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real name: Frederick Dukes

group affiliation: formerly x-cell, x-corps, brotherhood of evil mutants, freedom force, factor three

first appearance: x-men #3 (1964)

abilities: blob could create a mono-directional gravity field extending five feet from his center of balance, rendering himself virtually immovable as long as he was in contact with the ground.




narrative profile

Believing himself a freak following the manifestation of his mutant nature, Fred Dukes used his newfound abilities as a carnival performer, earning him the nickname “the Blob.” Detecting Dukes’s mutant status, Charles Xavier sent his X-Men to invite Dukes to meet with him and he accepted, mostly due to an attraction to the beautiful young X-Man Jean Grey. While visiting the X-Men’s mansion home, Dukes was invited to join the team; but he arrogantly refused, believing himself superior to them. Xavier decided to wipe the knowledge of the X-Men from Dukes’ mind, but Dukes escaped back to the carnival, took it over, and led his fellow performers to attack the X-Men. They were defeated, and Xavier wiped their memories of the incident as well as the Blob’s knowledge of the X-Men.

Later, Magneto offered Dukes membership in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. A blow to the head restored Dukes’s memories of the X-Men and he accepted Magneto’s offer, joining the Brotherhood in attacking the X-Men; however, during the battle, Magneto sent a barrage of torpedoes at the X-Men, not caring that Dukes was in the way. Uninjured but feeling betrayed, Dukes quit the Brotherhood and returned to the carnival. Dukes subsequently met fellow mutant Unus the Untouchable, and under subliminal commands from Xavier’s enemy Lucifer, the pair attempted to frame the X-Men as thieves. The duo became fast friends and went on to join Factor Three, an organization that sought world conquest; but the X-Men soon convinced the Blob and his teammates that their leader, the Mutant Master, was merely using them, and the two groups joined forces to unmask him as an extraterrestrial subversive before the defeated Mutant Master killed himself.

Soon after, the Blob was among those mutants captured by Larry Trask’s giant robotic Sentinels, but was freed after the X-Men defeated them. Reforming the Brotherhood with Unus and Mastermind, they were contacted by the power-dampening mutant Krueger, who had captured some X-Men and was hoping to sell them to the Brotherhood. Dukes had Mastermind create illusory money to fool Krueger, and sought revenge on the X-Men by trapping them in an illusory circus; however, the ruse collapsed after Krueger arrived to confront the Brotherhood over their treachery, and the X-Men defeated the villains. Escaping custody, Blob’s Brotherhood next attempted to fool the Beast into believing he had killed Iron Man, thus manipulating him into joining them. After realizing the truth, the Beast single-handedly defeated them.

Dukes was subsequently approached by the psionic being Onslaught, who augmented his powers in exchange for his servitude. Teaming up with the power-copying Mimic, Dukes battled the female members of X-Force but was defeated by Meltdown, who threatened to explode a plasma ball inside his body. After Onslaught was defeated, both Dukes and the Mimic offered their services to the “favor trader” Sledge, who in turn granted them better control of their abilities.

After a clash with the mutant mercenary Maverick, Dukes formed a new Brotherhood consisting of himself, Mimic, Post, and Toad. On the run from the nanite-mutated computer Cerebro, Blob’s Brotherhood broke Xavier out of a government facility so he could train them to better oppose Cerebro. After helping the X-Men against Cerebro, Blob’s Brotherhood was recruited by Mystique to recover the head of X-51, the Machine Man. After that failed mission, Dukes attempted to hijack an armored car on his own but was defeated by Spider-Man. Mystique then assumed leadership of the Brotherhood, and sent them to attempt another assassination of Kelly, but they again failed due to the intervention of the X-Men and a dying Pyro, who sacrificed himself to save Kelly.

He subsequently joined the army of mutants Magneto was amassing on the island nation of Genosha, but they were defeated by the X-Men. Later, Dukes and his former teammate Avalanche were among those mutants forcibly recruited into the paramilitary X-Corps group, led by former X-Man Banshee, until it disbanded following infiltration by Mystique. After he was overlooked for a new Brotherhood formed by Magneto’s former Acolyte Exodus, an aimless Dukes consulted psychologist Sean Garrison, who convinced him to be true to himself. Believing that “truth” lay in opposing the X-Men, Dukes went to the Xavier Institute only to find the X-Men absent. He attacked nonetheless, but was defeated by the students and taken into custody.

When the world was restored to normal after the Scarlet Witch’s reality warp, Dukes was horrified to discover that he had been stripped of his mutant powers, resulting in tremendous folds of skin hanging loosely off his frame. Distraught, Dukes attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a knife; but due to his excess skin, he was unable to get the blade close enough.

