Biography[]
Alyosha Kravinoff, an illegitimate mutant son of the infamous Kraven the Hunter, was separated from his family and raised in an African jungle. After Kraven's suicide, Alyosha came to New York to investigate the father he barely knew. Dressed as Kraven, Alyosha confronted his uncle Dmitri (The Chameleon). Believing his abusive half-brother had returned from the dead, the Chameleon revealed to Alyosha much about the dysfunctional Kravinoff family. Kraven's former lover, Calypso Ezili, did actually return from the dead, and she mistook Alyosha for Kraven. She seduced Alyosha, but afterwards he spurned her affections. Later, riding a bull elephant atop Manhattan's rooftops, Alyosha attacked Spider-Man; he poisoned him with a hallucinogenic dart, but then set him free. While at the Kravinoff estate, Alyosha was learning about his father from Spider-Man when Calypso returned with Kraven's tribesmen; she set the home ablaze and killed all but one animal, Gulyadkin the lion. Calypso poisoned Alyosha and Spider-Man and used her hypnotic powers to force the two to fight to the death. Spider-Man resisted and injured Calypso, while Alyosha subdued her with his lion. Despite asking for her forgiveness, Alyosha savagely killed Calypso and all the tribesmen. He was later hired by the city of New York to help capture the Fantastic Four's enigmatic enormous canid Puppy. Next, he was hired by the White Wolf, head of the deposed Wakandan secret police, to capture the Black Panther. The Black Panther turned the battle around, nearly killing Alyosha. The Sandman later invited Alyosha to join the Insidious Six to hunt Doctor Octopus and Senator Ward, host body for the alien Z'nox. Venom, slighted at his rejection by the Six, hunted each of the team members. Refusing to be "the hunted," Alyosha trapped Venom with fire, but Venom seriously injured him and escaped. Alyosha then adopted a more relaxed personality as a suave, witty ladies' man. As "Al," he began dating Timber Hughes, an aspiring actress who waitressed at an all-villain bar. Al sought to help Timber's career in Hollywood by becoming a director. Despite celebrity connections, Al's efforts were stonewalled by arrogance, greed, and corruption within the Hollywood elite. Forced out of Hollywood by the powerful Rothstein brothers, Al is beaten while Timber was brutally raped. Both Al and Timber exacted vengeance; defeated another half-brother, Ned; and left Hollywood to pursue heroics in New York City. Alyosha is one of few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after the M-Day. Alyosha Kraven later eventually becomes fully deranged from experimenting with his father's potions, and in his madness began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans, including Bushmaster II, Gargoyle II, Tiger Shark, Kangaroo II, Black Knight's former horse Aragorn, Vulture, Mongoose, Man-Bull, Dragon Man, Swarm, Mandrill, Grizzly, Leap-Frog II, and Rhino. In the end, the Punisher, whom Kraven referred to as "Tiny Monkey" managed to sabotage this zoo. Kraven himself escapes to the Savage Land. There did seem to be some increase to at least some of his powers, since he was shown using his "animal communication telepathy" to actually control his prisoners to some extent, (and only after they had been dehumanized and had embraced their more animal natures), none the less this seemed to suggest quite a powerful increase of his telepathic powers. It could be argued that his other powers were increased too simply by the fact that many of the super powered individuals were extremely powerful themselves and would have been extremely hard to capture at his former power level, this is of course speculative at best though.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Alyosha is a mutant that possesses various superhuman attributes, most of which are similar to those possessed by his father. It is possible that Kraven's frequent ingestion of his herbal potion to grant himself his powers is responsible for Alyosha's mutation.
Superhuman Strength: Alyosha's muscles, skeletal structure and connective tissues are naturally augmented to levels well beyond the physical limits of a man of his height, weight and build. As a result, he possesses superhuman strength sufficient to lift up to 1 ton.
Superhuman Speed: Alyosha is able to run and move at speeds beyond the natural limits of the finest human specimen. Like his father, he is able to reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour over short distances.
Superhuman Stamina: Alyosha's augmented musculature is more efficient than that of an ordinary human. As a result, his muscles produce less fatigue toxins during physical activity. At his peak, he can exert himself for up to several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood starts to impair him.
Superhuman Durability: Alyosha's bodily tissues are tougher, more resilient and more resistant to various forms of injury than those of ordinary humans. In particular, he can withstand great impact and blunt forces. He can withstand impacts, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck with superhuman force, that would severely injure or kill a normal human while sustaining little to no injury himself.
Superhuman Agility: Alyosha's agility, balance and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human specimen.
Superhuman Reflexes: His reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.
Superhumanly Acute Senses: Alyosha's possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. He can see objects at a much greater distance, and with greater clarity, than normal humans. He retains this same level of clarity in near-total darkness. His hearing is similarly enhanced and he can detect normal sounds at greater distances. He can also detect sounds that are too high pitch for normal human ears. Alyosha's sense of smell is even more highly developed, enabling him to recognize and track targets by scent in much the same way as a wolf or dog might do.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Alyosha's accelerated metabolism grants him an accelerated healing factor that allows him to heal damaged tissue much faster and more extensively than a normal human. Injuries such as punctures or slashes fully heal within a matter of minutes while more severe injuries, such as broken bones, might require a few days to fully mend. It isn't known if he can regrow severed limbs or missing organs. It also isn't known if his healing abilities grant him increased resistance to disease, nor if it also grants him an extended lifespan.
Animal Communication: Alyosha has demonstrated the ability to communicate with animals, though the full nature of this power is unknown. It is possible that this is some form of psionic power, though it isn't known if he can only communicate with certain types of animals.
- Recently Kraven has been experimenting with his fathers serum, which is what his father used to give himself the powers which made him become the original "Kraven The Hunter". To what level this serum has effected his already mutant physiology is unknown however his animal telepathy seems to have increased significantly enough to allow him to control humans under extreme circumstances when they have embraced their animal natures. It is also important to note that the serum has taken a toll on Kraven's mental state, possibly making him delusional.
Abilities[]
Even without his augmented senses, Alyosha is a highly skilled hunter and tracker. He has also demonstrated formidable skills in both armed and unarmed combat. He is particularly skilled with using conventional firearms and older weapons such as blow guns, spears, axes, etc.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
For a time, Alyosha wore his father's lion vest, with embedded electro-shock circuitry. Recently, while battling the Punisher he was shown using a powerful teleportation device he kept hidden on his person, however the full extent of its nature was not revealed.
Weapons[]
Alyosha utilizes various weapons including poison darts, axes, spears, whips, guns, and nets.
Notes[]
- He travels with his pet wolf, Nickel, and occasionally other exotic animals.