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    King Cobra

    Character » King Cobra appears in 323 issues.

    Dutch criminal with Cobra like powers, who went on as the third leader of The Serpent Society.

    Short summary describing this character.

    King Cobra last edited by SlamAdams on 12/09/23 07:34AM View full history

    Cobra

    Klaus Voorhees was a citizen of the Netherlands whom turned into Cobra when he let a cobra bite him to get away with a murder, afterwards consuming an experimental antidote. Unknown to him however the snake was irradiated in an experiment, and as a result he gained cobra like powers.

    Creation

    King Cobra was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Jouerney into Mystery Volume 1 issue 98 (1963).

    Major Story Arcs

    Career Criminal

    Soon after deciding to start a criminal career, he was stopped by Thor. He then forged an alliance with Mr. Hyde, that continued for a very long time. They faced enemies like Daredevil and Spider-Man. Cobra also joined the Serpent Squad, they helped an Atlantean warlord known as Krang, but Cobra felt out of his element. Soon he again teamed with Mr. Hyde, but this time the partnership didn't last long. Cobra left Hyde behind when escaping Rikers Island. Later, Hyde was hunting him and he feared for his life, with the help of Spider-Man he was able to escape Hyde's wrath.

    Serpent Society

    King Cobra again teamed with others like him, this time it was called the Serpent Society. After several betrayals, Cobra was left the leader of this group. Now feeling like a new man, he decided to face his greatest fear, Mr. Hyde. He fought him face-to-face. After defeating him, he renamed himself King Cobra. He tried to get some order into this group, but it backfired and the group fell apart. King Cobra soon was arrested, and sent to the Vault. When the breakout happened he was among the escapees. A new hero Toxin tracked him down with the help of Mr. Hyde.

    Civil War and Thunderbolts

    When the Superhuman Registration Act went through, King Cobra joined the Thunderbolts.

    The Savage Six

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    Cobra was captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant for a big trophy hunt set up by Kraven the Hunter. Kraven chose villains that were animal themed to punish them for disgracing the animal kingdom. King Cobra was one of six main animal villains that Kraven used to sell rich patrons on the hunt. Arcade, Kraven's partner, referred to them as The Savage Six.

    Once freed after Spider-Man's interfering with Kraven's plan, Vulture liked the sound of the Savage Six and pitched to his other advertised big game baddies (Rhino, Scorpion, Tarantula, and Stegron) that they should stick together. Once together, they made their way to Hollywood to shut down a production of a biographical movie produced by Mysterio that painted them in a less than ideal life. Mary Jane was on set and confronted them to no avail. Luckily, Screwball, Master Matrix, and other supervillains getting a second chance as crew members were there to rescue her.

    Sinister War

    The team gets a second chance to ruin Mysterio's movie by attacking the premiere. Unfortunately, because Mary Jane is starring in it, she was in attendance, with Spider-Man as her plus one. He leapt into action, but his attempt was short lived. The new Sinister Six showed up to recruit Mysterio and did battle with the Savage Six.

    They regroup with other supervillain teams at a graveyard where Spider-Man was hiding. Kindred let them know they were all hellbound and gave them all the same offer, the villain that kills Spider-Man will get a free pass in Hell. Eventually, Doc Ock uses a piece of Black Ant's helmet to knock everyone, including the Savage Six, out through the ear centipedes Kindred was using to control them.

    Other Cobra

    Sano Orii currently employs a super-powered mercenary named Cobra who is not Klaus Voorhees.

    The Cobra possesses certain unusual physical powers derived from his mutagenically altered physiology which among other things help him simulate the movement of a snake. All of the bones in his body, including his skull, are malleable and his muscle tissue is exceedingly resilient, making his body very flexible and pliant. It is nearly impossible for him to break a bone or tear a muscle. Hence, the Cobra can survive impacts that would kill or inflict major injury upon a normal human being with little or no injury to himself.

    The Cobra's flexibility enables him to slither into and out of very tight and small places. Through compressing his body, the Cobra can fit into any hole or slot down to four inches in diameter. By using his flexibility to wrap himself about a victim's body and then exerting his full strength, the Cobra traps that victim within his "Cobra Grip." No normal human being can break free of his grip unless he is extraordinarily well trained in fighting, and even many superhumanly strong beings would have difficulty freeing themselves.

    Other Versions

    Marvel Adventures

    Cobra would be involved in a story taking place in the Marvel Adventures comics which are standalone stories and does not take place in the current Marvel Universe continuity.

    Cobra and the Serpent Society would kidnap Dr. Curt Connors when they learn the truth about his Lizard formula and forced him to experiment on innocent civilians. The Serpent Society had Dr. Connors modify his formula and had plans to contaminate the water supply in New York so everyone would transform into humanoid lizards. However their plans were thwarted by Spider Man so Cobra and the rest of the Serpent Society retreated when Connors ingested his own formula and transformed into a giant, monstrous Lizard.

    Powers and Abilities

    Strength: able to lift own body weight, speed peak range - 700 MPH, Enhanced Durability. Short range energy projection, short duration, single energy type.

    In Other Media

    Television

    Avengers: EMH
    Avengers: EMH
    • Cobra appears in The Marvel Super Heroes.
    • King Cobra appears in the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Breakout: Part 1" as one of the escaped criminals from the Big House. He later appears with the rest of the Serpent Society in the episode "Ultron-5." Unlike his comic book counterpart, Cobra has the ability to turn his legs into a snake-like tail, wrapping it around his enemies and constricting. He also shows up in "Prisoner of War," "Along Came a Spider..." and "Yellowjacket." He was voiced by James C. Mathis III.
    • King Cobra appears in Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, voiced by Keiji Harai.

    Video Game

    The Winter Soldier game
    The Winter Soldier game
    • King Cobra appears in the mobile game adaptation of Captain America: The Winter Soldier
    • Cobra appears in Marvel Avengers Alliance 2.

    Merchandise

    Marvel Legends
    Marvel Legends
    • King Cobra appeared in the HeroClix figure game.
    • King Cobra appears in Hasbro's Marvel Legends line as part of the Thanos Build-a-Figure wave for Avengers: Infinity War.
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