Nagraj (comics) 2769012 226039519 2008-07-16T15:40:37Z Siddhartha Shah 7069648 {{Superherobox| <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> image=[[Image:Angry_Nagraj.jpg|thumb|300px|centre|Nagraj in Promotional art of World Terrorism Series,drawn by Jagdish & Lalit]] |caption='''Nagraj'''<br> Raj Comics |comic_color=background:#ffff00 |character_name=Nagraj |real_name=Mr. Raj, Public Relation Officer Of Bharti Communications. Nagaraj Gajula ( Tax Processor ) |debut=Issue No 14 "Nagraj" |creator=Pratap Mullick |alliance_color=background:#ffff00 |status=Active |alliances=P.O.E.M.,Sheetnags, Neernags |previous_alliances=Snakes of Nagdweep |aliases=Snakeman, Greenman,Green Death,Venomous Gunpowder, Nag-Samrat |relatives=Father Late King Takshakraj, Mother Late Queen Lalita, Wife Bharti, Wife Visarpi, Biological Wife Naagrani, Biological Son unknown name from Nagrani |powers=Ageless, Superhuman Strength, Super Regenerative healing factor, Sixth Sense, Infrared sensing, Expert Martial artist, Unique Hypnotism, Snake-bite, Snake-spit, Venomous breath, Skin shedding, Snakes in his body, Shape shifting, Psythic powers, Explosive snakes, etc. |}} {{IndicTextRight}} '''Nagraj''' (''"Snake-King"'')(नागराज in Devanagari script) is an [[India]]n [[comic book]] character from [[Raj Comics]] who arguably can be termed as the longest living Indian action comic Superhero. Created in the late 1980's by Indian artist '''Late Pratap Mullick''',Nagraj has changed a lot in his life of more than 20 years both in terms of looks as well as stories. Despite the fact comic culture had once almost vanished in India, his fan base still increased & is expected to increase tremendously after his first animated movie is released. The debutant issue of Nagraj was written by reknown writer Parshuram Sharma. Ever since 1995 the illustration work of Nagraj has been taken over by ace artist & writer [[Anupam Sinha]]. Today whatever Nagraj is, is because of these legends of Indian comic industry Pratap Mullick & Anupam Sinha. The character of Nagraj is believed to be inspired by mythological ''[[Ichchhadhaari Naags]]'' (shape shifting snakes),historical ''[[Vishmanushya]]'' (poisionous human) and arguably [[Marvel]] [[superhero]] [[Spiderman]].His stories serve a rich blend of mythology,fantasy,magic & science fiction. Nagraj was originally conceived as an enemy of international terrorism. Interestingly, in his debut, Nagraj was unleashed as an international terror weapon by the evil scientist Professor Nagmani. Nagraj in this first mission was tasked to steal golden statue of a Goddess from a temple protected by tribal devotes, snakes & by a mysterious more than 300 years old [[Sadhu]] named '''Baba Gorakhnath'''.Nagraj succeeded in his task but upon confrontation with Gorakhnath & his mystic Black [[Mongoose]] '''Shikangi''' was defeated. Gorakhnath read his mind & found out that Professor Nagmani had implanted a mind controlling device in form of a capsule in Nagraj's head to keep him under his control. Gorakhnath operated & removed the capsule from Nagraj's head setting Nagraj free who became his disciple & vowed to eliminate crime & terror from the Earth. Since then Nagraj has thrice toured the World & defeated many villains & terrorists. Presently Nagraj lives as Raj in a fictional Metropolitan City '''Mahanagar''' as an empolyee in a TV Channel secretly owned by himself. ==Nagraj's Birth== In ancient times when Gods still visited earth without any restrictions,there existed a Kingdom known as '''Takshaknagar''' ruled by '''King Takshakraj''' & his '''Queen Lalita'''.The ruling couple had no worries except for one;They had no child.The absence of a prince or princess made '''Nagpasha''' the only potential heir to the throne.Nagpasha was the younger identical brother of the King,knowing that he was the only potential heir to the throne Nagpasha started living a lavish worryfree life. As time passed the Queen started getting depressed over the absence of her own child.The King realizing the cause of Queen's depression got upset too.The couple used to pray to their family deity '''[[Deva]] Kaljayi''' for his blessings.Deva Kaljayi too knew of their grievences,so one day