Kulan Gath (Marvel): Ultimate Respect Thread



Background


Kulan Gath

Real Name: Unknown

Aliases: Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Dark Runes, Blessed Master

Nicknames: Wiz, Kuley

Occupation: Sorcerer, conqueror, high priest of the N’Garai

First Appearance: Conan the Barbarian #14 (March 1972)

Likes: Power, cannibalism, torture, murder, conquering, Vammatra (his first wife), Armati (his second wife)

Dislikes: Conan, Red Sonja, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, the English language


Backstory


Twelve millennia ago, in the ancient and cruel land of Stygia, a young, nameless slave was born into the world and purchased by the sorcerer Kulan Gath. After enduring years of constant abuse and knowing he would one day be murdered, the boy poisoned his master’s wine and fed his body to the hogs. With his master dead, the young slave stole both his home and name and began studying the dark arts.


Seeking to learn more, the newly christened Kulan Gath began traveling the world in search of teachers. After failing to convince the Sorcerer Supreme Mekri Ra, he settled for lesser teachers, only to be expelled after he murdered a sorcerer in anger. Though he may have been disgraced among his peers, Kulan made a discovery that day when he tasted the man’s blood and gained his knowledge and power.


With a growing lust for power and taste for cannibalism, Kulan began devouring countless sorcerers, even Mekri Ra himself. In his quest for world domination, Kulan would make numerous enemies, such as Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, and the immortal mutant Selene. Though each confrontation ended with his death, Gath’s soul would always persist to fight another day.


After several millennia, Gath’s amulet would find itself in the present day. Possessing a museum security guard, the ancient wizard battled the Amazing Spider-Man and a revived Red Sonja, only to be swiftly beaten and have his amulet chucked into the sea.


But things would take a fortunate turn when a local fisherman happened upon the amulet. While he had enough fortitude to resist the necklace’s influence, it soon fell into the hands of a mugger who became compelled to put it on, reviving Kulan once more.


Now back in the modern day, Gath used his mystical abilities to transform Manhattan and its populace into a Hyborian era city. His victory nearly came to pass, only to be stopped through a desperate fusion between the techno organic Warlock, Storm, and an unwilling Selene. However, with his transformation spell having grown too powerful, there was no choice but to use time travel to prevent the mugging that started all this.


But even with his amulet successfully discarded, it was eventually rediscovered and Kulan was revived again. Seeking a place away from the “madness” of the modern day, he traveled to Costa Verde, where he conquered a village, transformed it in his image, and captured the volcano goddess Peliali. The Avengers were summoned to deal with this crisis, but were eventually overpowered and captured.


Brought before him, Gath prepared to sacrifice Peliali and the Avengers so he could obtain the power of a god. But by the time he opened the portal, his sacrifices had all escaped, leaving him to be dragged into the great unknown by his angered gods.


For most men this would’ve been their end, but Kulan’s story doesn’t end here. Through some unknown means, his amulet returned to New York, where he coerced Senator Bryan Glass into putting it on. Now resurrected for the sixth time, Gath transformed New York yet again, but this time he learned from his mistakes. To prevent them from teaming up again, he set Sonja and Spider-Man against each other, then sent Venom to tie up any loose ends. While his new minion ultimately failed, Gath became intrigued by the symbiote’s abilities and took them for himself, becoming Kulan Venom.


Using this newfound power, Kulan imprisoned Spider-Man and Sonja, ready to sacrifice them and obtain the powers of a god, but his plans were foiled almost immediately. With his sacrifices escaped and the symbiote abandoning him, Gath could do nothing as his amulet was destroyed, undoing his possession and dispelling his sorcery.


But even this wasn’t the end of him! Through unknown means, Kulan was revived once more. Taking residence in the Savage Land, he gathered the forces of the Hand and ancient Egypt as part of a bid to obtain ultimate power. Though he was opposed by a time-displaced Conan and the Savage Avengers, Gath’s persistence would finally pay off. Over the course of a year, he slowly devoured the elder god Shuma Gorath, and by the time he was done, he had successfully conquered Earth. Its heroes and villains were all dead, and even Conan fell before him.


Unfortunately, even after achieving everything he’d ever wanted, Gath’s arrogance ultimately got the better of him. Wanting to gloat and intimidate the heroes of the past, he traveled back in time, only to find himself at the center of an ambush led by the other resistance from his time, Kang the Conqueror.


