Real Name: Kurrgo
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Xantha) technology user
Occupation: Former dictator of the Xantha
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Robot (servant); formerly Leader (Samuel Sterns)
Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Storm, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Hulk (Bruce Banner)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Master of Planet X (see comments)
Base of Operations: Mobile in his interstellar spaceship;
formerly New Xanth and Xanth
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#7 (October, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: Kurrgo possessed no paranormal abilities; he relied on his advanced technology, such as his robot, atomic scanners, a hostility ray, warp-drive starships, anti-gravity beams, etc.
Height: 4'5"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Dark gray
History:
(Fantastic Four I#7) - Kurrgo was a
member--and the ruler--of the Xantha race. While his race was far
older than humanity, and possessed advanced technology, they were
helpless to stop an immense asteroid which was set on a collision course
with their planet, threatening them with imminent doom. Having never had
an interest in space-travel, the Xantha only had two starships, and they
had no means to construct others to carry the entire race of five
billion to safety in time.
Having observed the human scientist Reed Richards via his long-range scanners, Kurrgo determined that he might find a way to save his people. Kurrgo sent his robot to Earth, where it used a "Hostility Ray" on the population of Washington DC, to turn them against the Fantastic Four, who were speaking there. Playing on their paranoia about acceptance with their new powers, the robot convinced the FF that they were no longer welcome on Earth, and convinced them to go to Xanth/Planet X for sanctuary.
Once they were on Planet X, Kurrgo convinced the FF to save his race, or perish along with them. Reed Richards used the Xanthan equipment to manufacture large amounts of Dr. Henry Pym's "Pym Particles" in the form of reducing gas--this enabled the entire population to fit inside one ship and escape the destruction of their planet. Reed gave Kurrgo the canister of enlarging gas to return the Xantha to normal size when they reached their new destination. However, Kurrgo's hunger for power got the better of him--thinking that once on the new planet, he could be the only one to return to normal size, enabling him to become absolute ruler, Kurrgo attempted to keep the enlarging gas canister to himself. But he was not able to carry the canister to the ship in time, and was left behind as the planet began to undergo massive earthquakes; ironically, Reed Richards later revealed to his teammates that he was not able to create any enlarging gas, and that the second canister had been empty--he figured that since size was all relative, being tiny on their new planet wouldn't matter to the Xantha.
(Marvel Feature I#11 (fb) ) - But Kurrgo survived when he was rescued by his loyal robot. The robot carried him to a hidden spacecraft, and they narrowly escaped the destruction of Xanth. Kurrgo searched for years before finally locating his shrunken people on New Xanth. However, in that time, the tiny Xantha had greatly progressed, and Kurrgo and his robot--despite their relatively great sizes--were both driven off by the weaponry of the New Xantha.
(Marvel Feature I#11) - Kurrgo swore revenge, and traveled to Earth, planning to take the world's strongest being--the Thing--as his servant and forcing him to help overcome the New Xantha. But upon arriving on Earth, Kurrgo soon learned that the Thing was no longer the strongest, for the Hulk now held that title. When Kurrgo attempted to enlist the Hulk, he encountered resistance from the Leader (then-paralyzed from the effects of the Brain-Wave Booster), who wished to use the Hulk for his own plots.
Rather than engage in a battle against each other, Kurrgo and the Leader agreed to direct the Thing and the Hulk into battle, with each acting as champion to the respective villain--to the winner would go the services of both monsters, as well as the scientific knowledge of the loser.
The Thing and the Hulk were teleported to a ghost town in the American south-west, and the Thing was duped into believing an "Ultrex Bomb" was planted in the other end of the city, which would detonate in less than 30 minutes and destroy the entire planet. The Hulk blamed the Thing for the teleportation and attacked him, while the Thing fought to overcome the Hulk to stop the bomb. However, unbeknownst to all involved, Kurrgo was secretly beaming energy to the Thing, doubling his power to enable him to defeat the Hulk.
Ultimately, the Thing destroyed the bomb, but learned it was a fake, while the battle remained unresolved. The Thing and Hulk were brought aboard Kurrgo's ship, where the Thing figured out that Kurrgo had been enhancing his power, which caused the Leader to claim victory by default. Kurrgo sent his robot after the Hulk and Thing, and both punched it back into the ship's control panel, overloading it. The Hulk and Thing jumped from the ship before it exploded, but neither villain was seen to escape (see comments).
Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer), Jack Kirby (pencils) & Dick Ayers (inks).
