Korg

Origin

Korg like other Kronans was formed out of Lava on the Planet Ria.

Korg was a member of the Kronan invasion fleet that came to Earth from a staging ground on one of Saturn’s moons. Korg and his brother Margus were among the ground troops and unknowingly caused the awakening of Thor from his mortal host of Dr. Donald Blake. Korg’s people were repelled by the might of Thor and retreated from Earth.

The ship responsible for bringing Korg and his fellow Kronans home had suffered damage to its warp drive, and they spent years searching for suitable technology to make repairs. Eventually, they came upon a Kree settlement and conquered it, allegedly leading to a massacre of the Kree population. With their ship repaired, they set off to their home planet of Ria. However, the ship was pulled into the Great Portal and never made it to its destination.

Creation

Korg was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as one of the nameless invading stone aliens who Thor repelled from Earth in the thunder god’s Marvel Comics debut.

Decades later, Greg Pak gave one of those stone aliens, the Kronans, the name Korg and fleshed him out into a three-dimensional character as part of the cast in Planet Hulk.

Major Story Arcs

Planet Hulk

For further details: Planet Hulk

Crashing on the planet Sakaar, Korg was one of six Kronan survivors but thrown so far by the crash that he did not realize there were five others, including his own brother. He spent a year in the region known as the Maga Mountains, evading capture by the Imperials and being seen as a mountain god by the population of a small village nearby. Because they believed him to be a being who had promised to protect them from their enemies, Korg kept that promise and protected the village as best he could from dangers varying from unjust Imperial soldiers to mudslides. Unfortunately, he was eventually captured by the Death’s Head Guard.

Implanted with an obedience disk, Korg was forced into becoming a gladiator in the Red King‘s arena. When Hulk crash landed on Sakaar he was put in the same cell as Korg. Korg and Hulk began forging a bond while battling side by side in the arena and later as a part of the Warbound trying to earn their freedom. Korg also functioned as the logical and merciful part of the Warbound and would often be the one person keeping Hulk cool. During their challenges Korg had to kill his brother and fellow Kronan survivors, who had become mindless beasts from the stresses of resisting their obedience disks. The trauma of having to kill his own brother would continue to haunt Korg.

After helping to defeat the Red King as well as liberating the people of Sakaar and returning the Spikes to space, Korg worked to restore Sakaar and rebuild what the Red King destroyed. After the destruction of Sakaar by the ship that Hulk arrived on, Korg and the rest of the Warbound forged weapons and plotted a course for Earth to make the members of the Illuminati pay for destroying the paradise on Sakaar that they worked so hard to build.

World War Hulk

For further details: World War Hulk

Of all the Warbound, Korg was the most vocal against the savagery with which they assaulted the heroes of Earth. He did not subscribe to the philosophy of “never stop making them pay” that had gripped the minds of some of his fellow Warbound. However, his protests never went beyond voicing his concerns about how far they were taking things. His loyalty to Hulk was unwavering, and he was committed to going as far as the Hulk wanted to go.

When it was revealed that it was Miek and not the Illuminati responsible for Sakaar’s destruction, Korg tried to protect him from the Hulk’s rage. Whatever had been done, they were still Warbound. But he couldn’t hold back Hulk’s rage or even No-Name‘s. It took Tony Stark‘s intervention to stop Hulk from killing everyone. Korg fled with Hiroim, No-Name and Elloe into the sewers of New York after helping to repair the damage done to the city in their attack.

Aftersmash

For further details: World War Hulk: Aftersmash

While evading capture by S.H.I.E.L.D., Korg was teleporting to New Mexico along with his fellow Warbound and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Kate Waynesboro. The reasons for this became clear when the Leader revealed himself. He wanted access to Hiroim’s Old Power and used it to seal off the area with a dome of gamma radiation, declaring it Gammaworld. Korg decided that they would protect the lives of the trapped humans, despite being the target of the human’s anger.

When it seemed to be the only way to destroy the Leader’s dome, Hiroim forced Korg to fight him. If he died, the connection to the Oldpower would be gone and the Leader’s plans defeated. Korg was reluctant but eventually plunged his fist through Hiroim’s torso. He told his dying friend of how his people would clasp their stone together in a river of lava and produce an offspring. Someday, he had hoped to have that honor with Hiroim. However, the plan to kill Hiroim did not succeed in halting the Leader’s plans, so Hiroim fought on as long as he could with Korg. Soon, the leader was defeated and Hiroim passed away. Korg remained with his fellow Warbound, protecting the humans of Gammaworld.

Fall of the Hulks

For further details: Fall of the Hulks and World War Hulks

When the Intelligencia threatened all that Bruce Banner cared about, Korg answered the call for help from the Hulk’s alter ego. Korg joined forces with Skaar, A-Bomb, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Namor in Banner’s plan to assault the Intelligencia’s stronghold. They could not prevent the Intelligencia from unleashing a ray that turned many heroes in Hulks, and Korg unfortunately got a rematch against Thor, who was now even more powerful.

