Zeus (comics)
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The version of Zeus depicted by Marvel Comics is based, at least somewhat, from the classical character of Greek mythology worshiped as a god in ancient Greece. Zeus usually appears in the context of stories involving his illigitemate son Hercules or other gods, primarily Thor; he appears less frequently than his Asgardian counterpart, Odin. Like the Asgardians, the Olympians are depicted as humanoids who live in other-dimensional realms connected to Earth's dimension, although the Olympians are individually more powerful and closer to true immortality than the Asgardians.
Zeus is the son of the Titans Kronus and Rhea, who were the children of the sky god Ouranos and the elder goddess Gaea ("Mother Earth"). Kronus rose to power in the dimension adjacent to Earth (which came to be called Olympus) when he fatally wounded his father Ouranos.
The dying Ouranos prophesied that Kronus would likewise be overthrown by one of his own children. As a result, upon the birth of each of Kronus's children, Kronus had the infant imprisoned in Tartarus, the most dismal section of the Olympian underworld now known as Hades. Appalled, the children's mother, Rhea, concealed her sixth pregnancy from him and secretly gave birth to Zeus on Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia, an area of the land now known as Greece.
Rhea gave the infant Zeus to the safekeeping of Gaea, who his the baby in the cave of Dicte on Aegean Hill on the isle of Crete, where he was tended by various minor goddesses. Zeus grew to adulthood among the shepherds of Mount Ida, Crete, and then set about taking revenge on Kronus. Zeus went down to Tartarus and freed his siblings, all now grown to adulthood, as well as the three one-eye giants called Cyclopes, and the three hundred-handed giants called Hekatoncheries, all six of whom Kronus had imprisoned there for fear they would help overthrow him. The grateful Cyclopes taught Zeus how to wield his energy-manipulating powers in battle. Zeus and his allies fought a ten year war with the Titans which ended with Zeus imprisoning most of the male Titans in Tartarus.
Zeus thus became supreme ruler of the Olympian dimension. He married the goddess Hera, but he engaged in many relationships with goddesses and with mortal women both before and during the Heroic Age of ancient Greece. Some of his children were gods, a number of whom joined the Olympian pantheon; others were humans such as Helen of Troy.
After the end of the Hyborian Age, as the civilization of ancient Greece began to rise, Zeus decided to make the presence of the Olympian gods known to the Greeks so that they would worship them. Zeus learned that the principal nexus between the Olympian dimension and Greece lay atop Greece's Mount Olympus, near Olympia, the principal city of the Eternals. Zeus and his daughter Athena, goddess of wisdom, held a meeting with Zuras, the leader of the Eternals, and his daughter Zura. Noticing the marked physical resemblance between Zeus and Zuras and between Zura and herself, Athena suggested that the Olympian gods and the Eternals form an alliance in which the Eternals would act as the gods' representatives on Earth. Both parties enthusiastically agreed, and Zura took her current name of Thena to signify the sealing of the pact.
However, over the many years, such Eternals as Zuras, Thena, Valkin, Makkan, Hero, and Helios came to be thought by many humans to be not representatives of the Olympian gods, but the gods themselves. This led to a growing resentment by the gods towards the Eternals, which recently erupted into war, but is now ended.
When Christianity replaced the worship of the Olympian gods in the Roman Empire, Zeus decided that the time had come for the Olympian gods to break most of their ties with Earth. The only exception was that Neptune (Poseidon) was still allowed to watch over his worshippers in undersea Atlantis. Pluto, god of the dead, was chief among those who deplored Zeus's decree. He has made several recent challenges to Zeus's supremacy. Nevertheless, Zeus still retains an affection for and interest in the people of Earth.
A millennium ago, his son Hercules led a band of soldiers he had transported from ancient Greece through time to battle Norsemen who were under the protection of the Asgardian god Thor. This led to war between the Asgardians and Olympians. Zeus secretly met with Odin, ruler of the Asgardians, and the two gods not only put an end to the war, but also formed an alliance to defend Earth from the Celestials. Zeus and Odin remained allies until Odin's recent death.
Recently, Olympus was attacked by the evil forces of the Japanese god of evil, Amatsu-Mikaboshi. Mikaboshi also stole Alexander, the son of Ares, and brainwashed Alexander into becoming his personal God of War. In the end though, thanks to Ares' love for his son, and the power of Zeus, Alexander broke free and slayed Mikaboshi. It came with a heavy price though, as Zeus sacrificed his life to do so, his body was never found.
Strength Level
Zeus possesses superhuman strength superior to that of any other Olympian, the average male member can lift about 30 tons, with the exception of his son Hercules. Zeus is capable of lifting at least 90 tons without supplementing his strength with his other powers.Superhuman Powers
Zeus possesses the attributes of a male member of the superhuman race known as the Olympian gods. However, Zeus possesses considerably greater strength, endurance, and durability than the vast majority of his race. Zeus is functionally immortal, he has not aged since reaching adulthood, and cannot die through conventional means. It would take an injury that dispersed the majority of his bodily molecules over a great distance to cause his actual, physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of equal power, such as Odin, or a number of gods working together to revive him. Zeus' Olympian metabolism grants his body a vastly greater level of physical stamina than most other Olympians. Since his muscles produce practically no lactic acids, Zeus' body has a practically limitless endurance in all activities.Zeus possess the ability to manipulate vast amounts of mystical energy superior to those of any other Olympian god. Zeus can uses his powers in a variety of ways, only a few of which have been shown, including temporary augmentation of his superhuman physical abilities, firing powerful bolts of energy, opening and closing interdimensional gateways, granting superhuman abilities and properties to living beings or inanimate objects. Zeus can also control the mystical life energies of other Olympian gods, at least to a certain extent. For example, he has removed and restored much of his son Hercules' divine attributes several times in the past.
Zeus possesses limited precognitive abilities that allowed him to glimpse various alternate futures. For example, Zeus was able to "remember" the brief war between the Olympians and the Asgardians during the Trojan War, despite their brief conflict occurring many centuries in the future.
Zeus can also generate vast amounts of electrical energy and project the energy through his hands in the form of lightning bolts, which has long been his trademark. The exact limit of Zeus' electrical powers are unrevealed, but combined with his other abilities, make him one of the most powerful humanoid beings to ever walk the earth.
Special Skills
Zeus is an excellent hand to hand combatant, having thousands of years of experience at his disposal. Zeus is highly skilled at employing his vast energy powers during combat situations.
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