Xemnu

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caption= Comic book panel, Sensational She-Hulk #6.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Xemnu the Titan
real_name=Xemnu
species= Unknown extraterrestrial
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Journey into Mystery" #62 (Nov 1960)
creators=Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
status=
alliances=
previous_alliances=
aliases=The Living Hulk, Xemnu the Titan, Xemnu the Hulk, Richmond Wagner, Amos Moses
relatives=
powers=Great superhuman strength and endurance. Vastly powerful telepathy and telekinesis. Self-recreation. [ [http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=3502 Xemnu the Titan] , "Comic Book Database", retrieved 04/05/2007.] |

Xemnu the Titan, also known as Xemnu the Hulk, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Xemnu is an alien who has attempted to conquer the Earth several times. He first appeared in the story "I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!", in "Journey into Mystery" #62 (November 1960). He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

Xemnu first appeared on Earth when his starship crash-landed on Earth after running out of fuel"Journey into Mystery", "Marvel Comics", (November 1960), Issue 62., Editor: Stan Lee, Reprinted: Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur (2005) #1 [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-02-18 Summary] ] . When revived by the human Joe Harper, Xemnu reveals that he was a criminal who had been exiled into space for crimes against the rest of the universe. Xemnu then used telepathy to dominate Harper's mind and then the minds of every other human on Earth. He forced them to build him a new starship so that he could return home. As he departs, he releases Harper from his telepathic domination. Harper sabotages the ship's electrical systems, shocking Xemnu into a coma-like state. As the alien flew off, his mind control faded, and his former servants forgot that he had ever existed. Xemnu used telekinesis to direct an asteroid to strike his ship so that it would be knocked onto a course back to Earth. After crashing down on Earth a second time, the weakened Xemnu was taken into a circus sideshow. As he took control of the town where the circus was located, Joe Harper followed Xemnu's trail and confronts the alien. Xemnu attempts to disintegrate Harper, but Harper used a mirror to reflect the alien's psychic power back at it, and Xemnu's body was destroyed.

Xemnu then traveled through space in a non-corporeal form, and over the years learned that his home planet had been wiped out by a plague. He returned to Earth, possessing the body of an astronaut to gain a physical form. When the space shuttle arrived on Earth, Xemnu used his human host's popularity and his own telepathy to become the host of a children's television series. He used his mental power to place Earth's children under his thrall, only to be detected by Doctor Strange. Strange and his ally Namor the Sub-Mariner were defeated by the alien, but Xemnu was in turn beaten by the Hulk. When Xemnu took possession of Amos Moses, a small-town mayor, the newly-formed Defenders (Doctor Strange, the Hulk, the Sub-Mariner and the Valkyrie) fought him, thus preventing him from using the townspeople to construct another starship. Xemnu continued his vendetta against the Hulk via a series of monsters created from samples of other "classic Marvel" aliens, [ [http://www.marvelrpg.net/mp/dm198mp.pdf The Marvel Phile] , James Lowder, "Dragon Magazine", P.34.] and later used Amos Moses' body in an attempt to once again take control of the Earth via television-transmitted hypnosis. Xemnu was defeated in this latter scheme by the Los Angeles-based hero Wonder Man and his ally, the Thing.

Later, deep in space, Xemnu infiltrates the spacecraft-haulage craft owned by Ulysses Solomon Archer. He takes over the enclosed area of the "Star Stop Diner" and confronts a pregnant woman known as 'Mary McGrill'. He plans to genetically alter her child to make it one of his own race. He is opposed by Razorback, Archer, She-Hulk and everyone else at the Diner but they are easily knocked out by his psychic powers. She-Hulk awakens ahead of the others and finds she is being altered too. Ultimately, Xemnu is defeated and given over to a powerful humanoid alien named Big Enilwen. This child-like being believes that Xemnu is simply a teddy bear to play with.

Xemnu convinces Enilwen to free his teddy bear population to 'the wild'. He returns to confront She-Hulk again, this time to sell her into slavery. This time he is defeated by a large monkey wrench to the head, wielded by She-Hulk's friend Louise Mason. ["Star Truck", "Sensational She Hulk", Marvel Comics, Issue 6., (October 1989)] ["I Have No Mouth and I am Mean", "Sensational She Hulk", Marvel Comics, Issue 7., (November 1989)] .

Xemnu reappeared as one of Space Phantom's kidnapped bodies in Beyond!. He appeared in Annihilation Conquest as one of the Phalanx select.

Possible Origins

It has been speculated that when creating Xemnu the Titan, Stan Lee was influenced by Xenu and the Thetans, the ancient extraterrestrial dictator mentioned in some Scientology teachings. Supposedly, in the late fifties either Jack Kirby or Stan Lee heard a radio broadcast of an obscure taped demonstration of Scientology auditing recorded in April 1952 and released as "Electropsychometric Scouting: Battle of the Universes". This recording was by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and described parts of his early Dianetics process, including the Xenu story. When asked about this rumor Stan Lee would not comment.

Powers and abilities

Xemnu possesses great superhuman strength, almost comparable to the She-Hulk's even at his present smaller size. Although his main resource lies in his vast, extraordinary psionic abilities, enabling him to effortlessly control millions or even billions of minds at a time, immediately induce unconsciousness in crowds of people, or even put mental blocks in the mind of Doctor Strange, the Earth's most accomplished sorcerer, although the Hulk has proved immune to his influence. He can also project telekinetic blasts of tremendous power, sufficient to stagger even the Hulk, control inanimate matter, including asteroids, or create personal "atmo-sphere" force-fields which can transport him through flight. If destroyed he can inhabit another living being and transform it into a smaller (11 feet) copy of his original body. He is highly adept in his native technology, and has been capable of engineering genetic monstrosities capable of challenging even the Hulk's might, or transforming the She-Hulk into a "She-Xemnu".

References

Further reading

*cite book
last = Kirby
first = Jack
authorlink = Jack Kirby
coauthors = John Morrow
title = The Collected Jack Kirby Collector: celebrating the life and career of the king!
publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing
date = 2006
location =
pages = 2, 37, 41, 65
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1893905020
*cite book
last = Ivy Press
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Heritage Comics Auctions, Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #819
publisher = Heritage Capital Corporation
date = 2005
location =
pages = 304
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1599670216
*cite book
last = Ivy Press
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Heritage Comics Auctions, Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #817
publisher = Heritage Auction Galleries
date = 2005
location =
pages = 560
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1932899855

External links

* [http://www.marvelrpg.net/mp/dm198mp.pdf The Marvel Phile] , James Lowder
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-02-18 Comic Book Resources] , Journey Into Mystery
* [http://www.leaderslair.com/marveluniverse/marvelfeature3.html “A Titan Walks Among Us”] , Marvel Feature #3
* [http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=3502 Profile] , Comic Book Database

* [http://www.marveldatabase.com/Xemnu Xemnu] , at the [http://www.marveldatabase.com/Main_Page Marvel Database Wikia]
* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/xemnuthetitan.htm A detailed profile of Xemnu at Marvel Appendix]