Kraven the Hunter

"I'm here to hunt the one you call Spider-Man. And I'm going to kill him with my bare hands."

- Kraven.

Sergei Kravenoff, alias Kraven the Hunter, is an enemy of Spider-Man in the Marvel comics universe. He was born in Russia, and lived in Africa as a big game hunter. He was known to be able to take down any prey with only his bare hands. He became superhuman after he drank a witch doctor's potion, which granted him enhanced strength, reflexes, and stamina. He now had enough power to bring down a charging elephant, wrestle a gorilla, or run as fast as a cheetah. He also used various weaponry, including knives, bolas, whips, spears, and dart-guns.

When Kraven heard about Spider-Man via his half-brother, the Chameleon, he decided that Spidey would be his next prey. After several defeats, Kraven joined the team of supervillains called the Sinister Six to attack Spider-Man.

The Last Hunt
Later on in his life, when Kraven was reaching old age, he decided to complete the greatest hunt of his career before dying. He succeeded in trapping and shooting Spider-Man with a tranquilizer, then burying him. Kraven took up the identity of Spider-Man for awhile, until the real Spidey broke free from his coffin and attacked Kraven with a vengeance. Kraven did not resist, knowing that he had finally defeated his lifelong enemy, and after the two of them took down the feral supervillain Vermin, Kraven eventually killed himself.

Xraven
In a Spider-Man/X-Men comics crossover, it was revealed that Kraven had at one point made a deal with Mr. Sinister to retrieve DNA samples from the original members of the X-Men. After Kraven's death, Sinister created a new super-mutant with the combined powers of those X-men and the Hunter himself. Xraven was eventually defeated by the X-Men and Spider-Man when they persuaded him to turn on Sinister.

Legacy
Kraven was succeeded by his son, Vladamir, who took on the name of the Grim Hunter, but he was killed by Kaine. His half-brother Aloysha, (the son of Kraven and a mutant woman) then took on the title of Kraven the Hunter, and joined Venom's Sinister Six.

Ana Kravenoff, Sergei's daughter, recently took on her father's legacy and hunted down Spider-Man in revenge for her father's death.

Resurrection
Both Sergei and Vladimir were resurrected in a ceremony by Aloysha, Ana, and Sergei's wife Sasha. This act required the sacrifice of Julia Carpenter, the third Spider-Woman. Kraven has since taken charge of his family of hunters, and has battled Spider-Man and the Black Panther. However, the revival had twisted his mind, and he killed his wife and Vladimir, who had been revived as a lion-like beast, in a test to see if they were worthy Kravenoffs. His daughter Ana, just as ruthless as he, pledged herself to her father as an apprentice, and they have since been terrorizing Spider-Man.

The Spectacular Spider-Man TV Series
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 and using his bare hands to subdue his prey. In the episode "Destructive Testing", Kravinoff arrived in New York with Calypso and his pet lion (that 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 Professor Miles Warren's aid in securing powers of his own. Using a serum concocted from Miles Warren's own research (and based on Curt Connors's Lizard formula), Kravinoff is then mutated into a humanoid black-maned lion-like creature with elements of leopard and cheetah DNA (similar to his Ultimate Marvel version). After the mutation, he then changes his name to 'Kraven the Hunter' and goes after Spider-Man. With his new form, he easily outruns and overpowers Spider-Man several times throughout their fight (actually forcing Spider-Man to use up all his web fluid against him) and only being narrowly subdued after being tied up with most of Spider-Man's webs. After his second defeat, Kraven 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 the episode "Reinforcement" when he is sent to spring Doctor Octopus and Electro from Ravencroft. He only got away with Electro as Doctor Octopus did not want to leave. Thus, Master Planner managed to form the second version of the Sinister Six with him, Mysterio, Vulture, Electro, Sandman, and Rhino. After Vulture, Electro, Sandman and Rhino 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 Master Planner. In the episode "Gangland", Doctor Octopus tries to call Kraven for backup, but Doctor Octopus's phone becomes jammed by the Green Goblin.

Film
It is speculated that Kraven might appear in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 3 as either the main antagonist or a part of the Sinister Six. However production of the film was cancelled.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension
Kraven is the first boss in the video game. He captures Spider-Man and takes him to a remote jungle where he had many traps and minions waiting. After being humiliated by Spider-Man in defeat, Kraven used his piece of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to give him super-speed, which he has in the final battle.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3
He was rumored for the role of the main antagonist, despite being one of the rumored members of the Sinister Six (along with Green Goblin, Rhino, Vulture, Doctor Octopus and Mysterio). However production of the game was cancelled.