KUBLAI KHAN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human (Asian) technology user

Occupation: Would-be master of the world

Group Membership: Leader of his band of followers

Affiliations: Master of Tong

Enemies: Machine Man (X-51/Aaron Stack), Binary Bug (Joseph Rambo)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile aboard Xanadu

First Appearance: Machine Man I#11 (October, 1979)

Powers/Abilities: Kublai Khan had no superhuman abilities, but he was a brilliant scientist who possessed advanced technology, a legion of mercenaries, and a flying headquarters named Xanadu.

He also created a mind-transfer machine, which he used in an unsuccessful attempt to transfer his consciousness into Machine Man's mechanical body.

A morbidly obese man with limited mobility, he was confined to a thought-controlled wheelchair, which he used to move about.

Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald

History:
(Machine Man I#11 (fb) - BTS) - The past of the criminal mastermind called Kublai Khan is largely unrevealed (see comments); although he possessed advanced technology, a dirigible headquarters, and a legion of followers, he loathed his grossly bloated body, which he considered to be useless. He employed sculptor Anton Gregarian to create a statue that portrayed him as a handsome warrior, but he was, in fact, an obese man with limited mobility.

(Machine Man I#10 - BTS) - Learning of the robotic life-form Machine Man, Kublai Khan somehow created an artificial earthquake in an attempt to destroy him.

(Machine Man I#11) - The thief known as the Binary Bug flew aboard Xanadu and approached Khan, with the intent of stealing his valuables; but Khan's wealth was saved by the arrival of Machine Man, and in the course of their battle, the Binary Bug accidentally killed himself. Khan resolved that somehow he would make Machine Man his own.

(Machine Man I#13) - Khan had a trap set for Machine Man in the elevator shaft of a building. While aboard Xanadu and watching on a video monitor, Khan was impressed at how easily Machine Man avoided being crushed by the falling elevator car, and he became convinced that he should capture the robot and transfer his mind into Machine Man's body, so that at last he would have a worthy body to match his mind, and he would be immortal. When Khan saw that Machine Man was about to capture the agents he sent to guard the building, he ordered them to be killed with explosive devices implanted in their necks, so that there would be no possible clues left behind.

   Remotely using an agonizing sonic blast, Khan contacted Machine Man and threatened to destroy him unless he did as he commanded. Khan lured him to a junkyard, then sent a wrecking ball and laser-equipped flying junked cars against him; after Machine Man dealt with those traps, Khan next sent him to a laser-guarded maze, from which Machine Man easily escaped.

   Now certain of Machine Man's greatness, Khan directed him to Xanadu, where Tong defeated the living robot in combat by temporarily deactivating his internal mechanisms. Tong carried the inert robot to an operating room table, where Kahn was also laying on an adjacent table, then connected Machine Man to a device designed to transfer the consciousnesses of Khan and Machine Man. The instrument was activated, and it seemed at first to work, but Machine Man was only pretending to be Khan to fool Tong. As Machine Man and Tong grappled again, Tong was smashed into an electrical panel, which started a fire. Machine Man revealed to Khan that he had only pretended to be unconscious, then simply reversed his polarity and sent an electronic backlash into the mind-transfer device to keep it from functioning.

   While Machine Man fled the burning dirigible, Kublai Khan lay immobile upon the operating table, crying for aid, and receiving none; he cursed Machine Man, and promised to return from the grave. Minutes later, Xanadu exploded.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin, Marv Wolfman & Steve Ditko.

A very Steve Ditko story if I ever read one. Objectivism to the extreme!

The name Xanadu is an actual place in Mongolia used in the poem by Cole, "Kubla Khan". Marvel (and that movie with Olivia Newton-John) all take the name from there. Courtesy of John McDonagh, here's a link that gives you more detail: Xanadu

It was difficult to estimate Kublai Khan's height, since most of the time he was in his wheelchair.

