LUTHER KANE

Real Name: Luther Kane

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Scientist (of sorts), businessman?

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Desmond

Enemies: Judson Hemp, Jack Russell, Lissa Russell

Known Relatives: Joshua Kane (brother, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Joshua Kane's house in Tugunga Canyon, California

First Appearance: Werewolf by Night I#5 (May, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Luther Kane had no superhuman abilities but, judging by the fact that he let his bodyguard Desmond do anything physical that needed doing, he presumably possessed the strength of a man of his height, age and build who engaged in no regular exercise.

   Luther Kane had an aversion to being touched by other people.

   Luther Kane claimed to be a "scientist of sorts" who had researched blood diseases and had developed a cure for lycantrophy (but only for those sufferers who hadn't reached the final stages of the disease and actually transformed into a werewolf). Whether he was telling the truth about the cure or even his scientific skills was never established so it's very possible that he was just lying to Jack Russell in order to get his cooperation.

History:
(Werewolf by Night I#5 (fb) - BTS) - "A good many years" ago, Desmond became Luther Kane's companion (as in bodyguard).

(Werewolf by Night I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Years ago, Luther Kane was bankrupted by Judson Hemp's business empire which also destroyed Luther's career (whatever that was). Luther became obsessed with the idea of destroying Hemp.

(Werewolf by Night I#5 (fb) - BTS) - At some time in his past, Luther Kane had (allegedly) given much study to blood diseases, including lycanthropy, and he had developed a cure that could save those afflicted with lycanthropy from becoming werewolves. However, the cure could not save those who were in the final stages of the disease (i.e. those who had already become werewolves).

(Werewolf by Night I#5 (fb) - BTS) - One moonlit night, Luther Kane and Desmond visited the home of Luther's brother, Joshua Kane, and let themselves in (Joshua was then out hunting the Werewolf for sport). While looking around, Luther found Joshua's diary and read all about his plan to hunt the Werewolf who was Jack Russell. He also found Jack's sister, Lissa, unconscious in her glass cage. Seeing a way in which he could use the situation to his own benefit, Luther waited for the police to come to investigate (once they had found and identified Joshua's dead body) and then sent them away so that he could deal with Jack on his own.

(Werewolf by Night I#5) - Luther waited at Joshua's home for Jack Russell to return to rescue Lissa. Once Jack arrived, Luther confronted him and revealed that he knew Jack's name and the fact that he was a werewolf. With Desmond on hand to keep Jack from getting violent, Luther let Jack see Lissa in her cage and then claimed that he had developed a cure for lycanthropy. Luther then revealed that his cure could not save those who, like Jack, were in the final stages of the disease but it could prevent Lissa from becoming a werewolf herself. When Jack offered to pay him anything he wanted, Luther revealed that Joshua's estate would leave him quite wealthy and that the only thing he wanted in exchange for the cure was for Jack to allow his Werewolf self to kill someone. When Jack resisted the idea, Luther reminded him of what his sister would become without the cure and Jack reluctantly agreed to his terms. Luther then told Jack about how Judson Hemp's business empire had bankrupted him and destroyed his career and that it was now Luther's turn to destroy Hemp.
   Later that afternoon, Desmond drove Luther and Jack to a location near the walls surrounding Hemp's estate. Luther told Jack about how the estate was protected by armed guards, vicious dogs and a constant motorcycle patrol, then he and Desmond left Jack there to wait for moonrise to turn him into the Werewolf.
   That night, Luther and Desmond were sitting in Joshua's home discussing how Jack had probably already killed Hemp. When Desmond asked if "Mister Luther" wanted him to take care of Jack, Luther replied that he was confident that Hemp's trigger-happy army had "taken care" of that particular problem for them. At that moment, Jack (in human form because the full moon was totally eclipsed) burst into the room. Jack revealed that he hadn't murdered Hemp (who was a senile old man) and then demanded the cure from Luther. When Luther refused to turn over the cure because Jack hadn't fulfilled his part of their bargain, Jack grabbed Luther and threatened to break his neck so Luther called for Desmond to "remove this nuisance from my back." Desmond punched Jack off of Luther but Jack jumped up again and lunged into Desmond. As Desmond got Jack in a bear-hug and began to squeeze him, the eclipse ended and Jack transformed into the Werewolf. The shocked Desmond released his foe, then pulled out his knife and threw it at the Werewolf but the beast snapped his head back in time to avoid the knife so it continued on and impaled Luther in the chest. After dealing with Desmond, the Werewolf turned to Luther but the mortally-wounded man soon collapsed, saying "It appears I made -- an error in judgment -- by involving you -- in my affairs. You were -- really more of -- a bother then -- you were -- worth." The Werewolf then smashed open Lissa's cage but left before she revived.