Kraven the Hunter
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Contents |
Facts
- Debut:The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Aug 1964)
- Powers: Superhuman senses, strength, speed, stamina, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance, endurance
Slowed aging process,
Master marksman.
Summary
Kraven the Hunter is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of Spider-Man. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964)
The original Kraven the Hunter was Sergei Kravinoff, a famous big game hunter who was obsessed with proving himself the ultimate hunter, by capturing Spider-Man, a premise likely inspired by the classic Richard Connell short story The Most Dangerous Game (especially because both Kraven and the villain of that story were Russian.)
Kraven finally completed his ultimate objective in the 1987 storyline "Kraven's Last Hunt" and, having no further goals, committed suicide. Since then, two of his sons have taken-up his mantle and mission but have proven inept compared to their father.
The Sergei Kravinoff version of Kraven the Hunter has appeared in several Spider-Man animated series.
character biography
Sergei Kravinoff was born in Stalingrad, Russia. As Kraven, he was a maniacal big game hunter who sought to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he was the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdained the use of guns or bow and arrows, preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands, even though he often made elaborate preparations to weaken a quarry beforehand. He also used a mystical serum to give him similar strength to Spider-Man, but even without the serum he was a threat to the wall-crawler. Spider-Man proved a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimated the superhero's resourcefulness.
For a time he gave up hunting Spider-Man, but his manipulative lover, Calypso, tricked him into believing Spider-Man set his caged animals free. Goading Kraven into resuming his pursuit, both she and Kraven were arrested. Convinced he would never be worthy of Calypso's love until he humbled Spider-Man, Kraven once again hunted the wallcrawler. This time, Calypso muted Spider-Man's spider-sense while the two battled. When Kraven realized Calypso had drugged Spider-Man with a hallucinogenic dart, he stopped the fight out of honor. The police captured the two again.
In the acclaimed story by JM DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt," his aggravation with his inability to run the superhero down further destroyed his sanity. With that, he hatched a scheme that defeated Spider-Man, and seemingly and uncharacteristically shot him dead. Considering his enemy effectively dead, Kraven buried him. After this, Kraven donned a copy of Spider-Man's costume and sought to prove that he was superior at his enemy's activities. This culminated with his successful singlehanded capture of a minor supervillain, Vermin, whom Spider-Man needed the help of Captain America to defeat. After that triumph, Spider-Man revived from the tranquilizer dart he was shot with and dug his way out of the grave. Kraven greeted him and explained that he had made his point about defeating his enemy. Then he released Vermin and told Spider-Man to pursue him. At this point, having no further purpose, Kraven committed suicide while Spider-Man captured the villain on his own.Amazing Spider-Man #294
Sometime after Kraven's death, he would return as a ghost in the graphic novel Amazing Spider-Man: Soul Of The Hunter, with it being revealed to Spider-Man by Death that he and Kraven share a spiritual bond and that due to his suicide, Kraven cannot rest in peace. It is only be defeating and destroying Kraven's reanimated corpse that Spider-Man is able to free his soul from the mortal world and allow it to ascend to the afterlife.
Kraven's allegiances and relatives in life were, for the most part, revealed only after his death. The Chameleon was the person who initially gave Kraven the idea of hunting Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #15. After Kraven died, the Chameleon was revealed to be Dmitri Smerdyakov, Kraven's half-brother, personal servant, and the victim of Kraven's abuse, and yet, according to Smerdyakov, the two were best friends nonetheless. Kraven's lover, the voodoo priestess Calypso, manipulated the Lizard against the wall-crawler in the first issues of Todd McFarlane's best-selling Spider-Man series. It was later revealed in a story arc concerning Ka-Zar that Kraven was trained as a hunter largely by a mysterious man named Gregor, a mercenary who battled the Lord of the Jungle.
Legacy
Kraven has since had two sons take up his role. There was a third son as well, Ned Tannengarden, who tried to kill Alyosha, but was murdered by the Chameleon (who believed himself to be the original Kraven at that point).
