Sasquatch (Marvel)
Sasquatch is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Walter Langkowski
As a freshman, he came to meet a small intense fellow student named Bruce Banner. He only knew Banner for one term but they were part of a special study group. The young idealistic students wanted to learn as much as possible from their education and saw a brave new world past their worlds. (Alpha Flight v1 #11)
He came to be a pro footballer for three years yet continued his research into gamma radiation with him being appointed to the McGill University in Montreal. Langkowski earned a lot of money through the sport and found it fun but was still committed to his research. Eventually, he came to learn that Banner was at the site of a gamma bomb detonation whilst working on a project for the U.S. military. This exposure led to his transformation into the Hulk with this leading to Walter shifting his focus away from sport and committing fully to his own gamma experiments. He hunted for any information on Banner and the Hulk along with the other mutations caused by gamma radiation exposure with the intent of recreating the circumstances of Bruce's transformation in a controlled setting. He spent a million dollars of his own money on the project before seeking out government support on his research. Guardian provided additional funding for a research facility at the Arctic Circle. (Alpha Flight v1 #11)
Unknown to him, the experiment had actually sundered a mystical barrier in the region that contained the Great Beasts. This allowed his body to be taken over by the Great Beast Tanaraq thus transforming him into the Sasquatch. (Alpha Flight v1 #23)
Alpha Flight
Department H later contacted Sasquatch in order to deploy him against the Hulk who had been sighted in British Columbia. At the time, Dr. Langkowski was guest lecturing on applied gamma research at Simon Fraser Universty. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
Around this time, Tanaraq's influence had grown and was taking over Langkowski's body. By this point, Snowbird had been warned about the truth behind Walter's power and sought to kill the Great Beast. At first, Alpha Flight simply saw Snowbird turning against their comrade Sasquatch but then Tanaraq revealed his true nature and that he had taken possession of Walter's body. (Alpha Flight v1 #23) After his death, Langkowski's teammates traveled to the realm of the Great Beasts to recover his soul that was being preserved in what was called a Phistash-Hasrak, but a preservation spell cast by Alpha Flight's resident sorcerer Shaman failed to prevent Langkowski's body from crumbling to dust. Once there, they were attacked by the Great Beast Somon, who summoned the Great Beasts Tundra, Kariooq, and Tolomaq against them. Snowbird battled Somon, eventually forcing him to relinquish control of the other Great Beasts and causing them to battle one another. Forcing the now-weakened Somon to reveal to them the location of Walter Langkowski's spirit, Alpha Flight ventured to the Pit of Ultimate Sadness that was located beneath the Great Glow-Globe of Phistash-Hasrak. It was there that Somon explained that the souls of those who once inhabited the realm laid in torture. Within the Pit, Somon revaled to Alpha Flight that in order to enter the Pit's Well of Sorrows they must sacrifice love, hate and power. They came to sending Aurora who represented love, Northstar who represented hate and Talisman who represented power into the Well. Alpha Flight soon realized the Well was a trap set by Somon. Snowbird quickly killed Somon and three trapped Alphans were reunited with the rest of the team. Shaman soon deduced from Somon's trap that no actual souls still remained within the Well of Sorrows but rather, the only wandering soul was Walter's which resided above the Well, within the Glow-Globe of Phistash-Hasrak. Containing Walter's soul within a globe of its own from his pouch, Shaman then transported Alpha Flight back to Earth, where they met with Heather Hudson and Box. In desperation, Shaman projected the soul into the robot exoskeleton of Box, who had arrived just as the Alphans returned to Earth. (Alpha Flight v1 #24)
Walter and the Box robot's owner, Roger Bochs, immediately began to search for a new body. Eventually, they scanned a humanoid, nearly mindless body trapped in another dimension. However, when the pair projected Langkowski's soul towards this body it turned out to be the Hulk. Walter refused to enter the temporarily mindless Hulk and seemed to disappear. (Incredible Hulk v1 #312) His spirit existed in the Crossroads of Realities for a time, but eventually entered the body of Smart Alec, who had been rendered mindless and stored in Shaman's pouch. When Snowbird's deceased Sasquatch body was possessed by Pestilence, Walter emerged from the pouch as Smart Alec, transferred his mind back into the Box robot, and battled Pestilence until his spirit vacated Snowbird's body. Walter then transferred his mind into the Sasquatch form and unthinkingly tried to transform Snowbird's Sasquatch body back into his own human body. Instead, he became a white-haired female version of himself, dubbed Wanda Langkowski. (Alpha Flight v1 #45)
After several months as Wanda Langkowski, Snowbird's spirit returned from the afterlife and extracted her godly essence from Sasquatch's form. This effectively turned him back into Walter and the orange-furred Sasquatch. (Alpha Flight v1 #68)
