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.