KALIBAKKALIBAK
Real Name: None
Class: God (New Gods)
Occupation: Warrior
Group Affiliation: None
Known Relatives: Darkseid (father), Heggra (grandmother, deceased), Orion (half-brother), Steppenwolf (uncle), Suli (mother, deceased), Tiggra (stepmother)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Apokolips
First Appearance: New Gods I #1 (February-March, 1971)
Powers: Kalibak possessed incredibly high levels of superhuman strength, endurance and invulnerability. His savagery made him nearly unbeatable in a fight, but his major failing was his lack of intelligence. Kalibak was armed with a Beta-Club, an indestructible weapon that fired force bolts or nerve beams that caused living beings agonizing pain.History: (New
Gods III #8) - Queen Mother Heggra disapproved of Darkseid courting the
sorceress Suli, and although she bore him the son Kalibak she had Desaad poison
her. Any love in Darkseid’s heart was erased, and his rage began to grow. He
resolved never to trust anyone, not even family, and to never again feel love.
Kalibak was renowned as a legendary warrior, and often serves as Darkseid's
second-in-command.
(Martian Manhunter II #34) - Martian Manhunter spent years trying to foil Darkseid’s search for the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid sent members of his elite to battle Manhunter, including Kalibak.
(New Gods I #1) - Darkseid left Apokolips to create an underground base on Earth to search human minds for the anti-life equation. He left behind a mass-director unit to transmit his orders and provisionally placed Kalibak in charge. The Source Wall told the New Gods that they would be at war with Darkseid, and Orion went to Apokolips to investigate. He clashed with Kalibak, who wanted Orion as a prize specimen in his torture chamber. Metron broke up the fight, and after Orion rescued humans Darkseid had brought to Apokolips to probe, they traveled to Earth. Kalibak shouted in frustration that one day he'd deliver Orion’s corpse to Apokolips.
(New Gods I #5) - Kalibak arrived on Earth via Boom Tube, and let his presence be known by destroying a building with his omega rod.
(New Gods I #8) - Kalibak continued his rampage and took Orion’s human friends Claudia Shane and Dave Lincoln hostage, demanding that Orion confront him. Orion arrived in time to save the life of detective Terrible Turpin, who was determined to arrest Kalibak and keep superpowered brawls from destroying Metropolis. Orion and Kalibak fought savagely, and Kalibak got a hunch that Orion must come from Apokolips to be filled with such fury. Orion reflected that they’d fought each other ever since they were young, and there must be a connection between them. As their battle reached a crescendo Orion’s true demonic face was revealed, but as he was about to deliver a killing blow Lightray flew him away. Turpin had hooked up every power generator into the city into one device, and used it to shock Kalibak into unconsciousness.
(New Gods I #11)
- Metropolis police commissioner Kiernan knew he couldn’t hold Kalibak for
long and told him Apokolips and New Genesis had to move their fight from Earth.
Kalibak pretended to agree and was released, at which point he smashed through a
wall and went in search of Orion. He found Orion at his friend Dave Lincoln’s
apartment, and challenged him. Lightray wanted his war-weary friend to have a
break and accepted Kalibak’s challenge. Kalibak soundly beat him, and Orion
engaged him in combat. Orion and Kalibak finally realized their relationship as
half-brothers, and Kalibak gained the edge because Desaad was pumping energy
into him from Apokolips. Darkseid wanted his sons to fight on a level playing
ground, and feared death for Orion, so he killed Desaad, disabling his device.
The tide turned in Orion’s favor and as the battle reached its climax the
Black Racer appeared and claimed Kalibak.
(New Gods II #6) -
Darkseid yearned for his old allies, and used the machines that ran the new
automated Apokolips to resurrect Desaad, Kalibak, Steppenwolf and Mantis, but
they were mere shells acting on instinct, their true personalities dwelt in the
Source.
