Serpent Crown
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The Serpent Crown is a fictional mystical object which has appeared in various publications set in the Marvel Universe. It was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Marie Severin in Sub-Mariner #9 (January, 1969).
The Serpent Crown is, as its name implies, a crown, which resembles a coiled, seven-headed serpent and is made of an unknown material. The resemblance is a reference to the malevolent seven headed exiled serpent god "Set" to whom the crown holds a mystical link from which it draws its powers.
Those powers confer on the helmet's wearer various abilities. These abilities can include superhuman strength, the power to read and control the minds of others, the power to levitate oneself and other persons or objects, the ability to cast illusions, the power to project destructive bolts of mystical energy and even the mental ability to manipulate matter and energy.
However use of the crown usually leads the wearer to fall under the mental domination of Set, who then has the wearer perform various tasks which would help facilitate its physical return to the Earth dimension.
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[edit] Early history of the crown
Although the crown first appeared in 1969 in Sub-Mariner #9 (which is set in contemporary times) various subsequent stories expanded and developed its earlier history in the Marvel Universe.
Savage Sword of Conan #192 (December, 1991) reveals some of the early history of the crown, showing how, in the prehistory of the Marvel Universe Earth, Set exiled himself from Earth's dimension and used his influence to spawn a race of humanoid, sentient reptilian beings that became known as the Serpent Men.
In such stories the Serpent Man are depicted as a race which devoutly worships Set and is in constant conflict with the human race. Kull the Conqueror Vol.1 #2 (August, 1971) shows how, as human societies developed, the Serpent Men began to falter and eventually their numbers were decimated when King Kull became ruler of Valusia and launched a campaign against them.
Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982) showed the origin of the crown for the first time. Five centuries after the time of Kull, their numbers dwindling even further, a group of Serpent Men ally themselves with some alchemists from Lemuria to create the Serpent Crown, a device which gives them access to some of the enormous mystical power of their "god" Set. However, just as the alchemists and Serpent Men were about to exploit the power of the Crown, the Great Cataclysm occurred. This event was a worldwide natural disaster which brought about the sinking of both Atlantis and Lemuria and leads to the deaths of most of the surviving Serpent Men and the loss of the Serpent Crown for centuries.
In Savage Sword of Conan #41-43 (June - August, 1979) a mystical object with many similarities to the Serpent Crown - the "Cobra Crown" - is shown to have existed during the Hyborian Age that followed the Great Cataclysm. In that story a follower of Set called Thoth-Amon allies himself with some surviving Serpent Men and briefly wields this second Crown. Another receptacle of Set's vast power, the Cobra Crown also enables its wearer to control the minds of others. However, it appears that it was much inferior to the Serpent Crown as its abilities eventually burn out and it is apparently destroyed during the course of a conflict between Thoth-Amon and Conan the Barbarian. (The Cobra Crown was originally invented by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp in the novel Conan the Bucaneer (1971).)
[edit] The Crown in sunken Lemuria
The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #9 and Daredevil Annual #4B (both 1989) show how, many centuries later, the sunken city of Lemuria becomes home to a race of water-breathing humanoids called Homo mermanus. These new "Lemurians" (as distinct from the "Atlantean" Homo mermanus who settled in the sunken Atlantis) eventually uncover the Serpent Crown in the ruins of the city. The emperor of the Lemurians, Naga, dons the crown and quickly came under the influence of Set.
Naga's physical appearance are changed from exposure to the crown, his facial features coming to resemble those of a snake and his skin becoming scale-like and green (from the common blue of other Homo mermanus). He converts the Lemurian people to the worship of Set and uses its power to gain immortality, ruling over his people for centuries. Through his prolonged use of the crown the skin color and complexion of Lemuria's population also becomes green and scale-like over time.
Sub-Mariner #10 (February, 1969) reveals in flashback how Naga's use of the crown came to an end when a rebel named Piscatos stole it from him as he slept. Piscatos and his allies then fled with it to Antarctica, where they develop their own civilisation, now known as the "Ancients". This civilisation goes on to develop telepathic powers and though they use the Crown for various purposes, they manage to largely escape Set's dominance by encasing the helmet in an unknown substance which for a time prevents Set from controlling those around it.
However, the malign influence of Set eventually manifested itself, with Piscatos finally becoming a follower of the serpent god, which lead him to (unwittingingly) cause a landslide which ended the Ancient's civilisation. The Serpent Crown apparently remained buried underneath the antarctic ice until the twentieth century.
[edit] "The Helmet of Power"
Avengers Annual #18 (1989) shows that in 1920 an antarctic expedition, led by Captain Leonard McKenzie of the icebreaker ship "the Oracle" discovers some remnants of the Ancients' civilisation. One of the expedition party, Paul Destine, uncovers the Serpent Crown (which is still disguised by its encasement in a protective substance). Calling it the "Helmet of Power" Destine puts the crown on his head and immediately received a vast increase of his latent psionic powers and was changed physically into a stronger and larger man then he had previously been. Destine, who is thought lost by the expedition which left without him, then uses some of the Ancient's equipment to place himself in suspended animation. Destine emerged from this state decades later, his powers further increased during his period in stasis.