Originally, Kurrgo's world was just called "Planet X" in the two stories he
appeared in, and its actual name--Xanth--was not revealed until the
Xantha entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12.
--Ron
Fredricks
The Leader survived, and Kurrgo's ship had teleportation
capabilities. Hmm, I wonder if there's any chance Kurrgo could
have survived, too? I'd like to see him and Xemu,
Master of the Fifth Dimension get together.
How about the robot? Since it was
constructed from "the hardest substance in the universe" and
supposedly "indestructible," maybe it was made from the Xanthan
equivalent of Adamantium (...although since the robot suffered some
damage on New Xanth and lost its left arm, it was probably the weaker
Secondary Adamantium). Anyway, maybe the robot survived the explosion
of Kurrgo's spaceship and it's still out there in that ghost
town.
--Ron Fredricks
Kurrgo's original ship was the ship the Fantastic Four
used on a number of later interstellar missions, although it is usually
named as the Skrull saucer.
As I remember the story from FF#7, the people of Planet X only had
the saucer and the rocket ship and were never much into space travel;
maybe that saucer was a ship that Kurrgo bought/stole/traded from some
Skrulls, so it actually IS a Skrull saucer, which Reed Richards
discovered behind the scenes while making a closer inspection of it
(maybe he found a "Made on the Skrull Homeworld" sticker), so that's
why it was always referred to as a Skrull ship.
--John Kaminski
Marvel Feature I#11 is an interesting story, but the main motivation behind it is pretty shaky. Ah, what's the difference? It was fun anyway.
The profile should make mention
of a big boo-boo Roy Thomas made when writing the Marvel Feature I#11
story. At the end of Fantastic Four I#7, as noted in the profile, it
is stated that Reed Richards never produced any enlarging gas and the
canister he gave to Kurrgo was empty. However, in Marvel Feature I#11,
Kurrgo and his robot are much larger than the relocated Xanthians. How
come?
--Dale4767
In re-reading the story, I see no evidence that Kurrgo ever subjected
himself to the shrinking process. Perhaps he intended to do this at the
last second in order to board the ship, but he still would have needed
the enlarging gas to return to normal size. As he never reached the
ship, he never subjected himself to the shrinking gas and retained his
original size.
--Snood
Kurrgo has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook, wherein it was mentioned that he bought the original flying-saucer ship from Skrulls.
Profile by Snood. Expanded by Ron Fredricks (new images and more).
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kurrgo has no known connections to:
|
An advanced automaton from Planet X (Xanth
(see comments)), it was Kurrgo's loyal mechanical servant. The
robot possessed vast strength (possibly Class 75 to 90); it had great
durability, and according to Kurrgo, it was constructed from "the
strongest substance in the universe," and was "indestructible" (see
comments). The robot could also project an anti-gravity ray. |
|
(Marvel Feature I#11 (fb) ) - The robot saved Kurrgo when he was left
behind while the miniaturized inhabitants evacuated the doomed Planet X;
the robot carried Kurrgo to a hidden spaceship and they escaped the
world's destruction. When Kurrgo finally found his tiny people's new
planet, the robot accompanied him to the miniature city; but they were
both forced to flee back into space when the New Xantha used their
weaponry against them--the robot sustained damage during this
confrontation and lost its left arm (see
comments), but its missing appendage was eventually replaced. |
|
images: (without ads)
Marvel Feature I#11, p4, pan1 (Main Image - Kurrgo)
Fantastic Four I#7, p16, pan2 (Headshot - Kurrgo)
Fantastic Four Annual#1, "A Gallery of the Fantastic Four's Most Famous Foes", p6 (Kurrgo; robot (background))
Marvel Feature I#11, p4, pan2 (Kurrgo reminisces about be driven away from New Xanth)
Fantastic Four I#7, p12, pan1 (Kurrgo's robot)
Marvel Feature I#11, p4, pan7 (robot rescues Kurrgo on Planet X)
Marvel Feature I#11, p5, pan5 (damaged
robot and Kurrgo forced to flee from New Xanth)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#7 (October, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack
Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Art Simek (letters)
Marvel Feature I#11 (September, 1973) - Len Wein (writer), Jim Starlin
(pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Fantastic Four Annual I#1 (1963) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby
(pencils), Sol Brodsky (inks), Ray Holloway and Art Simek (letters)
First Posted: 09/07/2001 (?)
Last updated: 07/03/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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