to exist on the astral plane, calling itself the Shadow King. (X-Men v1 #117)
Shadow King
Many years later, the Shadow King sought to attack Xavier, still angry that he had been defeated. He was able to take over the New Mutant Karma due to her own mutant ability of possession making her vulnerable. (New Mutants v1 #6)
Many years later, the Shadow King sought to attack Xavier, still angry that he had been defeated. He was able to take over the New Mutant Karma due to her own mutant ability of possession making her vulnerable. (New Mutants v1 #30) The Shadow King used the Gladiators to abduct Magma and Sunspot, forcing them to fight each other until teammates Cannonball, Shadowcat, Dazzler, and Magik tried to rescue them. In their battle to escape the Gladiators, Cannonball and Shadowcat recognized their obese antagonist as Karma. (New Mutants v1 #31) The team followed Karma to Madripoor, where they were subjected to Karma's mind control augmented by the Shadow King. The remaining New Mutants and Storm fought their teammates in Cairo, where Karma took control of Storm and Mirage. Magik, realizing that Karma was possessed by the Shadow King, released her teammates from Karma's control and Karma from the Shadow King. (New Mutants v1 #33) After losing his host, the Shadow King transferred to Cypher; Karma entered the astral plane, apparently destroying his astral form. (New Mutants v1 #34)
Meanwhile, Farouk also began manipulating Moira MacTaggert and the inhabitants of her Muir Island facility. This led to Moira and others on Muir adopting more aggressive behavior patterns. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #254) Shadow King attempted to compel Val Cooper into executing Mystique for him, and for a time believed she was successful. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #267) The Shadow King set a trap to capture Storm. Her youth gave her less control of her mutant powers, and when he tried to possess her mind she involuntarily hit him with a lightning bolt, but he soon found her with Gambit. They worked together to fight him, escaping with the Shadow King's hounds in pursuit. Mystique defeated Valerie Cooper and impersonated her, appearing on television to report Mystique's death. Part of Carol Danvers separated from Rogue and traveled to Muir Island, where she was forced to fight Legion and Moira MacTaggert, when she emerged from the Siege Perilous in the X-Men's former Australian hideout. Although she defeated them, she was possessed by the Shadow King. He compelled her to go to the Savage Land to find Rogue, but she was defeated on arrival by Magneto. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #269)
Jean Grey tried to access the astral plane with Cerebro, but the Shadow King overrode Cerebro's defenses and noticed that Jean had lost her telepathic powers and was helpless. He tried to turn her into his Shadow Queen, but Psylocke unaware of who he was, threatened him with her psi-blade but ended using it on Jean instead, returning her to the physical world; however, they could not remember the details of the encounter and his identity was not yet compromised. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #273) His control over Muir Island was only uncovered when Professor X probed Colossus' mind after the latter tried to kill him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #279) The X-Men sent a task force which included Storm, Forge, Gambit, Banshee, Wolverine and Jubilee to remove his influence. The Shadow King sent his slaves to defend the island, and they defeated the invaders. Xavier understood that he needed a human host and a nexus to continue his exploits, and planned to cut both the links. Mystique revealed herself and shot Jacob Reisz in the head, destroying his brain and killing the Shadow King's human host. Due to shock and the removal of the Shadow King's host, Legion became unstable. X-Factor discovered that his nexus was Polaris, but the Shadow King took possession of Legion. He ordered the slaves to hide underground because he was going to use Legion's power to destroy the surface of Muir Island. Jean Grey's telekinesis protected X-Factor and the X-Men. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #280)
The Shadow King was later responsible for tricking Psylocke into causing a massive wave of energy that disrupted psionic powers across the world. However, he stretched himself too thin attempting to link with all the minds on Earth and was defeated by Psylocke in her new shadow astral form when she assaulted his personal psionic nexus. The Shadow King then became trapped in Psylocke's mind and was unable to enter the Astral Plane. (X-Men v2 #78) He remained trapped there until Psylocke was killed at the hands of the Mutant hunter Vargas. As a result, the Shadow King was freed again and attempted to attack the X-Men. However, it seemed Rogue's acquired memories were too much for him to handle, and he was defeated once again. (X-Treme X-Men Annual v1 #2001)
Life of X
He later took control of an nuclear launch facility where he left a trail for Psylocke to follow as he intended to confront her. She was alongside her comrades in the secretive X-Force team where the Shadow King took control of their minds in an attempt to kill her body whilst he battled her mind on the astral plane. Elizabeth was saved by the intervention of Fantomex who was immune to telepathic control due to his mask that contained plates that prevented psionic control over him. Whilst in Braddock's mind, he uncovered that she was hiding something leading to him to discover the covert black ops activities of X-Force and her actions in Warren Worthington III's mind as she had looked to chain his Archangel persona. Despite Psylocke's efforts, she was unable to stop the Shadow King from breaking the psionic prison holding the Archangel persona which proceeded with destroying Amahl's psionic body thus defeating him. Archangel then killed a mind controlled soldier to prevent the launch of a nuclear missile thus thwarting the Shadow King's plans. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #8) Though defeated, he survived and had footage of the murder of the soldier at the army base by Archangel with him giving the footage to a news reporter in an effort to expose X-Force and discredit Warren Worthington III. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10)
From his prison in the astral plane, Farouk proceeded with casting a psychic web around the world and began targeting the minds of other psychics causing them to die as their powers spiralled out of control. Among his targets was Psylocke who called upon multiple allies to save her and journey into the astral plane to confront the Shadow King. (Astonishing X-Men v4 #1)
House of X
