K'ai
Encyclopedia
K'ai is a fictional location in the Marvel Universe
. It first appeared in Incredible Hulk
#140 (Jun 1971) and was created by Harlan Ellison
, Roy Thomas
, and Herb Trimpe
.
Jarella
was the princess of K'ai. Although outwardly primitive this world has remnants of long-forgotten high technology and sorcery. Its people are green-skinned and for the most part blonde haired, but otherwise humanoid.
Jarella's city was threatened by a number of menaces ranging from attacks by the gigantic warthos (warthog
-like beasts larger than elephant
s) to the armies of the Warlord Visus. The Hulk
appeared in K'ai during an attack of the warthos and drove the huge monsters away. When the people came out to greet him, the Hulk was startled because they are green-skinned, like him and that they welcomed him rather than running away.
The Hulk defeated Visus and began a romance with Jarella. The Hulk lived with Jarella for a time, until the supervillain Psyklop
found him in K'ai. Psyklop observed that the Hulk had accidentally kicked K'ai while leaving the planet, causing chaotic earthquakes. Creating a large drilling device, Psyklop began to create catastrophic earthquakes on K'ai, capturing the spirits of those he killed and telling the planet's inhabitants he would only stop his destruction if they worshipped him as a god. The Hulk confronted this "angry god", and destroyed all his weaponry. Psyklop resorted to using his hypnotic powers against the Hulk, sending the Hulk out to attack the inhabitants of K'ai. The Hulk was returned to normal by sorcerers of K'ai and he smashed the ground hard enough to break the urn in which Psyklop kept captured spirits; the spirits then consumed Psyklop.
Jarella later journeyed to Earth with the Hulk. She died while saving a boy from being crushed under a falling building. Captain Mar-Vell
shrank the Hulk so that he could return Jarella's body to K'ai for a proper burial.
The Hulk (in his Gray incarnation) would return to K'ai one last time, having been summoned by mystics to stop a holy war that came about after he was declared a god, with both sides claiming they alone heard the Hulk's "divine word." In return for his aid, the mystics cast a spell that suppressed the Bruce Banner side of the Hulk's personality for three months.
Some time later, Drax the Destroyer
was transported to the Microverse
with Genis-Vell
, where, for a time, he found acceptance and happiness on the planet K'ai.
The Hulk's son Hiro-Kala
arrived on K'ai, and saved the planet from dying by bringing it out of the Microverse. He then took his place as leader of the world.
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. It first appeared in Incredible Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
#140 (Jun 1971) and was created by Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, and Herb Trimpe
Herb Trimpe
Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...
.
Fictional history
The planet K'ai is a "micro-world". "Micro-worlds" and "subatomic worlds" are not really located within atoms, but in other dimensions. A creature from Earth is projected into such a dimension when its atoms are compressed beyond a certain limit.Jarella
Jarella
Jarella is a fictional character from Marvel Comics. Along with Betty Ross Banner and Caiera, she was one of the Hulk's great loves. The character was introduced in The Incredible Hulk #140...
was the princess of K'ai. Although outwardly primitive this world has remnants of long-forgotten high technology and sorcery. Its people are green-skinned and for the most part blonde haired, but otherwise humanoid.
Jarella's city was threatened by a number of menaces ranging from attacks by the gigantic warthos (warthog
Warthog
The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P...
-like beasts larger than elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s) to the armies of the Warlord Visus. The Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
appeared in K'ai during an attack of the warthos and drove the huge monsters away. When the people came out to greet him, the Hulk was startled because they are green-skinned, like him and that they welcomed him rather than running away.
The Hulk defeated Visus and began a romance with Jarella. The Hulk lived with Jarella for a time, until the supervillain Psyklop
Psyklop
Psyklop is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the . Created in combination by Harlan Ellison, Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney, the character first appears Avengers vol...
found him in K'ai. Psyklop observed that the Hulk had accidentally kicked K'ai while leaving the planet, causing chaotic earthquakes. Creating a large drilling device, Psyklop began to create catastrophic earthquakes on K'ai, capturing the spirits of those he killed and telling the planet's inhabitants he would only stop his destruction if they worshipped him as a god. The Hulk confronted this "angry god", and destroyed all his weaponry. Psyklop resorted to using his hypnotic powers against the Hulk, sending the Hulk out to attack the inhabitants of K'ai. The Hulk was returned to normal by sorcerers of K'ai and he smashed the ground hard enough to break the urn in which Psyklop kept captured spirits; the spirits then consumed Psyklop.
Jarella later journeyed to Earth with the Hulk. She died while saving a boy from being crushed under a falling building. Captain Mar-Vell
Mar-Vell
Captain Marvel is a fictional character owned by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) is a fictional character owned by Marvel Comics. The character was created...
shrank the Hulk so that he could return Jarella's body to K'ai for a proper burial.
The Hulk (in his Gray incarnation) would return to K'ai one last time, having been summoned by mystics to stop a holy war that came about after he was declared a god, with both sides claiming they alone heard the Hulk's "divine word." In return for his aid, the mystics cast a spell that suppressed the Bruce Banner side of the Hulk's personality for three months.
Some time later, Drax the Destroyer
Drax the Destroyer
Drax the Destroyer is a fictional character appearing in books published by the Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Drax first appeared in Iron Man #55 , and was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin. He had a recurring role in Captain Marvel vol 1 beginning with issue #23...
was transported to the Microverse
Microverse
Microverses are dimensions occurring within the fictional Marvel Universe.The Microverses are often visited by the Fantastic Four in various adventures. They were formerly defined as any universe only accessible through vibrational attunement...
with Genis-Vell
Genis-Vell
Genis-Vell, also known as Legacy, Captain Marvel, and Photon, is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He is depicted as the son of Mar-Vell of the extraterrestrial Kree Empire, who was the first character to be known as Captain Marvel in the Marvel Universe...
, where, for a time, he found acceptance and happiness on the planet K'ai.
The Hulk's son Hiro-Kala
Hiro-Kala
Hiro-Kala is a fictional character in the . He first appears in Skaar: Son of Hulk #2 and was created by Greg Pak and Ron Garney. He is the son of the Hulk and Caiera and the twin brother of Skaar.-Publication history:...
arrived on K'ai, and saved the planet from dying by bringing it out of the Microverse. He then took his place as leader of the world.