DARGO KTOR

Real Name: Dargo Ktor

Identity/Class: Extratemporal (Earth-8710) human magic user (host to god form)

Occupation: warrior

Group Membership: Avengers (Millennial Visions), Thor Corps (Beta Ray Bill, Thor, Eric Masterson/Thunderstrike);
    former member of the Cult of the Hammer

Affiliations: (Earth-8710): Firelord, Silver Surfer
    (others) Ellene, Guardians of the Galaxy, Warlord Kargul

Enemies: (Earth-8710): The Corp, Demonstaff, Galactus, Grodd, Loki and his minions, Nova (Frankie Raye), Tyrus the Terrible, Varley
    (Earth-616): the Cobra (Voorhees), Grey Gargoyle, Invaders, Loki, Mercurio the 4-D Man, Shatterfist, Skurge the Executioner, Stellaris, Uroc
        mentally forced to attack the Fantastic Four
    (others): Korvac, Spider-Man 2099, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man and his Servitor

Known Relatives: Salla (wife, deceased)

Aliases: Thor, Once and Future Thor

Place of Birth: North American Urban Center#5 of Earth-8710

Base of Operations: North America Urban Center#5 <Queens, New York>, Earth-8710

First Appearance: Thor I#384 (October, 1987)

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: When using Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, he can transform into a likeness of Thor, possessing superhuman strength (Class 90-100) and durability, and presumably other  similar properties, though possibly to a lesser degree. His hammer is made of virtually indestructible Uru metal and possesses a number of enchantments: (1) No one elsse can pick up the hammer unless he/she be worthy; (2) It returns to the exact spot from which it was thrown; (3) It enables its wielder to control the elements of the storm and project forms of mystical energy; (4) It enables the wielder to open trans-dimensional portals; (5) It allows him to transform back and forth to normal human form; (6) It allows him to fly by throwing the hammer and holding on to it;
    The hammer can also be whirled at great speeds, forming a virtually impenetrable shield.

Height: (Dargo) 6'; (Thor) 6'6"
Weight: (Dargo) 165 lbs.; (Thor) 640 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

History:
(Thor I#384 (fb) - BTS) - Dargo lived in a world dominated and oppressed by the Corp (short for Corporation). At some point, Thor was trapped in some extradimensional realm, separated from his hammer. The legendary hammer of Thor, Mjolnir, was eventually found on Earth, imbedded in a chunk of rock. Realizing that if they could harness the power of Thor, a cult formed, and they began having ceremonies where the strongest of them would try lift the hammer. However, each time, they failed.

(Thor I#384) - <September 4, 2587> Dargo and Salla attended yet another ceremony, in which another man failed to lift the hammer of Thor. Dargo criticized the ceremonies and the false hope they generated, saying that the hammer was a farce and that the people must depend on themselves to free themselves from oppression. Around the same time, the Loki of that future recognized the intent of the cult and sent a legion of his minions--including trolls and a pair of giant dogs or wolves--to slaughter them. Amidst the attack, Dargo reached out for Mjolnir, lifted it, and was transformed into an incarnation of Thor. Using his newfound power, he banished the attackers with a whirlwind. Dargo/Thor then flew off, telling the people that he was not there to fight their battles for them.
    Later, however, when the cultist massed and staged a protest march on the Corp , Loki's forces attacked again, this time backed by Corp soldiers. Realizing that only he could make a difference, Dargo again became Thor and fought off their assailants, including the strongest among them, Tyrus the Terrible. When Loki took out his wrath on the chairman of the Corp and destroyed Corp Central, the threat to the people was finally over. Dargo then realized that Mjolnir was being drawn to its true owner, the original Thor, and so he used Mjolnir to open a dimensional portal and sent it on home.

(Thor Annual#16) - Sometime later, Dargo found Mjolnir again, uncertain how or why it had returned to him.