(New Gods III #6) - Dreggs, the undead Old Gods, invaded Apokolips after Kalibak unthinkingly shot one of their number because he disliked its’ appearance. After decimating Darkseid’s forces the Dreggs lost interest in Darkseid and disappeared back to their subterranean lairs. Darkseid failed to see his future in their current state, gods brought low by unyielding warfare.
(New Gods III #7, 8, 10-12) - On the streets of Apokolips Orion was disgusted with the toil of the Hunger Dogs, and the statues dedicated to Darkseid as lord of his people. Orion smashed one of the monuments, and Darkseid gave orders to have Kalibak reclaim his prodigal son so he could bring him to the dark side. The soldiers that summoned Kalibak found him playing with an animal, and asked if it was a pet. Kalibak crushed it and told them he had no use for tenderness, and that death mattered little to him because life meant little to him. After a quick, furious battle Orion defeated Kalibak. Darkseid punished Kalibak with his omega-beams for his failure, and Desaad proposed they execute Kalibak. Darkseid gave Kalibak another mission, to retrieve Harvey Lockman and his fragment of the anti-life equation from Earth. Kalibak succeeded, but Darkseid still reminded him of his failures. Kalibak couldn’t see any actions that would please his father. In an act of rebellion Kalibak showed unusual intelligence and used astral transfer to direct Lightray on his mission in the heart of Apokolips. Darkseid assigned Kalibak to exterminate Jovita and a band of renegade Hunger Dogs, unhappy that his son was no longer satisfied with his life as a soldier with no reward beyond pleasing Darkseid. Kalibak led a squadron, including Orion, who’d posed as a soldier to get close to Darkseid. Kalibak continued his rebellion against Darkseid, and after letting the Hunger Dogs escape he let Orion beat him and claim a key to Section Zero where Tiggra was being held. Orion fought his way to Tiggra, but she refused to leave, telling him she’d be a prisoner no matter where she went because of what she knew and had seen. She also affirmed for Orion that he was just like his father, and he left Section Zero in disgust. Kalibak observed through a monitor, his plan was complete, he’d taught Orion the same lesson he’d learned a long time ago, that he truly was his father’s son. Desaad saw his treachery and Kalibak strangled him, long overdue revenge for poisoning his mother Suli. Darkseid saw the murder and Kalibak told him all he ever wanted was his love. Darkseid disintegrated him with an omega-beam, and reflected that now he’d have to resurrect Desaad and his son again.
(Green Lantern III #101, 102) - Desaad told Kalibak he should show initiative by going to Earth and avenging his defeat at Green Lantern Kyle Rayner's hands by defeating time traveling GL Hal Jordan. Kalibak confronted Hal at Ferris Aircraft and tore into him. Kalibak was beating him until Hal dropped him into an underground fuel tank, creating a massive explosion. Kalibak was wounded and conceded the fight to Hal, but promised they would have a rematch.
(Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #6) - Kalibak demanded Darkseid release him from bondage after he’d heard Orion was resurrected. His entire life’s purpose was to destroy his brother, but Darkseid chided him that Kalibak’s goals were but a fraction of his own, and that the final fate of Orion was in Darkseid’s hands.
(Genesis #4) -
(Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #9) - With Apokolips and New Genesis separated, and Highfather and Darkseid lost, Kalibak challenged Orion to duel with him on New Genesis for his birthright, hoping his concentration was broken. Kalibak was confronted by Lightray, whom he easily dispatched. Orion agreed to face him, and told his brother that his brute force made him a clumsy warrior, and that he was surprised he’d survived so long. Kalibak was beaten to a pulp, and may have heard wisdom in Orion’s words, he chose to open a Boom Tube to retreat to Apokolips.
(Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #16) - Tigra told Kalibak he was Darkseid’s true heir, and that Orion was illegitimate, and a pretender to the throne. She encouraged Kalibak to claim his birthright and kill Orion. Kalibak assembled an army of Parademons, and after slaying one of them that questioned his military strategy, had them attack a Hunger Dog marketplace. The Dogs and their home in Armaghetto were initially razed, but they fought back hard, killing a number of Parademons. Kalibak called a halt to the battle, and congratulated the surviving Hunger Dogs for proving they were tough enough to join his army. Tigra appeared at his side to reassure him.
(Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #17) - Kalibak’s planned to fire an energy device at the Source Wall, atomizing it and killing all the Promethean Giants, including his father, before tapping into the incalculable energy of the Wall. He gloated about being sole ruler of Apokolips, and Tigra stepped in to remind him that he owed his command to her, who’d lied and convinced the New Gods that Kalibak was Darkseid’s sole heir. Orion arrived to attack Kalibak’s stronghold, and slaughtered the Parademons that opposed him. Kalibak and Orion went into fierce battle, and Metron asked Tigra if she realized they could destroy Apokolips with their power. She cared not for her homeworld as long as she had her vengeance. She didn’t even care which of her sons died, as long as the survivor challenged Darkseid to “last battle,” and destroyed him. She knew Orion had held back against Darkseid in the past, because Darkseid’s death would spell the end of the Fourth World. Kalibak began to win the battle, using his energy device to channel Darkseid’s power, but as he presented Orion to the Black Racer, Orion’s lover Valkyra appeared and sacrificed herself to the Racer. Metron had told her about the near future a few days ago, and at that moment she determined to save Orion’s life in any way necessary. The stage was now set for Armageddon.
(Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #18) - Orion raged at the sky over his loss, and struck Metron, blaming him because he knew what would transpire and didn’t stop it. Darkseid’s Elite were furious with Kalibak, both for the waste laid on Apokolips, and his terminity of challenging his father. They screamed at him via tele-screen until Tigra appeared, spreading her lies that Kalibak was the one true son of Darkseid.
Metron found Kalibak’s lair, set up in the machine Metron used to try and free Darkseid from the Source Wall. At Kalibak’s command Parademons used the lair’s energy transponder to drain the remainder of Darkseid’s energy, planning on then freeing him and provoking their final confrontation. Metron added his own energy to the beam, causing it to free Darkseid. Kalibak demanded final battle, but Darkseid said that was Orion’s fate. Metron explained Tigra’s story, refusing to divulge if it was true, and told Darkseid the only thing that mattered was that Kalibak was issuing a challenge he saw as his due. Darkseid accepted, blasted Kalibak into nothingness with his omega beams, and chided his son for having schemes that amounted to nothing. Darkseid though an eternity of scalded nerves was a fitting punishment for his child. Metron awaited a speech from Darkseid, but the evil god only told him that now that Darkseid was back, the universe would return to the status quo.
(New Gods Secret Files #1) - Darkseid summoned Kalibak and the rest of his Elite for a meeting. Darkseid believed it was time to deliver his last will and testament, telling them that after he was gone whichever one of them was the strongest would succeed him.
(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #34, 35) - Prof. Stein, one half of the hero Firestorm, unlocked the mysteries of the Firestorm-matrix, a fire elemental that was a part of the life-equation. This posed a grave threat to Darkseid, so he sent Kalibak and an army of Parademons to Earth to seize Stein. Kalibak warned Firestorm and his allies Gehenna and Firehawk that he’d have Stein, and he’d kill the rest of them simply because it was in his power. He then unleashed the Parademons on Manhattan, and they wrecked havoc. Kalibak bested Orion in combat, and Firestorm was only able to defeat him by causing a nuclear explosion. The day seemed won until Darkseid appeared, told Firestorm he was tired of playing games, and broke the matrix, grabbed Stein, and escaped through a Boom Tube. Jason formed a new matrix with his girlfriend Gehenna and went after him.
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby
Kalibak received profiles in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12 and Who's Who in the DC Universe #9. He received profiles in Who's Who in the DC Universe #7 and New Gods Secret Files #1 under the Darkseid’s Elite entry.
There were pin-ups of Kalibak in the Fourth World Gallery, New Gods I #4 and New Gods II #2.
Kalibak’s appearances
in New Gods I #1, 5, 8, 11 were reprinted in New Gods II #1, 3, 4, 6.
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