Nagraj

Nagraj
Nagraj in Promotional art NAGRAJ Raj Comics
Publication information
First appearance	Issue No 14 "Nagraj" (1986)
In-story information
Alter ego	Mr. Raj, Public Relation Officer of Bharti Communications.
Team affiliations	P.O.E.M.,Sheetnags, Neernags, Snakes of Nagdweep
Notable aliases	Snakeman, Greenman, Green Death, Venomous Gunpowder, Nag-Samrat
Abilities	Ageless Superhuman Strength, Superspeed, Flight. Super Regenerative healing factor Sixth Sense Infrared sensing Expert Martial artist Unique Hypnotism Snake-bite Snake-spit Venomous breath Skin shedding Snakes in his body Shape shifting Psychic powers (telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis) Explosive snakes, etc.

Nagraj ("Snake-King") (नागराज in Devanagari script) is an fictional character, an Indian comic book superhero character from Raj Comics, who can arguably be considered the longest-running Indian action comic Superhero. Created in the late 1980s by Sanjay Gupta, Nagraj has changed a lot in his 25 years in print, both in terms of looks as well as in stories. Despite the fact that comic culture had once almost vanished in India, his fan base continued to increase and today he is one of the most iconic characters of the Indian comic book industry.

Overview

The debut issue of Nagraj was written by renowned writer Parshuram Sharma and illustrated by Pratap Mullick. Mullick successfully illustrated the character for around 50 issues, ending in 1995. Since 1995, the illustration work of Nagraj has been taken over by artist and writer Anupam Sinha.

The name Nagraj is derived from the word "Nagaraja"(Hindi:नागराजा ) which is itself made up of two words "Nāga"(Hindi:नाग) and "Raja"(Hindi:राजा) where the word "nāga" means snake and "raja" means king. Nagraj is believed to have been inspired by the mythological Ichchhadhari Nag (shape shifting snakes) and historical Vishmanushya (venomous human). His stories create a rich blend of mythology, fantasy, magic, and science fiction. Many of Nagraj's fans believe that, over time, Nagraj's comics have developed a Snake Mythology of its own, which is unique to the popular Indian beliefs about snakes that are prevalent among the masses.

Nagraj was originally conceived as an enemy of international terrorism. Interestingly, in his debut issue, Nagraj was unleashed as an international terror weapon by the evil scientist Professor Nagmani. Nagraj, in this first mission, was tasked with stealing a golden statue of a Goddess from a temple that was protected by tribal devotees, snakes, and by a mysterious 300-year old Sadhu named Baba Gorakhnath. Nagraj succeeded in his task, but upon confrontation with Gorakhnath and his mystic Black Mongoose shikangi, was defeated. Gorakhnath read his mind and discovered that Professor Nagmani had implanted a mind control device in the form of a capsule in Nagraj's head, to keep him under his control. Gorakhnath operated and removed the capsule from Nagraj's head, setting Nagraj free of Professor Nagmani's control. Nagraj then became Baba Goraknath's disciple and vowed to eliminate crime and terror from the Earth. Since then, Nagraj has thrice toured the world and defeated many villains and terrorists.

Presently, Nagraj lives as Raj in a fictional Metropolitan City Mahanagar as an employee of a TV Channel that is secretly owned by himself.

Fictional Character Biography

In ancient times, when gods still visited Earth without any restrictions, there existed a kingdom known as Takshaknagar, ruled by King Takshakraj and Queen Lalita. The ruling couple had no worries except for one: the fact that they had no children. The absence of a prince or princess made Nagpasha the only potential heir to the throne. Nagpasha was the younger identical brother of the King Takshakraj. Knowing that he was the only potential heir to the throne, Nagpasha started living a lavish worry-free life.

As time passed, Queen Lalita started getting depressed about not having a child of her own. The king realised the cause of her depression and got upset as well. The couple used to pray to their family deity Deva Kaljayi for his blessings. Deva Kaljayi also knew of their grievances, so one day he blessed them to have a great child. His blessings came true as the queen soon became pregnant and the whole kingdom rejoiced, except for Nagpasha. The birth of this child meant the loss of the throne for him, so he decided to kill the child before he was born.

One day when the queen was going to pray to Deva Kaljayi, Nagpasha replaced the curtained plate of her offerings to the god with one containing a dead mongoose. The Snake God got angry and knocked her unconscious with his venomous breath. The king sought forgiveness from the Devta and pleaded with him to cure his wife, to which the Devta refused. Then the desperate king tried to commit suicide. Not able to withstand a devotee's death, Deva Kaljayi showed him a way to save the queen's life. He gave a crystal to the king and told him to treat it with the queen's medicine. The crystal would divert all the poison from the queen's body to the child's body. However, due to the ill effects of the poison. the queen would lose her fertility.