After a long, hard fought battle, Kulan Gath’s reign would end when he was stabbed by the very dagger that slew Shuma Gorath. Through the mystical properties of Shuma’s blood, the remnants of his powers reawakened within Gath, resurrecting the elder god and absorbing Kulan into himself. With the once mighty sorcerer now his unwilling meal, Shuma Gorath departed from the universe back to his home dimension, content with devouring the one who had humiliated and killed him.


But even with his body destined to become god food, the villains recognized Gath would eventually escape and devised a plan to kill him before he could ever become a threat. Agreeing with their methods, Conan traveled with Kang to Gath’s childhood, but rather than killing the slave, they set their sights on the master.


With the nameless slave now freed from his servitude, Conan took the boy under his wing, training him in the ways of a warrior and teaching him to despise sorcery. Under the Cimmerian’s tutelage, the once feared sorcerer never came to be, and in his place was Kulan Gath, the proud warrior of Hyborian legend.


Personality


Molded by the fury and abuse he suffered as a child, Kulan Gath is a ruthless conqueror who enjoys ruling over others and forcing them under his command. He is extremely sadistic and enjoys torturing others both physically and emotionally. He’s tortured the likes of Spider-Man and Wolverine for hours, Doctor Strange for years, and a symbiote for thousands of years. The reason he takes this slow route is because, in his own words, delaying death is an exquisite pleasure. He also enjoys killing animals.

His lust for power has led to him committing cannibalism, taking brides, and attempting to sacrifice both humans and the divine to further his goals. He’s particularly enthralled with otherworldly sources of power like the symbiotes and Shuma Gorath, which he seeks to obtain for himself.

While these above aspects are established in his early appearances, his first appearance depicts him as a coward who flees direct confrontation with Conan and Elric, preferring to let his summons do the dirty work.

When he finally did take over the world, he caused so much suffering it was considered an extinction level event, but didn’t destroy Earth because he still wanted an audience that could watch him torture others. And despite enjoying the subjugation he’d enforced on others, he still enjoyed that Conan refused to bend the knee since it gave him the opportunity to finally kill him.

Despite reveling in the pain and destruction he causes, Gath believes he’s a just and fair man, considering himself the bringer of order to a chaotic world. He’s also willing to show mercy toward mutants, but not to the extent that he’d spare them from punishment. Additionally, he’s able to set aside grudges with past enemies to accomplish a shared goal.

He also has a bit of a soft side. While he believes women only exist to bring pleasure and should be seen but not heard, he and his wife Vammatra genuinely love each other, enough that he was willing to sacrifice himself to save her from Shuma Gorath… but that didn’t stop him from taking another wife when they briefly separated. While he loved this second wife Armati just as much, to the point of going berserk when she died, that didn’t stop him from lying to her face when she found out he was already married.

Strangely, despite Conan and Elric directly opposing him, he didn’t think much of either and could barely remember them. It was only after seeing Conan in battle that he found him worth remembering. Their next encounter establishes that he hates Conan, though we’re never given a reason why. The only ones he hates more than Conan are Spider-Man and Red Sonja, the former for stopping his plans when he first entered the modern day, and the latter for killing him centuries ago.

Being from a time of swords and sorcery, he’s unaccustomed to modern technological advancements, and when he first caught a glimpse of New York, he nearly had a heart attack. Even after overcoming his shock, he was still disappointed by the modern day and how what his time considered the finest qualitywas now seen as backwater. Even after transforming a city in an attempt to capture his lost dreams, he was dismayed that his magic couldn’t hold back modern advancements. It eventually got to the point that he was willing to sacrifice the entire planet if it meant obtaining the “final reward” of becoming a god and leaving this different time.

His hatred of the modern day even extends to its languages, as he considers English to be barbaric gibberish.

Even after absorbing Shuma, he was still set on journeying the cosmos to become “the power above all.” However, his arrogance led him to postpone it in favor of going to the past and gloating.

Despite being skilled enough to become the Sorcerer Supreme, he didn’t care for the title, though he does enjoy killing them.


Experience


Having been alive for thousands of years and consumed the knowledge of many sorcerers, Kulan Gath’s experience cannot be underestimated. He’s eaten so many people that when viewing Gath’s memories all the way from birth, Doctor Strange lost count of how many he had devoured.