The Destine character makes his first real appearance in Sub-Mariner #6-8 (October - December, 1968), as does the Crown, though in disguised form as the "Helmet of Power". Calling himself "Destiny" he seeks to take over the world and comes into conflict with the son of Captain Mackenzie, Namor the Sub-Mariner. Destine continues to draw on the power of the Crown throughout the story though he is never shown to fall under the overt influence of Set, perhaps due to the protective encasement under which the Ancients had placed the Crown centuries before and (more probably) the fact that the concept of the Crown had not been fully developed by the creators yet.
[edit] First real appearance: The "re-emergence" of the Serpent Crown
After Destine is defeated Namor takes the "Helmet of Power" to Atlantis in Sub-Mariner #9 (January, 1969). In that story the power of the Crown manages to overcome the Ancient's protective casing, revealing its true form and allowing Set to once again convey its influence through it. This story is the first true, revealed appearance of the Crown, though it had appeared in disguised form previously and some later appearances are set chronologically before this one.
The Crown initially takes over the mind of Namor's consort, Lady Dorma, and through her the entire population of Atlantis fell under its control. Namor then dons the helmet himself and through the strength of his will subverts the influence of Set, thus freeing his people.
In Sub-Mariner #10 (February, 1969) the Crown is stolen and returned by Lemurian agents to the possession of Naga, who it is revealed has remained immortal despite his loss of the Crown centuries earlier. During the next three issues Namor attempts to reclaim the Crown and in Sub-Mariner #13 (May, 1969) both Naga and the crown are cast into an undersea chasm and thought dead and destroyed.
[edit] The super-hero Serpent Crown sagas
In Captain America (vol. 2) #180-182 (April - June, 1975) the Crown returns, having been recovered by the rebel Atlantean Warlord Krang, who delivered it to the superhuman criminal Viper. Viper, at this point leader of the original Serpent Squad, then kidnaps the president of Roxxon Oil, Hugh Jones, and places the Crown on his head. Jones immediately falls under the mental control of Set. At the conclusion of the storyline the police and Captain America interrupt the Squad's plan and the Crown is temporarily lost to an underground sewer .
However, in Avengers #141-144, it is shown that in the alternate universe where the superhero group the Squadron Supreme resides, that universe's version of the Serpent Crown has managed to gain control of the minds of many of the leaders of America's largest corporations and even that alternate America's President, Nelson Rockefeller.
The Avengers from the mainstream Marvel Universe Earth travel to the Squadron Supreme’s Earth and free many of that planet’s people from the dominance of the Crown, during the course of which they briefly fell under its influence themselves. The Avengers then brought the Serpent Crown from that alternate world back with them to their own Earth, eventually losing it when it was dropped into the Pacific Ocean ((Avengers #147-149, 153, 154 & Annual #6; November, 1975 - December, 1976).
Marvel Two-in-One #66 (August, 1980) shows how, the original Crown native to that Earth is then found by Hugh Jones, who is still under Set’s control. Jones also manages to locate and retrieve the second, alternate universe Serpent Crown, which he mystically merges with the original Crown to create a new Serpent Crown, identical in appearance to the others, though now possessing the combined power of the original two Crowns.
Using this power, Jones then takes control of the minds of the entire population of Washington, D.C., including most of the federal government of the United States. Jones then comes into conflict with a group of super-heroes including the Thing and the Scarlet Witch. At the close of the story the Scarlet Witch engages Set in a battle on the Astral Plane, which allowes the Thing to snatch the Crown from Jones’ head, severing his link with Set.
Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982) shows how the Crown is then brought to the US government energy-research facility Project Pegasus, where it soon begins to exert Set's influence again, mind controlling the staff at the complex and eventually overpowering the wills of everyone who works there. These workers then set about transporting other Serpent Crowns from alternate dimensions to the Project, finally amassing 770 such crowns which are then merged to create one giant Crown which is to be used to facilitate Set’s return to Earth.
Before this happens however several superheroes, including Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, the Thing and the Scarlet Witch intervene to once again disrupt Set's plans. In the annual's conclusion the superheroes use the Cosmic Cube to destroy the massive Crown and Strange casts a spell exorcising Set from the Earth dimension forever.
However, during the Atlantis Attacks crossover which ran through all of Marvel's 1989 annuals, the Deviant priest Ghaur, a disciple of Set, attempts to engineer his return once again through the use of another giant Serpent Crown. He is briefly successful in bringing Set back to the Earth dimension, as the spirit of the exiled god animates the Crown for a short while, before it is destroyed by Thor in Thor Annual #14.
