As originally introduced, Farouk was a human mutant from Egypt who used his vast telepathic abilities for evil, taking the alias Shadow King.

Created by writer Chris Claremont and illustrator/co-writer John Byrne, the character the Shadow King first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979) as the telepathic mutant Amahl Farouk.

[3] The Shadow King was known as Amahl Farouk in 1931, working for two of Adolf Hitler's special agents (Wolfgang von Strucker and Geist).

When Farouk conducted a mystical ceremony, he accidentally brought back Phoenix Force host Rachel Summers and her teammate Shadowcat (also known as Kitty Pryde).

Although Farouk was going to sacrifice Kinross to demons in return for a spell which would annihilate the British monarchy, he was interrupted by Kitty and his crystal knife shattered.

[5] Farouk became a crime lord in Egypt, controlling Cairo's Thieves Quarter, where a young Charles Xavier's pocket was picked by the child Ororo Munroe.

[8] The Shadow King used the Gladiators to abduct Magma and Sunspot, forcing them to fight in an arena until teammates Cannonball and Magik, along with Shadowcat and Dazzler, tried to rescue them.

[12] The Shadow King resurfaced during the "Muir Island Saga" many years later in the body of deceased FBI agent Jacob Reisz when Storm had been sent back to childhood by the Nanny and woke up with amnesia.

He tried to turn her into his Shadow Queen, but Psylocke, unaware of who he was, threatened him with her psi-blade but ended using it on Jean instead, returning her to the physical world; however, they could not remember the details of the encounter and his identity was not yet compromised.

Archangel, Colossus, Cyclops, and Storm joined Jean in the astral plane to help Xavier, unaware of Legion's body nearby.

After attacking one of her relatives, Psylocke took Storm to the astral plane to fight "Ananasi" only to find the villagers’ minds set up in a distinct pattern.

This caused a chain reaction that cripples the entire psionic plan itself, damaging the collective subconscious of every being on Earth (the basis of the psi-plane) as well as all psi-sensitive in the corporeal world.

Humans experienced déjà vu, nightmares, migraines or nosebleeds, and those born with psionic, telepathic or intuitive abilities were maimed; Jean and Nate Grey, Cable, Emma Frost, Chamber and Bianca LaNiege were devastated.

Strange and Spider-Man were also affected while Psylocke is left as a discombobulated mess, as "Ananasi" reveals himself to be the Shadow King, now free of any opposition on the Psionic Plane.

However Farouk saw through the ruse; Psylocke sent the X-Men to the physical world and takes the fight directly to the Shadow King, who stretches his powers to the maximum to infect every mind on Earth.

Psylocke is intoxicated by the power, but keeps her focus and discovers that the Shadow King has left his nexus, the soul of every person on the Psionic Plane, exposed as his body unravels to reach every mind.

[27] The Shadow King gave a reporter photographs of Warren killing the military, forcing the squad to apprehend their teammate and seek help from Dark Beast.

[28] As Farouk, the Shadow King appeared as a member of Daken's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (consisting of Sabretooth, Mystique, Skinless Man, the Blob from Earth-295, and the Omega Clan) in a plot to attack the X-Force.

The Brotherhood unsuccessfully planned to compel Evan to put on Apocalypse armor, make the Shadow King control him and destroy Jean Grey's school.

He began targeting psychics to build a web in order to escape the Astral Plane and the first one was Psylocke, who fell prey to him and would have released him if not for the intervention of Rogue, Old Man Logan, Warren, Bishop, Gambit and Fantomex.

Knowing now that others psychics can fall prey too, Psylocke sends to the Astral Plane her teammates in order to defeat the Shadow King, unaware that he had changed, now half-human half-spider and is waiting for them.

X erased the memories of all of the X-Men involved in his return save for Psylocke so she could watch over him in case the Shadow King wasn't truly gone from his mind.

Having been born in Egypt Eyalet, to a merchant trader, during the sixteenth century, Amahl Farouk is a mutant whose psychic powers emerged at a young age.

With his father dead and the market gone, the young mutant had nothing to tether him to the city until he was approached by the Shadow King, who promised the boy a chance to never be alone again.

There, Amahl Farouk, clearly still possessed by the Shadow King, awaits them to listening intently to the young X-Men and doubtlessly planning something sinister for the youngest mutants.

[40] In time, the Shadow King sets his plans in motion and begins seducing several young mutants who are unsure of themselves, including Gabrielle Kinney and Rahne Sinclair.

[44] Originally presented as a telepathic mutant second only to Professor X, the Shadow King is truly a multi-universal ethereal entity extending into each reality as a tendril of its larger self.

[47] The Shadow King was the first to sense the presence of Nate Grey, forcing Apocalypse to send Domino and her Bounty Hunters to capture or kill him.

[49] When Angel's assistant Karma was captured by Apocalypse's servants, the Shadow King psychically tortured her into revealing the location of Magneto's X-Men.

[57] After returning in the present-day, he subtly manipulated Storm's dreams, causing Ororo to write down her inflicted visions in an online play called "The Shadow King".