Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the Chaos King, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a supervillain and demonic god of evil who is best known as an enemy of Hercules and Thor. He is based on the Mikaboshi of Japanese mythology.
Publication history
Amatsu-Mikaboshi first appeared in Thor: Blood Oath #6 (February 2006), and was adapted from mythology by Michael Oeming and Scott Kolins.
The character subsequently appears in Ares #1-5 (March–July 2006), and The Incredible Hercules #117-120 (May–August 2008).
Fictional character biography
History
According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'''s profile on Mikaboshi, billions of years ago, after the Demogorge had purged the degenerated Elder Gods, the Shinto gods Izanagi (a seventh-generational deity of the ancient Amatsu-Kami pantheon) and Izanami (an aspect of the Elder Goddess of Earth, Gaea) ventured into a formless world (Earth) that was dominated by a dark, primordial void where the ancient force of nature known as Amatsu-Mikaboshi existed and reigned alone. The divine couple began to populate the world with living creatures as well as lesser Amatsu-Kami who later came to be worshipped as gods by the inhabitants of Japan, which enraged Mikaboshi. His attempts to topple the fledgling Amatsu-Kami pantheon were foiled, and Mikaboshi was forced to descend to Yomi, which Izanagi designated as the netherworld of the Japanese, where he remained for centuries.Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica Vol 1 #1
Secret Invasion
Amatsu-Mikaboshi joins Hercules' "God Squad", over Hercules' violent objections. He is the delegate offered by the Gods of the East, led by Izanagi-no-Mikoto, who say it is an opportunity for him to redeem himself (though Hercules later suggests that they probably just wanted him off their hands and when he first sees Mikaboshi he attacks him). Mikaboshi is useful in stealing a map from Nightmare's realm allowing the God Squad to get to the Skrull Dreamtime and the Skrull Gods. He is seemingly killed by the Skrull goddess Sl'gur't in the final battle, but is then revealed to have survived and killed the Skrull goddess when she was in his form, now in command of the dead Skrull gods' army of slave deities. Mikaboshi vows revenge on the Olympians, free of the Kami's seals and unaware he is being observed through an enchanted scrying pool by a smiling Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, who claimed her plans had gone even better than had been expected.
The Primordial Darkness
Some time later, it is revealed that Athena has been preparing for many years against the great struggle with a "primordial darkness" soon to descend upon the world, that being Mikaboshi, and telling Amadeus Cho that the strength of Hercules would be useless against King Chaos, but Cho's super-genius hypermind may yet bring them triumph. Hera later has a vision of Mikaboshi slaying Sharra and K'ythri, the gods of the Shi'ar race, and identifies Mikaboshi as the personification of the darkness that existed before the creation of the world.
Chaos War
The gods of Zenn-La, upon detecting Mikaboshi's approach, convene to prepare to combat his spreading darkness. Thrann, Saint of Science, tells them that the First Mover, who gave the Marvel Universe "orbit, organization, and order" from a void of chaos and nothingness, extrapolated the coming of the Nil Star as the herald of the End Times eons ago. Mikaboshi, with an army of enslaved alien deities, invades the Cosmic Plane of Zenn-La's gods and easily destroys them despite their united efforts, enslaving them to further bolster his forces. Mikaboshi next begins his assault on Earth, brutally slaying the Impossible Man despite the latter's attempts to humor him and his complex shapeshifting. Mikaboshi next destroys Nightmare and claims the Dream Lord's powers, thus disabling most of Earth's mortal defenders and trapping them in sleep. Hercules attempts to summon Eternity to fight for the remaining protectors of Earth, but Eternity tells them that such would be akin to fighting himself, as Mikaboshi is the void against which he is defined. The rulers of Hell rally against Mikaboshi, joining their strengths to defend Perdition from his clutches, but even they eventually fall to his immense power, with Mikaboshi overpowering and devouring Satan and his power, obliterating the Underworld and causing the cosmic entity Death herself to flee the Marvel Universe. Mikaboshi takes control of an army of dead beings, including Zeus.