| “ | Anger gave me the strength to defeat Set and take the throne for myself. You must do the same. | ” |
–Horus to Carter Kane, in The Red Pyramid | ||
Horus is the falcon god of the pharaohs and the sky. Originally, he was the son of Geb and Nut, born on the second Demon Day. Later, he was reborn to Osiris and Isis.
History
Horus was originally born on the second Demon Day, after his brother Osiris, to Geb and Nut. In a later life, he would be born as the son of Osiris and Isis. After his father, Osiris, was murdered by his uncle Set, his mother hid Horus away and began training him to avenge his father's death and claim the throne as pharaoh of Egypt. He eventually recovered the casket that imprisoned his father. However, Set stopped him from freeing Osiris and destroyed the casket, scattering its remains all across Egypt. In a fit of rage, Horus attacked his uncle and defeated him. Horus dethroned Set and claimed the throne and title of pharaoh of Egypt for himself. Horus's wife is Hathor, the goddesses of love. Horus and Set were the gods who taught the pharaoh everything. For example, Set taught the pharaoh the art of music while Horus taught the pharaoh the art of war. The Set animal and the Horus animal is somehow related in real-life. He lost an eye when Set gouged it out in a ferocious battle to avenge his father, Osiris. When Thoth heard of this, he gave Horus another eye made of moonlight. He then had one golden eye and one silver.
Mythology
After Ra left the Earth, Egyptians believed Horus to be the sun god. In some stories, the various forms of Horus (baby, teenager, and adult) represented the path of the sun, as the infant Horus would be the baby at dawn, teenager at noon, and adult at dusk.
Furthermore, different stories give Horus different parents. Some claim him to be the son of Isis while others claim he is the son of Nut. But mostly, It has been organized that Horus was re-born to Isis and Osiris during the ages.
The Kane Chronicles
The Red Pyramid
When Julius Kane summons the mighty Osiris using the Rosetta Stone, he also unleashes Osiris' current and former siblings. Horus quickly takes Julius' son, Carter as his host by using his amulet as a medium. Set attacks Carter, but is pushed back by an unknown force. This later discovered to be Horus. As Carter and his sister, Sadie, progress on their mission to stop Set from destroying North America, Horus aids the former by accelerating the development of his powers and offering knowledge and wisdom, constantly urging him to give up control of their shared body. When finally confronting his uncle, Set, in the Red Pyramid, Horus achieved a rare experience of the balance of minds with his host, allowing him to utilize his full power.
However, he would have lost if Sadie/Isis had not exposed Apophis as the true mastermind behind Set's plan and forced the storm god into an alliance against the serpent. Horus withdrew soon after from Carter at his request though he left some of his essence inside his amulet. Horus then reclaimed the throne of gods and asked Carter to join him in his rule who declined on the basis that he needed to train himself lots and lots. Horus said "Five thousand years and I still don't understand mortals."
Horus leading a woman to the Underworld.
The Throne of Fire
In a dream Horus tells Carter the location of the first part of the Book of Ra and warns him that in five days Apophis will be strong enough to break free from his prison and devour Ra, the god of Ma'at (order). Later in another dream Horus pulls Carter into the Duat (the magical realm that co-exists with our world) and shows him the current despaired state of the Solar Barge, the dangers Ra's nightly journey faced, and finally the prison of Apophis in a form Carter can understand. Horus tries to dissuade Carter from returning Ra to the throne. Horus does not believe Ra has the strength to lead the gods into battle with Apophis. He states he told Carter about the Book of Ra because it has to be Carter's decision.
Carter channels Horus's power to break out of the Hermitage using the Fist of Horus. He later realizes that he used an emotional collection to do so. He uses it again to part the Nile and shortly after to wake Zia.
At the end, Horus steps aside allowing Ra to retake his throne. He swears allegiance to Ra, but is doubtful of Ra's ability to recover or lead. Publicly, he shows a strong bond with Carter in front of the other gods, but privately he threatens Carter that if Ra's leadership dooms the world or if Apophis is defeated without Ra's aid and Horus was forced to abdicate for no reason then he will inflict a terrible curse upon Carter and his entire family for the humiliation he has caused him.
