Kraven the Hunter

Superherobox|

caption="Kraven the Hunter", as depicted on the cover of the "Amazing Spider-Man" #34 (vol. 1, March, 1966. Art by Steve Ditko.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Kraven the Hunter
real_name=Sergei Kravinoff
Alyosha Kravinoff
Ana Tatiana Kravinoff
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="The Amazing Spider-Man" #15 (Aug 1964)
creators=Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=Sinister Six
aliases=Spider-Man
powers= 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 "". [ Cite comic
Writer = J. M. Dematteis
Penciller = Mike Zeck
Inker = Bob McLeod
Story = Soul Of The Hunter!
Title = Amazing Spider-Man: Soul Of The Hunter
Volume = 1
Issue = 1
Date = 1992
Publisher = Marvel Comics ]

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 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. ["Amazing Spider-Man" '#565] 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 "", Kraven leads the .

"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 appears in one of the "Iron Man" episodes of "The Marvel Superheroes Show", entitled "Cliffs of Doom".

* Kraven later appears in the "Spider-Man" episode "The Hunter and the Hunted."

* Kraven appears in the first-season episode of "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" "The Crime Of All Centuries" voiced by Robert Ridgely.

* Kraven appears in "" voiced by Gregg Berger. In this series, Kraven has a more heroic personality than he did in the comics.

* In the "Spider-Man Unlimited" episode "Enter the Hunter!", The Hunter (voiced by Paul Dobson) is Counter-Earth's version of Kraven the Hunter.

* Kraven appears in MTV's "" animated series voiced by Michael Dorn.

* Kraven will appear alongside Calypso in the "The Spectacular Spider-Man" episode "Destructive Testing" [ [http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0801/21/index.htm Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: Monday, January 21, 2008 ] ] voiced by Eric Vesbit.

Video games

* Kraven is a boss character in "".

* Kraven appears as a boss in the Xbox version of "". He also appears in the Game Boy Advance version of the game.

* In "Ultimate Spider-Man", there are billboards that have Kraven the Hunter on it.

* Kraven appears as a boss in "Spider-Man 3" voiced by Neil Kaplan.

References

External links

* [http://marvel.com/universe/Kraven_%28Sergei_Kravinoff%29 Kraven the Hunter] at Marvel.com