Killraven

Origin

Killraven was born in the alternative Earth-691, sharing his timeline with the Guardians of the Galaxy. While his Earth was attacked by the Martian Masters most of the superheroes removed themselves from the struggle seeing it as impossible to win. As the Masters took over the world, men not used as breeders or collaborators were trained and forced to battle gladiator-style for the Martians' amusement; women were used as breeders to supply infants, eaten by the Martians as a delicacy. It was in the gladiatorial pits that Jonathan Raven earned the name of Killraven.

Creation

Killraven was created by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams and first appeared in Amazing Adventures issue 18 (1973).

Major Story Arcs

The Rebellion

After a failed escape attempt, a human collaborator by the name of Keeper Whitman was given the task of rehabilitating Killraven. Whitman was secretly working against the Martians, though, and used the opportunity to genetically alter Raven, giving him the ability seize mental control of Martians before helping him to escape. While traveling through the planet during the 2020 era he encountered the cyborg Skar and several experimented humans. After learning that his brother, Joshua, was still alive and fighting the Master's slaves alongside a time-traveling Spider-Man, the Freemen (the gang that Killraven formed) set out in pursuit of them. Upon reaching the Everglades, they encounter Mourning Prey. Soon after this Killraven later found that Deathraven had become a Martian collaborator. After his brother exposed his true colours (and species), Killraven was forced to face Joshua to save the lives of his free men as several Martian Masters looked on.

Jonathan could not bring himself to fight Deathraven, though, taking a violent beating in the process. Realizing the the lives of his friends were at stake and that he couldn't beat Joshua on his own, Raven used his mental powers to take control of one of the Martian Masters observing the fight and forced it to violently attack and then eat the remains of his brother.

A new home: Earth X

Later, a plague killed most of the Masters and Killraven was found by X-51, the Machine Man who made him part of his Heralds, a team consisting of Hyperion, Wolverine, Iron Man 2020, Spider-Girl, Deathlok and Bloodstorm who were to be sent out into the Multiverse to warn other realities of the Celestial embryos growing in their cores. He would briefly become infatuated with Earth-1124's Sat-Yr-9 and temporarily leave the Heralds before discovering that she was an alien, whom he put to death.

After reuniting with his friends, the Heralds saved Uatu the Watcher from his people and promptly traveled to Earth-9997 where he remained for a short time until he met with the Guradians of the Galaxy, who had come from his future and showed him that the good fight would continue on into the future. After parting ways with his friends, Killraven returned home to help his world rebuild.

Powers/Abilities

Killraven is an expert combatant and swordsman, having spent years honing his fighting skills in the Martian Gladiatorial pits. After genetic modifications by Keeper Whitman, Raven attained the ability to mentally take command of a Martian's body. He also possessed natural leadership skills and the keen instincts necessary for survival on a post-apocalyptic world.

Statistics

Height: 6 ft 1 inch

Weight: 185 lbs

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Red

Nationality: British

Occupation: Gladiator, Freedom Fighter

Family: Maureen Raven (mother, deceased), Joshua Raven (Deathraven, brother, deceased)

Alternative Realities

Earth-9930

Killraven and Black Panther were part of this line of Avengers.

Earth-2120

The plague never killed the Masters and he still fought for the human liberation.

Earth-7305

Killraven was Captain Britain under the name Will Of The People

Earth-616 (MI 13 and Wisdom)

In this reality, Maureen Raven is an MI-13 agent who works alongside Pete Wisdom. One of the Martian Masters learned that her child, Jonathan, would one day become Killraven and managed to find a way to use her mind as a portal through which they could enter 616 (it is unclear if they were aware that they were entering a different dimension, or if they thought that they were simply traveling back in time to preemptively kill Jonathan). As a result of this Pete was forced to kill her. While alive, Maureen demonstrated the ability to take over people's minds, suggesting that Jonathan's mind control ability may have been due to a latent X-Gene, or that Keeper Whitman altered his potential power to affect Martians instead of humans. The young Killraven was later brought to a secure location and was now being trained under the guidance of Shang Chi, the master of kung fu. He acts as his teacher and guardian.