Sergei Kravinoff (Earth-616)

Early Life[]

Sergei Kravinoff was born and raised in Volgograd, Russia in the early half of the 20th Century. He was born into aristocracy the son of Grand Duke Nikolai Kravinoff and Grand Duchess Anna Makarova.^[11] However in 1917 when the Russian Revolution occurred and the rise of the Soviet Union, his father poured his entire fortune into one final escape, purchasing Kravinoff Estate in New York City. He brought his family there, but as time passed, Nikolai's despair grew, leading him to disregard his status. He even engaged in a relationship with one of his servants, Sonya, who bore his son, Dmitri Smerdyakov. However, Nikolai couldn't bear to face Dmitri and Sergei would often bully his illegitimate half-brother. When Dmitri departed with the enigmatic Gustav Fiers, his absence went unnoticed.^[18] Sergei grew distant from his homeland, and his mother descended into madness, leaving his father feeling utterly abandoned in a foreign land, resigned to a fate of solitude and eventual demise.^[19]

Birth of Kraven the Hunter[]

In 1921, Sergei crossed paths with Aja Orisha, who had been exiled from Wakanda. United by their shared experiences as exiles from their homeland and the loss of her husband, they formed a deep bond. Together, they raised her child, Takhar. Aja took Kraven with her back to Africa, where she imparted upon him the teachings of Wakanda and instilled in him a passion for the hunt, thus earning him the moniker "Kraven the Hunter". Despite her affection for him, Aja recognized the darkness within Kraven. Upon their return to New York, she subjected him to the rigorous "Yansan-An Ritual," involving sacred herbs and potions . Tragically, Sergei succumbed to the ritual's effects. Although he was meant to remain in a state of darkness for two weeks, he unexpectedly revived after just four days. The ritual, instead of quelling the darkness, exacerbated it, leading Kraven to blame Aja for his torment. Consumed by his newfound darkness, he departed for Africa alongside his adopted son Takhar, renaming Gregor Kravinoff.^[19]

Kraven discovered his exceptional aptitude when he secured a job in Kenya. Initially employing conventional hunting methods, he gradually honed a preference for confronting formidable beasts with nothing but his own hands. With the aid of a serum, he acquired the strength, agility, and acute senses akin to those of a jungle predator. Furthermore, the potion bestowed upon him an extended lifespan, ensuring his enduring health and vitality for many years to follow.^{[citation needed]}

Avengers 1959[]

Kraven was approached by Nick Fury while relaxing with his then-girlfriend, Namora, on a private beach on the Emerald Coast of Florida in 1959. Fury wanted the pair to join his black ops team code-named the Avengers. During this meeting it was revealed that Kraven and fellow recruit Victor Creed had previously met in Africa, prompting Kraven to shoot the mutant in the chest. Creed quickly recovered due to his healing factor and Fury told the pair to put aside any differences between them if they wanted to be part of his team, which they agreed to do.^[20] These new Avengers then traveled to Helsingborg, Sweden, where the Red Skull and his newly formed Fourth Reich were trying to create a new Super-Soldier formula. The group gained entry to the Skull's castle headquarters by hijacking a truck and hiding in the back while the Silver Sable drove. When the truck's doors were opened the operatives opened fire on the unprepared Nazi guards. While searching for the Red Skull, the group came across a Nazi Captain America impostor.^[21] Kraven was ordered to continue hunting for the Skull while many of the other group members stayed to deal with the super-soldier. Kraven found the Red Skull and fired at him with his sniper rifle but shot the soldier standing to the Skull's right. The hunter couldn't believe that he missed a target like the Red Skull's big red head. To compound things, he then accidentally shot Sabretooth as he pounced on the Skull, temporarily taking him out of the fight.^[22] After Namora captured the Skull, Nick Fury took his briefcase and told the rest of the group he would meet up with them later before disappearing for over a month.^[23]

