Nagraj (comics)

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Nagraj

Nagraj
Raj Comics
Publisher Raj Comics
First appearance Issue No 14 "Nagraj"
Created by
Characteristics
Alter ego Raj

Nagraj ("Snake-King") is an Indian comic book character from Raj Comics and is considered to be their flagship character. Created in the late 1980's, Nagraj was originally conceived as an enemy of international terrorism. Interestingly, in the first comic itself, he was being leased as the international terrorists' weapon by Professor Nagmani.

Contents

[edit] Plot Summary

Nagraj was presented to the world as a creation of Professor Nagmani . He was meant to be the Ultimate Killing Machine, and his original plan was to sell Nagraj, in a bidding to the highest bidder, amongst all the Villains and Terrorist Groups worldwide.

However, later stories told that his snake abilities come from his 'divine' origin i.e. his family deity Dev Kaljayi who had given a boon to his parents to have a son after many years of trying to conceive. But due to his uncle Nagapasha's evil plans, Nagraj's to-be-mother Queen Lalita was poisoned by Dev Kaljayi's venom. After lots of prayers by his to-be-father King Takshak Raj, the angered deity agreed to spare the life of the queen but the only way possible was to concentrate the venom into the unborn Nagaraj. So, Nagaraj appeared to be born dead, and was floated in the river by his parents. How he came to life is still unknown. But speculations point out that being a boon of his, Dev Kaljayi decided to spare both his and his mother's lives.

During his hibernation Nagaraj is known to have spent some time on the "Nagdweep" (island of ichchadhari or shape-shifting snakes). Later on, Nagaraj ends up in evil Professor Nagamani's captivity where Professor Nagmani merely used him for his other experimental projects and leasing him for international terrorism. Nagmani always claimed that Nagraj's powers were evolved by feeding him bits of snake poison till his blood becomes poison itself. He also claimed that he is more poisonous than 1000 snakes. That fact is that he was much more poisonous than that. This echoes the Indian legends of Poison-Men or Women, specifically raised to kill by their kiss.

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) and has a number of powers like superhuman strength, poisonous breath vish-foonkaar and bite, instant healing powers and of course, snakes who come out of his wrists separately or make interesting shapes like ropes, parachutes and many other depending on his imagination. Earlier he was said to contain poison of thousands of snakes. His venom is far more stronger than Potassium Cyanide resulting in melting of any living being's body if he happens to bite them or vice-versa.

For his first mission, he was sold for a sum of $1 million, and the object 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". Nagraj takes a vow to kill all terrorists in this world and moves on.

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 , meteoritic rise in popularity of Nagraj Comics.

[edit] Vital statistics

Age : Ageless(he is supposed to be around 75,but was in hibernation for 40 years due to dev kaljayi'spoison until he get the ability to tolerate it)
Height : 6 ft 2 in
Weight : 89 kg
Eyes : Blue
Hairs : white

[edit] Powers & abilities

Nagraj has power to break himself into particles and become invisible but he can remain in an invisible state only for three seconds. Nagraj is able to transform into snake form at will. He can also take the shape of many other creatures using his ichhadhari powers but this ability of his has been severely curtailed after he willingly used up this power to save the Gods from annihilation in Kalyug.

His body is a container of millions of "micro-snakes" which he can release at will from his wrists to grow and carry out a variety of tasks. Later on he was given a special category of snakes as a boon from Dev Klajayi - the Nagfani Sarp . It can one that can cut through anything; spew explosive snakes; etc.

He also has other special snakes in his body like Saudangi, Shitnagkumar, Nagu and the Vilakshan snakes who willingly made him their host. They can leave his body on their own and are not necessarily under Nagraj's command. They have powers like - snakes that can repel evil souls; a snake which can shoot icicles etc.

He can form ropes out of groups of snakes, for use for swinging on or lassoing objects. He can hypnotise with his eyes, and has a searing poisonous breath and lethal bite. If wounded, micro-snakes will swiftly seal the wounds, healing him. His bizarre ability to contain snakes means he is home to a number of allies, whom he can release to carry out independent actions using their own abilities.

His only vulnerabilty is the situation when someone is successful in cutting off his body part completely, after which he cannot regain that part and also looses blood which in turn means the loss of snakes and his powers. His snakes protect his entire body from mortal wounds while from his neck upwards he is protected by his ichhadhari - shakti .

[edit] Alter Ego

His alter ego is Raj, who is the Public relations officer of Bharti Communications, a fictional company in the storyline. In his secret identity of 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/Clark Kent alter ego, even his outfit, straightening of hair and use of glasses to conceal himself. Originally, he didn't have any alter ego. He travelled around the world to destroy international terrorist. While this was the original idea, the introduction of alter ego destroyed the originality.

[edit] Allies

[edit] Enemies

[edit] Known relatives and close friends

  • King Takshak Raj (father, deceased)
  • Queen Lalita (mother, deceased)
  • Nagpasha (Uncle)
  • Bharti (Wife - Married in the latest Nagayan series)
  • Visarpi (wife -married in latest nagayan series)
  • Baba Gorakhnath and Kaldoot (Mentors)
  • Dev Kaljayi (Family Deity)
  • Super Commando Dhruva (Best Friend)
  • Vishank(visarpi's brother and nagraj's ally in form of chhota nagraj)

Nagraj is definitely one of the most popular comic series in India, by Raj Comics, and has a huge reader base not restricted just to kids[citation needed]. It can be truly claimed to be the most desired comic brand in India.

[edit] New media

Nagraj was adapted into a Live action TV show in India, however only 3 episodes were made. The production for more episodes is currently on hold[citation needed]. The 3 episodes are available on CDs which were distributed freely as an attachment to digest sized comic editions. (Khalnayak Nagraj, Saudangi)

Nagraj is also being converted into an animated TV series. Work is ongoing for producing an episodic series based on Nagraj and his arch enemy Jadugar Shakoora[citation needed].

Recently, An agreement was signed between MCA and Raj Comics for the production of Nagraj's Animated Movie.They have decided to produce a high quality 2-d Movie.

[edit] Upcoming Series

Raj comics is going to publish a new series in Nagraj comics named Nagayan.It will be a four part super series of Nagraj comics.Raj comics has also decided to publish it world wide.Its going to be a story of Nagraj after 25 years.Raj comics has decided to publish it in May and June, 2007. Recently on the Raj Comics Forum,It was informed that instead of four parts Nagayana will have 5 parts .They are named as follows- Varan Kaand, Dahan Kaand, Grahan Kaand, Haran Kaand, Samar Kaand.

The series has been re-cast in order to fit in various sub-plots and their would be many more parts than the five mentioned above. The new series is as follows:

Varan Kaand, Grahan Kand, Haran Kand, Sharan Kand, Dahan Kand, Samar Kand.

A new series named "Aatankharta Nagraj" is going to be published.In this series Nagraj will travel around the whole globe to finish terrorism. It is not yet decided that how many parts this series would have, but name of first three parts were enclosed on Raj comics forum. The name of the first three parts are- 1.Hari Maut- going to be launched on 5 October 2007 2.Jahreela Barood -going to release on 5 November 2007 3.Mambr-The contract killer-going to release on 5 January 2008

[edit] Titles

Raj Comics has published a huge number of Titles on Nagraj. A list could be seen at

[edit] Discussion forum

Raj Comics hosts a discussion forum, with a section specially devoted to Nagraj.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagraj_%28comics%29"
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