The kingdom was highly grieved, as was the king. Nagpasha was overjoyed that he was now the sole heir to the throne. When the child was born, everyone believed him dead because his whole body was blue and showed no signs of life. As per Hindu rituals, the newborn baby was thrown into the river. (Don't get confused about why he was not cremated. In Hindu mythology, it is believed that Yogi of high calibre can leave their body in form of soul and as a soul can perform tasks like switching between bodies or travel between different worlds. It is a Hindu ritual that when a child is stillborn, or dies in his infancy, his body is placed in the river so that if some soul wishes to use the body it can take it over. For the same reason, when adults die their bodies are destroyed by fire, because adults do have a social life and their body is likely to be misused.)

Nagpasha rejoiced and went, intoxicated, to Deva Kaljayi, the deity that also protected the grand royal treasure in form of a giant two-headed snake, and asked him to hand over the royal treasures, telling him that now he was the sole heir to the throne, so the treasure rightfully belonged to him. Deva Kaljayi refused and told him that the "real successor" to the throne was alive and when the time comes the treasure will be handed over to him. Enraged, Nagpasha raised his sword against the deity only to be thrown away by a mere flick of the giant snake's tail. Nagpasha fell upon two bowls, one containing the highly toxic venom (halahal,the greatest form of venom as believed by Hindus) which destroyed his face and mixed with his blood, and the other containing Amrit, which made him immortal. Simultaneous effects of both made Nagpasha an immortal, venomous man. At that time, Nagpasha could not tolerate the changes in his body and fainted.

When the king was informed of the happenings by Deva Kaljayi, he realised that his son was not dead and he also realised the potential dangers to his son's life. So he ordered his faithful astrologer Vedacharya, who had great knowledge of Tilism to enclose the treasure in a Tilism which could be broken only by his son. Vedacharya made the tilism with the co-operation of Deva Kaljayi to ensure that no one, except for the king's son, will be able to break the tilism, not even immortal Nagpasha. When Nagpasha came to his senses, he realised that he had lost the treasure. Enraged, he murdered the king and the queen.

The child, floating away on the river in his state of suspended animation, got stuck somewhere in bushes. He laid there for a long time.

Meanwhile, the snake deity Deva Kaljayi appeared in the dreams of King Maniraj and his wife Queen Manika, rulers of ageless Ichchhadhaari naags, living secretly on an invisible island in the Indian Ocean called Nagdweep. He told them the location of the baby and asked them to cure him. They did so and discovered that the baby was far more venomous than the greatest snake on Nagdweep, which was Mahatma Kaaldoot, indicating that he had divine venom of the god. Initially, the raj vaid was unsure whether he would be able to cure the child, but since Deva Kaljayi himself asked the king for his treatment, he was assured that the treatment will work. According to the rules, no one was permitted to bring an outsider to the island, so the king decided to keep his presence a secret.

Many years passed and the treatment started showing results and, although still in the suspended animation, the color of the baby had gradually changed to green. The King gave the news to the queen and they decided to adopt the child, since they had no child of their own. Their decision was heard by Vishandhar, an evil Tantrik who wanted to become the ruler of the island, but was afraid of Mahatma Kaaldoot. He attacked the secret area where the baby was kept and escaped with him, but fearing the wrath of the god, he decided not to kill the baby and instead placed him back into the same bushes in the river where he was found. His plan failed as the queen soon got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter who was named Visarpi.

Vishandhar never knew that the baby that he left astray was cured enough to regain his senses. First, his face and later, his whole body, turned normal color and he started crying. A priest of the nearby temple located him and gave him to Professor Nagmani, who was wandering in the nearby forest searching for snakes. For unknown reasons, the priest narrated a fake story that the child belonged to a woman, who was a devotee of the Snake God, that had been raped. He also said that the child was blessed by an ichchhadhari naag, so he asked Nagmani to bring up the child and allows him to avenge his mother.

Nagmani realised that the priest was lying, but he took the child. The blood tests of the child showed that the child had minute, microscopic snakes in his blood, filling in for White blood cells. The child had extraordinary healing powers and was extremely venomous. He raised the baby, who become known as Nagraj.

Plot Summary

Nagraj was presented to the world as a creation of Professor Nagmani. He was meant to be an ultimate killing machine, and his original plan was to hire out Nagraj to the highest bidder among villains and terrorist groups of the world.

Professor Nagmani used him for his other experimental projects and leased him for international terrorism. Nagmani always claimed that Nagraj's powers were evolved by feeding him bits of snake poison until his blood itself became poison. He claimed that his venom was a result of snake bites from 1,000 different species of snakes (This echoes the Indian legends of Poison-Men or Women, specifically raised to kill by their kiss) and his other powers evolved when he was treated with ashes of a dead ichchhadhaari snake. In reality, Nagraj was much more poisonous than any species of snakes because his venom was celestial.

