Welcome to the Kang Identities guide!
Kang the Conqueror is a man named Nathaniel Richards from the 31st century. Nathaniel is believed to be a descendant of both Reed Richards and Doctor Doom, and shares their intelligence, as well as their tendencies for heroism and control. Equipped with technology from the future, Nathaniel realizes his unique potential to reshape history across every time period. As he begins traveling through time, he adopts different identities and causes a number of divergent personas.
Before diving into his role in The Multiverse Saga, it’s important to understand the main Kang identities! Below is a brief introduction to each persona, along with their essential comics. Enjoy reading!
For the complete list of Kang comics, check out our Kang the Conqueror comics reading guide!
Kang the Conqueror (“Kang Prime”)
In his main identity as Kang the Conqueror, Nathaniel’s future-tech battle armor improves his physical combat and gives him almost supernatural abilities. He also has access to the most advanced equipment from any time period, including holograms, robots, and Damocles Base, which is a gigantic spaceship with a Death Star laser. Ravonna Renslayer is the love of his life.
Kang Prime comics:
- Strange Tales (1951) #134
- Avengers (1963) #8, 23-24, 69-71, 128-135; Giant-Size Avengers #2-4
- Avengers (1963) #141-143, 267-269
- Fantastic Four (1961) #323-325
- Citizen Kang (1992), Terminatrix Objective (1993)
- Avengers Forever (1998) #1-12
- Avengers (1998) #41-55, Annual #2001, Ultron Imperative #1
- Avengers (2010) #1-6
- Children’s Crusade: Young Avengers (2011) #1
- Uncanny Avengers (2012) #5-23
- Siege (2015) #1-4
- Avengers (2017) #1-6
- Kang the Conqueror (2021) #1-5
- Fantastic Four (2018) #35
- Timeless (2021) #1
Kang & Doom comics:
- Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #2
- Secret Wars (1984) #1-4, 11
- Infinity War (1992) #1-5
- Doctor Doom (2019) #1-6, 10
Council of Kangs
The Council of Kangs are a group of Kang variants from across time and the multiverse. Given the nature of Kang, these arrangements are often short-lived and filled with brutal betrayals. Like Kang himself, the Council of Kang has gone by many names, including the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, the Kang Collective, and the Kang Korps. There are even some versions with other characters pretending to be Kang!
Council of Kangs comics:
- Avengers (1963) #267-269, 291-297
- Avengers West Coast (1985) #61
- Fantastic Four (1963) Annual #25; Avengers (1963) Annual #21
- Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective (1993) #1-4
- Avengers Forever (1998) #9
- Universe X (2000) #9
- Spider-Ham (2019) #4-5
Kang as Rama-Tut
Rama-Tut is a younger version of Kang Prime that went back in time for fun and got trapped in the past. Installing himself as a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, he ran into Apocalypse, as well as other time-traveling characters like the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, and the West Coast Avengers.
Among the Kang identities, Rama-Tut is known for an ultra-diode ray gun that can drain superpowers and free will from his victims. Like Kang, Rama-Tut has his own iconic ship, which is disguised as the Sphinx of Egypt.
Eventually, Rama-Tut escapes the past but gets lost in the time stream. A chance encounter with Doctor Doom inspires him to briefly create the Scarlet Centurion persona. After further time travel adventures, Nathaniel accidentally ends up trapped in the 41st century instead of the 31st. Using the technology of the far future, he adopts the identity of Kang the Conqueror, becoming Kang Prime.
After decades of conquest, a 60-year-old Kang Prime returns to Ancient Egypt, resumes his Rama-Tut identity, and rules his people with compassion. Now with a kind heart, Rama-Tut devises a plan to defeat his younger Kang Prime persona. But after engaging in time travel once more, Rama-Tut is lost in the time stream, eventually becoming Immortus of Limbo at the end of time.
Meanwhile, a Limbo time divergence caused a second Nathaniel Richards to appear in the 40th century. This version resumes his Kang identity and begins conquering time yet again.
Rama-Tut comics:
- Fantastic Four (1961) #19, 273, Annual #2
- Avengers (1963) #8, 128-135, 141-143; Giant-Size Avengers #2-4
- Avengers (1963) #269
- Doctor Strange (1974) #53
- West Coast Avengers (1985) #20-22
- What If…? (1989) #39
- Rise of Apocalypse (1996) #1-4
- Avengers Forever (1998) #9
- Kang the Conqueror (2021) #1-2
- Fantastic Four (2018) #35
Kang as Scarlet Centurion
The Scarlet Centurion is an identity Nathaniel briefly adopted while lost in the time stream as Rama-Tut. Loosely inspired by Doctor Doom, the Scarlet Centurion is known for his iconic red armor. He has a few battles with the Avengers but soon gives up the persona. Nathaniel’s son Marcus Kang XXIII eventually dons his Scarlet Centurion costume and aids his father’s conquests.
