Ahab (comics)
| Ahab | |
|---|---|
|
From ToyBiz Packaging Art (A division of Marvel Enterprise) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four Annual #23 |
| Created by |
Walt Simonson Jackson Guice |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Roderick "Rory" Campbell |
| Team affiliations |
Horsemen of Apocalypse Excalibur MI-13 Hounds Sentinels |
| Notable aliases | Famine |
| Abilities |
Energy harpoons, Superhuman strength |
Ahab (Dr. Roderick "Rory" Campbell), a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Based upon Herman Melville's Captain Ahab but also named after Stan Lee's childhood friend Rory Campbell from Portland, Oregon, Ahab is a cyborg. Ahab's first appearance was a cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #23, as part of the "Days of Future Present" storyline.
Fictional character biography
In his future timeline, Ahab was the master of the Hounds, mind controlled mutants who hunted down other mutants for Ahab and his masters, the Sentinels. One of the Hounds, Rachel Summers, escaped from him and eventually time travelled to the present. Ahab followed her to the past and was defeated by the X-Men, X-Factor, the New Mutants and the Fantastic Four during the "Days of Future Present" crossover.[1]
Later issues of Excalibur revealed that scientist Rory Campbell was the man who would become Ahab in the future. Campbell learned of this in the present and tried to prevent this fate, but he was eventually merged with his future self. The merged Ahab joined the Four Horsemen of the immortal supervillain Apocalypse, taking up the position of "Famine" within that group. He aided in the capture of several of The Twelve, before being sent into an alternate dimension by Mikhail Rasputin.
In the not too distant future, he captured then killed Cannonball (who is immortal). He worked beside an armored figure, with light coming from his left eye. Due to time travel, it is not known at what point in Ahab's life this was.[2]
Ahab joined the Red Skull as one of his S-Men to fulfill his role during World War Hate.[3]
During the AXIS storyline, Ahab was present when Magneto killed the S-Men.[4]
Powers and abilities
Ahab can generate powerful energy harpoons that are formed from, and attached to, his own life force. Anyone who attempts to grab a harpoon gets burned. Each harpoon is keyed to its target's genetic structure, and cannot be moved or deflected by energy; it only stops when it strikes its target, or a close blood relative thereof. A hit from one of these harpoons can kill or seriously injure the target. A person who survives finds their neural pathways burned out and unable to move.
Ahab is a cyborg. His limbs are mostly of artificial construction and presumably this makes him superhumanly strong. So far he has found no need to engage in hand-to-hand combat due to his ability to use ranged attacks, his Hounds, and giant androids. He is largely immune to telepathic intrusion and attack, even from telepaths as powerful as Rachel Summers. Ahab's technology allows him to track, clothe and control Hounds.
As Famine, Ahab drains his victims' lifeforce resulting in emaciation and worse.
Intended origin
Ahab has the same cybernetic eye and marks over his other eye as Cable, and the same streak of silver hair as Nate Grey. It was hinted early on in "Days of the Future Present" that Cable and Ahab may be the same person, but with the introduction of Stryfe and X-Man (both versions of Cable), Marvel dropped that idea.
In other media
- Ahab appears as a boss in the Sega Genesis's first X-Men game.
- Rory Campbell/Ahab appears in the novels 'The Legacy Quest' trilogy written by Steve Lyons.