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KRAKEN

Real Name: Daniel Whitehall

Identity/Class: Human technology user (British)

Occupation: Terrorist

Group Membership: Hydra (Baron Strucker, Fenris (Andreas and Andrea Strucker), Ms. Fisher, Hive (unrevealed), Madame Hydra (Ophelia Sarkissian), others);
    formerly Great Wheel (Aquarius (John Garrett), Aries (Leonardo da Vinci), Cancer (Viktor Uvarov), Capricorn (Vasili Dassaiev), Gemini (Nick Fury), Libra (Dum Dum Dugan), Pisces (Shoji Soma), Sagittarius (Wolfgang von Strucker), Scorpio (Jake Fury), Taurus (Cornelius Van Lunt), Virgo (Thomas Davidson))

Affiliations: Gorgon (Tomi Shishido)

Enemies: Brood, Jake Fury, Leviathan

Known Relatives: Possible unidentified son (see comments)

Aliases: Leo

Base of Operations: London, England, United Kingdom

First Appearance: Secret Warriors#11 (February, 2010)

Powers/Abilities: Daniel Whitehall was a master manipulator and spymaster, and took excellent notes. His armor, which could be stored solely as the helmet and extend around Whitehall's body at his command, protected him from physical attacks and psychic intrusion, even from the Gorgon's gaze. It also granted him superhuman strength and allowed him to project energy blasts. He spoke English and some Japanese.

History: (Secret Warriors#25 (fb) ) - In 1961, British Hydra member Daniel Whitehall was one of a number of prominent members of the international intelligence community who were summoned to the Brotherhood of the Shield's Pieta base in Italy by the immortal Leonardo da Vinci. Each attendee at this meeting - the Zodiac Event - was designated with a zodiac symbol; Whitehall's was Leo. As da Vinci explained that he had summoned them there to seek out lost treasures from across the globe to aid them in their struggle, Whitehall took notes, but da Vinci ordered him to stop, demanding that no record be made of the meeting. Da Vinci then sent Whitehall, John Garrett, Shoji Soma, and Vassili Dassaiev to Giza, Egypt, where they found a buried Brood starship. Extracting its power core, they were attacked by a horde of Brood drones. Led by Whitehall, who activated his Kraken armor, the four battled through the hostile aliens and secured the device. Taking it back to Pieta, they combined it with the stasis chambers another group had recovered to create an augmentation device; before it could be activated, however, Dassiev and Uvarov double-crossed them, seizing the device in the name of the Soviet Union. As their troops opened fire, Kraken, Strucker, and Soma fled, leaving the others to their fates.

(Secret Warriors#15 (fb) ) - Twenty-two years ago, the Kraken oversaw a Hydra orphanage in eastern Europe.

(Secret Warriors #15 (fb) ) - Twelve years ago, the Kraken took Ophelia Sarkissian, the most promising young girl from that orphanage, and molded her into the nihilist Madame Hydra.

(Secret Warriors#11 (fb)/Secret Warriors#26 (fb) ) - Six years ago, the Kraken journeyed to Kobe, Japan, where he visited young mutant Tomi Shishido; he listened to him play the piano in his family's apartment, amidst the stone corpses of the boy's family. He complimented the boy's playing, and gave him the sword Godkiller, as it would help Shishido "become what he was supposed to be", and left. Considering Shishido, who came to be known as the Gorgon, to be his secret project, he left him out of his notes.

(Secret Warriors#12 (fb) ) - Six years ago, the Kraken was involved with Hydra's creation of genetically-engineered mind-controlling parasites. They needed a main host for them, and to that end, the Kraken found a young Hydra recruit who matched the physiological requirements a host would need. He accompanied him from the Ravenous recruitment center near Vancouver to Hydra's underwater Hive base, where the man was infected with the parasites, transforming him into the monstrous Hive. He and Baron Strucker oversaw the initial infection, but the Kraken told Strucker that it would be years before he was complete.

(Secret Warriors#13 (fb) ) - Five years ago, the Kraken learned that he was dying, and visited Hydra Island. He was nearly attacked by the bored Fenris twins, but Strucker called them off. The two took a walk; Strucker expressed disappointment with his children, and asked Kraken if his son was as disappointing - a qustion the Kraken did not answer. He did inform Strucker of his encounter with the Shishido boy, however, then told the Baron of his declining health. Strucker promised that one day, they would stand atop Fury and Uvarov's bodies in Pieta.

(Secret Warriors#16 (fb) ) - Two years ago, Whitehall lay in a hospital, kept alive by life support. Jacob Fury, who had also been present at the Zodiac Event, came to see him. Fury had been to Whitehall's house in London, where he found his detailed notes on the past two decades of subversive activity...and his Kraken helmet. Before Whitehall's horrified eyes, Fury donned the helmet and became the new Kraken. Fury then helped Whitehall "become the man you are meant to be" by switching off his life support, killing him.

Comments: Created by Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli.

When Whitehall first showed up in flashbacks in Secret Warriors#11, the reader was led to believe that he and the Kraken who had regularly been appearing in the series were the same guy - only in Secret Warriors#16 did we learn that Whitehall had been murdered by a successor, and we didn't learn that was Jake Fury until ten issues later.

Now, can the Zodiac Event have happened in 1961?  It works fine for a bunch of characters there, who have extended lifespans for a variety of reasons. Nick Fury, Dugan, Strucker, Jake Fury, and the two Leviathan guys are already tied to that timeframe anyway, even as time marches on. Garrett is a presumably-ageless cyborg. Soma could have some Hand ninja magic stuff going on. Davidson could have the whole "Fury bled on him" excuse. Whitehall's Kraken armor could easily have slowed his aging, and Van Lunt...could probably have come up with something. He's a rich guy.

We're never explicitly told where Whitehall is from, but he has a house in London and "Whitehall" is a road in London, notable as the original location of Scotland Yard and the site of an infamous unsolved murder. I would assume he's British.

I assume the "son" Strucker mentions in Secret Warriors#13 is actually the Gorgon, but I guess Whitehall could have had an actual son, as well.

Profile by Minor Irritant.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Kraken, alias Daniel Whitehall, should be distinguished from:

...but has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Secret Warriors#11, p11, pan4 (main image)
Secret Warriors#25, p4, pan5 (Whitehall)
Secret Warriors#16, p5, pan3 (elderly)

Appearances:
Secret Warriors#11-13 (February-April, 2010) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Stefano Caselli (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Secret Warriors#15 (June, 2010) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Stefano Caselli (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Secret Warriors#16 (July, 2010) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Gianluca Gugliotta (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Secret Warriors#25-26 (May-June, 2011) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (art), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)

First Posted: 10/22/2013
Last updated: 10/22/2013

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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