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| “ | May this poor wretch's fate cement your fidelity and erase your minds of all ideas of treason, for the task I am about to command requires the utmost secrecy!! While Europe boils over with war, America has been stupid enough to think itself safe from invasion! - It is the most unfortified country in the world!! - It is ripe for attack! Yes, ATTACK!! - we, the forces of the Claw, are better than equipped for war than was Hitler! - but we must strike quickly! As America is beginning to arm and soon, she will not be so easily overcome! the mask set before you must be accomplished in six months or all our efforts will be in vain! NOW GO! EVERY MAN TO HIS POSITION! | „ |
| ~ The Claw's speech, planning his invasion of America. |
| “ | DEATH TO AMERICA!!! | „ |
| ~ The Claw as he invades New York, reducing Manhattan to ruins. |
| “ | By the shades of Zeus you swine shall die! Taste that, infidels! | „ |
| ~ The Claw's final words before his death. |
The Claw (sometimes called The Green Claw), the God of Hate and "The World's Worst Villain", is one of the main villains of Lev Gleason Publications alongside Adolf Hitler.
Though incarnations vary, he is portrayed as an ultimate force of evil, in the original he was a demon who rules the small island of Ricca and became allies with the Axis Powers to achieve world domination. During World War II, he would become allies to the Axis Powers, primarily Hitler, though they tend to have their differences. He would later be retconned as an alien invader, a cosmic being from the planet Zylmarx of which he is their supreme leader. He sought to take over the Earth and later the entire universe.
Because of how much of a threat he poses to the point even the Axis grew to fear him; The Claw would battle many heroes in the Lev Gleason universe who tried to stop the mad monster. The Claw is also the archenemy of both Daredevil (Bart Hill), Jerry Morris, and The Ghost. Eventually, he would clash against Rocky X and his crew in his final attempts to conquer the entire Earth.
Biography[]
The ruler of the Pacific Island nation of Ricca the Claw is the ultimate villain, often called the God of Hate by his own people. The Claw's activities were apparently monitored by an Infernal supervisor, and he could travel to Hades to request aid. The Claw's most commonly used power was his ability to make himself any size he wishes, and he usually maintained a height of at least 100 feet. He towered over Manhattan when he first came to the U.S., where he would encounter his greatest foe, Daredevil (Lev Gleason). He was strong enough to pick up a train or rip the roof off of a building and he could not be killed by conventional firearms, though, being somewhat cowardly, he would usually retreat when he experienced pain. He had other ill-defined abilities as well which seemed to depend on the phases of the moon. He was served by a small army of human henchmen and by his goblin-like Clawites.
Over the years, the Claw faced a number of opponents, which included Jerry Morris, Major Carl Tarrant, Daredevil, Ghost, and Rocky X. Claw left Earth during WWII by tricking the Nazis into building him a rocket. He went back to the planet Zylmarx and for decades built up an invasion force to conqueror Earth. His plans are foiled by Rocky X and his allies.
His origins tend to vary on different continuities, but his original one was that he was born on the island of Ricca via a union between a ruthless lady named Zola and a ugly brute named Mei Ting. After he was born, the couple were found dead with Zola committing suicide leaving the baby at the care of the villagers of "Death's Head". Despite their bests efforts to raise him and teach him the ways of good, he chooses the path of evil even as a child. So much that he was then locked up in prison for many, many years until his powers, and soon his size, began to grow. He took advantage of this and broke out of the prison he was kept in while slaying all the guards.
Eventually he would enslave the very island he was born in, Ricca, and became its cruel tyrant. He would then practice the dark arts by selling his soul to Lucifer and earned himself a scientific field so he could build weapons of war and destruction. Now craving to rule the world, he would join the Axis during World War II, mainly Hitler, but his primary concern is conquering America and destroy its democratic ways.
Another origin story he has in his retconned return, he was a chunk of mass blew off the planet Zylmarx and hurtled towards Earth. It streaked over New York and landed in Tibet, far from civilization. For almost four years, the crater remained untouched. There were faint rumblings in the Earth, recorded on seismographs all over the world, but they were not considered unusual. Unknown to humanity, something was slowly developing within the meteor towards its awful birth. Then, early in 1939, the ground split open and out of the crater emerged a horrible sight: The Claw.
In his first run in the Lev Gleason stories, primarily when he was facing heroes such as Daredevil and Ghost, he would soon meet another like-mind supervillain by the name of Cobra Queen who captured Claw and attempted to make him her slave. But when he proves his power too great, the two would work together to conquer the world, and eventually capturing the Ghost to torture him later. The Claw and Cobra Queen plan to attack Fort Blox to steal all the gold there for themselves and betray Hitler so they'll be the ones ruling the Earth. However, Ghost broke free and stopped their evil plans, forcing Claw to retreat and abandoned his ally to save his own skin.
Other Media[]
Image Comics[]
The Claw was the villain protagonist of his new story, where he retires from his days of supervillainy to become a corrupt CEO of "ClawCo.", where he conducts illegal business practices, attends live shows, and bathes in human blood. He misses the old days of where he used to spread terror during World War II and grows annoyed with the usual corporate meetings and paper works. He gets upset he was denied an interview in a live television show due to being accused of looking like an Asian stereotype, of which he insisted in a childish rage that he isn't.
Project Superpower[]
The Claw appears as a major antagonist of the Project Superpowers universe, once again the archenemy of Daredevil (or Death-Defying Devil). Here, he is depicted as an otherworldly being who's implied to be the force behind Hitler's rise to power and sought to take over the world. He fought numerous heroes of the public domain in this verse, until being killed by Daredevil when he was fighting the creature on top of a volcano. However, a terrorist organization named after him continued his legacy and began carryout acts of terrorism in his name.
He would return to life by assimilating thousands of civilians into a giant mass of melt bodies, until it formed a new body for him to inhabit. He would wreak havoc across Washington, with plans to consume the whole world then the universe until everything has become a part of his new form. He temporarily killed Daredevil, who later came back with his newfound demonic powers, and banished Claw to what is heavily implied to be Hell
Alter Ego[]
The Claw is the main villain of the four-issue miniseries centering on public domain superheroes of the Golden Age, here he is called "The Crimson Claw", and was part of a crystal representing Ying-Yang, the positive and negative forces of the cosmos. He took possession of a professor who discovered the gem and sought to destroy the entire world in nuclear destruction.
In the sequel, he returns as the main villain once more. He has reincarnated as the spectral entity named Brother Crime, based on another Lev Gleason villain Mr. Crime. As Brother Crime, he tempts others in committing Evil deeds and continues to torment his titular archfoe.
Savage Dragon[]
Returning many years later from the dead after his defeat in World War II, The Claw seeks not only world conquest but revenge on Daredevil. He would break out recurring villain Thunderhead to be his minion. He was then killed once more by Daredevil who used his boomerang to decapitate him.
Liberty Brigade[]
The Claw appears as one of the villains of the graphic novel, being one of the members of Hitler's Death Lords consisting of himself, The Clown, The Great Question, Mastermind, Deathless Brain, and Misery. In this continuity, Cobra Queen is his wife, and he has captured his archenemy Ghost and kept him prisoner. He and his cohorts plan to assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt and win the war.
Appearance[]
As a size-shifter, he commonly takes the size of a giant monstrosity, that of a kaiju, being the size of whole buildings. He has change to normal human size before, but the biggest was when he was overshadowing the whole of Manhattan to having his whole arm shadowing an entire battlefield. He is a yellow skin creature whose face resembles that of a bat, or a skull. He has sharp fangs and long boney claws, hence where his name came from, and is often dressed in a long red robe. He either wears sandals or slippers for his footwear. In his debut, he used to be dressed in a long green rob instead but this was later dropped in favor of his red garments. He later had his skin changed to green, when he was rebranded as "The Green Claw". He also wears a red, sometimes black, cap on his head, and has long pointy ears.
Personality[]
| “ | "High Lord of Evil": From every corner of the Earth have come weird tales of a monster - a terrifying giant that tramples human rights and brings violent death to those who defy him - some say his BLOOD RUNS BLACK. Where he goes, he leaves a crimson trail of death and destruction in his wake - that monstrosity of existence said to be half-man half-animal is feared by all who know him - as THE CLAW. Dwelling in the wilds of Tibet - this most ruthless and cunning of all criminals is even now plotting in his sinister mind a series of gigantic - uncanny schemes with which he is to burst forth the power and intensity of a volcano eruption - in an effort to gain he height of his desires. His one life's ambition - the conquest of our nation. | „ |
The Claw is a vicious, apathetic, tyrannical, and wrathful megalomaniac hellbent on world domination. Reviled as "The World's Worst Villain" and for good reasons, willing to commit atrocities and war crimes to satisfy his obsession for power and dominance. He is prone to hurl insults to both allies and enemies especially when things don't go his way and is an absolute dreadful excuse of a boss to his lackeys: Often threatening them with death or outright killing them through agonizing means should they fail him. He is also extremely sadistic, employing torture methods on his victims while making his arch-foes watch as he'll torture their loved ones to death while planning to do the same to them.
He is also known for his pettiness, at one point in the Lev Gleason run he used the powers of Hell itself to plunge the world into chaos just to destroy his hated arch-enemy Daredevil for constantly foiling him. However, beyond all this he is more than willing to strike pragmatic partnerships with other tyrants to suit his needs, such as Adolf Hitler and the other Axis Powers. But due to his immense ego, he acts as if he's the one in-charge even abusing Hitler, threatening his allies with death or using them as shields to protect himself. He also a treacherous snake to work with as well, as he plans to betray the Axis so he can rule the world by himself. His hunger for power having no end, willing to even sacrifice his soul to Lucifer himself just to gain magical abilities for his own. His megalomania gotten to the point he forces his minions to worship him as a twisted messiah, a dark god where they perform dances, rites, and rituals in his name.