When he reappeared in Autumn of that year, Fury gathered the team together at the Stork Club in New York City to celebrate a job well done. During the dinner, Kraven and Sabretooth resumed their rivalry once more, with Kraven shooting him in the face before he was berated by Namora. After the meal, the members each went their separate ways with Kraven and Namora heading to their houseboat docked in the 96th Street Boat Basin. Here the pair continued their argument over Sergei's behavior and were just able to make up when their boat came under attack by a submarine bearing a skull-shaped blazon on it. Kraven was able to destroy the sub by shooting a large amount of ammo crates on his own boat.^[24]

Fury soon reassembled his team after realizing that many of their members had come under similar attacks. The enigmatic Powell McTeague then used his magical abilities to teleport Kraven, Namora, Dominic Fortune and Sabretooth aboard a ship in the South China Seas which was under the command of Nazi superhumans Baron Blood and Brain Drain.^[25] Before the Avengers were able to capture them, however, the villains were teleported away, leaving nothing but a fiery skull symbol burned into the deck of the boat behind. While still on the Nazi vessel, which was being piloted by McTeague's magic, the group next came to the aid of Nick Fury and the Blonde Phantom who were traveling to Madripoor by boat and were attacked by the Ubermadchen.^[26] The Avengers quickly overpowered the women and questioned them before allowing Sabretooth to kill them and continuing on to Madripoor. Here they learned more about their shadowy foes and staged an attack on their mansion headquarters, capturing their strategist Innsbruck the Planner. From him they learned that the organization's name was ICON and their next target was the scientifically futuristic nation of Wakanda.^[27] The Avengers were able to arrive there in time to stop ICON's attack on the nation. During the ensuing struggle, Kraven fought Doctorangutan, subduing the orangutan by shoving a taser wand in his mouth and activating it. The group were then teleported to Washington, D.C. to apprehend ICON's leader, Geoffrey Sydenham. In this final struggle, Kraven was able to take down Baron Blood by hurling a wooden javelin tipped with a silver blade through the vampire's heart. After ICON had been dismantled, the Avengers again each went their separate ways, with Kraven wanting to join his father in Key West, as the marlin were apparently biting. The irony of going on a fishing expedition alongside Namora was apparently lost on Kraven.^[28]

Targeting Spider-Man[]

At some point the notion of big game hunting began to bore the hunter, so his associate (later revealed to be his half-brother) proposed to Kraven that he hunt Spider-Man, and thus gave Kraven new purpose in life. Kraven gained powers by drinking rare and exotic jungle elixirs given to him by his voodoo priestess lover -- Calypso. These elixirs gave him the strength and speed of a savage beast, all the better to catch Spider-Man with. Despite being assisted by the Chameleon, his scheme failed, and he was deported from the U.S.^[12] He returned soon, however, first alongside the Chameleon (where he was caught by Iron Man).^[29]

Unable to best the wall-crawler on his own, Kraven sought strength in numbers. Early in his career, he and five other members of Spider-Man's rogues gallery united under the leadership of Doctor Octopus -- brilliant, respected scientist turned tentacled terror. The inaugural incarnation of the Sinister Six also included the shifty Sandman; the illusion-casting Mysterio; the high-flying, lowdown Vulture; and Electro. The villains' master plan: pummel the wall-crawler one by one until one of them would manage to defeat him. The outcome: Spidey, 6; bad guys, 0.^[14]

Shortly afterwards, Kraven was contracted by the Green Goblin into killing Spider-Man. But upon reading of the Goblin's apparent demise, he set out to find out Spider-Man's weaknesses by manipulating a few of his comrades into attacking the Wall-Crawler: the behemoth known as Rhino; the carnivorous, cold-blooded Lizard; the original Vulture and his rival, Raniero "Blackie" Drago.^[30]

When he kidnapped Dr. David Malraux who had developed a psychomotor response procedure by which Kraven hoped to increase his neural responses, he clashed with and was defeated by Tigra.^[31] 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 increase his strength to superhuman levels, but even without the serum he was a threat to the wall-crawler. However, Kraven's continual underestimation of the super hero's resourcefulness made him a frustrating quarry.^[13]

Last Hunt[]

