COLD PEOPLE

Classification: Terrestrial race/human variant (see comments)

Location/Base of Operations: Their city

Known Members: Ternak, unidentified elder, unidentified female

Affiliations: Master (former spiritual leader)

Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin, Thing/Ben Grimm--I know that's only three...don't blame me, blame the writers!)

Aliases: Abominable Snow Men, Chosen, Snow Creatures, Yeti (see comments)

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#145 (April, 1974)

Powers/Abilities: The large yeti-like Cold People may have had enhanced human strength, agility, etc.--Ternak was larger and stronger than the others (Class 10, perhaps). They were immune to cold; actually possessing ice-cold skin, they could not survive above freezing temperatures.

Their bodies were eventually altered by a device which gave them a more human-like appearance--presumably since this transformation, they possess no paranormal physical abilities.

However, they did have a large amount of advanced technology, including handgun energy blasters, the Entropy Globe, and the Climate Cannon.

Traits: Possessing pointed ears, most of the Cold People are actually docile and passive, but they were whipped into a frenzy by Ternak.

Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: Two (on head)
Fingers: Four (including opposable thumb)
Toes: Four
Skin color: Pink, with black hair observed
Average height: 6'; (in yeti-forms) 8 '

History:
(Fantastic Four I#145 (fb) /146 (fb)) - The origins of the Cold People are unrevealed, but at some point, apparently only the men were somehow transformed into hairy yeti-like creatures (see comments).

(Fantastic Four I#145 (fb)) - Five hundred years ago, a group of the Cold People were dwelling in the caverns of the Himalayas when they were discovered by the monk whom they would later call "The Master". The Cold People attacked the monk, who initially defended himself quite well with a quarterstaff, until they overwhelmed him through sheer weight of numbers. The monk then tamed the Cold People by mystifying them with a simple mirror. The Cold People acknowledged the monk as their leader, and he stayed with them for many years, teaching them to build structures--at first crude huts, and later the mighty towers of a city--and thus brought them civilization.

   For sixty years, the Master remained with them, and the Cold People learned the rudimentary languages and sciences of the outside world from him. But finally, the Master grew weak and sick, and then he died; although his spirit had fled his body, a group of his most loyal students put his lifeless form into the Entropy Globe, where his body was reanimated and his thinking brain was restored. The Cold People continued to build on what they learned, and they lived peacefully in isolation throughout the centuries.

   But when Ternak came to power, he was the first of their leaders to crave conquest of the outside world. The Master watched with sadness the rise of warmongers within the once gentle Cold People. Since neither Ternak nor his people could survive in the warmth of much of the outside world, he led them to prepare the Climate Cannon, with which they would turn the rest of the planet into a frozen wasteland in which the Cold People could thrive.

(Fantastic Four I#145) - As Johnny Storm accompanied Medusa on a trip to the Inhumans' city of Attilan, they unknowingly flew the Pogo Plane over the domain of the Cold People and were shot out of the air. Ternak led a group of five Cold People to the crashed aircraft and attacked the pair, who narrowly managed to drive the Cold People away. Later, an elderly member of the Cold People--who held no allegiance to Ternak--found Johnny and Medusa and revealed his people's origins. But shortly afterward, Ternak returned with his men to slay the elder, and then they overpowered the two outsiders; Ternak had Johnny and Medusa shackled, and took them to the Cold People's city, where they were imprisoned. The two escaped from their cells and battled some of Ternak's soldiers, but then Ternak revealed his master plan to them.

(Fantastic Four I#146) - Ternak used the Climate Cannon to coat his two prisoners in ice, but the Torch summoned his will to break free, and he and Medusa escaped after toppling the Cannon. While the Torch and Medusa hid from their pursuers, planning their next move, they encountered a female member of the Cold People; the unidentified female led them through the caverns to the Entropy Globe, where they met the Master. The Master gave them a device to end Ternak's threat.

   Meanwhile, three of the Cold People were rummaging through the wreckage of the Pogo Plane and unwittingly set off the Fantastic Four's signal flare, which brought in the Thing, who had come in search of his lost teammates. After battling and defeating the trio, the Thing found the entrance to the Cold People's subterranean city.

   Ternak led another assault on the three members of the Fantastic Four, but the Thing punched him back into the Climate Cannon, causing an explosion. With the other members running interference for her, Medusa activated the Master's device, which bathed the Cold People in a green light that transformed them into humans--now able to live in normal society, the need for the Climate Cannon was gone, and the Fantastic Four left the Cold People in peace.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Joe Sinnott.

   The race is never officially named. They're called a variety of names in the story, most notably the Chosen. In the Fantastic Four Index, they are called "Snow-Creatures," and also referred to as abominable snowmen. In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12, under the Yeti entry, they are described and named as the Cold People. That's the most unique name of the batch, and so I'm going with it.

   The Fantastic Four Index speculates that they could be the descendants of the group seen in Prester John's flashback in FF I#54, but that remains unconfirmed. Since they were transformed back into humans, it's possible that they were originally mutated by Terrigen Mist or something like that.

   Because of their slightly non-human appearance (pointed ears, three fingers and a thumb) when they were transformed, and their preference for a cold environment, I would speculate that the Cold People were extraterrestrial in origin; possibly they were an offshoot of the Arctic-dwelling Kallusians, who also had pointed ears and used ice guns (which were similar in function to the Climate Cannon); furthermore, I'd speculate that the adult males were affected by the same curse that transformed "Tom Tucker" and others [see Clarifications] into similar creatures; I'd further speculate that the same curse did not affect the females of their people (as exemplified by the unidentified female's appearance).

