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| “ | Death is only the beginning. | „ |
| ~ Imhotep's last words before his first death. |
Imhotep, also known as the Mummy, is the titular main antagonist of Stephen Sommers' film trilogy of the same name.
He is an Egyptian High Priest who was cursed and mummified alive when he tried to resurrect his lost love Anck-Su-Namun. After he was revived, he enacts his vengeance for his previously failed plans. He is also Rick O'Connell's arch-nemesis.
In the films, he was portrayed by Arnold Vosloo, who also played the Spirit Killer in Charmed, François Molay in Agent Cody Banks, Habib Marwan in 24, Colonel Coetzee in Blood Diamond, Zartan in the G.I. Joe film series and Jacob Broadsky in Bones. In the animated series, he was voiced by Jim Cummings.
Biography[]
The Mummy[]
| “ | The language of the slaves. I may have use for you. And the rewards will be great. | „ |
| ~ Imhotep promising Beni Gabor fine rewards. |
Imhotep is the High Priest during the reign of Seti I. He carries on an affair with Anck-Su-Namun, the Pharaoh's mistress whom other men are forbidden to touch. He helps her assassinate Pharaoh Seti I, and she kills herself to avoid capture by the royal Medjai guards, intending for Imhotep to resurrect her afterwards. Imhotep and his priests then stole her body and took it to Hamunaptra, the "City of the Dead", where he intended to resurrect her using the Black Book of the Dead.
However, he was interrupted by the Medjai before the ritual could be completed. As punishment for their sacrilege, the priests were mummified alive, while Imhotep himself had to endure the Hom-Dai for murdering the pharaoh: the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses, which involved having his tongue cut out and being mummified and buried alive along with flesh-eating scarab beetles. However, the curse of the Hom-Dai meant that Imhotep would become a plague upon mankind if he were ever released or resurrected, so the Medjai and their descendants kept a constant watch over Hamunaptra (where Imhotep was buried) for over three thousand years afterward to ensure that no outsider would ever find the city and thereby risk bringing Imhotep back to life.
Imhotep with the ancient Book of the Dead.
When he was restored to life in 1926 A.D., Imhotep gained several powers, including regeneration, invulnerability, turning himself into sand, and controlling the desert sands by creating sandstorms, as well as the ability to wield the Ten Plagues of Egypt to an unspecified degree; he was seen to turn water to blood, unleashing locusts, blocking out the sun to cause darkness throughout Egypt, and control the people of the city by inflicting them with boils and sores (although these last were used before he regained his full powers, which may account for him only using some of the plagues rather than all of them).
During the first part of the movie, Imhotep expresses an intense fear of cats, screaming in fear when a white one appears in Evy's room. Ardeth Bay and Evy's superior explain that Imhotep will fear them until he is fully regenerated into becoming human again, cats being associated with the Guardians of the Underworld in Egyptian mythology; Rick uses this information to good effect later in the film.
In the 1999 version, Ardeth Bay is not Imhotep's pseudonym, but rather the leader of an ancient secret society also known as the Medjai, descended from the same Egyptian royal guards devoted to guarding Imhotep's tomb and protecting the world from his malice.
The Mummy Returns[]
| “ | Imhotep: (surprised by the sight of a congregate of red-clad figures and Egyptian artifacts around him) What year is it? Hafez: My Lord, it is the Year of the Scorpion. Imhotep: Truly?! Hafez: Yes. Imhotep: (chuckles pleasantly) |
„ |
| ~ Imhotep's first words amd exchange wuth Hafez upon his revival. |
In the 2001 sequel, Imhotep, having been resurrected and freed from the resin he had been trapped in at the end of the first movie by a group of his faithful cultists known as the Cult of Imhotep including his new right-hand priest Baltus Hafez and Anck-Su-Namun's living reincarnation, proceeds to seek out the Bracelet of Anubis, which was the key to finding the lair of Mathayus III, an ancient warrior whose defeat will grant Imhotep control over the Scorpion King's near-indestructible Army of Anubis.