As time passed, his aggravation, combined with his inability to run the super hero down, further destroyed Kraven's sanity. A time ago, he faced Deadpool, who was in possession of the Venom symbiote, confusing the Merc with a Mouth with Spider-Man. When Kraven realized that wasn't Spider-Man, the alien gained control over Deadpool's body and suggested the hunter to use a gun next time.^[32] Driven by this idea, he hatched a scheme that actually defeated Spider-Man, and seemingly and uncharacteristically shot him. Considering his enemy effectively dead, Kraven buried him alive. After this, Kraven donned a copy of Spider-Man's costume and sought to prove that he was superior at his enemy's activities. He brutally attacked and beat up criminals, culminating in 15 men in the hospital and one killed. He single-handed captured a minor super villain, Vermin, whom Spider-Man needed the help of Captain America to defeat. After that triumph, Spider-Man was soon revived from the tranquilizer dart he was actually 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. Convinced he had finally regained his honor, the deranged Kraven left a note for the police confessing that he impersonated Spider-Man and took his own life.^[10]

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.^[11] Kraven was temporarily resurrected and used as a soldier by a mysterious villain.^[33]

The Grim Hunt[]

Kraven's family, headed up by his wife Sasha Kravinoff, began facilitating the return of Spider-Man's villains to wear him off while also hunting down other spider-themed people, including Madame Web and Mattie Franklin, as part of a plan to resurrect Kraven and restore the glory of the Kravinoffs. In the process, they sacrificed Franklin in a ritual to return Vladimir to life as a humanoid lion-like creature.^[15]

When the Kravinoffs caught Spider-Man in a trap at their New York estate where Kraven had been buried,^[2] his clone Kaine managed to take him off the table and steal his costume and impersonated him to confront the Kravinoffs on his behalf.^[34] Kaine was killed by the Kravinoffs and his body was used in a ritual to bring Kraven back to life.^[2] Kraven was disgruntled with his family for returning him, a sentiment exacerbated when he found out that Kaine had taken Spider-Man's place, and his had corrupted the ritual, cursing Kraven to become unable to die unless it was by the hand of Spider-Man.^[34] Spider-Man then attacked the estate to save the kidnapped spider-people and kill Kraven, but was convinced otherwise by a vision of a dark future shared with him by Arachne, who had been passed down Madame Web's precognitive powers. After Spider-Man refused to kill Kraven despite his pleas, the Kravinoffs escaped.

Kraven took his family to the Savage Land, where the hunter wanted his family to be hardened by the jungle to earn the name of Kravinoff. He killed Sasha when she objected, and then murdered Vladimir out of pity for his return to life. Ana agreed to Kraven's terms, and hunted down Alyosha, who attempted to walk away.^[35] While in the Savage Land, Kraven came across Agent Venom and attacked, believing that the Venom symbiote, which he regarded as Spider-Man's dark spirit, would be able to end his curse. Upon learning his opponent was handicapped, Kraven was outraged and attempted to kill Flash outright to assuage his honor but was carried away by a giant bat.^[36]

Kraven next appeared in the Pacific northwest of the United States, tracking the Hulk. He actually managed to subdue the behemoth long enough to explain his reason for attacking him. Sergei wanted to die, and he wanted the Hulk to bring him Spider-Man to do the killing. In return, he would help Hulk find the hidden City of Sasquatches, thinking that Hulk knew what it was that Banner was looking for. Hulk didn't care about the city but did hate that Kraven slowly murdered a Bigfoot, making its nearby kin respond to its screams of pain. The enraged Sasquatches took Hulk captive and Kraven rescued his "partner" from their city by threatening to kill one of the few remaining Bigfoot cubs. Hulk responded by punching him far out of the city.^[37]

Turn of Leaf[]

Shortly after Kraven revived, so did Kaine. Following events in which his degeneration was cured, Kaine started a new life in Houston as the new Scarlet Spider. But he was followed by Kraven, who wanted his death at the hands of Kaine to break the curse which didn't let him die.^[38] Kaine was confronted by Kraven, who began to torture him while dressed as Ben Reilly.^[6] With the help of Ana, Kraven kidnapped Kaine's friends in order to motivate the Scarlet Spider fight him. In the end, Kaine delivered Kraven a fatal blow in the chest, which paralyzed his heart, but using the same attack, Kaine brought him back to life, hoping that would break the curse. Following the fight, both Kravens disappeared.^[39]

