YAMA
YAMA
Real Name: Yama
Identity/Class: Hindu God
Occupation: God of the Dead
Group Membership: The Daevas (Hindu gods)
Affiliations: Gods of the Dead (Ahpuch, Eriskegal, Hela, Mephisto, Pluto, Seth), Hippolyta, Mahdi,
Enemies: Aba, Demogorge the God Eater, Kordu, Ral, Sali
Known Relatives:
Aliases: Dakshinapatis
First Appearance: (Atlas) Strange Tales I#29/6 (June, 1954); (In Vision) Amazing High Adventures#5/3 (December, 1986); (Real) Thor Annual#10 (1981)
Powers/Abilities: Yama possesses the conventional power
of a Hindu god such as superhuman strength (Class 35 perhaps), stamina and
endurence. he has has latent mystical powers occult in nature such as the
ability to conjure hellfire.
History: (Amazing High Adventure#5/3) - <1870's> An Indian rebel
called the Mahdi, seeking to destroy the British army, prayed to the Hindu
gods, demanding the power to fight the British. In a vision, Yama, Ratri
(goddess of night), Agni (god of fire, two-headed), Maya (goddess of dreams),
and Kâli granted the Mahdi powers and weapons to fight the British. From
Yama, the Mahdi gained a fiery sword, from Ratri the power of "the night's
shadows", from Agni sacrificial flame, from Maya the power to drive his enemies
to despair with illusions, and from Kâli the wheel of destruction. The Mahdi
then used these powers in battle-only to discover too late that he had offended
the gods by trying to order them around. The Mahdi's weapons were only illusions,
and he died in battle.
(Strange Tales I#29/6) - In the 1950s the God of Justice came to Earth to take Aba, Ral, Sali and the spirit of the deceased Kordu with him for punishment after each gave a false testimony to gain an advantage by blaiming someone they hated for Kordu's accidental death.
(Fearless Defenders#3 (fb) ) - Hela bargained with the other death gods, including Yama, to resurrect Hippolyta.
Comments: Adapted by Alan Zelenetz and Bob
Hall.
Yama's unique family comes from the fact that his father Surya
took his brother's daughter Saranyu as a wife. Surya and Tvashtri are
brothers.
In Hindu myth, Yama rode a black buffalo.
In Thor Annual#10, Yama referred to himself as "Yama of the
Orient."
In the Conan story, "The City of Skulls" (adapted to Savage
Sword of Conan#59, reprinted in Conan Saga#64), we discover that in the Hyborian
age, a land called Meru existed. Meru was a valley carved out of the mountains
of the Himelias by Yama, king of the demons. (This story is apparently not
in-continuity, however, as it seems to conflict with Conan the Barbarian
I#37's story "The Curse of the Golden Skull".)
Alright, there's clearly a breakdown here. Hinduism is a very
large and thriving religion, and as several people pointed out within hours
of this file being posted, Yama should still be getting new souls...whether
it's just the evil ones, or whatever. An odd mistake on the part of the author of the
Amazing High Adventures concept. The concept of a
Mahdi is a Muslim, not a Hindu concept. The Mahdi will
serve as an assistant to Jesus when Muslims believe
Jesus will return to stop the Anti-Christ, protect
Muslims, and kill all pigs.
Thanks to Gammatotem for pointing out Yama's Strange Tales appearance.
Profile by
William
Uchtman.
Clarifications: Yama was the
inspiration for, but should be differentiated from: Appearances: Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First Posted: 01/22/2002 Non-Marvel Copyright info Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Surya (father); Saranyu (mother), Tvashtri (grandfather/uncle),
Indra, Agni, Vayu (uncles); Ratri, Ushas (aunts), Chhaya (maternal aunt);
Indu, Chandra (half-brothers);
Yami (sister/wife); Dyaus (grandfather); Prithivi (grandmother);
Base of Operations: Patala - The Hindu Underworld
(Thor
Annual#10) - Yama was the ancient god of the dead through the Vedic
and Hindu pantheons of India. Annoyed by the lack of new souls into his realm
for centuries, he entered into an unholy alliance with six other gods of
the dead to unite their realms. Their ritual, however, released Demogorge
the God Eater from the dawn of time. Consumed by the creature, he was rescued
by the Asgardian god Thor working in alliance with gods from various pantheons.
(see comments)
All the gods of myth have a name which denotes their pantheons.
Just as the Greek-Roman gods are Olympians and the Norse-Scandinavian gods
are Asgardians, the Hindu-Persian gods are called Daevas. (These group names
do not come from their perspective realms. The Egyptian gods are called the
Ennead rather than Heliopolitians. The Celtic Gods are called the Tuatha
Da Danaan because it means "children of Danu." Danu was the Celtic Gaea.
--I would say the change occurred between
the Hindu gods replacing the Vedic gods which Yama was. Under the new Hindu
religion system, souls didn't go to an underworld anymore and instead were
being reincarnated as per who you were. If you were good, you returned in
a higher form; if you were bad, a lower one. In a sense, the Hindu gods under
the rule of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva put Yama out of business the same way
Christ did for Hades, Eriskegal, Osiris and the
others.--William Uchtman.
--Hmm, good answer! I just thought he was
greedy--Snood
--John McDonagh
Strange Tales I#29/3 (June, 1954) - Mort Lawrence(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Amazing High Adventures#5 (December, 1986) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Steve Purcell (pencils), Del Barras (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Thor Annual#10 (1982) - Mark Gruenwald & Alan Zelenetz (writers), Bob Hall (pencils), Rick Bryant, Joe Rubinstein, Andy Myshynsky, Al Gordon & Kevin Dzuban (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Fearless Defenders#3 (June, 2013) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Will Sliney (artist), Ellie Pyle (editor)
Last Updated: 06/13/2016
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