Vishanti

Superteambox


imagesize=
caption=The Vishanti
Art by Geof Isherwood
team_name=The Vishanti
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Strange Tales" #115 (mentioned)
"Marvel Premiere" #5 (appeared)
creators= Stan Lee (writer)
Steve Ditko (artist)
base=
members=Agamotto
Hoggoth
Oshtur
memberlist=
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hero=
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sortkey=PAGENAMEThe Vishanti are a fictional triumvirate of powerful mystical beings appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. The three beings who make up the Vishanti are Agamotto the All-Seeing, Omnipotent Oshtur and Hoary Hoggoth. They are extra-dimensional creatures with vast magical abilities, which are generally benevolent towards humanity and support the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. They grant occult power and knowledge to benevolent practitioners of sorcery, including Doctor Strange. The three all live in extra-dimensional homes, but can observe and interact with other dimensions from their homes.

The Vishanti can manifest themselves to humans, but take disguises that the human mind can recognise to interact with them as their true forms are incomprehensible to any human, even human beings trained in the occult. They commonly manifest themselves to Doctor Strange as a bald male humanoid head, a green female humanoid head, and a lion-like head with flaming eyes.

Fictional history

Little is known about the Vishanti's origins. All three are ancient and very powerful; Agamotto has claimed to be older than the Earth itself and "hoary" Hoggoth might be even older. The Vishanti, especially Agamotto, have protected the Earth's dimension for billions of years. Thousands of years ago, the human known only as Aged Genghis sought out the Vishanti and asked them for knowledge and mystical power. In return, Aged Genghis would gather the most powerful mages and sorcerers on Earth every century to test them. The strongest would become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. The Sorcerer Supreme would protect Earth's dimension for the Vishanti and fight their enemies and in return could call upon the powers of the Vishanti.

Presumably around this time, the Vishanti created or influenced the creation of the Book of the Vishanti, as counterpart to the Darkhold, a book of black magic created by the Elder God Chthon.

Near the end of the 20th century, the Vishanti and various other magical entities went to war. This war was known as the War of the Seven Spheres. During this war the Vishanti were matched against their counterpart, the Trinity of Ashes. The Vishanti expected Doctor Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme to fight at their side, but when they mentioned that they expected the war to last for several millennia, Strange refused, not wanting Earth to remain unprotected for so long, and rejected the Vishanti's power. Nearly powerless, Stephen Strange was driven from Earth, by the ancient sorceress Salome. Salome offered her services to the Vishanti in exchange for power. The Vishanti found the amoral Salome repulsive, but accepted her offer in their need for soldiers. Still, Agamotto warned Strange about the deal Salome made with them. Shortly afterwards, Strange found a new source of power: he tapped into the mystical power of the Earth itself. With this new power, Salome was defeated and the Vishanti approached Strange again and asked him to become their soldier, feeling that with this new source of power Strange was even more valuable and even threatened to kill him should he not comply. This time, Strange, feeling that he owed the Vishanti for all their support over the years, agreed under the condition that they would return him in time after the war ended to the moment he had left the Earth, so that the Earth would not remain unprotected.

Fought in other dimensions, the war lasted for 5000 years, but only a nanosecond passed on Earth. The Vishanti, apparently on the winning side, returned Strange to Earth. Several months after his return, Strange could call upon the power of the Vishanti again. A short time after the War ended, one of the principal artifacts involved in it - the Sphere of Sara-Kath - lighted upon Earth once more, to be dabbled with by Technomages who had no idea of its power. In studying it, they accidentally released an entity called Buel, a 'Gremlin-Lord', who had been imprisoned in another dimension. Thankfully, Dr. Strange managed to destroy Buel and the Sphere with the aid of Spider-Man.

Manifestations

* Agamotto, when appearing as part of the Vishanti, usually takes the form of a lion or a tiger and in most cases only the head appears. In other appearances he has taken the form of a large ant, but during these appearances a tiger's head was also present among the Vishanti. (Whether this was simply a mistake by the creative team of the comic book or means that the Vishanti take on each other's appearances when it suits them is unknown)
* Hoggoth usually appears as an old, bald man with blue or purple skin, pointed ears and whose eyes have no pupils and burn with energy. At other times he either appears as a large ant or takes Agamotto's guise of a tiger or lion (see Agamotto).
* Oshtur appears as a green or golden-skinned woman, either bald, with long blue hair or long strands of ivy-like leaves on her head.

Notes

* The Vishanti's counterpart, the Trinity of Ashes, was shown once to Strange by the Vishanti, but has not made any actual appearance in comics yet.

* The word Vishanti as well as the trinity described therein is highly reminiscent of corrupted Sanskrit words as well as the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti).