Santerians

The Santerians are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in Daredevil: Father #2 (Oct. 2005) after they were mentioned in Daredevil: Father #1 with a brief appearance of their leader Eleggua.^[1] The Santerians created by writer, artist and editor Joe Quesada. Consisting of five members, they are Eleggua, Oshun, Chango, Ogun and Oya.

Publication history

The Santerians created by writer, artist and editor Joe Quesada while he was working on the Daredevil: Father storyline during his run on the Daredevil title.^[2]

Origins

After a street gang war in the Bronx of New York involving drugs, a young Nestor Rodriguez decided to put together a neighborhood watch group called the "Street Angels" to help clean up crime after being inspired by his Councilman father, unaware that his father was actually being forced to work for local gangsters against his will.

One night, when Nestor overheard a secret meeting between his father and the gangsters and their boss he was working with, he entered without knowing what was going on between them. The gangsters boss was trying to tell Nestor's father that his sons Street Angel crew was getting in the way of their criminal activities and wanted Nestor's dad to do something to stop it once and for all, that's when they spotted Nestor in the room. Seeing the opportunity, the gangster boss handed Nestor's Father a gun telling him to kill Nestor right in front of them and end it for good.

Holding the gun in his hand, Nestor's father actually pointed it at him, but then he hesitated with tears in his eyes' and with a fit of rage he turned the gun on the Gangster boss instead, refusing to kill his own son' and tried to shoot the Boss in retaliation, but before he could his men pulled out another gun and shot him dead right in front Nestor before he had the chance, leaving Nestor alive because they didn't see him as a threat. After they left, Daredevil crashed through the building window to see if he could help, only to find Nestor crying while he held his father's dead body in his arms, saying to Daredevil that he was to late to help.

After that Nestor answered police questions and interviews with the local news, while he secretly burned and destroyed files they had information on the gangsters he was working with so that it wouldn't be traced back to his father and destroy their family name. When he attended his father's funeral, he was visited by a mysterious voodoo priest who took him under his wing and taught him about the ancient Santerian religion, which was a blending of Catholicism and African Yoruba beliefs. Through his training with the priest, Nestor learned how to obtain mystical superpowers by means which included sacrificing chickens and drinking their blood in magic potion.

As an adult Nestor started going by "Nero" and became a Media-Mogul in the Hip-Hop industry, trending restaurants, clothing and fragrances by day after inheriting all the money his father made, while at night he used his powers and took up the alias Eleggua becoming a superhero in secret and decided to form his own superhero team to fight crime in New York, by finding four other members of his old Street angels gang who also wanted to help the city; teaching them what the priest taught him in return, giving them powers of their own too. And like Nestor they took up aliases as well based on the religious nature of their newfound powers - Oshun, Ogun, Chango and Oya.

After that they began patrolling the streets and training together. One night they broke up a drug ring of gang members, leaving behind their team name Santerians in red on a wall so that the people would now who they are, and left the police to clean it up afterwards. One day Nestor soon saw on the news that the serial killer named Johnny Sockets had struck again leaving behind another victim.

Nestor was frustrated that Daredevil had done nothing to stop it, thinking he wasn't the hero he claimed to be and was letting the people down, like when he failed to stop his father from getting killed. Determined to stop the killer, Nestor gathered his team and first confronted Daredevil under his civilian guise Matt Murdock at night by getting the drop on him and telling him that he wasn't fulfilling his duty as a superhero.

The other Santerians watched as Eleggua told Murdock how he admired him growing up and thought he did good work, but also told him that he needs to start worrying about the rest of the city too; Murdock responded that it wasn't his business as long as the killer stayed out of hell's kitchen and continued saying the police can handle it. As Eleggua and the other Santerians walked away disappointed, as they did Eleggua turned back and said "Phony" to Murdock, thinking he was a disgrace; in a fit of rage Murdock grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him in the face. The other Santerians responded by attacking Murdock, but Ogun and Eleggua calmed them down before it got worse, while they left Eleggua told his team that they were go see if they can make a difference in the city, because someone had to while looking down on Murdock.

The next night, Eleggua called the Santerians into action again, riding in a car while Oshun drove it, with Ogun and Chango riding on motorbikes and Oya flying above them. During that time they were ambushed by Daredevil in samurai gear looking for payback, first attacking Ogun by yanking him off his motorcycle and stringing him up a lamppost with his Billy Clubs and making Oya crash into the windshield of Eleggua's car. The other Santerians started to attack Daredevil again after that' but this time he was prepared' sensing each attack they made and using samurai gear and weapons to counter them, beating them into submission. But before it could go any further Eleggua stopped the fight by casting a magic spell causing everyone to become confused until they calmed down.

Impressed with Daredevil's skills, Eleggua asked Daredevil to help them out someday, reminding him that they're all on the same side and should work together, because there was still a murderer on the loose' and shaked Daredevil's hand before walking away. After they left Daredevil smelled the scent that Eleggua left on his hand when he shaked it, recognizing the scent and tracked down Nestor and confronted him figuring out his identity realizing he was the kid who he failed to save his father from getting killed by gangsters when he first started as Daredevil. He asked him how he got his powers but all Nestor could say was get out, Murdock responded by saying he will but told him to watch hi step in the city or he'll be after him, Nestor argued that when he gets tired of that' maybe he can actually do something about Johnny Sockets. After the argument, Murdock left his building' and Nestor sat down in his chair watching the news reminiscing how he got his powers and became leader of the Santerians.

After the killer was revealed to be a woman named Maggie Farrell and killed by police, Daredevil and the Santerians continued to fight crime on different sides of New York City.^[3][4][5][6]

Powers

The Santerians each have their own special powers which are derived from the deities of the ancient Santerian religion that they practiced under during their adolescent years.

Eleggua - Laeder of the Santerians, Eleggua has the power to understand numerous thoughts, languages and text. He can also cause acute confusion or alter communication around others and drive them to insnity.

Oshun - Oshun named after the Orisha of rivers and streams, has the ability to control any liquid around her and manipulate it to her will, whether it's outside water or even the liquids inside a person.

Ogun - Ogun named after the Orisha of war, has super strength, which is enough to level a building, the exact limit of his strength is unknown.

Chango - Chango named after the Orisha of fire and passion, can create and can control electricity by generating it from his fingertips and blast it at will.

Oya - Oya named after the Orisha of storms, she has the power to control the weather, manipulate winds and fly through the air.

References

External links

• http://www.comicvine.com/santerians/4060-41664/
• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/santeriansdd.htm
• http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Santerians_(Earth-616)