BARON KARZA

 

BARON KARZA

Real Name: Baron Karza

First Appearance: Micronauts (Vol. 1) #1, January 1979

Powers: Baron Karza rose to power in the sub-dimensional Microverse using lost arts of cyber-genetics and bio-engineering. He transformed himself into pure mental energy, and cast his essence into a shell of living, nigh-invincible armor. After assuming control of Homeworld, he constructed the vast genetic manipulation laboratories known as the Body Banks, which converted the poor and downtrodden into raw materials for the rich to keep themselves alive, and to create his endless series of Dog Soldiers. The Body Banks were powered by the atomic fires from the core of the planet itself, and through them, Baron Karza's armor was constantly enriched with raw energy, giving him nearly inexhaustible stamina. Karza's body also gave him superhuman strength and armored durability, reinforced by an impenetrable force field he could summon with a thought. Karza could launch his fists at opponents as projectile weapons, animating them from a distance to either strangle or pummel his victims into submission. The disembodied hands could also discharge a portion of Karza's own energies, immediately incapacitated someone on contact. He possessed a number of offensive weapons built into his hands, eyes, four chest nodules, and the ruby symbol in the center of his stomach, including blinding light flashes, heat beams, force blasts, and a molecular disintegrator effect. His hands, at least, are capable of firing off multiple blasts simultaneously which can each seek out individual targets. Karza was also capable of self-levitation (though not propulsive flight), long-range teleportation, and forging power-shackles of pure energy to hold his foes trapped. Baron Karza could transmogrify his armored body at will from a humanoid to a centaur form, altering his speed and mobility while also unsheathing mace-like tail and a set of side-mounted engines that could blast him across the landscape.

Karza's power is not limited to his armored body alone: As a being of pure energy, he possesses telepathic powers enabling him to sense and probe the minds of others at will, induce a "mind-bind" to block out certain thoughts, or a "mind-shock" that could have a potentially deadly effect on anyone within range. What's more, he can separate from his body and enter a state of disembodied energy, similar to an astral form. This energy state is still visible to the naked eye, though, and is capable of performing a "mind-merge" and imprinting Karza's essence onto the body of another being. Through this process, Baron Karza can literally transform another person into a replica of himself, complete with all his armor's capabilities. This enabled him to survive his first death by merging permanently with Force Commander to give his spirit a new host, but he was also able to temporarily possess the Earth-created Professor Prometheus. This meant that, while the Microverse natives normally grow only to about 6 inches tall after passing through the Spacewall to Earth, Baron Karza was able to manifest on our world as a full human-sized armored warrior.