First Appearance:
Journey Into Mystery Annual #1Origin Issue: not yet revealed
ZEUS
First Appearance:
Journey Into Mystery Annual #1
Origin Issue: not yet revealed
Real Name: Zeus
Aliases: Jupiter, Jove (his Roman names)
Height: 6' 7"
Weight: 560 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Distinguishing Features: none
Occupation: Supreme monarch of
the Olympian gods
Citizenship: Olympus
Place of Creation/Birth: Mount Lycaem, Arcadia (Greece)
Known Relatives: Ouranos
(grandfather, deceased), Gaea (grandmother), Cronus (father), Rhea (mother), Hera
(wife/sister), Pluto, Neptune (brothers), Demeter, Hestia (sisters), Persephone (niece,
sister-in-law), Apollo (son by Leto), Ares (son by Hera), Dionysus (son by Semele),
Hephaestus (son by Hera), Hercules (son by Alcmena), Hermes (son by Maia), Athena
(daughter by Metis), Artemis (daughter by Leto), Hebe (daughter by Hera), Helen of Troy
(daughter by Leda, deceased), Venus (daughter by Dione), as well as numerous other
children, Eros (grandson), Atum/Demogorge, Thor (sons of Zeus' grandmother Gaea)
Known Allies: Hercules, Olympian gods, Cyclopes,
Hekatonchieres (hundred-handed giants), Huntsman of Zeus, Odin, Thor, heads of other Earth
pantheons, Thena, Avengers, (former) Zuras (deceased), Champions of Los Angeles
(disbanded)
Known Enemies: Typhon, (occasional) Ares, Pluto,
Hyppolyta, (former) Cronus and the Titans, Typhoeus, Otus and Ephialtes, Giants of Greek
mythology, Third and Fourth Celestial host, Avengers, Enchantress
Intelligence: Normal (4/10)
Strength: Superhuman Class 90 (10/12)
Speed: Superhuman (6/10)
Stamina: Godlike (9/10)
Durability: Demi-godlike Regenerative (12/14)
Agility: Superhuman (6/7)
Reflexes: Superhuman (6/7)
Fighting Skills: Excellent hand-to-hand combatant, virtually invincible in
hurling lightning bolts
Special Skills/Abilities: None known
Superhuman physical powers: In addition to the above
listed physical abilities, Zeus possesses virtual immortality; the ability to manipulate
vast cosmic/mystical energies for numerous purposes including powerful force bolts,
creating interdimensional apertures, the power to generate great amounts of electrical
energy and discharge it as lightening bolts, and the ability to change his shape at will
Superhuman Mental Powers: Limited precognitive
abilities allowing him to see into alternate futures
Special Limitations: None
Source of Superhuman Powers: Zeus is a member of the
race of superhumans known as the gods of Olympus
Personal Weaponry: Olympian weaponry made by Hephaestus
(Vulcan) from virtually indestructible adamantine
Origin: 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 no w 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. Zeus 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 hi s 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 remain allies today.
Significant Issues:
