
IRON-CRUTCH KHAN
Real Name: Possibly Khan
Identity/Class: Extradimensional
(Peng Lai Island) human(oid);
active at least circa 1930
A.D. (and perhaps centuries or millennia before then, as well as
at least into the Cold
War and the pre-Modern
era)
Occupation: Teacher
Group Membership: At
least formerly ran a Kung Fu school on Peng Lai Island
Affiliations: Although there was no love lost
between students and their trainer, he did help his students achieve
their goals;
he gave Fat Cobra his name, and presumably also Blind
Cobra and One-Armed Cobra
Enemies: He treated his students (especially Fat Cobra) harshly but was
not their enemy
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Peng Lai Island
First Appearance: Immortal
Weapons#1 (September, 2009)
Powers/Abilities: As a native of Peng
Lai Island, he likely aged very slowly, and he also certainly has vast
experience and presumably skill in the martial arts.
He was apparently sufficiently skilled
to defeat and toy with at least the young Fat Cobra.
He presumably either suffered some
injury or otherwise possessed some deformity that caused him to use a
crutch, from which he likely derived his name (or maybe he just took
the crutch from someone or just used it sometimes because he enjoyed
it).
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10"; I would
think shorter, but he didn't look that much shorter than the 6'7" Fat
Cobra, but perhaps Fat Cobra was not yet fully grown)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Presumably brown
Hair: White (bald; likely darker in youth)
History:
(Immortal Weapons#1 (fb) - BTS) - Iron-Crutch Khan
ran the martial arts training school on Peng Lai Island, one
of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven (which included the likes of
K'un-Lun).
In his training of others to
become the next Cobra Warrior (which they would achieve by slaying the
dragon Xiang Yao), he encountered Blind Cobra and
One-Armed Cobra.
(Immortal Weapons#1 (fb))
<Sometime after 1927 but before 1933> - Iron-Crutch accepted a
group of trainees who included the obese warrior whom he would later
name Fat Cobra. Calling out to his trainees as "worthless
sacks of swamp rat $#%@," he prepared to examine them, but
stopped and asked, "You, fat boy! Why
are you here?"
When the young warrior told him he
wanted to be the next Cobra Warrior, Khan laughed and replied, "A
disgusting mound of blubber like you? I've heard of Blind Cobra and
One-Armed Cobra but never a Fat-Ass
Cobra! Your mother must have been raped by a whole or was it the great
Xiang Yao himself who knocked her up? You eat like a giant snake, by
the looks of you, so now we'll see if you fight like one as well...Fat
Cobra."
As they later trained, he advised Fat
Cobra, "You have all the grace of a
water buffalo, you tub of lard! Bend those legs or I'll snap them like
twigs!"
As they towed heavy weights through the
sand, he asked Fat Cobra if he was ready to die now, "If
you're going to fall, please do it close to the beach, so it'll be
easier to roll you back into the ocean!"
Khan later has his students punch
the waves of the oceans, cursing them as weaklings and telling them
that they would be out there until they moved the ocean. "I
want to see the tide changing! I want to see Tsunamis drowning the
villages of Japan! Punch!"
Still later, Khan taunted the beaten
and bloody Fat Cobra as he crawled on the ground, "You
want this donut, you disgusting cow? Come and take it."
(Immortal Weapons#1 (fb) - BTS) -
Iron-Crutch trained Fat Cobra and the others in the ancient secrets of
Peng Lai day and night, including the ten-form lighting fist, the white
chi dragon palm, the 92 ways to kill with your feet, the five fingers
of pandemonium, the sumo thunder stomp and the unwelcome touch of the
eight extremes.
Eventually, Fat Cobra, whether with or without
Iron-Crutch's approval (presumably the latter, as he appeared to have
glimpsed the entrance to the cave while up late eating while everyone
else was sleeping), faced Xiang Yao and was defeated and partially
eaten, later washing up on the shores of the Chinese mainland.
Whether it was by Iron-Crutch Khan's choice or not,
Fat Cobra was exiled from Peng Lai again (he was previously banished to
Earth from a Peng Lai orphanage at the age of two because they could
not feed his massive appetite).
After years spent honing his skills (presumably in
the late 1940s to early 1960s), Fat Cobra again traveled to Peng Lai
and battled Xiang Yao, again losing (and
this time losing his legs and ending up paralyzed, although he regrew
his limbs and missing vertebrae over two years).
Eventually, after all of the children he had borne
and neglected -- via years of sexual relations with many women --
sought him out to kill him. Fighting for his life and slaying his own
children during years of constant fighting gave Fat Cobra the skill and
power to finally defeat Xiang Yao.
Even after this, Iron-Crutch Khan told Fat Cobra that
he still looked like a useless Fat-Ass to him.
