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K'ai (Planet)

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K'ai was a micro-world originally set in the Microverse,[2] later to be displaced into Earthspace.[8]

Although an outwardly primitive planet, K'ai hosted remnants of long-forgotten high technology and sorcery. Its people are green-skinned humanoids.[9]

The planet was visited frequently by the Hulk, and was later the site of a series of battles fought by his son Hiro-Kala.

History

Origin[]

The World Mind was the living essence of K'ai, one of the millions of sentient planets in the Microverse.[2] The World Mind was three billion years old,[10] and planet K'ai was an ancient world.[11]

Early years[]

In the past of K'ai, Pitll Pawob was a continent that hosted K'ai's oldest civilization, that predated the Age of Magic and where technology reigned.[3] That civilization developed great weapons[12] and was said to be highly advanced.[11] Such technology included Force Blasters and Bands of Levitation from Pitll Pawob,[12] but also vessels powered by the same natural energies encompassing the Microverse (buried under modern K'ai City).[13]

At some point, the World Mind used its energies to create the War-Mind, the combined spirits of the dead Pit'll Pawob Assassin Guild,[11] ancient warrior spirits from K'ai's bloodiest era.[14]

Cataclysm[]

1000 years ago, ancient K'ai was under suspicion of stockpiling stolen Homeworld weapons and/or threatening technologies. Inspection teams visited and cleared the K'aitians of the accusations,[15] though a doomsday weapon was indeed developed at Pitll Pawob.[16]

Commander Arcturus Rann of Homeworld led a group of Death's Head bombers to the surface of K'ai. Despite the inspections and an utter lack of evidence, Arcturus was firmly convinced the K'aitians lied. Ignoring express order of withdrawal[15] out of fear instead of evidence, Arcturus conducted a massive strike, annihilating ancient K'ai.[16]

During that cataclysmic event, most of the landmass sank,[11] including Pitll Pawob, save for a tip. with only a few survivors.[3] The population was nearly decimated,[11] with a million casualties.[16]

K'ai's civilization was brought down.[3] Its technology was lost,[12][3] as was its culture.[16]

After the cataclysm[]

The descendents of the survivors of Pitll Pawob tried to maintain what remained of the lost technology, hiring out weapons and themselves, as the Pitll Pawob assassins.[3] At least Force Blasters and Bands of Levitation were still carried by the Pitll Pawob.[12] Pitll Pawob became known as the "Isle of Assassins",[3] and was rumored to house all of K'ai's lost knowledge and ancient technologies.[15] Other survivors turned towards magic, relying on it instead of technology.[11] The Sorcerer Triad was also devoted to deep study of the ancient weapons of K'ai, which were considered magic by the rest of the K'aitians, and somehow came in possession of the Enigma Force Nullifier, their best kept secret.[13]

Modern Age[]

During the Modern Age, K'ai lived in the Age of Magic.[3]

Jarella's rule[]

K'ai was ruled by Empress Jarella, seemingly counseled by her cousin Visis, who plotted against her,[9] intending to marry her and ascend as king.[12]

When the Hulk appeared in K'ai during an attack of the warthos and drove the huge monsters away, he was welcomed by people of K'ai. Feeling a shared affection at first glimpse, Jarella declared she would marry the Hulk, stating the Hulk's arrival was surely an omen from the Jade Goddess as it was forbidden for a queen of the realm to wed anyone who had not defeated the Warthos in battle.

She led him into the city and called on her Pantheon of Sorcerers to learn the Hulk their language. The spell succeeded and also allowed the human personality of Bruce Banner to emerge in the Hulk's body. The Hulk and Jarella fell in love, defeated Visis, who was seeking to usurp their leadership, and his assassins of the Pitll Pawob division. Hulk sentenced Visis to eternal exile in the Wortha-haunted Outlands. They seemed destined to live happily ever after. Unfortunately destiny in the form of a supervillain named Psyklop interfered and snatched the Hulk away from K'ai. Defeated by the Hulk, Psyklop was exiled by the Dark Gods[9] to K'ai, where he stayed at his mountain retreat, where he built his mechanical "Mountain God".[17]

At this point, Hulk had become revered as a legendary hero.[11]

War with Visis[]

Psyklop snatching Hulk away[9] was seen as a feat of "The Gods", read by many as a sign against Jarella who had chosen him. From his territory, Visis learned magic, and waged war on K'ai, menacing the stability of the realm.[12]

The city of K'ai was eventually destroyed by Visis' forces. K'ai's legions were reduced to a few scattered groups harassed in their own realm. Jarella taken prisoner by Visis to his mountain stronghold OF Castle Visis. Hulk returned once again and was briefed about the situation by the Pantheon of Sorcerers. Visis pressured Jarella to reluctantly marry him but Hulk timely interrupted, leading a pack of Warthos into Visis' castle and rescuing Jarella.[3]

Together, they started rallying the population and the legions against Visis' forces, and soon, Jarella's forces were about to wage their final battle by attacking Castle Visis. Meanwhile, Visis fled to Pitll Pawob, the Isle of Assassins where he offered the Pitll Pawob assassins' steward Krylar to be come his full allies. After Krylar demonstrated a Pitll Pawob machine projecting one's fear, Visis was impressed and Krylar accepted his offer, intending to betray him and have the Pitll Pawob to rule. Using it, Visis generated a Hulk construct which he took as champion to challenge Banner. The Pantheon reversed the spell that Banner control Hulk's body, causing the Hulk construct to vanish. Thinking he was betrayed, Visis slew Krylar. At this moment, Hulk was returned to Earth once again.[3] The whole event was witnessed from afar by Psyklop.[17]

Defeated once again, Visis was exiled again. He renounced the arcane sciences and trained in the ways of the warrior, focusing on his sole goal of taking revenge upon the Hulk. He became Visis the Vagabond, "reborn from beneath the wreckage of [his] rightful kingdom".[15]

Undisclosed time events[]

At some point during the co-rule of Hulk and Jarella over the K'ai, the Z'gma attacked them, but retreated when their monstroid was slain.[18] The truth behind this is unsure, given it was part of a recurring dream by the Hulk.

Monarchless K'ai[]

The God of the Mountain[]

Hulk's enlargement while departing caused massive eathquakes due to Hulk accidentally kicking K'ai from its orbit. Those quakes were soon believed to be caused by the anger of the Mountain God. Psyklop used a massive drill to cause more quakes and harvested the souls of the victims in the Essence Urn, intending to buy his way out of exile.[17]

The people of K'ai captured and intended to sacrifice Jarella to appease the God of the Mountain, but was timely saved by the Hulk, returning once more. Inquiring on the Mountain God, Hulk and Jarella found its home, discovered the God was a robot, before Psyklop revealed himself as its creator.[19]

By that point, Jarella was considered a queen no more. Psyklop revealed to her the giant drill he intended to use to force the K'aitians to worship him. Spying on the scene using magic, the Pantheon revealed the plot to the K'aitians, rallying them to save Jarella. Psyklop had enslaved the Hulk, and unleashed him on the K'aitians, until the Pantheon cast a counter to Psyklop's hypnotic spell over Hulk.The Hulk's fighting cracked the Essence Urn which Psyklop intended to use as the time of cosmic conjunction he was waiting for was upon him, but the Urn shattered, apparently destroying him. As Jarella and Hulk were reunited and intended to marry, they both were snatched into the normal world by Doc Samson.[17]

Ravaged K'ai[]

In his anger of being returned to Earth, Hulk shattered the slide containing K'ai. This caused K'ai to spin through sub-atomic, creating massive geological upheavals and destroying much of the K'aitians or their civilization, while again repositioning K'ai, far from any sun. The Pantheon of Sorcerers appeared to somewhat lead the remnants. The K'aitians struggled to grow any plants (which grew only in the Valley of Life) and the surviving animals preyed upon the K'aitians, and consequently resorted to scavenging in the destroyed cities.[5] During her time on Earth, Jarella was killed by the Crypto-Man.[20]

Hulk returned Jarella on K'ai to bury her and witnessed the ravaged world. The Pantheon brought Hulk to the Valley of Life,[5] the ancient sacred burial grounds of K'ai and the last place fertile on Earth to bury Jarella, where the Gardener used his Soul Gem to maintain life. Taking it, Hulk threw the Soul Gem in the ground to the core of K'ai, merging with the planet's heart and restoring it. Hulk returned to Earth and K'ai remained monarchless.[21]

Fanatical and divided K'ai[]

After that feat, Hulk was elevated to the status of a god. Various sects arose, claiming to hold the single divine truth. By then, the city of K'ai was mostly abandoned. The sects soon resorted to violence, while a fanatic, Risuli formed a holy order of sisters to worship Jarella.

Gorsham and two wizard associates banded together to bring the Hulk back for him to be their god and tone down the violence,[4] with the true intent of ruling themselves. The group went on a pilgrimage towards the City of the Grande Inquisitor down south, defeating Risuli's forces and rallying followers. Once Risuli defeated, he was suppliced until he publicly acknowledged Hulk. When Hulk discovered Gorsham's plans, he was swiftly returned to Earth before he could act, though Gorsham claimed to have benevolent plans for K'ai.[22]

Nothing is known of Gorsham's and his associates' rule over K'ai.

Visalia's rule[]

Eventually, the sorceress Visalia, helped by Dexam, cast a spell to make people believe she was the sister of Jarella,[23] and ruled over K'ai. When Drax crashed on K'ai, he was confused for Hulk and brought to Visalia, who turned him using a spell.[24] Facing Captain Marvel and the Microns, Drax eventually snapped out of control and Visalia and Dexam were defeated, and exposed for the impostors they were.[23]

The Psyklop's invasion and Hiro-Kala[]

The Psyklop became a hive-mind species and thousands of them landed on K'ai in order to feed the souls of the K'aitians to the Dark Gods, while te Psyklop's flagship remained in K'ai's orbit. The Sorcerer Triad was seemingly killed in the attack while intending to summon the Hulk. Their apprentice, Jarella's niece Jentorra attempted to summon the Hulk to save K'ai, but instead had his son Hiro-Kala (who was investigating the Fault) brought to K'ai. In instants, Hiro-Kala had the Psyklop defeated, while the flagship was wrecked by Hiro-Kala's Stone Ship who had followed him in the Fault, and crashed on the city.[25] He then resurrected the souls absorbed by the Psyklop and was acclaimed by the K'ai as their saviors, the harbinger of the spirit of Jarella, and the son of Hulk. He had his K'aitian resurrected join his Sakaarans and help him in his mission to destroy the Old Power.[26] He notably awakened vessels powered by the same natural energies encompassing the Microverse, stating those were the greatest ancient technology secrets of K'ai, rather than anything at the Isle of Assassins.[13] Meanwhile, the Microns led by Arcturus Rann monitored the Psyklop invasion[25] and went on K'ai,[26] only to be opposed by Hiro-Kala's Axemen.[13] Hiro-Kala also sent his armada to planets containing the Old Power throughout the Microverse.[27]

Using the Enigma Force Nullifier, Jentorra tried to destroy Hiro-Kala but failed. As Hiro-Kala destroyed the pendant,[13] releasing the Enigma Force which headed to Arcturus Rann, empowering him and teleporting him to fight Hiro-Kala. This caused the Sakaarans to retreat to the Stone Ship. Arcturus Rann tried to use the Enigma Force to force Hiro-Kala out of the Microverse by altering history but Jentorra also tried to reverse the spell that had brought Hiro-Kala in the Microverse.

Hiro-Kala took control of her teleport spell, and combined his New Power with it,[27] emptying his power into the stratosphere of K'ai, where it joined with a mystic energy[28] to cover the whole planet and escaping the Nullifier's path, also using the ancient K'ai ships to pull the planet away.[27]

Hiro-Kala was saved from the rebirth of the Microverse, but K'ai was pulled from orbit, left away from its sun once again in a path between space and time,[28] hurling in the Earth universe,[8] in the vicinity of the Fault.[29] This event also caused the World Mind to be dying.[2] Small pieces of K'ai were displaced all the way out to the Fault, located at the edge of the Microverse.[27] Stranded on such fragments, Jentorra and Psyklop were respectively rescued and captured by the Enigma Force teaù, and were both recruited in the team.[30]

As Hiro-Kala killed Lihla after his feat, her father General Axeman Bone defected him and chased Hiro-Kala, intending to slay him.[28] Fleeing Axeman Bone, Hiro-Kala met with the World Mind, who enlisted his help and gave him control over the War-Mind[2] Hiro-Kala decided to use his power to heal the Worldmind.[29] Tapping in in the Worldmind's mystical energy, Hiro-Kala healed the planet,[8] sealing the fissures scarring it[14] and restoring vegetation on its surface and restored his control over his Sakaarans. He was immediately acclaimed planetwide as the King of K'ai.[29]

Hiro-Kala's rule[]

K'ai remained sunless. Hiro-Kala's rule was deemed blessed as the statue of Hulk was unearthed during the quakes, which was seen as sign from Jarella.[14]

The Enigma Force team pursued K'ai, intending to return it to the Microverse while slaying Hiro-Kala.[30]

Returning from exile, Visis the Vagabond joined with rebels to Hiro-Kala, intending to provide leadership as they faced Hiro-Kala. Visis was swiftly defeated, and he and his forces were sent to the Isle of Assassins to slay all people there[15] as Hiro-Kala coveted the technologies there.

Once Hiro-Kala was defeated, the Enigma Force team was saved by Hulk. Rann decided to stay on K'ai to access the ancient archives to pay his debt to K'ai. Overhearding K'aitians offered to obey him but Rann declared that K'ai would never kneel before other-worlders, and that they would rebuilt K'ai on the foundations of truth and trust.[16] Axeman Bone offered Sakaar to stay on K'ai and serve as their hero, but he rejected the offer.[31]

K'ai's whereabouts and localization within the dimensions remain unrevealed.

Alternate realities versions[]

Earth-4080[]

The Dark Gods' cosmos lied directly adjacent to the "microscopic" world of K'ai, and served as a gateway for them to enter countless worlds. The Dark Gods were worshiped on K'ai eons ago, but their worship was believed to have ended geological ages ago, in a foul time from which almost no records survived.

The Dark Gods were tied to the city of Wol Ulrai, known as the Heart of All Darkness. The city eventually fell into ruins upon the Mount of Wol Ulrai, and was known by few men, mentioned in whispers and legends. The nightmarish Spawn of the Dark Gods, speculated to either be mutated men, or what men once were, and also described as demons, dwelt in Wol Ulrai.

The Dark Gods had worshipers on Earth during the Modern Age, including Psyklop. When Psyklop had the Hulk transported to K'ai, the Dark Gods feared the threat that the combination of his unlimited power and Banner's brain posed to them, and that Hulk could shut their door forever. Like on Earth-616, the Dark Gods banished Psyklop to K'ai, to guard against Hulk's return. As he failed them again, they snatched Hulk and Jarella to Earth, had one of their worshipers there revive the Crypto-Man to cause a battle in which Jarella was to die, for Hulk to never return to K'ai.

When Hulk and Jarella were sent back to K'ai, the Dark Gods ordained that Hulk shall die. A mysterious force slowed their course. Upon their return, Jarella felt the presence of evil in K'ai, a fear dismissed by Hulk untilan horrific tentacled amoebae approached Jarella in the night before vanishing. Helped by the legendary, telepathic Spoor-Men of K'ai, Hulk followed the trail of slime and vibrations into the catacombs, where they interrupted a ceremony to the Dark Gods, during which a cultist issued Hulk the Gods' decree of his demise before melting away. Afterwards, K'ai was plagued by strange events: dead rose from their graves, strange fungoid grew to suddenly cover buildings, and mysterious machines ravaged the countryside.

Along with Jarella and the Defenders of K'ai, Hulk investigated Wol Ulrai where they battled and defeated the Spawn of the Dark Gods and then were met by Visis who had become the Voice of the Dark Gods. Visis revealed the Gods' plot and unleashed a Hulk construct upon the heroes but the Hulk defeated the construct, bringing down the side of the mountain and killing Visis and a few demons, though the Gods remained unaffected.[32]

Earth-9051[]

Hulk died in battle while protecting Jarella and the K'ai from their enemies.[18]

Earth-TRN912[]

K'ai was the homeworld of the Warthos which terrorised the K'aians, most of which were collected by Lady Hellbender.[33]

Facts[]

Fauna[]

The fauna of K'ai included Flying Steeds,[12] giant Warthos,[9] or Serpent-Beasts of the Great Krell Jungle.[3]

Massive sea-life existed in K'ai's sea bodies, including blind porcine mammal-like sea creatures, and another type of creatures with sharp claws and lengthy teeth.[26] Smaller sea-bird-like and fish-like animals also exist, the former preying on the latter.

Smaller forms of life include moth- or butterfly-like insectoids.[10]

The K'aitians, a species of green-skinned humanoids, are seemingly the sole species to have developed civilizations on K'ai.

