Shuma-Gorath

"Before all was, I was. Before time was, I waited. I fed on the screaming souls of the universes. I drank the spoiled milk of dead stars. I am the emptiness outside all understanding. I am Shuma-Gorath."

- Shuma-Gorath. "All shall know the power and pain that is Shuma-Gorath!"

- Shuma-Gorath in Marvel vs. Capcom.

Shuma-Gorath is an evil deity from the Marvel universe, and is one of the Many-Angled Ones. He is an ancient alien deity that demands blood sacrifice, most commonly serving as an enemy to Doctor Strange, Conan the Barbarian, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

History
Shuma-Gorath's origins are unknown. In ages past, he ruled Earth and commanded human sacrifices, until a time-traveling sorcerer called Sise-Neg banished him. Centuries later, Shuma-Gorath returned to our world, ruling it once again and feasting on humans. After another age, a newly-risen god called Crom used the Iron-bound books of Shuma-Gorath to imprison the demon on a mountain. Over a century later, still trapped in the mountain, he uses his mental powers to communicate with the sorcerer Kulan Gath, who decides to free the demon by using the Iron-bound books. The barbarian Conan, after having a nightmare with Shuma-Gorath, senses the danger and, with the aid of Crom, uses the books to banish Shuma-Gorath back to his own dimension.

Ages passed, and now in the modern age, Shuma-Gorath once again tried to enter our dimension. He possesses the mind of the Ancient One, a powerful sorcerer who was the mentor of Doctor Strange. Unable to stop the demon, he is forced to kill his master to prevent Shuma-Gorath from entering Earth. Years later, when fighting the sorcerer Urthona, his talismans are almost all destructed, which collapses the barriers imprisoning the Old Ones, allowing Shuma-Gorath to enter our world again. With no options left, Strange decides to travel to Shuma-Gorath's dimension and fight the demon there to prevent him from invading our world. Strange starts absorbing the chaos power, which makes him merge with Shuma-Gorath. He then kills himself, which kills Shuma-Gorath too. Shuma-Gorath resurrected from what remained of the chaos power, as Strange's soul was purified and resurrected as well. Some time later, he once again enters our world, with the help of Nicholas Scratch, but is once again banished by the combined efforts of Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four and Diablo.

Since then, he has made other attempts to enter the prime Marvel reality, all of them during the early 21st century. First an invasion of the Earth-616 universe executed by the Cancerverse via the Fault (a tear in the universe that opened a pathway from other realities). The Cancerverse was a dimension where Shuma-Gorath had manipulated the heroes of Earth into slaying the aspect Death, resulting that life did not die in that universe and grew like a cancer. It was a universe in service to the Many-Angled Ones, which attempted to conquer the prime reality. The Guardians of the Galaxy managed to stop the invasion by bringing Earth-616's Lady Death into the Cancerverse weakening the Many-Angled Ones and ending the invasion.

A few months afterwards, the Neo-Nazi supervillain team (Uberkommandos) via a ritual in a European village attempted to bring Shuma-Gorath (a fragment of his essence) into Earth to consume the world, and were stopped by the Invaders. Within two years, again a fragment of Shuma-Gorath was summoned to Earth this time in New York City by Doctor Strange who was forced to do so by one of Thanos' agents during his invasion of our world. Spider Hero and a group of Avengers disrupted his astral being thereby preventing him from physically manifesting. Several years later Shuma-Gorath was one of the demonic entities that battled Doctor Strange and the Avengers in a Hell dimension.

Powers and Abilties
Shuma-Gorath's power level is far beyond human comprehension. He is virtually indestructible and powerful, so he can regenerate completely, also being able to change his own form. He generates energy within himself and can also absorb energy, which he easily manipulates to create several forms of attacks. He is capable of teleportation, levitation and phasing, being also able to travel through dimensions at will.

He can communicate telepathically and mind-controlling others, even from other dimensions. The aura of his essence alone would destroy several galaxies and he has the ability to create a ball of energy capable of destroying all reality within a dimension or universe. In his own dimension, Shuma-Gorath is completely omnipotent. Shuma-Gorath has conquered hundreds of realities and he is the ruler of the Lovercraftian Eldritch gods/entities known as the "Many-Angled Ones" (whom the Marvel Fact Files has revealed are also known as the "Old Ones"). It is a race thats exist in the space between realities and Shuma-Gorath himself exists simultaneously in many planes.