| Shuma-Gorath | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Real Name: |
Shuma-Gorath |
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Gender: |
N/A (Characterized as male) |
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Color: |
Green/purple |
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Element: |
Darkness/Space |
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Type: |
Brawler/Mage/Leader |
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Series: |
Marvel Comics |
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First appearance: |
Marvel Primere #10 |
Shuma-Gorath is a villain featured in the Dr. Strange mythos of Marvel Comics and was created by Robert E. Howard, Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner.
Character Overview[]
Shuma-Gorath is one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel universe. A god of cosmic scale, Shuma-Gorath conquers all dimensions he sees fit as his fancy with near impunity. In spite of all his grand power, there is one such planet he has been unable to conquer: Earth. Defeated several times by shamans in different time periods as well as the legendary Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, Shuma-Gorath finds Earth a fascinating place and has repeatedly attempted to conquer it.
Appearance[]
Shuma-Gorath is described to have no appearance of his own at all. Instead, he shapeshifts into whatever the populace of the dimension fears the most. However, he is consistently depicted as a green-colored, giant multi-tentacled scaly creature with ridges on the underside of them, similar to an octopus and a slimy surface. At the epicenter is a giant red eye which he peers into. Despite the lack of a mouth, he is clearly capable of speech. Shuma-Gorath is able to alter his size at will. In the comics or cinematic cutscenes in games, he varies from towering over even Sentinels to being able to engulf the entire planet of Earth. In the Marvel games by Capcom where he is a playable character, he however barely matches the height of a full grown male adult. In these games, he is also given a set of colors. In Marvel Super Heroes, he uses his original purple skin color but from Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and onward, he uses his more familiar green sheen. In subsequent games, he is given a set of alternate colors which include black, red, blue and white sheens. In Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, he is given a DLC outfit which changes him into his protege, Quaggoth, who shares a similar appearance but has a multitude of peering eyes.
Personality[]
Shuma-Gorath is often depicted in the comics as a standard supervillain; looks down upon all those beneath him and views them as ants not worthy of his attention or trouble. However, when angered, he becomes truly vicious and can only think of ensnaring and crushing his enemies within the confines of his thick tentacles. Despite hie attitude towards those he considers lower life-forms, he has taken an interest in humans thanks to his encounters with such characters as Doctor Strange. In the Marvel games by Capcom, Shuma-Gorath is further characterized by his violent temperament, made popular by such lines as "Waste of flesh!". He has also taken interest in characters such as Hsien-Ko, and in the very rare interest, displays hospitality by offering her many dimensions as his bride.
Special Abilities[]
Shuma-Gorath possesses the basic slime abilities of shapeshifting, liquefying and mass control. Shuma-Gorath is very much a god in the grand scale of things and towers over demons and deities such as Mephisto and stacked up against him, they're merely "rats in a grand castle". As a god, Shuma draws on infinite grand power although he is able to draw on the forces of alien realms as well. As a melee fighter, Shuma-Gorath is near incomprehensible, freely changing into various shapes to combat his foes and has absolute control over his mass, ranging from liquefying himself entirely, or growing to global proportions. Shuma-Gorath however is at his most powerful in his own realm, the Chaos Dimension where it is sometimes described as the two being one. However he is not as omnipotent and has been defeated by powerful magicians and shamans.
In the Marvel Vs. games, Shuma-Gorath is a "charge character", meaning that his special attacks require the player to hold down a directional input and then release along with a button press to unleash them. His zoning, range and combo abilities are impressive and while he seems to be at his weakest here to stay on level with the other playable character, he is by no means a pushover. He attacks using his tentacles, stabbing and swiping in rapid succession while occasionally changing his form such as gnawing his enemies by turning into a giant, razor-sharp maw or transmuting himself into stone to smash enemies from above. He also displays the ability to fire energy blasts from his eye, either in short, but powerful bursts or a concentrated energy beam known as Mystic Ray and his command grab allows him to drain the vitality from his opponents as well.