Tuesday, October 11, 2022

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 179: THE BEAST-RULER

(Captain Marvel Adventures 003, 1941)


The Beast-Ruler's origin is simple: for reasons of his own, Dr Sivana builds a human out of animal parts - the muscles of a gorilla, the memory of an elephant and yes, the life-force of a thousand beasts - and that creation promptly rebels and runs off with the remaining beasts that have not had their life-forces squeezed out. A real rookie mistake on Sivana's part if you ask me - this isn't his first time toying in God's domain and he should have lab procedures covering such as a rebellious super-powered humanoid.

Speaking of super-powers, the Beast-Ruler has 'em (and speaking of names, that's a bad one). He's got the full suite of enhanced physical abilities, plus he can communicate with animals, a trait that he quickly uses to organize an army of beasts as a prelude to wiping out humanity. A pretty smart move on the part of the animals, honestly, but Captain Marvel ultimately prevails over this force with the help of other animals who choose to side with the human race.

The breakdown of the animal armies is interesting: wild animals are all on the Beast-Ruler's side, while Captain Marvel has dogs, cats and a selection of domesticated farm animals, but not all of them. Sheep are firmly on the side of the Beast-Ruler and the loyalty of pigs and horses seem to be split, with some representation in each army. If we're honest, most of the pro-humanity animals were fooling themselves, but they manage to distract the more sensible beasts long enough for Captain Marvel to send the Beast-Ruler head first off a waterfall.

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