Baron Gregor Russoff

Note: Not to be confused with his descendent Gregory Russoff, who is also known as Gregor, or his own ancestor known as Grigori Russoff.

Origin

Baron Gregor Russoff resided in Transia and suffered from a curse which plagued his entire family which would transform him into a werewolf on every full moon. Determined to find a cure, Russoff began studying dark magic and discovered the Darkhold scrolls, which he had bound into a book, believing it held his salvation. Continuing his exploration of the occult, Russoff financed his pursuit by selling part of his estate to Jonathan and Merriem Drew, who along with their daughter Jessica and their friend Herbert Edgar Wyndham, took up residence next to Russoff’s castle.

Creation

Baron Russoff was created by Mark Gruenwald and John Byrne and first appeared in The Avengers #187.

Character Evolution

Much confusion and debate exists with regards to the Russoff family tree due to the fact that Gregor Russoff and Gregory “Gregor” Russoff were originally actually the same person but due to Marvel’s sliding timescale it became apparent that Gregory Russoff simply couldn’t have had certain adventures in the 1930s. To this end, the Gregor Russoff active in the 1930s until the 1950s was retroactively made into Gregory Russoff’s father, or even grandfather. Despite this, it continues to present problems such as why Gregory Russoff’s brother Phillip did not inherit the werewolf curse from Gregor and early Werewolf by Night stories which depict Gregory involved with the discovery of the Darkhold which were since attributed to Gregor.

Major Story Arcs

The Gift

Not long after moving to Wundagore Mountain, Merriem and Jessica encountered Baron Russoff in his werewolf form stalking outside their cottage. Going to investigate, Herbert and Jonathan combed the area looking for the alleged monster. Writing off Merriem and Jessica’s claims as their imagination, Herbert nevertheless continued to help his friend search.

After splitting up from Jonathan to cover more ground, Herbert was unaware that he was in fact being stalked by the werewolf Russoff. Before Russoff could feast on his prey, he was stopped by the Inhuman Phaeder, Herbert’s mysterious benefactor, and Herbert remained oblivious to how close he came to being attacked. Phaeder subsequently delivered to Herbert a work-force of Moloids to help him mine a Uranium deposit they had discovered underneath their land.

Powers and Abilities

In his werewolf form, Baron Russoff acquired enhanced strength, speed and agility, as well as heightened senses. He possessed a minor healing factor and his claws and teeth could inflict fatal injury on a victim with ease. As a human however, Baron Russoff possessed no inherent superhuman powers but was educated in the arcane and had knowledge of some dark magic.