Cyttorak was first mentioned in Strange Tales #124 ("The Lady from Nowhere", September 1964; written by Stan Lee). He first appeared in person in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #44 (August 1992; written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Geof Isherwood).
Fictional character biography
Cyttorak is a deity who was previously banished to the Crimson Cosmos dimension.
Centuries later, renegade monks attempt to summon Cyttorak, but instead summon a destructive aspect of him. The magic apprentice Gomurr defeats the aspect and seals him in a magical gem.
Cyttorak was last seen being released from a magical prison by Pete Wisdom during the Skrull invasion of Otherworld.
During the Fear Itself storyline, Magik, Colossus, and Kitty Pryde travel to the Crimson Cosmos to speak to Cyttorak. They inform him that Juggernaut has been transformed into Kuurth and is under the control of the Serpent. Colossus makes a bargain with Cyttorak to gain the power to stand against Kuurth.[3] Cyttorak agrees to the terms and Colossus becomes the new avatar of the Juggernaut and is able to push Cain Marko back until Cain is summoned by the Serpent.[4] Cyttorak later attends the Devil's Advocacy, where he speaks out against the Serpent's actions.[5]
During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Cyttorak is angered after a fragment of the Phoenix Force possesses Colossus. Colossus tries to force the release of him being a Juggernaut with the Phoenix's power, but Cyttorak easily quells Colossus' attempt at freedom and tells him he will tolerate this infraction for now and teleports him out of the Crimson Cosmos.[6][7]
Through a miniature portal generated by Man-Thing, Cyttorak detects Cain Marko and grants him the powers of Juggernaut once again.[8]
Avatars of Cyttorak
First Avatar
Jin Moon-ho was Cyttorak's avatar before Cain Marko. A poor farmer from Korea, Moon-ho came across an abandoned temple of Cytorrak after fleeing from bandits and encountered the Gem of Cyttorak, turning him into the Juggernaut. Cyttorak, the ruler of the Crimson Cosmos and the supplier of Moon-ho's powers, then ordered Moon-ho to align himself with Japanese imperialists to further the deity's goals of world destruction. Moon-ho dropped his Korean name, renamed himself "Taiko" and followed Cyttorak's command to help the Japanese colonize Korea. Taiko became increasingly remorseful and ashamed as he continued killing for the demon and eventually refused Cyttorak's orders to destroy his home village, who took his powers away until Cain Marko eventually found the gem and took over as Cyttorak's new avatar.[9] Cain, as the new Juggernaut, faced and killed Taiko, burning his village to the ground.[10] Due to Moon-ho's service with the Japanese, he was branded as a traitor by his fellow countrymen and his family was shunned, causing his son Jung-woo to resent him for many years and refusing to take the powers of the Juggernaut himself after inheriting a shard of the Gem of Cyttorak.[11]
Second Avatar
Cain Marko
Temple of Cyttorak
During the Korean War, an American soldier named Cain Marko hid in a cave to avoid an attack by the enemy. A fellow soldier, his stepbrother Charles Xavier, followed him in to convince him to rejoin the battle and avoid a court-martial (the inevitable result if his actions were to reach the attention of the commanding officers). The learned Xavier recognized that the cave contained the Temple of Cyttorak. Marko saw a ruby, remarking that it appeared to be living. He picked it up, despite Xavier's warning, to read the now famous inscription: "Whosoever touches this gem shall possess the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become forevermore a human juggernaut!" Cain's transformation began as the Koreans' constant shelling of the cave caused it to collapse. Xavier escaped, but Marko also survived due to his new-found powers.
Probably the destruction of the Temple of Cyttorak and the subsequent incapacitation of the Juggernaut served to throw a monkey wrench in the Wager. No other Exemplars would appear until years later, after the Juggernaut had clawed his way through the rubble, made his way to America, and battled the X-Men led by Xavier several times. Also, Marko, unlike the other Exemplars when they were created, did not initially lose his will to his power source, but retained his full individuality.
In an Infinity War crossover, Doctor Strange travels through the dimensional corridors with Galactus and other allies. One of many anomalies drew their spaceship into conflict with Cyttorak. Galactus' ally Nova is captured by the entity; he desires worship.