Banner was successful in reversing what the Intelligencia did, becoming not only the Hulk again but the Green Scar from Sakaar that Korg knew so well.

Dark Son

For further details: Dark Son

Korg remained with the newly formed Hulk Family rather than return immediately to Gammaworld. He wished to be there for Hulk, his warbound brother, for this new chapter of the Hulk life. It was at this time that they learned Skaar had a brother. This brother, Hiro-Kala, had conquered the planet K’ai and was bringing it toward Earth on a mad quest to destroy all remnants of the Old Power.

Korg was one of the few willing to talk about the necessity of killing Hiro-Kala. The boy was dangerous and had already committed terrible acts that could not be forgiven. To save Earth, killing boy had to be an option. Hulk did not want to discuss it, though. During the assault on K’ai, Korg and A-Bomb triggered a massive volcanic eruption that diverted the planet from a collision course with Earth. Meanwhile, Hiro-Kala was defeated by Skaar and the Worldmind of the planet K’ai claimed his life to set the planet right again.

Chaos War

For further details: Chaos War

Amatsu-Mikaboshi laid siege to all of reality while Korg and the Hulks were on K’ai, sparing them from an attack on Earth in their absence. This left them among the few heroes still active, and they answered Hercules‘ call for aid against the forces of chaos. Because Mikaboshi destroyed the wall between life and death, Korg found himself reunited with Hiroim for a brief time. This reunion was tragically short as Hiroim returned to his afterlife with the rest of the dead as Korg joined the final battle with the Hulks against Mikaboshi.

Planet Savage

For further details: Planet Savage

Old business reared its ugly head as the Warbound received word that the Sakaarian refuges who came to Earth with them had settled in the Savage Land and were now in trouble. Hulk left immediately for the Savage Land with Korg and the rest of the Warbound. When they arrived, they discovered Miek was behind the trouble yet again. Miek was desperately trying to restore his Native hive and sacrificing Sakaarians to do it. He was able to succeed using a captured Hulk but was ultimately defeated. Korg and the Warbound later chose to remain in the Savage Land with the remnants of Sakaar.

Powers and Abilities

As a Kronan, Korg’s entire body is made of craggy stone. Because of this he possesses super strength (100 tons) and is resistant to most physical damage. Korg has also demonstrated the ability to withstand extremes in temperature being able to survive exposure to molten lava. Korg’s skin is nearly unbreakable to the point that Mjolnir and Hulk could only chip it. Korg can also talk to stone as a result of being a Kronan. Oxygen boosts Korg’s stats and as a result he is much more powerful on Earth than he is on Saturn.

Korg is a skilled fighter, having fought in both the Kronan army as well as spending some time in the Red King’s battle arena and surviving. He is an experienced military strategist. Korg is able to build weapons as a black smith and he along with fellow Kronans built a robot.

Other Media

Film

Animated

• Korg appeared in the Planet Hulk animated movie, which largely retold the events of the Planet Hulk story arc from the Incredible Hulk ongoing series. Little about the character was changed, except for establishing a history between him and Beta Ray Bill. In the animated version of Korg’s battle with Thor on Earth, Beta Ray Bill came to Thor’s aid. Korg would later have to fight Beta Ray Bill, who replaced the Silver Surfer in the movie, again in the arena of Sakaar. He was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Live-Action

• Korg appears in the 2017 movie Thor: Ragnarok, voiced by Taika Waititi, the film’s director. In the movie, Korg is a political prisoner who has been imprisoned and forced to fight in the Grandmaster‘s gladiator games after a failed attempt at a revolution. Korg later helps Thor evacuate the surviving Asgardians just before Asgard is destroyed by Surtur.
• Taika Waititi reprises his role in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. Five years after the events of Ragnarok, Korg now lives with Thor and Miek in New Asgard, a small fishing village in Norway. During the final act of the film, Korg is one of the many characters who takes part in the final battle against Thanos‘ forces.

Video Games

• Korg appears in the Planet Hulk: Gladiators online flash game.
• Korg appears as a playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy.
• Korg appears as a support character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
• Korg appears as a playable character in the Marvel Contest of Champions mobile game. Taika Waititi reprised his role from the movies for an ad promoting the game.

Merchandise

• Korg was featured in Hasbro’s 3.75 inch Marvel Universe line as part of the Marvel Infinite Series. The figure was mostly retooled from an earlier Thing figure Hasbro had released in the same line.
• Korg was featured in Funko’s Pop! line of bobbleheads, as well as the Mystery Minis series.
• A lead Korg figurine was featured in The Marvel Movie Collection from Eaglemoss Publications.
• Korg was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of the Marvel 80th Anniversary series. The figure was included in a two-pack with the Grandmaster.