Kraven the Hunter

Publication history
Sergei Kravinoff is a maniacal big game hunter known as Kraven the Hunter who seeks to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdains the use of guns or bow and arrows, preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands. He also uses a mystical serum to give him similar strength to Spider-Man, but even without the serum he is a threat to the wall-crawler. Spider-Man proves a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimates the superhero's resourcefulness.

Kraven finally completes his ultimate objective in the acclaimed 1987 storyline by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt" and, having no further goals, commits suicide. Although the story was released in 1987, the story takes place in the Marvel Universe in 2003 according to Amazing Spider-Man issue 567.

Kraven later returns as a ghost in the graphic novel Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter.[2]

[edit]Kraven's connections
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 half-brother. 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. It was later revealed in a story arc concerning Ka-Zar that Kraven was trained as a hunter largely by a mysterious man named Gregor, a mercenary who battled Ka-Zar.

[edit]Kraven's legacy
Kraven has also had two sons take up his role; Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name "Grim Hunter" and decides to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes, but is murdered by an insane clone of Spider-Man named Kaine. Some time after the death of Vladimir, his half brother and mutant, Alyosha Kravinoff, becomes the newest Kraven. There was a third son as well, Ned Tannengarden, who tries to kill Alyosha, but was murdered by the Chameleon.

[edit]Xraven
It was revealed during 2009's X-Men/Spider-Man crossover that years ago, Kraven made a deal with Mr. Sinister. He tracked down the X-Men, and he and the Blobfought the united forces of Spider-Man and the original X-Men. He fled after a short battle, but not before wounding each member of the X-Men. Kraven returned to Sinister, with genetic samples from Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast. Furthermore, Sinister requested a sample of his DNA.[3]

Years later, after the death of Kraven, an ex-Morlock who had kept his powers post M-Day named Joe Buggs was murdered by a mysterious mutant hunter. His friend, who had lost his powers, went to the X-Men for help. He claimed that the man who killed Buggs was Kraven the Hunter. Although they were skeptical about Kraven's apparent resurrection, the X-Men called on the help of Spider-Man, who had battled Kraven many times over the years. After discussing the battle that they had with Kraven years ago, and the fact that he had given samples of the X-Men's DNA to Sinister for cloning, the lights went out on the wing where they were located. The hunter attacked, and quickly dispatched Colossus, but was held at bay by Spider-Man's webbing. He broke free, claiming his name is Xraven. The X-Men quickly realize that Xraven has all of the powers of the original X-Men, and he was able to take down Cyclops and Shadowcat, holding her hostage, giving the ultimatum that he would kill her if they did not surrender. Spider-Man insulted Xraven, claiming that Kraven would never threaten a helpless girl. Xraven was momentarily phased by his comment, but attacked again, claiming that he is the 'favored one'. Cyclops realizes Xraven's weakness, and told him that Sinister sees him as nothing but a pawn. He tells Xraven to read his mind, in order for him to see the kind of a man Sinister really is. He quickly fled after he saw Cyclops' memories, but the X-Men become aware of the fact that he was able to get DNA samples from Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. Returning to Sinister with the samples, Sinister tells him that he planned to clone a new generation of mutants, and that he would unite all mutantkind. After seeing what Sinister's real intentions were in Cyclops' memories, Xraven destroyed the samples, claiming that Sinister would breed slaves as opposed to warriors, and attacks him.[4]

The Xraven clone possesses the combined powers of the original X-Men, as well as Kraven the Hunter's fighting techniques, strength, and agility. His telepathic powers are able to block Spider-Man's spider sense, as well as Wolverine's heightened senses. His increased stamina makes it possible for him to be teleported by Nightcrawler repeatedly without suffering from fatigue. He has pale, white-grey skin, red eyes and no hair. Xraven also had a black diamond-shaped mark on his forehead, similar to the one on Mr Sinister.

[edit]Ana Tatiana Kravinoff
Ana Kravinoff's Villain Variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man#633. Art by Joe Quinones. A third, female Kraven has recently appeared. She tracks Spider-Man to his apartment, but mistakenly believes Peter Parker's roommate Vin Gonzales was him. She then methodically ruins Vin's life, and captures him.[5] Despite Vin's claims that he was not Spider-Man, Kraven prepared to hunt him. At the end it is revealed that her name is Ana Tatiana Kravinoff, that she is only about 12 years old and that she is Kraven's daughter by a woman called Sasha Aleksandra Nikolaevich, also mother of the deceased Vladimir. She and her mother have recently set about forming an alliance of Spider-Man villains to get revenge on the wall-crawler and kidnap Madame Web. They also hired Deadpool to keep him distracted while they kidnapped Mattie Franklin. Their revenge scheme will play an important role in The Gauntlet.

[edit]Powers and abilities
By regularly ingesting the potion made from the various unnamed jungle herbs, Kraven grants himself a number of abilities including sufficient superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes to make him a physical threat to Spider-Man, though these powers aren't as developed as those possessed by Spider-Man. Kraven's body is also more durable and more resistant to certain forms of injury than the body of a normal human. He can withstand great impact forces, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human, with little to no injury to himself. The effects of the potion have dramatically altered Kraven's aging process to the point that he has aged little, if at all, over several decades. Despite being over 70 years of age, he has the physical appearance of a 30-year-old man.

