RIPJAKRIPJAK
Real Name: unrevealed
Identity/Class:
Extra-temporal (Earth-691)
Extra-terrestrial (Martian Masters) mutate
Occupation: former Chief Scientist for the Martian Masters
Affiliations: formerly the Martian
Masters (esp. the High Overlord);
loose alliance with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the High
Evolutionary of that era.
The Guardians at the time of this conflict included a time
traveling Rita DeMara, Yellowjacket of the modern era of
Earth-616.
Enemies: Bubonicus, Constabulary, Guardians of the Galaxy, mankind
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: The Interplanetary Serial Killer
Base of Operations: his starship,
mobile throughout the Milky Way galaxy;
formerly Mon Olympus, Mars, Earth-Guardians
First Appearance: (mentioned) Guardians
of the Galaxy#49;
(seen) Guardians of the Galaxy#54 (November, 1994)
Powers/Abilities: Ripjak possesses
superhuman physical abilities and wears an exoskeleton for
support. His abilities without the exoskeleton are uncertain. His
true form was originally one of the semi-amorphous, gelatinous
bodies of the Martian Masters. His armor grants him superhuman
strength (Class 25-50) and durability. Given the source of his
powers, he would also likely possess superhuman speed, agility,
endurance, etc.
In addition, he can extend six tentacles which can be used as
extra-limbs, but also contain certain forms of weaponry, such as
energy blasters. His armor can absorb and analyze various forms
of energy
Many of the Martian Masters possess some degree of telepathic
power. It is not certain if Ripjak has any of these abilities. He
has not demonstrated any "spider-sense" sort of power.
Similarly, Ripjak's lifespan is unknown, but he is at least a few
hundred years old.
Ripjak travels through space via a starship loaded with advanced weaponry and technology. His ship can fire an energy beam into a planet's magma core which will total planetary destruction within a matter of minutes.
History:
(Guardians#55 (fb)) - Ripjak is one of the Martian Masters, the
race that does not originate from Mars, but rather used it as
their base from which to attack Earth. The first of these attacks
occurred at the start of the 20th Century, as detailed in
"The War of the Worlds."
A second attack, at the start of the 21st Century was successful,
and the Martian Masters took over Earth, slaughtering or driving
off the vast majority of the human population in the process.
The Master that would become Ripjak engineered "The Final
Pillage" hundreds of years after their great conquest of
Earth. Earth's remaining natural resources were depleted and the
long occupation ended with a glorious homecoming. He was elevated
to a cabinet chair position by the High Overlord. 
Soon afterwards, incurable plague began rampaging across Mars.
The most sophisticated exo-suits were useless. It poisoned the
inner-life fluid network and the Masters' own blood became
acitoxic and ate away at them from within. While testing proved
that Earth was not the cause, the scientist thought that it might
provide the cure. As the death tolls climbed into the millions,
he scoured the Memorial Tribute War Museum, eventually deciding
that the preserved body of Spider-Man might provide benefit.
Disconnecting it from the Eternal Heart, Ripjak then designed a
transfusion apparatus and used himself as the first test subject:
"Full ingestion of the terachnid-enriched hemoglobins
was overwhelming. My body erupted, beginning a long, torturous
mutation process. When it finally ended, I discovered that all of
my fellow Martians had succumbed to the plague."
The scientist then found that his enhanced form required external
armor tailored to his newfound contours. He instructed his
lab-droids to build him just such a battle suit, and he became
Ripjak.
(GotG#57 (fb)) - Ripjak set out trying to
discover the cause of the depopulating pestilence on Mars. He
spent decades probing, dissecting, and researching the bodies of
his fellow Martians with no success. However, when he
clandestinely expanded his research grid to a galactic scale, a
breakthrough occurred. He found that the malady was synthetically
produced, came from without, and was spreading. Utilizing Martian
mech-organology, he constructed a subspace vessel in an effort to
locate the source of the virus and to exact vengeance. He
traveled to all parts of the galaxy and found that a large number
of worlds had been similarly afflicted.
He continued his search and his analysis for centuries. As he
found worlds dying from the disease, he used the weapons aboard
his ship to destroy all life on those worlds, bringing an end to
their suffering.
Eventually, around the 31st Century, Ripjak's actions drew the
attention of intergalactic media. Seeing only the end result of
his actions, he was assumed to be a genocidal serial killer.
