NEMEAN LION
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extradimensional Feline (Olympus)
Occupation: Predator
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Achelous, Eurystheus, the Hand, Hera, Minotaur, Selene, Matsuo Tsurayaba
Enemies: Hercules, Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett)
Known Relatives: Typhon (father), Echidna (mother), Selene (foster mother), Gaea (paternal grandmother/maternal great-aunt/maternal great-grandmother), Tartarus (paternal grandfather), Phorcys (maternal grandfather), Ceto (maternal grandmother), Cerberus, Hydra, Ladon, Orthus (brothers), Chimaera, Phaea, Maralith, Sphinx (sisters), Geryon, Pegasus (cousins), Gorgons (including Medusa), Graeae, Scylla, Sirens, Thoosa (aunts), Damballah, Dragon of the Moon, Sligguth, Yamato-no-Orichi (maternal great-uncle), Ishiti, Tartessus (maternal great-aunts), Set (maternal great-grandfather), Pontus (maternal great-grandfather), Chthon, Hyppus (maternal great-great-uncles), Issus, Oshtur (maternal great-great-aunts), Demiurge (paternal great-grandfather/maternal great-great-grandfather), many other distant relatives
Aliases: None
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: Marvel Saga#1 (December, 1985)
Powers/Abilities:
History:
(Greek/Roman Myth) - The Nemean Lion was the spawn of of the Titan Typhon, and his
mate, Echidna, the snake-goddess. Typhon was imprisoned under Mount Aetna after
attacking the Olympian gods, and Echidna fled to Arcadia where she gave birth to
a host of numerous incredible creatures, each one more foul than the last. After
Echidna was slain by Argus Panoptes, the original sentry of Olympus, the Nemean
Lion was nursed to full health by Selene, the moon-goddess, on behalf of Hera,
Queen of the Gods.
(Greek/Roman Myth, Marvel Saga#1/Hercules
III#1 (fb)/Incredible Hercules#133 (fb) ) - For undisclosed reasons, the Nemean Lion terrorized the town of
Nemea north of Argos. Hercules, the son of Zeus, confronted it as one of his
first labors on behalf of King Eurystheus of Mycenae. Hercules found it to be
invulnerable to weapons and had to kill it by strangulation. On his route to
kill the lion, Hercules had stayed the night with a poor laborer named Molorchus
who wanted to make a sacrifice to him as the son of Zeus. Hercules had told him
to wait until he was successful, but after the lion's death (Athena guided Hercules in destroying the lion), Molorchus made a
sacrifice to Hercules as one of the Gods of Olympus. As Hercules brought the
dead lion to Eurystheus in Tiryns, the cowardly king hid in a bronze storage
jar. He then arranged for Hercules to take all his orders through a messenger
named Copreus. Not wanting anything to do with the lion's carcass, Eurystheus
allowed Hercules to skin it. Hercules turned its pelt into another tunic to
replace his previous one created from the Cithaeonian lion.
(Thing II#7 - BTS) - In ancient Greece Hercules wore the hind of the Nemean Lion while fighting a time-traveling Thing. It got stained with vine from Dionysus' vats during the fight.
(Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2 (fb) - BTS) - Eurystheus and Achelous led Matsuo and the Hand to the whereabouts of the Nemean Lion's corpse and they resurrected the lion.
(Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2 (fb) ) - Upon entering Matsuo Tsurayaba's apartment Wolverine and Hercules were greeted by a video of Matsuo, Eurystheus and Achelous telling them of the resurrection of ancient Greece monsters. Moments later the first two, Minotaur and Nemean Lion, attacked them. After knocking out Hercules they opposed Wolverine.
(Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2) - Nemean Lion and Minotaur fought Wolverine, whose Adamantium claws were unable to even make a scratch in the Nemean Lion's hide. When Hercules regained consciousness he broke the Nemean Lion's neck while Wolverine took care of the Minotaur.
Comments: Adapted by
Traditionally-wise, the Nemean Lion is supposed to be the spawn of Typhon and Echidna, but other than its imperviousness to weapons, there is nothing to suggest it might have actually just been a real lion (just as all the old stories of dragons might have been based on normal creatures like alligators, crocodiles and snakes - not that there's an abundance of those creatures in Greece today. On the other hand, modern man still passes on stories of creatures called Nessie and Champ among others.)
Profile by:
WillU
Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants update by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Nemean Lion is not to be confused with:
Images (without ads):
Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2, p8, pan3 (main image)
Hercules III#1 , p28, left page (ancient Greece)
Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2, p3, pan1 (Hand-revived head shot)
Issues:
Marvel Saga#1 (December, 1985) - Peter Sanderson (writer), Ron Frenz (artist), Al Milgrom (inker), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Hercules III#1 (June 2005) - Frank Tieri (writer), Mark Texeira (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Thing II#7 (July, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Kieron Dwyer (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Incredible Hercules#133 (November, 2009) - Fred Van Lente & Greg Pak (writers), Rodney Buchemi (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants#2 (June, 2011) - Frank Tieri (writer), Juan Santacruz (artist), Charlie Beckerman (editor)
First Posted: 12/18/2005
Last updated: 06/17/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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