Horus

Horus is the falcon god of the pharaohs and sky. Originally, he was the son of Geb and Nut. Later, he was reborn to Osiris and Isis.

Background:
Horus was born on the second Demon Day, after his brother Osiris, to Geb and Nut. In a later life, he would be born as the son of Osiris and Isis. After his father, Osiris, was murdered by his uncle Set, his mother hid Horus away and began training him to avenge his father's death and claim the throne as pharaoh of Egypt. He eventually recovered the casket that imprisoned his father. However, Set stopped him from freeing Osiris and destroyed the casket, scattering its remains all across Egypt. In a fit of rage, Horus attacked his uncle and defeated him. Horus dethroned Set and claimed the throne and title of pharaoh of Egypt for himself. Horus's wife is Hathor, the goddesses of love. Horus and Set were the gods who taught the pharaoh everything. For example, Set teached the pharoah the art of music while Horus taught the pharoah the art of war. Set animal and the Horus animal is somehow related in real-life.

The Red Pyramid

 * When Julius Kane summons Osiris using the Rosetta Stone, he also unleashes Osiris' current and former siblings. Horus quickly takes Julius' son, Carter as his host by using his amulet as a medium. As Carter and his sister, Sadie, progress on their mission to stop Set from destroying North America, Horus aids the former by accelerating the development of his powers and offering knowledge and wisdom, constantly urging him to give up control of their shared body. When finally confronting his uncle, Set, in the Red Pyramid, Horus achieved a rare experience of the balance of minds with his host, allowing him to ultilize his full power.


 * However, he would have lost if Sadie/Isis had not exposed Apophis as the true mastermind behind Set's plan and forced the storm god into an alliance against the serpent. Horus withdrew soon after from Carter at his request though he left some of his essence inside his amulet. Horus then reclaimed the throne of gods and asked Carter to join him in his rule who declined on the basis that he needed to train himself more.

Throne of Fire

 * In a dream Horus tells Carter the location of the first part of the Book of Ra and warns him that in five days Apophis will be strong enough to break free from his prison and devour the Ra, the god of Ma'at (order) and also the sun god. Later in another dream Horus pulls Carter into the Duat (the magical realm that co-exists with our world) and shows him the current disrepaired state of the Solar Barge, the dangers Ra's nightly journey faced, and finally the prison of Apophis in a form Carter can understand. Horus tries to dissuade Carter from returning Ra to the throne. Horus does not believe Ra has the strength to lead the gods into battle with Apophis. He states he told Carter about the Book of Ra because it has to be Carter's decision.


 * Carter channels Horus's power to break out of the Hermitage using the Fist of Horus. He later relizes that he used an emotional collection to do so. He uses it again to part the Nile and shortly after to wake Zia.


 * At the end, Horus steps aside allowing Ra to retake his throne. He swears alligence to Ra, but is doubtful of Ra's ability to recover or lead. Publicly, he shows a strong bond with Carter in front of the other gods, but privately he threatens Carter that if Ra's leadership dooms the world or if Apophis is defeated without Ra's aid and Horus was forced to abdicate for no reason then he will inflict a terrible curse upon Carter and his entire family for the humiliation he has caused him.

The Serpent's Shadow

 * Carter communicates with Horus through the book, with Horus coming to him possesing a pigeon when he is considering an execration spell on Apophis. Horus helps Carter come up with the idea of shadow execration to stop Apophis, but he doesn't know much about magic saying he mostly just focuses on attacking an enemy directly until they're destroyed. Horus has to leave when the pigeon can't host him any more. Carter communicates with him throughout the rest of the story, channeling his power and at one point asking for a weapon as he has lost his khopesh. Horus only sends him an ostrich feather, presumably due to his lack of power in that part of the Duat. Later, Carter merges with Horus again and uses his power along with his own during his and Sadie's execrating Apophis' shadow. Apophis is destroyed and Horus leaves Earth with the other gods, leaving Carter disappointed as he didn't even say goodbye. Bast tells Carter not to take it personally, but Carter is not sure if Horus simply got rid of him once he didn't need him anymore. Horus later takes up the throne of the gods again and Carter thinks he ripped off Carter's own acceptance speech.​​

Personality
Horus is somewhat arrogant, annoying and self-centered but also brave and honorable. However in The Throne of Fire, Horus also apperars somewhat mean and demeaning. However, he may quickly forgive or can at least move past his grudges as he advised and assisted Carter in The Serpent's Shadow without the reluctance and manipulation Isis tried on Sadie and gave Carter forbidden information when asked about sheuts, possibly showing a deep level of trust in Carter. However, Horus is shown to have a limited understanding of magic, something he freely admitts himself and tells Carter his mindset is to attack an enemy until they are dead which Carter points out is not actually very useful. He prefers brute force and tends to irritate Carter by his insistance all the time on merging with Carter again to use brute force on the current enemy. Horus also doesn't understand sarcasam, as shown when Carter sarcasticaly agrees with him that pigeons are noble and he thinks Carter really means it. While he is a bit pushy in some instances, such as trying to get Carter to give him control and later merge with him again, he seems to respect people's decisions better than Isis as he never pushed too hard and accepted the decision, though he would try to show or explain his reasons for wanting what he did. Horus is fond of winged animals, having an affinaty for the falcon, presumably due to his ability to turn into one. When he comes to visit Carter, he takes a pigeon as his host, saying that he wanted a falcon but settled for the pigeon instead as it had wings and he considered it noble. This affinaty is also shown by his connection to griffins: he uses them to pull his chariot in battle and they obey his commands and by extension, anyone with a connection to him such as Carter Kane. When he leaves Carter without saying goodbye, Carter wonders if Horus was being callous, that he simply was using him the entire time and discarded him when he had no further use for him. However, Bast indicates that callousness was not behind this, saying not to take that action personally. As Isis did the same to Sadie, this is likely true. Horus also seems to lack creativity: he attacks his enemy until they are defeated which caused him to war with Set for years before defeating him and during his acceptance speech as leader of the gods once more, he seems to rip off his former host Carter's speech as pharoah of the House of Life.

`Appearance
Horus always dresses as a warrior, wearing armor and a sheathed khopesh on his waist. One of Horus's most distinguishing features are his different colored eyes—right being gold and the left being silver. This is the result in having one of them stabbed out by Set. The eye was replaced by Thoth, who restored it out of moonlight, and thus created the Eye of Horus. Horus carries a black youth side lock, a long plait of hair, signifying that he physically appears to be around Carter's age of 14 even though he is 5,000 years old (cause of Immortality).

Powers and Abilities
Horus has all the standard powers of a god. He specializes in combat magic and is adept at strategy. When using a host, he can transform into a falcon.Being a war god he has a more increased strength, speed and accuracy than the other gods.

Relationships
Carter Kane: Although Carter often finds Horus obnoxious and Horus is continuously frustrated by Carter's refusal to surrender his body to Horus, the two have developed a mutual respect and friendship. This eventually plays a role in allowing them to synchronize their movements. This friendship is most clear when Horus leaves Carter's body and Carter is grieved by his absence. In the Throne of Fire, Horus is angry at Carter and Sadie for dethroning him and setting a senile god, Ra, on the throne. Publicly he embraces Carter as his ally, but privatly he shows Carter his vengeful side, saying that while he is still his ally and will lend him his powers when needed, he had cost him a throne and if they do not succeed he will squash Carter like a gnat and put a punishment on his family unlike that of ever before. Horus later assists Carter during his efforts to find Apophis' sheut, appearing to him as a pigeon and helping him come up with the plan and communicating with him and trying to send him a weapon, though only succeding in sending him an ostrich feather due to his powerlesness in the part of the Duat Carter is in. Later, the two merge again to battle the rebel magicians and Carter uses his power along with Carter's own during the execration spell on Apophis' sheut. After Apophis is destroyed, Horus leaves Earth and Carter with the other gods and Carter is disappointed that Horus didn't even say goodbye which he is told not to take personally though Carter wonders if Horus simply felt he didn't need Carter anymore and thus didn't care enough to say goodbye. When Horus takes up the throne of the gods again, Carter thinks he may have ripped off Carter's own acceptance speech as Pharaoh of the House of Life.

In Mythology
After Ra left the Earth, Egyptians believed Horus to be the sun god. In some stories, the various forms of Horus (baby, teenager, and adult) represented the path of the sun, as the infant Horus would be the baby at dawn, teenager at noon, and adult at dusk.

Furthermore, different stories give Horus different parents. Some claim him to be the son of Isis while others claim he is the son of Nut.

Trivia

 * While trying to leave the New York Metropolitan Museum Zia instructs Sadie to place the Sons of Horus at the cardinal directions. Horus' four sons are Duamutef, Imsety, Hapi and Qebehsenuef. They are most famous for protecting organs of the deceased and are often seen on canopic jars. Their mother ig goddesses Hsthor.
 * Horus is the only one out of the five gods (Set, Nephthys, Isis, and Osiris) to not have a significant other seen or mentioned in the Red Pyramid.
 * Horus is the only one of the five gods whose significant other isn't one of the five.
 * Although Ares should be his proper Greek equivalent, as they're both war gods, people consider Apollo to be his Greek equivalent as Horus is more disciplined unlike Ares, who's more like Sekhmet.
 * He is more similar to Mars from Roman Mythology, both a war god and discipline, and both are also referred to as "The Avenger".
 * Hathor, the goddess of love and joy, is Horus's wife, though it was only said in one version of Egyptian Mythology.
 * Horus says that his understanding of magic is quite basic: "Hit enemy with a sword until he's dead. If he rises hit him again. repeat as necessary." He then added that 'it worked against Set'. Carter then asks "How long did that take?"Horus replied, 7 years."?
 * Despite the sheut being a forbidden subject among the gods, Horus talks about it freely with Carter even before Anubis talks to Sadie about it. This is a subject that even Bast hesitated on, however this may be due to Horus' lack of knowledge of magic and possibly not knowing it was forbidden.
 * The Eye of Horus was believed to protect travelers; the reason why it's on boats
 * It is said that Horus doesn't get sarcasm, however he uses it in the Serpent's Shadow.