The Serpent's Shadow
Carter communicates with Horus coming to him possessing a pigeon when he is considering an execration spell on Apophis. Horus helps the Carter come up with the idea of shadow execration to stop Apophis, but he doesn't know much about magic saying he mostly just focuses on hitting an enemy directly until they're destroyed. Horus has to leave when the pigeon can't host him any more. Carter communicates with him throughout the rest of the story, channeling his power and at one point asking for a weapon as he has lost his khopesh. Horus only sends him an ostrich feather, presumably due to his lack of power in that part of the Land of the Demons. Later, Carter merges with the Horus again and uses his power along with his own during his and Sadie's execrating Apophis' shadow. Apophis is destroyed and Horus leaves with the other gods, leaving Carter as he didn't even say goodbye. Bast tells Carter not to take it personally, but Carter is not sure if Horus simply got rid of him once he didn't need him anymore. Horus later takes up the throne of the gods again and Carter thinks he ripped off Carter's own acceptance speech.
Personality
Horus is somewhat arrogant, annoying and self-centered but also brave and honorable. However in The Throne of Fire, Horus also appears somewhat mean and demeaning. However, he may quickly forgive or can at least move past his grudges as he advised and assisted Carter in The Serpent's Shadow without the reluctance and manipulation Isis tried on Sadie and gave Carter forbidden information when asked about sheuts, possibly showing a deep level of trust in Carter. However, Horus is shown to have a limited understanding of magic, something he freely admits himself and tells Carter his mindset is to attack an enemy until they are dead which Carter points out is not actually very useful. He prefers brute force and tends to irritate Carter by his insistence all the time on merging with Carter again to use brute force on the current enemy. Horus also doesn't understand sarcasm, as shown when Carter sarcastically agrees with him that pigeons are noble and he thinks Carter really means it. While he is a bit pushy in some instances, such as trying to get Carter to give him control and later merge with him again, he seems to respect people's decisions better than Isis as he never pushed too hard and accepted the decision, though he would try to show or explain his reasons for wanting what he did. Horus is fond of winged animals, having an affinity for the falcon, presumably due to his ability to turn into one. When he comes to visit Carter, he takes a pigeon as his host, saying that he wanted a falcon but settled for the pigeon instead as it had wings and he considered it noble. This affinity is also shown by his connection to griffins: he uses them to pull his chariot in battle and they obey his commands and by extension, anyone with a connection to him such as Carter Kane. When he leaves Carter without saying goodbye, Carter wonders if Horus was being callous, that he simply was using him the entire time and discarded him when he had no further use for him. However, Bast indicates that callousness was not behind this, saying not to take that action personally. As Isis did the same to Sadie, this is likely true. Horus also seems to lack creativity: he attacks his enemy until they are defeated which caused him to war with Set for years before defeating him and during his acceptance speech as leader of the gods once more, he seems to rip off his former host Carter's speech as pharaoh of the House of Life.
Appearance
Horus
Horus always dresses as a warrior, wearing leather armor and a sheathed khopesh on his waist. Horus has very muscular arms. One of Horus's most distinguishing features are his different colored eyes (both of which are outlined with kohl)—right being gold and the left being silver. This is the result in having one of them stabbed out by Set. The eye was replaced by Thoth , who restored it out of moonlight, and thus created the silver Eye of Horus. Horus has shaved head and a braided ponytail, signifying that he physically appears to be around Carter's age of 14 even though he is 5,000 years old (due to his immortality).
Powers and Abilities
Horus is the god of war, and thus, has powerful skills in combat, strategy and war. These are his powers:
Combat Skills: Being the god of war, Horus is one of the greatest warrior gods. When Carter was his Eye he described it that every move was perfect and every strike was so much fun he wanted to laugh out loud. He has incredibly fast reflexes, enhanced strength, and great aim and speed. His senses are so sharp he can guess the approximate time to sunrise and has godly battle instincts that give him the right reactions in combat. His weapons of choice are a khopesh and javelin.
Magic
Combat Magic: Horus is a powerful combat magician, whose avatar is used by Carter Kane and Julian. It is a large hawk headed warrior with powerful armor and a giant khopesh. Horus is by far the most powerful deity in combat magic, being the god of combat, except perhaps for Set. His avatar can also be used to only summon a fist to punch things or a karate chop to crack things.
