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Character Info
Created By
Lewis Shiner
Joker Name
Astronomer
Real Name
Robert
Class
Status
Deceased
Description
The Astronomer is a half-crippled old man with an abnormally large head sparsely covered with white hair, a thin, twisted body, and very pale white skin. Normally he’s confined to an electric wheelchair, but he can get about on his own when sufficiently powered with psychic energy. As Lord Amun, he appears as a giant man with the head of a ram or jackal and sometimes a colossal erect phallus, holding in his hands the ankh and crooked rod (symbols of life and power). Another avatar is Setekh the Destroyer, a hound the size of a small horse, lean and terribly emaciated, smoke-grey in color with a long, forked, scorpion-like tail carried up over his back.
First Appearance
Wild Cards Book I:Wild Cards
Affiliations


The Astronomer is a character from the Wild Cards series of books. He first appeared in the short story "Pennies from Hell" by Lewis Shiner in Wild Cards II: Aces High, though his presence was earlier implied in "The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato" in the first volume of the series. Leader of a cult comprised mainly of superhuman aces and deformed jokers known as the Egyptian Freemasons, the Astronomer planned to conquer the world in the aftermath of an invasion by fungoid aliens called the Swarm. Once these plans were foiled, the Astronomer lived only for revenge.

Character background

The Astronomer is an old man (born in 1925), who has thinning white hair, wears glasses and is best described as "mole-like"; he is also noted as having a disproportionately large head, the upper part of which enlarges further when he is fully empowered. He is usually confined to a wheelchair, although the proper use of his ace powers can allow him to bypass that problem. The Astronomer practices a horrific form of death magic, gaining immense energy through the ritualistic slaying of his victims (usually young women). Once the ritual is completed, The Astronomer is blessed with a huge energy reserve allowing him to utilize the following powers: astral projection, clairsentience, minor precognition, mind control, the ability to selectively erase memories, flight, invisibility to visual and mental senses, ego attacks, hand killing attacks, walking through walls, suppression versus any wildcard power, force fields and minor force walls, telepathy and an assortment of energy blasts; however, he can use just one power at any given time. The Astronomer was a very dangerous opponent. He was killed by Demise, and left embedded in a wall.


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