Sauron (comics)

Sauron
Sauron as seen in New Mutants v. 3 #10 Art by Paul Davidson
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(As Karl Lykos): X-Men (Vol.1) #59 (August 1969) (As Sauron): X-Men (Vol.1) #60 (September 1969)
Created by	Roy Thomas (writer) Neal Adams (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Karl Lykos
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	Weapon X Savage Land Mutates Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Abilities	(As Karl Lykos): Accomplished medical doctor, geneticist, and psychotherapist (As Sauron): Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability and intelligence Flight Hypnotic eyes Razor-sharp claws Fire-breath Ability to absorb life forces and mutant powers, and sense mutants

Sauron is a comic book character, a supervillain in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. An enemy of the X-Men, Sauron is the alter ego of Karl Lykos, sharing a Jekyll and Hyde relationship with the physician. He is an energy vampire who resembles a humanoid Pteranodon after feeding. He often inhabits the hidden prehistoric jungle of the Savage Land.

The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams, though the two differ in their accounts of which of them were responsible for specific aspects of the character. He first fully appeared as Sauron in X-Men #60 (September 1969).

Thomas and Adams originally envisioned Sauron as a bat-like creature, but when they consulted with the Comics Code Authority, they were told that an energy vampire with a bat body might fall under the Code's prohibition on the use of vampires. To get around this problem, Thomas and Adams tweaked his appearance to that of the most bat-like animal they could think of—a pterodactyl—which in turn led them to have Sauron inhabit the hidden prehistoric jungle of the Savage Land.

Karl Lykos was the son of an explorer's guide. As a teenager, he accompanied his father to Tierra del Fuego as the elder Lykos guided a wealthy client named Mr. Anderssen and Anderssen's young daughter, Tanya. While defending Tanya from mutant pterodactyls, Karl was bitten by one of the creatures. During his recovery, he discovered that he could now drain the life-force of other organisms. He found himself repeatedly tempted to use his new power, feeling that he needed to drain life energy from other humans or animals to survive.