(Fantastic Four I#405) - Dargo/Thor was one of many pulled through time and space under the control of Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, who sent them to destroy the Fantastic Four (Ant-Men, Ben Grimm, Human Torch, the Invisible Woman) and Namor. After a short struggle, however, Ant-Man managed to deactivate Zarrko's time displacement dial, and the time-displaced warriors were sent back to their own eras.

(Thor Annual#16/2 (fb) - BTS) Dargo and his spouse moved west.

(Thor Annual#16/2) - <April 23, 2591> Dargo defeated two thieves, one of whom was named Grodd, who had stolen a vibranium isotope.

    Later, one of Dargo's co-workers, Varley, gained vast power from one of his descendants in the future, Michael Korvac. Varley began wreaking havoc, but Dargo and the Guardians of the Galaxy (Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Nikki, Martinex, Starhawk (Stakar), Yondu) were able to defeat him, and Varley was slain.

(Thor I#438) - <September 25, 2591> At North America Urban Center#5, Dargo saw Zarrko the Tommorrow Man's Servitor threatening the public. Telling his spouse Salla he would turn into Thor to confront the Servitor, Dargo bowed out.
    Upon seeing Dargo as Thor, the Servitor ushered the hammer-wielder into his master Zarrko's presence. Zarrko mislead Dargo by telling him a false tale to account for how Thor's hammer had become stuck in the stone all those centuries ago. He told him that Eric Masterson was a clever criminal who had stolen Thor's hammer and died before the real Thor could regain it. Zarrko stated that an encroaching "time virus", however, could rewrite events to allow Masterson to form a relationship with an alien, and such a turn of events would drastically rewrite the future--wiping out Dargo's timeline.
    Dargo, accepting Zarrko's claims as truth, traveled to Earth-616 during a battle between Masterson and Stellaris.

(Thor I#439) - Dargo battled Masterson and Stellaris. Meanwhile, Zarrko revealed that he intended to to siphon off the energy used by their hammers to power his Radical Time Stabilizer. Stating he did not concern himself with either the Time Variance Authority or the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, he set to work.
    Beta Ray Bill detected the battle of the Mjolnirs and arrived to intervene. Upon seeing Beta Ray Bill, Dargo remembered him from legend. Beta Ray Bill persuaded them to stop their confrontation. They all resolved to pursue Zarrko.

(Thor I#440) Zarrko stated that with his power he would collapse all divergent timelines into one as he observed a world where sentient life-forms had apparently evolved from dinosaurs.
        When Beta Ray Bill, Dargo, and Masterson caught up with Zarrko, he summoned the Grey Gargoyle, Mercurio the 4-D Man, the Cobra (Voorhees), Tyrus the Terrible, Shatterfist, Demonstaff, Uroc the Uru Warrior, Skurge the Executioner, and finally Loki to deal with them.

(Thor I#441) Dargo and his comrades battled Loki and Zarrko's Servitor. They won, but Dargo, using Zarrko's time-viewing machinery, saw calamity in Masterson's future. Zarrko and Loki were sucked into the timestream, but the hammer wielders all safely returned home.

(Thor Corps#1) - <July 29, 2593> In the lobby of Adcore, Dargo battled cavemen from the past, until they suddenly vanished. Suspecting the involvement of his enemy Demonstaff, Dargo located and confronted him. Demonstaff summoned monstrous creatures to battle Dargo and cover his escape, and the creatures vanished shortly after Demonstaff did. From Adcore employee Dunbar Dargo learned of Demonstaff's plot to destroy all of reality. Dargo stopped home to see Salla before confronting Demonstaff, but the villain had monitored Dargo since their last encounter, learned of his relationship to Salla, and abducted Salla as soon as he left. When Dargo returned, Demonstaff confronted him and told him that Dunbar had lied to him. Demonstaff told Dargo that he would return Salla if Dargo would recover his own lost wife, Ellene.
    Demonstaff then summoned Beta Ray Bill and Thunderstrike to assist Dargo in their trek across time to locate Ellene. Shortly after being united, the three were sent to @ 1941, where they were confronted by the Invaders (Bucky, Captain America, Human Torch, Namor, Toro), who mistook them to be Nazi agents.