   Also, perhaps the Master had some connection to the scientifically advanced Himalayan city of Bayakura, which could explain the advanced technology he helped the Cold People to develop.--Ron Fredricks

   Fantastic Four I#146 incorrectly refers to the time period of the Master's death as 140 years ago, when it should actually be 440 years ago.

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Cold People have no known connection to:

The Master of the Cold People has no known connection to:

Cold People's city

Secretly located inside a huge cavern within the Himalayas, it was approximately 50 miles from the Inhumans' city of Attilan (as per Medusa).

Under the guidance of the Master, the Cold People constructed it centuries ago.

After Ternak was defeated and the Cold People were restored to a human-like appearance, they ceased their hostilities and returned to their city.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (145(fb), 146

Climate Cannon

A weapon built by Ternak, it apparently hovered by floating on a cushion of air.

It projected rays that lowered the temperature of its targets. Allegedly powerful enough to bring about another Ice Age, Ternak sought to use it so that the Cold People would be able to live anywhere on Earth.

The Cannon was destroyed in an explosion when the Thing punched Ternak into it.

After the Cold People were turned human, they no longer had any reason to rebuild the Cannon.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (146

Entropy Globe

For over four centuries, it was able to somehow reanimate the mind and (to a lesser degree) the body of the Master after he had died; however, the Master's soul had departed his body.

--Fantastic Four I#146 (146(fb), 146

Master

A 15th to 16th Century Tibetan monk (name unrevealed), he was the last survivor of an expedition for food in the Himalayas. Seeking shelter in a cave, he encountered the Cold People, and he used a simple mirror to entrance them. They quickly took him as their leader and he lived among them, teaching them to develop a society and technology for 60 years.

Eventually he died, and his spirit had fled his body; but some of his most loyal students kept his mind and body reanimated in the Entropy Globe. Trapped within the Globe, he watched with sadness the rise of warmongers within the Cold People. He eventually had his students construct a device that could transform the Cold People into humans, to prevent them from attempting to conquer the rest of the world; however, he had hoped that his people would learn the errors of their ways by themselves and not have that fate forced upon them. As Ternak prepared to unleash the Climate Cannon on the world, the Master realized that he could wait no longer, so he gave his device to Medusa, who used it on the Cold People, ending their threat.

Presumably, the Master--who despised his soulless existence--had his students remove him from the Entropy Globe so that he could finally pass on.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (145(fb), 146(fb), 146

Master's device

An apparatus supplied to Medusa by the Master, it projected a green light which transformed the yeti-like Cold People into more human-like forms.

--Fantastic Four I#146

Ternak

The belligerent leader of the Cold People, Ternak led the otherwise peaceful majority in a plot to freeze Earth with the Climate Cannon so that they could take over the planet.

He was punched into the Climate Cannon by the Fantastic Four's Thing; possibly he was slain in the resulting explosion.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (146

(Comment: Teranak had a slightly different appearance when he was depicted on the Gil Kane-drawn cover of issue #145 [see second image of this sub-profile].)

unidentified elder

A senior member of the Cold People, he went to the Human Torch and Medusa after they were initially attacked by Ternak and his followers. He assured them he had no allegiance to Ternak, then informed them of the past of his people; he also warned them that Ternak planned to use their advanced science to conquer the world.

Shortly afterward, he was hit by a ray blast fired by Ternak, and his body dissolved.

--Fantastic Four I#145

unidentified female

She was apparently an attendant to the Master while he was confined in the Entropy Globe. Unlike the other yeti-like Cold People, she had a more-or-less human appearance (see comments).

When the Human Torch and Medusa escaped from Ternak and his followers, she led the two of them to the Master, who subsequently gave them a device to transform the Cold People into more human-like forms.

After the defeat of Ternak and the destruction of his Climate Cannon, she assured the members of the Fantastic Four that her transformed people would not threaten the world again, for they could now survive in relatively warmer environments.

--Fantastic Four I#146

(Note: She was the only depicted female member of the Cold People; presumably, there were others.)

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#145, p3, pan1 (main image - Cold People)
Fantastic Four I#145, p5, pan1 (headshot - Ternak)
Fantastic Four I#145, p17, pan2 (Cold People fire their handguns at Human Torch and Medusa)
Fantastic Four I#146, p19, pan1-3 (Cold People return to normal)
Fantastic Four I#145, p12, pan8 (in flashback, Cold People complete construction of their city)
Fantastic Four I#146, p19, pan7 (Cold People's city [background]; unidentified female and transformed Cold People wave goodbye to Fantastic Four)
Fantastic Four I#145, p19, pan1 (Ternak on Climate Cannon; Human Torch, Medusa [foreground])
Fantastic Four I#146, p3, pan3 (Ternak on Climate Cannon)
Fantastic Four I#146, p9, pan5 (Master inside Entropy Globe [front view])
Fantastic Four I#146, p13, pan4 (Master inside Entropy Globe [side view])
Fantastic Four I#146, p12, pan3 (Master)
Fantastic Four I#146, p13, pan1 (Master)
Fantastic Four I#146, p13, pan5 (Medusa grabs Master's device)
Fantastic Four I#146, p17, pan1 (Medusa activates Master's device)
Fantastic Four I#145, p4, pan4 (Ternak battles Human Torch and Medusa)
Fantastic Four I#145, cover (Ternak battles Human Torch and Medusa)
Fantastic Four I#145, p11, pan6 (unidentified elder)
Fantastic Four I#145, p15, pan5 (unidentified elder gets hit by ray blast)
Fantastic Four I#146, p8, pan2 (unidentified female)
Fantastic Four I#146, p19, pan5 (unidentified female)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#145-146 (June-May, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), RossAndru (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)

First Posted: 12/27/2003
Last updated: 04/07/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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