| Kraven the Hunter |
Kraven the Hunter, as depicted on the cover of the Amazing Spider-Man #34 (vol. 1, March, 1966. Art by Steve Ditko. |
| Publication information |
| Publisher |
Marvel Comics |
| First appearance |
The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Aug 1964) |
| Created by |
Stan Lee
Steve Ditko |
| In-story information |
| Alter ego |
Sergei Kravinoff
Alyosha Kravinoff
Ana Tatiana Kravinoff |
| Team affiliations |
Sinister Six |
| Notable aliases |
Spider-Man |
| Abilities |
Superhuman senses, strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and longevity
Expert hunter and hand to hand combatant |
Kraven the Hunter is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.
Publication history
Sergei Kravinoff is a maniacal big game hunter known as Kraven the Hunter who seeks to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdains the use of guns or bow and arrows, preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands, even though he often makes elaborate preparations to weaken a quarry beforehand. He also uses a mystical serum to give him similar strength to Spider-Man, but even without the serum he is a threat to the wall-crawler. Spider-Man proves a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimates the superhero's resourcefulness.
Kraven finally completes his ultimate objective in the acclaimed 1987 storyline by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt" and, having no further goals, commits suicide.
Kraven later returns as a ghost in the graphic novel Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter. [1]
Kraven's Connections
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. 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 Ka-Zar.
Kraven's Legacy
Kraven has also had two sons take up his role; Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name "Grim Hunter" and decides to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes, he was later murdered by an insane clone of Spiderman named Kaine. Some time after the death of Vladimir, his half brother and mutant, Alyosha Kravinoff, becomes the newest Kraven. There was a third son as well, Ned Tannengarden, who tries to kill Alyosha, but was murdered by the Chameleon.
A third, female Kraven has recently appeared. She tracks Spider-Man to his apartment, but mistakenly believes Peter Parker's roommate Vin Gonzales was him. She then methodically ruins Vin's life, and captures him. [2] Despite Vin's claims that he was not Spider-Man, Kraven prepared to hunt him. At the end it is revealed that her name is Ana Tatiana Kravinoff, that she is only about 12 years old and that she is Kraven's daughter by a woman called Sasha Aleksandra Nikolaevich, also mother of the deceased Vladimir.
Powers and abilities
By regularly ingesting the potion made from the various unnamed jungle herbs, Kraven grants himself a number of abilities including sufficient superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes to make him a physical threat to Spider-Man, though these powers aren't as developed as those possessed by Spider-Man. Kraven's body is also more durable and more resistant to certain forms of injury than the body of a normal human. He can withstand great impact forces, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no injury to himself. The effects of the potion have dramatically altered Kraven's aging process to the point that he has aged little, if at all, over several decades. Despite being over 70 years of age, he has the physical appearance of a 30 year old man.
The potion enhances Kraven's sight, hearing, and smell to superhuman levels, adding to his already impressive tracking skills. He can see further and with much greater clarity than a normal human. His hearing is similarly enhanced, enabling him to detect sounds an ordinary human can't and sounds that a normal human could detect, but at much greater distances. Kraven can use his sense of smell to track a target by scent, much as some animals do, even if the scent has been somewhat eroded by natural factors.
Even without his superhuman powers, Kraven is an Olympic level athlete, a gifted tactician, hunter, and hand to hand combatant. He also has great knowledge of pressure points, both in the anatomy of humans and in many animals. He can strike at these nerve clusters with pinpoint accuracy, allowing him to incapacitate more powerful opponents or animals. He is also familiar with many exotic poisons and tranquilizers, which he often uses during his hunts.
Alternate versions
Marvel Zombies
A zombified Kraven is shown in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days.
Spider-Man: Reign
In the dystopian future of Spider-Man: Reign, Kraven leads the Sinner Six.
What The--?!
In What The--?! #3 Kraven appears as a raven called Raven the Hunter.
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel series, Sergei Kravinoff is an Australian and the host of his own reality show in which he hunts down dangerous animals, and intends to hunt and kill Spider-Man on live television in order to boost his ratings, but is knocked out with a single punch by the superhero, revealing that Kraven is a fraud, and 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.
Other media
Television
- Kraven later appears in the Spider-Man episode "The Hunter and the Hunted."
Video games
References
External links
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