The Warbound is a group of fictional characters in the Marvel Comics. They first joined forces in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #94 as a combination of new and existing characters, the former created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan.
Fictional team biography
Planet Hulk
Arriving on the Planet Sakaar in a weakened state (due to the effects of traversing the 'Great Portal'), Hulk was subsequently implanted with an obedience disk. He was then forced to fight in the Great Arena as a gladiator, where Sakaar's emperor Red King intervened and scarred the Hulk's face (earning his gladiatorial moniker 'Green Scar'). The Hulk did the same to the monarch, gaining an enemy. After the initial events in the Arena, the Hulk was put through the gladiator tests of the trainer and former-gladiator Primus Vand, where he met Korg, Miek the Unhived, No-Name the Brood, Hiroim the Shamed, Elloe Kaifi, and her bodyguard Lavin Skee. This ragtag group of outcasts and undesirables became Warbound early on in their time as enslaved entertainment following the death of Lavin Skee, pledging allegiance only to each other, which Miek called "friends fighting for friends".
After the Red King tried to kill them numerous times, the Warbound escaped when the enslaved Silver Surfer was pitted against them in the Great Arena. The Hulk shattered his one-time ally's obedience disk. Once freed, the Silver Surfer used his returning Cosmic Power to destroy the obedience disks of all present at the arena, allowing the Warbound and many slaves to escape into the Twisted Wood of Sakaar before he departed. After a protracted rebellion against the genocidal Red King, the Warbound, the Imperial rebels, and the Natives of Sakaar toppled the regime in Crown City with the death of the Red King, placing an initially unwilling Hulk on the throne as the Green King. Korg had concluded that only the Hulk had the strength to hold the many different peoples of this world together. The Hulk then ascended as Sakaars's benevolent ruler and Caiera, his wife, as their queen. It was also revealed that Caiera was pregnant with Hulk's child.
However, just as everything seemed to be going well, the shuttle which originally brought the Hulk to Sakaar seemingly malfunctioned, causing its warp core to detonate in a massive nuclear blast. Countless number of Sakaar's inhabitants died almost instantly, leaving Hulk standing, unharmed, among the smoldering ruins of his kingdom and holding the ashes of his wife and their unborn child. Having pledged to stand and fight side-by-side until the end, the Warbound went with Hulk into the Stoneship (once belonging to the Shadow People), heading straight for Earth to take his revenge on the Illuminati who conspired to blast him into space in the first place, all of which leads to the events of World War Hulk.
World War Hulk
Following the devastation on Sakaar, Hulk decided to seek retribution on Earth for the wrongs he had suffered. So, traveling in an ancient stone ship they acquired, he and his Warbound returned to Earth, seeking out the Illuminati, and to start a new life. Once there, he and his Warbound issued an ultimatum to the Illuminati to surrender and turn themselves over for punishment, after which, they quickly took over New York City (but allowing its population to evacuate first). During the occupation, the Warbound acted as the Hulk's generals, helping to defeat some of the superheroes who had responded and charged with maintaining order around the city with the remaining civilians who decided not to evacuate. While they were loyal and obedient to Hulk and his wishes, they tried to be as honorable as possible in performing those duties and were only proactively offensive when necessary. A gathering was then amassed in Madison Square Garden to witness the defeat of the remaining captured Illuminati in a gladiatorial-type fight. However, after the Illuminati were injured and defeated, when the final battle between the Hulk and the Sentry began to cause serious damage, the Warbound collaborated with the heroes to help the civilians evacuate, the Warbound being unwilling to witness another world die. Miek's treachery of genocidal negligence was then revealed, as he had firsthand observed and done nothing while loyalist followers of the Red King planted bombs inside Hulk's ship which would trigger a massive nuclear explosion, resulting in the destruction of Sakaar and make it appear as if it had been the Illuminati that had triggered a bomb to destroy the Hulk. He had not intervened because he believed that it was necessary to 'remind' the Hulk that he was a killer instead of a peacemaker, as he was now King of Sakaar. The Hulk (realizing he had been betrayed and lied to, which caused him to blame the innocent Illuminati for the ship's explosion and then cause unwarranted destruction) and No-Name the Brood nearly killed Miek upon learning of this, and the surviving Warbound, realizing that their action on Earth had been under false pretenses, subsequently surrendered to the government after the Hulk's eventual defeat. They were held in custody by S.H.I.E.L.D., but then escaped after Hiroim (with help from Korg and the Thing) prevented Manhattan from breaking in two.