(Thor Corps#2) - During the ensuing struggle, Dargo summoned a thunderstorm to put a damper on the Human Torch and Toro, and Beta Ray Bill managed to open another portal to allow them to continue their journey. As they passed through an Interzone between realities, they narrowly missed a meeting with Psilord Franklin Richards. They successfully arrived in Elsewhen, where Ellene stood by Warlord Kargul. Thinking they were rescuing Ellene, they rushed into her chamber, and Dargo was stunned by a blast from Ellene's energy pistol. Continuing to try to capture Ellene nonetheless, the trio fell through space/time portals activated by the not-so-helpless ex-wife of Demonstaff. Dargo was sent to 2099, where he encountered Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara).

(Thor Corps#3) - After a brief skirmish with Spider-Man 2099, who was curious whether he was connected with the Aesir Thor of his era, Dargo used Mjolnir to open a portal to the Crossroads of Time and Space. Rejoining the other Thor Corpsmen, Dargo joined his hammer's power with theirs to summon the original Thor for assistance.

(Thor Corps#4) - The Thor Corps traveled again to Elsewhen, where they met with Elene and Kargul, proposing an alliance against Demonstaff. When the villain appeared before them, Dargo agreed to return to human form, surrender his hammer, and follow him through a portal in hopes of meeting up with Salla. Demonstaff tried to tempt him with wealth, power, and other women, but Dargo refused, accepting only Salla. Demonstaff prepared to kill either Dargo or Salla, but the other Corpsmen then arrived, returning his hammer, and Dargo returned to Thor form. Beta Ray Bill destroyed Demonstaff's Dimensionizer rod, neutralizing his power, and the four Thors combined their hammers' powers to restore the dimensional walls that had been damaged by Demonstaff.
    Dargo and Salla were returned to their own apartment, uncertain of Demonstaff's fate.

(Guardians of the Galaxy#24 (fb)) - Dargo/Thor encountered and briefly fought--during one of the super-misunderstandings--the Silver Surfer of his era. After clearing things up, Dargo joined forces with the Surfer and Firelord against Galactus. The trio combined their powers in a seemingly futile attack on Galactus, but Nova (Frankie Raye) intercepted the blast and was slain. Galactus, somewhat unsettled by the loss, left Earth behind and vowed to never again take a herald.

(Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001 - "Avengers: Assembled Once More" (fb) - BTS) - During a battle between Loki and Dargo Ktor, Salla was killed, and Dargo was left for dead in the ruined city of Minneapolis.

(Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001 - "Avengers: Assembled Once More (fb) - BTS) - As Loki continued to grow in power over the years following his battle with Dargo, one of Loki's loyal shock troopers watched as Loki conquered the entire world. The trooper, Tannan Six, grew curious of Loki's trophy room, where he found the legendary shield of Captain America and a wooden stick. After finding the artifacts, Tannan found himself with the desire to desert Loki's forces and take the artifacts with him. Loki soon discovered Tannan's desertion and made him the most wanted man on the planet Earth. Soon after, while hiding from Loki, Tannan Six encountered the young Tatiana Maximoff, who happened to be a mutant sorceress. She too was forced to flee from Loki after being accused of two execution-level crimes. Tatiana told Tannan of the legend of the Avengers, making Tannan realize what he was carrying. Knowing that he needed to locate Thor to return the wooden stick to him, Tannan enlisted the aid of the legendary Hercules, the wasp-like Deva Van Dyne, and the armored Thaddeus Stark to reform the Avengers.

(Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001 - "Avengers: Assembled Once More (fb) - BTS) - The newly-formed Avengers soon found Dargo Ktor in Minneapolis and convinced him to reclaim the wooden stick, which was in actuality, the Hammer of Thor. Striking the stick on the ground, Dargo once again became Thor and joined the Avengers against Loki.

(Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001 - "Avengers: Assembled Once More") - With the Avengers reborn, Loki once again remembered what it was to be afraid as the Avengers began their crusade against him.

Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, and Brett Breeding.