He also has a perverse lust for women, often seeking a bride to make into his queen so he doesn't have to rule the world alone. He was more than willing to give one of his brides' powers second only to him, the closest thing to a "kind" gesture on his part considering how awful of an ally and employer he can be. But for all his talk about seeking a bride and willingness to share power, the Claw is a misogynist who only cares for beauty than anything about the females he seeks. His plot often involves a woman being forced to be his consort without any consent, once got mad that a Nazi agent was followed and snarled how he shouldn't rust a woman. He often replaces them without another would-be bride, not even once showing concern when his archenemy Daredevil rescued one of them from his clutches, showing that he sees them as expendable. He's also not above sexually assaulting one to show how much he "loves" them, disgusting heroes such as Ghost which made him furious enough to break his chains. The Ghost himself even states that the Claw is not really capable of true love, a sentiment the Claw has consistently shown throughout his appearances. As the Claw shows equal amount of cruelty towards his own family as well, such as his uncle whom he tried to kill for not giving him the formula he needs for world conquest.
But the Claw, for all his short fuse personality and spiteful demeanor, can be rather persuasive when he needs to be. Even charismatic too, as he recruited an army of convicts and convinced them to join his cause after he broke all of them out of prison. All of them gradually join him without a second thought. He done the same thing a few issues later, having convinced a whole prison to join him with the promise of freedom, all of them besides one became convinced and staged a prison break to aid the Claw. The Claw can also feign loyalty from his minions on Zylmarx, who follow their master without a second thought and believed his promises to make Zylmarx the dominant race on Earth and possibly the universe. Despite this, as usual, the Claw is a liar and does not care for his own Zylmarxians. Showing nothing but apathy in their demise at the hands of Rocky X and his allies, and beats one aside for daring to suggest a tactical retreat despite many of his subjects perishing.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Hypnotic Hum: The massive mental powers of the Claw were manifested in lightning fired from his fingertips and manifested in a variety of different forms.
- Dream Control: The Claw was able to hypnotically induce sleep in targeted people, controlling whether they would have addictive dreams or horrible nightmares.
- Superhuman Strength: Is able to topple buildings and destroy vast majority of a city or city block, particularly when he is in massive size. He once threw the Daredevil to the sky in an attempt to make him hit the stratosphere, even make quick work against the army and their vast military equipment. He once caused an extinct volcano to erupt by stomping onto the ground hard enough, and even in human size he once grabbed a plane with his bare hands when it was in midair.
- Weather Manipulation: The Claw was able to create an oceanic vortex that drew all the ocean currents in the world in his direction. Even controlling the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans which caused terrible blizzards across all tropical lands in the world.
- Portal Conjuring: The Claw possessed the ability to open a portal to the Inferno, by uttering the incantation, "Reficul, retsam! Wolla em ot emoc ot sedah!"
- Mind Reading: The Claw was able to read unguarded thoughts.
- Size-Changing: The Claw was able to grow to such heights as to dwarf the island of Ricca itself, or to stand in the Atlantic Ocean and make ships seem small.
- Smoke of Sin: An, incense, that, when burnt and inhaled as smoke, causes the breather to lose all fear. The Claw used it on his minions to keep them loyal.
- Durability: He can take a great deal of damage, being immune to bullets and other sorts of military weapons. He survived being blasted with the full force of a volcano without a scratch.
- Force Waves: Can generate a force field that can melt metal. When Tarrant trips the Claw, he accidentally landed on his robot army and melts all of them, despite previously stating the robots can't be hurt.
Quotes[]
| “ | Faster! Faster! Death to the first to drop! | „ |
| ~ The Claw whipping his slaves. |
| “ | It is completed! The greatest feat of engineering ever attempted by mortals! A tunnel to America! PREPARE FOR INVASION!! | „ |
| ~ The Claw begins his attack on the US. |
| “ | Who babbles such disrespect? AN INFIDEL!! - WHY, I'll-! | „ |
| ~ The Claw being confronted by Daredevil. |
| “ | Look who challenges The Claw! An infant! Ho ho ho ho ho ha ha ho ho ha ha!! | „ |
| “ | Cut him to ribbons! I cannot be bothered by such trifles!! | „ |
| ~ Claw ordering his minions to kill Daredevil. |
| “ | I have indeed underestimated you - but this time there is NO ESCAPE!!' | „ |
Gallery[]
.jpg "Claw (Lev Gleason).jpg (112 KB)")
.jpg "Death Lords (Liberty Brigade).jpg (216 KB)")
Trivia[]
- He serves as one of the earliest examples of the villain being the title character of their own work.
- He was created by Jack Cole.
- He is one of many Golden Age comic book supervillains to be in the Public Domain, alongside the likes of the Great Question, Super-Brain, The Clown, Mister Mind, Doctor Sivana, Captain Nazi, and Iron Jaw.
- Though commonly seen having yellow skin, The Claw was eventually (albeit briefly) recolored into having green skin or at least have his name reprinted as "The Green Claw". Presumably to avoid controversy and subvert the racial "Yellow Peril" stereotype he used to represent at the time.
External Links[]
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