Baron Karza
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Micronauts villain. For the other evil, caped space warlord with a black suit of armor, see Darth Vader. |
- Baron Karza is an alien from the Generation 1 continuity family
A ruthless tactician and would-be universal conqueror from a distant dimension, few have underestimated Baron Hraal Karza and lived to regret their mistake. His ability to enerchange makes him a formidable and unpredictable foe; his gadget-laden suit of shapeshifting armor only adds to his fearsome reputation among his allies and enemies. Karza sees himself as the only individual capable of saving the Microverse from itself, hoping to rule over the realm with his own iron fist. There's only one thing that stands between him and total subjugation over his home—the heroic Micronauts.
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Fiction
Unit:E comic
While discussing the heroes of Earth, Synergy warned the young Acroyear that he wouldn't be able to stop Baron Karza without allies. Unit:E
2005 IDW continuity
Hraal Karza was born on Aegis-6, to the desert planet's Sandmen mercenary society. Baron Karza's profile As a young warrior, Karza fought on behalf of the Sagitarrion for several years. Micronauts #1 He was later among the Sandmen hired to defend the Emperor of Microspace from a Kronos revolt, and was recruited as one of the ruler's elite guardsmen in the aftermath of the conflict. He rapidly rose through the ranks, and within a matter of years was installed as Minister of Defense. Accordingly granted the title of Baron, Karza conscripted his fellow Sandmen into the military, putting them through genetic and behavioural modification to create the Acroyears. Baron Karza's profile
Part of the Emperor's inner circle, Karza developed a hatred for the Red Falcon, the son of Microspace's ruler; not only did the arrogant warrior ignorantly meddle in diplomacy, but he was betrothed to Shazraella–the Mistress of Spies and object of Karza's affections. When a Pharoid temple was occupied by militants, Karza and the Falcon led a battalion of Acroyears on a rescue mission. At the battle's conclusion, Karza received a cryptic warning from one of the dying militants, before discovering Red Falcon inside the heart of the temple, communing with five Time Travelers. The Emperor's son returned home with claims that the Travelers, part of a Pharoid sect said to have transcended time itself, had shown him the future, and that by seeking their counsel he alone could guide the empire on the right path.
Concerned that the Falcon was withholding something, Karza attempted to convince Baron Daegon, his counterpart in the Ministry of Science, to help act against the heir to the empire, but was turned away. Before long, however, Shazraella sought out Karza, sharing his concerns about Red Falcon, and the pair embraced in a kiss for the first time. The Mistress of Spies revealed that the Time Travelers were showing her betrothed his own bloody ascent to the throne, and resolved to work with the Baron to avoid this. Together they prepared an arcane poison which Karza slipped into the Red Falcon's goblet, killing the heir and ending the threat he posed to Microspace's future. Micronauts #4
However, the death of his son greatly affected the Emperor, and following the subsequent emergence of the Entropy Cloud, a mysterious interstellar anomaly capable of destroying entire planets, his state of mind deteriorated to the point that Karza, Daegon and Shazraella chose to place him in cryo-hibernation to recuperate. The two Barons subsequently became joint rulers of Microspace, Baron Karza's profile while Karza and Shazraella, now married, Micronauts #1 raised an artificially-gestated child named Larissa, who later abandoned them under unknown circumstances. Micronauts Annual 2017
Eventually, disagreements over how to deal with the Entropy Storm led to the eruption of a civil war between the two Ministries, even as the phenomenon continued to destroy Microspace. Micronauts #1 Baron Karza's profile After a disastrous mission on MoDee, Karza decommissioned the vast majority of the Acroyears, replacing them with a second generation with greater mental stability. He kept a small number of the original breed active for special purposes, including Raith. Acroyear's profile
On one occasion, Karza demanded that intelligence questions be redirected to his wife, who was at the time – unbeknownst to her husband – interrogating a mysterious interloper from within the Entropy Storm. Informed While observing the Storm from afar one day, Karza and Shazraella reminisced together on the fall of Red Falcon. After his wife left the chamber, Karza's Microtron unit approached him with an object recently ejected from the maelstrom: the Baron's own helmet, weathered with age. Micronauts #4 With this revelation, Karza began to speculate that the Entropy Storm was in fact a rift in time, not merely a simple destructive force. Baron Karza's profile
When he discovered that the Ministry of Science was developing biological weapons aboard Valtricos Research Station, Baron Karza ordered a blockade of the facility to try and claim them for himself. Meanwhile, the Baron himself was stationed along with his wife at the Ministry's mobile outpost near the Entropy Storm, Micronauts #1 and it was there that she brought him news of Valtricos's destruction, and the failure of their Acroyear II units' to retrieve the biological weapon. As the spouses traded barbs over recent events, the Baron was set upon by an assassin, which he quickly dispatched using his Enerchange abilities. With the threat passed, Shazraella received additional news from the front: the band of thieves involved in the station's destruction included one of the last Pharoids, and were now in Baron Daegon's custody. Micronauts #3
Realizing that the Pharoid, the only survivor of the famed "oracle event", could be key in ending the threat of the Entropy Storm, Karza initiated a full-scale attack on the Ministry of Science's flagship. The Baron tasked Commander Raith with leading a small strike team to recover the Pharoid, whilst he himself would engage the bulk of Daegon's forces directly. Micronauts #5 On the ship's bridge, the two Barons duelled in their Enerchanged centaur forms, with Karza decrying his counterpart's attempts to understand the Storm instead of simply seeking to destroy it. After felling Daegon with a all-out final blow, Karza received the news that the Pharoid and his crew had escaped Raith's team, boarding their ship and flying towards the Entropy Storm. As the craft used its warp core punch through the boundary of the Storm, an obsessed Karza burst into space in pursuit, following the ship's wake into the maelstrom. Micronauts #6
Within the Entropy Storm, Karza found himself in an empty void, awash with the debris of that which the cloud had appeared to destroy. Wandering the Storm for years, Karza eventually discovered a vast robotic form, which he came to learn was [[Micronus Prime}}, the being who created Microspace. Micronauts: Revolution Exploring the Cybertronian for years, Baron Karza's profile the Baron was able to use its technology to make contact with another universe, and in particular with Miles Mayhem. From the human general, Karza learned of Ore-13, a mineral super-fuel with the potential to neutralize the Entropy Storm. Mayhem agreed to help Karza transfer Ore-13 into Microspace in return for assistance with his own schemes, O Ship of State although the process was inefficient – forty percent of the mineral was remaining in its home universe, and violently exploding. The Divine Source of Liberty With vast power within his grasp, Karza also found a new desire awaken within him: to not merely save Microspace, but "shepherd" it on a better path.