Customs[]

It was forbidden for a queen of the realm to wed anyone who had not defeated the Warthos in battle.[9]

The Valley of Life was forbidden to the people of K'ai, save for being buried.[5]

Economy[]

K'ai was considered pre-industrial.[26]

Politics[]

K'ai's entire polytical structure was described as a "dysfunctional autocracy".[26]

Religion[]

The people of K'ai worshiped the "Gods of K'ai".[17][21][20] Those possibly included the Jade Goddess, seemingly a prominent deity in K'ai's society.[9]

They also mentioned ancient gods, including[17] the God of the Mountain, He Who Dwells Above the Clouds, a great deity of ancient legends, said to be "gentle in his generosity and awesome in his wrath".[19]

Visis once invoked "Demons of the Earth and Sky" and "the name of all demons".[3]

The people of K'ai also sometimes invoked "the seven-sided circle".[19][17][20]

Jarella was worshiped as a goddess,[17][4] as would the Hulk as well. The gray Hulk was depicted by the Grand Inquisitor Risuli as the "Anti-Hulk",[4] though he later acknowledged him as the Hulk under duress.[22]

The people of K'ai are seemingly highly superstitious, and have attributed various events as omens and warnings from the gods:

  • Psyklop snatching Hulk away[9] was seen as a feat of "The Gods".[12][3] The quakes caused by Hulk kicking K'ai from its orbit was believed to be caused by the anger of the Mountain God.[17]
  • The unearthing of the statue of Hulk was seen as a sign of Jarella in favor of Hiro-Kala.[14]
On Earth-4080, the Dark Gods were worshiped on K'ai eons ago, but their worship was believed to have ended geological ages ago, in a foul time from which almost no records survived. Modern K'aitians invoked the Gods of K'ai.[32]

Points of Interest

Residents

Formerly:

Notes

  • The world of K'ai is an example of world of Sword and Planet, a sub-genre overlapping with the genre Sword and Planet, mostly known for Conan, the barbarian hero created by Robert E. Howard. K'ai's writer, Roy Thomas, was involved in the adaptation or creation of many characters belonging to those genres, including Howard's Conan, Kull and Red Sonja, Lin Carter's Thongor, or Edwin L. Arnold's Gullivar Jones. The world of K'ai features many elements and references to those genres, including (but not limited to):
    • Pitll Pawob, the remnant of a large and highly civilized continent, sunken during a cataclysmic event which erased most of the pre-cataclysmic civilizations, which mirrors Atlantis and its fall during the Great Cataclysm.
    • On Earth-4080, the ancient people of K'ai worshiped the Dark Gods who were still served by hidden cults, akin to H.P. Lovecraft's Great Old Ones, the ancient gods of the Cthulhu Mythos overlapping on Robert E. Howard's horror and Sword and Sorcery stories. The Dark Gods were later hypothesized to possibly be be Great Old Ones, or the N'Garai, demons inspired as well by the Cthulhu Mythos.
    • From his first appearance, Visis wore a helmet reminiscent of some depictions of Conan's helmet.
    • After returning from another exile, Visis called himself "Visis the Vagabond", possibly a reference to "Conan the Wanderer", a book by Robert E. Howard (posthumously, from fragments or unfinished stories), L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, translated in French as "Conan le Vagabond".

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Incredible Hulks #613 ; Dark Son - Chapter Four: Earth
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Incredible Hulk #610 ; Act II: Wake For War
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Incredible Hulk #156
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Incredible Hulk #351
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Incredible Hulk #247
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #7 ; Microverse's profile
  7. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #9 ; Appendix: Other Dimension, Kaa's entry
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Incredible Hulks #612 ; Dark Son - Chapter Two: K'ai's recap
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 Incredible Hulk #140
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Incredible Hulks #613 ; Chapter Three: K'ai
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force #2 ; The Planet K'ai
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 Incredible Hulk #148
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #3
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Incredible Hulks #612 ; Dark Son - Chapter Two: K'ai
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force #2
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force #3
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 Incredible Hulk #203
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Hulk: Broken Worlds #1 ; Heart of the Atom
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Incredible Hulk #202
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Incredible Hulk #205
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Incredible Hulk #248
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Incredible Hulk #352
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Captain Marvel (Vol. 4) #6
  24. ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 4) #5
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #1
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #2
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #4
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Incredible Hulk #609 ; Act I: The Night Is For Vengeance
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Incredible Hulk #611 ; Act III: Slave To Memory
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force #1
  31. ↑ Incredible Hulks #617
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 What If? #23 ; What If... Hulk's Girlfriend Jarella Had Not Died?
  33. ↑ Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (video game)
  34. ↑ Incredible Hulks #616 ; Undone
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