he blessed them to have a good great child.His blessings came true as the Queen became pregnant soon & the whole Kingdom rejoiced except for Nagpasha.The birth of this child meant loss of the throne to him,so he decided to kill the child before he was born. One day when the Queen was going to pray Deva Kaljayi, Nagpasha replaced the curtained plate of her offerings for the god, with one containing a dead mongoose. The Snake God got angry & knocked her unconscious by his venomous breath.The King sought forgiveness from the [[Devta]] & pleaded with him to cure his wife which the devta refused, following which the desperate King tried to kill himself. Realizing the King's love for his Queen, Deva Kaljayi showed him a way to save the Queen's life. He gave a crystal to the King & told him to treat it with the Queen's medicine. The crystal would divert all the poison from the Queen's body to the child's body, however due to the ill effects of the poison the Queen would lose her capability to conceive. The Kingdom was highly grieved & so was the King. Nagpasha was happy that now he alone was left as the heir. When the child was born everyone believed him dead cause his whole body was blue & showed no signs of life.As per Hindu rituals the new born baby was thrown into the river. (Dont get confused why he wasnt [[cremated]]. In India it is believed that Yogi of high caliber can leave their body in form of soul & as a soul can perform tasks like switching between bodies or travel between different worlds.So it is a Hindu ritual that when a child is born dead or dies in his infancy his body is flown into the river so that if some soul wishes to use the body it can take over it. For the same reason when adults die their body are destroyed by fire cause adults do have a social life and their body is likely to be misused.) Nagpasha rejoiced & straight away went to Deva Kaljayi (the deity also protected the royal treasures in form of a giant two headed snake) in drunk state & asked him to hand over the royal treasures to him,telling him that now he was the sole successor to the throne so the treasure belonged to him.The [[God]] refused & told him that the "real successor" to the throne was alive & when the time comes the treasure will be handed over to him.Enraged Nagpasha raised his sword against the deity only to be thrown away by the tail attack of the giant snake.Nagpasha fell upon two bowls,one contained the highly toxic venom [[halahala]] which destroyed his face & got mixed with his blood,other contained the [[Amrita]] which made him immortal.Simultaneous effect of both made Nagpasha an immortal venomous man.At that time Nagpasha couldnt tolerate the changes in his body & fainted. When the King was informed of the happenings by Deva Kaljayi he realized that his son was not dead,he also realized the potential dangers to his life.So he ordered his faithful [[astrologer]] '''Vedacharya''' who had great knowledge of '''Tilism''' ([[Talisman]]) to ensafe the treasure in a Tilism which could be only broken by his son.Vedacharya made the tilism with the cooperation of Deva Kaljayi to ensure that none but the King's son is able to break the tilism not even immortal Nagpasha.When Nagpasha came to his senses he realized that he had lost the treasure.Enraged,he murdered the King & the Queen. The child flowing away on the river in his state of [[suspended animation]] got struck some where in bushes.There he lied for a long time. Meanwhile the snake [[deity]] Deva Kaljayi appeared in the dreams of '''King Maniraj''' & his wife '''Queen Manika''',rulers of ageless [[Ichchhadhaari naags]] living secretly on an invisible to human eye island in [[Indian Ocean]],called '''Nagdweep'''.He told them the location of the baby & asked them to cure him.They did so & found out the baby,they also discovered that he was far more venomious than even the greatest snake on the island which was '''Mahatma Kaaldoot''' indicating that he had [[divine]] venom of the God. Initially the raj[[vaid]] was unsure that whether he will be able to cure the child, but since Deva Kaaljayi himself asked the king for his treatment he was assured that treatment will work.According to the rules no one was