Vladimir Kravinoff
Template:Main Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name "The Grim Hunter" and decided to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes. He only had one battle with Spider-Man, and his methods were nearly the same as his father's. He was briefly involved with the Hobgoblin, even giving that incarnation (Jason Macendale) his father's super strength formula which reacted to the anomalies in his bloodstream which gave him greater power and is perhaps the reason why Vladimir became more powerful than his father when he took the treatment. When he got out of jail, he decided to track Spider-Man down again, only to fight the Scarlet Spider instead. Kaine, a clone of Spider-Man arrived, and after a confrontation, Vladimir was killed by the insane duplicate. Vladimir apparently reappeared in the Wolverine/Black Cat miniseries, Claws, but it turned out to be a life model decoy.
Alyosha Kravinoff
Template:Main Some time after the death of Vladimir, his half brother, Alyosha Kravinoff (or "Al Kraven"), became the newest Kraven. During his tenure as the Hunter, he is manipulated by Calypso. He ultimately kills her, then joins The Sandman's reformed Sinister Six.
Sandman ends up betraying Venom, who decides to hunt down the members of the Six. Sandman and Electro are attacked and injured. Venom is surprised at how long Kraven lasts, but ultimately the hunter is defeated and almost disemboweled. Spider-Man saves Kraven, Venom escapes.
Shortly after, he retires from the supervillain scene, and decides to become a Hollywood star and semi-superhero. He was prominently featured in the Beyond! miniseries which takes place after his Hollywood career begins. In it, he is captured, alongside Spider-Man, Venom, Medusa and many other superheroes. Alyosha is a mutant who inherited his mother's mutant ability to communicate with and control animals, and retained his superhuman powers after the M-Day.
There is reason to believe that this character is named for one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov: Kraven's ally the Chameleon was born Dmitri Smerdyakov. Dmitri and Smerdyakov are two of the Karamazov brothers, and it is unlikely that the occurrence of all three names in the mythos surrounding Kraven is simply coincidental.
Powers and abilities
By ingesting mystical potions, Kraven and his heirs are able to gain various superhuman physical capabilities. These same potions also slow the aging process, for example, at the time of the original Kraven's death he was over 70 years old and he appeared to be in the prime of his life, though age was beginning to affect him.
Kraven's physical senses, strength, speed, stamina, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance, and endurance are heightened to superhuman levels. Kraven and his heirs more or less constantly ingest these potions and herbs, so they normally have these abilities, but without the effects of these potions they still possess physical abilities of the level of an Olympic athlete.
Aside from the augmentation of the mystical herbs, the original Kraven was a brilliant tactician and gifted hunter and tracker. He was a master of many forms of armed and unarmed combat. He was very familiar with medicine and with exotic poisons and tranquilizers. His sons also possess(ed) knowledge in these areas.
Alternate versions
Marvel Zombies
A zombified Kraven is shown in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days alongside the rest of the Sinister Six, all of them undead. When the Silver Surfer flies around the planet, Kraven can be seen in one panel.
Spider-Ham
In What The--?! #3 Kraven appears as a raven called Raven the Hunter.
Ultimate Kraven
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Sergei Kravinoff is an Australian and the host of his own reality show in which he hunts down dangerous animals, obviously paralleling The Crocodile Hunter.
He intended to hunt and kill Spider-Man on live TV in order to boost his ratings. When he finally confronts Spider-Man, he was knocked out with a single punch (revealing that he is a fraud), only to be arrested by the police moments later.
His defeat was captured on live television and after this public humiliation his show is cancelled.
In the Ultimate Six story arc, Kraven genetically tampers with his DNA, allowing him to become a gruesome werewolf-like monster. He did this to be able to get revenge on Spider-Man and to try to get his show uncancelled.
Unfortunately he was arrested by the Ultimates for illegal genetic tampering before he could face Spider-Man. They imprison him with Spider-Man's other genetically altered enemies Electro, Sandman, Doctor Octopus, and the Green Goblin.
After their escape he joins them in a plot to regain their permanent freedom. Unfortunately their plan fails and it ends with a big showdown between the Six and the Ultimates. Kraven, on the cusp of attacking Spider-Man, gets hit by one of Thor's thunderbolts and is recaptured by SHIELD. He mentions that his battle with Peter Parker (Spider-Man) lost him his wife and job.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, Kraven can be seen advertised on certain billboards around the the city.
In other media
The Marvel Superheroes Show
Kraven's first on-screen appearance pre-dates Spider-Man's own show (on which he never appeared), appearing in 1966 on one of the Iron Man episodes of The Marvel Superheroes Show, entitled "Cliffs of Doom".