He was skilled enough to become the Sorcerer Supreme of his time, and could summon demons that other sorcerers couldn’t hope to. He’s also held his own against other skilled sorcerers like Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom, with both admitting he was too much for them.


Strength


Conan the Barbarian #15:

Raised a sunken city with his magic.


Uncanny X-Men #190:

Telekinetically chokes Selene hard enough to make her scream.


Conan the Barbarian #253:

Knocks Conan out with one blast of magic.


Conan the Barbarian #257:

Knocks out Demetrio with one blast.


Conan the Barbarian #260:

His blast, when combined with Vammatar’s, knocks Conan and his companions off a mountainside.


Avengers (1998) #30:

Scarlet Witch calls his power “staggering.”

Knocks Silverclaw back.


Conan the Barbarian: Flame and the Fiend #2:

Knocks Conan out with a blast of electricity.


Conan the Barbarian: Flame and the Fiend #3:

Threatens to pull Shah Amurath’s heart out of his chest.


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1:

Throws a fat guy out of a museum.

Telekinetically chokes J. Jonah Jameson and throws Red Sonja’s sword through a roof.


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #5:

Knocks Spider-Man and Sonja away with a blast of magic.


Savage Avengers (2019) #2:

Grabs Conan’s wrist to prevent him from stealing his amulet.


Savage Avengers (2019) #3:

Cuts Wolverine numerous times while torturing him.

Rips a knife out of his chest.

Knocks Wolverine into Elektra.

Tears through Conan’s chest.


Savage Avengers (2019) #4:

Backhands Conan into Elektra.


Savage Avengers (2009) #8:

Doctor Strange admits Gath was too powerful for him to face alone and required the assistance of the Avengers and X-Men to defeat.


Savage Avengers (2019) #9:

Crushes Doctor Doom’s arm through his armor.

His disembodied hand can still choke Conan.

Makes Doctor Strange scream in pain.

Rips Conan’s sword out of his head and uses it to knock down Doctor Doom.


Savage Avengers (2019) #10:

Knocks Conan back with a magic blast.

Draws blood from Doctor Doom and makes him scream from an energy blast.

Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom admit their combined power can’t defeat him and contemplate involving Mephisto to deal with him.



Savage Avengers (2019) #11:

Strange admits Gath has nearly killed him twice.

Rips a sorcerer to shreds with his bare hands and teeth.

Cuts out Mekri Ra’s organs and slits his throat.


Savage Avengers (2019) #14:

Strange admits Kulan is the strongest wizard on Earth and that if he completely consumes Shuma Gorath, reality would be broken beyond repair.


Savage Avengers (2019) #23:

Leaves Shuma Gorath near death by gradually feeding on him, and eats enough that he could transcend this plane of existence.


Kulan Venom


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #4:

Strangles Spider-Man into unconsciousness.



Shuma Gorath empowered


Savage Avengers (2019) #24:

Bit a chunk out of Captain America’s shield.

One-shots She-Hulk.

Can throw Earth into the sun.


Savage Avengers (2019) #25:

Has killed Conan and Kang so many times that Kang’s lost count.

Crushes Conan’s arm while he’s wearing Doom’s armor.

Rips out Conan’s symbiote and eats it, then rips out his heart.


Savage Avengers (2019) #26:

Decapitates Conan with his bare hands.

Swings Doctor Strange into Conan.

Unleashes a shockwave that knocks back an army of heroes and villains, then blasts Doctor Strange.

His eye beams tear through Ghost Rider’s T-Rex, send Ghost Rider flying, and disarm Doom.


Speed


Uncanny X-Men #190:

Transforms the X-Men before Warlock can save them.


Savage Avengers (2019) #4:

Rushes toward Punisher and grabs him before he can react.

Blocks Doctor Voodoo’s bolts.


Savage Avengers (2019) #5:

Casts a chain summoning spell before Conan can swing his sword.


Savage Avengers (2019) #9:

Catches Conan’s sword mid-swing.


Savage Avengers (2019) #10:

Catches Shuma Gorath’s avatar mid-flight.


Shuma Gorath empowered


Savage Avengers (2019) #24:

Kills She-Hulk before she can hit him.


Savage Avengers (2019) #26:

Freezes Kang before he can fire his gun.


Durability


Marvel Team-Up (1972) #79:

Tackled through a door by Spider-Man, then takes a punch from him, though it knocks him out.


Avengers (1998) #30:

Tackled by Silverclaw’s Panther form.

