SARAKSARAK
Real Name: Sarak
Identity/Class: Human sub-species/Hidden race (Fall People; Savage Land)
Occupation: Hunter, fisherman
Group Membership: Fall People (specifically Tongah's village, if there were more than one village)
Affiliations: Lodah, Mahala (presumed deity), Tongah;
formerly Ka-Zar;
melas were useful to him, perhaps as food
Enemies: Ka-Zar, unidentified sabertooth tiger;
melas likely considered him an enemy
Known Relatives: Kapah (son, deceased), Selma (wife/widow)
Aliases: None identified
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly his home as part of an unidentified Fall People tribe in the Savage Land, Antarctica
First Appearance: Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (August, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Sarak was an experienced fisherman and likely had some experience as a hunter. He was brave enough to face a tiger armed ony with a knife in an effort to protect his son.
He was respectful of Ka-Zar and his laws.
Afflicted with rabies, he became progressively
less rational, fearing water, and he eventually degenerated into raving
lunacy.
Height: Unrevealed (not clearly shown standing
next to Ka-Zar or the 6'2" Tongah, but appeared to be smaller and
slighter; perhaps 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Apparently light blue
Hair: Black
History:
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb)) - Sarak was a member of Tongah's tribe of Fall People, dwelling in his village in a home with his wife, Selma, and his son, Kapah.
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Sarak and Kapah regularly went fishing down river from their village
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Sarak and Kapah went fishing.
After barely half an hour, Kapah had caught two big melas (fish-creatures), and he was very proud.
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb)) -
As Sarak cleaned the melas, a large sabretooth tiger suddenly appeared
out of nowhere, attacking and killing Kapah despite their being an
abundance of easier prey/game in that area.
 The tiger stood over Kapah, making no move to eat him. | Sarak leapt at it with his knife, but he was dropped by a
single clawed swat.
|  | The great cat then jumped atop Sarak, and he said
his prayers to Mahala and prepared himself for death;
However, the
great beast instead loped away. Sarak wept as he cradled his dead son. |
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb) -
BTS) - Returning to his village, Sarak respected Ka-Zar's law
forbidding the killing of "long-tooths," resisting his desire to
organize a hunting party.
With time to reflect, Sarak considered the abnormal behavior of the great cat: Attacking a human instead of natural and available prey; and not consuming what it attacked and slew.
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb)) - The next day, when Ka-Zar visited the village at Tongah's request, Sarak expressed his honor of being visited by so great a warrior, and he told Selma to fix a drink for Ka-Zar. When Ka-Zar asked what had happened, Sarak related the previous day's events, his concerns about the tiger's behavior and that the cat matched the size and ferocity of Zabu, who had been missing for a time.
Ka-Zar considered that they would track, capture, and deal with the cat, capturing it alive if possible.
The next morning, Sarak, Tongah,
and Ka-Zar set out on their grim task. Ka-Zar was concerned by Sarak's
behavior (he "acted funny" all morning), such as being frightened by
grazing triceratops, which were known herbivores. When Sarak fearfully
refused water despite the heat and not drinking all day, Ka-Zar
realized something was truly wrong, although he hadn't figured it out
yet.
That evening, Ka-Zar kept an eye on Sarak while starting the fire. When Sarak started to rant uncontrollable, foamed at the mouth, and then leapt to the attack, Ka-Zar -- concluding that Sarak (and the sabretooth that had attacked him) had rabies -- fatally shot Sarak with an arrow to the chest before explaining the situation to Tongah.
Comments: Created by Bruce Jones, Brent Anderson, and Carlos Garzon.
Tongah was subsequently attacked by the sabretooth before it was slain by a dinosaur. Knowing he was afflicted with the same disease, Tongah committed suicide. But, he got better when the High Evolutionary used Garokk to restore the Savage Land after it had been destroyed by the Terminus-power Jorro. There is not evidence as far as I know that Sarak was revived as well...