And he's obviously not the historic Kublai Khan, but considering his sobriquet, maybe he had some connection to the Atlas Foundation.
-- Ron Fredricks

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Kublai Khan has no known connection to:

Tong has no known connection with:

Anton Gregarian has no known connection with:

Kublai Khan's dirigible Xanadu should not be confused with:

Tong

Kublai Khan's most faithful servant, Tong had been bred to battle, and his ancestors had apparently served the historic Kublai Khan. Tong's strength had been "scientifically increased," and his nerve-endings had been severed, so he was unable to feel pain.

Tong engaged Machine Man in physical combat, and he had been instructed how to temporarily deactivate Machine Man's internal mechanisms, to render the robotic hero "unconscious". After placing Machine Man on an operating table, Tong oversaw the procedure to transfer his master's mind into Machine Man's body.

But Machine Man had prevented the transfer process from working, and he engaged Tong in combat again; Tong was subsequently smashed into an electrical panel, which started a fire.

Tong was apparently killed when Xanadu was destroyed in a fiery explosion.

--Machine Man I#13

Anton Gregarian

The finest sculptor in Vienna, he was kidnapped by Kublai Khan's henchmen and taken aboard the dirigible Xanadu.

Gregarian was forced to sculpt a statue of Khan; but the morbidly obese Khan insisted that the statue portray him as the proud and handsome warrior that he should have been.

Gregarian completed the sculpture as specified, and considered it to be his most magnificent creation. But when he asked to be freed, Khan "rewarded" Gregarian by opening a trapdoor beneath him, and he dropped to his death.

Afterward, Khan told his servant Tong to make certain Gregarian's family was compensated for his last work.

--Machine Man I#13d

Kublai Khan's mind-transfer machine

One of the technological creations of Khan, it could supposedly exchange the minds between two individuals.

The morbidly obese Khan sought to use it to transfer his consciousness into the body of Machine Man, and thus gain immortality.

But Machine Man outwitted Khan by reversing his polarity and sending an electronic backlash into the device, which kept it from functioning.

(Comment: This device was never actually identified, so I just referred to it by its obvious function.)

--Machine Man I#13

Xanadu

It was the dirigible headquarters of Kublai Khan, from which he oversaw his plans.

It was equipped with advanced scientific equipment, and a veritable army of followers.

After catching fire during Machine Man's battle with Tong, it fell from the sky in flames before you could say "Hindenberg".

Although most of the servants and crew managed to parachute to safety, Kublai Khan and Tong were apparently still aboard when it exploded.

--Machine Man I#11 (Machine Man I#11, 13

images: (without ads)
Machine Man I#13, p3, pan3 (main image - Kublai Khan; Tong [background])
Machine Man I#13, p3, pan2 (headshot - Kublai Khan)
Machine Man I#13, p4, pan3 (Kublai Khan)
Machine Man I#13, p17, pan2 (apparent death of Kublai Khan)
Machine Man I#13, p7, pan3 (Tong)
Machine Man I#13, p7, pan4 (Tong)
Machine Man I#13, p13, pan5 (Tong battles Machine Man)
Machine Man I#13, p3, pan4 (Anton Gregarian presents his completed statue to Kublai Khan)
Machine Man I#13, p3, pan5 (Anton Gregarian falls through trapdoor; Kublai Khan [background])
Machine Man I#13, p14, pan4 (Machine Man and Kublai Khan connected to mind-transfer machine; Tong [foreground])
Machine Man I#13, p14, pan5 (Machine Man and Kublai Khan connected to activated mind-transfer machine)
Machine Man I#11, p14, pan4 (Binary Bug flying above Xanadu)
Machine Man I#13, p3, pan6 (Anton Gregarian falling from Xanadu)

Appearances:
Machine Man I#11 (October, 1979) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Machine Man I#13 (February, 1980) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist)

First posted: 04/18/2002
Last updated: 02/28/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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