Kulan Gath

Kulan Gath
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Conan the Barbarian #14-15 (February/March 1972)
Created by	Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith
In-story information
Alter ego	Kulan Gath
Abilities	Reality alteration, Immortality

Kulan Gath is a fictional villainous magician appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created as a foe of Conan the Barbarian and was later fully integrated into the Marvel Universe and in 2006 was used in Dynamite Entertainment's revamped Red Sonja series.

The character's first appearance was in Conan the Barbarian No. 14 and No. 15. Despite not being owned by Marvel, he has fought several of Marvel's modern-day superheroes, and was particularly made popular from his use in X-Men.

Kulan Gath was a sorcerer in Earth's Hyborian Era, the ancient time period in which Conan the Barbarian lived. At some point, he marries the witch Vammatar in an alliance to obtain the power of the demon Shuma-Gorath. He has an apprentice named Razal Gulath, and is an enemy of the immortal vampire-like mutant named Selene. In his first appearance, he seeks the power of the Melnibonéan sorceress Terhali, who had been exiled to Earth and placed in suspended animation; when Terhali awoke, she disintegrates Kulan Gath with a magical bolt of energy.

This proves to be only a setback for Kulan Gath, as he had achieved effective immortality by placing his life energy into a magical amulet. He eventually regains his body, allied with Vammatar, and fought Conan and Red Sonja. Kulan Gath and his bride were apparently destroyed when they attempted to control the demon Shuma-Gorath. Kulan Gath returned again in the miniseries Conan: The Flame and the Fiend, thanks to the efforts of his new wife, Armati, but he was decapitated by Conan. At some point, his body was restored, but his heart was cut out by Red Sonja; a silhouetted scene in Marvel Saga No. 1 suggests that this may have occurred with the assistance of Conan.

Millennia later, Kulan Gath returned to life in the modern world when the necklace that housed his essence turned up at a museum display in New York City. The necklace was donned by a night watchman; the sorcerer transformed the guard's body into a duplicate of his own, which he then possessed. He was defeated by Red Sonja, who had been temporarily reincarnated in the present day in the body of Mary Jane Watson, and her newfound ally Spider-Man. Spider-Man later tossed the necklace off of a ferry bound for Staten Island, but it was found not long afterwards by a fisherman named Jaime Rodriquez; although Jaime resisted Kulan Gath, a mugger who subsequently killed him was considerably weaker in willpower, and when the mugger donned the necklace, he was possessed instantly and transformed by the wizard.

...
Wikipedia