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Thank you, my love. And soon we shall mark the birth of our son - Horus, the great one! His new incarnation shall be his greatest yet. He shall bring peace and prosperity to the world.

–Osiris to Isis, in The Red Pyramid.

Osiris is the Egyptian god of the dead and the living. Originally the god of agriculture, Osiris is the son of Geb and Nut as well as the brother of Horus, Isis, Nephthys, and Set. He was later reborn as Horus' father and Isis' husband. Osiris succeeded Ra as king of the gods until his death by Set's hand. After his resurrection, Osiris was made the king of the afterlife. His symbols are the crook and flail.

History[]

Wo-seer

Wo-seer, Osiris's Ancient Egyptian name in hieroglyphics.

Originally, Osiris was born on the first of the Demon Days (December 27th on a modern calendar) as the eldest child of Geb and Nut with Horus, Isis, Nephthys, and Set as his siblings. In a second life, Isis would become his wife with Horus as their son. When Ra was forced to abdicate the throne of Egypt, Osiris claimed it and ruled over the earth with Isis as his queen but he also became the object of Set's hatred and jealousy.

Osiris' reign came to an abrupt end when Set, aided by 26 followers, tricked his brother into lying inside an elaborate jeweled golden coffin and drowned him in molten lead. Though Osiris' body was recovered some time after by Isis, Set shattered it to pieces and scattered them over all of Egypt. Isis would eventually recover the body pieces and at last revive Osiris, but it was a limited success. Osiris could not be fully resurrected, so he departed for the Land of the Dead in the Duat, where he would rule as king, and become a thousand times more powerful than before. His death would later be avenged when his son Horus won back the throne from Set.

The Kane Chronicles[]

The Red Pyramid[]

As part of his plan to restore the gods, Julius Kane attempts to summon Osiris using the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum. Though Julius is successful in becoming Osiris' host, the release of Osiris also triggers the release of Horus, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Unused to Osiris' power, Julius proves to be no match for Set and both Julius and Osiris and imprisoned by Set in a casket similar to the one Set had imprisoned Osiris in millennia before.

Following his capture, Osiris is used by Set to help power the Red Pyramid which Set plans to use to fuel a devastating storm that will destroy North America. Unaware of Julius' true intentions, his children Carter and Sadie Kane come to the conclusion that Julius summoned Osiris to use his power to resurrect their mother. In their quest to rescue their father, Sadie learns from Anubis his history with Osiris and that without Osiris, the Hall of Judgment is falling apart despite Anubis' best efforts. In an attempt to convince Carter, his host, to let him take full control, Horus shares visions of Osiris' destruction at the hands of Set after being found by Horus and Isis following his original entombment.

During the Battle of the Red Pyramid, Sadie attempts to free Julius and Osiris, but is visited by the spirit of Julius. Julius insists that he and Osiris cannot be freed without Osiris' power fueling the Red Pyramid and the storm Set is creating. According to Julius, if Set succeeds, Osiris will be banished so deep into the Duat he may never rise again. Julius insists that the Red Pyramid must be destroyed no matter the consequences. Sadie, now the Eye of Isis, performs a banishing spell from the Book of Overcoming Set, destroying the Red Pyramid, Julius and Osiris.

Days later, Carter and Sadie are brought to the Hall of Judgment by Anubis. To their joy, Julius and Osiris, now a permanent fusion, are ruling over the Hall and the Underworld. Julius refers to himself as "recycled" and states that he planned all along to die once he became Osiris' host as it was the only way to truly restore Osiris to his throne. Julius reminds his children that in life, Osiris was a great king, but he grew far more powerful once he died which was how he had to be restored to his proper throne.

The Throne of Fire[]

Osiris appears to Carter and Sadie as they are in the seventh house of the Duat, still using their father as a host.

The Serpent's Shadow[]

Osiris, still using Julius Kane as a host has been cracking down on rebellious ghosts, trying them and destroying the evil ones rather than making deals with them as he would in the past. He appears to Carter and Sadie when they visit the Land of the Dead for Setne's trial to try to get him to help them with their plan to use a shadow execration to destroy Apophis. Osiris and Julius are furious that Anubis and Thoth told them about the secret nature of the sheuts, but decide to support them though they don't know the magic that they need. Osiris/Julius tries Setne and is prepared to destroy him before Carter and Sadie convince them to put Setne into their custody so they can get his help to destroy Apophis.

After Apophis is destroyed, Ra rules that the gods must retreat from the world for a time which means that due to Julius being Osiris' host, they won't be able to see him as much anymore. Osiris and Julius also bring in some of their old judgement gods from the House of Rest to aid with performing judgement on spirits again.

Brooklyn House Magician's Manual[]

Carter and Sadie cover Osiris in their manual for potential new magicians.

Following Setne's escape which is engineered by Carter, Sadie, Zia, Walt and Anubis, he is recaptured and far more securely imprisoned until Osiris sends for Setne to face his final judgment.

Appearance[]

Prior to death, Osiris was described as a dark-skinned muscular man in white royal robes, with hands that looked muscular enough to crush rocks. After his death, his skin took on a faintly distinct tone of blue. When Julius became his new host, Osiris assumed his appearance.