Deciding that he wanted heirs in his own image, Kraven approached the High Evolutionary, and had him create eighty-seven perfect clones, designed to age into adulthood at an accelerated rate. When Ana learned of Kraven's plan, she renounced the Kravinoff name and abandoned her father. During his children's quick growth, Kraven trained and raised them, feeling love and pride for them. When they reached adulthood, Kraven sent his children on individual journeys of hunt to prove themselves worthy of his name. During their quest, Kraven set out to rebuild his fortune and reclaim his territories.^[16]

Sometime later while patrolling Manhattan, Kraven entered into conflict with the super hero Squirrel Girl after attacking one of her squirrels, Tippy-Toe. Since Kraven remained obsessed with hunting down Spider-Man, Doreen suggested he tried to take down Atlantean beasts.^[40] Since hunting underwater required expensive gear, Kraven sought to raise funds by hunting in the employ of others, namely a sports hunter named Shannon Sugarbaker. He crossed paths with Squirrel Girl again when he kidnapped Howard the Duck. Shannon turned on Kraven after he refused to attack Squirrel Girl when the young hero infiltrated her mansion to rescue Howard.^[41] Kraven joined forces with Squirrel Girl, Howard, and other people he had captured on Sugarbaker's behalf to survive her hunting grounds and ultimately take her down. This episode prompted Kraven to re-evaluate his life, and he decided to become a hunter of hunters.^[42]

The Army of Evil[]

Not long afterwards, Kraven was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and imprisoned inside Pleasant Hill, a prison-town where its inmates had their minds and bodies tampered with by a sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik to turn them into model citizens. Kraven lived a life as a zookeeper until Baron Zemo's revolt freed him. When the search for Kobik proved futile, Kraven offered his services to Zemo, recruiting Fixer and Trapster in aiding him. Together, the trio made a trap disguised as a birthday party setting, designed with Kobik's childish appearance and personality in mind.^[43] He and the other prisoners were eventually defeated by the Avengers, Avengers Unity Squad, and agents from S.H.I.E.L.D.^[44]

At the start of Hydra's rise to power, Kraven later joined Baron Zemo's Army of Evil.^[45] When Manhattan was covered by the Darkforce dome, Kraven the Hunter was seen inside heading to the Daily Bugle trying to find out Spider-Man's identity. Phil Sheldon's daughter Jennie Sheldon ran off to warn J. Jonah Jameson. Kraven the Hunter followed her to where J. Jonah Jameson was and soon struck him down. Using a flare gun, Jennie fired it into the sky which attracted the attention of Spider-Woman, who defeated Kraven the Hunter.^[46]

At one point either before or after Hydra's takeover of the United States, Kraven returned to the Savage Land with the objective to take down dinosaur poachers. Kraven set his sights in one hunter in particular, the infamous Poachmaster General.^[47] After Kraven defeated the Poachmaster, an Ultron T-Rex who was fighting Squirrel Girl stumbled into Kraven and took him hostage. Kraven attempted to convince Squirrel Girl to try to stop Ultron's plans to destroy the Savage Land despite the robot's threats to kill him if she interfered. Doreen managed to rescue Kraven, and he helped her rally dinosaurs to distract Ultron until she could insert a USB stick with a virus that shut it down.^[48]

Return to New York[]

Kraven returned to New York City after hearing about news of Dinosaur-People lurking in the sewers.^[49] He began terrorizing the Dinosaur-People, and caught the attention of their protector, Venom. After fighting Venom,^[50] Kraven was officially endorsed by Mayor Wilson Fisk and Commissioner Chris Rafferty to hunt down the Dinosaur-People with help from a SWAT team. For his second encounter with Venom, Kraven brought Shriek, whose sonic powers weakened Venom, allowing Kraven and the SWAT team to approach the Dinosaur-People's lair and attack them.^[51] Having recovered with the help of Tana and the Moloids, Venom went into a feral state and attacked Kraven. Following the hunter's defeat, Tana convinced the SWAT team that her people were harmless, and they were left alone. Kraven the Hunter and Shriek were then arrested by the SWAT team.^[52]