Shrugs off an energy blast from Yellowjacket.


Conan the Barbarian: Flame and the Fiend #2:

His bones were somehow able to survive despite his entire body being disintegrated in Conan the Barbarian #260.


Conan the Barbarian: Flame and the Fiend #3:

Is still alive after Conan stabs him in the chest.


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #3:

Slammed into a wall and scratched by Venom.


Savage Avengers (2019) #2:

Has a jar smashed against his face.


Savage Avengers (2019) #3:

Stabbed in the heart by Doctor Voodoo, then rips the knife out with no issue. He then survives being shot in the head by the Punisher.


Savage Avengers (2019) #4:

Shrugs off Elektra stabbing him in the heart.

Takes multiple shots without flinching.


Savage Avengers (2019) #9:

Gets up after a combined blast from Doctor Strange and Doom.

Has his hand amputated by Conan.

Punched into a wall by Doctor Doom.

Stabbed in the side by a thrown knife.

Survives being burned by the Flames of the Faltine, burned by acid, stabbed through the head, and hit by a rocket that was sent from a satellite.


Savage Avengers (2019) #10:

Takes a punch from Doom that snaps his neck and limbs, then snaps all of them back into place.

Withstands being trapped inside a burning Superior Iron Man armor and the effects of his own death curse. He even survives decapitation long enough to utter one final spell.


Savage Avengers (2019) #11:

Knocked back by Mekri Ra’s sorcery.


Kulan Venom


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #5:

Gets smacked by a tree branch from Spider-Man.

Kicked by Sonja and punched by Spider-Man.


Shuma Gorath empowered


Savage Avengers (2019) #24:

Takes a shotfrom Doctor Doom’s gun.


Savage Avengers (2019) #25:

Has his arm sliced off by Conan and gets bludgeoned by his symbiote.


Savage Avengers (2019) #26:

Charged into by a triceratops, nearly cut in half, gets his jaw ripped off, his hand blown off, and gets punched by Doom.

Headbutted into a tree by Juggernaut.

Being stabbed by Elektra and Wolverine only irritates him.

Shot by Black Widow and stabbed in the heart, only to shrug it off,


Savage Avengers (2019) #27:

Gets his hand amputated by Conan, then gets shot and stabbed by Black Widow and Black Knight.


Scaling

Conan




Kulan has fought Conan multiple times and mortally wounded him. At the peak of his power, he even killed Conan after a long fight and was said to have done so countless times.


Spider-Man




Kulan has tortured Spider-Man and killed him.



Venom



Kulan has fought Venom and wielded the symbiote’s power before.


Doctor Strange




Kulan has been explicitly stated to be above Strange in power, nearly killed him on two occasions, and casually did so at the peak of his power.


Doctor Doom




Kulan has repeatedly harmed Doom, kept getting up after taking his strongest hits, blasts, and spells; and by the end of their fight, Doom admitted he couldn’t beat Kulan.

 

Nightmare




Kulan was able to copy his powers and took over his realm.


Shuma Gorath




Kulan ate him and obtained full control of his powers.


Intelligence


Conan the Barbarian #15:

Read the runes that summoned Terhali.


Uncanny X-Men #190 & 191:

Removes the mouths and alters the hands of Doctor Strange and Selene to prevent them from casting spells.


Conan the Barbarian #259:

Deduces that Vammatar’s creations are recent innovations.


Conan the Barbarian #260:

Can recall incantations from books he read a century prior.


Avengers (1998) #30:

Distracts the Avengers so he can sacrifice Peliali.


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1:

Manipulates Red Sonja into fighting Spider-Man..


Spider-Man/Red Sonja #2:

Brainwashes Venom into trying to kill Spider-Man and Sonja, then prepares to kill all redheads to prevent Sonja from possessing someone else.


Savage Avengers (2019) #11:

Poisons his master’s wine and begins studying his spell books.


Savage Avengers (2019) #13:

Taints Earth’s cocaine supply with pieces of Shuma Gorath to serve as a distraction.


Savage Avengers (2019) #23:

Poisoned the Savage Avengers’ souls to gradually turn them subservient.


Savage Avengers (2019) #25:

Recognizes that Conan allied himself with Kang.


Arsenal

Amulet




The source of Gath’s power. He can use it to further enhance his power by absorbing the energy found in the blood of others. The amulet is tough enough to withstand a massive beam from Shuma Gorath that vaporized its master.