Based largely on the Hindu myth of the shape shifting snake, Nagraj derives most of his powers from microscopic snakes that live in his bloodstream, in lieu of white blood cells. He has a number of powers, such as superhuman strength, poisonous breath, vish-foonkaar and bite, instant healing powers, and snakes that come out of his wrists. The snakes can come out individually or form into ropes, parachutes, and many others, depending on his imagination. His venom is believed to be far stronger than Potassium Cyanide, resulting in the melting of any living being's body if he bites them or vice-versa.

For his first mission, he was sold for a sum of $1 million and was to recover an ancient statue. Nagraj succeeds, but then is foiled by the Sage Baba Gorakhnath, who frees him from the mind control of Professor Nagamani. Waking up to a newer world amid the calmness of Gorakhnath, Nagraj takes a vow to eliminate terrorism from the world and works toward achieving this goal.

In his initial issues, Nagraj's powers were too limited, and at times he was even knocked out by powerful human opponents. His strength was also quite human in nature, as he would marvel at his opponent's strength, such as when someone picked up a car. Over the years, Nagraj became powerful enough to not only pick up falling cars single-handedly, but also to achieve feats such as throwing things into outer space effortlessly.{This happened in the issue Nagadhish, when he threw the controlling sceptre of a serpent court official into orbit.

It is notable, and perhaps ironic, that Nagraj has now been transformed into a mythical/magical creature facing fantastical creatures as his enemies, with elements of sorcery/magic and even time and space travel. Many cite this as a reason for the continuous, meteoric rise in popularity of Nagraj comics. However, purists still claim that they prefer the more realistic, more practical stories that Nagraj began with.

Vital statistics

Following are Nagraj's vital statistics:^[1]

• Age : Ageless
• Height : 6 ft 2 in
• Weight : 89 kg
• Eyes : Blue
• Hair : Black

Powers and abilities

Nagraj, a character in the Raj Comics series, has a huge arsenal of powers of which most can be credited to his divine birth in the comics storyline. Ever since Writer & Artist Anupam Sinha took over the character of Nagraj, his powers and abilities have evolved a great deal making him powerful enough to counter any character of the comic universe. Nagraj is arguably the most powerful superhero in the Raj Comics Universe and is among the most powerful Icchadhari Naagas of his time.^{[citation needed]} Time and again, he has even shown the potential of challenging the Supreme Snake-Gods like Sheshnaag, Vasuki, Takshak, Kaaljayi, and has defeated the likes of Kaaldoot, Trifana, Mahavyaal and Sheetnaag Kumar, who are ranked among the mightiest snakes in their species.^{[citation needed]}

• Nagraj's blood is a mixture of red blood cells, venom and minute snakes. He can "release" snakes out of his body at his

will through his hands and use them for whatsoever purpose he likes, controlling them through telepathy. Though Nagraj gives full liberty to his snakes, his will can keep them inside his body, leading him at times to take enemy snakes inside him. Snakes in his body can be classified into many groups: Normal snakes Though these are snakes, of many different species, which commonly exist in the real world, being born in Nagraj's body means that they share in Nagraj's extremely powerful venom. Nagraj uses them variably as ropes, ladders, parachutes, shields, boats, spies and messengers. Most notable among them is Naganand, at a time considered right-hand man of Nagraj, he left Nagraj's body to look after the people of Nagdweep at Nagraj's order after he upgraded to become an ichchhadhaari nag. Obtained special snakes During his life, Nagraj has accumulated snakes which weren’t born in Nagraj's body, but it was Nagraj who gave them a place in his body. These snakes are usually snakes carrying some special abilities. They include Jagmag sarp(glowing snakes which in Nagayana series were shown shooting lasers), Naav-sarp(giant snakes, Nagraj uses them for making snake-boats), Nagfani sarp(literally "cactus-snakes") and Ichchhadhaari-naags (shape-shifting snakes). Nagfani-sarp Given by Deva Kaljayi to Nagraj, these snakes have spikes on their body and they can easily rip apart most opponents. The extent of their power is still a mystery; powers tend to be revealed when necessary for the plotline. For instance, Nagraj once used a snake to tie up an enemy, revealing that they may extend themselves at length. Nagfani snakes may have additional powers:

• Dhwansak sarp : short-living magical snakes which explode at will causing major damage to their surroundings. Though

Nagfani-sarp warned Nagraj about using them too frequently, Nagraj never ever had any problems with their numbers while using them.

