A villain published by
Marvel Comics. Sauron first appeared in
Uncanny X-Men #59.
Karl Lykos was on a visit to Tierra del Fuego in southern Argentina, when he was
attacked by pterodactyls. These creatures from the past had escaped from the
confines of the Savage Land in Antarctica. The bite somehow triggered a
change in Lykos, who now had the ability to drain the life energy from people.
Lykos required this energy to live and continued to feed on people for his own
survival.
One day, Lykos began to drain the unique energy of a mutant and the additional
difference in the energy caused Lykos to transform into a pterodactyl-like
human. Driven by a deep hatred of all things mammalian, this new creature began
to call itself Sauron, in hopes of striking fear into the hearts of those who heard
its name. Little did the lizard-brained beast realize that this name would
strike fear in only those with really active imaginations, who had read Tolkien,
while a name like Blood Lizard would scare the bejeezus out of the literate and
illiterate alike.
But Sauron had very little to worry about in the frightening the crap out of
the masses department. Looking like a cross between a pterodactyl and a man,
Sauron had massive leathery wings under his arms, razor sharp claws, a
nasty attitude, and a pair of indestructible pants. He also possessed the ability to hypnotize people with his
gaze, placing him under his complete control. Where as most people would use
this ability to make people act like a chicken in a comedy club, Sauron used the
ability to cause people to attack each other.
Sauron clashed with the mutant X-Men on a number of occassions always being beaten
back and often times returned to his form as Karl Lykos. At one point, he was
believed to be cured from ever becoming Sauron again, but through the work of
Mortimer Toynbee, the mutant known as the Toad and others, Lykos again became
Sauron and joined Toynbee and others in the newest incarnation of the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.