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Biography[]
(Submitted by Four-Eyes)
Shamash: ~6,000 BCE - Present[]
Shamash and twin sister Inanna were born to Lilith and the moon god Sin. Lilith left her children in the care of their father, so she might pursue her own agenda. Sin gave the children Shamash and Inanna, however, only after Lilith had secretly bestowed them with their true names.
Sin insisted that both Shamash and Inanna should join his pantheon. Both proved quite popular, with Inanna becoming venerated as the goddess of sex, war, and political power; while Shamash became a god of the sun and a judge of the dead. The twins were both also seen as divine gods of justice.
Though Inanna would rise to become Queen of the Pantheon and held court in an otherworldly palace for the gods, Shamash concerned himself more with the affairs of mortal governance. In the city of Uruk, Shamash entertained the archangel Saraquael in his court. The two become lovers and Saraquael would give Shamash a son named Senael. The two struck a deal which formed an alliance between the pantheons. Senael would live among his father's pantheon first, but would then be returned to his mother in Heaven. As Shamash valued the importance of names, he gave his son the moniker Gilgamesh to use in his travels. Shamash taught his son to become a hero and to go forth across the land and do good things for the purpose of sowing worship in the pantheon. Senael lost his way at first, but after a visit from Shamash and many adventures with his friends Shamhat and Enkidu, Senael got the hang of the whole hero thing.
While Senael was out being Gilgamesh and sowing his legend, Shamash went about his normal affairs, living as a god-king to mortals. He would take breaks at various times to adventure with his children, engage in the politics of Heaven, or hunt monsters. He proved his devotion to his pantheon at every turn, even helping Inanna take the life of their father Sin when he proved to be increasingly despotic and dangerous. Though he also often met with Saraquael to continue their romantic affair, Shamash entertained no fantasies about leaving Heaven to live with him. Even if he was so inclined to do that for her, he knew her family would never permit a non-supernal in their court. With this mindset, Shamash took a wife, the Akkadian goddess Sherida - a goddess of the dawn, agriculture, sexual love, and youth. Sherida made Shamash very happy and the two had many children together — all of which would go forth in the world to find their own legends before being welcomed back into the pantheon as gods.
Shamash and Sherida would often take voyages to the Underworld, so Shamash could judge the souls of the dead. He would often meet with Hell's Annunaki judges as well. During one such journey, their ceremony was interrupted by a surprise visit from Saraquael. Unaware he had taken a wife, Saraquael had a heated discussion that ultimately ended their long-standing affair.
Shamash returned to the mortal realm and sent messengers to inform Senael it was time to leave Earth and ascend to Heaven. When he continued to hear tales of Gilgamesh's exploits, Senael would send messengers again. In time, Inanna told her brother that Senael had gone to Hell and chosen to swear fealty to his uncle.
Shamash poured himself into his duties on Earth and the Underworld. He raised his other children as he could. He devoted himself to his wife. When Inanna made her moves against the Underworld and the Dreaming, Shamash distanced himself from his pantheon. This proved to save him from the downfall of his fellow gods as Shamash's personal cult outlasted the pantheon by hundreds of years before Shamash had to retire to the Void and seek refuge in the court of Nergal, but had to secure his courtesy by helping Nergal kill the Annunaki.
When Inanna returned from her imprisonment by the Endless, she recruited her brother to help her hunt primordials as a last-ditch effort to grab some power to use against the supernal cult's expansion. Their hunt would end in the tragic death of Shamash's wife, Sherida. This tragedy put a split between the twins, with Inanna leaving to join Lucifer's court and her brother remaining a lieutenant of Nergal.[1]
Threat Assessment[]
Resources[]
- Infernal/Eldritch Hybrid Physiology: Shamash is the son of a primordial god and Lilith, Mother of Monsters. This effectively makes him an archdemon of the highest order.
- Astral Convention: Shamash can shred his physical form entirely, transforming into spiritual energy. This allows him to travel the astral plane or possess others.
- Enhanced Physicality: Shamash is stronger, faster, and more resilient than one may assume by his appearance alone. He can kick down metal doors, survive falls from towering heights, and can even dodge bullets if he is on his guard.
- Enhanced Supernatural Senses: Shamash has heightened senses. He can smell blood at a great distance, taste pheromones in the air, and see and hear ghosts.
- Immortality: Shamash does not suffer the rigors of age or disease. He also heals at a considerable rate and is able to fully regenerate lost limbs or organs.
- Infernal Sorcery: Shamash is an accomplished sorcerer of the dark arts. In Hell, his magical affinity for stars gives him an advantage with infernal magic, and he is able to directly draw upon the power of Inferno, the Demon Star. He is quite skilled in the art of essomancy.
