En Sabah Nur
En Sabah Nur was born in 3000 BCE, near the Egyptian Valley of Kings to the tribe of Akkaba. The birthing process triggered his latent [[[metagene]]] and the young baby manifested with a visibly malformed appearance. He was abandoned in the desert and rescued by Baal of the Crimson Sands.
Nur was taught by Baal that the pharaoh Rama-Tut was a human from the far future, [[[Nathaniel Richards]]]. His magical 'sphinx' was in fact a time-vessel from some 40 millennia in the future. Nur attacked Rama-Tut, forcing him to retreat into the timestream, and took control of the time-ship. Damaged by Rama-Tut, the vessel could not operate the time-displacement drive, rendering it into merely a lavishly advanced conveyance for Nur. It contained a crucial machine-- the sarcophagus chamber, a device that could restore Nur from death itself if necessary. Using their own technology, [[[Celestial]]]s reached across time and space to speak to Nur from the far future. A bargain was struck, imbuing Nur with awesomely advanced Celestial technology in exchange for an eventual promise of servitude. Armed and armored with Celestial technology, Nur became something much more than 'merely' a mutant.
With his new power, Nur seized the throne and declared himself Pharaoh, a role he occupied for several centuries. He was ousted some five-hundred years later by the arrival of [[[Nabu]]], one of the [[[First Gods]]]. Nabu empowered an avatar with the power of Fate, and backed by Nabu's strength, this first incarnation of [[[Doctor Fate]]] expelled Nur from his rule.
Nur fled Egypt and wandered the world for a thousand years. He visited many other cultures and encountered many long-lived immortals. To his humbling chagrin, Nur found that his immense powers were no substitute for the legendary skill of the [[[Kheran]]]s or the might of the [[[Inhumans]]], who were among the few fully capable of doing him real harm. He realized that force of arms was not the only means of conquest and started plotting a goal for total domination of the world that would take millennia to unfold. After all, what is time to an immortal? He frequently found his goals subverted by the dogged pursuit of another seeming immortal-- a young [[[Nathaniel Summers]]] who tracked him across time and space, always appearing at the 11th hour to stop Nur's plans.
The seeds of his goal were established as religious cults all over the world. He would frequently disguise himself as a local god, creating cultists who worshipped him as a deity. He mated frequently, producing blood descendants with a portion of his power. The [[[Clan Akkaba]]] and their servants, the [[[Riders of the Dark]]], clashed often with the forces serving [[[Vandal Savage]]] and the [[[Purifiers]]], creating a long-lasting and bitter enmity between the two immortals. Neither could kill the other, so they resorted to a millennia-long game of trying to out-maneuver each other.
In 1292 BCE, Nur returned to Egypt and attempted to overthrow Ramesses II. He was defeated by Prince [[[Khufu]]] and Princess [[[Chay-Ara]]], armed with Nth-Metal weapons. They were assisted by [[[Teth-Adam]]], the future King of Unified Egypt and Khandaq. In retreating, Nur assassinated Khandaq's royal family and implicated Khufu and Chay-Ara in the attack. Teth-Adam flew into a blind rage and killed his in-laws with his bare hands, only to later discover Nur's treachery. Teth-Adam swore revenge on Nur, an oath that he has not forgotten to this day.
For another 2000 years Nur wandered the Earth. He met the [[[New Gods|New God]]] [[[Thor]]] while he was posturing as that very individual; Nur won the first round of combat, but Thor used his own blood to empower his axe to break through the Celestial armor given to Nur. Once again, the First Mutant was forced to withdraw from the field and nurse his wounds in his time-ship.
It was in 1080 AD that Nur found something he'd sought for centuries: a [[[Prosh|Celestial science vessel]]], hidden high in the mountains of Mongolia and 'protected' by another immortal. Nur defeated Garbha-Hsien with ease and entered the vessel, which reacted to his Celestial armament. Inside, he began expanding the scope of his understanding of Celestial technology. During this time, another incarnation of Nathaniel Summers persisted in attacking his Clan Akkaba, killing off thousands of Nur's offspring. In a climactic battle, Nur ripped off Summers' arm and was then shot in the head with a high-powered energy weapon. Believing Nur dead, Summers bid Nur's majordomo [[[Ozymandias]]] to remember 'there is always someone stronger', and made plans to depart with his millennia-old quest completed.
Ever loyal, Ozymandias pulled Nur's corpse into the Celestial vessel and tucked him-- and the arm-- into the regenerative sarcophagus from the time-ship. Nur was exposed to the [[[T-O Virus]]] in Summers' blood. The Celestial bioweapon combined with Nur's powers to turn him into something even more awesome than before, a living machine imbued with Celestial technology. Summers panicked and flung Nur and the vessel deep into space, which set Nur adrift in the stars for centuries. It also gave him ample time to study and master the Celestial tech, including corrupting 'Ship' into doing his bidding without question.
Nur returned to earth several centuries later. Attrition from the Kherans and even his old foe Vandal Savage had eliminated most of Clan Akkaba, and his persona retinue of warriors had been disbanded by Summers and turned into honorless mercenaries. He sequestered himself in England, buried underneath London, and resumed his ancient campaign of cleansing the world of humanity to rebuild it in his own image. There he met a young [[[Nathaniel Essex]]], and recruited him to become his ally as the nefarious Mr. Sinister. Intent on releasing a new version of the T-O virus on the world, Nur was checkmated once again by Summers and a pool of his allies, and betrayed by Sinister himself. Nur was forced to retreat into his starship and nurse his wounds, plotting his next attack on Earth.