• Tishk sarp : This snake wraps himself around Nagraj's forehead giving him paranatural powers and the ability to break

physical laws. Using these snakes Nagraj can see and fight against souls and invisible powers. While using this power Nagraj's body gets divided into minute particles making him almost ethereal and immune to physical damage, also temporarily disabling his power to eject snakes out of his body. This form of Nagraj is called Maanas Nagraj. Ichchhadhaari nags They may or may not be of the same species but all snakes possessing the power of shape-shifting come under this category. They include a big bunch of ichchhadhaari naags banished from Nagdweep. It is quite notable that some of them possess such great powers which rival Nagraj's own, but they all hold great respect for Nagraj. While some of them live in his body just cause they have no better place to live, others live willingly to learn something from Nagraj's way of life. Most notable names among them are :

• Saudaangi : Saudaangi is the most famous and most notable Ichchhadhari nag inside Nagraj's body. Also she was the

very first special snake induced by Nagraj in his body. She is the member of an Egyptian clan of snakes which fights against the evil mummy of pharoh Tutankhemun. Like Nagfani snakes she too has spikes on her body when she is in her snake form,she also has a limited knowledge of Tantra. Among the trio of Sheetnag kumar, Naagu and her, her powers are least explained. In early issues of Nagraj, she often became the decisive force of the fights between Nagraj and his powerful enemies, particularly Nagdant. Though she does not appear as frequently as earlier, she still has a devoted fan following with some urging that she should be the main love interest of Nagraj.

• Sheetnag kumar : Sheetnag-kumar is now the most frequently appearing ichchhadhari sarp of Nagraj's body. Earlier a

rival Sheetnag-kumar has now became one of Nagraj's most trusted snakes. He belongs to a clan of ichchhadhari nags living on the Himayalas. Sheetnag-kumar is known for his "icy powers", he can create and manipulate ice at his will giving it different forms like spears and arrows. Sheetnag-kumar also regulates Nagraj's body temperature making him immune to normal fire when he is inside his body and also giving him protection against severe cold ; one of Nagraj's greatest weakness which makes him drowzy pushing him towards hibernation . Sheetnag-kumar's Fang can absorb many attacks and revert them back towards the enemy. He can also freeze all the liquids inside one's body paralysing him.

• Naagu : Naagu is the most cheerful and comical among Nagraj's snakes. His acts are such that at times it becomes

difficult to judge whether he is a jester or a helper. He belongs to a family of Ichchhadhaari naags living near Mahanagar. His main source of power is his mani which grants him almost every imaginable power. For entering Nagraj's body he has to remove his mani from his possession so he hides it in micro form at some place in Nagraj's dress. He though looks idiot and talks non-sense, but he is the one who can never be underestimated. Unlike other snakes in Nagraj's body, Naagu decided to live in Nagraj's body for no reason other than watching movies, which becomes easier living in city. He is a true movie lover and remembers all dialogues of his favourite movies be it Bollywood or Hollywood. Sukhsham-sarp This is not a type but a state of the snakes living in Nagraj's body. Nagraj's snakes live in his body in form of Sukhshamsarps, or "micro-snakes". In this state the snakes of Nagraj's body can do anything which they could while in their maximized state, and just their size is affected. They carry out many important activities inside and even outside Nagraj's body. While in Nagraj's body they performs functions like healing his body,[1] fighting against diseases and providing him superhuman strength. They have also been used to cure others of their diseases.

• Nagraj once used one of his powerful snakes Nagshri in Nagdant's body to kill all the micro-snakes inside him making

him powerless temporarily.

• He also used them to temporary disable Karanvashi's hypnotic powers.
• Nagraj sent one of his sukhsham-sarp to live inside shakti's body to contact her in case of an emergency.
• Nagraj used one of his dhwansak-sarp in sukhsham roop (micro form) to destroy the brain of a terrorist recently in WTSSeries.

