DAMBALLAH
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, magic-user
Occupation: Zobop (false god), ruler of a superstitious group of Haitians
Affiliations: The Council of Vaudou,
Mambo Legba and the Council Supreme (leaders of the world's
mystic cults)(allies);
Bambu (former servant;
worshipped and presumably empowered by the Loa (voodoo gods),
especially Damballah I
Enemies: Brother Voodoo (Daniel Drumm), Brother Voodoo (Daniel and Jericho Drumm), Papa Jambo; Fong Lee (Council Supreme)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: the Serpent God
Base of Operations: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
First Appearance: Strange Tales I #169 (Spetember, 1973)
Powers: He used an Amulet (a Wangal, carved from mystic stone) to control snakes and possibly other reptiles, and to increase his influence over others. Much of his power was in the belief of others that he actually was the voodoo god Damballah given human form. This power could cause those who feared and believed in him to die from fear, feel pain from sympathetic magic (voodoo dolls), or believe themselves to be catching on fire, etc.
History: The orgins of the man calling
himself Damballah are unknown.
(StrT I#169(fb2))-He suddenly appeared in villages outside of the
captial city of Haiti. He quickly convinced others that he was
the incarnation of the serpent god Damballah, and taught them the
true meaning of fear. He used this power over the people to
manipulate them to his ends, driving them deep into spiritual
darkness.
Daniel Drumm, the Hougan (voodoo priest) of Haiti, known as
Brother Voodoo, confronted Damballah, calling him a false god and
accused him of practicing black magic. After a heated argument,
Daniel struck Damballah, knocking him down. Damballah swore
revenge, and carved a doll in Daniel's image, and cast his Wanga
(fatal spell). Soon Daniel began to grow weaker and more sick, so
that he was bedridden within days.
(StrT#169(fb)+170(fb))-Jericho Drumm returned
to Haiti and attempted to use his medical training to treat
Daniel. It was to no avail, and at the stroke of midnight,
Damballah stuck a needle in his doll of Daniel, and Daniel died.
Jericho attempted to attack Damballah, who easily knocked him
back and beat him senseless. Jericho then sought out the man who
had trained Daniel, Papa Jambo, and was trained under him. Jambo
bound Daniel's spirit to Jericho, and he became the new Brother
Voodoo.
Damballah gathered together the Council Supreme, and proclaimed
himself Voodoo master of the world. One of the Council members,
Fong Lee, scoffed at him, but Damballah made him feel that he was
beign attacked by a fire-breathing dragon, and Fong Lee
combusted. This frightened the other members into agreeing to
serve Damballah.
Jericho, the new Brother Voodoo confronted Damballah, who sent
his allies in the Council to attack him. However, his doubled
strength allowed Brother Voodoo to overcome his attackers and
attack Damballah directly. Brother Voodoo fought Damballah's
efforts to make him feel weak, and succeeded in knocking him
back. Damballah then summoned a large snake to attack Brother
Voodoo, who overpowered and killed it. Damballah then summoned a
large number of venomous snakes, but Brother Voodoo's mental
control halted them as he and Damballah vied for control of them.
Brother Voodoo sent the spirit of Daniel to possess a member of
the Council, who tore the Amulet from Damballah's neck, and
removing most of his power. The snakes then swarmed over
Damballah, quickly killing him.
The Council
Supreme was
composed of the leaders of Dark Cults from across the world. Only
a few were named.--StrT I#170
Mambo Legba (far left) was apparently a
haitian sorceress as well. Her abilities were not seen, but was
quite strong physically, able to lift a large rock over her head.
Fong Lee (second to the right) was likely
of Chinese origin. He dismissed Damballah's claim as master, but
fell before his power, and burned to death while believing
himself to be under attack by a fire breathing dragon.
Comments: Created by Len Wein and Gene Colan.
I'm not so up on my voodoo, so let me know if my terminology and/or interpretations are off.
Clarifications: This Damballah obviously
takes his name (and may well have derived his power) from either:
With respect to the two mythic Damballahs, Carycomix suggests: "The one who acted as eponym and power source for Brother Voodoo's first major bad guy was spawned by the Elder God Set. Set was probably trying to steal worshipers from the real Damballah, the same way some of his were stolen by Seth of Heliopolis! According to an issue of 'Nightmask' (one of the Marvel New Universe books that came out in the 1980's), the real Damballah was seen by his Afro-Caribbean worshipers as benevolent.", to which Snood replies: "It's name was Damballah at least as far back as 10000 BC, which is earlier than I might expect the African Gods to have been around. Perhaps the African Damballah stole the Set-spawn's thunder, much the way Seth did to Set." Carycomix replies that "If so, then Set's kid may have had another name. Perhaps, the Stygian equivalent of Apophis? According to the STARGATE: SG-1 website, the symbol for the actual Apophis of Egyptian mythology was a snake!"
Damballah's Amulet should be distinguished
from:
The Amulets of Damballah, which were
used to control Simon Garth, the Zombie, @ Tales of the Zombie#1
Mambo Legba presumably takes her name from:
Legba, a voodoo god, master of the loa,
and guardian of gates and crossroads, @ Dr. Strange III#17/2
Last updated: 12/19/01
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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