KRAKOA

Real Name: Krakoa

Identity/Class: Atomically mutated merged animal/vegetable composite

Occupation: Island

Group Membership: Stranger's prisoners (former?)

Affiliations: Ego-Prime;

Enemies: Quasar, The Stranger, X-Men

Known Relatives: Vega Superior (offspring)

Aliases: The Island That Walks Like A Man

Base of Operations:  The Stranger’s planet
(formerly) the South Pacific

First Appearance: Giant-Sized X-Men#1 (May, 1976)

Powers/Abilities:Krakoa is the merged form of all of the life forms, animal and vegetable, from the island of Krakoa. It is sentient, and has the ability to form its shape into that of a gigantic humanoid form. It can control all of the vegetation on its form, using them as weapons or bindings. Krakoa has also displayed the ability to travel through space unaided. It feeds on the energy of mutants.

History:
(Giant-Sized X-Men#1 (fb)) – A nuclear explosion performed on the island of Krakoa caused all of the organisms on the island to merge into a single, sentient being.

(Giant-Sized X-Men#1 (fb)) – Detecting a strong and unusual "mutant" presence on the island of Krakoa, Professor X sent the X-Men to investigate. Upon arriving, the mutants were attacked by Krakoa, who captured all but Cyclops, allowing him to escape (in order to draw more mutants on which it could feed--Snood).

(Giant-Sized X-Men#1) – A new team of X-Men, led by Cyclops, arrived on Krakoa, quickly finding their captured comrades. Krakoa then revealed himself and attacked the mutants. Using her magnetic powers, Polaris severed Krakoa’s connection to the planet, causing the island-creature to be disconnected from gravity, sending it hurtling into space.

(Quasar#14 (fb)/[BTS]) – At some point, The Stranger apparently found Krakoa in space and placed him on his world.

(Quasar#14 [BTS]) – When Quasar arrived on the Stranger’s world, he encountered Ego-Prime, who attacked him. Unbeknownst to Quasar, the island they were fighting on was actually Krakoa.

(Quasar#15) – While battling Quasar, Ego-Prime realized that his containment environment’s barrier was down and escaped the planet. Krakoa then arose to attack Quasar, who quickly escaped.

Comments: Created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum

Technically, Krakoa is not a mutant, by Marvel’s definition, but rather, a mutate. I’m guessing he somehow made Cerebro (Professor X’s computer) read his signature as a mutant to lure the team to him.

It is unknown if Krakoa was one of the beings who escaped the Stranger’s world but as he can apparently survive in space, he could very well have.

A few other comments, in need of clarification/confirmation:

According to Loki 120:
    I believe that Black Tom's wood growth, and even Mondo himself may have some connection to Krakoa as well. I believe that this was hinted at in the Generation X issues. It's been so long however, I can't remember much about them without going back the rereading it.

 I get the possible Black Tom connection to Krakoa. They both used a similar way to capture their "foes". Black Tom did it only some time ago in Uncanny X-Men#411-412 and before in Generation X (see below), but I didn't see any hints for a real connection between them. There is even less to talk about stories bringing together Krakoa and Mondo.
    --Markus Raymond

In a storyline running through Generation X#25-27 Black Tom copied the way Krakoa had the original X-Men bound in Giant-Sized X-Men#1 by locking fake versions of Generation X in his vines after hiding in Generation X's training ground, the Biosphere, for the past few months. While this happened the real Generation X members were by bio-organic transport transferred (by Black Tom?) to the original location of Krakoa.
--Changeling

In Generation X#44 the Biosphere disappears into what Bianca's dwarves refer to as a "space-time flux" that it generated by itself. The only clue left to its whereabouts was a photo Artie took that shows an old and decrepit Biosphere in the foreground of a futuristic city with small speaceships in the sky.

In Generation X#47 Banshee mentions that the Biosphere was originally a part of Krakoa, and Forge explains that it disappeared as a result of Krakoa wanting - needing - to be whole again "for some unknown and possibly dire purpose".
--Eric J. Moreels

Indirectly Krakoa could be counted in to be BTS from Generation X#1-44 because the Biosphere was originally a part of Krakoa.
--Markus Raymond

A note from Paul O'Brien:
X-Men: Deadly Genesis#6 is an unusual case, since it reveals that certain portions of Giant-Sized X-Men#1 - notably, anything where Krakoa speaks - didn't "really" happen that way, because Professor X was interfering with the X-Men's perceptions.
 
As Jason says, some of this may suggest that Cyclops' flashback in GSX#1 is a memory implant, in which case we now know that it didn't happen, and it can be deleted. Other parts of GSX#1, also contradicted, aren't flashbacks; however, they seem to have retroactively become examples of the story showing something from the (inaccurate) perception of the lead characters, in the same way that happens whenever Mastermind shows up.

This is inconsistent with the intellect of the Son of Krakoa.
--Snood

An alternate reality Krakoa (Earth-3752) appeared in Exiles#66-68. His nature, along with that of the other monsters on that world differed greatly from their origins on Earth-616.

Profile by Madison Carter.

CLARIFICATIONS:
KRAKOA has known connection to:

images:
Giant-Sized X-Men#1, page 29, panel 1 (? - taken from reprint)
Quasar#15, page 4 , panel 2

Quasar#14-15 (September-October, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Len Kaminski (editor)

Last updated: 11/16/05

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Back to Characters