Tundra (Marvel Comics)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Tundra
real_name=
species=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Alpha Flight #1" (Aug 1983)
creators=John Byrne
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
status=
alliances=Great Beasts
previous_alliances=
aliases= The Land Beast
relatives=
powers=|

Tundra is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Tundra is a mystical spirit which inhabits an ever-growing mass of Canadian land in gargantuan semi-humanoid form, and is the enemy of the Inuit gods whom he trapped in another dimension.

Publication history

Tundra first appeared in "Alpha Flight" #1 (August 1983), and was created by John Byrne.

The character subsequently appears in "Alpha Flight" #24 (July 1985), #38 (September 1986), #55 (February 1988), #64 (November 1988), "X-Man" #39-40 (July 1998), and "Wolverine" #172 (March 2002).

Fictional character biography

Tundra was the first of the Great Beasts confronted by Alpha Flight. ["Alpha Flight #1"] Tundra was summoned through a mystic ritual in which a possessed vagabond traced a gigantic human shape in the barren land of Canada's Northwest Territories and then donned a metallic crown that summoned the spirit of Tundra. The vagabond's corpse animated, the land mimicking the corpse's movement until Tundra rose in the shape of a humanoid mass of earth. According to Shaman, Tundra was supposed to be controlled by the mind of the human who summoned him but because of the weakness of the vagabond summoning Tundra, Tundra's real personality quickly took over.

Opposing him was a difficult matter. For instance, the monster intended on causing destruction and could not be persuaded otherwise by Shaman or Snowbird. Furthermore, technological attacks on Tundra as those from Guardian caused violent tremors in the surrounding land that threaten to cause severe damage throughout Canada. While Sasquatch managed to temporarily wound him by tearing off large portions of body mass before he is brushed off, the arriving sibling superheroes, Northstar and Aurora, made better progress by creating a wind vortex around him to remove more mass. Realizing that naturally eroding Tundra is the only safe way to defeat him, Shaman magically created a rainstorm to wear down the monster. Although he ran out of atmospheric moisture to continue the deluge, the arrival of Marrina with her characteristic water spout transportation power supplied all the water Shaman needed to create a torrential downpour to finally destroy Tundra.

Tundra is arch-enemy to the Great Beast Kariooq, the Corruptor.

Powers and abilities

Tundra's powers stem from the land itself. He can summon mosquitoes, hurl boulders from his body, increase his size by absorbing land mass, and is connected to the land so if he is injured, earthquake-style upheavals occur in the surrounding area.

References