Kang

Kang is the assumed name of a time-traveling conqueror originally from the year 3000 in Earth-6311. He discovered a time machine and used it to travel to the ancient Egypt of Earth-616, conquering it as a self-made pharaoh named Rama-Tut. He was fought off by the Fantastic Four, and used his time machine once again to escape. He soon accidentally arrived in the year 4000 of his own universe, where he again ruled supreme and this time adopted the era-appropriate name of Kang. He then set his sights on the 20th century, but soon after arrival was defeated by the Avengers and forced to flee through time once more.

Due to the complex, far-reaching nature of Kang's time travel, and given that his adventures are typically considered from the perspectives of his enemies, it is often difficult to trace his history linearly. It is entirely possible, even probable, that the biography laid out in this article does not perfectly represent the chronology of Kang's life as he lived it.

Biography

Rama-Tut

In his time, the man who would come to call himself Rama-Tut found himself bored and weary of the calm, dull peace that defined the age. He watched ancient footage of heroes like the Fantastic Four and longed for some excitement in his life. Searching through what he believed to be an ancestor's ruined castle, he found a time machine, and began using it to pillage various time periods for valuables. He also developed a ray gun that deadens a person's strength and willpower. The extent to which he also traveled between universes is unclear, but he eventually traveled back to ancient Egypt of Earth-616. In doing so, he surrounded the time machine with a sphinx-like command center. He crash-landed at his destination, damaging the time machine as well as his eyesight, rendering him blind. The native Egyptians were stunned by Rama-Tut's arrival, granting him a rare herb that, when combined with the natural radiation coming from his craft, cured his blindness. He quickly established rule over the natives, creating his Rama-Tut persona, and repaired his time machine for whenever he wished to leave.

Rama-Tut's reign was interrupted by the arrival of the Fantastic Four, who had come from the 20th century in search of Rama-Tut's cure for blindness. They were quickly set upon by his guards, and he enslaved them using his ray gun, taking Invisible Girl as his queen. The Thing was set to work rowing a boat under the blazing sun, which caused an unexpected reaction that transformed him into his more human self, Ben Grimm. Freed from the effects of Rama-Tut's ray, Grimm fought his way to the pharaoh's palace and stole the gun, firing it at Invisible Girl as he transformed back into the Thing and back into submission. Invisible Girl freed her teammates, and the Four pursued Rama-Tut back to his time machine, where he fled back to the future. Rama-Tut in fact arrived in the 20th century, where he passed by a man floating near the orbit of Jupiter. Rama-Tut took the man onto his ship and learned that he was Doctor Doom, fresh off of a recent defeat to the Fantastic Four himself. Rama-Tut remembered stories of Doom from the distant past, and believed himself to be a descendant of Doom's. As they spoke with each other, Doom proposed that perhaps they might actually be the same person, estranged by the complexities of time travel. They agreed to go their separate ways, with Rama-Tut returning to his own time and sending Doom back down to Earth.

Kang the Conqueror

Something went wrong in Rama-Tut's time travel however, and he instead arrived in the 41st century (back in his own, alternate universe), a time of barren desolation that nonetheless held extremely advanced technology from years that were then far behind. The people of the time were clueless as to how to operate such machinery, and Rama-Tut's superior knowledge gave him great power. He adopted the era-appropriate name of Kang and ruled over the simple people of the year c. 4000 for some time, but soon grew tired of the limited opportunities that the world of that age offered. He instead decided to use the 41st-century technology to conquer the 20th century, and traveled back in time, again to Earth-616. He landed in Virginia in the United States equipped with an elaborate and advanced suit of weaponry and a multifaceted ship. He effortlessly repelled the military presence that his arrival drew, and he was soon confronted by the superhero team known as the Avengers and their ally Rick Jones. Kang casually claimed dominion over Earth, claiming that none could match his 41st-century weaponry. After explaining his origins and motivations to the American Undersecretary of Defense, Kang was attacked by Avenger Giant-Man, triggering a full-blown battle. The Avengers were no match for Kang's array of mysterious technology, and he was able to suck them into his ship with a tractor beam, save for Rick Jones and the Wasp, who eluded capture.

Kang told the undersecretary that the leaders of the world had 24 hours to concede to him or face destruction. Jones soon returned with his Teen Brigade in tow, offering to join Kang's cause. Kang plainly accepted, and welcomed them into his ship. This ruse didn't last for long, but the Brigade managed to free the imprisoned Avengers as Kang figured out their plan. The heroes fought Kang at his landing site to buy time until Wasp returned with an acid gun of Giant-Man's invention, which he used to dissolve the weaponry embedded in Kang's suit. Kang had a few more last-ditch attempts to defeat them, but the Avengers countered them, forcing him to retreat in his ship, disappearing into time moments later. He returned to his home universe in the year 3000 and created a robot duplicate of the hero Spider-Man. He sent it back in time to infiltrate the ranks of the Avengers after Iron Man had taken a short leave of absence. "Spider-Man" led the Avengers to a specially outfitted trap-laden temple in Mexico, where he was successful in incapacitating each of them, but was surprisingly confronted by the real Spider-Man, who defeated and deactivated the robot, foiling Kang's plans as he watched on from the future.