The Incredible Hulk
Although never identified as Kraven, a character with remarkable similarities to him appeared on an episode of the live-action "Incredible Hulk" series, entitled "The Snare". The story was similarly based on "The Most Dangerous Game" as Kraven himself was in the comics.
Spider-Man (1981)
Kraven's next official appearance was on the 1981 Spider-Man series, in an episode called "The Hunter and the Hunted", which also featured Ka-Zar.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Also in 1981, Kraven appeared on the first-season episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends "The Crime Of All Centuries", where he was voiced by Robert Ridgely.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Kraven also appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series played by Gregg Berger. In this series, Kraven has a more heroic personality than he did in the comics. He had a fiancee named Dr. Mariah Crawford. Seigei Kravinoff became Kraven the Hunter when Crawford uses a serum on him to save his life after an animal attack, which causes him to become insane. In the end of his debut episode, Kravinoff was cured by Spider-Man to prevent him from attacking innocent people. In Morbius, he makes a cameo when Dr. Crawford calls him from New York to Africa about Spider-Man having his disease mutated. In Duel of the Hunters, a mutative disease turned Spider-Man into the spider-like monster, Man-Spider, which went on a Hulk-like rampage, and Kraven was sent to track him down. His hunt was initially interrupted by Punisher, who wanted to kill Spider-Man, but they eventually work together to track down Spider-Man and restore his human form. In The Return of Kraven, he came back to New York to cure Dr. Crawford when she took the serum that made Kravinoff became Kraven, turning her into Calypso. In the end, Kraven cured Crawford to prevent her from attacking innocent people under the influence of the serum.
Spider-Man Unlimited
In the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series, a similar character named The Hunter, who hunts humans appeared. The Hunter was hired by Sir Ram to hunt down Spider-Man. In doing so he kidnapped Karen O'Malley as bait for capturing Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
In the MTV Spider-Man animated series, Kraven was voiced by Michael Dorn. His role in the series was he killed the Gaines wife and husband by poisoning them with a serum. However, the couple spawned two fraternal children, Roxanne and Roland, who got hypnotizing powers from the affects of the serum. The Gaines Twins could not use their powers on Kraven (as his senses were too keen for their abilities). In Mind Games: Part One, the Twins hypnotized Spider-Man into thinking Kraven killed Mary Jane Watson and the Twins used this moment to have Spider-Man kill Kraven. In Mind Games: Part Two, Spider-Man and Kraven fought inside a warehouse in which Spider-Man almost kills Kraven by hanging him. Luckily, Spider-Man snaps out of the hypnosis and spares Kraven's life in time, learning Kraven didn't kill Mary Jane and the criminal was sent back to jail.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
Kraven will appear alongside Calypso in an episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man
Video games
- In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, an ad for Kraven's TV show can be seen on billboards and the sides of bus-stops.
- He appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six.
- Kraven appeared in the Xbox version of Spider-Man: The Movie as a boss villain. He poisons Spider-Man with a toxic gas and puts him in a maze, forcing Spider-Man to avoid various traps- and Kraven's attempts to shoot him- as he is weakened by the poison. After the maze level Spider-Man fights Kraven for the cure and, despite Kraven's use of a strength-enhancing potion that makes him pretty much invulnerable to physical attack, eventually, Spidey wins, putting Kraven in jail for his crimes.
He also appeared in the Game Boy Advance version of the game as a mercenary working for Norman Osborn. He first fights Spider-Man in a ship's hold, and is relatively easy to beat. He appears again later in a funhouse at Coney Island, where he demonstrates all his abilities and is even harder to defeat than he was before. He refers to Spider-Man as "Man-Spider" until his second defeat, when he finally says the name right and informs Spidey that the Goblin knows where Mary Jane lives, and decides to wait for the police out of respect for Spider-Man.
- Kraven also appears as a boss in the video game Spider-Man 3 voiced by Neil Kaplan. He is hunting both The Lizard and Spider-Man. He uses potions to enhance his abilities with additional strength and speed, these potions briefly creating short-lived clones of himself or giving him the abilities of a bear]], an eagle and a leopard (In the last form, Kraven can also turn invisible).