After regaining his freedom, Kraven traveled to the Amazon Jungle to defend the local fauna from poachers. Since she believed that Kraven was a good person deep inside, Squirrel Girl invited him to hang out with her civilian identity to sway him away from bad influences. Before taking part in an escape room, Doreen decided to reveal her secret identity to Kraven as a sign of trust even though he had already deduced it.^[3] The escape room turned into a series of deadly puzzles after its owner revealed himself to be the super villain Mojo II, whom Kraven, Squirrel Girl, and his friends defeated in the end. Unfortunately, Kraven was sighted by police officers after leaving the escape room and he resisted arrest. Doreen tried to defend Kraven, but the situation escalated, and she was arrested as well together with her friends.^[53]

Squirrel Girl became disillusioned after learning of Kraven's past records, but he convinced her he was trying to be a better person. Nonetheless, when Kraven, Doreen, and her friends were put on trial, they were all found innocent except for Kraven. Lamenting that he failed to become a better person, Kraven tried to run away, but he was intercepted by Spider-Man.^[54] Squirrel Girl and her allies caught up to Kraven and convinced Spider-Man to let him go for the time being. Doreen offered Kraven to become her partner in crime-fighting so that he could clean his reputation, but he declined, arguing that he had to work on himself first. Before parting ways, Kraven ensured Squirrel Girl would hold him to the promise that he would try to be heroic again. Not long afterwards, Kraven would start dabbling in vigilantism, apprehending criminals and leaving them to the police under the sobriquet of the "Unhuntable Sergei."^[4]

Soon after, Kraven was pulled from a point in time between the court case and the "hunted" fiasco by Galactus^[55] to aid Squirrel Girl against a large group of her enemies. When the battle was over, Kraven told Doreen "not to believe everything she read."^[56]

The Great Hunt[]

When Kraven finished the preparations for the return of his children from their missions, he was surprised to receive only one of them. The Last Son of Kraven had hunted down his brethren to prove that only he was worthy of their father. Despite his shock for his children's death, Kraven was overjoyed with the fruit of his labor, and recognized the survivor as his son. Kraven shared with him his discontent for the state of the jungle, razed by hunters and poachers, and made him part of his plan to fight them off.^[16]

Recruiting the services of Arcade, Kraven sealed off Central Park and turned it into a hunting ground, providing a cadre of wealthy would-be hunters the opportunity to hunt down animal-themed super villains who had been previously kidnapped by the mercenaries Taskmaster and Black Ant. Kraven sought to make these criminals honor the souls of the animals whose identities they adopted by forcing them to survive being hunted.^[16] To this end, Arcade provided Kraven's benefactors an army of Hunterbots, near-indestructible androids modeled after Kraven and controlled remotely by a virtual-reality headset wired to their brain.^[5] Kraven also made it so the hunters couldn't take off the VR headset used to control the Hunterbots, and any damage made to their units recoiled on their bodies to the point of risking death, in order to teach them the true dangers of the hunt.^[57]

Kraven also forced one last person into the conflict, Spider-Man, in an attempt to harden him and push the Wall-Crawler to kill him to free him from his curse. As the hunt raged between the Hunterbots and the villains, Kraven forced Spider-Man into a situation in which he needed to help Curt Connors let loose his alter-ego of the Lizard to save his son Billy from the clutches of the Last Son.^[58] Afterwards, Kraven confronted Spider-Man in an effort to force him to abandon his ideals against killing, promising to shut down the Hunterbots, free the prisoners and ensure Billy's survival if Spider-Man murdered him. Spider-Man beat up Kraven and made him watch a video feed of the Lizard saving Billy without succumbing to his murderous instincts, also sparing the life of the Last Son, proving that compassion showed true strength of character.

Chemical/Magical Enhancement: After Kraven ingested Calypso's mythical potions, his physiology underwent several changes endowing him with superhuman physical attributes. The powers he gained put him 'on the top of the food chain' as they are even greater than those of Captain America, who is himself considered a pinnacle of human evolution. Kraven is far better, stronger, faster and much more cunning than any human, coupled with his skills, Kraven truly is a dangerous and deadly adversary.

