SSSTHGARSSSTHGAR
Real Name: Unrevealed; possibly Sssthgar
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Sssth)
Occupation: Former ruler;
possible former slave
Group Membership: Former ruler of the Sssth of Golden Star
Affiliations: Formerly the Vrellnexians;
briefly allied with Fandral, Hildegarde, Hogun, Thor, Silas Grant, and Tana Nile to overthrow the Vrellnexians;
Enemies: Asgardians (Fandral, Hildegarde, Hogun, Odin, Thor), Silas Grant, Tana Nile, Vrellnexian race,
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Lizard-Lord, Lord of the Lizards, "Ruler of the Sssth" (translation of his name), Sssthgar the Sly
Base of Operations: Last seen on the planet Golden Star;
formerly the planet Sszardil, second from the sun in Slirteep star system, Milky Way galaxy
First Appearance: Thor I#212 (June, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: As one of the Sssth, Sssthgar is a semi-humanoid reptilian biped with two taloned fingers and a thumb on each hand, presumably three taloned toes on each foot, a large, broad-based tail, sharp teeth, and a forked tongue.
While most Sssth appeared to be closer to 6' tall, Sssthgar was a giant at approximately 9' tall. Additionally, while it seems unlikely he was a true match for Thor's Class 100 might, he fought Thor blow-for-blow for in direct combat. Without anything beyond that, it is difficult to speculate whether he is Class 10, Class 25, Class 50, or above.
While his reptilian scales likely afforded him some degree of enhanced durability, he submitted immediately to an dagger at his neck.
As a reptile, Sssthgar was likely
poikilothermic ("cold-blooded"), with his metabolism controlled by the
ambient temperature; however, this was not confirmed in-story, and the
presence of hair may indicate that the Sssth do not match all reptilian
features. 
Sssthgar wielded a battle axe skillfully in combat, and he wore metal armor on his arms, affording him protection from sword-strikes to his arms, but not on his chest.
Sssthgar was cunning, deceitful, and manipulative, and he was charismatic enough to win Thor's confidence, especially after sharing a few mugs of ale.
Sssthgar enjoyed drinking ale and celebrating.
Height: Approximately 9' (compare him to the image of the 6'6" Thor below)
Weight: Approximately 875 lbs.
Eyes: Red irides with darker, red-to-almost-black sclera
Hair: Very dark red (sometimes appears black; or perhaps it is black, and it sometimes appears dark red in certain light...)
Other distinguishing features: Two taloned fingers and a thumb on each hand, presumably three taloned toes on each foot, a large, broad-based tail, sharp teeth, and a forked tongue. He lacked external ear structures
History:
(Thor I#212 (fb)) - <According to Sssthgar; see comments> - One late summer evening, the Sssth
were stunned by the arrival of spaceship carrying the insectoid alien
Vrellnexians, who sought to take them alive to sell them on the auction
block on the Golden Star as gladiatorial slaves. Although the Sssth put
up a valiant struggle, the advanced weaponry of the Vrellnexians -- the
likes of which their medieval-like society had never seen -- brought them down like lambs to
the slaughter.
Sssthgar then led his "brothers"
to the attack, urging them to fight for the land, for their lives, and
for the love of their lord and lady.
Nonetheless, the warriors fell by
the hundreds without a chance, and the Vrellnexians carried them aboard
their ship.
Imprisoned aboard the
Vrellnexians' ship and held like cattle in the ship's dank hold as it
traveled through the cold night of space, the Sssth plotted escape, but
realized it was hopeless.
When the Vrellnexians' ship reached a civilized world, the Sssth were auctioned off like animals, one by one.
(Thor I#212 (fb) - BTS / Thor I#213 (fb) /
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#10: Appendix to Alien Races: Sssth) -
The Sssth were partnered with the insectoid Vrellnexians to enslave and
sell intelligent beings from other worlds, using the conquered world
"Golden Star" as a base.
(Thor I#213 (fb)) - The fleet of Sssth and Vrellnexians traveled to the planet Golden Star where the ship flew through its atmosphere raining carnage and devastation across its surface.
After the planet was in flaming ruins, the ships
landed, and the Sssth and Vrellnexian crews emerged and gathered the
residents and placed them in their slave pens.
(Thor I#212 (fb) - BTS) - When the Vrellnexians passed near Asgard, they overwhelmed the Asgardians with their numbers and weaponry.
<According to Sssthgar> - The Sssth escaped the Vrellnexian ship and hid out in Asgard while the Vrellnexians loaded the Asgardians into their ship.
(Thor I#213 (fb) - BTS) - The captured Asgardians were rendered docile and submissive by drugs in their food.
(Thor I#212 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to confront Odin over their exile to Earth (and suspicion over Odin's involvement in his ally Balder's recent bout of madness), the Asgardian Thor led fellow Asgardians Fandral, Hildegarde, and Hogun, as well as the Blackworld native Silas Grant, and the Rigellian Tana Nile to Asgard.
(Thor I#212 - BTS)
- Thor and his allies returned to Asgard, and Hildegarde slew an attacking Sssth.
(Thor I#212)
- Sssthgar, backed by his Sssth associates, then introduced himself, noting
that the Asgardian must pay for the murder of one of his legion and
that he would take it from their pale, pink hide.
