Red Ghost Villain

Real Name: Ivan Kragoff.
Occupation: Renegade scientist.
Identity: Known to the authorities.
Legal Status: Citizen of Russia with no criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Leningrad, Russia.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: None.
Base of Operations: Mobile.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: FANTASTIC FOUR #
History: Ivan Kragoff was a noted Russian scientist working on the Russian counterpart of the United States' Force Bio-Enhancement Program, an outgrowth of the super-soldier program that produced Captain America during World War II. Unknown to his superiors, Kragoff was himself a latent superhuman mutant, which he discovered when using samples of his own DNA in several experiments.

Due to increased United Nations oversight of Russia's super-soldier programs following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the declassification of hundreds of unethical medical experiments performed during the Soviet era, Kragoff and his colleagues were forced to restrict the majority of their experiments to mice, rats, and lesser primates, rather than human testing. Three of Kragoff's most successful experiments were a gorilla, an orangutan, and a baboon, who he named Mikhail, Piotr, and Igor, respectively, each of whom he secretly trained to be loyal to himself rather than any other human, following his orders over any other. Kragoff, an old-school Communist Party man, was resentful over the lack of ability for human testing, particularly after several of his experiments on his three prize primates proved viable.

One of the projects was a chamber for bathing the test subject in a controlled simulation of a "cosmic ray storm". Of the test subjects exposed to this chamber, only the three primates taught by Kragoff survived. Most of the others – mice, rats, dogs, and cats – died in the chamber, while a number of others – various species of monkeys and apes – developed cancer. Because of its abysmal success rate, not to mention the randomness of the powers gained by the three successes, the cosmic ray storm chamber was deemed a failure and scheduled for destruction, and the three "super-apes" ordered killed and dissected to determine how they changed and how to replicate those specific successes. Kragoff, however, had a plan. He released the three "super-apes", as he called them (ignoring that Igor was more properly a monkey, not an ape), and stole the cosmic ray storm chamber, destroying the rest of the lab in the process.

Kragoff set himself up in an abandoned Soviet-era Siberian lab and used the chamber on himself, gaining powers of his own. As a test of both his own powers and those of the super-apes, he sent a challenge to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, who he had met years before, declaring himself the Red Ghost, "the greatest Russian scientist" and "champion of Soviet-era scientific practices". The challenge was one of team combat, he and his super-apes verses the Fantastic Four. The two teams met on a Pacific atoll in international waters, away from the jurisdiction of either country. At first, the two teams were fairly evenly matched, with the Red Ghost and the super-apes each attacking a different member of the Four. The battle quickly turned, however, when the Human Torch and the Thing traded partners, using teamwork to defeat Mikhail and Piotr in quick order and turned to assist Reed and the Invisible Woman. Defeated, the super-apes fled, with Kragoff chasing after them, barking orders in Russian after them.

After returning to their Siberian base lab, Kragoff found himself under arrest by the Russian FSB (the successor to the infamous KGB), though he quickly managed to escape, leading the apes across into the wasteland near the famous Tunguska crater. Even more recently, Piotr and Igor have been spotted abducting the homeless in several cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Kragoff's plans for these homeless are unknown.
Age: 48.
Height: 5' 11".
Weight: 215 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: White, bald on top.
Uniform: Red overcoat, red pants, blue gloves, blue boots, blue belt.
Strength Level: The Red Ghost possesses the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: The Red Ghost possesses the ability to make any part of his body intangible, enabling him to walk through most obstructions or on air. However, he still needs to breathe while intangible; he can only pass through solid objects for as long as he is able to hold his breath. Through concentration, he is able to make only parts of his body intangible as well as objects he is carrying.

By reaching into someone's chest and making his hand partially tangible, he is able to cause incredible pain, possibly even killing his target.
Other Abilities: Ivan Kragoff is a skilled multidisciplinary scientist, often considered one of the ten smartest people in the world.
Allies: The Red Ghost is often accompanied by his three "super-apes" (in reality, two great apes and a monkey): Mikhail, the superhumanly strong and durable gorilla; Piotr, the orangutan, who can create magnetic fields; and Igor, the shapeshifting baboon. These three primates were given superhuman powers through a combination of genetic engineering (possibly including the retroviral introduction of latent mutant X-genes), experimental nanotechnology, and exposure to various frequencies of gamma and cosmic radiation. In addition to their powers, all three are more intelligent than the average members of their species; whether they were chosen because of their intelligence or gained their intelligence through the experiments is not known at this time.

Mikhail the gorilla has achieved superhuman strength roughly equal to that of the Thing, able to lift (press) roughly 80 tons. In addition to this strength, Mikhail possesses incredible durability, enabling him to withstand blows from superhuman opponents. Mikhail is not that skilled a combatant, however, relying as much on his instinct to intimidate as his ability to hit an opponent.

Piotr the orangutan is able to generate magnetic fields, similar to the powers of the mutants Magneto and Polaris, enabling him to manipulate, attract, or push away objects containing ferrous metals. He cannot change the shape of the metal like the two mutants can, but with effort he can carry aloft roughly 70 tons of steel. Piotr is also able to project a protective magnetic force field large enough to protect himself and up to three others which can deflect incoming gunfire.

Igor the baboon is able to change his shape into that of any animal or object he can imagine, so long as the mass of the object or animal is roughly the same as his own, with roughly a 10% difference in size. In addition to his shapeshifting, he is able to extend his arms and legs to twice their length. Igor's own mass, about 25 kg/55 lbs, does not change during these transformations; his body subconsciously shifts his mass around to accommodate the changes.
Weapons and Paraphernalia: The Red Ghost has built a number of scientific sensors and radiation emitters.

He will occasionally carry a gyroc pistol which shoots miniature rockets with various warheads.

Role-Playing Notes:

The Red Ghost is a scientific sociopath, believing that when it comes to advancing scientific knowledge, the ends always justify the means. He holds a grudge against Reed Richards for some unspecified disagreement in the past. While he has been called a sadist, he doesn't actually take pleasure from the pain he inflicts on someone; he won't be swayed by cries for mercy, either, observing the results with a dispassionate eye.

Although he won't admit it, he has developed a fondness for his super-apes, often referring to them as his "children".

Design Notes:

1. Special thanks to the online Animalia in GURPS site for the baseline stats for the Super-Apes. The site uses a few house rules that aren't fully RAW; I've used only one of these house rules in these write-ups: making an increase or decrease to Brachiation Move at ±5 per level.