Not long afterwards, the Micronaut crew arrived at Micronus Prime, having entered the entropy storm mere days ago from their perspective. Karza explained the nature of the behemoth to them, Micronauts: Revolution but soon received word from Mayhem that complications on Earth required the delay of further Ore-13 transfer. His patience expired, Karza activated a spacebridge built into Micronus's body, intending for the Pharoid and his crew to travel to Earth as his pawns. To his surprise, however, shards of Ore-13 began flowing out of the portal, rocking Micronus with explosions. The Micronaut ship passed through, and the spacebridge closed shortly afterwards, halting the dangerous flow of ore. O Ship of State
Before long, the spacebridge was reactivated by Mayhem, and Karza himself travelled through, finding himself face to face with the human general's other allies, the alien Dire Wraiths. Without hesitation, the Baron initiated Enerchange, fusing himself first with the Wraith leader and then the rest of their forces. The New Colossus Now towering above all others present, Karza went on the attack, determined to secure the Ore-13 needed to save Microspace, even in the face of Mayhem's apparent betrayal. Absorbing the energy of nearby Ore-13 crystals, Karza proved more than a match for the gathered Transformers and humans, and they soon mounted an evacuation of the city in which they fought. However, working with the Earth inhabitants, the Micronauts took control of the spacebridge portal, threatening to return Karza to Microspace. Trying to escape this fate, the Baron clawed at Optimus Prime, but was rammed by Miles Mayhem in his combat vehicle. Knocked loose, Karza plummeted into the spacebridge as it simultaneously opened and exploded, sending the would-be tyrant back to his home universe. Valley Forge
Returned to the inside of the Entropy Cloud, Karza found himself lost in the storm; he lost track of time within it, not knowing whether he was lost for decades or for millennia, though it seemed like mere years to those in Microspace not yet touched by the storm and only weeks to the Micronauts. Within, he encountered the Time Travelers, who revealed to him the truth: their race had given birth to the storm through the madness of one of their number, and they wished for him to act on their behalf and save his universe by invading Earth, with even the possibility of saving those that had already been consumed by the cloud. Wrath of Karza #1 Wrath of Karza #3 Concluding that Earth represented the only chance of salvation for the people of Microspace, Karza amassed an army of brand-new Acroyear troops to secure the planet. Micronauts #11
Enerchanging with Micronus Prime, Karza used the ancient Cybertronian's inherent spacebridge to bring his legions to Earth, planning to invade and make it a new home for his people; however, though he was able to learn much of Earth and its universe from the Prime's databanks, Baron Karza felt more of himself being lost every time he Enerchanged with Micronus. The newly-rechristened Ministry of War started by neutralising the Earth's defenders by sending troops to disrupt the capabilities of M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe, while Karza himself Enerchanged with Micronus Prime once more, using his titanic size and strength to knock out and capture Optimus Prime and his Autobots; with the stage set and his enemies imprisoned in an orbital space prison, Karza set out to defeat Earth's armies and capture Oziron Rael and the Micronauts. Wrath of Karza #1 Karza sent Membros and the crew of his Sharkos to deal with the Micronauts, with the ship shooting down the team's Heliopolis and capturing Acroyear, Biotron, Phenolo-Phi, and Oziron Rael; however, the team's Repto reported back to Karza that Larissa had been killed when the ship was shot down. Despite having been shown his daughter's death in advance by the Time Travelers, Karza was filled with grief and rage, and used an Enerchange-launched hand to choke the Repto in order to take out his anger on it. Wrath of Karza #2
As his invasion progressed, Karza Enerchanged with Micronus again, using his titanic power to crush Earth's armies beneath him. Wishing to allow humanity to live alongside his people as long as they accepted his rule, Karza contacted a cabal of Earth's worst villains and gave them the offer to lead humanity by serving as his Barons, though Miles Mayhem and Destro were infuriated by his demands. Wrath of Karza #3 Some time later, Karza was informed at the Ministry of War's Mobile Operations Base that the Micronauts' Acroyear had been successfully reconditioned by Commander Raith, who advised Karza that he commit all his forces to the fight; however, the Baron was set on keeping troops in reserve in the event of reinforcements being needed. As the Baron and the Acroyear commander spoke, Karza realised that something was wrong with the incoming Sharkos, leading Raith to shoot it down; however, the crew survived, and were revealed to be the Micronauts, who had escaped the prison, including Larissa, who had survived the crash of the Heliopolis.
