“ | I am a god after all. I know everything. | „ |
~ Tiamat |
Tiamat is a major antagonist in the Ghostbusters IDW Ongoing Series. She is a sadistic, primal Sumerian goddess of chaos.
She was once the entity who fought and banished another rival destruction deity known as Gozer, her sibling, from Earth in the year 4th millennium BC, while her worshipers victoriously fought another Sumerian subculture the "Gozerians" in a prolonged "holy" war with each other.
Tiamat began to see an opportunity in claiming Earth after the Ghostbusters bested Gozer upon the Destructor 's brief arrival to the modern day human world.
She uses the power to suddenly rip holes in the fabric of reality when they escaped from the Collectors' Limbo. She decided it was somewhere she would go to have fun with her new "playmates". She was overcome with curiosity and wanted to toy with them. She detected Eduardo Rivera within her realm and tasked the mortal man with delivering the message of her impending arrival. Tiamat blasted Eduardo only to teleport him to Ray's Occult Books shop in New York City. Eduardo asked Ray Stantz and Kylie Griffin if they knew what Tiamat was.
Tiamat was present at the Field Museum of Natural History when the Chicago Ghostbusters team examined the World of Gozer exhibit on Ilyssa Selwyn's behalf. She used her powers to activate a Gozerian artifact and influence the creation of the Two-Headed Man-Eaters of Tsavo.
Tiamat left "Beware" in Gozerian on the artifact as a warning. After the Chicago Ghostbusters destroyed the investigated Sumarin relic, they left the museum exhibit with Selwyn, they were unaware that Tiamat observes them from the second floor.
Weeks later, in springtime, Tiamat wanted to begin her new "game" by having everything her brother Gozer had, including proxies. She twisted Louis Tully's dreams and instilled an overwhelming desire to return to New York City. She then summoned Dana Barrett to her dimension. Dana tried to run but was captured by one of Tiamat's Terror Birds. Tiamat then asked Dana if her being the host of Zuul was fate or a coincidence. Dana believed it was never supposed to happen all over again. Tiamat then retorted how she knew that and returned Dana back to her kitchen. Tiamat's presence on the physical plane began to induce such strange phenomenons such as blood rain and gravitational anomalies.
Tiamat had Dana restrained and her female Terror Bird take possession. Tiamat then took on the form of a blonde woman and approached Louis at a bar. She soon became annoyed with Louis' "rigid mind" and ripped her face off, revealing her true visage. Louis passed out. The bartender wanted nothing to do with the encounter as he ran in fear. Tiamat grabbed Louis and took him back to Dana's apartment where he was possessed by the other Terror Bird. Once the possessed Dana lured Peter, and by extension the Ghostbusters to Dana's apartment.
Reenacting the Ghostbusters' first encounter with Gozer, Tiamat forced them to take the stairs. At some point, it appeared Tiamat's presence caused a simple minor chronal anomaly. Future versions of the original four Ghostbusters appeared before the team and presented cryptic advice on dealing with Tiamat - that while she was more powerful than Gozer, she had an ulterior motive, one that could be useful to their advantage. In addition, they reiterated her addiction to discord and hinted at what one needs for chaos. Winston then learned from his future self he would be the one to figure it out when the time was right.
After making it to the roof, walking up her Temple which is said to powerful or greater than the infamous Temple of Gozer itself, and the Ghostbusters team were confronted the Terror Birds, before they opened fire on Tiamat upon her arrival there. The Proton Streams had little effect on Tiamat who then knocked them backwards with a shock wave of energy almost in the similar fashion as her sibling Gozer did with his electrical energy wave too against the Ghostbusters.
Tiamat then changes herself into a roaring giant multi-headed dragon and declared she was amiable to skipping over the mind games to something else. The Ghostbusters took aim and crossed 11 streams onto her. Tiamat seemed to be able to contain the energy of the streams then vanished from sight in a white flash. As the Ghostbusters, Dana, and Louis contemplated the end, a bood rain showered down on them amid Tiamat's laughter.