Aftersmash: Warbound
The Warbound featured in their own miniseries, entitled World War Hulk Aftersmash: Warbound, in which the Warbound evaded S.H.I.E.L.D. capture only to be teleported to New Mexico by the Leader, who used Hiroim's tectonic power to activate a Gamma-powered shield over a large portion of the desert. They were being chased by S.H.I.E.L.D, using information given by an incapacitated and incarcerated Miek to Shield Agent Kate Waynesboro. Trapped inside Gammaworld, the Warbound joined forces with a local US Army company to save a nearby town from irradiated (and thus huge) insects, and began to feel the effects of the gamma radiation themselves. Using Hiroim's Oldstrong power, the group managed to dispel some of the radiation, opening a gap in the Gammaworld dome through which the civilians could escape. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of a huge, gamma-powered gestalt being composed of numerous townsfolk and a dog fused together by the radiation. The creature, known as Horde, attempted to destroy everyone who tried to leave, but was fended off by Agent Waynesboro. As the Warbound attacked the Leader, Hiroim told Korg to kill him in order to destroy the dome. Korg shattered Hiroim and the dome dissipated; however Hiroim reformed, as did the dome. The group were then attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. sentry robots, which had been placed under the Leader's control. In the ensuing battle, Elloe stabbed the Leader in the chest. The Leader then absorbed the Dome's power, turning into a gray skinned giant. Hiroim stopped him, killing himself in the process. Before dying, he passed on his Oldstrong power to Kate, who protected the remaining people from an attacking monster.
Planet Skaar
The Warbound appear suddenly to Skaar: Son of Hulk attempting to appeal to him to stop searching for his father. Skaar attacks them, but after the fighting calms down, they start a dialogue. Skaar tries to find out a way to defeat his father, when Kate replies with the simple answer: "You don't". Hulk soon appears in his Bruce Banner personality trying to suppress the "Green Scar" personality that grew out of the events of Planet Hulk. Skaar attacks Hulk, who defends against his child almost effortlessly for most of the fight. The damage from the fight creates a fissure that tears through the earth toward a nuclear power plant. Kate attempts to close this fissure with her Oldstrong power, but lacks mastery to complete the task. Skaar (who ends the fighting with his father long enough to close the fissure) leaves claiming that the Hulk he was fighting was not the one he wishes to fight, most likely wanting to fight the Green Scar personality instead of the original Hulk.
Savage Land
The Hulk gets a message from Ka-Zar asking for help in the Savage Land. The threat turns out to be a bug infestation led by the old Warbound member Miek. After defeating Miek once again, the Warbound decides to stay in the Savage Land along with Skaar, since most of the Sakaarans relocated there.
Members
- Hulk - leader
- Hiroim
- Kate Waynesboro - infused with Hiroim's old power, the only member to be added after the events on Sakaar
- Korg
- Elloe Kaifi
- No-Name of the Brood
Former members
- Arch-E-5912 - destroyed by friendly fire
- Caiera - wife of Hulk, mother of his sons, killed by explosion in Crown city, still a sentient being in the Old Power
- Lavin Skee - Elloe's protector, killed by grave wounds inflicted during battle
- Miek - expelled after being found to have had a hand in Crown City's destruction; believed to have died after falling into bottomless pit in Savage Land
Team skills
The Warbound are a formidable fighting force, having been forged by the necessity of survival into a coordinated team to fight in gladiator games- albeit a patchwork of mismatched monsters. With the internal guidance of the 'Shadows', Caiera and Hiroim, and the Kronan, Korg, the Warbound vastly improved their strategic and tactical abilities over time to become perhaps the most dangerous group of warriors in the universe. With Kate on the team, they have access to S.H.I.E.L.D. technology and bases, thus having some of the latest technology on the planet Earth. Kate has proven she does not have full mastery of her Oldstrong power, however the team seems to be well enough without Hulk or their Shadows, to hold off the Gamma monster from Aftersmash and Skaar, at least for a while.
In other media
Film
- The Warbound appeared in the direct-to-DVD Planet Hulk film. However, No-Name was cut out of the line up due to the time limit for the film.
References
External links
- Warbound at the Marvel Universe wiki
