Nagraj is a superhero appearing in Indian comic books published by Raj Comics created in the late 1980s by Rajkumar Gupta. Nagraj first appeared in the comics Nagraj GENL #14 which was written by Parshuram Sharma and illustrated by Pratap Mullick. After that Sanjay Ashtpure, Pratap Mullick, Chandu, Milind Misal and Vitthal Kamble alternately illustrated the character for 44 issues, ending in 1995 with Visarpi Ki Shadi. Nagraj is believed to have been inspired by the mythological Ichchhadhari Nag (shapeshifting snakes) and historical Vishmanushya (venomous human). His stories create a rich blend of mythology, fantasy, magic, and science fiction. Many of Nagraj's fans believe that, over time, Nagraj's comics have developed snake mythology of its own, which is unique to the popular Indian beliefs about snakes that are prevalent among the masses. In the middle of the nineties Anupam Sinha (who was already running the mega-successful Dhruv series) took over the helms of Nagraj as well. Anupam Sinha's expansive narration could not completely fit in a single comic, so he used multi-comic stories to layer and enrich his tales. The Khajana arc by Anupam Sinha set up the backstory beautifully, and discredited Nagmani many years after the comics began. He also led to increase in frequency of Two-in-One comics, which combined Nagraj and Dhruv and started happening once in a year. Nagraj has changed a lot in his 25 years in print, both in terms of looks as well as powers and abilities. With time many new artists such as Lalit Sharma and Hemant Kumar have done illustration of Nagraj.

Fictional character biography

In ancient times, there existed a kingdom known as Takshaknagar, ruled by King Takshakraj and Queen Lalita who had no children. The absence of a prince or princess made Nagpasha, the younger brother of the King Takshakraj the only potential heir to the throne. One day when the queen was going to pray to Deva Kaljayi, Nagpasha replaced the curtained plate of her offerings to the god with one containing a dead mongoose. The Snake God got angry and knocked her unconscious with his venomous breath. When the child was born, everyone believed him dead because his whole body was blue and showed no signs of life. As per Hindu rituals, the newborn baby was thrown into the river. Meanwhile, the snake deity Deva Kaljayi appeared in the dreams of King Maniraj and his wife Queen Manika, rulers of ageless Ichchhadhaari nags, living secretly on an invisible island in the Indian Ocean called Nagdweep. He told them the location of the baby and asked them to cure him. Many years passed and the treatment started showing results and, although still in the suspended animation, the colour of the baby had gradually changed to green. Later Vishandhar, an evil Tantrik placed him back into the same bushes in the river where he was found. A priest of the nearby temple located him and gave him to Professor Nagmani, who was wandering in the nearby forest searching for snakes. The child had extraordinary healing powers and was extremely venomous. He raised the baby, who became Nagraj. In his debut issue, Nagraj was unleashed as an international terror weapon by the evil scientist Professor Nagmani. Nagraj, in this first mission, was tasked with stealing a golden statue of a Goddess from a temple that was protected by tribal devotees, snakes, and by a mysterious 300-year-old Sadhu named Baba Gorakhnath. Nagraj succeeded in his task, but upon confrontation with Gorakhnath and his mystic black mongoose shikangi, was defeated. Gorakhnath read his mind and discovered that Professor Nagmani had implanted a mind-control device in the form of a capsule in Nagraj's head, to keep him under his control. Gorakhnath operated and removed the capsule from Nagraj's head, setting Nagraj free of Professor Nagmani's control. Nagraj then became Baba Goraknath's disciple and vowed to eliminate crime and terror from the Earth. Since then, Nagraj has toured the world and defeated many villains and terrorists such as Bulldog, Gangster William, Seaman, General Tamta, Shankar Shahnshah. Nagraj lives as Raj (After Nagraj Ke Baad, he is under the disguise of Nagraj Shah) in a fictional Metropolitan City Mahanagar as an employee of a TV channel that he owns secretly.

Nagraj Parallel Series

These days Raj Comics have published four parallel series of Nagraj, where each Nagraj is involved in a different universe. There are the following four parallel Nagraj series:

Powers and abilities

Ever since Writer & Artist Anupam Sinha took over the character of Nagraj, his powers and abilities have evolved a great deal making him powerful enough to counter any character of the comic universe. Nagraj is arguably the most powerful superhero in the Raj Comics Universe and is among the most powerful Icchadhari Naagas of his time. Time and again, he has even shown the potential of challenging the Supreme Snake-Gods like Sheshnaag, Vasuki, Takshak, Kaaljayi, and has defeated the likes of Kaaldoot, Trifana, Mahavyaal and Sheetnaag Kumar, who are ranked among the mightiest snakes in their species.

