ORRGO
Real Name: Orrgo
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial/Extradimensional (Pre-Modern to Modern era)
Occupation: Would-be conqueror
Group Membership: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit (Abominable Snowman, Bradley Beemer, Brother Voodoo, Clone of Frankenstein, Glob (Timms), Gorilla Man, Groot, Hellstorm, It the Living Colossus, Lilith, Living Mummy, Clay Quartermain, Sasquatch, Vampire by Night; Warwolf, Zombie (John Doe), many others); (formerly)
Affiliations: A.I.M., the Headmen, MODOK
Enemies: Ulysses Bloodstone, Defenders, Jo-Jo (a gorilla), Merlin; the entire human race
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: God from the Sky, Orrgo the Unconquerable
Base of Operations: Unnamed planet in an unnamed dimension, formerly underground.
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#90/1 (November, 1961)
Powers/Abilities: Orrgo possesses incredible
telepathic and telekinetic powers. His mental powers are so great
that he can
take over the mind of everyone on Earth almost instantaneously.
He
can shoot incredible power blasts, transform matter (including organic
matter),
levitate entire cities, make volcanoes erupt, and produce an unlimited
amount
of other powers.
Physically, he is also quite large (approximately 25-30 feet in height)
and has three fingers on each hand. Allegedly, his durability is
not
proportional to his size, as Orrgo may have been slain by a single blow
from a gorilla, but the canonical status of the details surrounding
this
weakness due to the story in question remain unconfirmed (See
Comments).
Weakness: When summoned by the Headmen, Orrgo could be
completely
controlled by an idol known as the God from Beyond, when it was
powered
by the Star
of Capistan. He would obey every order of the one who
held the idol, and whoever had touched the idol would be immune to
Orrgo's
mental powers.
History: (Defenders II#9 (fb)) - Millennia ago, a creature from the sky (Orrgo) conquered humanity and elevated itself to a position of godhood. His rule over humanity lasted until Ulysses Bloodstone defeated and banished the creature, and none like it had been seen since.
(Strange Tales I#90/1) - Orrgo, but one member of an entire alien race, arrived on Earth to display his superior powers over humans. With great telepathic and telekinetic abilities, Orrgo succeeded in taking over the world rather quickly. Putting humanity under his mental domination, he returned to the place where he first arrived -- a circus. Needing rest, Orrgo fell asleep. Unbeknownst to him, one of the circus's residents, a gorilla named Jo-Jo, escaped and, recognizing Orrgo as the reason he was not being fed properly, struck and killed the alien. The invasion of Earth was called off, as the remaining invaders assumed humans had defeated their brother.
(Defenders II#5) - The Headmen, a group of criminal super-scientists, stole the God from Beyond from a museum, and they summoned Orrgo.
(Defenders II#9) - The Headmen
and MODOK summoned Orrgo, using the God from Beyond (powered by the
Star of Capistan), from a thousand years ago when Orrgo was worshipped (See
Comments). Defenders
Hellcat, Valkyrie and Nighthawk all went to battle him, but Orrgo
defeated
them in seconds with a powerful blast. Afterward, Orrgo started
wreaking
major havoc by trashing the city, transforming the Avengers and
Fantastic
Four, and then by causing chaos all over the world. Just by
willing
it, he made volcanoes erupt, cities levitate, and populated areas burst
into flame. He then telepathically reached out and took over
every
mind on the planet except for the Headmen, MODOK, and the Defenders,
who
were all immune to his mental powers since they had touched the idol.
(Defenders II#10) - While the Headmen had some
fun
with science, Orrgo maintained control of the world. After the
Defenders
came to attack them at their base, the Headmen commanded Orrgo to
summon
an army of super-villains, which he did. While Dr. Strange,
Silver
Surfer, Hulk, and Namor were busy with the villains, Valkyrie,
Nighthawk,
and Hellcat burst into the base of the Headmen (who were abandoned by
A.I.M.
and MODOK). Nighthawk managed to get hold of the God from
Beyond.
The heroes ordered Orrgo to undo all damage that he had done to
Earth.
With the damage undone and the villains teleported back to where they
originated,
Strange then thought that they could use Orrgo to banish evil from the
world,
but Hellcat broke the idol, saying it would be a violation of free will
to do such a thing.
However, Orrgo was then freed from the heroes' control, and free to
think
for himself again. Enraged, Orrgo threatened to devastate the
planet.
