MALGATO

Real Name: Unrevealed, possibly Malgato

Identity/Class: Unrevealed, technology-user

Occupation: Would-be ruler of the Savage Land

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Maa-Gor;
    formerly the Fall People

Enemies: Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, Zabu

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Red Wizard

Base of Operations: Formerly the castle of Iranda in the Savage Land, near the land of the Fall People

First Appearance: Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#1 (January, 1974)

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed. Malgato used advanced technology to mimic magic. He could mentally influence others, enhance others' strength, generate puffs of smoke or walls of fire, and open trap doors. He used robot pteradons and triceratops that were under his control, sending the former all the wall to Africa and back.

History: Malgato's origins are unrevealed.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#1 (fb) - BTS / Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#2 (fb) - BTS) - When a reincarnation of Garokk walked the Savage Land, heralding disaster, Malgato -- who sought to gain and keep power by rallying people behind him -- claimed to be the latest Red Wizard. He exploited the legend of the need for human sacrifice to maintain the spell that protected the Savage Land from the cold.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#1 (fb) - BTS) - Malgato "magically" enlisted the Man-Ape Maa-Gor as his servant.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#2 (fb) - BTS) - Malgato recreated  the sorcerous castle of Iranda.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#1 (fb) - BTS / Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#2 (fb) - BTS) - Malgato sent a pair of pteradons to abduct Shanna from Africa and to bring her to his castle in the Savage Land.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#1) - From his castle with Maa-Gor at his side, Malgato watched the return of Ka-Zar and Zabu to the Savage Land. He then dispatched a pair of pteradons that confronted Ka-Zar and Zabu; when one of them captured Zabu, Ka-Zar allowed the other to carry him to Malgato's castle. Malgato referenced the legend of the spell that kept the cold from the Savage Land  and stated that Ka-Zar was the man needed for the sacrifice. Ka-Zar refused and rushed them, but Malgato released a net (seemingly out of thin air) that captured Ka-Zar and Zabu, then instructed Maa-Gor to beat them into submission. Ka-Zar broke flee and fled with Zabu, and Malgato sent a magically strengthened Maa-Gor to recapture them. Maa-Gor overpowered Ka-Zar, and Malgato had to stop him from slaying the jungle lord.
    Maa-Gor brought Ka-Zar back to the castle, and Ka-Zar was bound to a stake. Malgato awakened Ka-Zar with a splash of water to the face, and then introduced him to his sacrificial companion, Shanna.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#2) - Zabu leapt into the room and helped Ka-Zar out of his bonds, and Ka-Zar attacked Maa-Gor, but Malgato voiced a spell that stopped the fight and forced Ka-Zar to listen to him. Malgato then told him of the previous Red Wizard and the last sacrifice, instructing Ka-Zar that he must follow that pattern to keep their climate intact. Ka-Zar refused to believe him and freed Shanna, and then, in a puff of smoke, Malgato caused them to fall into a pit and into the lake below.
    Ka-Zar and Shanna made their way to the land of the Fall People, where Ka-Zar's friend/spirit-brother Tongah revealed that he had heard Ka-Zar was to be the sacred sacrifice and wondered why he was with them. Just then an immense triceratops rushed into the village, leveled it, and devoured a young boy's pet despite Ka-Zar's efforts, and the Fall People believed that it had been sent via the wrath of the sun god (possibly driven inland from the approaching cold), caused by Ka-Zar's refusal to be the sacrifice. The Fall People attacked Ka-Zar, but Shanna -- realizing that the triceratops was a robot or something since real triceratops were vegetarians -- knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head, rushed him out of there, and then convinced him to return to Malgato's castle. There Ka-Zar overpowered Maa-Gor before they confronted Malgato, who generated a wall of flame to hold them back, but Shanna told him that they had seen the error of their ways and would be the sacrifice. They approached the pit but then dove to the side of the sacred flame bowl and knocked it over, setting fire to the room. Shanna then found a set of wires and tore them from the wall, causing the pteradons, which proved to be robots, to fall crashing to the ground. Malgato then leapt into the chute and vanished into the lake, vowing to return but leaving behind his robes and the mask that appeared to be his face.

Comments: Created by Mike Friedrich, Paul Reinman, and Mike Royer.

    Malgato, as noted by Friedrich, is loosely translated as "evil cat." According to Bablefish, it literally means "badly cat."

    Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle is actually only Ka-Zar in the indicia, and it's the second series, so it's Ka-Zar II, but I think Lord of the Hidden Jungle has such a nice ring to it.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

• other wizards, or red characters