―Ka-Zar
History[]
Early Life[]
Kevin Plunder was the eldest son of the British nobleman and scientist, Lord Robert Plunder. He was born at Plunder Castle, Kentish Town, London in the United Kingdom. His father Lord Plunder, while searching for an undiscovered element he believed existed in nature, discovered the hidden jungle in Antarctica that became known as the Savage Land. There, he confirmed his theories by discovering the Anti-Metal (later determined to be an isotope of Vibranium), a substance that can destroy the molecular bonds of any known metal. Lord Plunder returned to his native England to find his wife had passed away in his absence. Realizing his own mortality, he locked away a sizable sample of the Anti-Metal he had brought back, and fashioned a small fragment of it into a medallion that could be used as a "key" to unleash its power. He then split the key in two, giving half to each of his two sons, Kevin and Parnival, as their inheritance.
Becoming Ka-Zar[]
When word of Lord Plunder's discovery leaked out, agents of an unscrupulous power tried to wrestle from him the Anti-Metal's location. Saved from the agents by the arrival of his armed butler Willis, Lord Plunder decided to see to his sons' safety. While Parnival was sent into hiding with Willis, he and Kevin sought refuge in the Savage Land. There Lord Plunder took his son to the mound of Anti-Metal, unaware they were being stalked by the native Maa-Gor and his tribe of barbaric Man-Apes. The Man-Apes slew Lord Plunder but, as they grabbed Kevin, they were attacked by Zabu, the last of a species of saber-toothed tiger the Man-Apes had hunted to virtual extinction. Immediately forming an empathic bond, Zabu and the boy fled to the Land of Mists, a region where the Man-Apes refused to set foot. The incident soon passed into the Man-Apes' legends, and the boy was given the name "Ka-Zar," which means "son of the tiger." In the Land of Mists, the boy grew to manhood, with his saber-toothed companion protecting him from all dangers. From Zabu, Ka-Zar learned the ways of the flora and fauna of the entire Savage Land. Upon reaching maturity, Ka-Zar failed in his attempts to make peace with the Man-Apes and was drawn into battle. At the battle's end, the whole tribe of Man-Apes had been killed with the exception of their leader Maa-Gor.
X-Men[]
First Encounter[]
Ka-Zar first encountered the X-Men who traveled to Antarctica to investigate the Savage Land believing Ka-Zar to be a mutant. They were attacked by the Swamp Men who easily got the drop on them, knocking most of their numbers out with swamp gas and kidnapped Jean Grey. Witnessing the battle, Ka-Zar went to the X-Men's rescue with the aid of his tiger Zabu, where he agreed to help them free their friend from the Swamp Men. The Swamp People also captured Angel who was scouting the land from the air and brought back to their village. The Swamp People then brought them to the top of a hill where they were to be sacrificed to a deadly Tyrannosaurus Rex. The X-Men and Ka-Zar broke into the village, and Jean managed to compose herself to use her telekinetic powers to trip up the T-Rex and free herself and Angel. Able to fly away, Warren grabbed Jean and the two of them joined their comrades in battle. Smashing through the defenses, Ka-Zar helped the X-Men dodge the Swamp Men's death traps and called a herd of Woolly Mammoths to smash through the wooden fence that surrounded the village. Ka-Zar and the X-Men made short work of the Swamp Men, sending them fleeing into the jungle in defeat.
The Creator[]
While searching for the body of Dr. Karl Lykos, who had presumably commited suicide, Angel flies down and finds once again the cavern that leads to the Savage Land, where he is attacked by Pterodactyls. Struck by one of the dinosaurs, Warren plummets to the prehistoric jungle below. The fall is near-fatal, and the dying Warren is found by a frog-like humanoid named Amphibious and his master, Magneto, who was posing as a man called the "Creator". He pronounces that Angel is dead and believes that even death is not reversible by his own science.
Elsewhere, the X-Men have their own dinosaur troubles while searching for the body of Karl Lykos. They are then visited by their old ally Ka-Zar, who demands that they be silent. When Iceman annoyingly encases Ka-Zar's pointed hand with ice, this causes the lord of the Savage Land to lash out. Ka-Zar briefly spars with Beast until the fight is broken off by the arrival of Ka-Zar's trusted sabertooth tiger, Zabu. Deciding that his fight is with others, Ka-Zar darts off into the jungle with Zabu, with the curious X-Men following after him. They witness as Ka-Zar attacks one of the Creator's Mutates leading the Swamp Men with a number of captured members of the Water People Tribe. When the X-Men see that the Mutates have super-powers, they jump into the battle, lending Ka-Zar a much-needed hand.
Meanwhile, the Creator uses his cryogenic devices to attempt to revive Warren back to life. The experiment is a success and Warren is brought back from the brink of death. When the Creator is informed that Ka-Zar had attacked him with the X-Men's aid, he tells Warren that Ka-Zar has become a killer who impedes his work. Owing his life to the Creator, Warren agrees to help him fight off Ka-Zar's attacking forces even if it means fighting his own comrades in the X-Men.
