50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

41. Kang

(Write-up by Roger Lee, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer)

Kang the Conqueror stands as #41 in our list of 50 Greatest Super-villains. Kang is a unique villain in that he comes in so many different personas. Kang is a time-traveling warlord with a serious obsession with defeating the heroes of the present-day. He also has the distinction of having multiple personalities, each of which has proved a threat to Marvel’s finest.

Kang is/was a scholar named Nathaniel Richards, from the 30th Century who discovered the ability to travel through time. He ended up in ancient Egypt, setting himself up as Pharaoh Rama-Tut (first appearance in Fantastic Four #19 (Oct. 1963). He is foiled by the Fantastic Four (we later learn that he is a descendent of Reed Richards and also of Dr. Doom). He then (in his timeline) assumed the identity of the Scarlet Centurion (first appearance in Avengers King-Size Special #2 (Sep. 1968). After that, he appeared as the green-and-purple clad Kang the Conqueror (first appearance in Avengers #8 (Sep. 1964). Much later in his life, he started calling himself Immortus (first appearance in Avengers #10 (Nov 1964), and continued to cause trouble for the Avengers.

His constant trips through time (and his seeming disregard for creating time paradoxes) have led to the creation of multiple Kangs scattered throughout the Marvel multiverse. On more than one occasion, Kang has ended up battling both future and past versions of himself. The most recent (in real time) version of Kang was/is Iron Lad, who (first appearance in Young Avengers #1 (April, 2005). Iron Lad is/was the slightly less evil younger version of Kang/Rama-Tut/Immortus who kills the adult Kang and then has to re-enter the time stream to become Kang to avoid messing up the timeline. Confused yet?

For comic book fans who like a strong dose of science-fiction in their multiverses, Kang is a great villain. He pops up in many places and eras, and had a hand in many of the most significant Marvel storylines. Plus he has that rarest of commodities: all the time in the world.

Next: No. 40: What's cooler than being hot? Ice cold ...