Grim Hunter

Publication history

Grim Hunter first appearance was in Spider-Man #47 and was created by Howard Mackie and Tom Lyle.

Fictional character biography

Vladimir Kravinoff was a son of Sergei Kravinoff, the infamous adversary of Spider-Man known as Kraven the Hunter. Unlike his illegitimate half-brother Alyosha Kravinoff who was raised in shame in Africa, Vladimir grew up in Russia benefiting from his father's wealth and luxuries. However, their father often neglected both sons while he pursued his various international quarries. Unaware of his siblings, Vladimir was raised by Sergei's servant Gregor who acted as a surrogate father teaching him Sergei's hunting techniques. When Vlad was still a boy, Sergei put his son through a rite of passage, hunting Vladimir while disguised as the fabled "Grim Hunter." Impressed by his son's abilities learned under Gregor, Sergei began to train Vlad personally.

Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name "The Grim Hunter" and decided to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes. He only had one battle with Spider-Man, and his methods were nearly the same as his father's. He was briefly involved with the Hobgoblin, even giving his identity of Jason Macendale his father's super-strength formula which reacted to the anomalies in his bloodstream which gave him greater power. This is perhaps the reason why Vladimir became more powerful than his father when he took the treatment. When he got out of jail, he decided to track Spider-Man down again, only to fight the Scarlet Spider instead. Kaine (a clone of Spider-Man) arrived and after a confrontation, Vladimir was killed by the insane duplicate. On death's door, he staggered to Gregor falling in his arms and died shortly after that.

During The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt storyline, Sasha Kravinoff sacrifices Mattie Franklin as part of a revival ritual that resurrects Vladimir as a humanoid lion creature. Vladimir being revived as a humanoid lion was the result of Mattie not being a "pure spider." Vladimir later assists Ana Kravinoff and Alyosha Kravinoff with capturing Anya Corazon as well as a second attempt to capture Arachne. Following Kraven the Hunter's resurrection, Vladimir was shown attempting to attack Arachne and Araña while they are bound. Sergei fends off Vladimir rather brutally. Sasha mentioned to Sergei that Vladimir's sub-human state was the result of a test resurrection to see if she can revive Sergei. After Spider-Man defeated the Kravinoff family, they escaped to the Savage Land where Sergei killed Sasha (because she complained about being hunted in order to become a true Kravinoff) and euthanizes Vladimir (which Kraven does due "to respect for the dead").

Powers and abilities

Via the Jungle serum, Vladimir possessed superhuman abilities similar to his father, though apparently without the need for periodic ingestion of the serum. These powers included heightened senses, strength (3 tons optimally), speed (able to sprint short distances at 65 mph), agility and durability, and possibly longevity. He could perform a standing broad jump of 25 feet (7.6 m). Vladimir wore armor protecting his arms and torso, while typically carrying his ancestral knife, electro-shock gauntlets, wrist mounted dart launchers, an energy-projecting spear and spiked cleats. He was skilled in using other weapons including a rifle, pistol, shuriken, tonfa, and blowgun.

Following his resurrection at the hands of the other members of the Kravinoff family, Vladimir gained the appearance of a gigantic humanoid lion creature. In his new form, he has superhuman strength and durability, and carries around a heavy stone axe.