Origin
Ivan Kragoff was a Russian scientist who worked for the former Soviet Union. He became fascinated by the Fantastic Four and began to study their history. Kragoff believed he could recreate the accident that gave the Fantastic Four their superpowers, and he convinced his government to build a spaceship that was specifically designed to expose its crew to cosmic rays.
Instead of testing his theory on humans, Kragoff decided to use two great apes and a monkey that he trained for the mission. Blasting into space the same day Fantastic Four had embarked their journey, Kragoff and his apes headed directly into a cosmic storm that transformed them into the infamous Red Ghost and his Super-Apes.
Ivan and his super-apes have encountered both the Fantastic Four and Iron Man for years.
Creation
Red Ghost was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963.
Story Arcs
He then faced off against the Fantastic Four on the Blue Area of the Moon, and after being interrupted by Uatu the Watcher, attempted to steal his technology. He was stopped by the Fantastic Four. He attempted once again to steal the Watcher’s technology, but was again thwarted by Quasar. He has faced the Fantastic Four many times since then.
The Red Ghost then became a member of the Intelligencia, a group of the most brilliant villains lead by the Leader. With their great minds, they were able to steal information from some of the most well-guarded places on Earth and restore the lost information of the Library of Alexandria. They were all betrayed by Doctor Doom, who stole it all from them.
The Leader and MODOK gathered the remaining members of the team much later to kidnap the eight smartest men on Earth, the only ones capable of stopping their plans. Red Ghost and his Super-Apes were able to capture the Black Panther and Beast from Wakanda with the X-Men present, but the Red Hulk arrived and killed Mikhlo the gorilla.
The Red Ghost demanded the Red Hulk be killed, but the Leader would not allow it. After the Intelligencia’s defeat, Red Ghost sought to replace Milkhlo and stole a baby gorilla, which he named Grigori. With some of Department X’s left over equipment, he was able to give Grigori the same powers as Mikhlo.
Powers
After being exposed to the cosmic rays, Kragoff gained the ability to become a living phantom. He can become intangible at will and is able to make part of his body solid while the rest remains intangible. Although he cannot turn invisible, he can make his body transparent. He has acquired the ability to assume a mist-like form so that he looks like a real ghost. He can also turn matter he touches or has touched recently intangible.
Characteristics
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 215 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: White
Alternate Realities
Earth-1610
In the Ultimate Universe, Dr. Igor Kragoff was a colleague of Sue and Johnny Storm’s father. Reed Richards was invited to a scientific symposium but he was too wrapped up in another project to attend. Frustrated at his lack of attention, Sue decided to attend in his place, by herself.
While Sue was on route to Siberia, her plane was shot down by Kragoff’s assistant, Rutskaya. Kragoff wanted to use Sue’s DNA to resurrect his wife. Unfortunately, it would result in Sue losing her own life.
As the procedure was about to begin, Rutskaya betrayed Kragoff. She killed him, wanting Sue’s power for herself. Rutskaya was caught in an explosion in the lab and was instead transformed into the Red Ghost.