One of three brothers raised in Naga Hills, India, the boy who would become Pagan displayed great strength in his youth. Unfortunately, a sickness swept through his village, claiming the lives of many, including the boy and his brother. The boy's life force (and that of his brother) were absorbed into the body of the boy's second brother, who grew up to become Jonathan Tremont, founder of the religious Triune Understanding. Years later, Tremont obtained a shard of purifying light, formed by the universe itself in response to the Triple-Evil that had destroyed many worlds. Using the shard, Tremont resurrected both of his brothers in physical form using the life forces he had absorbed. As part of a smear campaign against the newly-returned
Avengers, Jonathan Tremont sent the intelligent brother (now known as the mindlessly enraged Pagan) to cause a ruckus in New York. Just as Tremont had planned, the Avengers arrived on the scene and battled Pagan, who managed to make them look foolish by burrowing underground and escaping their clutches. He later burst from the ground while the Avengers were visiting the Triune Understanding, prompting another battle between himself and the Avengers. During this battle, the Avengers were made to look even more foolish when their enemy
Lord Templar (secretly the second brother of Tremont) arrived and flew Pagan into space. Templar and Pagan later showed up to battle the Avengers at the home of Mrs. Chandler, widow of the supposedly deceased 3-D Man. When the Avengers were needed elsewhere,
Photon managed to cut the battle short by phasing through Pagan's body, draining him of his Tremont-based energies. Some time later, when the Avengers and Tremont were captured by the Triple-Evil, Jonathan released Pagan and Templar from his body to combat the Evil. As the battle progressed, Tremont became drunk with power and began absorbing the life forces of his followers into himself. He soon drained the life forces of Lord Templar and Pagan as well, and set out to obtain the other shards of purifying light. Triathlon managed to draw Tremont's power into himself using his own shard, defeating Tremont.