Kang traveled to medieval England, seeking to take King Arthur's throne and rule the land, thereby altering the future and theoretically eliminating his enemies such as the Fantastic Four. He used specially prepared futuristic technology to defeat and imprison Arthur's wizard mentor, Merlin, and fought his way to the top of the court, securing Arthur's seat at the Round Table. He believed that his first victory in battle would sufficiently alter the time stream enough to wipe out his foes. As he prepped his army for battle however, the Human Torch and the Thing of the Fantastic Four arrived, sent back in time by Uatu the Watcher. They freed Merlin and together forced Kang to flee through time, restoring Arthur to the throne and preventing any significant alteration to the timeline. Under unclear circumstances, Kang was coerced by Doctor Doom's emotion machine into attacking the Baxter Building on the day of the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. A veritable legion of villains fought a similarly powerful force of heroes defending the Baxter Building. In the end, Reed Richards used a device provided by Uatu to transport all of the villains back slightly in time and wipe their memories of these events. Reed and Sue Storm were thus successfully and peacefully married.

The hand of Ravonna Renslayer

In his home timeline, Kang desired his world's princess, Ravonna Renslayer, and his longing for her love kept him from attacking and conquering her father's kingdom as he had done to so many others. Meanwhile, he remained vengeful toward the Avengers, and lay in wait for the ideal opportunity to defeat them and thereby facilitate conquering their time period. The Avengers underwent a significant lineup change, whereby Captain America took leadership over Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. After a brief period of tumult among the team, Captain America gave up his position, and Kang took this moment to strike. He set up a time machine on the roof of Tony Stark's mansion, the Avengers' headquarters, trapped them in it, and warped them to Earth-6311. He held their unconscious bodies in large glass jars as he went to try to coerce Ravonna into standing by his side as he conquered space-time, to her adamant refusal. The Avengers escaped, and Kang used a powerful remote message to demand that they serve him or surrender. Naturally they also refused, and began to fight through Kang's forces. Meanwhile, Captain America in Earth-616 had heard of the disappearance of his erstwhile allies and returned to Avengers HQ. Kang's time machine remained, and Cap spoke through an interdimensional video screen within it to antagonize Kang. Ravonna goaded Kang into bringing him through time as well, and Kang did so, lest she look down on his strength. Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch were incapacitated by one of Kang's traps while Quicksilver and Captain America reunited. The two confronted Kang, but Kang used his superior technology to defeat them as Ravonna and her father looked on from a balcony above. Kang claimed to have earned the right to marry her, but she insisted that the other Avengers would challenge him soon as well. He rejected this notion, and claimed that he could conquer her father's kingdom any time he wished, if not for his mercy he'd shown Ravonna. He gave her an ultimatum, to marry him or be destroyed by his army surrounding the city. Before she could respond, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch returned, and Cap and Quicksilver recovered. Kang angrily ordered his army to attack, and the Avengers prepared to defend the city.

Kang fled to command his army in person while the Avengers rallied the city's forces. The Avengers and their allies fought valiantly, but Kang soon lived up to his moniker and conquered the city. Quicksilver was knocked unconscious saving a woman and her baby from an incoming blast, while the others were all taken captive and marched to Kang's new throne room. Kang demanded that Ravonna become his new queen. However, his loyal commanders led by Baltag insisted that he should kill her instead, in keeping with his custom of killing the monarchs he conquers across time and space. Baltag and the others threatened to abandon Kang if he were to show such an act of mercy as to marry Ravonna. Kang blew them off, but remained wary of their dissent. Later, a group of Baltag's assassins attacked Kang, but he managed to fend them off. Baltag and the others took control of the city, and Kang knew that they would be coming for Ravonna next. Kang came to the Avengers and vowed to return them home safely if they helped him protect Ravonna and defeat Baltag's forces. They agreed, albeit cautiously. The Avengers and Kang rallied the similarly hesitant citizens behind them and took the fight to Kang's former followers. Meanwhile, Quicksilver was nursed to health by the woman he had saved, and he returned to the fight to capture Baltag and his closest allies. With the commanding traitors defeated, Kang was sure that his army would return to him. In spite of all he had done previously, Ravonna was impressed that Kang had risked everything to protect her. Kang stood to his word and returned the Avengers back to their 20th century. As they left, Baltag broke free and shot Ravonna as she was about to confess her love for Kang. Baltag was then shot down by Kang's men. Kang nursed the apparently dying Ravonna as the Avengers returned home.