Angry with Membros for failing him, and at the Pharoid for attempting to prevent him from saving the people of Microspace, Baron Karza Enerchanged into his centaur form in order to fight the team. Karza attempted to attack Rael with a fist-missile, but the attack was blocked by Larissa's Orbital Defender force-fields; angry at her betrayal, Karza attacked his daughter himself with a missile, and though Rael condemned him for his actions, Karza was resolute in his beliefs and would not change his mind. However, the Micronauts revealed their backup: the Transformers Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Arcee, who took on Karza's army in battle while the Micronauts dealt with the Baron himself. Summoning his own reinforcements, Karza set a huge Acroyear III swarm on the Autobots, but it transpired that the Micronauts' Acroyear had overcome the reconditioning and taken control of the swarm; unwilling to allow his troops to be usurped from him, Karza activated a killswitch that deactivated all the robotic Acroyear III units, but as the Pharoid pointed out, the Baron no longer had any cards to play and was roundly outnumbered. The Baron made one more plea for Rael to join him to save the people of Microspace, but it fell on the Micronauts' leader's deaf ears; but at the last moment, help for the Baron arrived in the form of his wife Shazraella, clad in battle-armor, who had taken the power one of the Time Travelers for herself. Wrath of Karza #4
Baron Karza was shocked at his wife's actions, arguing that they were unnecessary as the Ministry of War was on the brink of conquering Earth, but was interrupted when Optimus Prime picked him up to take him out of the fight. Karza, however, Enerchanged with Micronus once more, growing to an enormous size and clashed with the Transformers in battle; as they fought, however, Shazraella used her newfound powers to alter time and change the Transformers' forms, confusing the battle. While Shazraella effortlessly reduced Oziron Rael to dust with a wave of her hand, Karza defended his actions to the Transformers by claiming that they were enshrined in prophecy, but was distracted on recognising the power that Shazraella glowed with as the energy of the Entropy Cloud itself. Interrupting his battle with the Autobots, the Baron insisted that they set aside their quarrel and stop Shazraella, lest Earth's universe be destroyed like Microspace. Seeing Karza's willingness to give up on his invasion to protect the universe, Optimus agreed to a truce, and the Transformers turned their attention to Shazraella; Karza begged his wife to stop what she was doing, but Shazraella revealed that she believed that their future was within the Entropy Cloud, rather than running from it. Unwilling to let her continue, Karza stood up to Shazraella, but his wife wielded the power of the Entropy Storm to tear the forms of Karza and Micronus apart, banishing the ancient Prime through time; Karza fell from the sky, but was saved from falling to his death by a forcefield projected by Larissa. Though it seemed that Shazraella would allow Earth to be consumed by the storm's power, the planet and the Micronauts were saved when Oziron Rael — now ascended to become a Time Traveler himself—returned, wielding the power of the Time Travelers to tear their mad brother from Shazraella and sealing both Karza and Shazraella within fields of energy, before beginning to repair the damage caused by the Entropy Cloud.
In the aftermath of the battle for the fate of the Earth, Baron Karza found himself in Smithton, Illinois, where he still clung to the idea of "saving" Microspace despite the Time Travelers' actions. Wrath of Karza #5
At some point, Karza discovered magic and how to adapt his forcefields against it as well as discovering the endgame of the Dire Wraiths. After the Micronauts had defeated the Wraiths, Karza approached D'rge and a subordinate. After killing the subordinate, Karza offered the Wraith Sorcerer an alliance offering to help the Wraiths in awakening the Presence and terraforming Earth. Interest piqued, D'rge shrunk down and asked the Baron what he wanted in return. ROM: First Strike Karza revealed his plan to remove the Entropy Cloud from Microspace and send it to the realm of the Presence, speeding up the deity's incubation while leaving his own universe worth the trouble of conquest. The Wraiths agreed to his terms, Microspace Knight and agreed to provide him with a few of their grunts for scientific dissection. Entropy
