COLD PEOPLE

Classification: Terrestrial race/human variant

Location/Base of Operations: Himalayas (barely 50 miles from Attilan)

Known Members: Ternak, elder

Affiliations: Master (former spiritual leader)

Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Medusa, Thing--I know that's only three...don't blame me, blame the writers!)

Aliases: Abominable Snow Men, Chosen, Snow Creatures, Yeti

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#145 (April, 1974)

Powers/Abilities: The Cold People may have had enhanced human strength, agility, etc. They were immune to cold, and actually possessed ice cold skin and could not survive above freezing temperatures. Ternak was larger and stronger than the others (Class 10, perhaps).
    Presumably since their transformation they are normal humans.
    However, they did have a large amount of advanced technology, such as energy blasters, the Entropy Globe,  and the Climate Cannon.

Traits: Most of the Cold People are actually docile and passive, but they were whipped into a frenzy by Ternak.

History:
(Fantastic Four I#145 (fb)/146(fb)) - The origins of the Cold People are unknown. Five hundred years ago, a group of them was dwelling in the Himalayas, when they were discovered by the monk whom they would later call "The Master". The Cold People attacked the monk, who initially defended himself quite well, until they overwhelmed him through sheer wheight of numbers. The monk then tamed the Cold People by mystifying them with a mirror. The Cold People acknowledged the monk as their leader, and he stayed with them for many years, teaching them to build buildings and bringing them civilization. After sixty years, the Master died, but a group of his most loyal students brought his lifeless body into the Entropy Globe, where he was reanimated and his brain was restored. The Cold People continued to build on what they learned, and they lived peacefully in isolation throughout the centuries...
    Then Ternak came to power; He was the first of their leaders to crave conquest of the outside world. The Master watched with sadness the rise of warmongers within the once gentle Cold People. Since neither Ternak nor his people could survive in the warmth of much of the outside world, he led them to prepare the Climate Cannon, with which they would turn the rest of the planet into a frozen wasteland in which the Cold People could thrive.

 

(Fantastic Four I#145) - As Johnny Storm accompanied Medusa on a trip to Attilan, they flew over the domain of the Cold People and were shot out of the air. Ternak led a group of the Cold People to attack the pair, who narrowly escaped. An elderly member of the Cold People found Johnny and Medusa and revealed their origins, but Ternak led his men to slay the elder and then overpower the outsiders; Ternak had them shackled, and he revealed his master plan to them.

 

 

 

 

 (Fantastic Four I#146) - Ternak used the Climate Cannon to coat his prisoners in ice, but the Torch summoned his will to break free, and they escaped after toppling the Cannon. A female member of the Cold People led them to the Entropy Globe, where they met the Master, who gave them a device to end Ternak's threat. Meanwhile, one of the Cold People rummaged through the crashed Fantasticar and unwittingly set off the F4 signal flare, which brought in the Thing, who had come in search of his lost teammates. Ternak led another assault on the Fantastic Four, but the Thing smashed him back into the Climate Cannon, causing an explosion. With the other members running interference for her, Medusa activated the Master's device, which bathed the Cold People in a green light that transformed them into humans. Now able to live in normal society, the need for the Climate Cannon was gone, and the Fantastic Four left them in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Joe Sinnott.

    The race is never officially named. They're called a variety of names in the story, most notably the Chosen. In the Fantastic Four Index, they are called "Snow-Creatures," and also referred to as abominable snowmen. In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12, under the Yeti entry, they are described and named as the Cold People. That's the most unique name of the batch, and so I'm going with it.

    The Fantastic Four index speculates that they could be the descendents of the group seen in Prestor John's flashback in FF I#54, but that remains unconfirmed. Since they were transformed back into human, it's possible that they were originally mutated by Terrigen Mist or something like that.

    FF#146 incorrectly refers to the time period of the Master's death as 140 years ago, when it should actually be 440 years ago.

Clarifications:
No known connection to:

The Master of the Cold People has no known connection to:

 

Climate Cannon

 

    Allegedly powerful enough to bring about another ice age, Ternak sought to use it so that the Cold People would be able to live anywhere on Earth. The Cannon was destroyed in an explosion when the Thing smashed Ternak into it. When the Cold People were turned human, they no longer had any reason to rebuild the Cannon

 

--Fantastic Four I#145 (146

 

 

 

 

 

Entropy Globe

It was able to somehow reanimate the mind and--to a lesser degree--the body of the Master for over four centuries.

--Fantastic Four I#146 (146(fb), 146

 

 

 

Master

    A 15th to 16th Century Tibetan monk, he was the last survivor of an expedition for food in the Himalayas. Seeking shelter in a cave, he encountered the Cold People, and he used a mirror to entrance them. They quickly took him as their leader and he lived among them, teaching them of society and technology for 60 years. Eventually he died, but some of his most loyal students kept his mind and body reanimated in the Entropy Globe. Trapped within the Globe, however, he watched with sadness the eventual rise of warmongers within the Cold People. He eventually had his students devise a device that could transform the Cold People into humans to prevent them from attempting to conquer the rest of the world. However, he had hoped that his people would learn their errors by themselves and not have that fate forced upon them. As Ternak prepared to unleash the Climate Cannon on the world, the Master realized that he could wait no longer. He gave his device to Medusa, who used it on the Cold People, ending their threat.

    Presumably, the Master--who despised his soulless existence--had his students remove him from the Entropy Globe so that he could finally pass on.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (145(fb), 146(fb), 146

 

 

Master's device

It transformed the Cold People into human form.

 

--Fantastic Four I#146

 

 

 

Ternak

    The belligerent leader of the Cold People, Ternak led the otherwise peaceful majority in a plot to freeze the Earth so that they could take it over. He was possibly slain in the explosion of the Climate Cannon.

--Fantastic Four I#145 (146

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#145-146 (June-May, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), Ross Andru (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)

First Posted: 12/27/2003
Last updated: 01/07/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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