Fictional character biography
Venus was born an immortal siren, one of the daughters of the river god Achelous and the divine muse of dance Terpsichore.[16] The sirens lived on the Sirenum scopuli islands and eventually fell into the service of the ocean elemental Phorcys, who used their "siren song" to lure mortal sailors to watery deaths.[16][17] In the late 19th century AD, two ships from Asia encountered one of these sirens while on a voyage to Morocco. The first ship's crew became mesmerized by the siren's song and crashed their vessel on the rocks, but the Sorcerer Supreme Yao saved the second ship from a similar fate by mystically imbuing the siren with a soul. Horrified at her past behavior, the repentant siren fled and lived at a convent for years.[17] At some point in the distant past, this siren had a relationship with the Shinto god Susanoo.[18]
In the mid-20th century, the siren, still ashamed of her past, adopted the name "Venus" and impersonated the Olympian goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite, claiming to have sacrificed many of her divine powers so she could walk among mortals and teach them to love.[16]
The Agents of Atlas series revealed that Venus and several other heroes who had been active in the 1950s briefly banded together, but did not remain as a team. This team later reunites, with Venus rejoining the team.
The true origins of this character were revealed by Namora: this Venus was actually a soulless Siren that lured sailing ships to her with her voice and fed on the sailors. To prevent his ship and his crew from being feed on, the captain of a merchant ship hired a mystic to kill her. The mystic instead gave her a soul. The Siren then took the form of a beautiful woman (forbidding herself to speak again) and was taken in by a nunnery, where she lived for decades and believed herself a mute servant girl, until she joined a chorus, filling the visiting clergy with lust. She was then expelled from the nunnery. Learning how to use her voice for good, she blocked out all memories of her previous life and assumed that she was Venus reborn, based on the legends she had heard about a beautiful, immortal girl wandering the world as a goddess in a human body and winning her battles with the power of "love". 'Venus' resurfaced in the 1940s and acted as a superhero. Learning the truth about her past, Venus fell into despair and nearly destroyed her companions with her song. Jimmy Woo resisted her song and reminded her of all the good she had done, restoring her belief in herself, which allowed her to reverse the effects on the others.[19]
She had since elected to stay with the Agents of Atlas, using her restored powers to soothe and calm her opponents, while traveling around the world in Marvel Boy's ship, along with her teammates, shutting down the villainous branch of the former Atlas Foundation.[20] She eventually came up with the idea to alter Spider-Man's perception of a common fight, leaving him with false memories of having helped someone else instead of mindwiping him.[21]
Subsequently, she was abducted by the true Olympian goddess Aphrodite, angry at her for assuming her name and guise.[22] Rescued by the group, they have further battles with Aphrodite, until in a climactic battle of song, the goddess decides to appoint Venus in her place, recognizing that she has not been truly dedicated to love since Troy.[23]
After Hercules' death, she and Namora roam the world, bringing his financial affairs in order. She uses her gifts to comfort many who are devastated by his loss.[24]
