Morlun al Ghul by TonyTempest on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Morlun al Ghul

Morlun + Ra’s al Ghul

Morlun al Ghul is a sort of ancient vampire, though not the undead creatures that feed on blood in the night. Morlun feeds on the energy of those that draw their powers from the Red, especially the Totems. He has hunted the Spider Totems, Wasp Totems, even Black Panther Totems throughout history as well as lesser powered superhumans who draw their power from the animal kingdom.

Morlun once belonged to the ancient Order of San Arana, but disagreed with many of their methods and goals, and broke away to form his own organization. He has always coveted the power of the Spider Totem for himself, but no matter how many totems he kills, no matter how much power he absorbs, he is never accepted as the Totem himself. But the power he absorbs has granted him strength, speed, cunning, and durability. He has used these abilities to found an international criminal organization, of which he is the mastermind.

He claims to want to create a sort of environmentally balanced perfect world, and somehow, he believes he cannot achieve that until the power of the Red resides solely with him. Thus, any animal powered superhuman dilutes his power and potential. He has decided that in order to reduce the dilution of the Red’s power, he needs to eliminate most of humanity.

He has gathered together a League of Spiders, assassins and warriors that do his will, bet that murder (mass or otherwise) or hunting down the Red’s agents, especially any that are Totems. One of the Totems active in the world today is of course, Nightweb, and of course Morlun al Ghul has come into conflict with him.

Unlike actual vampires, Morlun is not immortal. He does age, and he can be killed. His connection with the Red, and his absorbing many spider powered hero’s connections has allowed Morlun to access the Red himself. One way he can do this, is by having his body placed upon the Lazarus Web. The mystic spiders that live there, somehow, recognize him as belonging, and they will cocoon him in their webs. After a time in this web cocoon, Morlun emerges refreshed, reinvigorated, and even reincarnated.

Morlun created an enemy of Nightweb’s mentor, Ezekiel Wayne, who has fended off Morlun’s attempts to feed off his power. Ezekiel is a font of information for Nightweb, when it comes to the nature of his powers as a Spider Totem, and his unwitting enmity with Morlun this power has created.

Morlun, as a leader of a major enterprise, rarely enters into combat himself, using his agents, especially the League of Spiders to do his bidding.

He has taken to calling Nightweb “Detective” an honorific he once reserved for Ezekiel.

It is important to note, that as he has been rejected by the Red as a spider totem, the powers of the Red he absorbs do fade over time, and he needs to recharge. It doesn’t matter if he absorbs the energy of a cat totem, or a wasp totem, he never gains the specific powers of that totem, he just gains the generic speed, strength and durability he is granted.

Meta Backstory

Of course I knew I would eventually need to either draw the Ra’s al Ghul amalgam, or at least figure out who he is for backstories. But I didn’t know who to amalgam him with until I discovered the Council of Spiders, wanna-be League of Assassins but all with spider powers (sort of a Serpent Society… but spiders). So, once I made the Council of Spiders and League of Assassins into one organization, I realized their leader had to be the al Ghul amalgam. And that’s when I realized it had to be Morlun who he was combined with.

Amalgams in this story:

Morlun al Ghul: Morlun + Ra’s al Ghul

League of Spiders= Council of Spiders + League of Assassins + Spider Society

Order of San Arana= Order of San Duman + Spider Society

The Red, and the Web of Life and Destiny: are sort of amalgammed together, but also have their own somewhat separate existence as well. The Red is the home of the animal totems. The Web of Life and Destiny is a construct that serves as a sort of map of future and past and even the multiverse. Access to the Web of Life and Destiny gives Nightweb his spider sense.

Lazarus Web: Web of Life and Destiny + Lazarus Pits

Ezekiel Wayne= Ezeikiel Sims + Bruce Wayne