Kenneth Hale Kenneth Hale was a happy-go-lucky
soldier of fortune. He is characterised as risking his life for thrills, but with a fear of death. He heard of a local tribal legend from
Africa that stated, "If you kill the magical Gorilla-Man, you become immortal". Hale traveled to Africa to find the Gorilla-Man. Hale abandoned his goal at the last minute, but his encounter with the Gorilla-Man forced him to shoot. The story follows that Hale then became immortal, but at the cost of becoming a Gorilla-Man himself. After operating his own team for a while, Hale retired, residing in a large treehouse near the
Congo. He served as a guide for the original
X-Men and proved himself to be a formidable one. He was given a special yearbook and was acknowledged as an ally, or "X-Ape". Hale later worked with the
Avengers,
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s
Howling Commandos unit, and the
Agents of Atlas. During the "
Secret Invasion" storyline, Gorilla-Man and
Human Robot rescue
Namora from the
Skrulls. After
Norman Osborn gains a position of power in the American government, Gorilla-Man and the Agents of Atlas begin working against Osborn's interests. To stop the acquisition of powerful weaponry, the Agents steal gold from
Fort Knox. Operating on his own, Gorilla-Man tracked
heroin dealers to an underground facility in
Chinatown, San Francisco. There he teams up with
Wolverine, Master Po, and
Fat Cobra, who are part of a larger group seeking to stop the heroin shipments. They discover a vast underground empire, looking to control all crime above ground. Working together, the heroes manage to obliterate the criminal group. As part of the 2016
Marvel NOW! branding, Gorilla-Man appears as a member of
Domino's incarnation of the
Mercs for Money.
Black Panther later visits Gorilla-Man and persuades him to join the
Agents of Wakanda. During
The War of the Realms storyline, Gorilla-Man is seen talking to
Ursa Major in the Wundagore Zoo in
Transia, discussing about an undercover operation he is running for Black Panther, until
Ka-Zar picks him up and takes him to Avengers Mountain. He helps Black Panther destroy the enemy forces that were attacking the mountain by activating a weapon inside the Celestial's body, but is wounded after a few Dark Elves infiltrate the mountain. While recovering, he talks to
Odin and it is later revealed that he betrayed the Avengers for
Dracula's
Legion of the Unliving. He's later seen helping Ka-Zar and
Blade in fighting
Roxxon's Berserkers when infiltrating their secret base in
Antarctica.
Arthur Nagan Dr. Arthur Nagan is a former surgeon who took the organs from gorillas to use in people. However, his scheme was thwarted by the gorillas, who transplanted his head onto a gorilla's body. He is a member of the
Headmen and has fought the
Defenders on several occasions. Upon his release from prison, he attacked
Power Man, who was temporarily de-powered. He is a former member of the
Lethal Legion. He later rejoined by the
Headmen and participates in the plan to give his ally,
Chondu, a new body — specifically, the body of a clone of
She-Hulk. The Headmen hire the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, then later
Mysterio to test She-Hulk for compatibility. She is subdued and cloned, but escapes with the aid of
Spider-Man. Nagan is arrested by the New York city police. Nagan is seen without the Headmen during a
Vault outbreak. He and
Frenzy, being held in neighboring cells, are freed by
Electro. The Headmen tracked Spider-Man to a party
Alicia Masters was hosting to procure Spider-Man's body for Chondu. Human Torch and Spider-Man defeated the enemies and the Headmen were soon arrested. Later allied with the A.I.M., they plotted to control an ancient space-god to rule the world. They resurrected the alien space god
Orrgo and conquered the world with him, but the Defenders quickly defeated Orrgo and the Headmen. Nagan and the Headmen then fought the
Heroes for Hire while attempting to transplant
Chondu's head onto
Humbug's body. It is revealed in the
Guardians of the Galaxy series that Nagan is one of the inmates left behind in the
Negative Zone's
Prison 42. There, he is involved in a fight with
Star-Lord, who is trying to stop
Blastaar and his horde from invading Earth via the closed portal in the prison. He sided with Blastaar's forces when the
Shadow Initiative invaded to take the prison back. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the Shadow Initiative's forces, Nagan and his allies were betrayed by fellow inmate
Hardball. Hardball killed the Negative aliens but let Nagan live. During the "
Fear Itself" storyline, Nagan is among the criminals who escaped from the
Raft after
Juggernaut destroyed it. He was detained by
Justice. During the "
Secret Empire" storyline, Gorilla-Man appears in an underground lair where he was building an army of Gorilla-Men. These Gorilla-Men are the results of gorilla heads being surgically attached to human bodies. While attempting to decapitate
Robert Maverick and use his head to strengthen his Gorilla-Men army, Gorilla-Man and his Gorilla-Men are attacked and defeated by
Squirrel Girl, who unleashes her flying squirrels on his army.
Franz Radzik Franz Radzik, a scientist who created an electromagnetic ray machine to transfer his mind into a gorilla's body was known as Gorilla-Man. He was sent into deep space on an experimental rocket ship and first appeared in
Tales to Astonish #28 and 30. The former story was reprinted in
Adventure into Fear #5, the latter in
Gorilla Man #3. ==Powers and abilities==