Juggernaut had been transported to Cyttorak's dimension and awoke to find Doctor Strange surrounded and nearly impaled by crimson crystals. Juggernaut uses his power to destroy the ever-growing crystals and saves Dr. Strange from certain death. Strange had summoned Juggernaut due to his ties to Cyttorak. Though low on actual power, Juggernaut promised to try to convince the entity to let them leave. When Dr. Strange and Juggernaut stumble upon Cyttorak's throne room, it is Strange who tries the diplomatic approach. Juggernaut has one thing on his mind at that point, and that is getting his hands on the ruby that is on Cyttorak's forehead. Just as Doctor Strange convinced Cyttorak to let them go, Juggernaut attacked the entity, knocking him down and taking the gemstone from his forehead. Thinking the ruby would give him unlimited power, he decided to test it out by smashing Strange's skull with it. What Juggernaut did not realize was that the ruby was draining his power. Since the entity his power flows from was dying he was only weakening himself. Finally, with Cyttorak in his weakened state, Nova is able to escape from the crimson bands that were holding her prisoner and able to blast the ruby right out of Juggernaut's hands. Strange then uses his magic to place the ruby back into the forehead of Cyttorak who instantly awakens and ensnares Juggernaut within the crimson bands. The entity is convinced that letting the Juggernaut operate on Earth, and leaving Dr. Strange and Nova to spread his great name across the universe, is enough to satiate his need for adulation and worship. His captives are returned to their respective places (Juggernaut on Earth, Strange and Nova on Galactus's ship).[12]
The Juggernaut, having been attacked by Onslaught earlier, was placed in the Crimson Cosmos. Doctor Strange discovered this. Within the gem, a demoness called Spite showed Marko an illusion where Cain was crippled before he gained the Juggernaut powers, but Gomurr the Ancient freed Marko from this false scenario. Gomurr had Cain relive the latter's past, as a delinquent child and his causing the accident that killed his father, Dr. Kurt Marko. Spite, however, again projected to the Juggernaut illusions to persuade him to stay in the Crimson Cosmos. Spite, however, had simply manipulated Marko. Cyttorak desired to inhabit Cain's body and leave his dimension. Cyttorak and Cain battled each other. Cyttorak brutalized Cain severely, but Cain chose not to surrender. Gomurr and his friend Tar arranged things so that Juggernaut could now utilize Cyttorak's power against him. Cain defeated Cyttorak and exited the Crimson Cosmos with more vitality than before.
When certain charlatans had attempted to steal the Juggernaut's power by using a false second gem of Cyttorak, the Juggernaut attempted to reabsorb his power from this second gem. However, he somehow was possessed by Cyttorak in the process. A being named Ejulp, dispatched by Juggernaut's confederate Black Tom, teleported the X-Men to aid the Juggernaut. Juggernaut's power was so heightened that he began shearing through dimensional boundaries. In this dimension, when Professor X and Wolverine made physical contact with each other, Xavier merged into Logan's body. Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde returned to find a larger Juggernaut tearing through a dimensional wall. When Wolverine leaped into the mouthpiece of Juggernaut's headpiece, Logan and Xavier separated from one another. They found an entity pretending to be Cain Marko, but discovered the real Cain Marko hiding under the staircase. Xavier attempted to restore Cain's self-respect. The false Juggernaut happened upon them, but, upon this duplicate making contact with the true Cain Marko, Marko had his Juggernaut power returned to him and vanquished the entity controlling his mind. The Juggernaut started to feel his powers mysteriously increasing, and felt an irresistible urge to go somewhere. He easily shrugged off an attack by Thor, but Thor persisted with the struggle.
Observing this elsewhere, Loki enquired of the Flame of Truth about the Juggernaut. The flame recalled to Loki how Cyttorak empowered Marko, to which Loki responded that he had not heard the name of Cyttorak mentioned for quite some time. The Flame further informed Loki that not only did Cyttorak and his confederates have human followers, but that across the Earth humans had recently begun to receive psychic calls drawing them to artifacts of these entities to become Exemplars. Two of these exemplars, Bedlam and Conquest, arrived to aid the Juggernaut in his battle against Thor. They teleported the Juggernaut away.
An Exemplar machine under the Daily Bugle was noted and destroyed by Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and the astral form of Professor Xavier. The Exemplars moved to the North Pole to construct a new device.
The entities behind the Wager of the Octessence decided to implement the creation of the seven other Exemplars, and the Juggernaut once again was caught in Cyttorak's machinations, as Cyttorak tormented him in his mind. At the North Pole, Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Xavier were trapped. Xavier telepathically helped Marko resist. Marko decided, of his own free will, to oppose the Octessence scheme. He subdued Bedlam and damaged the engine. The heroes were freed and assisted Marko in battling the others. Marko ultimately destroyed the engine and the Exemplars were ejected to the far corners of the earth. As vengeance for opposing his will, Cyttorak caused the Juggernaut's powers to slowly fade.
Third Avatar
Cyttorak granted the power and form of the Juggernaut to an unnamed child who attracted the attention of the X-Men by torturing animals. In the She-Hulk series, it is shown that a piece of one of his gems was used to create an elephant-like creature named Behemoth.
Fourth Avatar
In the Fear Itself storyline, Cain Marko becomes Kuurth, one of the Serpent's heralds, after obtaining his hammer. In response, Colossus temporarily gains Cyttorak's power to battle him.
Fifth and Sixth Avatar
When the Gem of Cyttorak returns, Cain Marko attempts to destroy it. However, the Living Monolith reaches the Gem first and obtains its power before Cain reclaims it.[13][14][15][16][17]
Seventh Avatar
Justin Jin
Joon-sung (Justin) Jin is a 17-year-old from Vancouver, Canada and the grandson of Jin Moon-ho who receives a shard of the Gem of Cyttorak after his estranged father Jung-woo is killed by Cyttorak's follower Malphegor.[18][19][20][21] He uses the Gem's powers to become the superhero Kid Juggernaut, and joins the Avengers Academy.[22][23]
Powers and abilities
Cyttorak is a deity with enormous magical power. He possesses superhuman strength and durability and can create life at will.[24]
