Don Karnage

"I am Don Karnage — roll the 'r' — pirate extraordinaire!"

The self-proclaimed "Prince of Pirates," Don Karnage is one of the most notorious criminals of all time. A thief, scoundrel, pirate, and rogue, Karnage is the leader of the dreaded Air Pirates, a group of airborne outlaws who prowl the shipping lanes to prey on transport planes and plunder their cargoes. As the Air Pirates' captain, Don Karnage is wanted for several crimes, not the least of which include skyway robbery, piracy, endangerment of civilian lives, and unlawful seizure of private property. It is his honor to be the first most-wanted criminal in the world today.

Don Karnage is a mysterious character. Inquiries into his past and his own person serve only to raise more questions, a problem that leaves many puzzled as to exactly who or what he is. Technically he is a wolf, although he prefers to refer to himself as the "Fox" (and possesses fox-like craftiness as well). He cuts quite a romantic figure with his dark eyes and rakish grin. Suave and dashing, Captain Karnage is commonly seen wearing a trademark blue captain's uniform with gold buttons and red lining, along with gray pants and a pair of well-worn boots. He speaks with an accent of undetermined origin, mostly Spanish but incorporating a mix of words and phrases from other languages.

Karnage's lineage is also shrouded in mystery. Evidently, Don Karnage comes from a long line of pirates, dating back many, many years to the days before sailing ships and cannons were replaced by fighter planes and machine guns. Piracy seems to run in the Karnage family's blood, although Don Karnage obviously inherited a greater thirst for wealth than did his other relatives.

At a young age, perhaps his later teens, Karnage became truly involved in the world of piracy — air piracy, in particular, a new endeavor which suited his rather flamboyant image of himself. Don Karnage learned many principles of piracy and over the years developed his considerable piloting and fighting skills.

Acquiring a squadron of CT-37 fighter planes as well as the giant air carrier, the Iron Vulture, Don Karnage's band — simply called the Air Pirates — earned themselves a reputation for plundering and pillaging along the skyways. Setting up their base in a volcanic island deep in the middle of the South Seas, Karnage's men roamed the skies at will, attacking transport planes and making a general nuisance of themselves.

Karnage even dared to attack the harbor city of Cape Suzette, although the ever-vigilant cliff guns prevented the pirates from entering the city. Crafty as he was persistent, Don Karnage learned of a powerful new energy source being developed by Khan Industries. Building a weapon that could focus the energy of this power source, Karnage and his men managed to invade Cape Suzette and started plundering the entire city. However, through the efforts of a small group of heroes, the Air Pirates were driven from Cape Suzette yet again. Still frustrated over his defeat, Karnage plans to return to Cape Suzette and finish what he had started — as well as deal with those who defied him the first time.

What characterizes Don Karnage most of all is his ego. Self-flattering and theatrical to a fault, Karnage often uses glorious adjectives and titles to describe himself — "The Prince of Pirates," "The Plundering Wonder," or simply the "splendid, panic-provoking pirate Don Karnage." Karnage's egocentrism is incredible to the point of irrational. His infamy knows no bounds, especially in light of the fact that a $10,000 reward has been posted for Karnage's capture. He takes great pains in preserving his reputation as a bloodthirsty pirate, and the slightest embarrassment or insult to Karnage's person (such as calling him "Karny" or "Don Garbage") is enough to make one Karnage's enemy.

This is why the crew of the Higher for Hire air cargo service — Baloo, Rebecca Cunningham, and Kit Cloudkicker — are considered by Don Karnage to be his greatest adversaries. Responsible for foiling Karnage's attack on Cape Suzette, these individuals continue to thwart his plans whenever they cross paths. This irritates Karnage greatly, especially since young Cloudkicker was at one time an Air Pirate himself. However, Karnage has gotten the upper hand on the Higher for Hire crew on several occasions. One would think Karnage would have taken the opportunity to do away with them once and for all — especially since he claims to "never let anybody go" — but the heroes always manage to escape Karnage's clutches, if only to meet some greater fate Karnage may have in store for them.

