Real Name: M'Baku
Occupation: Mercenary, renegade
Identity: Known to Wakandan and American authorities
Legal Status: Exiled citizen of Wakanda
Other Aliases: White Gorilla
Place of Birth: Wakanda, Northern Africa
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: One time member of the Lethal Legion, former ally of Grim Reaper
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: AVENGERS #62

History: M'Baku was one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second to T'Challa, the Black Panther himself. While the Panther, king of the Wakandas, was on a several month leave of absence from his royal duties to serve the Avengers in America, the ambitious M'Baku plotted to usurp the throne. The Wakandan culture had evolved from a hunter-warrior society, and was traditionally ruled by its greatest warrior. The Black Panther had outlawed the rival White Gorilla cult from Wakanda while the Panther cult was dominant. M'Baku flouted T'Challa's edicts and revived the White Gorilla cult, personally stalking and killing one of the rare white gorillas living in the jungles near Wakanda. Bathing in the gorilla's blood and eating the gorilla's flesh mystically conferred its great strength upon M'Baku.

When the Black Panther returned to Wakanda with some of his teammates in the Avengers, M'Baku, calling himself the Man-Ape, openly challenged the Panther's right to rule. M'Baku deplored T'Challa's technological revitalization of Wakanda and sought to have all technology outlawed so the nation could return to its natural primitivism of several decades before. M'Baku had a contingent of supporters who shared this view. In his protracted battle with the Panther, the Man-Ape succeeded in besting him. However, when he bound T'Challa to the giant statue of a panther which was the Panther cult's major totem and tried to topple it upon his enemy, the statue instead crumbled, burying him.

The Black Panther believed the Man-Ape had been crushed, but M'Baku's chief supporter N'gamo revived him. M'Baku left Wakanda to track down the Panther who had rejoined the Avengers in New York. There the Man-Ape allied himself with the Grim Reaper and his Lethal Legion, a short-lived team of Avengers foes including the Living Laser, the original Power Man, and the Swordsman. The Man-Ape kidnapped Monica Lynne, the Black Panther's American girlfriend, and sent word to T'Challa that he would have to once more engage in personal combat with him to free her. Through treachery, the Man-Ape again bested the Panther, and also took him captive. When the rest of the Avengers came to the Panther's rescue, the Lethal Legion managed to ensnare them, too. Eventually, however, the Avengers broke free and defeated their captors. It was Captain America who physically bested the Man-Ape.

The Panther decreed that the Man-Ape could never return to Wakanda without facing the death penalty. Humiliated, the Man-Ape never risked the attempt and instead wandered the less civilized parts of the world, performing mercenary work to survive and keeping a low profile. He was eventually contacted again by the Grim Reaper, who was trying to assemble a new Lethal Legion to exact revenge upon the Avengers. The Man-Ape was assigned to free Goliath (now known as Atlas) from his incarceration on the West Coast Avengers Compound. Succeeding in the task, the Man-Ape joined with the Grim Reaper as one of his henchmen until the Reaper's racist attitudes prompted the Man-Ape (and the Black Talon) to abandon the Reaper's cause. The Man-Ape is at large, his current whereabouts and activities unknown.

More recently, Man-Ape was invited to join the most recent version of the villain team Masters of Evil, but soon after, the Master's ultimate plans were thwarted by the hero team Thunderbolts.

Height: 7 ft.
Weight: 355 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: The Man-Ape possesses superhuman strength, enabling him to lift (press) approximately 10 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: The Man-Ape's primary power is his strength. He also has superhuman endurance, agility, and resistance to injury.

Abilities: The Man-Ape is a masterful natural fighter whose fighting style is reminiscent of that of a gorilla.