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Karkas
Real
Name: Karkas Occupation: Former gladiator, now scholar Identity: Karkas' existence is unknown to the general
populace of Earth. Legal Status: None Other Aliases: None Place of Birth: Deviant Lemuria Marital Status: Single Known Relatives: None Group Affiliation: Ally of the Eternals of Earth Base of Operations: Olympia First Appearance: ETERNALS Vol. 1 #8
History: Karkas was born to the race of
Deviants, an evolutionary offshoot of humanity which is
cursed with an unstable genetic code causing random characteristics
to crop up with every newborn Deviant child. Karkas was
far more monstrously mutated than most Deviants, and was
labeled a "mutate." The Deviant priesthood publicly
marks for execution all Deviants whom it considers to
have varied too greatly in their genetic codes from the
rest of their race. Some of these extreme cases, however,
are raised to fight as gladiators in the arena before
they are sent to their final fate. Karkas quickly developed
such size and strength that he was selected to become
a gladiator. Although his heavilyhided body could resist
extremes of punishment, Karkas never had any special inclination
to become a fighter. Therefore, he did the minimum required
of him as a gladiator to permit his continued existence.
In fact, Karkas had a great natural sensitivity emotionally,
and was a born philosopher, despite the role of a savage
monster that he was forced to play.
Eventually Karkas was pitted against another mutate,
the human-looking Ransak the Reject, in a gladiatorial
combat witnessed by the Deviants' then-monarch Tode, Warlord
Kro, and a visitor to Deviant Lemuria, the Eternal known
as Thena. Despite Karkas' far greater size and strength,
the savage Reject bested him in battle, wounding him terribly.
But then the Deviant city began being destroyed by the
alien Eson the Celestial. Amid the turmoil, Karkas asked
Thena for sanctuary with her, so that he would be saved
from eventual death in the arena and could instead spend
his life in a more fruitful way. He also asked for sanctuary
for the Reject, whom, he pointed out, was not born as
a "killing machine" but had been turned into
one by the Deviants. Thena felt compassion for both and
teleported herself, Karkas, and the Reject to Olympia,
her home.
Karkas has remained on Olympia since then, acting
as Thena's loyal companion and taking advantage of enlightened
cultural opportunities but the current whereabouts is
unknown.
Height: 8 ft. 3 in. Weight: 1,260 lbs. Eyes: Black Hair: None Skin: Red Unusual Features: Karkas is covered with tough, elephant-like
hide over his entire body. He is hairless, has no outer ear,
and has six claw-like single-jointed digits on each foot and
hand.
Strength Level: Karkas possesses superhuman
strength, enabling him to lift (press) about 25 tons.
Karkas has not yet attained adulthood; hence, his strength
may further increase in coming years.
Known Superhuman Powers: Karkas possesses
various superhuman attributes apart from his superhuman
strength. His thick hide can withstand concussive forces
up to those of a small anti-tank missile before sustaining
serious injury. His recuperative powers are about twice
that of human beings. His speed and reflexes, however,
are only about 75 percent of the average human male.
Abilities: Karkas has great learning abilities
and total recall. His particular intellectual interest
is philosophy.
Limitations: Karkas's lack of an opposable
thumb prevents him from utilizing many ordinary tools.