DAGOTH

Real Name: Dagoth

Identity/Class: Demon

Occupation: Agent of Shuma-Gorath

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Agent of Shuma-Gorath; Kulthas/Kathulos (ally); the citizens of Kalumesh (former worshippers), unidentified high priestess

Enemies: Dr. Strange, Henry Gordon, Blondine, the people of Penmallow (pawns)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Dark One, the Sea Demon, Dagoth of the Wicked Ways, Dagoth the Sea Born

Base of Operations: The city of Kalumesh, outside Penmallow, Cornwall, England

First Appearance: Marvel Premiere#7 (March, 1973)

Powers: Superhuman strength (@ Class 10), ability to breathe underwater (may or may not be able to breathe in air). He could mentally influence anyone descended or reincarnated from the people of Kalumesh. He could use the power of the Starstone (together with the power of Kathulos) to entrance and control an entire town.

History: Dagoth is a member of the second class of demons (as per the OHotMU), who may be fallen or degenerate gods, but date from far later generations. At some point, under unknown circumstances, he became a servant of the extra-dimensional demon Shuma-Gorath.

(Marvel Premiere#7(fb)) - In centuries or millennia past, Dagoth was worshipped as high priest in the city of Kalumesh. The citizens of that city served his every need and performed many bloody sacrifices in his name. Eventually the city was buried beneath the sea by monstrous waves which rose upward and smote the evil city. Dagoth himself was overwhelmed and buried as the city collapsed on him. All who worshipped Dagoth died beneath the smothering waves. The city came to rest at the ocean floor, outside what would be Cornwall, England.

BTS - Dagoth apparently escaped the confines of the city of Kalumesh at some point, and was rumored to have inhabited the depths of the waters outside Penmallow, Cornwall.

(Marvel Premiere#7) - Henry Gordon inherited the manor of Witch House and read of the legends of Dagoth. He somehow attracted the attention of Dagoth, who apparently entered the manor and left the Starstone to be found outside of the nearby Tower of Dagoth. This stimulated Gordon's interest, and he and the house's caretaker, Blondine, used scuba gear to investigate and locate the sunken city of Kalumesh.

However, they also found Dagoth, who attacked the two. Fortunately, the sorcerer Dr. Strange was flying overhead (on a mission to locate evidence of Shuma-Gorath at Stonehenge) at the time, sensed Dagoth's power, and flew beneath the waves to save them. Strange created of an illusion of himself, which Dagoth attacked and seemingly strangled, but then found himself bound by the Rings of Raggadorr as Strange escaped with Gordon and Blondine.

That night, Dagoth summoned Blondine to activate the Starstone, which sent the people of Penmallow into a trance. Under Dagoth's control, they attempted to enter the city of Kalumesh to become sacrifices to Shuma-Gorath. This involved their walking into the sea, where they would drown beneath its waves in the journey. However, Dr. Strange again sensed the activities and Dagoth, and opposed him, freeing the people from their trance, so they could swim to safety at the surface. Dagoth attacked Strange, who gathered the ambient magic and used it to banish Dagoth to some unnamed dimension, never to return.

Comments: Created/Adapted by Gardner Fox and Craig Russell.

Chris Jarocha-Ernst:
"The Dagoth Hills" were mentioned in Robert E. Howard's "The Dwellers Under the Tomb", which seems to be about ghouls of the Lovecraftian type. Dagoth was also featured in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Conan the Destroyer. The movie's novelization was written by Robert Jordan.