After finding the bracelet on the arm of Alex O'Connell, the son of Rick and Evy, Imhotep captures the boy and uses him to find the lair of the Scorpion King, rejuvenating his body using the flesh of mercenaries Anck-su-namun tricks into opening the cursed chest. Once Imhotep reaches the lair within the sacred oasis known as Ahm Shere, he walks over a magic seal on the floor which causes him to be robbed of his telekinesis, immortality, and other powers granted by the curse of Hom Dai by Anubis, who seemingly wishes him to face the Scorpion King as a normal mortal. When the Scorpion King responds to Imhotep's summons, Imhotep tricks him into attacking Rick O'Connell by lying that instead of him being sent to slay the Scorpion King, it was his archenemy. He then attempts to slay the Scorpion King, but is thwarted by Rick, who slays the king and sends his army to the Underworld. When Rick kills the Scorpion King and the temple-like pyramid begins to collapse. Rick and Imhotep both nearly fall into a chasm, that apparently leads to the underworld, and grab onto the ledge.
While Rick is rescued by Evelyn despite his insistence that she flee and save herself, Anck-Su-Namun leaves Imhotep to die while he begs for her assistance. After this betrayal, Imhotep loses all will to live, since one of his goals was to be reunited with his lover, who apparently did not fully reciprocate his affection. He gives Rick and Evelyn a sad envious smile and willingly casts himself into the pit, thus ending his reign of terror once and for all.
In the sequel, Imhotep is shown to have new powers, such as wall-crawling, telekinesis, and aquakinesis (an ability to control water).
A non-canon ending for the tie-in video game has him killing the Scorpion King and become Neo-Pharaoh with the Army of Anubis and Anck-su-namun at his side.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor[]
Imhotep in two of Evelyn's cover books.
Imhotep does not appear in the third film, only mentioned by Rick as "the same mummy I put down twice". Ironically, he ends up having a nightclub in Shanghai named after him as a tribute by Jonathan Carnahan, who toasts to him: "May the bugger actually stay dead!".
The Mummy: The Animated Series[]
- Main article: Imhotep (The Mummy: The Animated Series)
The Mummy Returns Game[]
Imhotep appears in the video game adaptation of the 2001 sequel, he is also a playable character in the game.
The Mummy (2017)[]
- Main article: Ahmanet
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
As a mortal, Imhotep demonstrated great mystical powers as the pharaoh's High Priest. After being resurrected as a mummy and suffer the curse of Hom Dai by his persecutors, he gained new powers alongside his old ones.
- Invulnerability: Imhotep had demonstrated that he was virtually invulnerable to the weapons of the modern age, including both guns and swords, though a shotgun was able to stun him temporarily. He demonstrated that even if he was hit by blades or bullets, he simply will not die. It is also logical to assume that he is immune to all known ailments and narcotics.
- Immortality: Having been resurrected more than once and being over 3,000 years old, Imhotep is effectively immortal.
- Superhuman Strength: Despite him being a walking corpse, Imhotep has demonstrated extraordinary strength for a 3,000-year-old rotting pile of flesh. He has shown to be capable of lifting and throwing a well fit full grown adult into the air several feet with great ease.
- Self-Sustenance; As a mummy, Imhotep has shown to have no need to eat, drink or breathe to survive, though he still requires human flesh to regenerate to his human form.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Imhotep had demonstrated that he could heal from any form of physical injury. However, he must first kill those who opened the chest containing the Book of the Dead by sucking them dry of all organs and fluids to make himself human again. Even after this, Imhotep can heal himself as well as reassemble himself in case any of his limbs are severed from his body.
- Pestilence Inducement: According to Evelyn, those like Imhotep who suffered the curse of the Hom-Dai had the power to manipulate both diseases and pests such as locusts and scarabs. The first time he uses this power was after he accidentally resurrected by Evelyn whom read the Book of the Dead out loud, where the mummy roars and conjures scarabs and locusts to attack everyone whom present in Hamunaptra.
- Necrokinesis: A power he has demonstrated before his mummification, Imhotep has the power to resurrect the dead. He demonstrated such powers when he resurrected Anck-Su-Namun from her grave, as well as resurrect a small army of priests to do his bidding.
- Eclipse Manipulation: Upon arriving in Cairo, Imhotep's powers had grew to the point where he could at will cause an eclipse which blotted out the light of the sun.
- Telekinesis: Some speculate that Imhotep has the separate powers to manipulate both sand and water, however due to him being capable of demonstrating the ability to lift people up and throw them at a great distance, it is most likely due to his powers of telekinesis, which the said telekinesis was the very power that enhanced his strength. He has shown to be incredibly gifted with this power due to his ability to manipulate the sand and water, making a wall of either element and a large version of his face is visible.
