UTU
Real Name: Utu
Identity/Class: Unrevealed; magic being or human mutated by magic and/or magic user; citizen of Mashu (Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Guardian of the City of Shadows
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Ninaxakuddu/Ninazakuddu
Enemies: Conan, the crypt lizard, all strangers
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: City of Shadows, site of the tombs of the ancient people of the Uduggak, Vilayet Sea (Hyborian Era)
First Appearance: Conan the Barbarian I#217 (April, 1989)
Powers/Abilities: Utu was a humanoid standing
about 3 meters tall and stronger than any normal person but did not
walk erect. He had only three fingers per hand plus an opposable thumb.
His feet seemed to be two-toed claws, and his mask (or his face) had two
horns reminiscent of elephant's tusks. His armor did not protect him
from the blows of a strong sword and was probably an external
shell.
Utu could shoot beams of destructive
energy from his eyes, although their intensity depended on his
energy store. He could replenish his energy and health and prolong his
life by using the Jewels of Abu Dhaak. The type
of energy he could absorb was probably heat or concentrated light,
sunlight or starlight (see exclamations),
which he could keep and unleash at will.
His intelligence was
below average, and his speech often mixed words of his ancient
dialect with words understood by Conan. His dialect contained some words
of Assyrian and Sumer, but also words that were pieces of exorcism and
enchantments.
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#217 (fb) - BTS) - Utu had been the guardian of the City of Shadows since Ninaxakuddu had brought him there from Mashu. Utu protected the tombs of the Uduggak elders and the Jewels of Abu Dhaak.
(Conan the Barbarian I#217) - One day, Utu spotted a barbarian fighting the giant birds among the tombs of the City, and immediately tried to kill him. The barbarian, Conan, evaded his destructive beams and managed to harm Utu with his blade. Utu lost him when Conan fell into a chasm in the ground. Searching the catacombs, Utu found the barbarian in the hall of the royal tombs, but attacked a crypt lizard. Utu's energy was too low, and his beams did not destroy the crypt lizard as he had wanted. Conan broke Utu's helmet, the ceiling collapsed and the three fighters were separated.
A short time later, Utu reached the barbarian near the Jewels of Abu Dhaak and used the restorative power of the twin jewels to regain his full power. Transformed, his body whole again, crackling of the eldritch energy transferred by the jewels, before Utu had the time to attack the swordsman, the great lizard appeared, menacing. This time, Utu's eye-beams easily slew the lizard with a single blast. The golden guardian then tried to annihilate Conan with his destructive beams but was tricked by the barbarian, who hurled him again on the energizing pedestal. The jewels imbued their sorcerous force again in Utu's form, who could not bear such a tremendous flow of power. Screaming, he exploded, shattering the jewels and the cliff side of the mountain. Shards of the giant jewels, rocks, Utu, debris fell into the Vilayet Sea along with Conan, who had survived the blast.
Comments: Created by Charles Santino & Val Semeiks (writer/plot/penciler) and Alfredo Alcala (inks).
Mashu was probably Utu's birthplace or the place where he lived before being brought to the City of Shadows by Ninaxakuddu. Ninaxakuddu was probably an Uduggak, or one of the same people of Utu. Utu worshiped Marduk and Kinguk. Interestingly, there were a lot of crosses in the City of Shadows, despite it being placed about 10,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The main part of the tombs were high, slim obelisks, but tombstones and crosses were also present.
Utu was probably a normal human, but after years of exposure to the eldritch energy of the Jewels of Abu Dhaak, his form changed to the one seen in the story.
Although giant spiders were common in the Hyborian Era, they weren't all related to Omm.
An ancient city of a long dead civilization, a great treasure to find, and some dangerous guardians defending it: this is a job for a D&D player!
The crypt lizard was likely related to the so-called "Sea-God", a giant crocodilian that Conan fought and which was likewise a denizen of the Vilayet Sea.---Grendel Prime
Utu's connection to Mashu is that Mount Mashu was the
mountain in Turkey from where he departed the underworld to travel to
heaven. He and his brother shared immortality and had to split the
times they could depart the underworld.
The significance of a cross goes back to Ancient Greece.
Two lines intersecting from my understanding meant the horizon and the
sun's rays. Crossroads were sacred to Hecate. Lines crossing appear in
Viking runes. Celtic sites predating Christ often have dozens of "x's"
on them. Today, when we think of the cross, we always think of the
crucifix. In fact, many idealisms from the Bible were based on pagan
beliefs. The Jews stole the Flood myth from Sumeria and Christmas was
worshipped on the day of the winter solstice. Some Jewish legends are
even thinly veiled Sumerian stories (Lilith).
--Will U
Dim I Nticoudis discusses the similarities between the
Sumerian deity and the Hyborian being of the same name:
A. I think there are some similarities, in depiction at least.
B. The character has a further connection to Mesopotamian mythology, through his identification as coming from Mashu. "Mashu, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey after leaving the Cedar Forest, a forest of ten thousand leagues span. The corresponding location in reality has been the topic of speculation, as no confirming evidence has been found. One theory is that the only location suitable for being called a "cedar land" was the great forest covering Lebanon and western parts of Syria and, in consequence, "Mashu" is the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel. The word "Mashu" itself may translate as "two mountains", from Babylonian twins."
C. Ninaxakuddu, the unseen character
who brought Utu to the City of Shadows, does not seem to have a
basis in actual mythology. Searching for the name I could only find
references to the so-called Simon Necronomicon, a grimoire dating to
at least 1977. "The book is largely based on Sumerian mythology and
its introduction attempts to identify the Great Old Ones and other
creatures from Lovecraft's Mythos with gods and demons from the
Sumerian myths. The myths presented in the book are a blend of
Mesopotamian myths (not only Sumerian, but Akkadian, Babylonian and
Assyrian as well), and a storyline of unknown authenticity about a
man known as the "Mad Arab."
In page 70 of the text you can find the verse "This is
the book of Ninaxakuddu, The Queen, Mistress of the Incantations".
The book already has a minor influence in the Marvel Universe. Page
104 identifies one "Marduk Kurios" as "Brightest Star among the
Stars, Strongest God among the Gods, Son of Magick and the Sword,
Child of Wisdom and the Word, Knower of the Secret Name, Knower of
the Secret Number, Knower of the Secret Shape". Where Marduk Kurios
is another name for Marduk, not an individual demon.
D. Utu the deity is
a son of Nanna, the Moon God (whose name literally means
"illuminator") and Ningal, Goddess of Reeds (whose name means
Great Lady). They are also identified as parents of Inanna/Ishtar
and Ishkur/Adad
who already have profiles at the Appendix.
About point C. (the
Simon Necronomicon), Kadmon noticed that Utu pronounced:
pieces of The
Exorcism Barra Edinnazu For Spirits Who Attack the Circle: "...
GALLU BARRA! ...ASHAK BARRA! ... GIGIM XUL EDIN NA ZU!..."
pieces of A Most Excellent Charm Against The Hordes Of Demons That Assail In The Night: "...INA ZUMRI YA RI EGA..."
For completeness' sake, here are Utu's Assyrian-like, Simon Necronomicon-like exclamations:
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Utu has no known connections to
The Jewels of Abu Dhaak were two titanic crystal-like stones that had been carved into the cliff side of a mountain on the Vilayet Sea. Their height could be measured in tens of meters, and great was their weight and value. They were stores of eldritch energy which could be accessed using a circular pedestal, a golden platform built between the two massive jewels and which triggered the transfer of sorcerous power from the jewels into the being on the platform. The monolithic jewels were well-known in all the Hyborian regions to be in the City of Shadows, an ancient necropolis, although nobody alive had truly seen them.
When Conan the Barbarian found them, he understood that he couldn't take them all for himself. He was not able to carve out a single piece using his sword. After the destruction provoked by Utu's explosion, nothing of them remained on the cliff side.
--Conan the Barbarian I#217
The crypt
lizard was a huge crocodile-like reptile, so big that its head
was as great as a Cimmerian.
The great crypt
lizard lived in the subterranean river flowing in the great
royal hall of the City of Shadows. It felt the presence of
Conan and assaulted him.
A spear stabbed in its skin didn't weaken it, and only Utu's
arrival distracted the reptile from his tough prey.
Although their fight was interrupted by the
ceiling collapsing, the big saurian kept pursuing Utu. It
found the Guardian after he had regained his full power so,
differently fro the previous fight, the giant reptile was
suddenly killed by his energy beams.
--Conan the Barbarian I#217
The giant carnivorous birds found in the ancient city were remnants of another era, probably when the City of Shadows was a real city and not just a necropolis. They did not fly but ran. They were twice as tall as a man, and seemed hungry and dangerous, capable of killing a normal man using their beaks or claws.
--Conan the Barbarian I#217
The giant spider was as big as a man and capable of capturing a small member of the giant birds in a matter of seconds. It would poison its victims and shoot a sticky web to entangle them. It lurked in the catacombs beneath the City of Shadows. After having poisoned and wrapped a bird, it tried to kill Conan. It continued to fight even after Conan cut two of its legs off, but died when the barbarian hit it with a good slash from his sword.
--Conan the Barbarian I#217
images: (without ads)
Conan the Barbarian I#217, p3, pan2 (Utu, main image)
Appearances:
Conan the Barbarian I#217 (April, 1989) - Charles Santino
& Val Semeiks (writer/plot/penciler), Alfredo Alcala
(inks), Don Daley (editor)
First posted: 05/22/08
Last
updated: 04/12/26
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and ©
1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!