# Matai Shang — The Gods of Mars character guide

> Matai Shang in The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Matai Shang

**First appearance:** 0010-ix-issus-goddess-of-life-eternal

## Snapshot

Holy Hekkador of the Holy Therns, Master of Life and Death upon Barsoom, whose serene authority masks a faith built on secrets and lies.

## Who they are

Matai Shang rules the Holy Therns as their living pontiff, a figure so exalted that his daughter Phaidor introduces herself by his titles before her own name. He embodies the thern creed of divine privilege — the belief that the lives of lesser Martians exist only to feed the sacred machinery of Issus. His cool certainty that enemies should simply be disposed of, and his willingness to let others do the killing, mark him as a man whose power rests on never having to dirty his own hands.

## In the story

### [The Gods of Mars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_gods_of_mars_se/chapters/the-gods-of-mars)

The leader of the Holy Therns, who interrogates John Carter.

### [A Break for Liberty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_gods_of_mars_se/chapters/xiii-a-break-for-liberty)

Mentioned as the head of the Holy Therns, whose temple connects to Issus via a secret tunnel.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_gods_of_mars_se/characters/matai_shang
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_gods_of_mars_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_gods_of_mars_se/characters