Nagraj's Venom Nagraj's venom is the most powerful venom of the world, so much so that direct contact with it results in instant death and melting of body. He gained his venom through the blessings of snake deity Deva Kaaljayi, who himself was blessed by Lord Shiva. It is explained that Lord Shiva who holds the strongest venom of the universe synthesised during Samudra-Manthan, gave a minor portion of it to Deva Kaljayi who holds a dilute form of it and Nagraj holds an even more dilute form of it. The different ways in which Nagraj uses his venom also results in various powers he is said to possess. Like : Vish-funkar Nagraj uses his breath to force out his venom in vapour form, depending upon its concentration the vish-funkar can cause a variety of damages to his enemies. Its effects include temporary blindness, drowzyness, black outs, deaths and for once it even caused fire. This power of Nagraj once as a side-effect temporarily cured Richa (love interest of Super Commando Dhruva) of her disease pertaining respiratory system. This is among one of the oldest displayed powers of Nagraj. Vish-dansh This is simply a snake-bite. Since Nagraj has divine venom more often than not this power when executed properly results in an opponent's instant death,[1] though exceptional beings able to withstand the poison include the Deva Kaljayi, himself and enemies who didn’t had a biological body. It was suggested in one issue that the venom inside Nagraj's poison gland is far more vicious than the venom in his blood, perhaps so much so that Nagraj might die if he bites himself. Vish-fuhaar Nagraj can spill out high amount of liquid venom from his mouth. Since liquid form is much more concentrated in comparison to vapour form therefore it causes more damage in comparison to vish-funkar, it is said that use of this power has negative effects on Nagraj weakening him temporarily cause it results in sudden drop of venom inside his body decreasing the number of sukhsham-sarps too. Vish-varsha This is one of the lesser known applications of Nagraj's venom. Nagraj once under the influence of evil powers spilled his venom as vish-fuhaar over the ocean and heated it using his dhwansak-sarp forming venomous clouds, the clouds rained a very dilute form of his venom which was still extremely powerful. Whosoever came in contact with it died instantly and their bodies melted. After the clouds cleared there were many human skeletons lying at various places as a proof of the viciousness of Nagraj's venom. Ichchhadhaari Shakti and its origin According to the comic storyline inspired from a popular puranic storyline which has many alternate versions, Vishwamitra a king who turned into a Rishi and wished to become a Brahmarshi (which he later became) once promised his disciple Trishanku to send him to heaven alive with his body. This alarmed the Gods who to protect the rules of the universe decided not to let this happen. When Rishi Vishwamitra applied his power to send him towards heaven, the Gods applied counter-force to oppose him. This resulted in a stalemate. Despite all his efforts Vishwamitra failed to fulfil his promise. This enraged Vishwamitra, he saw this act of the Gods as his insult, so he used his power to call upon the power which was used for the creation of the Universe. He started creating a new heaven for sending Trishanku there to keep his words. Seeing the powers of the rishi and alarmed by his act the gods themselves descended upon earth and convinced him to drop his decision. Vishwamitra after realizing that Trishanku had evil intentions left him hanging. (It is believed that he is still hanging somewhere between heaven and earth alive cause Vishwamitra gave him half of his powers). Vishwamitra called upon the power himself, but he couldn’t send it back so he entrusted this power to his disciple, a snake Mahatma Kaaldoot. Minor portions of the power passed on to his future generations and resulted in a new species of snakes the Ichchhadhari naags (shape-shifting snakes). Most of the snakes don’t know all the uses of this power and used it only for shape-shifting purposes but this power can do anything, even creating living beings. It is least used but most effective power of Nagraj, celestial as its origin is this power's true extent was unknown to everyone for quite a long time. Since Nagraj had lost a very major part of this power courtsey See Through, he doesn’t try stupid stunts and makes minimum use of this power cause if he tries shapeshifting into something beyond his power limit then he might not be able to reform a new body and left bodiless like See Through or maybe even die. Applications of this power: Shape-shifting Nagraj even when limited on power has been seen successfully switching between his real and snake form. He can use this power to divide his body into particles and rejoin them within 3 seconds making him invisible and intangible temporarily. At times in case of emergencies Nagraj has temporarily taken powers from the ichchhadhaari naags of Nagdweep granting him access to use the full extent of this power. Nagraj also has a number of ichchhadhaari naags in his body, and though he hasn't yet, he can take their powers too, in times of emergency. Nagraj when high on this power can undergo amazing transformations and can change into anything imaginable. In theory, this power has no limits. Hypnotism Nagraj has a unique hypnotic effect, formerly considered a separate power, this power was later explained as an application of his ichchhadhaari shakti. Utilizing this power Nagraj can cast a hypnotic reality upon his surroundings using his eyes.[1] Breaking this hypnotic fate is extremely difficult and going against it is impossible. Nagraj and his snakes can cast normal hypnotism too. Body-fusions Nagraj at times has used this power to fuse with his allies to bring down a powerful enemy. He can perform two types of fusions :

• Multi-membered imperfect fusion : In this type of fusion many people can join together to form a single body having

many heads and hands. Every individual retains his or her own identity and set of powers. Nagraj used it for the first time fusing with the legendary five in order to fight against a creature created by Nagina .

• Two-membered perfect fusion : In this type of fusion Nagraj can join together with a single person to form a whole new

identity. The new identity has new set of powers born from the combination of the participants' sets of powers. Nagraj displayed this power for the first time fusing with Lava to become Agni-Nagraj (Fire-Nagraj). The new born identity could release 'burning snakes' and could breath 'venomous fire'. Psychic powers Telepathy In addition to his ability to communicate with snakes, Nagraj contacted Super Commando Dhruva telepathically when he was trapped in a parallel dimension containing evil souls. Psychic force In the debutant issue of Nagraj, after his introduction Professor Nagmani said : This later proved to be true, when Nagraj achieved the feat using his ichchhadhaari shakti. Though the latter claim has not been substantiated, Nagraj's psychic potential has been demonstrated during his battle with the Mahamanav (an advanced creature having enough psychic capabilities to wipe out entire planets) in a psychic power battle.

• Nagraj's primary power is his ability to contain millions of snakes inside his body, becoming a host for a variety of snakes. He can order them to come out of his body and attack his opponents, and also instruct them to create simple forms, such as ropes, lassos, webs, gloves, pipes, etc., as well as complex forms, such as a parachute, boat, gliders, and many others.
• Aside from ordinary snakes, he also has a wide variety of mystical snakes like Jagmag Sarp, snakes with bodies that shine brightly in the dark, Naagfani Sarp, snakes with stretchable, spike-covered bodies, which can pierce through anything and elongate themselves as well, Dhwansak Sarp, explosive snakes which explodes as soon as their body come in contact with anything, Maanas Sarp, psionic snakes which enable Nagraj to split his astral psyche from his body, Udan Sarp, winged snakes which can fly, among others. These snakes multiply rapidly, thus making them limitless in numbers.
• He also hosts several Icchadhari Sarp, shape-shifting snakes, in his body, such as Sheetnaag Kumar, The Prince of Sheetnaags, who has the ability to manipulate ice, Saudangi, an Egyptian snake woman who is a master of Tantra-Kala, or sorcery, Naagu, a Manidhhari snake, which is a snake with a diamond like gem on his forehead, whose 'Mani' grants him powers such as shape-shifting, illusion-casting, energy-based attacks, etc., and the Vilakshana Naags. These snakes can come out of his body at will and aid him in battles.
• Nagraj's body holds the most dangerous venom and thus his bite is fatal to almost every human being and Naags in this world. Anyone he bites, or vice versa, melts to nothing in a few seconds. His breath also consists of some amount of this venom, thus enabling Nagraj to concentrate all this venom into his one breath, which he calls Vish-Funkaar, which results in a quick death for anyone who inhales it. He can also spit this venom on others, which he uses in his Vish-Funkaar, which is equally dangerous and fatal. This venom is combined in his blood, thus anyone who tastes his blood die almost instantly.
• All of Nagraj's physical attributes have reached super-human level, and his strength, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and speed are far beyond the peak human level.
• He also has accelerated healing factor, which heals any wounds almost instantly, thanks to the millions of snakes in his body who aid in the healing. Thus guns, swords, blades, etc. are useless against him.
• All of his primary senses have been enhanced to super-human level, which makes his eyesight and hearing far better than any human. He can also sense vibrations in the environment, thus allowing him to navigate and combat even without using his eyesight. He also has a sixth-sense, which he uses if his other five senses are not of much help. Being a highly poisonous Human-Snake (He refuses to be called a snake-man), poisons and drugs have absolutely no effect on him, making him immune to them.
• Being an Ichchhadhari, he has shape-shifting abilities and can shape-shift into any creature or person he desires. He can also use this power to grow wings, claws, as well as fins on his body for better navigation and combat. Thanks to his shape-shifting abilities, he can grow his size and proportional strength to even higher levels. Although he lost many of his shape-shifting powers during the events of the issue "Icchadhari", still he retains his ability to turn into a snake at will. He can also use his Icchadhari shakti to break free his atoms, rendering himself invisible and intangible, to dodge attacks and pass through barriers, though he can only remain in this form for three seconds. His Icchadhari shakti also protects his head from any assaults and attacks, thus any telepathic or electromagnetic attack on his brain backfires on the source.
• Nagraj possesses the ability to shed his skin, in the same way as a snake sheds its Kenchuli, in case some harmful substance, like acid, comes in contact with his skin.
• Nagraj can also stick to surfaces and climb walls in a way some snakes do.
• He is a master of hypnotism and can hypnotise anyone in a matter of seconds, to cast illusions and force the victims into believing or obeying whatever he tells them.
• Nagraj has reached a level of strength considered superhuman. He can easily hold a car or throw a bus in air without a problem, as seen in his comic "Venom" in which he was badly injured, having most of his bones broken, but to save the people from a fire dragon, he managed to lift up a 100 tones kilogram globe and threw it into the mouth of the fire dragon, which was flying 100 meters above the ground.
• Nagraj also possess some unknown amount of psychic powers which is very dangerous and he can increase his psychic powers with the help of his snake.

Alter Ego

Early Alter Ego

Nagraj, in his initial issues was a wanderer, used to bring havoc to the villains of mankind. Since an alter ego was not needed, Nagraj did not have one, but did conceal his identity under an overcoat and, sometimes, a hat as well. The attire he used to hide his real identity has been hailed by some of his fans as his alter ego, because often, no one knew that the person standing in front of them was Nagraj. Nagraj has adopted the same alter ego in his latest World Terrorism Series. Not having any fear of being identified in case of an emergency, Nagraj instantly takes off his hat and overcoat, even when in public.

