Kraven the Hunter
|
|
Template:Superherobox Kraven the Hunter is the name of a supervillain in Marvel Comics' universe and enemy of Spider-Man. He may have been inspired by the influential short story The Most Dangerous Game.
Spider34.jpg
Kraven was a maniacal big game hunter who sought to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he was the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdained the use of guns or bow and arrows preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands even though he often made elaborate preparations to weaken a quarry before hand. He also used a mystical serum to give him similar strength to Spider-Man, but even without the serum he was a threat to the wall-crawler. However, Kraven's continual underestimation of the superhero's resourcefulness made him a frustrating quarry.
In the acclaimed story by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt," his aggravation with his inability to run the superhero down further destroyed his sanity. With that, he hatched a scheme that actually defeated Spider-Man, and seemingly and uncharacteristically shot him dead. Considering his enemy effectively dead, Kraven buried him alive. After this, Kraven donned a copy of Spider-Man's costume and sought to prove that he was superior at his enemy's activities. This culminated with his successful singlehanded capture of a minor supervillain, Vermin, whom Spider-Man needed the help of Captain America to defeat. After that triumph, Spider-Man revived from the tranquilizer dart he was actually shot with and dug his way out of the grave. Kraven greeted him and explained that he had made his point about defeating his enemy. Then he released Vermin and told Spider-Man to pursue him. At this point, having no further purpose, Kraven committed suicide while Spider-Man captured the villain on his own.
Kraven's alliegances and relatives in life were, for the most part, revealed only after his death. 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 personal servant and the victim of Kraven's abuse, and yet, according to Smerdyakov, the two were best friends nonetheless. Kraven's lover, the voodoo priestess Calypso, manipulated the Lizard against the wall-crawler in the first issues of Todd McFarlane's best-selling Spider-Man series.
Kraven has since had two sons take up his role. The first had a brief career as the "Grim Hunter," and was killed by Kaine, an insane clone of Spider-Man. The second, Alyosha Kravinoff (or "Al Kraven") briefly operated as the second "Kraven the Hunter" before retiring from the supervillain scene and moving to Hollywood.