Iron Klaw
Count van Rani, the Iron Klaw, is the ruler of the Eastern European nation of Kalistan. Despite his rather menacing manner of dress, sinister nickname, choice to live in a giant castle, strong financial ties to shady corporations, army of brainwashed Transformers, and membership in a cabal of supervillains, we're sure he's a perfectly nice guy.
Fiction[edit | edit source]
Both British S.I.S. agent Ian Noble and American G.I. Joe operative Mayday were familiar with van Rani and his moniker of Iron Klaw. Neither of them seemed particularly impressed with him. The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb 
Iron Klaw was among the villains contacted by Baron Karza with an offer to begin working for him after he completed his conquest of Earth. Wrath of Karza #3
Count van Rani was the number two stockholder in the I.R.O.N. corporation and, as such, was responsible for choosing an interim CEO after Garrison Kreiger disappeared from the public eye. His choice was Tomax Paoli, former head of Cobra. The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb Keeping in touch with the "missing" Kreiger, van Rani provided him with a laboratory beneath Schleteva's capital city where he studied the mysterious Talisman. During a meeting he had at his Iron Castle with Kreiger and Joe Colton, van Rani showed off his mind controlled Predacons to the two gentlemen before they received word from Doctor X about a disturbance at the Schletevan facility. Ghost in the Machine
With the Iron Castle having become a makeshift base for Colton's Iron Ring, Iron Klaw met with Colton in his Baron Ironblood persona as he returned from sending Tomax on a mission to retrieve the Project: Ice Man protocols. Noticing Ironblood's distaste for Paoli and guessing that the two of them must have some history, van Rani then showed off his Predacons in a much more dramatic fashion before he was interrupted by Kreiger messaging him about Tomax's unexpected request for extraction. Later, after the Revolutionaries and Snake Eyes' infiltration of and subsequent escape from the castle, van Rani was quite displeased by the ease with which the heroes broke into their operation. The Iron Klaw
After Doctor X informed them that the M.A.S.S. Device was ready to transport Kreiger and Ironblood to the Project: Ice Man facility in Brasnya, Iron Klaw commented that he was happy to have his castle to himself again. Strange Visitors Though he'd grown tired of his castle constantly being intruded upon by Ironblood's forces, he permitted them to teleport to the castle one last time to escape the Revolutionaries, G.I. Joe, the Autobots, and the Action Man Programme in Buenos Aires. Ghost in the Machine Though he did not join Colton on his assault on Cybertron, G.I. Joe continued to monitor his activities on Earth. First Strike #2
Iron Klaw was amongst the heroes and villains gathered inside Trypticon to defend the Earth against Unicron. Unicron #5
Notes[edit | edit source]
- Iron Klaw originates as the antagonist for the... *ahem* extremely 90s G.I. Joe reboot G.I. Joe Extreme. There, von Rani (as opposed to van Rani as he is in IDW) presented himself as the benevolent ruler of Kalistan when in reality he was Iron Klaw, the vicious leader of S.K.A.R.: Soldiers of Khaos, Anarchy, and Ruin. Whether IDW van Rani's villainy is a matter of public record or not is unknown, though Action Man and Mayday's reaction to hearing his name and knowledge of his pseudonym in "The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb" may point towards the former.
- The in-universe reality show/G.I. Joe Extreme parody Survival Extreme makes references to an Iron Claw who's involved with the forces of Scar as part of the show's fiction. Whether or not Survival Extreme's more grammatically correct villain has anything to do with van Rani is unknown.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Iron Klaw at the TFWiki