permitted to bring an outsider on the island so the King decided to keep his presence secret. Many years passed & the treatment started showing results,though still in the same state of suspended animation,the colour of the baby had gradually changed to green. The King gave the news to the Queen & they decided to adopt the child cause till then they had no child.Their decision was heard by '''Naagaandhar''' an evil [[Tantrik]] who wanted to become the ruler of the Island but was afraid of Mahatma Kaaldoot.He attacked the secret area where the baby was kept & escaped with him,fearing the wrath of the God he decided not to kill the baby & so he kept him back into the same bushes in the river from where the baby was discovered.His plan flopped cause the Queen soon became pregnant gave birth to a daughter who was named '''Visarpi'''. Naagaandhar never knew that the baby whom he left astray was cured enough to regain his senses,first his face then whole body became normal humanlike & he started crying. A priest of the nearby temple located him & gifted him to '''Proffessor Nagmani''' who was wandering in nearby forest searching for snakes. For unknown reasons the priest narrated a fake story that the child belonged to a raped woman who was a devotee of the snake god & the child was blessed by an ichchhadhari naag, he asked Nagmani to bring up the child in such a way that he becomes capable of avenging his mother. Nagmani realized that the priest was lying but he took the child with him. The blood tests of the child showed that the child had minute microscopic snakes in his blood filling in for [[White blood cell]]s. The child had extraordinary healing powers & was extremely venomous. He raised the baby who went on to become '''Nagraj'''. ==Plot Summary== '''Nagraj''' was presented to the world as a creation of Proffessor Nagmani. He was meant to be the Ultimate Killing Machine, and his original plan was to hire out Nagraj, to the highest bidder amongst villains and terrorist groups worldwide. Professor Nagmani 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 became poison itself. He claimed that his [[venom]] was a result of snake bitings of 1000 different species of snakes (This echoes the Indian legends of Poison-Men or Women, specifically raised to kill by their kiss.) & his other powers evolved when he was treated with ashes of a dead ichchhadhaari snake. In reality the fact was that Nagraj was much more poisonous than any speices of snakes cause his venom was celestial. 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. His venom is believed to be 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". Waking up to a newer world amid the calmness of Gorakhnath, Nagraj takes a vow to quell terrorism from the world and moves towards achieving this goal. In his initial issues Nagraj's powers were too limited, at times he was even knocked out by powerful human opponents falling unconcious temporarily,his strength too looked quite humanly as he used to marvel at his opponent's strength like when someone picked up a car.Over the years Nagraj became powerful enough not only to pick up falling cars singlehandedly but also achieved feats like throwing things in outer space quite effortlessly. 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. However, purists still claim that they prefer the more realistic, more practical stories that Nagraj began with. ==Vital statistics== Age : Ageless (65 years approximately)<br /> Height : 6 ft 2 in<br /> Weight : 89 kg<br /> Eyes : Blue<br /> Hairs : Black<br /> ==Powers & abilities== [[Image:Nagraj_shooting_snakes.jpg|thumb| Nagraj shooting snakes on his enemy,artwork by Jagdish & Lalit.]] Nagraj has the power to vaporize himself into minute 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"(sukshma-sarpa) 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 Deva Kaljayi - the '''Nagfani or Cactus Snakes'''. It can cut through anything; spew explosive snakes; etc. He also has other special snakes in his body like '''Saudangi''', '''Sheetnag kumar''', '''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 vulnerability 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 ''Ichchhadhaari - Shakti'' . ==Alter Ego== His alter ego is Raj, who is the fumbling - bumbling 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 is believed to have harmed the originality. ==Enemies== Innumerable enemies of Nagraj have appeared in Nagraj's comics, many died but some lived on to appear again. Here is the list of Nagraj's major alive enemies who can be expected to make a comeback in his future issues :[[Image:Nagpasha_in_Future_(Nagayan Series).jpg|thumb|Nagpasha in Nagayan Series]] * Proffessor Nagmani : Nagraj's so called creater who brought up Nagraj. * Thodanga : A strange African human beast,characterstics match Rhino,Elephant & Turtle. * Nagdant : A jealous comparatively weaker copy of Nagraj. * Tutankhamun : Ancient egyptian mummy whose main power-source, his mask, was snatched away by Nagraj. * Miss Killer : Beautiful young evil scientist from Japan. * Nagina : A female tantrik & a shape-shifting snake. * Visandhar : A male tantrik & a shape-shifting snake. * Jaadogar Shakura : An evil sorcerer from an alien planet of immortal wizard dwarfs. * Nagpasha : Nagraj's immortal venomous uncle who murdered his parents. * Gurudev : Nagpasha's guru, a man good with science but evil on intentions who wishes to rule the world though Nagpasha. * Zulu : An african exorcist+scientist. * Sapera : A man whose power is whats Nagraj's weakness, ie. snake charming music. * Karanvashi : A magician who used hypnotism to enslave people. * See Through : An invisible soul which thiefed a big share of Nagraj's shape-shifting power & wants still more. * Vish-Amrit : Paranatural powers troubling innocents on earth while playing hide N seek. * Khalnayak Nagraj : Evil part of Nagraj's brain which still exists in his unconcious mind. * Tantra : Bharti's nanaji(maternal grandfather) who took over Bharti's brother Agraj's body & wants to rule the world. ==Known relatives and close friends== * King Takshak Raj (father, deceased) * Queen Lalita (mother, deceased) * Baba Gorakhnath (Mentor) * Mahatma Kaldoot (Mentor) * Dada Vedacharya (Mentor) * Dev Kaljayi (Family Deity) * Nagpasha (Uncle) * Bharti (Wife - Married in the latest [[Nagayan]] series) * Visarpi (wife - Married in latest [[Nagayan]] series) * Nagrani (Nagraj's son's mother in a [[parallel dimension]]) * Super Commando Dhruva (Best Friend & an ally superhero) * Saudangi (Friend-lives in his body) * Sheetnag kumar (Friend-lives in his body) * Nagu (Friend-lives in his body) * Vishank (Visarpi's brother and Nagraj's ally in form of Chhota (Little) Nagraj) ==New media== Nagraj was adapted into a Live action TV show in India, however the show never made it to the TV screen. Reason was pretty clear,due to poor quality of special effects raj comics itself was not satisfied with the quality of the episodes. The production of more episodes was indefinitely put on hold{{Fact|date=March 2007}}. The 3 episodes are available on CDs which were distributed freely as an attachment to digest sized comic editions. (Khalnayak Nagraj, Saudangi) Nagraj has also been converted into an animated TV series. Work was going on for producing an episodic series based on Nagraj and his arch enemy [[Jadugar Shakoora]]{{Fact|date=March 2007}},even a teaser was out for display on website. But for the past one year there is no news on it.It is assumed that production has stopped cause the production company [[Rtoonz]]'s website has disappeared. Recently, An agreement was signed between Motion Picture Corporation and Raj Comics for the production of Nagraj's Animated Movie. They have decided to produce a high quality 2D Movie. ==Nagraj's Solo Comic Issues== Raj Comics has published the following titles as Nagraj's solo issues: {| class="wikitable" style="width: 30%;" ! style="background: #80cd70; color: #FFF; width: 30%;" | Comic Titles |- | 01-Nagraj |- | 02-Nagraj ki Kabra |- | 03-Nagraj ka Badla |- | 04-Hongkong Yatra |- | 05-Nagraj aur Shango |- | 06-Khooni Khoj |- | 07-Khooni Yatra |- | 08-Nagraj ka Insaf |- | 09-Khooni Jung |- | 10-Pralayankari Nagraj |- | 11-Khooni Kabeela |- | 12-Cobraghati |- | 13-Bachhon ke Dushman |- | 14-Pralayankari Mani |- | 15-Nagraj aur Shankar Shehanshah |- | 16-Nagraj ke Dushman |- | 17-Ichchhadhaari Nagraj |- | 