Hellcat reminded him that his race had always been defeated by humans
and
asked if he really wanted to fight them. Leaving Earth's
dimension
for his own, Orrgo decided he shall return when humanity was
extinct.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6 (fb)-BTS) - At some
point, Orrgo was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed into their Howling
Commandos unit.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6) - Orrgo was among
the Commandos who launched an assault on Merlin's forces.
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby
There is a bit of a continuity mess up here. The flashback, which was told by Morgan of the Headmen in Defenders II#9, seems to contradict Strange Tales I#90. There are a few possibilities to how this fits together:
Orrgo could have been driven off of Earth following the flashback, and then returned in the pre-modern era.
The flashback could be a lie, legend, or error made by Morgan.
The 1960s comic could be the story as it was told in a comic book in the MU, but not as it actually happened on Earth-616.
Orrgo is a common name in his race, or perhaps every single one of them is named Orrgo. Like George Foreman's kids...or perhaps they recognize each other's minds...Marglar?
Orrgo in the Defenders story is yet another manifestation of Khlog (see below).
A combination of the of numbers 1-5, particularly #2, 3, and 5. --Kyle
Interestingly enough, about 8 years before writing
the above Defenders stories (with Erik Larsen), Kurt Busiek wrote
Strange Tales
III#1, an excellent one-shot graphic album. In that story, a
creature
named Khlog
took the form of Orrgo, who was just a character from a comic
book.
In that story, Khlog could only take the form of creatures that were
not
using that form. That story made it seem as if the story from
Strange
Tales I#90 did not really take place on Earth-616. So, the real
deal about Orrgo's past on Earth remains uncertain.
For a discussion on the relationship of Orrgo and
Khlog,
see the comments for Khlog's profile.
--Snood.
How did Hellcat know anything about how many times his race has been to Earth? It's a good thing he didn't fight them, because he probably could have won pretty easily.
Just an interesting side note: I believe that the
month
of Orrgo's debut in Strange Tales I#90 is the same month as Fantastic
Four
#1 (November, 1961). So is he a Marvel monster or a pre-Marvel monster?
To me, unless proven otherwise, all of the
monster
era stories occurred at their actual date of publication, or close to
it,
somewhere in the pre-modern era--Snood.
Per Ron Byrd:
In Strange Tales#90 (dated
November 1961), the date of Orrgo's arrival was given as July 19, 1963,
oddly enough, nearly two years in the future as of that time.
Again
oddly, when the story was reprinted in Fear#2 (dated January 1971), the
date was changed to July 19, 1973, which is what it remained when
reprinted
in Monster Menace#4.
Thanks to Madison Carter for
letting me use both an image, and very useful information on Orrgo's
first
appearance from his site.
The flashback in Defenders II#9 must take place more than
a
"millennium" ago (i.e. within the past thousand years), since Orrgo is
clearly
menacing prehistoric, caveman-type humans. I suppose it COULD have been
that
recent if Orrgo was in the Savage Land, but the warrior who defeats him
is
obviously supposed to be a young Ulysses Bloodstone, so it probably
takes
place early in the post-Hyborian Age era instead, not long after the
Bloodgem
is fused to Ulysses' chest circa 8000 BC.
--Continental Op
Maybe Orggo's first recorded
visit was
technically his second. He might have been driven off the first
time
by a temporary alliance between Bloodstone and Ulluxy'l Kwan Tae Syn (who would naturally disapprove of any
competition).--Carycomix
Orrgo, or another of
his race, appears to be one of the specimens in a Celestial ship in
Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur#1. It's a rough outline of a figure, so
it may not even be him.
PROFILE BY Stunner
Profile edited/updated by Kyle Sims
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
images:
Strange Tales I#90, Cover (Orrgo main image)
Defenders II#9, Cover (Orrgo VS Defenders)
Appearances:
Strange Tales I#90 (November, 1961) - Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Defenders II#5 (July, 2001) - Kurt Busiek (writer) , Erik Larsen (writer/pencils), Sal Buscema (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Defenders II#9 (November, 2001) - Kurt Busiek, Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Ron Frenz (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Defenders II#10 (December, 2001) - Kurt Busiek, Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Erik Larsen (pencils), Sal Buscema (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6 (May, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer),
Mike Norton (penciler), Derec Aucoin & Norman Lee (inkers), Mark
Paniccia (editor)
Last updated: 04/08/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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