- Sand Manipulation: Imhotep has demonstrated in both his rotting form and even partially regenerated form that he has the power to turn his body into sand and fly out the window, either as a sandy tornado in various size or a jet of sands. He can carry immense loads with him while he is in this form which was seen when he dropped Beni Gabor and Evelyn Carnahan onto nearby sand. This power also enables him to turn into sand and enter places that are locked which was demonstrated when sand entered Evelyn's room and he formed from it.
- Hypnosis: Imhotep had demonstrated the power to actually hypnotize people, putting them into any time period he desired. He can mentally control almost the entire population through the pustules on his body, if they come out. In The Mummy Returns, he demonstrated this only once when he was about to kiss Meela Nais who was somewhat repulsed by the mummy's appearance. To get her to kiss him, he hypnotized her, allowing her to see herself as Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep in full human form. She then kissed him, being completely unaware she was kissing a corpse. He also has absolute control over undead life forms, becoming completely loyal to him when summoned.
- Aquakinesis: Following being resurrected by his cultists, Imhotep had demonstrated the power to have complete control over water, using it to create a tsunami.
- Water Divination: Imhotep can read the future, the present and the past and/or provide help to a problem at hand via Egyptian Occult means as well as allowed the others to see what he perceived, with water as a medium. In 1932, he displayed this to Helen, Ankh-es-en-amon's reincarnated self to tell her about both her and his past life, whereas in The Mummy Returns, Imhotep did the same to Meela Nais their past selves.
- Life-Force Absorption: Imhotep demonstrated this deadly ability by sucking the life essence and flesh of his victims. When he did this, his mouth would opens in 90 degrees and unhinged in process as if it vertically widens. He can still use this ability even when fully regenerated.
Abilities[]
- Weapon Proficiency: Imhotep has demonstrated his skills in the use of swords, knives and even staff-based weapons.
- Multilingualism: Imhotep had shown to mostly speak in his native tongue of Ancient Egyptian, however he was fully capable of speaking English, but only when he talked to Alex in the second film (which skills in speaking English was exclusive in his cartoon incarnation). He also could recognize certain languages such as Yiddish (a form of Hebrew dialect) and even Arabic.
- Heka Expertise: As a the former High Priest of Seti I, Imhotepwas well-versed in the arts of Heka (Egyptian Ancient magics) which extended to Hom-Dai. In fact, this allowed him not just adapt to his unholy existence, but also weaponized the curse itself, something Pharaoh's bodyguards realized too late after subjected him with such curse thus forcing their descendants, who later established Medjai, to watch over Hamunaptra and ensured him remained trapped. His aforementioned ability to manipulate elements related to desert (ex. sand and water), telekinesis, and necrokinesis were further attributed to the knowledge of appropriate Heka spells where many of them being too much for mortal Heka magicians in normal circumstances — an issue ironically circumvented from being subjected with Hom-Dai.
Weaknesses[]
- Ancient Egyptian Artifacts: Being resurrected by the Book of the Dead, Imhotep proved to be near invincible. The only problem he faced even when fully regenerated, was a vulnerability to artifacts of mystical nature. Artifacts such as the Book of Amun-Ra or The Scroll of Thoth (1932 original film) had the power to strip him of his immortal powers, rendering him mortal.
- Cats: According to Terence Bey, cats are the guardians of the underworld. Since Imhotep came back from the underworld, he will fear them until he is fully regenerated. Once that takes place, cats will no longer be a problem for the mummy.
Trivia[]
- According to Imhotep's actor Arnold Vosloo, he accepted the role on the terms that he plays the character "straight" after Stephen Sommers' approach for in his screenplay. Also, the scene where his character mummified alive understandably freaked the actor out, as he had to be in bandages for four hours to film the scenes where he's wrapped and put in his tomb.
- Imhotep was originally intended to return in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, where he would return from the dead once again to assist Rick O'Connell against Emperor Han. However, Arnold Vosloo declined to return to the role, disliking the movie's script and not wanting to appear in a Mummy film not directed by Stephen Sommers.
- Originally, Imhotep was supposed to narrate the opening of the film but since Imhotep only spoke Egyptian, it was changed to Ardeth Bay narrating.
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