Kang the Conqueror is one of the most formidable villains in Marvel Comics. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced him 60 years ago in The Avengers #8 (September 1964), as a dominating, destructive force powerful enough to go up against the Avengers.

Kang was originally Nathaniel Richards, a 31st century scholar, and half-brother of Reed Richards (their father was a time-traveling adventurer). He was obsessed with history, and when he found Victor von Doom’s time-traveling technology, Nathaniel traveled back to ancient Egypt. Using his advanced knowledge and ambition, he rose to become Pharaoh Rama-Tut and planned to retain power by naming En Sabah Nur, the mutant Apocalypse, as his heir. Despite his machinations, when the Fantastic Four were sent back in time, they stopped him before his power grew too great.

Nathaniel’s next move was to travel to the 20th century in search of Doctor Doom – who he believes is his ancestor. He designed armor inspired by Doom’s costume and started going by the name Scarlet Centurion. After that, he challenged the Avengers with alternate reality versions of themselves, but the team defeated their counterparts.

He tried to go back to the 31st century, but flew past the period, landing thousands of years in the future. In this time period, humans had nearly destroyed the Earth through years of endless conflict. He easily conquered the embattled world, then grew his empire throughout the galaxy, officially becoming Kang the Conqueror. Recognizing that the world was dying, Kang decided to travel back in time again to conqueror Earth when it was thriving with life.