Kharis


Kharis
Aliases:	Kharis the Mummy
Continuity:	Universal Monsters Hammer Horror
Notability:	Antagonist
Type:	Mummy
Gender:	Male
Location:	Hill of the Seven Jackals, Karnak, Egypt
Relatives:	Ananka
Status:	Undead
Born:	1,000 B.C. (approx)
First:	The Mummy's Hand
Actor:	Tom Tyler Lon Chaney, Jr. Christopher Lee

Kharis is a fictional mummy and a recurring antagonist featured in films produced by Universal Pictures in the 1940s, and later by Hammer Film Productions in 1959. He first appeared in the 1940 feature film The Mummy's Hand where he was played by actor Tom Tyler. Kharis continued to make appearances throughout the remainder of Universal's "Mummy" run, and was played by actor Lon Chaney, Jr. in the subsequent films, which included The Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Ghost, and The Mummy's Curse. A version of Kharis was re-imagined by Hammer Film Productions in 1959 for their version of The Mummy.

Biography[]

Universal Monsters[]

Kharis was a prince from Ancient Egypt who lived more than three thousand years ago. He was the lover of the princess Ananka. When Ananka died, Kharis refused to accept the finality of her life on the mortal plane. He crept into the Temple of Isis and stole the sacred Tana leaves, which could be used to resurrect his beloved. Before he could implement this scheme however, he was captured by the Pharaoah's guards and punished. His tongue was removed and he was clothed in bandages and buried alive in the deep desert. Afterward, Kharis' sarcophagus was removed and taken to Ananka's burial temple in the Hill of the Seven Jackals. His living mummy was meant to be a guardian to Ananka's tomb. Whosoever should desecrate the tomb of the Princess Ananka would suffer the curse of Kharis. Kharis' burial chamber was guarded by the priests of Karnak and Arkam.

Abilities[]

Superhuman durability: Kharis could endure extreme amounts of physical punishment. Standard physical attacks had no affect upon him, and he could shrug off bullets without even slowing down (not that he's very fast to begin with).
Superhuman stamina: If Kharis consume the brew distilled from nine Tana leaves, he would become an unstoppable juggernaut who would remain active until his goals were satisfied.

Weaknesses[]

Immobile appendage: The Universal version of Kharis had limited mobility in his right arm and it was usually held in a bent position. Whatever caused this disability could not be rectified through the consumption of Tana leaves.
Lame: The Universal version of Kharis had a bad left leg, which dragged while he walked, which caused his overall mobility to suffer. Whatever caused this disability could not be rectified through the consumption of Tana leaves.
Poor vision: The Universal Kharis developed some sort of physical abnormality with his right eye. In some representations, his eye is shown to be covered up. Whatever this malady was, it could not be rectified through the use of Tana leaves. The Hammer version of Kharis did not have this disability.
Mute: Before becoming a living Mummy, Kharis had his tongue cut out so that his outcries would not offend the gods. As a mummy, his mouth was largely covered by bandages. Kharis never spoke.

Notes & Trivia[]

Kharis is the second mummy character to appear in the Universal Monsters line-up. The first was Imhotep, who was played by Boris Karloff in 1932's The Mummy. Although Imhotep is the more widely known of the two mummy characters, the characteristics that most people attribute to the mummy archetype actually relate to Kharis.
Kharis is not to be confused with Klaris, who is a mummy from the 1955 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
The 1999 action film version of The Mummy borrows elements from both Imhotep and Kharis.
A version of Kharis also appeared in Universal's "Dark Universe" continuity, which tied in to the 2017 The Mummy feature film, however he never appeared in any movies. He appeared in the choose-your-own-adventure game The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories.

Appearances[]

Universal Monsters

Hammer Horror

Mummy, The (1959)

Dark Universe

The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories