TOGARO
Real Name: Togaro
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Mita/Microverse; see comments)
Occupation: Leader of a race of would-be conquerors
Group Membership: Ruler of a group of beings either native to or otherwise present on Mita vs. another world in the same microverse as Mita
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Bucky (James Barnes), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Frank
Ferrule, Mitans (notably Ahlma, Alt, Dianne and her parents, but all of them), humanity
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Big Palooka" (from Bucky);
Ruthless Giant of Another World (on cover of Captain America Comics#26)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
briefly active on Earth near Bird's
Nest Island;
formerly Mita (see comments)
First Appearance: Captain America Comics#25 (April, 1943)
Powers/Abilities: Togaro had access to shrinking and growth chemicals, usually in the form of capsules.
Using these chemicals, he has gone from perhaps insect-sized (perhaps
about 6 mm or 1/4" long) to roughly human-sized to 100' (or
perhaps hundreds of
feet) tall on Earth. He could shrink down even further, to microscopic
size. The chemicals would allow him to shrink to a size close to
the that at which he would be shunted to a microverse, at which point
he used a ship that shrunk as it flew, eventually transporting him to a
microverse and to the world he desired. Within the Microverse, he could
use the capsules to shrink further, like an insect or a hand-held doll,
or to grow large enough to hold a human in his hand.
Rapid growth allowed him to shatter vehicles or buildings that he had
been occupying, and shrinking allowed him to approach or even catch a
ride on others undetected. Experienced in size-changing, he could use
this to great effect in combat.
Though he had access to ships that could fly through space and change
size to cross dimensional barriers, he wore a fur-like loin cloth (with
a belt), and he did not carry any weapons.
Height: Unrevealed and variable (he and his people changed size so often that it was difficult to estimate his true size.
Weight: Given his build, at 100' tall, he would likely weigh about 230
Eyes: Unrevealed (they were never shown in detail; possibly he has no visible irides)
Hair: Bald with black eyebrows.
Distinguishing Features: Somewhat bestial features, notably fanged teeth and pointed ears.
History:
(Captain
America Comics#25 (fb) - BTS) - Leader of some section/group on the
Microworld of Mita (accessed via the energies of shrinking), Togaro
threatened to kill Dianne, the daughter of the king and queen, who
then transported her to Earth via a portal existing on Bird's Nest
Island.
Found by the parents of Frank
Ferrule, Dianne was raised as Frank's sister, and she never knew her
true nature (see comments).
(Captain America Comics#25
(fb) - BTS) - Plotting to conquer Mita, Togaro slew
Dianne's parents and stole some of the size-changing chemicals
(perhaps some analog of Pym particles) invented/discovered by Dianne's father.
(Captain America Comics#25
(fb) - BTS) <1943> - While Mitans sought to bring back Dianne so she could sit on the
throne, Togaro plotted to capture or kill Dianne. He sent a number of
his agents to Earth, enlarged to giant-size to threaten humanity along
the American East Coast. 
(Captain America Comics#25) - After
Captain America and Bucky slew a pair of these giants, Togaro visited
them at Frank Ferrule's house; unidentified and wearing a trench coat
and hat, Togaro told them to stay out of the matter and stay away from Bird's
Nest Island or Dianne would die.
(Captain America Comics#25) - Prompted by this to go to Bird's
Nest Island, they found a tiny Dianne who had met with the Mitan woman
Ahlma and learned her own origins and the Mitans' goal, which she
explained
to Cap, Bucky, and Frank; unseen by them, Togaro watched and listened a
short distance away. When Dianne gave Captain America one of the
size-changing capsules, Togaro shrunk down and climbed undetected into
Captain America's belt.
Back at Dr. Ferrule's laboratory, Captain America formulated more doses (see comments)
after examining the capsule given to him by Dianne. Togaro used the
chemicals to enlarge a cockroach to attack Captain America and Bucky,
the pair was joined by Frank in battering the creature into submission.
Though Bucky spotted him, Togaro shrank further and escaped, after
which Captain America and Bucky shrank and followed his trail. As they
caught up to Togaro, however, his greater experience with size-changing
allowed him to subdue Cap and escape back to Mita.
(Captain America Comics#25 - BTS) - Dianne
and the Mitan woman then led Cap and Bucky to the rock from which they
could access Mita. Recognizing the rock as a meteorite that had crashed
on Earth long ago, Captain America broke off the portion containing
Mita and then employed a pair of guards, Foley and Ezra, to kill anyone
other than Cap or Bucky coming out of the rock.
Alt the Mitan then emerged peacefully and Dianne recognized him and
convinced the others to spare him. Alt told Dianne that Togaro was
going to attack their city and that she must return to Mita via the
chemicals he had brought. Cap, Bucky, Frank, Alt, and Dianne then all
began shrinking, after which Alt led his allies toward the shrinking
ship that transported them all to Mita. However, while they were en
route, a pair of Togaro's guards assaulted Foley
and Ezra, intending to steal the rock. In the ensuing conflict, a
bottle of acid was knocked onto the rock, and it flooded towards the
tiny Cap and associates.
(Captain
America Comics#26) - Allowing his followers to catch up, Togaro
followed them to the Mitan shrinking ship, shrunk in size, and rode in
undetected on Bucky. Later, when Dianne and Ahlma went back to their
chambers, Togaro grew to relatively giant size and took them prisoner,
threatening to kill them if they did not follow his orders to land the
ship as soon as possible. With Alt distracting Togaro, Captain America
and Bucky shrank down and entered the room through another door and
then began to scale Togaro undetected. When they landed, Togaro
suddenly grew and burst out of the ship, after which Cap freed and
escaped with Dianne, but Bucky -- having lost his supply of
size-changing chemicals in the struggle -- became trapped next to
Ahlma.
