Humanimal

"*You hurt Bird-friend. You hurt innocent people. Innocent creatures. You **enemy**! You get **punished**!*"
—Humanimal challenges Ani-Mator[src]

**Koba** is the culmination of the genetic experiments of Doctor Frederick Animus, who sought to create enhanced humans possessing the best parts of numerous animals, known as Ani-Mates. Koba was born after bursting from the body of Julia, one of Animus' experiments, as a baby gorilla. Raised in Alexandria Zoo, Koba began to exhibit human characteristics - both physical and mental - as he aged, eventually taking the appearance of an ordinary human. When the public discovered his bizarre transformation, they began calling him **Humanimal**. Discovering he possessed the relative strength and agility of a gorilla, Koba sought out his origins, discovering his creator was still alive on the mysterious Paradise Island. Koba became determined to free the other Ani-Mates created by Animus, aided by Bird-Brain and Devil Dinosaur. Koba's actions inspired a rebellion against Ani-Mator and his most loyal Ani-Mates, freeing the island from his control and creating a peaceful society with him as king.

After his original gorilla family were killed during the prelude to the Prime Kang's arrival, Humanimal allied himself with the Future Foundation, protecting their Earth from the most powerful version of Kang the Conqueror. By wielding the Ebony Blade, Humanimal proved worthy of wielding the blade's power, using it to defeat the Prime Kang. Following Spider-Man's supposed sacrifice to save time itself, Humanimal left the mainland to lead the Ani-Mates in trying to find the Savage Land.

Humanimal was one of the billions to be killed by the Incursion, a cataclysmic event that saw a huge chunk of Earth separate and combine with pieces of other worlds to create Battleworld, orchestrated by Doctor Doom. Three years later, the Resistance successfully harnessed a Cosmic Cube to create a replacement Nega Band, allowing Captain Marvel to restore Earth. Resurrected, Koba joined the Avengers in the final battle against Doom, where he watched as Scarlet Spider wielded the power of the Bands to erase Doom's army and rebalance the Multiverse. Koba was one of the many heroes who knelt in respect to honour Reilly's sacrifice.

## Biography

### Background

Koba was the result of Dr. Frederick Animus' experimental efforts to meld the DNA of humans and animals together, creating Ani-Mates. These pained creatures possessed humanoid bodies but the relative abilities of whatever animal they were merged with; one of the more successful was the intelligent Bird-Brain, but Animus was still not satisfied. By this point, the federal government were onto Animus' experements, and so he decided to up his game, selecting a female western lowland gorilla named Julia as his next test subject. As the feds arrived, Animus injected his Ani-Mate formula and his own genetic material into the gorill, and was shot by the feds. Julia was moved to Alexandria Zoo.

### Birth

A few weeks following Julia's move to the zoo, the night-shift keepers were alerted to a loud blast, coming from the gorilla enclosure. They discovered that Julia had burst open, and a baby gorilla was lying in the blood. The keepers confirmed that Julia had not been pregnant, but decided to keep the baby, naming him Koba. Ray Raden noticed that Koba's eyes looked unnervingly human.

### Early Life

   As he grew, Koba became well known for his intelligence, which exceeded that of his fellow gorillas. As he aged, his face began to flatten and his hair became fairer, with some saying that he looked like a deformed human. Eventually, he emerged from his enclosure with a similar appearance to an early human ancestor, shocking the keepers. The zookeepers called in an expert - former FBI chemical analyst and secret S.H.I.E.L.D agent Misty Knight - who traced Koba's blood to the deceased mad scientist Frederick Animus, concluding that Koba was one of his more successful experiments: a gorilla undergoing the evolution into a human at a rapid pace. In order to not terrify audiences, Koba was only allowed into the enclosure outside of visiting times.

#### Becoming a Human

"*What's your name?"
 "Koba,"
 "What's my name?"
 "Ray...Ray Raden. Friend."*"
—Koba demonstrates his growing intelligence by speaking[src]
At age 13, Koba woke up after recurring nightmares and exited his cage to wander the enclosure. Feeling uncomfortable, he remembered the way that humans moved around and forced himself upright, standing like a human. He uncurled his fingers, causing them to crack, before climbing out of his enclosure. He was caught wandering by Ray, who was shocked to see Koba walking upright. He took him back to the command shack, where Koba demonstrated that he had learned to speak without any lessons.

## Powers, Equipment and Abilities

### Powers

* **Ani-Mate/Gorilla Physiology:** As a hyper-evolved gorilla-turned-man, Humanimal possesses the relative strength and agility of a male silverback gorilla; at the same time, he has a rapid learning rate, allowing him to develop new skills, including writing and speaking, without any aid or instruction.
	+ **Superhuman strength:** Humanimal possesses the relative upper-body strength of a male silverback gorilla, able to lift over 4000 lbs. As he ages, or "evolves", his strength also increases, with him able to punch through and lift gradually heavier objects. He has been shown to be capable of breaking spider silk - four times stronger than steel - and was able to kill Sauron with a single blow to the chest.
	+ **Superhuman** **Agility:** Humanimal possesses the relative agility of a male silverback gorilla, allowing him to climb a variety of surfaces with minimal effort.
	+ **Rapid Learning:** Humanimal's enhanced brain allows for him to learn at an exceptional rate, going from a tame gorilla acting on little more than instinct to an incredibly intelligent human able to solve complex problems. It is possible that he has superhuman photographic memory.

### Equipment

Humanimal relies on his natural abilities rather than equipment.

* **Ebony Blade:** While battling Kang the Conqueror, Humanimal proved worthy of wielding the Ebony Blade, albeit not at its full power as a descendant of Sir Percy could.

### Abilities

* **Climbing:** Having been born a gorilla, growing up in the enclosure and possessing enhanced strength, Koba is a natural climber.
* **Intelligence:** Within a few days of his "birth", Koba demonstrated increased intelligence compared to his fellow gorillas; as he "evolved" into a human, his intelligence only grew, with him developing speech. According to Ray, at age three, he possessed the mental age of a six-year-old child; at age 15, he possessed the mental age of a twelve-year-old, albeit being particularly curious and inquisitive. By his twenties, his mental age goes beyond that of a fifty-year-old.
	+ **Speech:** As Koba matured, he developed the ability to talk.

## Associated Deaths

### Murders committed by Humanimal

* Sauron -Full-strength blow to the chest out of revenge for Bird-Brain's death and to stop him from killing Ka-Zar

## Trivia

* While Humanimal is an original character, his series is adapted from the obscure Ani-Mates plot from Marvel Comics, which first appeared in the *New Mutants* line of comic books. It also borrows plot points and characters from the *Devil Dinosaur* line of comics. He also draws inspiration from the hero Ka-Zar, which in turn draws from the character of Tarzan.