Shadow King
| Shadow King | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979) |
| Created by |
Chris Claremont John Byrne |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Amahl Farouk |
| Species | Undetermined |
| Team affiliations |
Dark X-Men Gladiators Brotherhood of Mutants |
| Notable aliases | Amahl Farouk, Jacob Reisz, Ananasi, Cypher, Karma |
| Abilities |
Telepathy Possession Immortality |
The Shadow King, also known as Amahl Farouk, is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shadow King is an entity of pure psychic energy which feeds on a hatred of humanity, manifesting itself by possessing the bodies of humans. Created by writer Chris Claremont and illustrator-cowriter John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979) as the telepathic mutant Amahl Farouk.
Amahl Farouk returned in The New Mutants #34 (December 1985), revealed as possessing Karma since issue #6. Later appearing throughout Uncanny X-Men, the character does not refer to himself as Shadow King until issue #265 (August 1990).
X-Treme X-Men and X-Men: True Friends developed the Shadow King into an entity of the astral plane which has existed since the dawn of humanity, an ethereal demon preferring to enslave the bodies of telepaths and psychics and use their capabilities to enslave others. As a side effect of its greed, hedonism and lack of self-control, the Shadow King's long-term telepathic hosts are often morbidly obese.
The Shadow King's origins are unclear. It is a multiversal manifestation of the dark side of the human consciousnesses, spawned by the first nightmare. When Amahl Farouk's powers developed he psychically controlled those around him, feeding on the shadows in their souls and merging with the Shadow King (who had transferred from host to host since the dawn of humanity).
For many years, the Shadow King's primary human manifestation was Amahl Farouk. As Farouk, he originally confronted Professor X (inspiring X to form the X-Men).
Shadow King was known as Amahl Farouk in 1931, working for two of Adolf Hitler's special agents (Wolfgang von Strucker and Geist). Von Strucker and Geist planned to dethrone King Edward of England and replace him with a fascist ruler sympathetic to Hitler. When Farouk conducted a mystical ceremony, he accidentally brought back Phoenix Force host Rachel Summers and her teammate Shadowcat (also known as Kitty Pryde). Von Strucker began to doubt Farouk's abilities. The Shadow King quickly possessed Rachel Summers and, as Shadowcat escaped, allied herself with Alasdhair Kinross. Farouk kidnapped the heir to the throne, Lilibet, and fled to Edinburgh. When Shadowcat tried to reach Summers telepathically, she found Farouk in control. Pryde surprised Farouk by calling him "Shadow King", enabling her to escape. Farouk took control of Kinross and tried to kill them both, but Pryde used her phasing powers to disrupt Kinross's nervous system and knock him out.
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