While Nathaniel Prime was traveling through time as Scarlet Centurion, he inadvertently created a new Scarlet Centurion variant on Earth-712. After an extensive war with the Squadron Supreme and conquering the universe, this variant died a peaceful death in the 42nd century as the most powerful man in existence.
Scarlet Centurion (Nathaniel Richards) comics:
- Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #2
- Avengers (1967) Annual #2
- What If? (1976) #29
- Squadron Supreme (1985) #1-12, Death of a Universe #1
- Avengers (2017) #1-6
- Fantastic Four (2018) #35
Scarlet Centurion (Marcus Kang XXIII) comics:
- Avengers (1998) #38-55
- Uncanny Avengers (2012) #12
- S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015) #12
Kang as Immortus
Immortus is the final version of Kang, the master of the timeless realm of Limbo, and the inspiration for He Who Remains in Loki. After Nathaniel travels to Limbo at the end of his long life, he begins studying branching timelines under the tutelage of the Time-Keepers. Like the TVA in Loki, Immortus uses “Space Phantoms” to curate timelines towards a specific endpoint, either through manipulation or pruning them altogether.
As part of his meddling, Immortus is responsible for masterminding many events in the history of the Marvel multiverse, often fighting past versions of himself. Immortus has long struggled to erase the Scarlet Witch’s children from the timeline but continues to fail.
Because of the unique nature of Limbo, there is only one Immortus across the multiverse. He lives in a citadel at the end of time and has a Psych-Globe filled with the memories of dead Kang variants.
Immortus comics:
- Avengers (1963) #10, 128-135, 141-143, 267-269, Annual #21
- Giant-Size Avengers (1974) #2-4
- Thor (1966) #243-245, 281-282, 371-372
- Avengers West Coast (1989) #48-62
- What If…? (1989) #35-39
- Avengers Forever (1998) #1-12
- Universe X (2000) #1-12
- Avengers (2010) #1-6
- Uncanny Avengers (2012) #9, 16, 22-23
- Avengers (2017) #6
- Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015) #42
- Fantastic Four (2018) #35
Kang as Iron Lad / Kid Immortus
Iron Lad is the youngest identity of Nathaniel Richards. At the age of 16, Nathaniel traveled back in time after learning about his horrific future. Arriving during an era when the main Avengers had disassembled, the young Nathaniel triggers an Avengers failsafe program that assembles a new generation of heroes.
As the Young Avengers, the new team helps Nathaniel fight his destiny of becoming Kang the Conqueror. Unfortunately, after the death of his girlfriend Cassie Lang, Nathaniel becomes the villainous Kid Immortus. It is implied that this version of Nathaniel is still destined to become Kang Prime.
Iron Lad comics:
- Young Avengers (2005) #1-6, Special (2006) #1
- What If? (2008)
- Avengers: The Children’s Crusade (2010) #1-9, Young Avengers (2011) #1
- Mighty Avengers #33
- Avengers (2013) #33-34
- Infinity Wars (2018) #1
- Exiles (2018) #1-12
- The Last Annihilation: Wiccan & Hulkling (2021) #1
- Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic (2022) #5-10 (“Young Avengers”)
Kid Immortus comics:
- FF (2013) #8-16
Kang as Victor Timely
Frustrated with his constant defeats, Kang travels to the hills of Wisconsin in the 1900s for a brief respite. He starts a revolutionary robotics company as a human named Victor Timely and builds Kang’s headquarters of Chronopolis.
Posing as Victor Timely and his descendants (Victor Timely, Jr., Victor Timely III, etc.), Kang uses the Timely personas to study the Avengers and manipulate human events across the 20th century.
Victor Timely comics:
- Avengers Annual (1967) #21
- Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective (1993) #3-4
Kang as Mister Gryphon
Mr. Gryphon is a time-divergence of Kang that gets trapped in the present day due to a “glitch” in the timestream. He uses his knowledge of future technologies to create Qeng Industries, even reprogramming the Vision to fight Avengers. He also buys Stark Tower, which could be a potential story point in the future of the MCU.
Mister Gryphon comics:
- All-New, All-Different Avengers (2016) #0-6
- Avengers: Back to Basics (2018) #1-6
And those are the main identities of Kang the Conqueror! Which Kang identities do you predict to see in the MCU? Let me know on Twitter @vinwriteswords and remember to follow the site @MyCosmicCircus or join our Discord for more Kang content coming soon!
Check out our complete reading guide to get the full story on Kang!
Kang The Conqueror Comics Reading Guide!
All images courtesy of Marvel Comics.
