Villain Profile: Sauron

Hey folks, still nursing a pretty awful headache from the Parasite incident. Probably not going to have a guest for a bit, at least not a supervillain. Jerks. Now, the subject of my next post is weird. Like even for a guy that works with people in brightly colored costumes, crazed villains, demons, aliens, mutants, various hybrids and so on, even then this guy is W E I R D. Let’s get to it.

Watch out for the claws!

A little background of Sauron. In the late sixties a writer by the name of Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams wanted to make a new villain for the X-men. The character they originally envisioned was an energy vampire that morphed into a giant bat when he had enough powers. The Comic Code Authority felt that this was a little too like an actual vampire, which was prohibited under the Code. So, they decided to tweak the animal form into the most bat like thing they could think of, a Pterodactyl. But before Sauron was Karl Lykos. For those who didn’t catch it, his name is a reference to Lycanthropy, the fictional infection that turns a human into a Werewolf. You’re learning all sorts of trivia today.

Karl’s father was a guide for explorers. You know, the guy that showed rich people far off ruins to make them feel like they were on some grand adventure. He travel the world a lot before he was even a teenager. When he was about fifteen he and his father traveled with a wealthy client and his kid to Tierra del Fuego. Karl took a shine to their client’s daughter, Tanya Anderssen, and the two wandered off to get to know each other better. Teenagers in the jungle alone, what could possibly go wrong? Oh right, tons, tons things could go wrong.

Karl and Tanya happened upon a cave, and in it were several large prehistoric monsters. Pterodactylus antiquus, the Pterodactyl. The cave, as it turned out, was actually a passage that lead all the way to the Savage Land, a primordial world lost in the Antarctic. The large flying reptiles attacked the two teens. Karl did his best to protect Tanya, getting several deep scratches and bites for his trouble. They escaped, and Karl spent a few weeks recovering. In the hospital he discovered something…odd. He now had the ability to drain the life force out of other organisms. Humans, dogs, cats, rodents, insects, and so on, he could suck the life out of them and feed himself. His new power had an addictive quality to it and Karl was constantly tempted to use it. His father died a short time later, and Mr. Anderssen’s took Karl in as thanks for rescuing Tanya.

So he flies, breathes fire, and is evil. So he's basically a
Dragon.

Despite feeling the need to repay Karl, Mr. Anderssen’s was completely against the two being romantically involved when the two young adults began showing interest in each other. In an attempt to get Mr. Anderssen’s blessing, Karl studied hard to become a doctor. He succeeded, becoming a licensed physician, geneticist and hypnotherapist. When he hypnotized a patient, however, he also took the opportunity to take just a small amount of energy from them. He’d only take a small amount, which was now necessary to keep him functioning. He eventually became a good friend and colleague of Charles Xavier, and even encountered the X-men when they brought their teammate Havok in for some off the books medical treatment. Things went well for the first, oh, five minutes. Unfortunately, Karl had never drained a mutant before, which was doubly unfortunate since Havok was tapped into cosmic radiation. Karl kept draining well passed his usual limit. As he drained Havok, his skin became scaly, his body grew larger and he was ultimately turned into a giant Pterodactyl-like monster. The creature had a consciousness all its own, separate from Karl Lykos but sharing his memories. It named itself Sauron, after the primary antagonist from the Lord of the Rings. Using his newly acquired super strength and hypnotic powers, he battled the X-men and tried to conquer the world. The combined efforts of the X-men overpower Sauron, driving him off. Now, while the large part of Karl was suppressed as Sauron, his strong feelings for Tanya convinced the monster to flee from her to keep her safe.

Cover your eyes! Get Daredevil! Something!