Finally, Ripjak learned the name of his target: Bubonicus.
(GotG#49-53-BTS) - Charlie-27 was mistakenly identified as Ripjak, due to misinformation spread to the Constabulary by Rancor and her lieutenants.
(GotG#54, 55) - The Guardians of the Galaxy traveled to Mars, which had been under strict quarantine for centuries, in order to find the real Ripjak. He detected their presence as soon as they arrived. He allowed them to split up into small groups and then ambushed and defeated each of them. Of the group, Aleta was most seriously injured, when Ripjak siphoned a large portion of her light energy from her. Ripjak then left the planet in his starship, and detonated his former base, Mons Olympus. He traveled to the orbit of the planet Aran IV, whose natives were in the early stages of Bubonicus' plague. He used his ship to fire a pulse of radioactive energy into the planet's core, which resulted in the destruction of every indigenous life form on the planet.
(GotG#56, 57) - The Guardians, having managed
to teleport away from the exploding base at the last second,
tracked Ripjak to a planet in the Tombaugh system. 
They confronted him as a group and managed to hold their
own against him. Ripjak then showed them the people suffering
from the plague, and told the Guardians that they had stopped him
from preventing this disaster. Aleta (having recovered from her
injuries with the aid of Yondu) attacked him savagely, but Yondu
then convinced Ripjak to reveal the reasons for his actions to
the rest of the group. Despite internal conflict over doing so,
the Guardians shared with Ripjak their computer data on
Bubonicus, whom they had also previously encountered. As they
studied the information, they were encountered by the 31st
Century incarnation of the High Evolutionary, who also wished to
put a stop to Bubonicus.
Despite additional internal strife, Vance Astro/Major Victory of
the Guardians joined forced with Ripjak and the High
Evolutionary, who traveled to the planet Sanctuary, which they
correctly predicted as Bubonicus' next target. Ripjak and Vance
assaulted Bubonicus, a struggle that escalated until a burst of
energy from Bubonicus incapacitated Vance. When he recovered, the
High Evolutionary told him that both Ripjak and Bubonicus had
left the planet, and that he had managed to cure the people of
Sanctuary while Vance was out.
As a result of disagreements over the alliance with Ripjak--among
other things--the Guardians of the Galaxy split up to think
things through, planning to eventually regroup and decide whether
they wished to keep Vance as their leader or not.
Comments: Created by Michael Gallagher and Kevin West.
Ripjak seemed to have decent potential, but I really think the writers had no idea what to do with him: "Let's make this alien guy who got his powers from Spider-Man--that should be a popular idea! Then we'll have him...ummm...well, I'm sure things will work themselves out!"--Or maybe it was just the imminent cancellation of the title, which was just 4 issues away at that point.
It doesn't make sense to have Ripjak, one of the nasty Martian Masters, to be out on a mission of mercy. It would seem more likely that his mission was purely of vengeance on Bubonicus, and that he slew the dying races either to prevent spread of disease, or just out of anger for his prey having eluded him once again. He may have just told the Guardians he was a mercy killer to earn their aid in tracking down and stopping Bubonicus.
Ripjak's origins detailed that Spider-Man was the last hero on Earth to fall before the Martian Masters. He was also perfectly preserved and kept within an "Eternal Heart" meaning he may not actually have been dead. I thought I had remembered that Ripjak actually consumed Spider-Man's body, but he actually just gave himself a transfusion (or he may have actually consumed his blood). Spidey could still be around in that timeline's 31st Century.
Also, while the Martian Masters on Mars were wiped out by the plague, there is no reason to assume that the entire population of Masters had relocated to Mars (although I can't remember the exact details of where they came from originally). So, it's also possible that other Martian Masters exist in that timeline's 31st Century.
Most sources consider the 31st Century timeline of the Guardians of the Galaxy to be the definitive future version of Earth-Killraven.
Also, I don't think there's any evidence that Ripjak is male or female. Maybe the Masters are asexual. I forget.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Mons Olympus has no known connection to:
Sanctuary, the planet that serves as a haven to
repentant criminals, @ Guardians of the Galaxy#58,
has no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
Other appearances:
Guardians of the Galaxy#55-57 (December, 1994 - February, 1995) - Michael Gallagher (writer), Kevin West (pencils), Steve Montano (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
First Posted: 12/29/2002
Last updated: 12/29/2002
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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