Weeks later, a relatively few of the symptoms of Tiamat's presence including a blood rain continued. Kylie's research did not yield any actionable results. After going through everything in Ray's Occult Books for any clue or reference on defeating Tiamat, Kylie could only find advice on general appeasement and the baseline for that was sacrifice. Tiamat reveled in the fact she withstood the Ghostbusters' technology and sensed Gozer's remaining essence was in a dormant and anemic state. Tiamat continued to toy with the Ghostbusters in order to jilt Gozer back into existence only to fight. She appears to be entertained by the Ghostbusters and their unpredictability.
Tiamat's presence on the physical plane finally awakened what was of Gozer. Resurrcted and at full powrr, Gozer vowed to correct past errors and finished what he had started. He made direct mental contact with the Selector, which turned to be Ray Stantz. After the male Terror Bird was extracted from Louis Tilly and trapped, Tiamat briefly appeared on one of the lockers behind Egon and Kylie.BAs Gozer continued to try to force Ray to submit to his will, Tiamat crossed over from her dimension to Ray's mind. The two godly monsters did battle in various forms. All the while, Tiamat taunted Gozer repeatedly. To cement Gozer's impending defeat, Tiamat manipulated Ray's memories so that he and thus Gozer would never know the Containment Unit's biometric security measures would bar them access due to possession. Gozer would believe he could take back his captured essence and gain enough strength to crush Tiamat for good. Once Gozer realized the truth, Tiamat reached into her brother and tore out his consciousness and feasted on his misery. By tossing him in her mouth, Tiamat banished Gozer to another dimension once again before she immediately possessed Ray's body and declared the Ghostbusters' only hope of surviving was to amuse her. Tiamat then punched the hull of the Containment Unit several times, threatening to cause a rupture which would create a massive explosion. Tiamat was intrigued when Winston addressed her and offered to give up his life and Tiamat accepted this act.
Tiamat vacated Ray and stopped Winston before he could enter Heaven. Although Winston's sacrifice was crude and without such proper ceremony, the real problem was she had Winston happily died a warrior's death and she did not think this would stop her. She wanted Winston to make a sacrifice and live to face the consequences. Tiamat insisted he choose another sacrifice. Winston refused then Tiamat shoved him away. Winston was brought to lige and raced off to protect the woman Tiyah. All the while, Tiamat emerged before Winston and taunted him. Once Winston entered the hallway leading to Tiyah's apartment unit, Tiamat then appeared in a mirror and gave him one last chance to choose a sacrifice. Winston adamantly refused and shot at her. She became intangible and let the stream phase through her. Tiamat imitated Winston's voice and called for Tiyah then knocked on her door. When Tiyah answered, Tiamat lifted her up by the throat and was about to kill her when another idea came to mind. Tiamat extracted a portion of Tiyah's soul and erased her life experience with Winston from the world. Tiamat declared this sacrifice was acceptable and bid Winston goodbye for now and then vacated the Earth.
Powers and Abilities[]
The mere presence of Tiamat alone can disrupt the fabric of whatever environment she enters and can break down that environment's rules of science. She can change forms at will and so far, has taken on the form of an attractive, blonde lady and a green multi-headed dragon. She can also manipulate and alter physical surroundings like trapping Dana in her own apartment with brick walls, she can possesses other beings, she has the power to speak to the dead, and she is said to manifest on mirrored surfaces and even the face of the moon, making herself intangible. She can mimic the voice of others, extract souls, and erase memories of an event from an entire world she comes across.
Trivia[]
- Tiamat is named after the primal water goddess in Babylonian mythology who represents ocean.
- In Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #19, 3 of Tiamat's forms are visually based on Necksa, one of Proteus' forms, and Quetzalcoatl from The Real Ghostbusters.
- On page 7 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Issue #3, a picture of Tiamat is found on the white board.
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