Past Alter Ego

His past alter ego was Raj, who is the fumbling, bumbling public relations officer of Bharti Communications, a fictional company in the storyline, that he owns. In his secret identity Raj, he pretends to be terrified of snakes. He wears spectacles, a typical business suit, and is very timid and simple. This is very similar to the character of Superman, and his alter ego Clark Kent, even his outfit, straightening of hair, and use of glasses to conceal himself. While early alter ego was based on Phantom, this alter ego was based on Superman.

Current Alter Ego

As per Nagraj's comic "Nagraj Ke Baad," his alter ego has changed again due to the circumstance that he was forced to reveal his true identity. Now, according to the current storyline, he works as the manager of his new security agency "Snake Eyes." His new name is Nagraj Shah. The company is owned by M.S.A.U. Dangi or Saudangi which resides in his body and is a shape-shifting (icchadhari) snake woman.

Enemies

Innumerable enemies of Nagraj have appeared in Nagraj's comics; many died, but some lived on to appear again. Here is the list of Nagraj's major enemies that are still alive and who can be expected to make a comeback in future issues :

• Professor Nagmani : Nagraj's so-called creator who brought up Nagraj.
• Thodanga : A strange African human beast, characteristics match Rhino, Elephant and Turtle.
• Nagdant : A jealous, comparatively weaker copy of Nagraj made by Professor Nagmani.
• Tutan Khamen : Ancient Egyptian mummy whose main power-source, his mask, was snatched away by Nagraj.
• Miss Killer : Beautiful, young, evil scientist from Japan.
• Nagina : A female tantrik and shape-shifting snake.
• Vishandhar : A male tantrik and shape-shifting snake.
• Jaadugar Shakura : An evil sorcerer from an alien planet of immortal wizard dwarfs.
• Nagpasha : Nagraj's immortal venomous uncle who murdered his parents.
• Gurudev : Nagpasha's guru, a man good with science but evil on intentions who wishes to rule the world though Nagpasha.
• Kentuki : A student of Nagpasha's Gurudeva, who is a physically powerful snake having the strength of fifty elephants.
• Polka : A terrorist and scientist who works for Nagpasha.
• Zulu : An African exorcist and scientist.
• Sapera : A man whose power is Nagraj's weakness, i.e. snake charming music.
• Karanvashi : A magician who uses hypnotism to enslave people.
• See-Through : An invisible soul that stole a big share of Nagraj's shape-shifting power, but still wants more.
• Vish-Amrit : Duo of Paranatural powers troubling innocents on Earth while playing hide and seek.
• Khalnayak Nagraj : Evil part of Nagraj's brain which still exists in his unconscious mind.
• Tantrata : Bharti's nanaji (maternal grandfather) who took over Bharti's brother Agraj's body and wants to rule the world.
• Garalgant : A famous enemy of Dev kaljai but also become enemy of Nagraj.

Known Relatives and Close Friends

Nagraj, along with his deeds, has earned a large amount of friends, many of whom appeared just once, but some that appeared more often, and still fewer that became permanent figures in Nagraj's stories. Here is a list of some very well known characters in his comics :

• King Takshakraj : father, deceased
• Queen Lalita : mother, deceased
• Baba Gorakhnath : Mentor
• Mahatma Kaaldoot : Mentor
• Dada Vedacharya : Mentor
• Deva Kaaljayi : Family Deity
• Nagpasha : Uncle (enemy)
• Bharti : Friend
• Visarpi : Queen of Nagdweep, love interest of Nagraj
• Nagrani : Mother to Nagraj's son Nageesh in a parallel dimension
• Super Commando Dhruva : Best Friend and an ally superhero
• Saudangi : An Egyptian she-snake with thorns on her body that lives in his body
• Sheetnag kumar : Friend that lives in his body
• Naagu : Friend that lives in his body
• Vishaank : Visarpi's brother and Nagraj's ally in form of Chhota(kid) Nagraj
• Mahavyaal : Ruler of the ichchhadhaari naags living in water.
• Nageesh : Son that lives with mother Nagrani in a parallel dimension
• Sillu : Friend and computer expert
• Aiyer: Tamil tutor (Nagraj's latest obsession is to learn new languages)
• Professor Srikant: Invisible killer (Adrishya Hatyara) with a situationally-driven personality
• Panch naag:Naagdev,Sarpraj,Naagpreti,Singhnaag and Nagarjuna.They are Ichchhadhari naags(shape shifting snakes) from Naagdweep.

