Real
Name: Dr. Walter Langkowski
Occupation: Professor of physics, Simon
Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada; adventurer; former professional football
player
Identity: Secret
Legal Status: Citizen of the Canada
with no known criminal record
Other Aliases: Box (III)
Place of
Birth: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight
Base
of Operations: Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
later Alpha Flight headquarters, Tamarind Island, British Columbia, Canada
First Appearance: UNCANNY X-MEN #120
History: Dr. Walter Langkowski was born and raised in
British Columbia, Canada. He attended Pennsylvania State University
on a football scholarship. During his freshman year Langkowski
met Bruce Banner, who was then himself
there, but who would later become noted for his work in gamma
ray research and infamous for becoming the monstrous Hulk as
a result of overexposure to gamma radiation. Although Langkowski
only knew Banner for one semester, Banner had a tremendous influence
on him, and Langkowski decided to enter the field of gamma radiation
research himself. Langkowski pursued independent studies in
the area even during his three years as a professional linebacker
for the Green Bay Packers. Langkowski's football career made
him a millionaire.
When the fact that Bruce Banner was the Hulk became public
knowledge, Langkowski conceived a new goal for his life. He
entered a graduate program in physics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and rapidly earned his Ph.D. He was then appointed
to the faculty of McGill University in Montreal. Since leaving
his football career, Langkowski had accumulated all the information
he could find on the Hulk and on other human beings who had
been transformed through exposure to gamma radiation. Langkowski
intended to recreate, under controlled circumstances, the conditions
which produced the Hulk. Langkowski spent over a million dollars
of his own money on his research into this area, and finally
applied to the Canadian government for additional funding. James
MacDonald Hudson, who organized a group of superhuman agents
for the Canadian government's Department H, both arranged for
the funding and procured an isolated laboratory near the Arctic
Circle for Langkowski. During a leave of absence from McGill
University, Langkowski designed and constructed a means to generate
gamma radiation bombardments similar to those which had created
the Hulk, but under laboratory conditions.
It was because of the potential danger of radiation leakage
that Langkowski performed his experiment in self-transformation
in the isolated laboratory north of the Arctic Circle. There
he used the equipment he had designed to bombard himself with
gamma radiation, and was transformed into the ten-foot-tall,
superhumanly powerful creature which went on a savage rampage
for hours before finally reverting to human form. One of Hudson's
agent, Snowbird, found Langkowski in human form lying in the
snow after his rampage, brought him to a hospital, and summoned
Hudson. Another of Hudson's agents, Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen,
asked Snowbird, who was herself able to change shape, to teach
Langkowski how to maintain his normal personality and intelligence
in his bestial form. This teaching proved to be entirely successful
for some time.
Langkowski called himself "Sasquatch" when he was
in his bestial form, "sasquatch" being the Canadian
word for Canada's legendary "Bigfoot" creature, which
he resembled. Once he had learned how to maintain his normal
human personality and intelligence as Sasquatch, and had undergone
a period of training in Department H's team of apprentice superhuman
agents, Beta and Gamma Flight, Langkowski became a member of
James Hudson's fully trained team of superhuman agents, Alpha
Flight. Langkowski remained with the team even after Alpha
Flight ceased for a time to be affiliated with Canadian government
and after the death of its founder, James Hudson. Langkowski
divided his time between adventuring with Alpha Flight and Teaching
at Simon Fraser University in Canada. He became the lover of
another Alpha Flight member, Aurora,
and is responsible for the alteration in her superhuman powers.
Langkowski attributed the fact that as Sasquatch he was not
green like most other superhuman beings transformed by gamma
radiation to the presence of heavy sunspot radiation interference
at the time of his initial transformation, manifesting itself
as an Aurora Borealis.
