Overview

The Savage Land is a mysterious primordial habitat within the icy confines of Antarctica. A geographic anomaly, it is vestige of Earth's prehistoric past, preserved by unknown technological means to maintain a tropical ecosystem rich with flora and fauna long extinct elsewhere on the planet. Its isolation has fostered unique cultures and species, including tribes like the peaceful Fall People and the slightly more technologically advanced Sun People, alongside dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.

Prehistory

Behind the stony facades of megalithic structures can be found traces of advanced civilizations that came and fell long before the modern era. Whether the technology is terrestrial or extraterrestrial is a question whose answer has been lost to time, though elders of most tribes still tell tales of lost Atlantis as a potential origin. The Citadel claimed by Magneto was one such ancient vestige of a time long past.

Modern Day

Before Magneto founded the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, he found his way to the Savage Land and made use of a technological marvel he found there. His efforts to create an army ultimately failed and his creations drove him out of the Savage Land circa 1980, forcing him to abandon his mad schemes.

After Asteroid M was revealed to the world in 1987, Savage Land Mutates conducted a campaign of terror against known Brotherhood members which ended in the abduction of several human researchers. The X-Men undertook a mission to the Savage Land and rescue the human researchers from their Mutate captors.

Inhabitants

Many tribes and peoples call the Savage Land home. Those with whom the X-Men have had extensive contact include:

Fall People

Primitive yet peaceful, the Fall People are the strongest allies of Ka-Zar, Son of the Tiger and Lord of the Savage Land, along with Zabu and Shanna the She-Devil. They were the heart and soul of the United Tribes who resisted the short-lived empire of Zaladane.

Swamp People

More primitive than the Fall People, the men of the Swamp People steal and kill more than build and develop. Most of the Savage Land Mutates were taken from the Swamp People, particularly Vertigo. Their Altar of Death was devastated during a rescue raid by the X-Men and Ka-Zar.

Sun People

Normally led by the peaceful King Akeem, the Sun People are often considered the dominant tribe of the Savage Land by way of their greater industry. While their technological means is below that of the developed world, they are still superior to their neighbors. Zaladane, High Priestess of Garokk, usurped the throne and spread her empire from the City of the Sun People with the Temple of the Sun as her power base. In the liberation of the Savage Land, the statue of Garokk was destroyed, putting the tribe's religious tradition into question.

Aerians

Isolated in their remote mountain peak, their lone stronghold of Aerie Shalan is far and away from the threat of most other tribes. As a result, the Aerians tend to be rather reclusive and are seldom seen outside their domain. They joined the United Tribes to resist Zaladane's empire late in the struggle and may be credited with helping turn the tide along with the X-Men. Prince Archaeo and Princess Alate brokered and honored the war treaty, participating in the attack on the City of the Sun People to overthrow Zaladane as empress.

Pterons

As reclusive as the Aerians and as hostile as the Swamp People, little is known of the Pterons other than they required little incentive to side with Zaladane in her conquest of the Savage Land. They were defeated in the war and retreated to their domain with few expectations of being seen beyond it for some time.