First Appearance:
Eternals #5Origin Issue: Captain Marvel #29, What If #25
ZURAS
First Appearance:
Eternals #5
Origin Issue: Captain Marvel #29, What If #25
Real Name: Zuras
Aliases: Zeus
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 300 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Distinguishing Features: A full beard
Occupation at time of death:
Leader of the Eternals of Earth
Citizenship: Olympia, city of the Eternals
Place of Creation/Birth: Titanos, first city of the
Eternals, location unrevealed
Place of Death: Peru
Known Relatives: Kronos (father,
deceased), Mentor (alias Alars, brother), Thena (daughter), Eros (alias Starfox, nephew),
Thanos (nephew), wife's name unrevealed
Known Allies: Major Domo, Thena, The Gods of Asgard
Known Enemies: Warlord Kro, the Deviant Empire,
Dromedan
Intelligence: Above Normal
Strength: Superhuman Class 90
Speed: Superhuman
Flight Speed: Subsonic
Stamina: Immeasurable
Durability: Godlike
Agility: Enhanced human
Reflexes: Enhanced human
Fighting Skills: Due to his vast powers, Zuras never needed to develop
hand-to-hand combat techniques
Special Skills/Abilities: Extensive knowledge of
ancient and arcane wisdom
Superhuman physical powers: Besides his physical
attributes above, Zuras possessed the ability to manipulate cosmic energy to augment his
life force granting him great longevity and regenerative abilities, the projection of
concussive force, heat and electrical energy up to a maximum range of 300 feet. He
could also use cosmic energy to create force shields around himself, to levitate himself
and/or others, and to psionically manipulate molecules so as to transform an object's
shape. During his lifetime, Zuras was the only Eternal known capable of initiating
the creation of the Uni-Mind (the collective life-form resulting from the physical and
mental merging of a significant number of Eternals) by himself
Superhuman Mental Powers: Telepathy, illusion-casting,
limited teleportation
Special Limitations: None
Source of Superhuman Powers: Above average development
of the normal attributes of the race of Eternals through great discipline
Personal Weaponry: none
Other Accessories: None
Origin: Zuras and A'Lars were the eldest sons of Chronos, the leader of the first generation of the race now known as the Eternals. Chronos was working in his laboratory in Titanos on experiments to discover the secret of immortality when he grasped a vessel containing an unknown "cosmic force" he had isolated. The vessel ruptured, causing an explosion which demolished Titanos. The explosion scattered Chronos' atoms throughout the universe, but Chronos' astral form, now possessing godlike intelligence and perceptions, remained on this plane of reality. The "cosmic force" released by the explosion also altered the other members of Chronos' race, al of whom survived. Now both they and their descendants would have virtually indefinite life spans compared to those of ordinary humans, and could be killed only by means that would disperse a large proportion of their atoms. Thus the inhabitants of Titanos truly became what they are known as today, Eternals. Zuras and A'Lars together initiated the first creation of the Uni-Mind, a collective melding of Eternals' bodies, shortly thereafter. While in the form of the Uni-Mind, the Eternals determined that Zuras should be Chronos' successor as the leader of their race. To avoid disunity among the Eternals,,s A'Lars, who had different ideas than Zuras about what the Eternals' goals should be, left for outer space. Eventually A'Lars settled on Saturn's moon, Titan, where he fathered the race of Titanian Eternals and became knows as their leader, Mentor. Zuras directed the construction of the new principal city of the Eternals, Olympia, in a mountainous region in Greece. Other Eternals settled elsewhere, but Zuras remained the leader of all of Earth's Eternals. At some point Zuras married a female Eternal whose name remains unknown and they had a daughter, Zura, now known as Thena. It is not known whether they had other children as well. When the civilization of ancient Greece began to rise, the Olympian god Zeus decided to make the presence of the Olympian gods known to the Greeks so that they would worship him and the other gods. The principal nexus between the dimension of Olympus and Greece lay atop Greece's Mount Olympus, near Olympia, the capital city of the Eternals. Zeus and his daughter Athena held a meeting with Zuras and Zura, who had become her father's principal advisor. 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. Zeus, Zuras, and Zura agreed. Over the many years, many human beings came to think of several Eternals not as representatives of the Olympian gods but as the gods themselves. This confusion led to a growing resentment by the gods towards the Eternals, which recently erupted into a war, during which there was a battle between Zuras and Zeus. However, the war ended the very same day that it began, and the Olympian gods and Eternals are now at peace. With the arrival of the Fourth Host of the Celestials, Zuras knew that if the Fourth Host judged that humanity did not live up to the standards it had set for them, it would destroy the Earth. Deciding to prevent such a fate, Zuras and the Eternals decided to join the Asgardian god Odin in his attempt to drive the Celestials from Earth. So Zuras and the other Eternals of Earth merged once again into the Uni-Mind, and advance d into the South American base of the Fourth Host, where they were joined by the Destroyer. The Celestials Gammenon and Jemiah together fired powerful bolts of energy into the Uni-Mind, causing it to turn back into the various individual Eternals, who fell to Earth, temporarily unconscious. However, Zuras, whose consciousness lay at the center of the Uni-Mind was immediately killed by the force bolt. his corpse fell to the ground with the other Eternals. The Celestials judge din Earth's favor and left Earth. Thena assumed leadership of Earth's Eternals upon the demise of Zuras, and the Eternals brought his body back to Olympia where it lay in state. However, although Zuras had physically died, his consciousness still remained within his physical form. Shortly after the Eternals returned to Olympia, they were captured by the Deviants, who used devices called "brain mines" to place them all in catatonic-like states. James Rhodes, as Iron Man, placed Thena's body near Zuras' in an effort to free her from this state. Thena and Zuras thereby achieved mental contact, and Thena revived. Shortly thereafter, the Deviants used a machine to disassociate the atoms of Zuras' body; the result was to free Zuras' spirit from his body, so that Zuras was now truly dead at last. Rhodes and the Eternals defeated an captured the Deviants shortly afterwards.
Significant Issues:
