List of The Mummy Characters - The Mummy Returns - Mathayus (The Scorpion King)

Mathayus (The Scorpion King)

Mathayus, the Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson), is a seldom-seen character serving as one of the two primary antagonists of the second film, appearing at the beginning and in the climax.

Born in the kingdom of Akkad, Mathayus set out to join the group the Black Scorpions; however, when he returned from his training he found that his father's murderer, Sargon, had usurped the throne. Mathayus set out on a personal quest of vengeance to kill Sargon. After accomplishing the task, Mathayus was offered the position of king, but turned it down for a life of adventuring with his older brother. It was to his benefit as Assyria destroyed Akkad soon after.

Mathayus was then hired to kill the Egyptian Tyrant, Memnon, who ruled a part of Egypt with his sorceress Cassandra and planned to rule it all. Memnon killed Mathayus' brother, making him the last Akkadian. Once again Mathayus embarked on a quest of vengeance, but would be aided by the likes of many in a quest to usurp Memnon. After killing Memnon, Mathayus wed Cassandra and was crowned the king of Memnon's empire.

This kingdom too would fall following Cassandra's death. However, through epeated work as a mercenary, Mathayus again managed to become king and set out on a bloodthirsty quest to conquer the world. After conquering most of Egypt, Mathayus' advance was stopped at the city of Thebes. He was forced to make a deal with Anubis, where he would give Anubis his soul if Anubis helped him defeat his enemies. Anubis fulfilled his part of the deal and helped Mathayus destroy Thebes, providing him with command of his army of Anubis Warriors, jackal-headed warriors that can only be killed by decapitation. Afterwards Anubis transformed Mathayus into a centaurid scorpion-monster, condemned to serve him for all time.

Over the centuries, the Scorpion King's location and resting-place is lost to history, but it is known that, if awakened, he will release his army of Anubis Warriors once again. The only way for his army to be stopped is for him to be killed in battle with another, with his killer subsequently taking control of the army to either order it back to the Underworld or lead it against the world.

After being summoned by Imhotep, who wished to rob Mathayus of Anubis' army, he was tricked and engaged into battle with Rick (Imhotep's powers having been taken by Anubis when he entered Mathayus's tomb). Rick managed to use the Staff of Osiris to kill him, with the army returning to Hell along with Mathayus.