| “ | There are no good men... only good prey. | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter to Mary Jane before transforming Curt Connors back into the Lizard. |
| “ | Beautiful. But you still hold back! Kill, or be killed! | „ |
| ~ Kraven trying to kill Peter Parker/Spider-Man. |
Sergei Kravinoff, better known as Kraven the Hunter, is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Venom) of the 2023 action-adventure superhero video game Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the third installment in Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man series.
He is a Russian big game hunter known for taking down any prey no matter how big or dangerous, whether animal or human. However, Kraven becomes diagnosed with an incurable cancer that would eventually claim his life, so he ventures to New York City in order to hunt its various super humans in hopes that one of them will grant him a worthy death. He also leads a large group of acolytes called the Hunters that usually aid him in his quests and is the half-brother of the Chameleon.
Like his brother, he was voiced by Jim Pirri, who also played Rais in Dying Light, Grimbyte in Bunnicula, Akeel Min Riah in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Clive Cross in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Angelo Bronte in Red Dead Redemption 2, The Executioner in Batwoman and Krang One in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Originally from Russia, Sergei Kravinoff was born in 1951 to Nikolai and Anna Kravinoff, and is the half-brother to Dmitri Smerdyakov. Despite being siblings, Sergei deeply hated Dmitri for a unknown reasons , but went on hunting trips with him when they were young. At some point, he became an immensely skilled hunter that gained his own followers of immensely skilled hunters that were completely loyal to him, earning himself the name "Kraven the Hunter". His hunting skill only improved after he drank a potion that gave him inhuman strength, endurance and hunting abilities.
In adulthood, Sergei met and married a woman named Sasha, whom gave birth to his daughter Ana and two sons Vladmir and Nedrocci. Once starting a family in Volgograd, he parted ways with Dimitri, whom became "The Chameleon" after being a subject in Proyekt Khameleon. From messages found at Hunters bases, he appears to have been abusive towards his children, pushing his family traditions onto them.
Sometime before coming to New York City, Kraven was diagnosed with late stage, inoperable cancer so he sought to die as he lived, as a hunter and began seeking out the most powerful prey; animal or otherwise so he could force them to kill him and let him die on his own terms. While preparing to leave Volgograd, he learned from Ana that she killed her mother and brothers, much to Kraven's amusement. Kraven then said that he would give her a chance to face him if she left Volgograd unharmed, then a gunshot is heard, implying that Kraven killed her. Six months before his emergence in New York, Kraven hunted and killed a skilled hunter after which he lamented the lack of suitable prey until one of his Hunters suggested New York City due to the plethora of superpowered beings there.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2[]
| “ | Light the fires. The great hunt begins. | „ |
| ~ Kraven announcing his intension to make New York City his new hunting ground and his famous quote. |
In 2020, Kraven arrives in New York in hopes of hunting all of them down to prove himself just before he passes away from his cancer in what he deems as a challenge, using offshore accounts to place his hunters, weapons, and equipment across New York without the citizens noticing. Kraven also tasked his hunters with finding his half-brother's location, with his drones capturing Dimitri in mid-transformation between identities. Choosing the Sandman as his first target, he tasked his hunters to capture the former criminal, but Marko eluded capture and attacked the city. Kraven then turned his attention to Scorpion and Mister Negative, commencing an assault when they were being transferred from the Raft. Deciding to capture them to study their powers and weaknesses, he brought them back to a mansion and located a flower that made him immune to the Scorpion's poison.
When returning to the mansion, Kraven was attacked attacked by Scorpion when the latter escaped from his cell, but survived due to the flower and killed the supervillain with his own stinger. Disappointed with his prey, Kraven returned to New York and hunted the Vulture, Electro and Shocker while tasking his Hunters with chasing down Black Cat and Curt Connors, the latter of who was once a monster known as the Lizard. Though left dissatisfied with their deaths, he kept their equipment as his trophies and had his hunters create weapons to use in their fight against the Spider-Men. He then ordered the hunters to capture Tombstone, but he was later saved by Spider-Man and Harry Osborn as Black Cat escaped to Paris with the assistance of the Wand of Watoomb and the second Spider-Man.