The potion enhances Kraven's sight, hearing, and smell to superhuman levels, adding to his already impressive tracking skills. He can see further and with much greater clarity than a normal human. His hearing is similarly enhanced, enabling him to detect sounds an ordinary human can't and sounds that a normal human could detect, but at much greater distances. Kraven can use his sense of smell to track a target by scent, much as some animals do, even if the scent has been somewhat eroded by natural factors.

Even without his superhuman powers, Kraven is an Olympic level athlete, a gifted tactician, hunter, and hand-to-hand combatant. He also has great knowledge of pressure points, both in the anatomy of humans and in many animals. He can strike at these nerve clusters with pinpoint accuracy, allowing him to incapacitate more powerful opponents or animals. He is familiar with many exotic poisons and tranquilizers, which he often uses during his hunts.

[edit]What The--?!
In What The--?! #3 Kraven appears as a raven called Raven the Hunter.

[edit]Marvel Zombies Return
In the first issue, he is seen with his Sinister Six teammates terrorizing Empire State University after the Kingpin hires them to distract a heist. He was zombified by the Zombie Spider-Man after he rips out his throat.

[edit]Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel series, Sergei Kravinoff is an Australian and the host of his own reality show in which he hunts down dangerous animals, and intends to hunt and kill Spider-Man on live television in order to boost his ratings. He is arrested after being knocked out with a single punch by the superhero (who was trying to help two people out of an overturned car), and his show is canceled. In the Ultimate Six story arc, Kraven genetically tampers with his DNA, allowing him to become a gruesome werewolf-like monster, with large hands and feet, claw-like fingers, enlarged red veins, darker skin, fang-like teeth and beserk-like, feral behavior. Kraven is taken in S.H.I.E.L.D confinement, where he escapes with other Spider-Man villains. Kraven helps with the attack on the White House, though he is electrocuted by a lightning bolt from Thor when he tries to attack Peter.

[edit]Marvel Noir
In Spider-man Noir, Kraven is depicted as a former animal trainer in a circus that was taken by Norman Osborn, a mob boss known as "The Goblin", as one of his hitmen and collectors.

He was killed with Osborn when a mass of man-eating spiders covered his body and started eating him.

[edit]Television
Kraven in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.*Kraven appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series voiced by Gregg Berger. In this series, Kraven has a more heroic personality than he did in the comics.
 * Kraven appears in the Iron Man portion of The Marvel Super Heroes entitled "Cliffs of Doom". He and Chameleon collaborate to steal Tony Stark's magneton laser.
 * Kraven appears in the Spider-Man episode "The Hunter and the Hunted." J. Jonah Jameson hires him to capture Zabu so that he can be the mascot of the Daily Bugle. He uses his special formula, tranquilizer gaz, and an electric cage to trap Zabu. When Ka-Zar makes it to Manhattan, Kraven calls up J. Jonah Jameson to lure Kraven to his hideout in a plot to hunt Ka-Zar for publicity. Kraven manages to trap Jameson's nephew Mortimer and gets Ka-Zar tangled up in his vines. Spider-Man arrives and fights with Kraven's pet snake while Kraven cuts of Jameson and Mortimer's escape. Upon evading Kraven's other traps, Spider-Man manages to destroy the controls enabling Ka-Zar and Zabu to subdue Kraven and trick him into one of his cages. With Kraven handed over to the authorities, Ka-Zar and Zabu returned to the Savage Land.
 * Kraven appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "The Crime Of All Centuries" voiced by Robert Ridgely. He manages to bring the dinosaurs he caught from the Savage Land to Manhattan to prove the existence of the Savage Land. Kraven later captures Firestar so that he can use her powers to power up a machine that will hatch his dinosaur army.
 * In the Spider-Man Unlimited episode "Enter the Hunter!", The Hunter (voiced by Paul Dobson) is Counter-Earth's version of Kraven the Hunter.
 * Kraven appears in MTV's Spider-Man animated series voiced by Michael Dorn.
 * Sergei Kravinoff appears in the The Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Destructive Testing"[6] voiced by Eric Vesbit. Garbed in a lion-themed vest similar to his comic book counterpart, he is the most skilled hunter in the known world, relying only on his natural skills to subdue his prey. Kravinoff arrived in New York with Calypso and his pet lion (who was trained to track anything) and had confronted Spider-Man where, to his credit, he provides a reasonable challenge but is still subdued before too long. However, following his first defeat at the hands of Spider-Man, he becomes convinced that the only reason he lost was due to Spider-Man's genetically altered physiology. As such, Kravinoff enlists the aid of Professor Miles Warren in securing powers of his own. Using a serum concocted from Warren's own research (and based on Curt Connors' own Lizard formula), Kravinoff is then mutated into a lion/man-like hybrid with elements of leopard, lion and cheetah DNA (similar to the Ultimate Kraven) he then changes his name to Kraven the Hunter. After his second defeat, he is rescued by Calypso on behalf of the Master Planner, who asks him if he would like to hunt in a pack. This does occur in "Reinforcement" when he is sent to spring Doctor Octopus and Electro from Ravencroft. He only got away with Electro as Doctor Octopus didn't want to leave. After Vulture, Electro, Sandman, andRhino were defeated, he and Mysterio attacked Spider-Man where their fight led to a mall. He was knocked out by an exploding Mysterio robot. Though Mysterio was arrested, Kraven alongside the other four villains were extracted at the last minute by the Master Planner. In "Gangland," Doctor Octopus tries to call Kraven for backup only for Doctor Octopus' phone to be jammed by the Green Goblin.