Personality[]

Little is actually known of Osiris' personality but he is described as a good and just ruler. From Plutarch's Isis and Osiris, we can tell, however, that he is quite gullible. With Julius' influence as his host, in The Serpent's Shadow, he starts to become harsher to rebellious ghosts, cracking down on them unlike previous times when he might make a deal with them as he had done with Setne in the past. He may also not be very assertive as he was previously willing to make deals with ghosts like Setne rather than destroying them as he should have and he seems to allow his host Julius to be in charge of their merger more than he is.

Abilities[]

In life, Osiris was already an extremely powerful god, and when he became the Ruler of the Land of the Dead after he died, he became even more powerful. Examples of abilities he derived from his status as the God of the Underworld are:

  • Massive Strength: Osiris is only tied in strength with Set and Horus.
  • Necromancy: As the Ruler of the Land of the Dead, he has divine authority and complete control over the dead.
  • Death Magic: As the Ruler of the Land of the Dead, he can presumably make things rot and disintegrate just by touching them.
  • Vitakinesis: As a God of Regeneration, he can heal anyone with healing magic.
  • Resurrection: It was stated by Amos that the Eye of Osiris could permanently bring the deceased back to life if he or she wished.
  • Chlorokinesis: As a God of Agriculture and Vegetation, he has divine authority and complete control over plant life, its growth and health.

Relationships[]

  • Isis: The two, formerly brother and sister, were reborn as a married couple. Isis loves her husband very much and was committed to helping him gain power. For his part, Osiris reciprocates Isis' love and ruled equally with her during his lifetime.
  • Julius Kane: Osiris' permanent host who releases him from his imprisonment to allow Osiris to take him as a host and then die so that he can return to his rightful place in the Underworld as part of the first step to restoring Ma'at. Julius sacrifices himself to allow this to successfully happen and Osiris seems to be content with allowing Julius to be the one in control of their merge as during his appearances, even during the trials he presides over, Julius is in charge. Julius' influence also causes Osiris to crack down on rogue ghosts such as Setne rather than making deals with them as he would have done previously, although he allows Julius to make a deal with Setne to deal with Apophis.
  • Anubis: Osiris's adopted son and biological nephew. Despite the fact that he was given to Osiris and Isis to raise, Anubis is aware of his true parentage and says that he's "different" and not a warrior like a child of Osiris and Isis would be. However, Osiris makes him the god of funerals to give him a purpose. When Osiris is bound, Anubis takes over his duties as best as he can, but even so, it gets extremely chaotic without Osiris until he returns in the body of Julius Kane. Julius/Osiris takes back over his duties, but Anubis continues to aid him and transports Sadie and Carter to him when he wants to see them. As he is hosted by Sadie's father, Osiris mostly seems to support Anubis' relationship with Sadie, or at least doesn't directly intervene to stop it. He seems to be aware of Anubis' plans with Walt as when asked where Anubis is while they are trying to help Ra be reborn, Julius/Osiris tells them that he's working on a "side project" which turns out to be taking Walt as a host. Both are furious however when they learn that Anubis revealed the true nature of the sheut to Sadie as that is completely forbidden to even talk about. However, after Sadie and Carter reveal that it wasn't just Anubis and that they only plan to use that information to destroy Apophis, the enemy to all, they calm down and support the plan as best they can.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • His Greco-Roman equivalent is Hades/Pluto and Dionysus/Bacchus.
  • His Norse equivalent is Hel.
  • When Osiris appears in the series, it's always with Julius in control. As of yet, Osiris himself has yet to be seen interacting with the Kanes.
The Kane Chronicles
Core Series: The Red Pyramid | The Throne of Fire | The Serpent's Shadow
Crossovers: The Son of Sobek | The Staff of Serapis | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians
Main Characters: Carter Kane | Sadie Kane | Ra | Anubis | Apophis | Bast | Bes | Horus | Isis | Zia Rashid | Set | Walt Stone | Setne
Secondary Characters: Julius Kane | Ruby Kane | Amos Kane | Vladimir Menshikov | Leonid | Sarah Jacobi | Kwai
Minor Characters: Michel Desjardins | Iskandar | Jasmine Anderson | Sean Ryan | Julian | Alyssa | Cleo | Felix Philip | Shelby | Khufu | Muffin | Mr. Faust | Mrs. Faust | Percy Jackson | Annabeth Chase
Egyptian Gods: Ra | Geb | Nut | Shu | Osiris | Horus | Set | Isis | Nephthys | Anubis | Sobek | Bast | Thoth | Serapis | Ptah | Nekhbet | Wadjet | Babi | Tefnut | Tawaret | Khepri | Khnum | Neith | Khonsu | Sekhmet | Hathor | Serqet | Shezmu | Hapi
Demons and Magical Creatures: Ammit the Devourer | Bau | Bloodstained Blade | Criosphinx | Carriers | Face of Horror | Griffin | Uraeus | Serpopard | Switchblade Demons | Tjesu heru | Petsuchos
Other: House of Life | Magic | Magician | Kane Family
Related Content: Rick Riordan | List of Terms | The Kane Chronicles: Survival Guide | Brooklyn House Magician's Manual | Film Series | Mythomagic, Inc | Netflix
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