While failing to capture many for his hunt, his subordinates abducted Dr. Connors and brought him to an abandoned zoo in Jersey, intending to turn him into the Lizard. When returning, he discovered Mary Jane Watson attempting to free Connors and stopped, injecting Curt with the serum before Spider-Man and Harry arrive. During the fight, he fatally stabbed Spider-Man with a blade before fighting an enraged Harry. The big game hunter is defeated by Harry, and upon recovering, sees that the symbiote transferred itself to Spider-Man, enticing Kraven's interest in the hero. He orders the hunters to track down and kill the Lizard, as he knows that Spider-Man will come for him since he has the antidote for the Lizard serum.
At a church, Kraven is confronted by Spider-Man, and during their fight, learns the symbiote's weakness is loud noises from the church bell. The superhero escapes with the antidote, however, but Kraven awaits for the second duel as he returns to the mansion and orders his hunters to capture the second Spider-Man. At the mansion, the hunter has Miles and Mister Negative fight in a open arena, but Morales has Li escape to inform Peter of his location. Once Parker arrived at the mansion, Kraven battles him until he was defeated, attempting to entice Spider-Man and the symbiote into killing him. Miles soon arrives and stops Peter, allowing Kraven to the escape as the former saves his mentor from being consumed by the symbiote.
Later, Harry, now infected with the symbiote once more, attacks Kraven and his hunters, with the hunter believing he has finally found a worthy opponent. With no moral compass, Venom brutally defeats Kraven. In his final moments, Kraven thanks Venom for giving him a true death. Venom then bites Kraven's head off, ending his reign of terror.
Following his death, some of his hunters remained in New York in bases, where the Spider-Men and Ganke Lee found his messages speaking to his wife and children. Kraven's pet tiger Dima remained in the city, being brought to a zoo after Venom's alien invasion was stopped In addition, Dimitri succeeded in evading his late brother in his hunt, but turned his attention into doing the one thing the hunter couldn't do; kill the Spider-Men.
Personality[]
| “ | Do you know what it's like to have your body betray you? Weakness will not claim me! If I am to die soon, I will die ROARING! | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter to Venom. |
Kraven is a ruthless, yet cunning hunter, typically trying to find the worthiest of prey. After discovering his cancer, he wished not to die as a sick man, but as a man who wished to die at the hands of an equal. He cared very little about the people he hurt, even those who desired not to participate in his hunts, such as Martin Li or Curt Connors. He believed that among many of the villains and heroes of New York, he would find his equal and nearly did, when Spider-Man, under the influence of Venom, attempted to strangle him to death. He was, however, denied this, thanks to Miles Morales. Despite this, Kraven was not yet ready to surrender and would finally take joy in the fact that, following his encounter with Venom, he found the equal he sought for so long, dying happy. In addition this, he also doesn’t care about his family as he tricked his wife and children into slaughtering each other all for the sake of a sadistic hunt. He also hated his half-brother to the point that he refused to share a name with him.
Kraven takes great pride in holding the title of the world's greatest hunter. This led him to push himself to the peak of human physical limits and skills. After accomplishing a number of challenges, he truly starves for a worthy challenge. He even displayed an incredible amount of patience, as noted when he spent hours waiting for an alleged worthy challenger to detect him. When facing Spider-Man, Kraven shows enough empathy to sense the raw aggression of the Symbiote and is even enthralled by the possibility of finally finding a worthy fighter to defeat him.
Kraven has also shown himself to be a deeply spiritual man, as he still prayed every time before a hunt, as his mother had taught him to do so. As his age starts to catch up with him and he begins struggling with a terminal illness, Kraven also begins to display deep insecurities. Because Kraven's own followers view him as some kind of quasi-deity, Kraven is desperate to not die on a sickbed. Kraven desperately wants to be slain in battle by an opponent whom Kraven deems worthy of killing him. He fears that this terminal illness will weaken him, and this will lead to an opponent, whom he deems inferior to him, being the one to slay him. Additionally, Kraven even thanks Venom for the fight the two had, showing a level of respect towards strong enemies that are capable of besting him.
When facing Venom, Kraven became ecstatic at finally facing an opponent who will give him the glorious death he craved. His enthusiasm about getting what he wanted was noted when Kraven went on to proclaim that the brutal battle between the two will be Kraven's final hunt, but this will be the creature's first hunt.
