Yuga Khan

Yuga Khan is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in New Gods Volume 2, issue 17 (June 1990).

Yuga Khan was the former patriarch of Apokolips and its first ruler, whose misguided attempt to unravel the unknowable mystery of the Source left him a helpless captive for countless thousands of years. Khan's wife Heggra later died by the machinations of their son Uxas, known more prominently by the name Darkseid, who took control of Apokolips himself.

Fictional character biography

New Gods II #17-21

In The Promethean Galaxy Yuga Khan broke his bonds, and consumed the planet Velos. His return to living existence constituted a greater threat to life than even his son Darkseid. Khan next destroyed a Thanagarian probe station, which attracted the attention of Lar Gand, who managed to save the lives of a few Thanagarians. After draining another world and gaining more strength, Khan came to Apokolips.

For the first time in his life, Darkseid knew fear despite his bravado of claiming Khan was the past and he was the future. Khan restrained him and sarcastically asked if he was going to hug his father. Khan reclaimed his rulership over Apokolips, making life twice as hard on the populace. Desaad pledged his loyalty to him, telling him his service to Darkseid had been a lie. Khan reminded him that he’d poisoned his beloved wife Heggra and disintegrated him there. Khan cut off the Source, rendering Boom Tubes and Mother Boxes inoperative. He would continue his quest to find the nature of the Source, no matter the casualties. Commander Gideon launched an invasion of Apokolips, however Khan devastated his New Genesis soldiers and killed Gideon. Yuga Khan once again turned his attention to the Source Wall, where Highfather tried to stop him, warning him of the limits of godhood. Khan ignored him, subsequently transforming his body into primal energy so he could enter the Source. His second attempt was no more successful than his first, he was once again imprisoned in the Promethean Galaxy.

The New 52

Yuga Khan is reintroduced in Darkseid War - Shazam #1 (2016), spinning off from the "Darkseid War" storyline in Justice League, in which Darkseid is killed by Anti-Monitor, and Shazam (Billy Batson) finds himself empowered by a wholly different set of gods as the universe suffers the fallout of Darkseid's death. One of the new gods to give power to Billy in this immediate chaos goes by the name of Zonuz, replacing Zeus, but he explains that this is an alias much as Darkseid is an alias of Uxas, and that his name is "Yuga Khan, the sire of evil, father of Darkseid". Billy encounters him in a limbo-like dimension as Yuga Khan takes advantage of the magical chaos to claim the staff of the wizard who empowered Billy and with it the powers of the other gods, and thereafter returning to life and reclaiming the throne of Apokolips, stolen from him by his son. Zonus is defeated by Shazam and the wizard explains that "his might is now a slave to your whim." A description on the final page explains that Billy's powers include "the Source Manipulation of ZONUS, Yuga Khan."^[1]

Powers and abilities

Yuga Khan was the most powerful New God. He possessed enormous physical prowess, the ability to traverse hypertime and could even manipulate the Source itself to an extent. His most dangerous ability was that he could drain the life force of individuals or planets, adding to his own formidable power.

A proper measure of his might was the fact that Darkseid himself dared not face him.

References