He hid in Tierra del Fuego, where, separate from Mutant life force he reverted back to Karl Lykos. Karl swore to stay as far from humanity as possible, for the sake of Tanya and his own soul. Tanya, unfortunately followed. Knowing that he could never convince her to leave him, and that he’d always run the risk of transforming into Sauron again, Karl threw himself off the side of a cliff. Tanya assumed him dead, but he survived. Awakening some time later, Karl traveled to the savage land via that old cave where the trouble started. He fed off lesser animals, and eventually met and befriended the human champion of the Savage Land Ka-Zar. He used his medical skills to help Ka-Zar and the humans of the Savage Land. And for a time, things were good. Unfortunately, the X-men eventually found their way to the savage land. Like the recovered alcoholic that was presented with his favorite drink, Karl lost control and attacked Storm. Transforming again into Sauron, he once again fought the X-men but they were able to fight him off until the mutant power he stole ran out. Since their initial confrontations, Sauron has remained a constant foe of the X-men, and Karl Lykos their tortured ally.

As a human, Karl is a gifted medical mind. He’s a trained hypnotherapist as well. He’s technically not a Mutant, meaning he doesn’t have an X-gene. He is, though, a mutant, after being exposed to a genetic virus from those Pterodactyl bites. The virus gave him his life draining powers. When he absorbs energy from a Mutant, or similar empowered being (Thor for example) he morphs into Sauron. In his human-dinosaur hybrid form he is immensely strong, fast, and agile. He has razor sharp claws and teeth, which he uses with extreme skill. He can fly, duh, as well as breathe fire, release a supersonic scream, and hypnotize people with a look. He needs a regular infusion of “super energy” or else he’ll revert to his human form. He can “sense” Mutants and other superbeings as Sauron as well, thus making it easier to keep his energy levels up.

Scary as heck.

Karl and Sauron have appeared in a number of Marvel properties, normally against their age old frienemes the X-men.

He appeared in a few episodes of X-men: The Animated Series. This version was already an inhabitant of the Savage Land when he first crossed paths with the X-men. He was part of Magneto’s Mutates, visually repulsive Mutants that inhabit the Savage Land. He served Mr. Sinister when Apocalypse’s number 2 took over the Savage Land. Mostly because Sinister kept him supplied with Mutant energy. After Sinister’s defeat, he attempted to take over the Savage Land himself but was driven off. Karl Lykos traveled to New York. He tried to kick his habit, but unfortunately came across Storm. He transformed again, kidnapped the weakened Storm and returned to the Savage Land. The X-men followed. This was in fact all a ploy by the evil God of the Savage Land, Gerokk, to get Storm's power for himself. The X-men defeat both of them (there's an especially weird moment where Rogue is draining Sauron as Sauron drain's Rogue) and then leave. The Mutates were removed as well. With no other Mutant’s left in the Savage Land, Karl Lykos was left in peace with Ka-Zar and his people.

Sauron was seen in Wolverine and the X-men as a cameo. He and several other dangerous Mutants were kept in a prison on Magneto’s isle of Genosha.

Sauron has appeared a few times against the Hulk and his team in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. He’s presented as your typical world conqueror, and they make no reference to his need to drain energy to remain himself or Karl Lykos. Odd.

He’s a mini-boss in X-men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. Great game, play it. Now.

I like Sauron and Karl. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde style of character has rarely been done so well. I despise Sauron for his world conquering attempts and general cruelty and really feel sorry for Karl since he is as tortured by Sauron as anyone else. It must be hell to be trapped in your own body like that. His design is real unique. How many other evil Pterodactyl men do you know of? I have to applaud Mr.’s Thomas and Adams for taking the difficulties of Comics Code Authority to make a character that is truly unique and entertaining. I’d love to see Sauron in a future X-men film, and I don’t think I’d even be upset if they misclassified him as a Mutant. That’s a lie, but I’ll be less upset than with Juggernaut. He’s the Terrible, Traumatic and Tragic Pterodactyl, Sauron. Next time, I’ll cover one of the most dangerous Mercs of the Marvel-verse, Taskmaster.  

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauron_%28comics%29

 http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron_%28Marvel%29

 http://marvelanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Sauron