18-Kaaldoot |- | 19-Jadugar Shakoora |- | 20-Bauna Shaitan |- | 21-Tajmahal ki Chori |- | 22-Laal Maut |- | 23-Kabooki ka Khajana |- | 24-Thodanga |- | 25-Toofan Ju |- | 26-Jadu ka Shehanshah |- | 27-Ajgar ka Toofan |- | Special-Nagraj ka Safar |- | 28-Bakora ka Jaadu |- | 29-Piramidon ki Rani |- | 30-Mr 420 |- | 31-Thodanga ki Maut |- | 32-Bem Bem Bigelo |- | 33-Nagina ka Jaal |- | 34-Nagina |- | 35-Phir aaya Nagdant |- | 36-Miss Killer |- | 37-Tutenatu |- | 38-Adrishya Hatyara |- | 39-Kanja |- | 40-Paapraj |- | 41-Vijeta Nagraj |- | 42-Visarpi ki Shaadi |- | 43-Shakura ka Chakravyuha |- | 44-Nagraj ka Ant |- | 45-Jehar |- | 46-Nagpasha |- | 47-Khajana |- | 48-Crime King |- | 49-Vishkanya |- | 50-Snake Park |- | 51-Naagin |- | 52-Ichchhadhaari |- | 53-Kenchuli |- | 54-Jehreeley |- | 55-Bambi |- | 56-Sapera |- | 57-Fann |- | 58-Vish-Amrit |- | 59-Sammohan |- | 60-Raj ka Raj |- | 61-Mrityudand |- | 62-Nagdweep |- | 63-Trifana |- | 64-Mahayudhh |- | 65-Agraj |- | 66-Nagraj ka Kahar |- | 67-Tandav |- | 68-Aatank |- | 69-Dushman Nagraj |- | 70-Shaktiheen Nagraj |- | 71-Nahi Bachega Nagraj |- | 72-Kaalchakra |- | 73-Kundli |- | 74-Elan-e-jung |- | 75-Kaali Maut |- | 76-Nagraj America Mein |- | 77-Atankwadi Nagraj |- | 78-Nagraj aur Dracula |- | 79-Vish-heen Nagraj |- | 80-Ichchhadhaari Chor |- | 81-Khalnayak Nagraj |- | 82-Rakshak Nagraj |- | 83-Lava |- | 84-Vinaash-leela |- | 85-Pagal Nagraj |- | 86-Maseeha |- | 87-Chhota Nagraj |- | 88-So ja Nagraj |- | 89-Sheshnag |- | 90-Bhanumati ka Pitara |- | 91-Flemina |- | 92-Funkar |- | 93-Hari maut |- | 94-Jahreela barood |- | 95-Mamber |- | 96-Numero Uno |- | 97-Operation Surgery |- | 98-Mission Critical |- | 99-Teen Sikke |- | 100-Jung Maut Tak |- |} ==Upcoming Series== Raj comics is publishing a landmark new series in Nagraj comics named [[Nagayan]].It was first proposed to be a four part super series of Nagraj comics but later more parts were added to it. Raj comics has also decided to publish it world wide.Its a story based on a hypothetical future of world casting [[Nagraj]] & [[Super Commando Dhruva]] after 25 years.Largely based on Hindu epic [[Ramayana]] the story narrowly follows the same storyline as of the epic with Raj Comic characters filling in the places of original characters.Earlier a Four part series,this series has been re-cast in order to fit in various sub-plots;and there might be many more parts than the seven mentioned below. The new series is as follows:[[Image:Nagraj_&_Super_Commando_Dhruva_in_Future_(Nagayan Series).jpg|thumb|Nagraj & Super Commando Dhruva in Nagayan Series]] * Varan Kaand * Grahan Kand * Haran Kand * Sharan Kand * Dahan Kand * Rann Kand * Samar Kand A new series named "'''Aatanqharta Nagraj'''" or "'''Nagraj-World Terrorism Series'''" is being published parallel to the nagayana series. In this series Nagraj is traveling around the whole globe to fight & eliminate terrorism. It is not yet decided that how many parts this series would have.[[Image:Nagraj_in_WTS_near_Statue_of_Liberty.jpg|thumb|Nagraj in WTS near Statue of Liberty]] The names of the till now published parts are: * Hari Maut * Zahreela Barood * Mamber * Numero Uno * Operation Surgery * Mission Critical * Teen Sikke * Jung Maut Tak Upcoming as a part of the same series is Italy Series which is basically a 5 part story. This is the first 5 part story under "Aatankharta Nagraj" Series. Starting with Title Named "Teen Sikke" (Three Coins). ==Titles== <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:NagrajFirstComicsReprint.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Reprint of first comics of Nagraj.]] --> [[Raj Comics]] has published a huge number of Titles on Nagraj. A list could be seen at *[http://www.rajcomics.com/HERO_OF_RAJ_COMICS/NAGRAJ/NAGRAJ.HTM Titles] by [[Raj Comics]] ==Discussion forum== [[Raj Comics]] hosts a discussion forum, with a section specially devoted to Nagraj. *[http://www.rajcomics.com/joomla/forum Forum] by [[Raj Comics]] ==External links== *[http://www.rajcomics.com/HERO_OF_RAJ_COMICS/NAGRAJ/NAGRAJ.HTM Profile] by Raj Comics *[http://www.rajcomics.com/ RajComics.com] [[Category:Superheroes]] [[Category:Indian superheroes]] [[Category:Indian comics characters|Nagraj]]