Comments: Created
by Jason Aaron and Roberto De La Tore.
This profile was
completed 12/16/2025, but
its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th
anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Iron-Crutch Khan should be distinguished from:
- KHAN - Asgardian warrior --Thor I#195
- KHAN - Hydra--Wolverine II#131
- KHAN - tiger of Yi-Yang--Hulk
Comic (muk) #17/6
- KHAN
( ) - had clawed hand, sought world domination for
Japan, fought Young Allies--Young Allies#3
- KHAN
of Rhapastan - sought the Deathless Frenzy virus--Black Widow#2
- KHAN of Dimension X – extradimensional
conqueror, briefly captured by X-Men, chose Storm as consort,
attempted to conquer Earth, ship trapped in closing portal by
X-Men--X-Treme X-Men#10
- MASTER KHAN - evil sorcerer,
worshipped as god in K'un-Lun, immortal, enemy of Iron Fist, formerly
controlled the Ninja, eventually beheaded by Namor - aka Tyrone King*,
MASTER of the WORLD--Strange Tales I#77/
- KHAN, AKHIMEN of the Hyborian era - ruler of
Iranistan, father of Hajimen--Sword of Skelos; Savage Sword of
Conan#56
- KHAN, AKTER of the Hyborian era - former Satrap
of Zamboula, father of Jungir, used Zarfra, slain by Balad--Sword of
Skelos; Savage Sword of Conan I#56
- KHAN, BANAPUR -
Indonesian pirate--Wolverine II#
- KHAN, BELLISAR - Hyborian Era, Dark Tigers,
allied with Conan in would-be coup--The Country of the Knife; (MU)
Savage Sword of Conan#11
- KHAN, BOGHRA of the Hyborian era - Turanian
soldier, served alongside Conan, led failed assault against the
Zuagirs ten years later--Black Tears; Savage Sword of Conan#35
- KHAN, DAID- - Pakistani tyrant, attempted to
force Cable to serve him, hands covered by luminescent fungi by Cable
when asked to become a nuclear bomb, shot and killed by troops when
they believed he was going to explode --Soldier X#7
- KHAN, DHASHA
- Extradimensional warrior who briefly conquered K'un-Lun--Deadly
Hands of Kung Fu#19
- KHAN, EHESTES of the Hyborian era - invoked Set
+ the Dark Ones (and the Great Goat God)--Savage Sword of Conan#54
- KHAN, ERLIK - demon serving
Shuma-Gorath--[Dr. Strange II#78], Strange Tales II#6/2
- KHAN, JUNGIR of the Hyborian Era - satrap of
Zamboula, son of Akter, lover of Nafertari, possessed Star of Khorala,
drugged by lover with potion from Totrasmek which she hoped would make
him sleep so she could steal and sell the ring, but Totrasmek instead
drove him mad so he could steal the throne, sanity restored by Yellow
Lotus from Totrsamek which was taken by force - ka ALAFDHAL*--Shadows
in Zamboula; Savage Sword of Conan#14
- KHAN, GENGHIS - legendary Mongolian
- KHAN, GENE - see MANDARIN
- KHAN, KANGA – Mongolian warrior —Tales to Astonish I#67/2
- KHAN, KHOSRU of the Hyborian era - --[People of
the Black Circle; Savage Sword of Conan#16]
- KHAN, KUBLAI -
criminal, lived in Xanadu (a zeppelin), attempted to take over Machine
Man's body, died in destruction of Xanadu--Machine Man I#11
- KHAN, KURUSH of the Hyborian era - see
KURUSH KHAN--The Road of Eagles; Savage Sword of Conan#38
- KHAN,
MUNTHASSEM of the Hyborian era - former holder of the Hand of
Nergal--Conan the Barbarian I#30
- SHAR-KHAN - Luminia dim, enemy of
the people of Luminia, sorcerer--Iron Man I#26
- BUTCHER of SHIR
KHAN - see KRYLENKO, ANATOLY--Hawkeye III#7
- KALAH-ABETH-KHAN of the Hyborian era - jeweler,
sought the necklace of the Children of Rhan, with Conan, learned the
secret of the Children--Savage Sword of Conan#64
- or any other "Khan" characters
images: (without ads)
Immortal Weapons#1, pg. 9, panel 4 (face);
pg. 10, panel 1 (holding crutch or
whatever behind Fat Cobra);
panel 2 (being pulled in
rickshaw-deal);
panel 4 (fullish; taunting
Fat Cobra with doughnut)
Appearances:
Immortal
Weapons#1 (September, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Roberto De La Tore
(artist), Alejandro Arbona (assistant editor), Warren Simons (editor)
First posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated: 12/16/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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