Shadow King

Shadow King
Textless variant cover of Astonishing X-Men #1 (September 2017).
Art by Dale Keown .
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoAmahl Farouk
SpeciesAncient entity and human mutant
Team affiliationsDark X-Men
Gladiators
Brotherhood of Mutants
Jacob Reisz
Master of the Games
Anansi
Lenny
Benny
Cypher
Karma
Notable aliasesAmahl Farouk
AbilitiesTelepathy
Possession
Immortality

The Shadow King (Amahl Farouk) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is particularly associated with the X-Men family of comics. His nemesis is the X-Men's leader, Professor X, while he also figures into the backstory of the X-Man Storm. As originally introduced, Farouk was a human mutant from Egypt who used his vast telepathic abilities for evil, taking the alias Shadow King. Later writers established Farouk as only the modern incarnation of an ancient evil entity that has been around since the dawn of humanity, who became one with Farouk when he grew older.[1]

The Shadow King has appeared in various adaptations of X-Men stories. The character's live-action debut is as the primary antagonist in the television series Legion, portrayed by Aubrey Plaza and Navid Negahban.

  1. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (3 April 2018). "Legion: How the Shadow King Connects to the X-Men". IGN. Retrieved 4 April 2018.