Back at the battle between Ka-Zar, the X-Men, and the Swamp People, the heroes defeat the Swamp People and Ka-Zar allows them to flee. Leading the X-Men onward, he overhears the music played by the Mutate the Piper, whose music calls forth a sea beast to attack them. While the X-Men keep the creature busy, Ka-Zar and Zabu locate Piper and silence him, while the X-Men easily defeat the monster.
When Warren mentions having met the Creator, Ka-Zar attacks him and demands answers, however, the X-Men try to break up the fight, prompting Ka-Zar and Zabu to flee to pursue the Creator on their own. Angel quickly explains how the Creator saved him from death and he claims that Ka-Zar is in the wrong. Following after the king of the Savage Land, they see the Mutate Gaza get the drop on Ka-Zar. Trying to break up the fight, the X-Men are attacked by Amphibious and an army of savages loyal to the Creator. With Amphibious ordering the X-Men and Ka-Zar's death, the X-Men realize that the Creator is not as benevolent as they originally thought and mount a counterattack.
Feeling guilty over almost siding with a murderer, Angel decides to face the Creator on his own and flies off into his citadel. There he is confronted by the Creator, who reveals that he is really Magneto. He turns Warren's attention to a glowing sphere, and something within shocks Warren.
Outside, the X-Men and Ka-Zar have finished off the last of their opposition and storm the Creator's citadel. They burst through the fence to find wolves on the other side waiting for them; however, they are fended off by Zabu. Entering the base, the X-Men confront Magneto and a battle ensues. With the help of Marvel Girl, the X-Men get the upper hand and Cyclops is able to destroy Magneto's machines, with the villain escaping amid the explosions.
Once the threat ends, Ka-Zar wonders who could live with such fantastic powers when they would potentially bring them nothing but fear and loathing from normal humans, the Beast responds for the whole group by saying the X-Men can.
The X-Men would encounter Ka-Zar in adventures again multiple times when returning to the Savage Land.
Attributes[]
Powers[]
Savage Land Connection: After being saved from near-death by being submerged in waters imbued with blood from the Savage Land's Man-Thing, Ka-Zar became connected to the essence of the Savage Land, a link shared by Shanna the She-Devil. In Shanna's case, this link enhanced her physiology to superhuman levels, and also granted her instinctive knowledge of the languages and history of the Savage Land and its people. Kevin showed he can manipulate the odd faunal aspects of the Savage Land within himself; being able to mimic the aspects of different animals living there. Either to physically augment himself enough to catapult a 8-9ton T-Rex over 50miles with his bare hands or even discharge an animal-themed dynamic force with an emission output akin to nuclear detonation.
Power Cosmic: After being trapped by the Iron Inquisitor in an alternate reality's pre-history, Ka-Zar struck up a bargain with that timeline's Galactus, becoming his herald and being bestowed the Power Cosmic.
Abilities[]
Near-Superhuman Condition: Although Ka-Zar once claimed he was endowed with superhuman strength by the vapors in the Land of Mists, this is not true. Ka-Zar possesses no superhuman physical powers, but his near-superhuman athletic, hunting, foraging, and combative abilities have been honed to superb athletic conditioning, due to spending two-thirds of his life surviving in the wilds of the Savage Land. He has been stated to be a superior fighter to Kraven the Hunter by the man who trained Kraven.
- Near-Superhuman Strength
- Near-Superhuman Endurance
- Master Tactician & Strategist: Ka-Zar has been stated to be highly skilled at tactics, and with his in-depth knowledge of the Savage Land, is virtually unbeatable in his own terrain.
- Multilingual: Ka-Zar was able to understand and communicate with the various tribes of the Savage Land.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
Vibranium Belt Buckle of unknown variation.
Living Fatigues: Shanna provided him with adaptable biowear that enables itself to modulate for environmental & climate shifts to protect it's wearer while trekking through hostile territory.
Weapons[]
While Ka-Zar has a general familiarity with a wide variety of basic weapons, the only one he uses regularly is the large knife he made from native materials. He generally straps the knife to his waist when not in use. He sometimes uses a slingshot, and has at times wielded a bow and arrow.
Time Dagger: A Wakandan-crafted blade with Celestial technology and an A.I. The voice-activated hunting knife was designed to enable temporal traversal at will. Its main functionality was rendered inoperative by the Iron Inquisitor.
Transportation[]
Naturally occurring vines which he swings upon.
Notes[]
- Kevin Plunder is not to be confused with the Golden Age hero of the same name, Ka-Zar, whose real name was David Rand.
Trivia[]
- In his first few appearances, Ka-Zar spoke in broken English, similar to common portrayals of Tarzan. Starting with Amazing Spider-Man #57, he had apparently spent enough time living in Great Britain to learn grammatically correct English.