Don Karnage commands his crew with a strong hand, aided by his first mate Gibber, who acts as Karnage's informant and confidant. Not a benevolent leader by far, Karnage demands complete obedience from his men and bosses them around constantly. Forever frustrated by his crew's incompetence, he openly berates them as "ignoranimouses" and "nincompirates" for no purpose other than to emphasize his superiority over them. For this reason, Karnage is obeyed but not necessarily admired by his crew. Several of the air pirates complain about Karnage's unstable megolomaniacal tendencies — a few have even dared to call Karnage "crazy," one term which he absolutely hates. No one dares to defy or betray Karnage, though, as disloyalty to him is usually remedied by some "appropriately appalling punishment" of the captain's own contrivance.

Prisoners and victims of pirate attacks are not treated much better. Karnage is very skillful at intimidating his captives, either to get information out of them or simply promote his own ego. He has many devices at his disposal for extracting information from the most recalcitrant of prisoners, including claws on a chalkboard and the dreaded "turnips and sandpaper." Karnage's methods are tame in comparison to those of some other pirates. Rumors of actual atrocities commited by Don Karnage and his men are just hearsay, serving only to bolster Karnage's fearsome reputation.

Karnage likes to think he is the cleverest pirate to ever sail the skies. Calling himself "The Fox" (a misnomer), Karnage is reputed to be very sly and crafty, and willing to go to extraordinary lengths in pursuit of wealth. Inspired by delusions of grandeur, Don Karnage concocts many outrageous schemes to achieve his ultimate goal — to plunder Cape Suzette. So far, Karnage has disguised the Iron Vulture as a parade float, an ocean liner, and even a storm cloud in his attempts to get past the city's cliff guns. But however well-laid Karnage's plans, something always seems to go wrong. Such setbacks are not permanent, however, leaving Karnage more opportunities to devise new plots or trickery.

On the subject of personal honor, Don Karnage is something of an enigma. On one hand, Karnage claims that he and his men are "noble pirates" (which he must constantly remind his crew, ironically enough). A self-proclaimed "man of honor," he views piracy as an honorable profession and the act of plundering as one of life's greatest pleasures. On the other hand, Karnage is reportedly the most underhanded pirate in the skies, regarded by many as nothing but a coward and a "two-bit buccaneer" concerned with little else but saving his own hide. Others claim that Karnage dishonors the pirate's code of honor by twisting it to suit his own purposes. Where his own honor is concerned, however, Karnage has been known to keep his word — at least until a debt is repaid or a truce over. After that, it's back to business as usual.

As a pirate, Karnage is a trained and seasoned warrior. Generally disdaining personal firearms like handguns (since he is an average shot with them anyway), Karnage prefers more traditional weapons such as his favorite steel cutlass, the age-old weapon of pirates in centuries past. Although Karnage rarely has occasion to use his cutlass, he practices daily and keeps the weapon well-polished and handy in all situations. Few have seen Don Karnage wield the blade in actual hand-to-hand combat, but by all accounts he is a masterful swordsman.

Don Karnage is a survivalist and a very resourceful individual. Never one to build something he could steal instead, Karnage has managed to keep the Air Pirates running effectively despite a limited amount of resources and manpower. He holds loyalty to few except his own men — unless there's something in it for him. According to rumors, Karnage and company were at one time hired by Shere Khan to make a hike in fuel prices look as if it were caused by Air Pirate attacks. Details are unclear, but apparently the deal came to an explosive end, causing Karnage to detest Shere Khan and hold a personal grudge against him.

There are few who are truly close to Don Karnage. His family being unaccounted for, Karnage seems to lead a lonely existence as leader of the Air Pirates. Being such a romantic figure, it is possible that he had a few flames in his past — though apparently none of them lasted. He has no children, but he did see Kit Cloudkicker, who was once an Air Pirate, as a promising young protégé. That relationship ended when Kit stole the sub-electron amplifier from Karnage and later joined Higher for Hire. In return, Karnage threatened and endangered Kit's life several times and even ordered the boy dropped from the Iron Vulture when Kit double-crossed him again.

Authorities are constantly on the lookout for any trace of Don Karnage or his pirates, hoping to apprehend the captain or blow him out of the skies for good. Unfortunately for them, the Iron Vulture's widespread travels are impossible to predict with any certainty, and the air police have yet to discover the location of the Air Pirates' hidden base, Pirate Island. Until the day he is brought to justice, the dread pirate Don Karnage will reign as the "Plundering Wonder" of the skyways.