H'RONMEER	BIOGRAPHY
Created by J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Badger

PERSONAL DATA

Occupation: Martian god of death and fire
Homeworld: Mars
Base of Operation: Presumably Mars
Group Affiliation(s): Gods of Mars
Gender: Male
Hair: None
First Appearance: Martian Manhunter Vol. 1 #1 (May 1988): "Fever Dream"
Creators: J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Badger

OVERVIEW

H'ronmeer was the god of death and fire on the now dead planet of Mars.

HISTORY

Ma'aleca'andra, the fourth planet of the Terran system is known by the humans of Earth as Mars. To Earth's scientists, it is barren and devoid of life. An endless wasteland of red rocks beneath a pale sky that is wrapped in a tenuous atmosphere, a remote forbidden place. But it was not always so! The race that others would know as the Martians rose aeons ago, evolving from glorious winged creatures that flew free in the skies of Mars, while life on Earth was still in its infancy; they survived the wars and other threats that seek to destroy civilizations and rose to be a complex and very open society. This was based on the very physical nature of the Martians; they displayed physical powers that placed them on a par with Kryptonians and Daxamites, but they also were in complete command of their bodies which allowed them to shift form and function with a very thought.

Mars had two races, Green Martians and White/Pale Martians. Matters between the two factions came to a head when the Pale Martians, while using Earth as a source of materials, upset the natural evolution of the human race towards being a seeming race of superbeings to rival the Martians themselves. For the crime of destroying the evolutionary possibility of another race, the Pale Martians were sentenced to eternity in the Still Zone.

The remaining Martians consolidated their civilization into a utopian existence that lasted millennia. They were philosophers, artisans, performers and listeners. The gift of telepathy opened up their society so there were no secrets, on every level, every aspect took on a spiritual aspect and the worship of their gods played an integral part of their lives. Chief amongst their pantheon was H'ronmeer (god of death) and C'eridyall (goddess of life), while behind all was the Unnameable One. They were a people at peace with each other, their gods and their environment. A peace that tragically would be shattered by Ma'alefa'ak, a rogue green Martian.

Knowing that he was the only Martian not possessing telepathic abilities, Ma'alefa'ak created a plague, known as H'ronmeer's Curse, that would not only set the Martians' minds on fire but their bodies as well. The only survivor was J'onn J'onzz, who was later teleported to Earth by a Dr. Erdel and became known as the superpowered defender Martian Manhunter.

From the Justice League of America to the Justice League International, J'onn remained with the League. In one of the first cases of the JLI, J'onn battled a sentient virus and via the magic of Dr. Fate, the virus was held prisoner within J'onn's alien cells. For months he held it safe inside himself, unaware of the effect the virus was having on him. The strain of containing the virus started wearing away at the mental block about his true past; this was boosted by the intercession of H'ronmeer, the Martian god of fire. The terrified J'onn ran from the fire god straight into the home of Dr. Erdel, who revealed the truth of J'onn's passage to Earth. Then using his rebuilt machinery, he sent J'onn back to Mars to fully confront H'ronmeer. In a game of cat and mouse J'onn came to understand that H'ronmeer was not the dark god of death that humans might imagine, but rather the protector of the dead who had sought J'onn out to remove the mental block and allow the dead of Mars to rest in peace without J'onn's subconscious mind clinging so desperately onto them.

When he returned from Mars, J'onn had changed. There was an inner peace to him, he truly knew who he was and where he was from.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of H'ronmeer in chronological order click here