Upon dying, his soul will transfer to the amulet and brainwash those near it into wearing it, letting him possess them.

Sacrificial Knife




Useful for when you need to carve up blood sacrifices for your dark gods or devour your local sorcerer supremes.

Skeletal Dragon




A giant pterodactyl skeleton Gath can summon through necromancy. This was his main method of transportation in the Hyborian age, and he can use his magic to disguise it as a wolf. It’s tough enough to survive having an axe embedded in its skull, but it can be killed by pulling its skull apart. It’s also been stated that enough damage will leave it unable to carry Kulan.

Ormuz




A fire demon Kulan conjured in the city of Akif. It’s strong enough to battle the Devourer of Souls to a draw. Being made of fire, he can naturally be dispersed by dousing him in water.

Venom Symbiote




After seeing Venom in action and growing interested in his power, Kulan stole the symbiote for himself and bonded with it, transforming him into Kulan Venom.

While bonded with it, Kulan gains the symbiote’s abilities, which include:

Abilities

Superhuman Endurance

Throughout his numerous battles, Gath has casually shrugged off injuries that could kill a normal man. He’s been stabbed in the heart numerous times, shot and stabbed through the head, and once had his neck and four limbs snapped, yet could continue fighting without any issue.


Powers

Sorcery

Thanks to the knowledge he’s gained throughout his thousands of years of studying the dark arts, Gath has become one of the greatest sorcerers in history, with a wide variety of spells to call upon.

Power Mimicry and Memory Absorption

By consuming the flesh, blood, and organs of others, Gath obtains their powers and memories. He has done this to countless sorcerers, an ancient symbiote, Kang the Conqueror, Nightmare, and Shuma Gorath.

Enhanced Senses




Could smell Conan’s presence.

Longevity




His magic has allowed him to live for a long time, though it can’t restore his youth.

Acausality




Could recall events that were undone through time travel.

With Shuma Gorath’s powers, he could oversee his past self at all times, in all times, making it impossible to kill him using time travel.

Translation Spell




A simple spell that translates his and his followers’ words into other languages.

Energy Blasts




Can conjure mystical blasts through his eyes and hands or massive pillars that tear through buildings. These blasts are strong enough to incinerate swords, instantly knock people out, and kill monsters.

Upon absorbing Shuma Gorath, he gained the ability to channel his energy through others and unleash massive AOE blasts that can disintegrate his surroundings.


The Gaze of Dormammu




A powerful spell that shoots destructive beams from the caster’s eyes.


The Shield of the Seraphim




A mystical barrier that protects the target from physical and magical attacks.

Pyrokinesis




Gath can unleash powerful streams of fire from his hands and mouth. He’s used this to burn Vammatar’s men to death, torture a symbiote, and burn Doctor Strange to death.

Cryokinesis




Froze Kang by gesturing at him..

Electrokinesis




Using his sorcery, Kulan can unleash blasts of electricity that can scar others, knock them back, or knock out foes as powerful as Conan.

Chlorokinesis




Through verbal incantations and hand gestures, Kulan can command spiked vines to strangle opponents and drain them of their blood. He’s also turned trees into makeshift crucifixes.

Geokinesis




Crushed Venom with rocks when he began resisting Gath’s commands.

Telekinesis




Has choked Selene and J. Jonah Jameson with telekinesis. Upon gaining Shuma Gorath’s power, this was upgraded to let him make people explode.

Reality Warping




His magic has transformed villagers into demonic minions, and he’s turned entire cities, all of Manhattan, and all of New York into Hyborian era equivalents, complete with altering people’s language, memories, clothing, dialect, and all inorganic matter. He’s fully aware of everything that occurs within the space he’s transformed, and he can choose to only affect certain people or exclude them from the spell. The only other way to avoid being affected is through exposure to chaos magic.

Given enough time, Gath’s reality warping will become irreversible even to the greatest sorcerers, and it will eventually spread to the entire planet.



Illusions




Gath can conjure vivid illusions to disguise himself and trick others into seeing those around them as old enemies.

Teleportation




Can teleport himself and others to different locations. He can even teleport entire cities and send them to other dimensions.

Necromancy




Gath has created a pterodactyl to escape on, revived his dead acolytes and once created an army of undead to fight for him. He’s so skilled with this that Doctor Strange admits Gath is his equal in this field.

