Creation
Korrek made his first appearance in Adventure Into Fear #19, and was created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.
Biography
Korrek is a young warrior prince who lives in the extra-dimensional barbarian land of Katharta. He first appears in a dream of Jennifer Kale. The dream is later shown to be a vision related to the Nexus of All Realities. In the dream, Korrek leads a hoard of barbarians in a battle against other armies battling for the Floating Castle of the Gods. Man-Thing was present on the sidelines of the battle until Jennifer Kale came down from the castle to retrieve the monster. Korrek sees the girl dressed as a sorceress and believes her to be a witch who brought him to the Nexus Plane and proceeds to attack her. After literally fighting through the Man-Thing and attempting to kill the girl, she awakes just before he lands the final blow.
Due to unforseen and powerful magic forces courtesy of Jennifer, her nightmare becomes reality as Korrek suddenly appears in the Kale home after Jennifer awakes. Her brother, Andrew Kale, has a peanut butter sandwich and leaves the jar open on the table. For an unexplained reason, the knife used to spread the peanut butter glows and grows into a Kathartan sword. The contents of the jar also grows and spills onto the floor and takes the form of a man, who is Korrek. Confused and angry, Korrek runs through the house until he smells the "Stench of Sorcery" and kicks in the door to Jennifer's room. He attacks her and attempts to kill her (this time for real) for dragging him to her realm. Korrek flees through a window after Jennifer's grandfather and brother enter the room.
Still running away, Korrek finds himself deep in the Everglades and encounters the Man-Thing, who he tries to kill with his sword but fails. Surprisingly, Man-Thing doesn't burn Korrek with his touch (probably due to Korrek's bravery and lack of fear), and they are soon approached by Howard the Duck, who had just landed in the swamps earlier. The three then decide to team up to find their way back to their respective worlds, where they are soon attacked by Thog's Netherspawn demons. Dakimh saves them and gives them their mission to follow him and Jennifer Kale (his then-apprentice) back to their homelands. Korrek quickly bonds with Howard and is upset by Dakimh's lack of protection when Howard falls through a vortex, seemingly dying (instead finding himself landing in Cleveland, Ohio). However, Dakimh and Jennifer finally bring Korrek back to his home in Katharta. Korrek doesn't get to meet his friend Howard again until he was transported back to Earth some time later.
Upon his return to Katharta, Korrek discovers that his father, the King, had been slain and that the evil sorceror Klonus had taken over. Klonus enslaved Korrek for over a year, leaving him beyond helpless until Dakimh, along with Kale and Man-Thing, teamed up to rescue him. With their help, Korrek was able to overthrow Klonus and take back the throne as the new King of Katharta. He still rules over his homeworld to this day.
Powers & Abilities
Korrek is a master swordsman and skilled barbarian. He wields a Kathartan sword capable of projecting mystical fire. He is also adept at hand-to-hand fighting and has some knowledge in Kathartan martial arts. During his first appearance, he was able to transform himself into a jar of peanut butter, with his Kathartan sword transforming into a butterknife, displaying some unusual shapeshifting abilities. However, it is unknown whether he can still transform himself into peanut butter or into other things since it appears that this unusual metamorphosis was done through the magic of Jennifer Kale.
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