KYKNOS
Real Name: Kyknos (original Latin spelling)
Identity/Class: Olympian demigod (c. 1250 BC)
Occupation: Warrior
Group Membership: Gods of Olympus;
formerly Pluto's Jury (Abomination, Armless Tiger Man, Artume, Baron Zemo, Commander Kraken, Iron Monger, Jack O'Lantern, Nessus, Orka, Scourge of the Underworld, Veranke)
Affiliations: Diomedes' mares, Hera, Pluto;
formerly Ares
Enemies: Ares, Athena, Hercules, Shades (Arkady Markov, Cameron McGill, Travis Nevins, Maximilian Ritter);
formerly Pluto
Known Relatives: Ares (father), Pyrene (mother, alias Pelopia), Zeus (grandfather), Hera (grandmother), Deimos, Phobos, Alex Aaronson (half-brothers), Aegisthus (half-brother, deceased), Harmona, Hippolyta (half-sisters), Hephaestus, Hercules (uncles), Eurystheus, Iphicles, Theseus (cousins, deceased), Tantalus (ancestor, deceased)
Aliases: Kyknus, Cyknus, Cycnus, Cycnos, Cygnus (alternate spellings)
Base of Operations: Hades;
formerly Itonus, Phthiotis (now part of modern Greece)
First Appearance: Incredible Hercules#116 (June, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Kyknos possessed superhuman strength, stamina, endurance and durability as due his demigod status. He wielded a double-edged axe as his weapon of choice.
History: (Greek/Roman myth) - Kyknos was the son of Ares, god of war to the Ancient Greeks, and Pyrene, daughter of Thyestes, heir to the throne of Pisa sent into exile after the murder of his half-brother. Kyknos lived in Itonus in the land of Phthiotis north of Trachis in Northern Greece.
(Gree/Roman myth/Incredible Hercules#116 (fb)/Dark Reign: Ares#2) - A bloodthirsty and particularly violent warrior, Kyknos enforced worship of Ares by slaying all invaders to his land and using their skulls and bones to line the walls of his temple to Ares. Kyknos wanted to gain favor with his father by slaying Hercules, who happened to come upon Kyknos in the midst of building his temple. Upon hearing about this pact, Ares rushed to stop him from doing so, knowing full well of Hercules' prodigious strength and success in other battles, but Athena stopped him, who advised him to check with the Fates on what they had planned for Kyknos. The Fates told them that Kyknos was fated to die by Hercules unless he was killed first. These words designed to placate Ares only fueled his anger and he rushed to assist Kyknos in his battle with Hercules. Ares fought with Hercules and was just about to strike him down when Athena appeared and blocked his blow. Hercules, however, managed to wound Ares and sent him back to Olympus, leaving his son to his fate. Kyknos subesquently met Hercules in battle and was indeed killed by Hercules as the Fates predicted. Ares met with Hercules in battle once more afterward to avenge his son, their quarrel this time broken up by a thunderbolt by Zeus.
(Incredible Hercules#129) - Residing in Hades Kyknos served in Pluto's Jury for Zeus' trial.
(Incredible Hercules#130) - Hercules attacked the Jury, but they overpowered him. Kyknos was later present at Zeus' trial.
(Incredible Hercules#131) - Kyknos attacked Pluto when he refused to honor his promise to release everyone from Hades.
(Dark Reign: Ares#2 (fb) ) - Hera and Pluto made a deal with Kyknos to release him from Hades if he became the new God of War after Ares angered Hera by allying with mortals against her.
While he waited for Ares at an abandoned SHIELD base, Kyknos pulled the teeth of all the deceased Hydra agents that were killed years ago at the base to turn them into his skeleton warriors at a later point.
(Dark Reign: Ares#2) - When Ares and his Shades arrived Kyknos revealed how Hera planned for him to replace Ares as the God of War and how he never forgot that Ares left him to die at the hands of Hercules. Kyknos finally cast the Hydra agents' teeth into the air to animate the agents through magic. After throwing a grenade into the skeleton agents Ares and the Shades retreated, but Kyknos sent the Hydra agents and Diomedes' mares, also children of Ares, after them and they caught Ares.
(Dark Reign: Ares#3) - With Ares caught by his agents, he ordered the horses to tear Ares apart. Bane and Ritter returned to help Ares and shot killed two mares with headshots. The other two mares were sent after them by Kyknos, but they were killed by mines. Kyknos beat his father into unconsciousness before ordering the Hydra agents to find the Shades, who returned to the bases control room to meet up with Markov and McGill. While Kyknos gloated about how he would make Ares' head his crown, the Shades started a surprise attack on Kyknos. Bane hid in one of the dead mares and shot Kyknos several times before the others arrived to take out plenty of Hydra agents. Kyknos broke Markov's neck and the impaled McGill's head on a spear after he freed Ares. Ares assaulted Kyknos while Ritter and McGill died battling the Hydra hordes. Meanwhile Ares impaled Kyknos and then chocked him to death. When Iron Patriot (Osborn) later arrived at the base Ares told him that the soldiers he trained had learned everything they could about war. Ares had placed them and Kyknos next to each other and put coins for their travel on the River Styx on their eyes.
Comments: Adapted by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Rafa Sandoval and Roger Bonet.
Research culled from Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology by Edward Tripp.
Apollodorus claimed Kyknos died near the Echedorus River in Macedonia, but according to Crowell's Handbook, this is due to accidental repetition, instead remaining faithful to the earlier account by Hesiod.
by Will U and Prime Eternal
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kyknos should not be confused with:
Images taken from:
Incredible Hercules#116, page 4, panel 3
Last updated: 09/06/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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