VIRACOCHA

Real Name: Con Ticci Viracocha

Identity/Class: Incan God

Occupation: God of Sun and Sky

Group Membership: Council of Godheads, Incan Gods (Kamekeri)

Affiliations: Other gods

Enemies: Kulan Gath

Known Relatives: Bochica (father); Chia (mother); Cocomama (sister/wife); Koniraya (brother); Zaramama (sister); Inti, Tupan, Caruincho (sons); Bachue, Cuycha, Chasca, Kilya (daughters); Ekkeko, Vichama, Manco Capac (grandsons); Huitaca (granddaughter); Tecumotzin (grandfather); Gaea (grandmother, alias Pachamama); The Kamekeri gods (relationship unknown);

Aliases: Huiracocha, Tuchapacha, Tuapaca

Base of Operations: El Dorado

Appearances: (name only) Thor Annual#7; (actual) Thor#300 (October, 1980)

Powers: Viracocha possesses greater powers than any other Incan God. He has superhuman strength (Class 60 perhaps), endurance and great mystical power on the level of Zeus or Odin.

Weaknesses: None known.

History: (Incan Myth) - Viracocha was the son of the ancient gods Bochica and Chia who abdicated their roles in order for him to become ruler of the Incan gods and to allow the Incans to prosper. From 1100 BC to at least 1500 AD, he ruled a pantheon of gods who had worshippers over half of South America. The Incan gods, however, lost much of their power when the Spanish Conquistadors invaded the land bringing Christianity with them and black slaves with their African Gods. Some of the Incans may have fled as far north as Costa Verde in Central America where they spread worship of Viracocha to the Kamekeri Indians.

(Thor I#300) - Viracocha and the heads of all the pantheons met with Zeus and Odin to discuss the threat of the Celestials.

(Thor I#301) - Viracocha donated to Thor the life energies required to restore the Asgardians to life after their ordeal with the Celestials.

(Avengers III#28-30 - BTS) - The undead sorcerer Kulan Gath called out to the gods of the Kamekeri as he petitioned for his right to become a god in their realm. Gath came close to sacrificing Peliali to force his way into their realm, but the Avengers defeated him.

Comments: Adapted by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and Keith Pollard.

The name of the realm for the Incan gods has never really been revealed; El Dorado was actually the Spanish name of a mythical city of gold presumably somewhere in the jungles of South America. The name historically refers to a man who in Incan practices was covered in a layer of gold dust.

Of the Kamekeri gods, Guecufu and Kulamina are Arawak/Arauca gods from Guiana. As yet, there seems to be no mythological basis for Aiomum Kondi, Konassa (except as a title for Koniraya's wife), Kuat, Okonorote or Peliali (who may be based on the Oceanic goddess Pele).

Contrary to Avengers III#30, there is no indication that the Incan (or any) gods are dependant on the belief of their worshippers. They might be reliant on belief for confidence and self-esteem issues, but if the latter were the case, gods like Thor, Odin, and Zeus would not nearly be as powerful as they seem to be.

It seems pretty far-fetched that a sorcerer such as Kulan Gath could capture a god especially since he is so far from his native time period (The Hyborian Age).

Viracocha does not appear to represent the South American gods in Infinity Gauntlet#2. Others who do not appear: Anu (Mesopotamian), Vishnu (Hindu), Yu Huang (Chinese god only seen in Thor#301), Takamimusubi (Japanese), Ukko (Finnish) and Tame (Oceanic).

Profile by: William Uchtman

Clarifications: Viracocha has no known connection to:

• Viracocha, Victor Conrad, of the Bermuda Triangle time warp, @ Skull the Slayer#7
• Virago, the She-Devil of Zephyrland, @ Sub-Mariner I#64
• Virago of Earth-Bishop, one of the Exhumed, @ Xavier Security Enforcers#1
• Virako, the Eternal, @ Thor Annual#7
• Vira, the Deviant, Queen of Tode, @ Eternals I#1