• Superhuman Strength: Kraven was superhumanly strong and was capable of lifting approximately 2 tons.^[59] However, due to his fighting experience, his strength is just enough to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Spider-Man.
• Superhuman Speed: Kraven was capable of running and moving at speeds much greater than even the finest human athlete. At his peak, Kraven could spring short distances at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.^[59]
• Superhuman Stamina: Kraven's musculature produced considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He could exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue began to impair him.^[59]
• Superhuman Durability: Though far from invulnerable, Kraven's body was somewhat tougher and more resistant to injury than the body of an ordinary human. He could withstand great impacts and blunt force trauma, such as being punched and kicked by Spider-Man, without injury.
• Superhuman Agility: Kraven's agility, balance, and bodily coordination were enhanced to levels that were far beyond the human body's natural limits.^[59] His agility and speed are enough to keep up and even catch up to Spider-Man.
• Superhuman Reflexes: Kraven's reflexes and reaction time were enhanced to levels that werefar beyond the human body's natural limits.
• Extended Longevity: Kraven's jungle potions drastically altered his natural aging process, causing him to age much slower than an ordinary human. Despite being in his 70's at the time of his death, Kraven had the physical appearance and vitality of a 30-year-old man.^[59]
• Enhanced Senses: Even before ingesting the serum, Kraven had peak human senses, but the ingestion seems to have enhanced them even further. He can see clearly over vast distances but is still affected by darkness. His sense of hearing is also greatly improved and has very sensitive hearing. His smell is his strongest and most trained sense. Kraven is able to track prey by smell alone and can remember different scents and their owners, much like a dog.

• Master Combatant: Kraven is a master of many armed and unarmed forms of combat and his skill is great enough to beat Spider-Man in one-on-one combat. He is also an expert knife fighter. His fighting style is very savage in nature and Kraven has developed a unique fighting style by fighting wild and vicious animals with his bare hands.^[59] His fighting skills are often enough to defeat Spider-Man in combat, a being with far greater strength than Kraven. He can also strike pressure point to paralyze his opponents.^[60]
• Weapon Specialist: He masters the usage of most melee weapons such as swords, knives, axes, staves and spears. However, due to his hunting experience, he is also skilled with ranged weaponry and has a remarkable skill with firearms, rifles and blow darts.
• Expert Marksman: Kraven used all sorts of ranged weaponry during his life and as a result he possesses great accuracy and skill with guns and throwing weapons and also blow darts. He rarely misses his target.^[59]
• Master Tactician and Strategist: Kraven has a brilliant tactical mind and often deploys elaborate traps to surprise his foes. He makes excellent use of his taming skills by incorporating deadly predators into his schemes. Kraven's observatory skills are top-notch, and he can patiently wait for hours just to find the perfect moment to strike. His plots allowed him to outsmart and kidnap the likes of Spider-Man and even Venom. He recently used his tactical skills to haunt the new Scarlet Spider (Kaine) while disguised as Ben Reilly.
• Master Hunter and Tracker: Kraven was and still is one of Earth's best hunters. He possesses astonishing tracking abilities and is even able to track Spider-Man across rooftops. Furthermore, he can pick up his prey's trail from meager details in the area. He also has vast hunting experience, knowing many special hunting methods and animal specific habits. He also developed techniques to track and hunt superpowered individuals like Spider-Man without their notice.^[59]
• Medical Knowledge: He is very familiar with medicine and with exotic poisons, drugs, plants, tranquilizers and their effect on both animal and human anatomy. He has amassed a great knowledge about animal biology and has moderate knowledge about human anatomy as well.
• Master Animal Tamer: Kraven can subdue and train almost any animal. Animals he has trained show fearless loyalty to Kraven and follow his orders almost perfectly.^[59] He is able to train two animals and then command them in unison and with flawless synchronization. Due to this skill, most people think he uses some sort of mind control.
• Minor Occult Knowledge: During Kraven's travels throughout the world, he came into contact with numerous tribes and civilizations. Thus, he witnessed many of their rituals and has minor skills in their performance. He was able to recreate the Calypso serum for himself and his family.

• Kraven is card #15 of 4522 in Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains.^[40]