However, Langkowski was wrong in believing that he had gained
his Sasquatch form due to gamma radiation. His equipment that
he used in the experiment in the Arctic laboratory had actually
unleashed for a fraction of a second enough physical energy
to sunder the mystical barrier separating Earth from the other
dimensional Realm
of the Great Beasts, enemies of the gods of native Canadian
mythology. A mystic link was formed between Langkowski and the
Great beast called Tanaraq, enabling Langkowski, without knowing
what he was really doing, to take on Tanaraq's form and control
it. But with each "transformation" of Langkowski into
Sasquatch, Tanaraq's personality grew stronger. Eventually,
Tanaraq's mind was able to supplant Langkowski's personality
whenever Langkowski, in Sasquatch's form, felt intense anger
or pain. Finally, Tanaraq took full control of Sasquatch. Snowbird,
realizing what had happened, transformed herself into a being
like Sasquatch, and tore out Tanarq'a heart, killing Langkowski's
physical form, which reverted to normal in dying. Six members
of Alpha Flight journeyed into the other dimensional realm of
the Great Beasts and recovered Langkowski's soul, intending
to return it to his body. Langkowski's body had mystically been
crystallized to preserve it, but the body entirely crumbled
away at the mystic site it was left at while the Alpha Flight
members were recovering Langkowski's soul. So, instead, Michael
Twoyoungmen, then known as Shaman, projected Langkowski's soul
into the robotic body that its inventor, Roger
Bochs, called Box.
Langkowski thus remained alive in Box while he and Bochs sought
for a new body for Langkowski's soul to inhabit. They finally
located a nearly mindless humanoid form existing at an interdimensional
nexus. Langkowski abandoned Box and his spirit was projected
to that nexus, where he discovered that the body was that of
the Hulk. Unwilling to take over the body belonging to his old
friend Bruce Banner, Langkowski seemingly allowed his spirit
to vanish from the mortal plane. But the present location of
Langkowski's spirit is unknown, and it may be that the people
of Earth have not seen the last of Walter Langkowski.
Langkowski's spirit, however, found the shrunken physical body
of Smart Alec who had been placed in the otherdimensional void
accessible by Shaman's medicine bag. Langkowski thus returned
to reality, in time to save his fellow Alpha Flight members
from the villain Pestilence, who had possessed Snowbird's deceased
body (in its Sasquatch/Great Beast form), by Langkowski himself
briefly reentering the Box robot. Langkowski then took over
Snowbird's form, transforming back to human form, albeit a female
one. Langkowski, nicknamed "Wanda," remained with
Alpha Flight for several adventures, unable to rekindle his
relationship with Aurora or access his personal fortune since
he was believed dead.
Height: (as Langkowski) 6 ft. 4 in., (as Sasquatch)
10 ft.
Weight: (as Langkowski)
245 lbs, (as Sasquatch) 2,000 lbs.
Eyes: (as Langkowski) Blue, (as
Sasquatch) Red
Hair: (as Langkowski) Blond, (as Sasquatch) Orange
Strength Level: As Sasquatch, Langkowski possesses vast,
superhuman strength. Sasquatch could lift (press) about 70 tons.
As Box Langkowski could lift (press) roughly 85 tons.
Known Superhuman Powers: Walter Langkowski could, by
an act of will, take on a physical form that was a mystical
melding of his own and that of the Great Beast Tanaraq Langkowski
was not aware that he was mystically melding with Tanaraq, but
instead believed that he was changing his form due to the mutagenic
effects of gamma radiation on his body. By another act of will,
Langkowski could change from his superhuman form back into his
human one. Originally, after the initial transformation itself,
in order to transform himself into Sasquatch, Langkowski needed
to achieved a meditative state (through use of a mantra, or
self hypnotic chant), thereby producing the concentration necessary
to effect the mystical transformation process. The necessary
concentration was initially difficult to achieve. However, after
many months of practice, Langkowski could effect the transformations
with relative ease, without needing to achieve a mantric state.
Langkowski learned to maintain his normal human intelligence
and personality when in the form of Sasquatch, but the mind
of Tanaraq grew increasingly strong in time, and finally took
full control of Sasquatch's body on Earth.
Besides his superhuman strength, Sasquatch had a large degree
of resistance to injury, as well. The limits of this resistance
are not known, but he has, for instance, withstood armor-piercing
machine gun fire.
Sasquatch's leaping ability was less than that of the Hulk's,
but the exact extent of Sasquatch's leaping ability has yet
to be determined.
In human form Langkowski was nearsighted, but his vision was
sharpened as Sasquatch so that he did not require aids for seeing
in that form.
As Sasquatch Langkowski was covered with thick orange fur which
gave him great immunity to cold, but which proved uncomfortable
in tropical climates.
Abilities: Dr. Walter Langkowski is one of the world's
foremost experts on the effects of radiation on human physiology.
He is a well-trained athlete and had above average (but not
superhuman) strength even in human form.