Known relatives and close friends

Nagraj, along with his deeds, has earned a large amount of friends, many of whom appeared just once, but some that appeared more often, and still fewer that became permanent figures in Nagraj's stories. Here is a list of some very well known characters in his comics :

Enemies

Innumerable enemies of Nagraj have appeared in Nagraj's comics; many died, but some lived on to appear again. Here is the list of Nagraj's major enemies that are still alive and who can be expected to make a comeback in future issues:

Comics list

Vishwarakshak Nagraj

World Terrorism Series

A new series named "Aatankharta Nagraj" or "Nagraj-World Terrorism Series" is being published parallel to the "Nagayana" series. In this series, Nagraj is travelling around the world to fight and eliminate terrorism. "World Terrorism Series" is being written by Mr. Nitin Mishra.

Narak Nashak Nagraj

Raj Comics By Sanjay Gupta

In October 2020, Raj Comics had a split and got divided into 3 different entities. One being Raj Comics By Sanjay Gupta and other being Raj Comics By Manoj Gupta, and Raj Comics By Manish Gupta.

Amazing friends of Nagraj

Nagayana

It was first intended to be a four-part mini-series, but later, the series was extended to include more issues. It's a story based on a hypothetical future world casting Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva 25 years into the future. Largely based on Hindu epic Ramayana, the story narrowly follows the same storyline as of the epic, but with Raj Comics characters filling in the places of original characters. The reason for the extension of the mini-series was to tell various sub-plots and the series was finally declared to be an eight-part series. The last part is Iti Kaand, which is a 128-page issue released on 10 March 2009. The new series is as follows:

Sarvanayak Series

One of the most ambitious series by Raj Comics which is trying to bring almost all the characters by Raj Comics in a single narrative. Sarvanayak series is complemented by another ongoing series 'Sarvnayak Vistar' which also features Vishwarakshak Nagraj. The comics in Sarvanayak Vistar series are as follows -

Special Comics

A free special comics of Nagraj under the title ' Nagraj Strikes: The Attack of Coronaman' with serial no. #Covid-19 was launched on Facebook page to raise awareness about the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. The comics had art by Aswin Amarnath R and story by Manoj Gupta and Ayush Gupta.

Alternate media

Numerous attempts have been made by Raj Comics to expand Nagraj into other media. However most attempts have been unfruitful. In the late 1990s, Raj Comics tried adapting Nagraj into a live-action television show in India. A few episodes were shot. However, the show never made it to the television screen. The three episodes that were made are available on CDs, which were distributed freely as an attachment to digest-sized comic editions. (Khalnayak Nagraj, Samraat, and Saudangi). Nagraj was also set to feature in a proposed animated television series. Once again the show never made it to the television screen. An episodic series was in works, and a teaser was uploaded on YouTube featuring Nagraj and his arch enemy Jadugar Shakoora. However, since then there has been no news about the series. It is assumed that production has stopped because the production company Rtoonz's website has since disappeared. In November 2007, an agreement was signed between Motion Picture Corporation and Raj Comics to produce a high quality 2D Movie featuring Nagraj. Also in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2021, five animated films based on Nagraj were released. They were written by the RSS Brothers and directed by Shashikanth Ramawat. Three of the films finally aired on Cartoon Network India in 2015 while the last two aired on that channel in 2019 and 2021. The films' names were My Name is Raj: Raj aur Asudama Ki Ladal, My Name is Raj: Raj Ki Nayi Chunatiyaan, My Name is Raj: Attack of the Demons, My Name is Raj: Vizukama Ki Tazar, and My Name is Raj: Return of Zohak. In all of the films, Shekar Ramwat starred as Raj. It was, however, reported in 2019, that Indian actor Ranveer Singh could play Nagraj, in a film produced by Karan Johar. Raj Comics president Manoj Gupta also expressed his happiness on the same. In February 2020 Bhojpuri star Yash announced on his birthday that he will make movie on issue no.71 Nagraj Aur vishkanya Starring Yash as nagraj while Nidhi raj will play Vishkanya as main antagonist. Its first look was shared on web platform gaining positive feedback.