When Thor asked where the lizard
people came from and what they had done with Odin and the Asgardians,
Sssthgar told him that they were both victims of the same evil, which
he offered to gladly explain over a mug of rich ale. Sssthgar
accompanied the gods and their allies to the Odinkeep / Palace Royal,
when another member of the Sssth served food and drink while Sssthgar
explained that they were an old, and thus proud people. Sharing the
Sssth's history and noting how they had arrived in Asgard, Sssthgar
related that he wished they could have helped the Asgardians, but could
not.
At Thor's request, Sssthgar agreed
to lead him and his allies to the Golden Star, noting that they, too,
had a reason for revenge.
Aboard Thor's galley (aka Voyager/Spacejammer/Starjammer), Sssthgar marveled at how the ship traveled through airless space without a sail and allowed them to breathe.
Eventually they reached the Golden
Star, and Sssthgar guided them to a port where they found Odin being
auctioned off.
Thor and his allies attacked the Vrellnexians, while Sssthgar informed his allies that with their former partners on the run, they would become the masters of the Golden Star and that he would rule, as was fit for the "Lord of the Lizards."
After Thor and his allies defeated
the Vrellnexians, the Sssth surrounded them and Sssthgar called his
opponents "slaves" before revealing that the Vrellnexians had been
their partners before marooning them on Asgard. 
(Thor I#213)
- Thor and his allies refused to surrender despite Odin's urging that
to fight would doom them all and despite Sssthgar's noting that the Sssth and their allies
outnumbered them a hundred-to-one and that if the Asgardians
surrendered, the Sssth would let them live as slaves.
Sssthgar defiantly held his own against Thor until Higila knocked out Thor by dropping a large rock on his head from above. As the new captives were taken away, Sssthgar thanked the drugged Odin's whose continued pleas to surrender distracted the Asgardians and prevented a more costly victory.
(Thor I#213 (fb) - BTS) - Fandral, Hogun, and other captives consumed the drugged food and became submissive.
(Thor I#213 - BTS)
- Thor recovered, refused
to consume any of the drugged gruel, and broke out of his cell and then
liberated the free-willed Hildegarde and Tana Nile.
Thor, Hildegarde, and Tana jointed
forces with the Resistance, the former invading the Sssth stronghold,
while the latter journeyed to and destroyed the facility in which the
will-sapping drug was manufactured.
(Thor I#213)
- Meanwhile, Sssthgar and other
Sssth enjoyed a victory celebration, during which Sssthgar proposed a
toast to their newest acquisitions, whose sale had made this party
possible.
As Sssthgar noted the ex-gods of Asgard to be the finest slaves ever to grace the block of Golden...he was interrupted when Hildegarde, who ambushed him from behind and put a dagger to his throat. Thor then confronted and defeated the other Sssth present, after which Tana arrived with the liberated Asgardians.
Thor then gathered his allies and
traveled to the docks with Sssthgar held hostage.
When Hildegarde asked
the location of Thor's lover, Sif, Sssthgar initially told them that
she was not among the others captured, but that it mattered not as they
were all doomed.
However, Thor then pointed out the explosions that
signaled the death of their secret drug factories, meaning they could
no longer hold the inhabitants of Golden Star in silent subservience.
Sssthgar then begged Thor and his allies to take him with them (to
prevent the people of Golden Star from slaying him once the drug wore
off), telling them that Sif and her sorceress companion (Karnilla) were
sold to the Miners of the Dark Nebula scant hours before the
Space/Starjammer had arrived on Golden Star. 
Thor told Sssthgar there was no room on their craft (or anywhere) for him and advised him to begin running, as far and as fast as he could.
After the Starjammer departed,
Sssthgar dropped to his knees, demanding they come back as they
couldn't do this to him, as he was lord of the lizards...and king...
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, John Buscema & Don Perlin, and Vince Colletta.
So, Sssthgar obviously concealed the fact that the Sssth were allied with the Vrellnexians in being slave-traders on Golden Star. How does that reflect on the other information Sssthgar provided? Only the fact that the Sssth were brought to the Golden Star as slaves to be auctioned (from Thor I#212) is directly contradictory to the Sssth fighting alongside the Vrellnexians to conquer the Golden Star (from Thor I#213).
It has been said many times that
falsehoods work best when sprinkled with elements of truth, and I don't
see any reason to believe Sssthgar's discussion of the history of the
Sssth is false. It makes perfect sense to me for a population of Sssth
to have been captured by the Vrellnexians, but Sssthgar somehow
convinced the Vrellnexians to ally with them to conquer Golden Star
instead for whatever reason. But, of course, this is speculative..
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Sssthgar should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Thor I#212, pg. 6, panel 4 (with armies in Asgard; main);
pg. 7, panel 1 (height compared to Thor)
panel 3 (face, close-up);
panel 5 (dining with Asgardians, etc.);
pg. 9, panel 5 (leading cavalry against Vrellnexians);
pg. 12, panel 3 (face, profile);
pg. 16, panel 6 (face, full);
#213, pg. 4, panel 4 (vs. Thor)
pg. 19, panel 8 (Sssthgar alone)
Appearances:
Thor I#212
(June, 1973) - Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema & Don Perlin
(pencilers), Vince Colletta (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#213
(July, 1973) - Gerry Conway (story), Len Wein (scripter), John Buscema & Don Perlin
(pencilers), Vince Colletta (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#10: Appendix to Alien Races: Sssth
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#15: Appendix to Alien Races: Sssth
First posted: 08/28/2020
Last updated: 10/9/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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