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Mathayus was an Akkadian warrior that was well known as the Scorpion King among all that knew his identity, and would become an ancient evil that was stopped from decimating the Earth by Rick O'Connell.
Once a warrior-for-hire that was, along with his two brothers, the last of a dying people, the Akkadians, Mathayus became a mercenary, training extensively in the deadly arts and only applying service to those whom he and his brothers personally favoured, though upon the death of his brothers, Mathayus went on to end the reign of Memnon, a murderous warlord who sought to conquer all around him, and went on to become a warlord himself known as the Scorpion King. Upon Memnon's death, Mathayus ascended power by assuming the role of a king, becoming a formidable ruler in ancient Egyptian times, before the era of the Pyramids.
One siege on the city of Thebes was the final battle that the Akkadian and his men fought as they were forced out into the deserts where the Scorpion King earned the favour of Anubis himself and returned to decimate Thebes, losing his soul once the battle ended so that he was condemned to return to the oasis that had been given him by Anubis, awaiting a challenger in a hibernation-like stasis and under a severe transformation that caused the Scorpion King to lose his humanity. Five thousand years on, the Scorpion King remained in his state until he met the resurrected High Priest Imhotep and the adventurer Rick O'Connell, both of whom sought the Scorpion King's destruction, but only Rick achieved it, sending the warlord and his forces back to the Underworld. He is the tertiary antagonist of The Mummy Returns and the main protagonist of The Scorpion King series.
Biography
Early Life
Mathayus as a youth lived in the kingdom of Akkad, and sought in life to train with a group of warriors known as the Black Scorpions.
Beginning of a King
Memnon's "horde" came from the East, under the Law of the Horde their greatest warrior was proclaimed their King, that was Memnon - Memnon was one of the greatest swordsmen the world had ever seen. Many enemies tried to defeat him but he bested all of them, he had the ability to block arrows with his sword and even catch single arrows with his bare hands.
Eventually only a few tribes were left to face Memnon's Empire, these were the rebels which hired Mathayus and his brothers.
Mathayus proclaimed that as long as one of them still breathed then the Sorceress will die. And with that he set out to find her. He found her at one of Memnon's camps and he infiltrated, discovering a Horse thief which had been captured. He found the Sorceress but he didn't have enough time to kill her before one of her guards entered the tent and started fighting Mathayus, Mathayus defeated him but more entered.
Mathayus defeat most of them until he was captured, Memnon entered the tent and he ordered that Mathayus' brother was brought to the tent. After some discussion with Mathayus Memnon killed Mathayus' brother and was about to have Mathayus killed when the Sorceress proclaimed that the Gods would be mad if Memnon or one of his soldiers killed Mathayus. Memnon then had to find a way to kill him without him or his soldiers killing him, he came up with a way and one of his soldiers smashed Mathayus in the head with his sword.
Mathayus awoke the next morning buried up to his head next to Arpid, the horse thief he had discovered the night before; Memnon had ordered them buried up to their heads near fire ant colonies by guards who brought torches so the torch smoke put in the colonies would drive the ants out and they would slowly eat both Mathayus's and Arpid's heads slowly and painfully, a concept that Arpid explained to Mathayus laughingly because Arpid planned to escape while leaving Mathayus to die as revenge for leaving Arpid himself to die earlier the night before. Arpid waited buried for one guard, who had been drinking yak urine for an hour to get up and relieve himself; once the guard got to his feet, Arpid knocked him out with an unburned torch as the other guard came out and was knocked aside as well directly into an anthill, where swarms of the angry ants covered him.
Mathayus watched as more ants from a nearby hill burst out closer and called for Arpid to get him out as well; Arpid bade Mathayus promise not to kill him and to allow the horse thief to accompany him on his journeys, sharing the spoils, for Mathayus, as an Akkadian, was bound to his word. Mathayus promised this and Arpid subsequently took a lit torch and a swig from the flask that the guard had been drinking from to burn away the ants, spraying the fire with the fluid in front of the ants, charring some and driving others to escape back into the hills, after which Arpid plucked a few of the remaining ants from Mathayus' head.
Afterwards, Arpid asked Mathayus where he was going to which he response to Memnon's Kingdom to avenge his own brother's death. Mathayus whistle for his camel but didn't let Arpid ride with him. Arpid argued that they made a deal. Mathayus confirmed the deal that he hasn't killed him, yet. Together, they head to Gommorah. When they arrived near the heavily guarded gates of Gommorah, Arpid wish to not enter due to the bounty on his head as a horse thief. Mathayus knocked Arpid out and went to the guards, claiming to collect the bounty, subsequently, getting through the city. Mathayus, then, heads to Memnon's Palace, leaving Arpid to watch his camel while he drinks joyfully.
Mathayus encountered local children, claiming they can be a guide through Gommorah. Then, one child stole Mathayus's pouch of twenty blood rubies. Mathayus chased a particular child to retrieved it. Once the child was captured, Mathayus made a deal with the child to get him through the palace in order for the child to earn a blood ruby. The child lead him in and encountered Philos, Memnon's Scientist. Philos told Mathayus to find Memnon in the training courtyard. When they arrived, Mathayus awarded the child and positioned himself to assassinate Memnon. However, the very child was caught by Memnon's red guards and was accused of thievery for having a blood ruby. Mathayus could either saved the child, whose hand was about to be cut off, or assassinate Memnon when his servants get out of the way. Mathayus chose to save the child, alerting all the palace guards of his presence.