- Photokinesis: Shamash can control light — particularly the light of a star. He can magnify the light's intensity in his area or diminish it. He can create absolute darkness that no light can pierce, or create a blinding flash of light so bright as to overload a mortal's optic nerves. Shamash can also bend light to conceal himself or others - he can even conceal an entire city from visual detection.
- Telekinetic Push Shamash can throw objects with his mind.
- Telepathy (Limited): Shamash can sense when mortals are uncomfortable, when they feel guilty about a past offense, and when they tell the truth.
- Teleportation: Shamash can relocate himself to any familiar location.
- Divine Skills: Shamash is a legendary judge, warrior and leader. He was worshiped as a god in these regards, and has ruled mortal kingdoms as several different kings.
- Ring of Mesopotamia: Shamash is the bearer of an ancient relic known as the Ring of Mesopotamia. What the function of this relic is not clear. It once belonged to Shamash's father Sin, and it was rumored to be partnered with a Rod of Mesopotamia, but that relic disappeared some time before Sin's death. Legends proliferate about what the purpose of the ring-and-rod were, but they became a symbol of leadership. Shamash was known to carry a mundane rod he had made to look like the true relic rod in order to fool his enemies into the belief he had ring-and-rod. To this day, many Mesopotamian kings are depicted holding a ring-and-rod to embody Shamash's exceptional leadership. Lucifer himself offered Shamash his own province in Hell to rule in exchange for the ring, but Shamash declined, seeming to indicate that Shamash may know his ring's true purpose and deems it of more worth than mere political power. Experts suspect it may be a key... but to what?
Weaknesses[]
- Vice — Pride: When it comes down to it, Shamash will always look out for #1.
- Vulnerability — Adamant: Shamash can be hurt by a weapon made of adamant.
- Vulnerability — Unforged Iron: Shamash is susceptible to such weapons.
- Vulnerability — Supernal Energy: Supernal energy affects Shamash negatively.
Analytics[]
- Physicality: 4 — Expert / Enhanced
- Occult: 6 — World-Class / Superb
- Weaponry: 6 — World-Class / Superb
- Expertise: 5 — Master / Remarkable
- Ranged: 5 — Master / Remarkable
- Strategy: 5 — Master / Remarkable
- TOTAL: 105
- RANKING: Elevated Threat
Trivia and Notes[]
Trivia[]
General[]
- (Submitted by Four-Eyes)
- No one seems to know Shamash's true name. The only being that certainly knows the name is Lilith, but she's rather difficult to track down for questioning - and I doubt she'd easily give up secrets she's spent 8,000 years of keeping.
- The Raven Legion functions as Hell's militarized police force. Though Nergal is the general of the Legion, its day-to-day operations are overseen by Shamash. Shamash also personally handles the most important investigations and inquiries.
- Unlike his sister, he was free to do as he wanted and didn't need to follow his mother's orders. Lilith also never really cared about him.[2]
- He has a sexual relationship with his twin sister.
Other Events[]
- Saraquael often aimed to rekindle her romance with him. One visit proved to her he didn't match her standards. Heartbroken, Saraquael left Nur — but sought out comfort in the embrace of the gatekeeper Neti before she returned to Heaven bearing an unborn child.[3]
- In 824, Inanna and Shamash hunted an ancient serpent god with Sherida.[4] During the fight, Sherida was wounded. Shamash and Inanna managed to kill the serpent. While he wanted to use them to heal Sherida, Inanna tried to convince him to use them to make themselves stronger. Shamash realized she was stalling and a fight erupted. He ran her through with her sword. Shamash was too late to save his wife - Sherida's soul and the souls of the serpent were scattered by the wind.
- When Ramona Flowers and Scott Pilgrim visited Hell to meet Shamash. He revealed to Ramona that she was actually a separated being who's bonded with the Those-Who-Were-One and was the reincarnation of Shamash's wife, Sherida.[5] After a fight he imprisoned both of them and took Scott's Power of Understanding.[6]
Notes[]
- His aliases are various figures from mythology:
- Astaroth in demonology is the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he is part of the evil trinity.
- Lugalbanda is a deified Sumerian king of Uruk who, according to various sources of Mesopotamian literature, was the father of Gilgamesh.
- Simigu is the Hurrian sun god.
- Utu, later worshiped by the East Semitic Akkadian-speaking Babylonians as Shamash, was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god, god of justice, morality, and truth, and the twin of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (Ishtar in the Assyrio-Babylonian language), the Queen of Heaven.
Links and References[]