To deal with Rom, D'rge and the Absence used their magic to alter Karza's enerchanging abilities. At a dig site in Nevada, D'rge explained the Presence's growth to Karza before Rom and the Micronauts swooped in with Rom engaging the Baron personally. Though initially outmatched, Karza enerchanged with Rom, transferring the Space Knight's size and power to the Baron. As Rom vanished, Orphion and Livia streaked in but Karza bested both of them before the villains took their leave. Small World
Knowing Rom and the Micronauts might destroy the Microspacian conduit, Karza constructed a second conduit, identical in every way. When the Absence brought the throughly expected news to him, Karza ordered him to take the second conduit to Microspace and safeguard it with a joint Ministry of War/Dire Wraith fleet, assuring the spectral being that all things were well in hand. Entropy
With the Space Knights and the Micronauts closing in on them, Baron Karza baited the Absence into acting as the sole conduit for the Entropy Cloud, allowing the Presence to awaken in a matter of hours, a victory that Karza celebrated when Rom and the Micronauts arrived. Asymmetric Warfare
Engaging Rom in battle, Karza held the advantage before Rom tried to energchange his energies back. Mocking Rom's skills, Karza took control of the process and merged with the Space Knight. Though Karza remained the dominant consciousness, Rom found a loophole of fulfilling Karza's desire to move the Entropy Cloud from Microspace into the room they were standing in. With all the potential Wraiths witnesses dead and the alliance having served its purpose, Karza redirected the Cloud to target the Presence herself, sealing it within her realm and causing her to rapidly age. With his goals accomplished, Karza separated himself from Rom and returned the Space Knight's power. Returning to Microspace, Karza claimed credit for banishing the Entropy Cloud, causing him to be hailed as a messiah. Gods and Monsters
When Karza detected a cosmic threat in the larger universe, he marshalled his army in the event it endangered Microspace. Transition
Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline where the Micronauts returned to Microspace not long after Karza, he personally defeated the crew's Acroyear and reconnected with Larissa, giving her a suit of armor resembling his own. Micronauts Annual 2017
Aw Yeah Revolution!
Ruling over Microspace alongside his friend Andromeda, Baron Karza was an avid fan of various Hasbro characters, most notably his personal hero Snake-Eyes, and collected comics detailing their adventures. On one occasion, the Baron opted to travel to Earth so as to steal the Orbsah Gem , kidnapping Rom and Snake-Eyes along the way. After stealing the gem, Karza absconded with Optimus Prime, planning to use the mysterious gem to claim their various powers for his own. Aw Yeah Revolution! #1 He was opposed by the Micronauts, who recognized that the presence of the comparatively gargantuan figures would destabilize their universe, and despite coopting Optimus Prime's powers to clobber Biotron, his captives were freed; though Karza escaped through a nearby portal, Optimus caught him as he left, and the two wound up near a Cobra base. Karza promptly teamed up with the human supervillains, who defeated the Autobot leader and reprogrammed him into a Cobra warrior, and thanks to the temporal distortion between Microspace and the regular universe, the Micronauts arrived too late to stop him. Aw Yeah Revolution! #2
Though Rom, G.I. Joe and the Micronauts took on Optimus and were able to restore him to his senses, Karza used the Orbsah Gem to grow to a colossal size, unaware that this new shape put him directly in the path of an oncoming asteroid full of Dire Wraiths, knocking him flat on his back. Acroyear took advantage of this to seize the gem and return Karza to normal, and though Karza attempted to battle his foe they were both banished back to Microspace by Destro, who had taken control of the Orbsah Gem in the interim. Aw Yeah Revolution! #3
When Worlds Collide
Baron Karza was one of the many villains who joined Megatron when the Decepticon leader stole the Matrix of Leadership, facing off against Acroyear. When Worlds Collide
Toys
Revolution
- Revolution Set (SDCC Gift Set, 2017)
- Released as part of a San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive set, Baron Karza is one of the nine tiny non-articulated Micronauts mini-figures, along with Acroyear, Quin-Tillus, Phenolo-Phi, Oberon, Biotron, Xant, Betatron, and Gammatron.
- They were packed with several other Hasbro Universe action figures: Jetfire, Matt Trakker of M.A.S.K., Action Man, Visionaries' Leoric, Roadblock of G.I. Joe, and Rom and a Dire Wraith.
Notes
- Clancy Brown would have voiced Karza in the cancelled Micronauts animated series.