Dargonite, one of the few substances able to penetrate adamantium in the Guardians of the Galaxy's timeline, is first mentioned in GOTG#18. Dargo was presumably the one who discovered Dargonite (or it was named after him)-- and it can be inferred that Dargonite is Uru (or derived from it).
    --Prime Eternal

Don Campbell: There's one other point about your profile of Dargo Ktor that might be of interest.  Since, as far as I know, nobody else has brought it up, there's a chance I'm totally wrong about this but I don't think that the Dargo from the flashback in Guardians of the Galaxy #24 is the same Dargo who appeared in all the other issues listed.  Instead, I think that the two Dargos are dimensional counterparts of each other, existing in separate timelines.  Here are my reasons.

 

First, the history of the GotG timeline seems to be somewhat inconsistent with what we know about Dargo's timeline.  In the GotG timeline, Earth was conquered in 2001 by "Martians" who occupied the planet until 2075.  Most of the next 500 years was a barbaric period in which humanity lived in feudal city-states ruled by Techno-Barons.  Following a revolution by the oppressed serfs (and the execution of the last Techno-Baron in 2525), communications between the city-states were restored and by 2530 a second World Federation was established.  From then on, humans concentrated on exploring and colonizing their solar system.

 

Contrast this with the few facts we know about Dargo's timeline.  In Dargo’s late 26th century, the Age of Governments had ended and been replaced by the Age of Corporations.  Reacting to the (unexplained) absence of corrupt politicians and bureaucracies, big business had taken over the running of the world.  And while it’s never specifically stated how long the corps had been ruling, the story in THOR #384 gives the impression that it had been a long time.  I suppose that it’s possible that both these descriptions could refer to the same timeline.  The Age of Governments could be the same as the Reign of the Techno-Barons...but I doubt it.

 

Second, the history of Thor in Dargo’s timeline is seemingly different from that of the Thor in the GotG timeline.  In Dargo’s timeline, “centuries” before the year 2587, Thor was somehow separated from his mystic hammer and then trapped in an unspecified extra-dimensional location.  “A few hundred years” before 2587, someone unearthed the hammer and, over time, a cult arose that worshipped Thor and believed that he would return to free them from the Corporation.  During those centuries, Loki and Tyrus had desperately sought the hammer, trying to prevent it from ever returning to Thor because he could use it to free himself.  That’s pretty much all we know about the Thor from Dargo’s timeline.

 

Contrast this with the life led by the Thor of the GotG timeline.  Thor fought against the alien invaders during the War of the Worlds until he was convinced to leave.  Returning to Asgard, Thor and Sif were soon married.  Thor began taking long journeys to faraway lands and continued to do so even after the birth of their son, Woden.  The absence of his father caused Woden, as he grew to adolescence, to become a brooding bully.  Eventually, Sif was forced to ask Odin for help.  Enraged by his son’s parental neglect, Odin ordered Thor home to tend to his family.  Thor spent months teaching Woden but he came to resent his forcibly-imposed domesticity and began spending more and more time in the mead hall.  This outraged Woden, who left home.  When an angry and frustrated Sif blamed Thor, he dared raise his hand to strike her but it was he who received a scar for that attempt.  It was sometime after that incident that Thor stumbled through Asgard’s town square, dropped his hammer and was shocked to discover that he could no longer pick it up.  Mjolnir was left lying where it fell until Woden picked it up in 3019.  It’s possible that there isn’t any inconsistency here.   Thor could have married Sif, become trapped for centuries, and then returned to Asgard and fathered Woden before deteriorating into a drunkard.  After all, by the time the events in GotG #42 occurred, Thor and Sif must have been married for over one thousand years...so maybe she just forgot to mention that her husband was MISSING FOR CENTURIES?  Sorry, I don’t buy that.  It seems far more likely that, in the GotG timeline, the circumstances under which Thor was separated from his hammer (and the length of that separation) were probably much different than in Dargo’s timeline.  The main similarity may have been that the GotG Dargo found the hammer when he needed it and, proving to be worthy of wielding Mjolnir, was also transformed into the “once and future Thor.”