(Captain America Comics#26 - BTS) - Although
Dianne rushed to the city of Mita alongside Cap and Frank, the people
were in a panic over the approach of Togaro and his men, and they
demanded the size-changing drug for themselves. They realized it was
unwise to supply the drug to this unruly mob.
(Captain
America Comics#26) - Togaro's size-changing ship then arrived, and
Togaro rushed to it, after which he told Ahlma he would have his
revenge by destroying this world and then told one of his men, Greer,
that Ahlma would be his servant. Togaro then caused his ship to grow
larger than the planet Mita, pushing it from orbit toward its sun.
(Captain
America Comics#26 - BTS) - Captain America had Alt enlarge the ship to a
thousand feet long and he helped gather the Mitans to board the ship to
escape their doomed world.
(Captain
America Comics#26) - On Togaro's ship, Togaro spotted and captured
Bucky, enlarging him back to relative "normal" size to better keep an
eye on him.
After hours of his ship
progressively enlarging and just before reaching the edge of "the
little atomic space," Togaro announced his plans to conquer Earth.
(Captain
America Comics#26 (fb) - BTS) - Togaro told Bucky he had about 300 men
serving him, and he was going to make them giants to facilitate his
plan.
(Captain
America Comics#26 - BTS) - Eventually stealing some of the enlarging
drug from Togaro's men, Bucky and Ahlma escaped Togaro's ship after it
landed within the rock on Earth. Soon after, the Mitan ship Cap piloted
arrived, but faulty repairs from Togaro's previous damage caused the
ship to crash, and only Cap, Dianne, and Frank were rescued.
The five rushed up the caverns within the rock, progressively growing
in size, but staying ahead of Togaro and his men. As they reached the
bottom of the crater leading out of the rock, they found that Togaro's
men still held watch. Slipping out unseen, they rushed out into the
woods, after which Togaro's men grew to giant size and began rampaging
through the nearby town. Growing to giant size, Cap and Bucky battled
and defeated Togaro's men, and then they similarly overcame another
group of even larger giants by growing larger than them.
(Captain America Comics#26) - An
immense Togaro then confronted them, and Captain America took all of
his remaining enlarging drug to match Togaro's size. Though still
slightly smaller than Togaro, Captain America stunned him with a swing
of his shield into his gut and then followed with a series of punches
to the face.
(Captain America Comics#26
(fb) - BTS) - Toppling to the ground, Togaro struck his head against a
cliff, and Captain America believed that to have killed him. Togaro
then shrunk out of sight, and Captain America assumed his body returned
to the sub-atomic realm.
(Captain America Comics#26 - BTS) - Captain America advised Frank Ferrule to destroy the rest of the size-changing chemicals. Comments: Created by Ray Cummings and Syd Shores.
Do we really believe Togaro died? Hitting his head and then shrinking out of sight? No way...
Duplicating a size-changing chemical seems a bit beyond Captain
America's abilities! Perhaps it was actually Frank or others working at
Dr. Ferrule's lab.
Togaro and his men had a monstrous appearance, unlike the otherwise
human Dianne, Alta, Ahlma, and the rest of the Mitans. Togaro was a leader not under the domain of Mita's king and queen.
I don't know
whether Togaro and his men came from another part of the planet Mita or
another world in Mita's dimension?
Perhaps Mita did not have a population of billions, or even millions,
but it's not really feasible that they could gathered more than several
thousand (perhaps even tens of thousands if there were multiple floors)
to fit on the ship in the time allowed. A giant Captain America ran
around gathering others.
Thanks to Loki for getting me scans of the comic! Hopefully the rest of
the series (and the rest of the Golden Age comics) become available
digitally in the near future! The grainy ones from #26 are all from microfiche!
Although and most stories treat microworlds as being part of an atom or
molecule and being literally sub-atomic, it has been clearly stated and
shown in the most reputable stories and sources that such
"Microworlds"/"Microverses" are realms accessed by the energies of
shrinking.
Although Dianne stated that she never knew her true history, it is more
likely that her memories were suppressed or something, as she seemed to
recall everything after she met up with Ahlma.
Incredible Hulk II #148 (Feb/72)] had advanced Technology unlike
Jarella's sword
& sorcery kingdom so clearly something happened on K'ai that cause
it to
revert to a primitive state. Since it has been decades since TOGARO
& his unidentified people's( Green Skinned & Pointed Eared )
appearance in Captain
America Comics#25-26, why not Identify them as K'aians?
From John
Holstein
We
certainly can’t identify them as such because that didn’t happen in the
story,
but it is a possibility, and an interesting one, for sure. Of course,
Dianne and her people didn't have green skin, and Togaro and his men
were somewhat monstrous in appearance, unlike Jarella's people.
--Snood
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Togaro should be distinguished from:
- TOGO -
Japanese saboteur, worked with Matsu against Merzah--Mystic Comics#4/7
- TOGU, DOCTOR - Japanese scientist,
transformed into vampire-like being; enemy of Captain America and Bucky--All Winners Comics#5 (Summer 1942)
- other "Tog" characters, items, groups, races, places, etc.
images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#25, pg. 5, panel 6 (incognito);
#26 cover;
pg. 2, panel 5 (full);
pg. 5, panel 2 (giant; holding Dianne and Ahlma);
pg. 7, panel 1 (face);
pg. 22, panel 4 (giant);
pg. 23, panel 3 (vs. Cap)
Appearances:
Captain America Comics#25-26 (April-May, 1943) - Ray Cummings (writer), Syd Shores (penciler), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 08/23/2022
Last updated: 11/06/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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