Ravage (Marvel Comics)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Ravage
real_name=Geoffrey Crawford
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Rampaging Hulk" vol. 2 #2
creators= Glenn Greenberg
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
powers=Can transform into a green-skinned creature who is stronger and more intelligent than the Hulk himself.|

Ravage (Professor Geoffrey Crawford) is a fictional anti-hero/villain in Marvel Comics. He is also one of the Hulk's enemies/allies.

Fictional character biography

Dr. Geoffrey Crawford was a physics professor at Desert State University who took undergraduate Bruce Banner under his wing and became his mentor. Years later Banner went to his teacher for aid in finding a cure for the Hulk. At this time Crawford was a sick man, but was nevertheless able to create a machine that could be used to filter the Gamma radiation from Bruce's body. Crawford also saw this as a way to cure himself; by obtaining some of the Hulk's DNA, he knew he would be able to use the Hulk's recuperative powers on himself. First Crawford reconfigured his own DNA so that it was a match with Bruce's. This turned him into a stronger beast than the Hulk: the monster called Ravage.

Ravage is stronger than the Hulk and is slightly larger. The key element which makes Ravage such a dangerous enemy is that he still has Dr. Crawford's mind and a lust for power. Ravage attacked Hulk just after his first transformation, but soon turned back into Crawford at sunrise, much like Banner initially transformed into the Hulk at sunset and Banner at sunrise. Crawford turned Banner over to General Ross for fear of being stopped from becoming Ravage again.

Crawford adjusted the machine so that it would change him into Ravage permanently. When this was done Ravage attacked the University and terrorized all who had pitied him as Dr. Crawford. Ravage was only stopped when the Hulk and General Ross formed an unlikely alliance that allowed the army to trap the villain in a state of suspended animation.

Ravage was set to reappear in future issues and become a more monsterous creature, but due to the cancellation of the Rampaging Hulk title, this story never materialized.

Powers and abilities

Like Bruce Banner, Crawford was also exposed to gamma radiation. Like the Hulk, Ravage has superhuman strength, which he uses to battle the Hulk, although it would appear that he lacks the Hulk's ability to grow stronger as his rage increases. Ravage also possesses a healing factor similar to the Hulk, and it appears that he has strong leg muscles, also like the Hulk, which allow him to leap great distances.

Other Media

Video games

*In the 2003 video game, Crawford appears as Bruce Banner's old mentor. In the game, he found a cure for the Hulk by using the gamma orb, which draws out the gamma energy that created the Hulk. Then, the military plans to use it to defeat the Hulk. Crawford tells Banner to get to his lab before the military does. This version of Crawford is similar to the original in that he is confined to a wheelchair and attempts to regain his health to walk again; however, after arriving in the lab, it was revealed that Crawford is just using Banner to get gamma radiation for himself, using it to become Ravage. Over the course of the game, it is revealed that he is working with the Leader, who seeks to use the gamma energy from the orb to create an army of gamma warriors.During his last boss fight,he battles the Hulk alone at first before he summons two armed gamma creatures for help.After being defeated by the Hulk he reverts back to his human form, and apologises for his actions, realising that his treachery has given the Leader all he needs to create an army. At the end of the game, Crawford is seen apparently trying to get more gamma radiation, using the orb once more, but his search fails as the orb has returned all its gamma energy to the Hulk. The character is voiced by Dion Luther.

References