NDRIANANAHARY
Real Name: Ndriananahary
Identity/Class: African god
Occupation: Supreme god of the Razenes of Malagasy, god of the Underworld
Affiliations: The Council of God Kings, The Orishas
Enemies: Akhenaten
Known Relatives: Ataokoloinona, Rabefihaza (sons); Unkulunkua (wife),
Buluku
(presumed father), Gaea (presumed mother, alias Nana), Obatala (presumed brother), Odudua (presumed sister)
Aliases: None known
Base of Operations: Iku (African Underworld)
First Appearance: Marvel Universe: The End#2 (May, 2003)
Powers/Abilities: Ndriananahary possesses powers superior to most of
the African gods except for perhaps Buluku and Nyambe. He has superhuman
strength (possibly Class 95), stamina, resistance to harm and a long life
enchantment. He also has undefined mystical skills that possibly parallel Pluto or Hela.
History: (African Myth)- Ndriananahary is the Supreme God of the Razane aborigines
of the Malagasy of Madasgascar. He is credited with creating the earth, but he
forgot to create a sun to light it. His son, Ataokoloinona, was the first Chief
of the Razanes, but he vanished from earth. Ndriananahary lit a light to look
for him, but it terrified mortal men who had never seen it before. He hung his
light in the sky as the sun to look over mortals until his son could return. In
return for the light, mortal man promised to look for Ataokoloinona for him and
as mortal died, they returned home to Iku to report their progress.
Unfortunately, the sun stayed on and mortal
man began suffering from the heat. The mortals who entered Iku complained about
the heat as Ndriananahary sent rain to cool the earth. As mortals passing over
mentioned how wet the earth was becoming, Ndriananahary created days and
seasons so that mortals could share equal amounts of light, day, rain and weather.
(Marvel Universe: The End#2)- A group of Godheads met to
discuss the actions of Akhenaten against humanity: Atar (Vedic/Persian),
Horus (Egyptian), Hunab Ku (Mayan), Izanagi (Japanese),
frican), Shou-Hsing (Chinese), Thor (Asgardian), Vishnu
(Hindu), Zeus (Olympian), and Ndriananahary. They also discussed summoning Those of the
Forgotten Realm. Horus, who was most familiar with Akhenaten used the Eye
of Ra to spy on the powerful being, but Akhenaten detected them and attacked,
destroying all present, except Thor and Zeus, who managed to flee.
(Marvel Universe: The End#4 (BTS))- Thanos gained the virtually unlimited power of the Heart of the Infinite and altered
time so that Akhenaten never gained his power, effectively undoing his actions
and restoring those he had destroyed. However, to those who could understand or
even remember what had happened, these actions were seen as the replacement of
one threat with another, perhaps even worse.
(Marvel Universe: The End#5-6)- The Godheads joined together with a multitude of heroes and villains from Earth and
the rest of the universe to oppose Thanos, who had gained supreme power from
the Heart of the Infinite. Thanos easily wiped out every single being in the
universe, but later was convinced by Adam Warlock to sacrifice himself to restore the universe to its previous state.
Comments: Adapted by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom
Ndrianahary also has parallels with Prometheus who bestowed fire on mortals and with Aiomum Kondi whose son
Okonorote also departed heaven to live on Earth.
In most African myth, the sprits of the dead must walk for nine days to reach the underworld which is separated from heaven
by a great desert. It is a layered region with a top portion for only the
chosen and a bottom region for sinners. It might be assumed that Ndriananahary
rules the heights while Damballah of the Loa rules the abyss. Similar levels
exist in Mexican, Egyptian and Chinese myth.
Ndrianahary’s relationship with the other
African Gods is a bit tenuous. Since his son Ataokoloinona is often called the
first man and that Ndriananahary has a sun god and a moon-goddess as siblings,
this would place him ambiguously as a son of Buluku, a brother of Odudua and Obatala
and uncle to Nyambe and Lusa and Mawu, the parents of the Loa.
by
CLARIFICATIONS: Last updated: 08/25/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
Ndriananahary should not be confused with:
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