#heggra

The New Gods (1989) #8

[ID: Two comic panels from New Gods by Jack Kirby. In the first, Darkseid and his mother Heggra sit at a dining table with other Apokoliptan cronies. Metron turns to leave but is stopped by Darkseid, who says, "Metron! Would you take your leave without acknowledging the sovereign status of a most powerful and reknowned lady?" To which Steppenwolf adds, "The Queen-Mother, you academic chicken! Bow that bald pate you call a head!!"

In the second panel, Metron bows to Heggra and says, "I beg you to overlook my pre-occupation with other thoughts, Majesty!! I regret that raw threats must awaken me to common courtesy!!" Heggra smiles back saying, "I like you, Metron! You're a nice boy!! Does it bother you --- to create the means for mass slaughter??" /END]

Okay so two things

1. His bald pate? So he is meant to be bald!! That means Lightray's origin story that shows Metron out of costume truly was just a whimsical romp, and all the Who's Who entries listing his hair as black decided it was canon. Now it could be that Steppenwolf meant his costume makes his head essentially bald, but I doubt it. Other characters wear similar costumes and nobody would call them bald. So i think Metron actually for real is. And then it begs the question of if he ever had hair to begin with? Does he shave his head? Does he have the ability to grow any hair?? Maybe thats why his costume has built-in eyebrows??!?

2. Heggra says she likes him and hes a nice boy? A. NICE. BOY. So her opinion as the ruler of Apokolips, and thus read as a "bad guy" character is that she thinks well of Metron, especially with the topic of him giving them the means for war. She probably feels that he might fit right in with their lot. And to call him a boy, what is she like an auntie to him? So weird ha ha. And of course once he's gone she laughs at the way Darkseid easily made him submit. If i remember right, in Byrne's retelling of this i think it shows Metron being like whatever, idc as long as i get that sweet sweet x element. 😂

Justice League Incarnate #5 - "Worlds End" (2022)

Sorry for not answering your ask sooner. My week's been very hectic 😩

I think if Suli was alive, maybe Darkseid would've been less likely to become the god we know him as today. bc comics tell us it was Suli's death that hardened Darkseid's heart, that she was the only one he's truly loved, etc. I've already talked about this a few times if you wanted to look through my "suli" tag, but if she had survived the initial poisoning I'd want Suli to take revenge on Heggra for trying to kill her. I'd lowkey want to toss Desaad's nasty ass in the mix, BUT Suli would know that he was following orders and therefore shouldn't be the reciever of her anger. Plus, we all know he'd probably enjoy it a lil too much tbh

Suli's a scientist and sorceress, so I refuse to believe poison would've killed her. Not only that, she's survived on Apokolips all this time in spite of her "softness". This leads me to believe she's got a sharp mind, capable of being two steps ahead, preferring Brains over Brawn, etc. A lot like Darkseid imo, I mean why else would they have gotten along so well and to the point that Darkseid not only marries Suli, but has a child with her behind his mother's back.

Hegra was a wicked mother-in-law who felt like she knew what was best for Darkseid and acted accordingly. She kills Suli before forcing Darkseid to be with Tigra, who was the EXACT OPPOSITE of Darkseid's beloved. Tigra was chosen specifically for her ferocity and I bet Heggra thought to herself, "Surely, this one will remind Darkseid about his purpose and he will stop being weak."

Now, if Suli had survived and wanted revenge on Heggra, I can see her allowing Tigra to bear a child for Darkseid. It's her love for Darkseid that drives Suli to ensure Tigra remains healthy so she can birth a strong child. When Tigra voice her confusion about Suli's actions, Suli could simply answer, "I do all of this because I love Darkseid. I refuse to have you bear him a weak child, so I will care for you during your pregnancy. Even I will admit that wretch had picked a fine mate for her son. Though, I imagine you had no choice in the matter."

(Imagine the Pact still taking place and the sheer terror Suli feels when she learns about Tigra's Declaration of her son Orion killing her beloved Darkseid. Here, I can see Suli being the one banishing her instead of Darkseid. AND instructing her son Kalibak to kill his stepbrother Orion in a desperate attempt to stop this "Prophecy". Even though Kalibak and Orion don't cross paths until they're adults, Kalibak remembers his mother's instructions to kill the New Genesis warrior who fights "like one of us, bearing the ferocity of Apokolips". Kalibak would know when he sees it in Orion, maybe doesn't know that they're brothers yet.... Anyway, I'm getting distracted! 😅)

I can imagine her telling Tigra about her plan to kill Heggra so Darkseid can have his rightful place as ruler of Apokolips. Then her son Kalibak would become his rightful heir and everything would be as it should be. Tigra agrees with the plan bc she's never liked Heggra and based on the Orion solo, we see in Tigra's memory that she was interested in a (royal?) guard who was then killed by Darkseid.

