Gor-Tok was a prince of a once-great civilization that had been existent many more years than the "Outer World," the normal world above ground. They were a great warrior tribe who won many wars. There were groups of them throughout the thousands of miles of caverns below ground. As his father was planning to take an army above ground to conquer the people there, a great earthquake destroyed all of the underground civilization and killed all its people save for him. The quake caused him to become mutated by radiation, which made him inhuman in appearance. He believed the world above him was the cause of the destruction of his people and believed it was his duty to avenge his people. The earthquake was caused by Dr. Hunt who had invented a machine capable of causing seismic tremors.[1] He first confronted Iceman and the Beast in a subway tunnel where he eventually escaped into an underground cavern. He originally had amnesia, but while exploring the caverns, he regained his memories. He then sought to use the earthquake machine to destroy the whole Earth even if it caused him to lose his life in the process.[1] He then confronted the X-Men, while using Dr. Hunt's machine. The X-Men succeeded in defeating him as the machine exploded. It seemed at the time that the blast had killed him. The X-Men believed that Charles Xavier had sacrificed his own life to stop Grotesk.[3] Later, Gor-Tok tried to steal the Cavorite crystal and with it, destroy the world, thereby exacting his revenge on humanity.[4] Ms. Marvel appeared to battle him but failed in preventing him from obtaining the crystal. Carol Danvers, while out on a date on the beach, discovered Grotesk trying to use a high-intensity laser to activate the crystal's matrix interface. This time, Carol Danvers, now in the form of Ms. Marvel, was able to stop Grotesk, appearing to kill him.[5] However, Grotesk later resurfaced when an alliance comprised of subterranean Moloids, Tyrannoids, and Lava Men burst through the city street, and the Avengers assembled to drive them back underground. Pursuing their opponents, the heroes encountered the Mole Man, Tyrannus, and Grotesk (the latter now the ruler of the Lava Men not transformed by the passing of Cha'sa'dra), who revealed that they and their followers were not attacking the surface world, but rather fleeing the attacking Deviants, from whom they had long ago purloined their advanced technology. No sooner did Captain America and the Black Widow go to summon aid than their teammates were besieged by the Deviant leader Brutus and his mutate creations, while their new subterranean allies retreated to await the battle's outcome. Ultimately, the Avengers were taken captive by their foes.[6] Grotesk held Donald Blake hostage, while his enslaved Lava Men pushed the Living Rock to the surface, where it would explode and devastate the world. Thor arrived to help but was outnumbered until the Godpack arrived. With their help, Thor defeated Grotesk and destroyed the Living Rock.[7] The energies of the Living Rock had destroyed Grotesk's body, but his disembodied spirit still lived on. The Lava Men were able to transfer said spirit within impenetrable mystical armor. Grotesk the Lava Men against the X-Men in San Francisco. Pixie attempted to teleport through his armor's force field and was almost killed. Nightcrawler noted that his own powers were not mystical in nature. He easily teleported through Grotesk's force field and removed the helmet of the villain. With his armor open, the spirit of Grotesk dissipated.[8]
