Merge:Kang the Conqueror

Kang the Conqueror is a supervillain in Marvel Comics. He is a time traveller from the 30th Century who has frequently travelled to the present day and fought the Avengers. He first appeared in Avengers #8 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Origin
Nathaniel Richards - the man who would become Kang - was born in an alternate timeline. The Earth there had been transformed into a paradise thanks to Mister Fantastic's father, the Nathaniel Richards after whom he was named. However, this younger Nathaniel, a scholar, was restless in this peaceful world, and studied the history of war in his longing for a more savage and driven age. His long-term hospitalization after being severely injured by bullies (and the near-financial ruin of his family as a result) quite probably caused or increased this drive. He discovered time travel technology that one of his ancestors (who may have been Nathaniel Richards or Doctor Doom) had invented.



Kang travelled back in time to ancient Egypt and became the Pharaoh Rama-Tut. He had traveled to the past hoping to find En Sabah Nur, the mutant that would be known as Apocalypse, and control him, yet his actions would only succeed in making En Sabah Nur become Apocalypse. Kang ruled until he was driven off by the time-displaced heroes of the 20th century, including the Fantastic Four and the West Coast Avengers. Following that conflict, he left the past and travelled to a post-apocalyptic 40th century and reinvented himself briefly as the Scarlet Centurion before settling on the identity of Kang the Conqueror. From there he created his interstellar, interdimensional and inter-temporal empire that would not only include Earth, but future versions of the Brotherhood of the Badoon, the Shi'ar Empire, and the dimension of Kosmos.

On his first foray into the twentieth century, he was thwarted by the Avengers, and they have remained his enemies ever since, having fought him on dozens of occasions. However, due to the diverging of timelines that was caused by his time travelling technology, multiple and sometimes divergent versions of himself were created. Most of them were eventually eliminated by the Council of Kangs, which were set up by one of the multiple Kangs to rid himself of his counterparts.

Destiny War


At some point in his personal timeline, Kang became weary of battle, due to frustration and the loss of his son Marcus and consort Ravonna in several timelines. He was approached by the alien Time-Keepers - time travelers from the end of the universe, the last living creatures in existence - to become their agent, preserving timelines rather than conquering them in exchange for immortality. He accepted and reinvented himself again, this time as Immortus. He again came into conflict with the Avengers, but under different circumstances, and more notably with his younger self, who was unable to see the reasoning behind Immortus' actions. Kang's conflict with Immortus was dubbed the "Destiny War."

Immortus faked his death several times before ultimately turning on the Time-Keepers to assist the Avengers and, as punishment, was truly killed. However, he was resurrected minutes later as temporal energies from the Time-Keepers' attempts to turn Kang directly into Immortus and thus fulfill the time loop caused a backlash that created Kang and Immortus as separate beings, freeing Kang from what he saw as a destiny as a "doddering old scholar."

The Kang Dynasty
Kang would then go on to launch his most vicious attack yet on present-day Earth. He appeared with his son Marcus, the new Scarlet Centurion and showed many visions of the Earth's possible futures, all of them dark and horrific. At first it was thought he intended to help the Earth, but then he announced that he wished to conquer it in order to save it. Kang told the UN that he would strike at France first- he wished them to be prepared. He then cunningly split his enemies by announcing that any who conquered land in his name would have a place in his new order. Several groups and foes- including The Wizard, the Deviants and Attuma's Atlanteans, attacked across the world. Kang knew that against an invading army the Earth would unite but against their own, they fractured.

After these attacks were beaten off, Kang launched his invasion of Europe with his army from the far future. The Avengers and UN troops fought back valiantly at the ramparts they had constructed, while the American forces were occupied with an attack by the self-proclaimed Master of The World. The Avengers tried to infiltrate Kang's starship, Damocles Base. After they failed, he seized control of the Sentinel Fleet the US planned to protect themselves with, and used a futuristic weapon to devastate Washington DC and kill millions. With the threat of more such attacks, the world had no choice but to surrender to Kang. He had finally succeeded.

His reign, though, was undone by the Avengers, with help from 3D-Man and Triathlon- as well as with the unwitting aid of his son, Marcus, the new Scarlet Centurion. Kang content, knowing he would go down in history, and happy that he would die. When his son saved him, an angry Kang killed him, his legacy ruined.

Iron Lad


Recently in the pages of the comic Young Avengers, it has been revealed that the super-hero known as Iron Lad is actually a younger version of the villain, who discovered that he would become an evil tyrant and went back in time to prevent himself from conquering the world. Kang battled the teen heroes and was seemingly gaining the upperhand when Iron Lad, with tears in his eyes, ran Kate Bishop's sword through Kang's chest. This killed Kang, but the ramifications caused several changes to the timeline, including all the Avengers being dead (this seems to go against the Marvel rule that time travel simply creates another timeline, although it is speculated that they were simply witnessing the creation of the new timeline). Iron Lad realized that the only way to restore everything was to go back in time and become Kang. The Young Avengers had to wipe his mind before he went back, but before they did he asked them to forgive him for the actions he would commit in the future. On the last few pages of Young Avengers Special #1, Kang was seen looking in on the Young Avengers. What implications this has on his memory of them remains to be seen.

Other Media
Kang appeared in a single episode of Avengers: United They Stand. His Rama-Tut persona is briefly mentioned as part of Apocalypse's origin in X-Men: Evolution Kang appears for one episode on the 90's Fantastic Four animated series.