Blog

Time travel is one of the most powerful abilities in a multiverse of super powers. Kang the Conqueror uses it to his advantage, setting his sights on all manner of centuries that could be his. How does a man become a time tyrant? Let’s find out!

Nathaniel Richards was a rather intelligent man living in the 31^st century, who grew obsessed with the possibility of his ancestry, possibly being related to Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic. Believing he was made for greatness; he would gain control of a time machine and go back in time to ancient Egypt’s age of pharaohs and rules as Pharaoh Rama-Tut until he meets a time-tossed Fantastic Four.

Forced to flee the time period after his loss, he would go to the 20^th century and meet Doctor Doom, this was when he believed his heritage might not lie with the Richards family of the Fantastic Four, but with Doom. Making an armor of his own, inspired by Doom’s design, he would become the Scarlet Centurion. Like the ancestor he believed he had, Nathaniel would fight the Avengers but proved to be no match just yet.

Deciding he needed to recover in his present, Nathaniel would try and return back to his future, but overshot his destination and arrived in the war-torn remains of the 41^st century. In this new world, the survivors of this world had advanced technology but no idea how they worked internally. Able to take control of this world, Nathaniel gained a new name that he would use from now on, Kang the Conqueror. Controlling just this wasted Earth had proven to be not enough for Kang, he once again sought out time travel to conqueror more fertile times.

Kang would become a tyrant across time, having empires in different eras of the past and future. He would eventually return to the time the Avengers reigned as Earth’s mightiest heroes to prove he was the true ruler of all time. This would prove to not be the case; the Avengers were able to fight him off again and again. Returning to one of his subjected kingdoms, he would fall for a princess, Ravonna Rennslayer, who does not return his feelings. To impress her, he captures the Avengers and holds them prisoner in his time. The kingdom revolts and Kang must team up with the Avengers to regain control of the chaos. When it comes time to execute Ravonna for the revolution, Kang refused, leading his own men to mutiny, shooting at their leader. Sacrificing herself, Ravonna takes a fatal blast meant for Kang, proving she did love him as well.

To try and revive Ravonna, Kang would take the still captive Avengers to the Grandmaster and make a wager using the team of heroes to be his team. If Kang won, he could have power over life and death, bringing Ravonna back from the dead. This gambit doesn’t end up working and Kang loses his beloved and having the Avengers trapped. While Kang was able to control times from his own past, present, and future, the Avengers era and the times before theirs, remained blocked to him due to heroic intervention from time traveling heroes. One such battle in the American old west lead to a battle with Hawkeye that caused Kang’s first death, erasing certain beings from the past who were actually Kang in disguise.

While Kang was a master of time, it would be shown that he was also a master of realities as alternate Kangs would step in to fill the shoes of any fallen Kang from a different reality. Kang is a constant. One such Kang was so arrogant in his power that he would go back in time to his own youth, to show a teenaged version of himself what amazing feats he would achieve. Knowing his past self was bullied as a child, he assumed this would empower and embolden himself to destroy those in his way and begin his conquering lifestyle sooner rather than later. This did the opposite, terrifying the young Nathaniel Richards to use time travel to escape to the Avengers era to plead for help in keeping him from becoming Kang.

Nathaniel would realize he had landed in a time when the Avengers were disbanded and so he would have to form his own team. Seeking out teen heroes, he was able to masquerade as Iron Lad and lead the team, with all of them not knowing of his true lineage and history. When it was finally revealed that he was the once and future Kang, he would fight with his future self, and win. Killing Kang, freeing himself of his destiny. This would prove to cause a destruction of time as it was known due to all the changes Kang has had on reality, his death meant that nothing could remain the same, Nathaniel must become the conqueror or all hell would break loose from the paradox. Nathaniel would return and Kang would exist once more.

Kang would come and go through time, causing much pain and suffering in his ruling over different eras. Strange adventures would be had by heroes to stop Kang from getting footholds into taking over time periods he had not yet conquered. He would even plot to aide Doctor Doom in the hopes that what work he did with Doom allowed him an easier time to take over the world in a few centuries instead of several more.

There you have it! Kang the Conqueror is an ever-continuing threat to the Avengers and the time at large. He has been animated on the small screen and recently been recently shown in live-action on the small screen and soon to be the big screen. Where will he go next? Only time will tell! See you next time!

Suggested Reading
Fantastic Four #19
The Avengers #8
Young Avengers Vol. 1
Doctor Doom Vol. 1: Pottersville

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net