Kenneth Hale was a happy-go-lucky soldier of fortune. He was always risking his life for thrills, but he was actually afraid of dying. He heard of a local tribal legend from Africa that stated "If you kill the magical Gorilla-Man, you become immortal". He traveled to Africa to find the Gorilla-Man. Hale abandoned his goal at the last minute, but his encounter with the Gorilla-Man forced him to shoot. Hale then became immortal, but at the cost of becoming a Gorilla-Man himself. After operating his own team for a while, Hale retired, residing in a large treehouse near the Congo.