After the establishment of Krakoa, the living island was declared a sovereign nation and a homeland for all Mutants that were invited to reside on its surface. Amahl Farouk came to be one of many Mutants that accepted the invitation to live in the new nation. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #2) He began mentoring a group of young mutants, who did not like their appearance and encourage their synergizing of their powers, such as experimenting with the corpses in the Boneyard. (New Mutants v4 #18)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He came to be referred to some as the Spider. (Astonishing X-Men v4 #1) His favoured host was a Mutant by the name of Amahl Farouk. (X-Men v1 #117)
It was remarked that his mind was notably malevolent. He considered himself akin to a predator like a lion with him not concerning himself over the feelings of his prey. Instead, he simply took what was his by right where anyone that tried to stop him living to regret it. (X-Men v1 #117)
He was noted to taunt his foes by mixing truths and half-truth with falsehoods to the point that his victims could not tell one from the other. (X-Men v1 #117)
Upon meeting Charles Xavier, he came to find a kindred spirit where he initially wanted them to join forces. In exchange, he offered to show Xavier pleasure beyond his wildest imaginings. Professor X would reject his offer leading to their eventual conflict. The fight was a notable event in Xavier's life as it had been his first encounter with an evil Mutant. (X-Men v1 #117)
Powers and abilities
He can influence many individuals telepathically, but typically chooses only one host to occupy with his disembodied spirit. This host body effectively becomes the Shadow King's own. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #266) The Shadow King can somehow physically repair damage to the host. Although taking a host gives him more power on the physical plane, it also makes him vulnerable. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #280)
Amahl Farouk was a Mutant telepath regarded as a psionic nexus of raw power. (X-Men v1 #117) At one point, it was even stated that he was a true Omega telepath. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #34) According to Storm, with the exception of Charles Xavier, the Shadow King was the most powerful telepath on Earth who could easily take over the minds of even strong willed individuals without their knowledge. (X-Men: Worlds Apart v1 #1) Such was his power that he was even able to take mental control of other high class telepathic Mutants. (Nightcrawler v4 #8)
He was capable of sending psychic bolts able to smash the mind of other living beings. The Shadow King was capable of engaging telepathic foes by unleashing his astral form. (X-Men v1 #117)
In Egypt, he ruled over a criminal empire consisting of thieves that served him. (X-Men v1 #117)
Notes
- The Shadow King was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #117 (January, 1979).
Alternate Versions
- In X-Man v1 #1 (1995), a version of the Shadow King was shown in the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse. He was shown as being a servant of Apocalypse who typically manifested himself as a cloudy face in his masters sanctum. Shadow King was responsible for detecting the emergence of Nate Grey and informed Apocalypse who dispatched assassins to eliminate this threat. He assumes the guise of crime lord Amahl Farouk and encounters Charles Xavier; they wage a psychic battle on the astral plane which kills Farouk's body, forcing his mind to move there. When Xavier died, the Shadow King became an agent of Apocalypse and appeared as a cloudy face in a bottle in his sanctum.
- In Mutant X v1 #21 (2000), an alternate version of the Shadow King appeared in the Mutant X reality set on Earth-1298 in the Multiverse. Similar to the prime reality, this version fought against Professor X but the confrontation resulted in the good part Xavier becoming corrupted. This led to him leaving the X-Men to explore his powers further after he absorbed the Shadow King leading to him slowly emerging as Onslaught. When he returned, it was during an attack by the Juggernaut. Xavier fired a blast at Juggernaut, but it missed and killed Magneto's lover Moira MacTaggert, instead.
- In Ultimate X-Men v2 #1 (2024), an alternate version of the Shadow King was shown on the reborn Ultimate Marvel reality designated as Earth-6160 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men: The Animated Series, the Shadow King appeared as an antagonist in a two-part episode in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Maurice Dean Wint. In flashbacks he is the first evil mutant faced by a younger Charles Xavier, who banished his spirit to the astral plane. Farouk is depicted as an athletic, middle-aged bearded man instead of his bald, obese appearance.
- In Wolverine and the X-Men, the Shadow King featured as an antagonist in the episode "Overflow" where he was voiced by actor Kevin Michael Richardson.
- In Legion, the Shadow King was revealed to be the primary antagonist in the live-action television series season 1 where he was portrayed by various actors. Originally, he was said to had been Amahl Farouk who was born in the 1800s in Morocco where he was a powerful telepathic Mutant. At some point years ago, he battled David Hallers father causing his mind to be displaced from his body. Farouk was defeated but his mind managed survive that became a spectral telepathic entity known as the Shadow King who sought revenge. This saw him finding out his foe had a child and possessed the newborn offspring where he began to live a parasitic existence in the child. The Shadow King was, however, too weak by this point to take control but instead influenced David Hallers life as he grew up after he was given to a foster family. During these years, he took on various forms within David including that of his beloved dog King who did not exist, the Angry Boy (portrayed by Devyn Dalton), another was his best friend Lenny Busker (portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) who was based on Benny (portrayed by Kirby Morrow) and also as the Devil with the Yellow Eyes (portrayed by Quinton Boisclair). During these years, the Shadow Kings influence made it appear that David had suffered from psychological issues and he attempted to have Haller commit suicide as his act of revenge against his father. However, he later learnt that David was a powerful Mutant with incredibly abilities which the Shadow King sought to subsume into his own in order to become a god-like being. After this plan failed, he took control of the body of Oliver Bird and sought to find his original body to be reunited with it and restoring himself to his true power.
Video games
- In X-Men Legends, the Shadow King appeared as among the primary villains in the video game where he was voiced by actor Dorian Harewood.
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, the Shadow King appeared as a playable card in the video game.
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men v1: (1979)
- X-Men v2:
- Uncanny X-Force v1:
- Nightcrawler v4:
- Astonishing X-Men v4:
- New Mutants:
- Resurrection of Magneto v1:
External Links
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