Ursa Major (comics)

Ursa Major
Art from X-Men 198 Files 0.N.E.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Incredible Hulk #258 (Apr 1981)
Created by	Bill Mantlo (writer) Sal Buscema (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Winter Guard Soviet Super-Soldiers Siberforce
Notable aliases	Большая Медведица (Bolsaja Medvedica, "Great Bear"), Major Ursus
Abilities	As a humanoid bear: Superhuman strength, stamina, senses and resistance to injury Non-retractable claws

Ursa Major (Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus) is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.

His first appearance was in Incredible Hulk #258, and the character was created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

Born in Blagoveshchensk, Mikhail Ursus was one of the first known mutants born in the Soviet Union in the 20th Century to survive past childhood. Up until the time of his birth, the Soviet government had killed all mutants at the first manifestation of their superhuman powers. In Mikhail's case this was at a young age and he was abandoned in the mountains, growing up amongst the animals of the forest and presumably using his shape-changing power to survive.

Due to the efforts of scientist Piotr Phobos, the government was made to see the potential value of superhumans serving the state and Phobos soon opened a private school to train mutants. Mikhail Ursus was among the first of the many mutants trained by Professor Phobos. Unknown to both his students and the Soviet government, Phobos had built a device to siphon off energy from his students to give himself artificial powers of his own. The process tended to kill the subjects after a time, and Phobos explained their deaths as training casualties. When the second Red Guardian discovered Phobos's scheme, he managed to overpower her and went into hiding, but not before giving two of his students, Darkstar and Vanguard, graduation 'gifts' through which he could continue to siphon their power.

Following certain field work, Mikhail, Darkstar and Vanguard (the three best-trained students of Phobos's school) were reunited and organized by the government into the elite Soviet Super-Soldiers, a team of Soviet government agents. Ursus was given the code name Ursa Major (though he is also known as 'Major Ursus'). The first mission of the Soviet Super-Soldiers was to investigate the contained radioactive area of Khystym known as the Forbidden Zone and to stop the Presence. There they encountered the Hulk, and discovered that their former teacher Professor Phobos was engaged in a project to radioactively contaminate all of the Soviet Union in order to foster the birth of more mutants whose powers he could eventually siphon. The Soviet Super-Soldiers, aided by the Hulk, thwarted Phobos's plan and brought him before the government to stand trial.