Marvels of MarvelHow well do you know your favorite characters from Marvel Comics? Here's everything you need to know about the heroes and villains from the pages of every group from the Avengers to the X-Men.
Voiced by Taika Waititi, Korg became a breakout MCU character for his dry and self-deprecating sense of humor, but the Korg from the Marvel Comics universe is a bit different and noticeably less New Zealand. For starters, while the rocky alien did have early run-ins with Thor, his best Marvel buddy is actually Hulk. So, if you take away one thing from this list, it's that Korg is more likely to be playing Fortnite in Banner's apartment than Thor's Norwegian party pad.
There are more Korg comics than you might expect for such an off-the-wall character. Comic fans likely first met Korg in the Planet Hulk arc as a fellow gladiator, but he and his people existed for decades before his supporting turn in 2006. The Korg in the comics may not have as many perfect quotes as the movie version, but his character has flourished and gained dimension with every new, if limited, appearance on the panel.
Korg And His People Have Attempted To Invade Earth Multiple Times
Korg hails from the planet Ria, where he's a member of an advanced race known as Kronans. From the day they discovered interplanetary travel, the Kronans made it their mission to conquer other planets. Thousands of years in the past, the Kronans made their first attempt at conquering Earth, and it didn't exactly go so well.
When Korg and his brother Margus came of age and joined the Kronan military, it was time for another invasion attempt. Both Korg and Margus were scout troops assigned to a Saturn moon, and both of them were around for the failed invasion detailed in Korg's first appearance, Journey into Mystery #83.
While Korg and Thor aren't Fortnite-playing buddies like they are in the MCU, the comic Korg is still an integral part of Thor's backstory. When readers first met Thor in Journey into Mystery #83, he was living the life of a doctor named Donald Blake after being banished to Earth by Odin and left without his memory or powers.
Enter Korg. When Korg and his brother tried to invade Earth, Donald Blake was one of the first people to encounter the alien invaders. While spying on the Kronans, Blake heard their plan to "kill anyone that saw them," which caused him to run in terror. He fled into a cave, where he discovered Mjolnir, and just like the hammer's description promises, he was granted the powers of Thor.
Unfortunately for Korg, he and his fellow Kronans were no match for a full-powered god of thunder. After a short tussle with Thor, they hightailed it from Earth.
Korg's life didn't get much easier after leaving Earth, as he eventually made his way to Sakaar. Sakaar was a chaotic planet gripped by chaos and controlled by an evil empire. Their only collective blessing came in the form of a warp hole that deposits strange items onto the planet's surface. The natives would pick through those items, and if there was ever anything of value, the empire quickly took it away.
It just so happened that while leaving Earth, Korg and Margus's ship flew into a strange wormhole that deposited them onto the planet Sakaar, where they were taken as prisoners of the empire and given "obedience slugs" to make sure they stayed in line.
He Fought Against And Then Alongside The Incredible Hulk As A Gladiator
On Sakaar, very similar to the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the emperor pitted his prisoners against each other in massive gladiatorial contests for his amusement. When the Hulk made his way to the planet after the Illuminati banished him from Earth, the Jade Giant was also conscripted into Sakaar's Maw Gladiator Training School alongside Korg. During Hulk's first match, he found himself on a team opposite of Korg's, and the two squared off.
To his credit, Korg was able to hold his own against Hulk, and when the fighting ended, the two were among the remaining fighters who still had a pulse. Because they both survived, they were then put on the same team for future matches.
While fighting together with the Hulk, Korg came face to face with his brother, whom he had previously thought to be dead. Although Korg at first did not want to fight his brother, he was convinced by his fellow gladiators that Margus's mind was gone. Either way, Hulk didn't give Korg much choice in the matter when he picked up Korg and smashed him into his brother, ending Margus once and for all. As his brother shattered, Korg cried out, "Lord, I am your rockling, forgive me and protect me."
Surprisingly, Hulk forcing Korg to eliminate his brother didn't have much of an effect at all on the duo's relationship, and Hulk and Korg continued to fight side by side in the gladiator arena.
With an assist from the Silver Surfer, who found himself imprisoned on Sakaar like the others, Hulk and Korg were able to break free from their mental implants and fight back against their captors, demolishing the arena.
Hulk, Korg, and a group of fellow gladiators started calling themselves the Warbound and joined in the resistance to free the people of Sakaar. In the aftermath, Hulk met a woman he loved, and they were all set to live happily ever after - that is, until a planet-destroying device was detonated, taking millions of lives on the planet including Hulk's love.