 

To my mind, either of these inconsistencies could be overlooked but not both.  It is for that reason that I believe that the Dargo/Thor in GotG #24 (fb) should be considered a different being than the subject of your profile and someone whose origin may be quite different from that depicted in THOR #384.

 

Finally, anyone who might disagree with my theory would probably point to the Korvac Quest storyline as proving that only one Dargo has been seen so far.  They would argue that all the manifestations of Korvac’s consciousness in the bodies of his ancestors (Jaboa Murphy, Varley, Marshach , Jordan Korvac) took place in the GotG timeline but I would dispute that.  While it’s true that Part 4 (in which Korvac inhabited his father's body) and Part 3 (in which the Guardians battled the same Silver Surfer whom they would later encounter in GotG #24-25) both must occur in the GotG timeline, there’s nothing that says that Part 2 (in which the Guardians met the Dargo of your profile) must also be part of that timeline.  In fact, Part 1 takes place in the mainstream timeline at a point AFTER the GotG timeline diverged from it.  This proves that Korvac’s consciousness was capable of jumping between timelines as it traveled into the future.  The humans whose bodies Korvac’s consciousness inhabited didn’t have to be his direct ancestors in his timeline, they just had to have a genetic code inherited from ancestors they shared with Korvac.  Since Jaboa Murphy from the mainstream timeline was definitely NOT from the GotG timeline, there’s no reason to assume that the Varley from THOR Annual #16 had to be part of the GotG timeline.  Thus the Dargo from that story also does not have to be part of the GotG timeline.  This would mean that the Dargo who once battled the Silver Surfer in the GotG timeline does not have to be the same Dargo who met the Guardians in THOR Annual #16 (although they probably think he is).

It is not clear when Dargo married Salla.  They certainly have a close relationship in THOR #384 but they sleep in separate quarters.  This could mean that they weren't married yet...or it could be that the ruling Corporation insisted that their male and female employees live in separate dorm-blocks, even those who were married.  Either explanation could be correct but there just isn't anything that proves it one way or the other.

My copy of Thor#384 REALLY makes it look like the date of the story is 2537, but Don Campbell assures me that it is 2587. I guess that makes the discussion below moot, but I'll leave it in as an aside. Anyway, as this is a future era and not the modern era, there's no reason that the sliding timescale would have to apply, and so I'd treat the dates as accurate, rather than topical.

    For some reason, Thor#384 listed Dargo's time as 2537, but every other issue had him around 2591, with the Thor Corps storyline meeting him in 2593. Normally first mention takes precedence, but I think it's been overruled by the weight of evidence.
There is no reason why they both dates can't be correct. It's five centuries in the future, and we have no clue as to how much the human lifespan could be extended. Dargo and spouse could have simply lived through all those years:

It is unconfirmed that the Dargo in Millennial Visions is the same as the one seen before.

Dargo Ktor has an entry in OHotMU 2006 A-Z#11.

Profile by Snood, Doc Savage and Proto-Man

CLARIFICATIONS:
not to be confused with:

 

images:
Thor I#384, p9
Thor Corps#1, p20, panel 2

Other appearances:
Thor Annual#16 (1991) - Tom DeFalco & Len Kaminski (writers), Alex & Herb Trimpe (pencils), Fred Fredericks (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Fantastic Four I#405 (October, 1995) - Tom DeFalco & Paul Ryan (writers), Paul Ryan (pencils), Dan Bulanadi (inks)
Thor I#438-441 (November-December, 1991) - Ron Frenz & Tom DeFalco (writers), Ron Frenz (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor Corps#1-4 (September-December, 1993) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Pat Oliffe (pencils), Pat Oliffe (#1-2) & Romeo Tanghal (#3-4) (inks), Mike Rockwitz & Ralph Macchio (editors)
Guardians of the Galaxy#24 (May, 1992) - Jim Valentino (writer/pencils), Steve Montano (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001 (February, 2002)

First Posted: 04/04/2004
Last updated: 10/22/2005

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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