Animation




Has given sentience to his disembodied hand, done the same to his severed arm, and turned nearby debris into a tendril.


Shapeshifting/Regeneration




After his hand was severed, Kulan used his magic to transform his severed stump into a den of snakes, an energy-infused scythe, and later regrew it completely.

Upon absorbing Shuma Gorath, he was shown regrowing his jaw and hand seconds after losing them.

Summoning




Gath has used his magic to spawn a wide variety of beings. He’s summoned numerous beings to aid him in battle, like demonic knights, ancient Egyptians, Hand ninjas, Xholtaun skin walkers, a fire demon, and demons that slow his enemies by sapping their body heat. He’s also transformed parts of his robes into venomous snakes and can spawn mundane items like books and quills.

Fusionism




Can merge two beings together and turn them into his obedient slaves. He’s done this to Professor X by merging him with Caliban.

Biological Manipulation




Transformed Doctor Strange and Selene into mouthless, fingerless beings. He’s also turned an undead pterodactyl into a living wolf (and vice versa) and transformed the New Mutants, Starfox, and Wasp into his monstrous followers.

Mind Control, Memory Manipulation, and Possession




Gath has used mind control to turn rebels into loyal minions, implant hypnotic commands into the minds of others, brainwash Venom and Spider-Man’s other villains, affect nearly everyone in New York, and overrode Professor X’s mental defenses. He can also render people catatonic by forcing them to relive their most traumatic memories.

But most famous is how he uses this to cheat death. Upon dying, his soul will transfer to his amulet and brainwash a nearby man into wearing it, possessing him and transforming his body. The possession casts the host into the depths of his own subconscious, leaving Gath to do as he pleases. It will last as long as the amulet is on the host, and removing it will sever Gath’s connection. However, should the wearer have the willpower to resist Gath’s temptations, he can lull the greedy or murderous into putting it on instead.

Aside from that, Kulan has revealed that his “free-floating atoms” could possess a nearby body.

Petrification




Turned Sunder and Mirage to stone.

Chain Summoning



Can summon mystical chains that ensnare specific targets. These chains are strong enough that not even Spider-Man or high tier Avengers like She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch, and Goliath can break them.

Scrying




Through pools of blood or his own energy, Gath is capable of viewing events in other locations. He was able to view Spider-Man’s battle with Red Sonja, detect when the Savage Avengers defeated Jhoatun Lau, and kept track of the Savage Avengers’ current plans.

Dream Manipulation and Size Manipulation




Upon devouring Nightmare's flesh, Gath was able to seize control of the Nightmare Realm and inherited his ability to control the dreams of others. He was also shown increasing his size in this dream realm.

Death Manipulation




His eye beams forced Spider-Man to die instantly, and he’s cursed the Eye of Agamotto to inflict death on whoever wore it.

Poisons




Can infect people with a poison that infects the soul and gradually turns them subservient to him.

Time Travel




By consuming the flesh of Kang the Conqueror, Gath learned how to freely travel through time. He can even track other time travelers and follow them.

Resistances


Power Nullification:

His magic overpowered a talisman that passively negated it.


Illusions:

Saw through Doctor Voodoo’s illusion that disguised him as one of Gath’s acolytes.


Clairvoyance:

Doctor Strange couldn’t find him even with the Orb of Agamotto.

Forms

Kulan Venom




After separating the symbiote from Eddie Brock, Kulan bonded with it and gained all of his abilities.

Shuma Gorath Empowered




The result of Gath slowly devouring Shuma Gorath over the course of a year. Upon finishing him, he gained a massive boost in power and abilities. It was said he could break reality beyond repair and transcend this plane of existence.

Feats

  • Killed his master as a child and stole his identity
  • Became Sorcerer Supreme after cannibalizing the previous one
  • Married his rival, the Hyperborean Queen Vammatar, as part of an agreement to unlock the iron-bound books of Shuma Gorath
  • Successfully summoned Terhali, the Green Empress of Melniboné
  • Framed Conan for the attempted murder of King Nimed of Nemedia
  • Was resurrected by his second wife Armati
  • Summoned the fire demon Ormuz to wreak havoc on the people of Kozac
  • Fought Spider-Man and a revived Red Sonja, but was defeated
  • After being resurrected, he transformed Manhattan, conquered it, and killed Spider-Man
  • Transformed a Kamekeri village into a makeshift kingdom
  • Successfully resurrected himself again by brainwashing Bryan Glass into putting on his amulet
  • Transformed New York and nearly conquered it
  • Stole the Venom symbiote from Eddie Brock
  • Tortured Wolverine for hours
  • Summoned the marrow god Jhoatun Lau to test Earth’s defenses
  • Killed Doctor Voodoo and turned him into an avatar of Shuma Gorath
  • Overthrew Nightmare as ruler of the Nightmare Realm
  • Ate Shuma Gorath and gained godlike power
  • Decimated an army of superheroes and villains and conquered the world
  • Killed Doctor Strange
  • Traveled back in time and fought another army of heroes and villains