He is also very psychotic and sadistic as it’s mentioned by his followers that he once tortured a man who left his organization and cut off a part of his body every day until nothing was left. He also seems to derive a twisted pleasure from his own pain, as he allowed Mary Jane to electrocute him a bit before breaking her stun gun and also enjoys himself as Spider-Man nearly strangled him. In addition to this, he seems to admire the sadism of others since he takes pleasure in driving Spider-Man further under the Symbiote’s control.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Strength: Kraven was being able to snap a man's wrist by turning and lifting him into the air by the neck with one hand. He's also capable of fighting and defeating powered beings, including the original Spider-Man, whom had nine years of experience, and the heroes rogues gallery. Additionally, he was strong enough to be a formidable opponent to Venom, but was defeated by the symbiote in the end.
- Agility and Reflexes: Kraven could move quickly enough to dodge multiple knife swings just by inching his body around.
- Stealth: Kraven the Hunter was a master of stealth, being able to sneak up on and surprise his enemies. He also claimed that "he was in a skilled hunter's shadow for hours" without the man noticing.
- Poison Immunity: Kraven has an immunity to all well known poisons as demonstrated when he is unaffected by Scorpion's poison.
- Pain Tolerance: Kraven developed a high-pain tolerance from the serum he takes, as shown when he grabbed MJ's taser without feeling pain. He also didn't wince from his wound caused by the Scorpion, much to the latter's disbelief.
- Master Tactician: Developing tactical knowledge from his years of hunting, Kraven used strategies by studying his prey to know their strengths and weaknesses. This is best demonstrated with the original Spider-Man, utilizing his compassion for his allies in capturing Miles so he could face him in another duel.
Arsenal[]
- Fists: Kraven the Hunter often preferred to use his bare hands when fighting his prey but he was brutally effective with them.
- Blade: Kraven also used a blade on occasions, stabbing Spider-Man during their first battle at the abandoned zoo.
Prey[]
- Unnamed hunter – Eliminated
- Ana Kravinoff - Shot
- Flint Marko/Sandman – Eluded capture
- Mac Gargan/Scorpion – Stabbed to death with his own stinger
- Martin Li/Mister Negative – Captured but eventually saved by Spider-Man
- Felicia Hardy/Black Cat – Eluded capture
- Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone – Captured but eventually saved by Spider-Man and Harry Osborn
- Curt Connors/Lizard – Captured but eventually saved by Spider-Man
- Adrian Toomes/Vulture – Eliminated
- Yuriko Watanabe/Wraith - Eluded capture
- Taskmaster - Eluded capture
- Max Dillon/Electro – Eliminated
- Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus - Eluded capture
- Herman Schultz/Shocker – Stabbed to death at the sternum with Kraven's blade
- Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon – Eluded capture
- Miles Morales/Spider-Man – Captured but eventually saved by Spider-Man
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man – Fatally stabbed to by Kraven's blade but saved by Venom
- Aaron Davis/Prowler - Eluded capture
- Harry Osborn/Venom – Failed to eliminate, willingly eliminated by Venom
- Wilson Fisk/Kingpin - Eluded capture
Quotes[]
| “ | A fate you will not share. I have been in your shadow for hours. But you sensed nothing. Pathetic. | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter's first words in a flashback when a skilled hunter claimed that he had gone senile with age. |
| “ | Is this the best you can do? They said you were a killer. Imagine my disappointment. | „ |
| ~ Kraven before killing Scorpion. |
| “ | Not as venomous as they say. | „ |
| ~ Kraven impaling Spider-Man with a blade. |
| “ | Harry: I'LL KILL YOU! Kraven: Do it then! |
„ |
| ~ Kraven fighting an enraged Harry Osborn after fatally wounding Peter. |
| “ | What are you? Track the lizard. The spider... is mine. | „ |
| ~ Kraven prioritizing Spider-Man as his final hunt. |
| “ | You have hunted me. This is good. Let us see if you have the strength to finish what you started. | „ |
| ~ Kraven's second encounter with Spider-Man. |
| “ | I see a man, but... I sense a beast. | „ |
| ~ Kraven sensing Spider-Man's changed nature. |
| “ | I'm assured that material is unbreakable. But I believe... anything can be broken. | „ |