After Alpha Flight disbanded, Walter continued his gamma radiation research at Project Michelangelo in Antarctica. Deadpool attacked the base and caused the core to overload, endangering the entire world. Sasquatch and Deadpool teamed up to shut the down the core. (Deadpool v3 #1)
Omega Flight
Along with Major Mapleleaf, both Pucks Eugene Judd and Zuzha Yu, Vindicator, Shaman, and Guardian, Sasquatch fights The Collective. (New Avengers v1 #16)
Sasquatch makes a deal with the Great Beasts, bringing them to Earth so they can kill Amatusu-Mikaboshi. He alongside Snowbird, Northstar, and Aurora reunite with a resurrected Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman, and Marrina Smallwood. (Chaos War: Alpha Flight v1 #1)
Sasquatch was seen helping Alpha Flight fight Attuma (in the form of Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans) while saving people from the flood caused by Nerkodd. Once Nerkodd is defeated and repelled, Alpha Flight returns to their headquarters, only to end up betrayed by Gary Cody and his newly elected Unity Party. (Alpha Flight v4 #1) When in the custody of the Unity Party, Sasquatch's gamma energy is drained enough for him to revert to his human form of Walter Langkowski. (Alpha Flight v4 #2) At Parliament Hill, Walter is informed by Agent Jeff Brown that the concussions he had when he played football will cause him to act less human when he changes back into Sasquatch. Jeff also tells Walter that he will soon achieve Unity. Walter is later freed by Shaman who knocks out Agent Jeff Brown. (Alpha Flight v4 #3)
Gamma Flight
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was keen to fight the Hulk who felt would be a worthy challenge of his Sasquatch abilities. Sasquatch claimed that this stemmed from being a scientist as he needed to know that between them which one was stronger. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
Powers and abilities
The gamma experiments conducted by Langkowski led to him being possessed by the Great Beast Tanaraq. This resulted in a mystical symbiotic link forming between the pair allowing for Walter to summon and control the beast by transforming into the Sasquatch. (Alpha Flight v1 #23) To transform, he would speak a private mantra and concentrate where he would turn his consciousness inwards until it switched on his bio-chemical switch in his gamma altered thyroid. Initially, the change was said to had been painful but grew easier each time he turned into Sasquatch. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
Such was his strength that he could pull a fully equipped destroyer to land and even lift it out of the water unaided. In a fight against the Hulk, he was able to kick the Green Goliath through a mountain. During a fight between them, Langowski came to note that the Sasquatch was stronger than the Hulk in his initial state. However, as the Hulk grew angrier than he became stronger than the Sasquatch. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
With his powerful legs, he could leap over great distances though not when compared to the Hulk. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
Early in his career, switching between forms at will caused Langkowski extreme physical discomfort. (Alpha Flight v1 #1) Initially, each transformation and exchange allowed the Great Beast to grow stronger with Tanaraq slowly becoming more dominant. This allowed Tanaraq to take complete control whenever Langkowski's soul experienced anger or pain. (Alpha Flight v1 #23)
As a member of Alpha Flight, he was a special agent of the Canadian government and was regarded as one of the more resourceful operatives of Department H. (Incredible Hulk Annual v1 #8)
Notes
- Sasquatch was created by John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #120 (April, 1979).
Alternate Versions
- In Mutant X v1 #3 (1998), an alternate version of Sasquatch appeared in the Mutant X reality set on Earth-1298 in the Multiverse.
- In Ultimate X-Men v1 #43 (2004), an alternate version of Sasquatch appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. This version was not Walter Langkowski but rather used by Rahne Sinclair. She had come under the influence of the power-enhancing drug Banshee that enabled her to assume a Bigfoot-like form. She is injured by Nightcrawler, who accidentally removes part of her arm while trying to teleport her away.
- In House of M v1 #6 (2005), an alternate version of Sasquatch appeared in the House of M reality set on Earth-58163 in the Multiverse.
- In Old Man Logan v2 #17 (2017), an alternate version of Sasquatch appeared in the Wastelands reality set on Earth-807128 in the Multiverse. This possible future timeline showed Sasquatch and his fellow Alpha Flight members were killed by unknown villain opponents when the supervillain uprising had occurred. Old Man Logan experiences this illusion while he and Puck are taking part in a rescue mission on a space station that was attacked by the Brood.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men, Sasquatch appeared in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "Repo Man" where he was voiced by actor Harvey Atkin.
- In The Incredible Hulk, Sasquatch appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series in the episode "Man to Man, Beast to Beast" with Walter Langkowski voiced by actor Peter Strauss whilst Sasquatch was voiced by actor Clancy Brown.
Video games
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Sasquatch appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men v1: (1979)
- Incredible Hulk Annual v1:
- Alpha Flight v1:
- Omega Flight v1:
- Immortal Hulk v1:
External Links
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