Heggra thinks that Suli's dead, Tigra's with Darkseid now, Kalibak won't become her son's heir, all is right in her little world. Now Suli would be a patient person to exact her revenge on Heggra by poisoning and weakening her. Stabbing Heggra with her dagger bc Suli can't think of anything better than watching the life leave out of Heggra's eyes. To watch her mind race as she tries to figure out how long Suli's been alive, why would she let Tigra bear Darkseid's child, etc. To see Tigra just within sight, bearing witness to her murder and doing nothing to stop Suli. Suli keeps the dagger and gifts it to Darkseid, confessing to him what she had done. Darkseid becomes new ruler of Apokolips and continues his battle against New Genesis while Suli remains behind the scenes.

So, maybe if Suli was alive and Tigra still had to bear Darkseid's child in an attempt to fool Heggra, maybe Tigra and the guard she actually loved could've raised Orion together for a moment. Then Orion wouldn't find out that Darkseid was his true father until later on bc he remembers being raised by Tigra's bf guard along with his mother Tigra.

Ooooooooh, what if Tigra's guard is killed trying to protect Orion bc Darkseid's guards came to take him for the Pact. Which could also be why we have Orion fighting the guards so fiercely before he's tossed through a boom tube to New Genesis. SO, Tigra loses both husband(?) and child in one day, and a friend as she chases Suli off to refrain herself from killing her. Suli had no idea about the Pact or that Orion would've been used (which Suli later realizes with horror that she unknowingly orchestrated Darkseid's inevitable end), but Tigra doesn't believe her.

NO WAIT LISTEN. OK OK OKAYYYYYY

Imagine Tigra busting into Darkseid's place of work demanding to know where Orion is. Tearing shit up, right? Her voice roaring into the atmosphere as guards try and fail to obtain her. In a parallel scene we see Orion, having witnessed the death of his father/Tigra's lover, is viciously attacking the guards who stole him. And we then get Darkseid's classic line of comparing the two as snarling, angry killer-cats. bc imo Orion takes more after Tigra than he does Darkseid and then we'd get the visual of the two fighting in similar fashion. In the OG New Gods comic, it took GROWN MEN to toss Orion through the boom tube to New Genesis and even then he was fighting them off.

Suli later confronts Darkseid about the Pact, Tigra's Declaration of her son killing him, etc. Darkseid states matter-of-factly that this was all done to buy himself more time to prepare. Suli warns about Orion and what he's likely inheritted from Tigra, a warrior Heggra had chosen as Suli's exact opposite. Suli had seen firsthand how dangerous Tigra was even as she restrained herself from killing her. The instinct Suli felt to FLEE from Tigra's presence, but remained frozen in terror. Warning that if Orion grows to be anything like his mother, that he will become a thorn in the side of Apokolips.

For the most part, what happens in canon can easily remain the same. Kalibak being raised with his mother might have changed things for him, too! He could still be known as Kalibak the Cruel, perhaps being cruel in a variety of ways to break the spirit of people as opposed to just physical harm 🤔

Now to finally answer your question, YES I could see Darkseid's pursuit of the Anti-Life Equation driving away everyone he held dear. Specifically Suli, who sees how far this obsession has driven him. Do I see her allowing Himon (you did spell it right) to help others escape Apokolips or at least make life easier on the planet? Yes. She wouldn't help with Scott Free though, knowing that it could lead to the Pact being broken and Darkseid's death brought faster. Unfortunately, Scott eventually escapes on his own even though this was part of Darkseid's plan as well.

As the war between both planets continue, Suli dreads witnessing Tigra's Declaration fulfilled in the inevitable clash between father and son. Perhaps her beloved had died long ago as he continued pursuing the Anti-Life equation. Her pleas have since been ignored as Darkseid remain transfixed on his goal. Maybe she had debated killing him, thinking it's better for Darkseid to die peacefully by her hands than brutually by his son's. Then Kalibak could rule and they find a way to end all of this.

OR Suli follows and supports Darkseid to the bitter end, finally meeting Orion full grown and looking so much like his mother. Feeling the same sense of dread and urge to flee like she had ages ago. Unable to move and stop Orion from advancing any further as he walks right past her. Hearing his footsteps echo further away as Suli falls to her knees, letting out a breath she held in before heaves shake out of her followed by sobs. Wails for the inevitable death of her beloved Darkseid. While a part of me don't think she could bear witnessing it, I can see Suli forcing herself to. Tigra would definitely be there to witness her Declaration come to pass along with all of Apokolips and New Genesis alike.

Last year when I was looking into Kalibak's mother, I ended up falling into a really unexpected rabbit hole with Darkseid's family. I thought it would be fun to make a family tree chart~

Baby Darkseid has slipped up several times and called Grail, Heggra.  Heggra is Darkseid's birthmother.  (Yes, Darkseid refers to his mother by her first name)