The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams, and made his first appearance in The X-Men #59 (August 1969).
After being bitten by mutant pterodactyls, Lykos was transformed into an energy vampire, able to absorb the life force of others through touch.
If Lykos absorbs the life force of mutants, he transforms into a humanoid Pteranodon, gaining increased strength and speed in the process.
Throughout his history, Sauron has often been depicted as inhabiting the hidden prehistoric jungle of the Savage Land and as an enemy of the X-Men.
[7] To get around this problem, Thomas and Adams tweaked his appearance to that of the most bat-like animal they could think of—a pterodactyl—which in turn led them to have Sauron inhabit the hidden prehistoric jungle of the Savage Land.
He found himself repeatedly tempted to use his new power, feeling that he needed to drain life energy from other humans or animals to survive.
Absorbing Havok's mutant energy transformed him into a vampiric, pterodactyl-like monster with human intelligence and superhuman hypnotic powers.
Tolkien's villain (also reminiscent of the word saurus, Latin for lizard),[8] and battled the X-Men, as a would-be conqueror.
Phoenix tried to engage Sauron on the Astral Plane, but it was Lykos' personality who prevailed, making a suicide leap into the abyss of his own mind, taking his hated alter ego with him.
[volume & issue needed] After being imprisoned in the Raft for refusing to participate in any more Weapon X assignments, Sauron escaped during a jailbreak concocted by the Skrulls.
Sauron had absorbed Wolverine's regenerative healing factor and recovered from his injury, just in time to be soundly defeated by the New Avengers.
[21] Amphibius later tells Sauron and the other Savage Land Mutates that Magneto's Asteroid M has risen from the sea, but they did not want to go find him.
Upon learning why the Savage Land Mutates were on the ship, Karma told Worm, Sauron, Barbarus and Lupo that they were in charge of Asteroid M and Magneto.
[24] Sauron later collaborates with Stegron in a plan to turn humanity into dinosaurs, battling Spider-Man and the mutant students from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
The duo's plans are unraveled by their own infighting, purposely exacerbated by their shared attraction to Shark-Girl, who caused their powers to neutralize each other.
By the time he confronts the Scarlet Spider, Lykos has developed his powers to the point where he can store mutant energy to transform on his own.
[volume & issue needed] Sauron additionally possesses fire breath, hypnosis via eye contact, and the ability to expel concussive energy bursts from his hands.
[30][31][32][33] An alternate universe variant of Sauron from Earth-58163 appears in House of M. This version is a guard at Magneto's palace on Genosha.
[42] Comic Book Resources (CBR) named him as the 8th top X-Men villain they would like to see in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.