Origin
Ranaq the Great Devourer is one of the Great Beasts who were imprisoned long ago in their own dimension. Ranaq broke free at the beginning of the 20th Century when a human, Zebediah Chase, forced a native mystic to breach the dimensional barrier. Ranaq tricked Chase into becoming his new host.
Creation
Ranaq was created by John Byrne and first appeared in Alpha Flight Vol.1 issue 18 (1985).
Major Story Arcs
Versus Alpha Flight
A time-travelling contingent of Alpha Flight (Puck, Shaman, Snowbird and Talisman) kept Ranaq busy until a young man, Lucas Stang, shot Chase with a bullet containing a magical item to disrupt magic. He buried the body and was told that he would live a hundred years until he would face Ranaq again. One hundred years later, an extremely elderly Lucas Stang faced Ranaq. Shaman and Talisman faced Ranaq in the form of Lucas Stang’s great-granddaughter, Emily and defeated him. He appeared again when summoned by Pestilence to battle against Alpha Flight, but was ultimately sent back to the Realm of the Beasts by Talisman.