MARMOO
Real Name: Marmoo
Identity/Class: Australian Aboriginal god
Occupation: God of evil
Group Membership: Australian
Aboriginal gods
(Altjira (Dreamtime god), Baiame (creator god), Daramulum (sky & weather god), Gnowee (sun goddess), Mamaragan (lightning god), Marmoo (god of evil), the Rainbow Serpent (fertility goddess))
Affiliations: Daramulum (god of the sky &
weather) (loose), Mamaragan (god
of lightning) (loose), Narahdarn (god of death) (loose) (see comments)
Enemies: Altjira
(god of the Dreamtime), Baiame (god of creation), Gaea, Gnowee (goddess of
the sun) (loose), Rainbow Serpent (goddess of fertility), earth spirits
Known Relatives: wife (name unrevealed - see comments)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Dreamtime (Alchera)
First Appearance: (Real world) Unrevealed;
(Marvel Comics, mentioned) All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3 (March, 2006);
(pictured) Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica (2009)
Powers/Abilities: Like other Aboriginal gods, Marmoo ceased aging upon adulthood and cannot die by conventional means. He is resistant to conventional diseases and injury, heals at superhuman rates and has superhuman endurance. Only dispersal of a major portion of his bodily molecules will cause death, and even then, a god of greater or equal power, or several gods acting together, may revive him. Aboriginal god flesh and bone are at least twice as durable as human tissue, and average gods can lift about 20 tons.
Marmoo's insectoid form likely has a chitinous carapace, affording him some enhanced durability. He likely has some additional sensory and/or communication abilities via his antenna. His legs are likely conducive to enhanced leaping, and he may or may not have (or be able to generate) wings to fly.
Under at least certain circumstances, Marmoo can create plagues of insects, including flies, locusts, beetles and bugs, plus snails, worms and the like. While the numbers were unspecified numbers, but allegedly enough to threaten life on Earth.
Like other Aboriginal gods, Marmoo can navigate the Dreamtime with ease. He is likely a skilled metamorph and can shift all or portions of his body into the form of animals and other natural objects.
He likely possesses additional abilities unique to his godly role.
Locust-like in form, Marmoo
has superhuman
physical attributes. Like other Australian Aboriginal gods, he is a
true immortal and cannot die by conventional means. He
is immune to all terrestrial diseases and resistant
to conventional injury; his white carapace may add to this. If wounded,
his godly life force will enable him to recover at a superhuman
rate (unless a major portion of his bodily
molecules were to be dispersed and cause him to die). His body is at
least twice denser
than human tissue, contributing to superhuman
strength and weight, plus superhuman endurance. Like other Australian
Aboriginal gods, he has the unique
ability to easily navigate the Dreamtime. Marmoo possesses spiritual
superhuman powers to generate plagues of insects, including
flies, locusts, beetles and bugs, plus snails, worms and the like.
Height: 6'6"
(by approximation, possibly variable)
Weight: Unrevealed (some sources have discussed gods being 2-3x more
physically dense and thus weighing far more than human, but that has
not been confirmed and has been called into question)
Eyes: Black
Hair: None
History:
(Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica/Australian Aboriginal myth) - The Aboriginal gods' precise origin, like that of all Earth's pantheons, is shrouded in legend. According to ancient myths, the god Altjira directed the other Aboriginal gods to temporarily leave the Dreamtime and descend to the Australian continent within the Earth realm eons ago when the land was barren and featureless. The gods shaped the landscape according to Altjira's plan: Julunggul the Rainbow Serpent carved out gullies that became rivers, while Baiame gave form to the mountains and forests.
However, Marmoo, the god of evil, grew jealous of the newly created world and, believing that it was more difficult to destroy than to create, set out to prove his abilities by secretly crafting a tribe of insectoid warriors in his own grotesque image and other small predatory bugs. Marmoo sent his insect swarms to ravage the landscape, destroying plants and darkening the sky. In reponsse, the Earth Mother Gaea (known to the Australian Aboriginal gods as "Dilga" and "Nungeena," among other names) aided Baiame and wove flowers together, transforming them into a flock of lyrebirds. Other local spirits helped, their skills reflecting the types of birds created (younger spirits made "uglier" birds, water spirits made wading birds, night spirits, swift spirits, seaside spirits, small spirits, all made birds that reflected their own form). These birds, as soon as they were created, quickly attacked and ate the insects. Soon, the birds defeated the insect horde.
(Australian Aboriginal myth) - Baiame rewarded the birds with brilliant songs. Vengeful, Marmoo sought to make the
birds sing all day so that they had no time to build nests and would
die out. But the birds would not listen and flew away; only the vain
cuckoo remained because it sought praise. Marmoo told the cuckoo to find another
bird's nest, kicking one egg out and replace with its own.
((Force Works I#10 (fb)) - Over one hundred millennia ago, Orphan (a sentient extraterrestrial device capable of telepathic communication and transforming dreams into reality) crash-landed on Earth in the Australian outback. It was eventually located by an Aboriginal tribe, who venerated it and regarded it as their own link to the Dreamtime, reinforcing their belief in Altjira and his progeny.
(Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica) -The Aboriginal gods have been worshiped by the Australian Aboriginal peoples for many millennia into modern times. Unlike many of their counterparts in other Earth-based pantheons, the Australian Aboriginal gods are still actively invoked on Earth by a handful of remote Australian Aboriginal tribal groups.
Comments: Adapted by Anthony Flamini, Greg Pak, Fred Van Lante, Paul Cornell.
Marmoo's current status is unrevealed. There may be a truce or he may be exiled/imprisoned...?
I cannot confirm the Australian Aboriginal god affiliations; I only placed them there as I can't find any reference that they stood against Marmoo and his plague.
In one of his books on Australian Aboriginal
mythology and legends, "Aboriginal Stories", author A.W. Reed states
that Marmoo has a wife but gives no name; I cannot find a name anywhere
(nor elsewhere that he had a wife).
In the real world, Aboriginal Australians have a rich history spanning at least 50,000 years. At the time of British colonization and seizure of land (ca. 1788), there were about 400 different nations across the continent (and currently about 5000 different groups) with about 7000 different languages (and accordingly different names to various gods). Indigenous Australians are not currently confined to remote tribal groups.
The Australian continent is roughly the size of the USA. Suggesting Indigenous Australian culture is homogeneous and has one language is as inappropriate as applying the same concepts to Native Americans.
This profile was completed 4/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Marmoo has no known connections to:
images:
(without ads)
Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica, p3 (main image)
Appearances: All-New
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#3 (March, 2006) -
Jeff Christiansen (head writer/coordinator), Sean
McQuaid, Mark O'English, Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Eric J. Moreels, Stuart Vandal, Bill Lentz, Richard Green, Anthony Flamini, Barry Reese, Madison Carter, Mike Fichera & Chris Biggs (writers), Michael Short (assistant editor), Jeff
Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editors)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#14 (June, 2010) - Jeff Christiansen & Mike Fichera (head writers/coordinators), Markus Raymond & Mike O'Sullivan (coordination assistants), Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid, Michael Hoskin, Ronald Byrd, Markus Raymond, Mike O'Sullivan, Madison Carter, Kevin Garcia, Gabriel Shechter, Jacob Rougemont, Rob London, Rich Green, Chris Biggs, David Wiltfong, Jeph York, Mark O'English, & Mike Gagnon (writers), John Denning (associate editor), Alex Starbuck (assistant editor), Theodore Kutt (copy editor), Mark D. Beazley (editor, special projects), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editor)
First posted: 09/12/2021
Last updated: 12/09/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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