Santerians

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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 were created by writer, artist and editor Joe Quesada. Consisting of five members, they are Eleggua, Oshun, Chango, Ogun and Oya.

Publication history[]

The Santerians were 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 son's Street Angel crew was getting in the way of their criminal activities; he wanted Nestor's father 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.

Nestor's father actually pointed the gun at him, but he hesitated with tears in his eyes and in 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. Before he could, his men pulled out another gun and shot him dead right in front of Nestor, 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 too late to help.

Nestor answered police questions and did interviews with the local news, while he secretly burned and destroyed files that had information on the gangsters he was working with so that this wouldn't be traced back to his father and destroy their family name. At 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 blend 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 a 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. At night he used his powers and took up the alias "Eleggua", becoming a superhero in secret. He 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. He taught them what the priest had taught him, giving them powers of their own. Like Nestor, they took up aliases based on the religious nature of their newfound powers - Oshun, Ogun, Chango and Oya.

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 know who they were. They left the police to clean it up afterwards.

One day Nestor saw on the news that the serial killer named Johnny Sockets had struck again, leaving behind another victim. He 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 Nestor's father from getting killed. Determined to stop the killer, he gathered his team. He 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 needed to start worrying about the rest of the city. Murdock responded that it wasn't his business as long as the killer stayed out of Hell's Kitchen. He said that the police could handle it. As Eleggua and the other Santerians walked away disappointed, 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. When they left, Eleggua told his team that they would 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, with Ogun and Chango riding on motorbikes and Oya flying above them. They were ambushed by Daredevil in samurai gear looking for payback, who first attacked 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. 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 him to help them out someday, reminding him that they were all on the same side and should work together, because there was still a murderer on the loose. He shook Daredevil's hand before walking away. After they left, Daredevil smelled the scent that Eleggua left on his hand, recognizing the scent. He tracked down Nestor and confronted him, having figured out his identity as the kid whose father he had failed to save from getting killed by gangsters when he first started as Daredevil. He asked him how he got his powers, but all Nestor said was "get out." Murdock said he would, but told him to watch his step in the city or he would be after him. Nestor argued that when he got tired of that, maybe he could actually do something about Johnny Sockets. After the argument, Murdock left his building and Nestor watched the news,about 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 was 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 Orishas, deities of the ancient Santerian religion that they practiced under during their adolescent years.

Eleggua - Leader 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 insanity.

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, including the liquids inside a person.

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

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

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

References[]

External links[]

• Santerians at Comic Vine
• Santerians at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Santerians on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki