Kraven the Hunter

Kraven the Hunter is a hunter and villain known for his grandiose adventures hunting wildlife around the world. He boasts exceptional strength and agility, granted to him by various secret potions made of jungle herbs. He is an old friend and associate of the Chameleon.

Biography

In 1964, Kraven was contacted by his friend the Chameleon, a criminal skilled in the art of disguise. Chameleon sought someone to defeat his foe Spider-Man, a hero in New York City. Kraven made his way there from Africa, shamelessly declaring to the press that he was going to hunt Spider-Man. Kraven tracked down Spider-Man as he was web-slinging through the city and engaged him in combat. He was taken aback by how capable Spider-Man was, apparently unaware of the hero's exceptional agility and keen senses. Kraven employed a concealed needle that he scraped across Spider-Man's flesh, inflicting him with a crippling dizziness and forcing him to retreat. Kraven and the Chameleon gathered at the latter's hideout and developed a plan whereby Chameleon would disguise as Kraven and the two would confuse and trap Spider-Man. They enacted this plan in a park at night, but Spider-Man's bright mind and quick reflexes allowed him to escape their trap. He secured them in webbing for the police to retrieve them, and they were arrested and deported to South America. Kraven vowed to improve his skills and continue the hunt against Spider-Man. Chameleon and Kraven were smuggled back into the country before long, and by pure bad luck ended up coming ashore near Tony Stark's munitions plant in Flushing. Though Chameleon avoided detection, Kraven was confronted by Iron Man (secretly Stark himself) and quickly knocked out and taken into custody. Chameleon would also be arrested not long after following an attempted impersonation of Captain America. Kraven escaped not long after, and was brought into a team formed by Doctor Octopus called the Sinister Six, alongside Mysterio, the Vulture, the Sandman, and Electro. The Six consisted of some of Spider-Man's greatest foes, but were nonetheless unable to defeat him in a series of individual battles, and were incarcerated once more. Kraven was again out of prison soon after.

Kraven had in fact been exiled from the United States as part of his sentencing, and he fled to Africa to regroup. he continued to desire victory over Spider-Man, determined to claim his mask among his countless other trophies. He returned to New York, holing up in one of the Chameleon's old hideouts, where he devised a plan to bait Spider-Man into coming out into the open. The next day, Kraven dressed in a fake Spider-Man costume and attacked J. Jonah Jameson on the street, taking advantage of Jameson's well-publicized hatred for the hero and the crowd of people nearby. Kraven continued to harass Jameson in Spider-Man garb in the coming days to force the real Spider-Man to show himself. He soon did, confronting Kraven at the Daily Bugle office building, where Kraven led him to a neighborhood of condemned apartments and revealed himself and his intentions. They fought through the building, but opportunistic gangsters from the street came in and attacked Spider-Man, distracting him and giving Kraven the upper hand. The two fought through the densely packed condemned buildings as Spider-Man dispatched the other criminals. Spider-Man eventually won their hand-to-hand battle, wrapping Kraven in his web and leaving him for the police. Kraven, honorable in his own way, confessed to his Spider-Man disguise, exonerating the hero.

See also

• Kraven the Hunter (Earth-1610)