Escaping, Mathayus encountered Philos again, and using Philos's invention of an early catapult, he used it to escape, only to land at Memnon's harem quarter. The Harem distracted him, took all of his weapons and alerted the guards. Mathayus had to escape again which fell into the bathing chamber of Memnon's sorceress, Cassandra. He captured her and escape through the bath's drain, emerging to a nearby well used by the people. Mathayus decided to keep the sorceress alive, and using a knife to threatened her, they escaped the city that was locking down.
Mathayus came to defeat Memnon and became the king.
Fall of a King
After Cassandra's death by infection, Mathayus' empire fell.
Return of a King
Mathayus had reached Thebes with his men and had intended to fell the city, conquering it as part of his empire; leading his men to attack Thebes, Mathayus fought with his troops against a number of soldiers of Thebes for seven years before he and his warriors were finally compelled to admit defeat and wander off into the desert of Ahm Shere. Mathayus accepted his defeat quietly, with a sour, displeased look about him as he and his troops wandered on.
After the men and their leader had been ambling about the desert, they began to die off, one by one, until Mathayus himself remained. About to die due to heatstroke and lack of sustenance, Mathayus called out to Anubis by remembering the text of the Book of the Dead, requesting his life back, as well as the chance to once again conquer his foes, in exchange for what had been denied him: a golden pyramid. At that moment, a large black scorpion scuttled out of the sands and Mathayus promptly picked up the arthropod and chewed it up, ignoring its stings on his hand; the scorpion having been offered as confirmation by Anubis towards Mathayus' request. With the eating of the scorpion, trees began to sprout from the sands, along with waters that flowed in rivers and in minutes a great oasis had sprouted up from the deserts, where Mathayus recuperated his strength before going on his goal to re-challenge Thebes.
Mathayus' soul reclaimed by Anubis.
Mathayus had fulfilled his vow to construct a golden pyramid for Anubis, taking the gold and slaves needed to construct the structure from his conquests as he led his master's army of giant jackal-headed warriors akin in appearance to Anubis himself. Serving as Anubis's new general, Mathayus led the Army of Anubis as they ravaged Thebes and slew many innocents until the last resistance had fallen and Thebes was conquered. With that, Anubis took Mathayus' soul from him and placed it in his Bracelet, sending the Army back to the desert sands where it would lay waiting for its next leader, as Mathayus had been branded by Anubis so that whoever would defeat the Scorpion King in battle might take control of his armies and lay waste to the whole of the Earth.
Battle in Ahm Shere
Five thousand years after their battle in Thebes, Mathayus had been returned to the pyramid in the Oasis of Ahm Shere, where he was subjected a drastic change in the physical well-being: the entire abdomen down had been replaced by the scorpion, the body of scorpion this were two giant claws that were placed just below your chest, and human hands Mathayus 'had replaced with claws of a scorpion.
Finally, in 1933 A.D, the Scorpion King awoke from his slumber and found men inside his pyramid: the former-mummy Imhotep and an adventurer known as Rick O'Connell. The Scorpion King lunged forward to kill Imhotep, but the mummy pleaded to the Scorpion King that he was his servant, convincing Mathayus not to kill him. Imhotep went on to lie that O'Connell had been sent to kill Mathayus; Mathayus believed it, and pursued O'Connell, aiming to kill him. As O'Connell ran, the Scorpion King had found another man, Baltus Hafez, who had been mauled when he had put on the Scorpion King's Bracelet and had tried to insert it into the wall. The Scorpion King chased after Hafez and caught him, tearing the man into pieces as he screamed out for Imhotep's help.
Death
The Scorpion King was still on the warpath, attempting to destroy O'Connell as well. The Scorpion King lunged at O'Connel, just as Rick was about to fall into the abyss. But, before he could fall in, O'Connell plunged the Spear of Osiris into the Scorpion King's belly, ending not only the Scorpion King, but also sending the Army of Anubis back to the Underworld.
Personality and Traits
Mathayus was among the last of the Akkadian tribe in his time, and took his status as an Akkadian mercenary in stride as his brothers did. In his youth, Mathayus had some scruples about carrying out his assignments, though as a warlord his morals were somewhat lowered. Mathayus, though serious in a fight, was not without some humour as he often accepted the shortcomings of others with a somewhat jocular tone. After becoming The Scorpion King, he became a conquerer just as the last king was, why he decided to become one is unknown but its possible the power of being a king went to his head and thus became a tyrant, the thing he himself went to great lengths to defeat.
A tall, muscled man considered handsome, Mathayus was tanned deeply by the deserts suns and wore long dreadlocks, though his appearance was drastically altered after having stricken an accord with Anubis, his waist and legs being replaced with the lower half of a scorpion and his hands replaced with giant claws. After his change had taken place, Mathayus' voice had changed as well from a typical human-voice to a deep guttural groan.
Behind the Scenes
Mathayus was portrayed by actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson in the films The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King and is voiced by Johnson as well in the video game The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian. In his appearance as a monster, Mathayus is voiced by metal singer Max Cavalera, and is performed as a young man by Pierre Marais and Michael Copon, who portray the Scorpion King as a young boy and young man, respectively. In The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption and The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, Mathayus was portrayed by Victor Webster.
The Scorpion King is based off the real-life historical figure, King Scorpion, of which little is known historically.
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