Ka-Zar noted that the killing of
the apparently rabid sabertooth by a reptile ended the threat since the
reptile could neither contract nor spread rabies. However, that begs
the question...how did the sabertooth get rabies? There had to have at
least been one other infected mammal that had infected that sabertooth,
and its fate is unrevealed. Its certainly dead now, but it could easily
have infected other animals before dying, unless the tiger killed the
creature that infected it...but then, what infected the creature that
infected the sabretooth...where did it start?
Being a veterinarian, perhaps Shanna could have
instituted a vaccination program. Certainly many beings would refuse
out of supersition/whatever, but many others would listen to Ka-Zar
and/or Shanna.
While rabies is typically spread via bite wounds, it is transmitted in the saliva, so, theoretically, deep scratches as Sarak received that were doused in rabid saliva might spread the disease.
The headband deal seem in some
images apparently represents a wound dressing he wore following the
tiger attack.
Ka-Zar told the story of the apparently rabid sabertooth as part of his explanation to Shanna about how closely he and Zabu were bonded.
"Surely he knows they're herbivores."
Apparently not...but don't call me Shirley.
This profile was completed 5/01/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Sarak should be distinguished from:
Mahala was apparently a deity worshipped by at least some of the Fall People. (Ka-Zar the Savage I#5) - When an apparently rabid sabretooth swatted/clawed him down and leapt atop him, Sarak said his prayers to Mahala and prepared himself for death. Whether Mahala heard and answered Sarak's prayers is unrevealed, but the sabretooth left him. However, Sarak was soon after afflicted with rabies, and Ka-Zar slew him when he became dangerously maddened. --Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 Note: No images exist. We also don't know that Mahala is not another name for some other known deity or worshipped being, like Garokk. |
 |
(Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Sarak and Kapah went fishing. After barely half an hour, Kapah had caught two big melas (fish-creatures), and he was very proud. (Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 (fb)) - As Sarak cleaned the melas, a large sabretooth tiger suddenly appeared out of nowhere, attacking and killing Kapah despite their being an abundance of easier prey/game in that area. Note: I had planned to give the melas their own profile as they represented a specific fauna of the Savage Land, but then I considered that "melas" could just be the Savage Land word for fish...or maybe fish big enough to eat (it is an anagram for "meals"). So this is what they get. Long, green fish or other aquatic creatures, they appeared to have a beak like mouth, gills, and multiple fins, with a short tail that tapered to a point. They were presumably good for eating...or perhaps they were used to make some material used by the Fall People. |
 |
Part of Tongah's village, it was a hut fashioned from wooden polls and apparently animal furs, blankets, etc. Sarak, Selma, and Kapah dwelled together there. After Kapah was slain by the apparently rabid sabretooth tiger, Sarak and Selma were visited by Ka-Zar and Tongah, and Sarak told Ka-Zar of the attack. Sarak subsequently was killed after he developed madness from rabies, leaving Selma alone. --Ka-Zar the Savage I#5 |  |
Ka-Zar the Savage I#5, pg. 11, panel 1 (Lodah);
panel 2 (Sarak's house);
panel 3 (Sarak with Selma, seated);
panel 4 (Sarak, head down);
pg. 12, panel 1 (Sarak cleaning melas, sabertooth leaping at Kapah);
panel 2 (Sarak leaping at sabretooth standing over Kapah);
panel 3 (sabretooth claw/swat of Sarak);
pg. 13, panel 1 (sabretooth in Sarak's face, profile);
panel 2 (Sarak holding Kapah as tiger departs);
panel 3 (Selma and Sarak grieving);
panel 4 (Selma and Sarak, standing and sitting, mostly full; home interior);
pg. 15, panel 4 (crazed face, eye close-up);
pg. 16, panel 3 & 5 (crazed face, eye close-up);
Appearances:
Ka-Zar the
Savage I#5 (August, 1981) - Bruce Jones (writer), Brent Anderson
(penciler), Carlos Garzon (inker), , Danny Fingeroth (assistant
editor), Louise Jones (editor)
First posted: 09/15/2021
Last updated: 09/14/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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