New Media

Numerous attempts have been made by Raj Comics to expand Nagraj into other media. However most attempts have been unfruitful. In late 90s, Raj Comics tried adapting Nagraj into a live-action television show in India. A few episodes were shot. However, the show never made it to the television screen. The reason cited was the poor quality of the special effects. Raj Comics was not satisfied with the quality of the show. The production of more episodes was placed on indefinite hiatus.^{[citation needed]} The three episodes that were made are available on CDs, which were distributed freely as an attachment to digest-sized comic editions. (Khalnayak Nagraj, Samraat, and Saudangi)

Nagraj was also set to feature in a proposed animated television series. Once again the show never made it to the television screen. An episodic series was in works, and a teaser was uploaded on YouTube featuring Nagraj and his arch enemy Jadugar Shakoora.^[2] However, since then there has been no news about the series. It is assumed that production has stopped because the production company Rtoonz's website has since disappeared.

In November 2007, an agreement was signed between Motion Picture Corporation and Raj Comics to produce a high quality 2D Movie featuring Nagraj.^[3]

Nagraj's Comic Issues

Over two decades, Nagraj has appeared in various comic titles published by Raj Comics.

Published Series

Nagayana

Raj Comics is publishing a landmark new series featuring Nagraj named Nagayana. It was first intended to be a four-part mini-series, but later, the series was extended to include more issues. Raj Comics has also decided to publish it world wide. It's a story based on a hypothetical future world casting Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva 25 years into the future. Largely based on Hindu epic Ramayana, the story narrowly follows the same storyline as of the epic, but with Raj Comics characters filling in the places of original characters. The reason for the extension of the mini-series was to tell various sub-plots and the series was finally declared to be an eight-part series. The last part is Iti Kaand, which is an 128-page issue released on 10 March 2009. The new series is as follows:

Nagayana Comic Issues

Issue No.		Comic Title	Publication Status
	1	Varan Kaand	Published
	2	Grahan Kaand	Published
	3	Haran Kaand	Published
	4	Sharan Kaand	Published
	5	Dahan Kaand	Published
	6	Rann Kaand	Published
	7	Samar Kaand	Published
	8	Iti Kaand	Published

Ongoing Series

World Terrorism Series

A new series named "Aatanqharta Nagraj" or "Nagraj-World Terrorism Series" is being published parallel to the "Nagayana" series. In this series, Nagraj is travelling around the world to fight and eliminate terrorism. It is not yet decided how many parts this series will have. The names of the currently published parts are:

• Hari Maut
• Zahreela Barooda
• Mamber
• Numero Uno
• Operation Surgery
• Mission Critical
• Teen Sikke
• Jung Maut Tak
• Under Arrest
• Ometra
• Aankh Micholi
• Paanchva Shikaar
• 26/11 series (with Doga)
• Ronin
• Kame Kazi
• Tomo-The katana
• Shikata Ga Nai
• I-SPY (with Tiranga )
• Order of Babel
• New World Order
• World War
• Veergati

Ongoing as a part of the same series is "Germany Series" which is a 4 part story. Starting with an issue named "Order of Babel" "Nagraj-World Terrorism Series" is presently being written by Mr. Nitin Mishra

Nagraj Ke Baad

'Nagraj ke Baad'(After Nagraj) is a three-part series (Nagraj ke baad, Fuel, and Venom) starting with a comic of the same name. It deals with a time when Nagraj is killed by his enemies and now the world is facing serious threats from the villains.

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Swarn Nagri

It is a two-part series which deals with something going dangerously wrong in Swarn Nagri, the home of Deva-Jaati, an allied force of Super Commando Dhruva, and the makers of Fighter Toads.

It includes three superheroes, namely Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruva, and Fighter Toads.

Its starting comic was Gehri Chaal (Deep Play) and 2nd comic was Level Zero.

The story involves the escape of Green Mamba from the prison of swarn nagri and his apparent control over the city, while everyone in the city is unconscious and he begins planning something dangerous.

Nagraj Parallel Series

These days Raj Comics have published three parallel series of Nagraj, where each Nagraj is involved in a different universe. Currently we have the following three parallel Nagraj series:

• Nagraj – The original ongoing series of Nagraj, which is currently being illustrated and written by Mr. Anupam Sinha.
• Aatankharta Nagraj – This Nagraj appears in the World Terrorism series. It the series, Nagraj no longer resides in Mahanagar. but instead, is travelling in different parts of the world fighting terrorism. This series, until now, has not portrayed villains with supernatural powers, but are more like gangsters or dons of different countries/cities. Currently it is illustrated by Mr. Hemant and written by Mr. Nitin Mishra.
• Narak Nashak Nagraj – This Nagraj is a bit different from the original Nagraj in appearance. He wears a jacket and a trouser and has longer hair. He also possesses different powers (Sheetika, Takshika, and Agnika) than the original Nagraj. He also rides on a flying snake named Sarpat. Until now, the series has shown him fighting vampires, demons, zombies, etc. It is currently illustrated by Mr. Hemant and written by Mr. Nitin Mishra.

References

External links

• Nagraj Comics