Weaknesses




Kulan Gath may boast that he’s many things, but infallible is not one of them. He’s extremely arrogant and egomaniacal, which is impressive considering he’s died a bunch of times. Sure, he can eventually resurrect himself or possess others with his amulet, but the resurrection process takes time and his body/host can’t survive being disintegrated or decapitated. And that’s assuming he can control them since his commands can be resisted with enough willpower.

It’s not like the powers he’s absorbed from others are flawless either. The Venom symbiote is inherently weak to sonic attacks and fire, though it hasbuilt upa resistanceto themover time. And since he stole it from its previous host, the symbiote will automatically leave him if it senses someone worthier. Even when he absorbed Shuma Gorath, he was not omniscience. His attention could still be divided, and he couldn’t detect Conan’s presence while the Cimmerian wore Doom’senchanted armor.


Conclusion


Originally I wasn’t even going to do this, but while researching Dynamite’s Red Sonja series and seeing how powerful Gath was, I thought I should just bite the bullet and cover both of them. And it was really fun.

Granted, his first appearance isn’t anything to write home about. He shows up, summons some demons and a god, then gets incinerated. The most impressive things about him here are his first design being so drastically different and that he originated from a crossover with Elric of Melniboné. It’s everything after that where things start to get good.

His second appearance is Marvel Team-Up, and if you’ve seen my Red Sonja blog, you’ll know how much I loved this story. We see Gath’s more iconic redesign and get some great interactions between him, Spider-Man, and Sonja. But the best part of the issue is seeing this guy who will one day become one of Marvel’s strongest villains go down in one punch from Spider-Man.

After this, we get a pretty good sequel to the story in Uncanny X-Men where Gath’s magic shows us what would happen if the Avengers took place in Conan’s time. Its only downsides are that Spider-Man’s spared the Hyborian makeover (which is a shame since a barbarian Spider-Man sounds badass) and the ending feels a bit rushed. So much is happening near the end of the story that it honestly becomes hard to keep track of. It feels like the writers realized they only had six pages left and began writing by the seat of their pants to make sure it would all fit.

But Kulan’s involvement in Conan 253-260 picked up the slack. Seeing him work with Conan was pretty cool, and it was interesting to see Gath actually have some depth to him instead of just being the cruel, merciless bastard from previous issues. The Avengers arc he was in also gave him some surprising depth, but aside from that and the fantastic art, there’s not much I can say. The story was pretty good, and it introduced me to Silverclaw, who I really liked. The only downside was I thought Triathlon was a bit annoying, but considering the other Avengers feel the same way, I think it might’ve been intentional.

Conan: Flame and the Fiend was honestly kind of forgettable. No joke, I legitimately forgot most of what happened in the story as soon as I finished it. All I remember is Gath had a second wife and we got to see more of the severely underrated Devourer of Souls.

And for the penultimate story, we have Spider-Man/Red Sonja. I’ve talked about it before, but for a shortened version, Mel Rubi’s artwork is great, the scenes of Jameson as Gath’s scribe are hilarious, and there are some awesome designs for Spider-Man’s transformed rogues.

But his final appearances in Savage Avengers are a real step up from everything else. He’s a lot more entertainingly evil and somehow an even worse scumbag than before. There’s just one problem. They made this guy WAY too overpowered!

This guy started out as a villain for Conan and got his ass handed to him each time. Now all of a sudden he’s throwing down with some of the strongest tier sorcerers, demons, and gods of Marvel and winning. Not just that, he became so unstoppable that the writers had to up his arrogance so the story wouldn’t just end with him winning. That’s not to say that his final defeat was bad, it was actually pretty satisfying, but… just look at the Powers section. This guy was completely broken!

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