Animal Charming: Horus can summon and calm his sacred creatures, and order them to attack his target. His sacred creatures include falcons and griffins. Carter Kane used the Eye of Horus to calm Freak the griffin and Carter also persuades Freak into helping him. When Horus hosted Carter he showed the ability to transform into a falcon. Later he showed that he naturally can see like a falcon so his eyesight is many times sharper than most.
Space Distortion: Horus is also the god of the sky, and thus, can control it to some extent. He can distort space and create dangerous anomalies to attack his opponent.
Telekinesis: Horus can move things without touching them. Carter has shown to be able to use this ability, when hosting Horus. The first time, he opened the door of Brooklyn House. The second time, he opened the door of his dormitory in the First Nome. The third time, Carter uses it to protect himself from Set. After obtaining the weapons of Ra, Horus' telekinesis increases greatly as he can summon waves of invisible force and columns of fire.
Horus is also one of the two gods to possess the Secret Name of Ra , the chief of gods. Horus also has great political power as the king of gods, and is one of the most powerful deities, able to overpower powerful gods such as Sobek, Set and, along with Carter Kane, is able to cast the Shadow Execration spell on Apophis himself. Horus is also given Ra's own crook and flail, the two weapons of Ra.
Relationships
Carter Kane: Although Carter often finds Horus obnoxious and Horus is continuously frustrated by Carter's refusal to surrender his body to Horus, the two have developed a mutual respect and friendship. This eventually plays a role in allowing them to synchronize their movements. This friendship is most clear when Horus leaves Carter's body and Carter is grieved by his absence. In The Throne of Fire, Horus is angry at Carter and Sadie for dethroning him and setting a senile god, Ra, on the throne. Publicly he embraces Carter as his ally, calling him his brother, but privately he shows Carter his vengeful side, saying that while he is still his ally and will lend him his powers when needed, he had cost him a throne and if they do not succeed he will squash Carter like a gnat and put a punishment on his family unlike that of ever before. However, he may have forgiven him by The Serpent's Shadow as he shows no anger towards him there and works with him with no issues. Horus assists Carter during his efforts to find Apophis' sheut, appearing to him as a pigeon and helping him come up with the plan, talking with him about sheuts which is a forbidden topic between mortals and gods, showing a great level of trust in Carter. He later communicates with him and tries to send him a weapon, though only succeeding in sending him an ostrich feather due to his powerlessness in the part of the Duat Carter is in. Later, the two merge again to battle the rebel magicians and Carter uses his power along with Carter's own during the execration spell on Apophis' sheut. After Apophis is destroyed, Horus leaves Earth and Carter with the other gods and Carter is disappointed that Horus didn't even say goodbye which he is told not to take personally though Carter wonders if Horus simply felt he didn't need Carter anymore and thus didn't care enough to say goodbye. When Horus takes up the throne of the gods again, Carter thinks he may have ripped off Carter's own acceptance speech as Pharaoh of the House of Life. Bast says this is because Horus' actions will mirror Carter's. In The Throne of Fire, Horus mentions Carter in his vision that he will support Carter in whatever decision Carter takes.
Trivia
- While trying to leave the New York Metropolitan Museum Zia instructs Sadie to place the Sons of Horus at the cardinal directions. Horus' four sons are Duamutef, Imsety, Hapi, and Qebehsenuef. They are most famous for protecting organs of the deceased and are often seen on canopic jars.
- Horus is the only one out of the five gods (Set, Nephthys, Isis, and Osiris) to not have a significant other seen or mentioned in The Red Pyramid.
- Several Egyptian myths portray Hathor, the goddess of happiness and joy, as being Horus' wife. Together, they have the Four Sons of Horus.
- Horus says that his understanding of magic is quite basic: "Hit enemy with a sword until he's dead. If he rises hit him again. repeat as necessary." He then added that "it worked against Set". Carter then asks "How long did that take?" Horus replied, "7 years."
- Despite the sheut being a forbidden subject among the gods, Horus talks about it freely with Carter even before Anubis talks to Sadie about it. This is a subject that even Bast hesitated on, however this may be due to Horus' lack of knowledge of magic and possibly not knowing it was forbidden.
- The Eye of Horus was believed to protect travelers thus why it's often found on boats.
- It is said that Horus doesn't get sarcasm, however he uses it in The Serpent's Shadow. This could show that his bond with Carter has caused him to grasp the principles of several mortal emotions.
Gallery
References