| ~ Kraven trapping Spider-Man in a cage. |
| “ | You still hold back. Maybe you lack motivation. | „ |
| ~ Kraven presenting Peter a beaten and captured Miles as means of setting him off. |
| “ | Yes... There you are. | „ |
| ~ Kraven watching Spider-Man fly into a bizarre rage under the influence of the symbiote. |
| “ | Every night I dream of my last moments. My body lying beneath my ancestors sky, in a field fertilised by their failures. Their tears fall from the stars as fires consume my corpse for I have done what they could not. Only an equal my taste my last breath. And may they send my soul back to the quiet depths of hell. | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter. |
| “ | At last. | „ |
| ~ Kraven encountering Venom. |
| “ | Long have I dreamt of a perfect death, drenched in fire and blood! Will you give it to me?! | „ |
| ~ Kraven as he faces off against Venom. |
| “ | Venom: You destroyed our work. Hurt our friends. Kraven: Then come! Let your vengeance feast upon my flesh! |
„ |
| ~ Kraven fighting a wrathful Venom. |
| “ | Yes! YES! You will be my final hunt! And I shall be your first. | „ |
| ~ Kraven realizing Venom is a worthy predator. |
| “ | Kraven: Let us show the world what death should be! Venom: You want death? Then give up! Kraven: I want it to be worthy of me! |
„ |
| ~ Kraven telling Venom he wants to die in this fight. |
| “ | Do you know what it's like to have your body betray you? Weakness will not claim me! If I am to die soon, I will die ROARING!!! | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter to Venom. |
| “ | I have conquered every land and tamed nature itself! Man is beneath me! | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter to Venom. |
| “ | Thank you... | „ |
| ~ Kraven the Hunter's final words before having his head bitten off by Venom. |
Gallery[]
_,Mary_Jane_Watson_(Earth-1048)_and_Sergei_Kravinoff_(Earth-1048)_from_Marvel%27s_Spider-Man_2_001.jpg "Curtis Connors (Earth-1048) ,Mary Jane Watson (Earth-1048) and Sergei Kravinoff (Earth-1048) from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 001.jpg (107 KB)")
_and_Sergei_Kravinoff_(Earth-1048)_from_Marvel%27s_Spider-Man_2_001.jpg "Curtis Connors (Earth-1048) and Sergei Kravinoff (Earth-1048) from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 001.jpg (122 KB)")
_,Mary_Jane_Watson_(Earth-1048)_and_Sergei_Kravinoff_(Earth-1048)_from_Marvel%27s_Spider-Man_2_002.jpg "Curtis Connors (Earth-1048) ,Mary Jane Watson (Earth-1048) and Sergei Kravinoff (Earth-1048) from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 002.jpg (285 KB)")
_and_Sergei_Kravinoff_(Earth-1048)_from_Marvel%27s_Spider-Man_2_002.jpg "Curtis Connors (Earth-1048) and Sergei Kravinoff (Earth-1048) from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 002.jpg (153 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Out of all the villains Peter Parker/Spider-Man has faced in the series, Kraven the Hunter is the one who's come the closest to killing him so far. If not for the Venom symbiote healing him at the last second, he would have died from the stab wound Kraven inflicted on him.
- Although in the first game, the newly formed Sinister Six would have killed him, if not ordered to stop by Doctor Octopus.
- Likewise, in this game, Venom would have killed Spider-Man if not for Miles Morales and MJ's assistance.
- Kraven claims that out of the group of Spider-Man rogues that he managed to kill, Shocker was the one to impress him the most.
- Tragically, Herman was one of the more sympathetic villains in the series. Even Kraven stated in his recording regarding his experience with him that he only fought to survive.
- Although this version of Kraven the Hunter's desire to go out in his own terms (died in a worthwhile battle rather than cancer) which involved dragging in every single possible well known villain and vigilante of New York City into his and his hunters' personal hunting ground left some fans in poor taste, though this didn't prevent his portrayal in the game from being well-received. In fact, many fans and player found his grisly defeat at hands of Venom — the exact kind of defeat he wanted that he accepted it with dignity — to be the appropriate end for the villain.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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Oscorp Industries Kingpin's Criminal Empire Silver Sable International Sinister Six Roxxon Energy Corporation Hunters Mysterium Darren Shipman's Gang Others | ||