Someone that resembles the Blob was apprehended by the Thunderbolts and was seen in the Folding Castle Detention Quadrant.

Blob later resurfaces as a member of the X-Cell, a group of depowered mutants who attack Mutant Town in defiance of the Decimation. After mistakenly getting into a fight with Rictor and Multiple Man and getting in a cheap shot on Rictor, he stole a car. With fellow X-Cell member, Fatale, he attempted to flee, eventually hitting an open manhole (left open earlier in the day by Strong Guy and Wolfsbane) and causing the car to crash leaving Blob hanging from the car. When both of them ran afoul of Marrow, Blob was thrown from the car.

source: marvel.com

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real name: unrevealed

group affiliation: former employee of black tarantula, former employee of general coy

first appearance: wolverine #4 (1989)

abilities: can absorb the life forces of others by touch, withering them to a mummy-like state as they bleed uncontrollably from the point they were touched




narrative profile

Born in the mid-16th Century, the man who would become Bloodscream was a naval surgeon in Sir Francis Drake's armada. Mortally wounded in battle, he was taken by Drake to a sorcerer named Dagoo to save his life but was instead transformed into a vampire-like creature. Doomed to a macabre existence, Bloodscream learned his condition could only be reversed with an elixir distilled from the blood of a man who does not age. Bloodscream set out to locate such a man and became a soldier, hoping to encounter fellow immortals on the battlefield.

After centuries of combat, Bloodscream fought in the Battle of Normandy in 1944 during which he encountered a Canadian soldier named Logan. Decades later, Bloodscream joined the Asgardian brawler Roughouse as enforcers for the crimelord General Coy on the island nation of Madripoor. Under Coy's orders, the pair clashed with rival crimelord Tyger Tiger and her ally Logan, now the mutant adventurer Wolverine. Seeing that his foe had not aged since their last encounter, Bloodscream believed he could use Wolverine’s blood in his elixir. After numerous encounters with Wolverine, they had what was almost their final encounter in the snowy wilderness of Canada. After draining the blood from his cybernetic partner Cylla, Bloodscream faced Wolverine (who was virtually powerless after his last encounter with Magneto), but was unaware of the weapon which Wolverine had in his possession, the demonically-forged Honor Sword of the Clan Yashida. Wolverine ran him down on his motorcycle and apparently killed the centuries-old vampire with the sword.

However, Bloodscream survived by draining nearby life energy and subsequently allied himself with the sorcerer Belasco. After clashing with the team of mutant adventurers known as the X-Men, whose number included Wolverine, Bloodscream was sucked into another dimension. Returning to Earth under unrevealed circumstances, Bloodscream was reunited with Roughouse. The pair were recruited as enforcers by the South American crimelord named the Black Tarantula who set them against both Wolverine and the costumed crimefighter Spider-Man.
Later, Bloodscream came under the control of the cannibalistic sorcerer Mauvais. Alongside the savage criminal Vermin, he again fought Wolverine but met defeat once more. Mauvais was subsequently exiled into the dimension of the Great Beasts of Canada, presumably freeing Bloodscream from his control..

source: marvel.com

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real name: amora

group affiliation: masters of evil, mandarin's minions, lady liberators

first appearance: journey into mystery #103 (1964)

abilities: near-ageless, superhuman physique of a typical asgardian goddess




narrative profile

The Enchantress' parentage is unknown, though it is known she has a sister by the name of Lorelei. In time, Amora became one of the more powerful magic-wielders in Asgard, with her magical arsenal focused on (but not limited to) charming and mind-controlling people. Her by now well renowned beauty did not hinder in this.

Amora has devoted her immortal life to the pursuit of power and pleasure, using sorcery and sexuality as her tools. Born into the Asgardian gods, Amora studied under the mighty sorceress Karnilla The Norn Queen, who ultimately expelled her for being too undisciplined. Amora went on to study under many other Asgardian mages, often seducing them to learn their secrets. By the time she reached adulthood, Amora was a powerful sorceress, famous for her beauty and infamous for her heartless scheming. An early alliance with the warrior goddess Brunnhilde the Valkyrie ended with Amora trapping Brunnhilde's soul, using the Valkyrie's vacated form as a shell for herself and various pawns to inhabit over the centuries that followed. Brunnhilde would eventually return, becoming one of Amora's bitterest enemies.

Amora's longest-serving pawn was Skurge the Executioner. Skurge was madly in love with Amora, who granted him just enough affection to ensure his loyalty. The two pursued many schemes together, often coming into conflict with the thunder god Thor and his mortal comrades, the Avengers. When Skurge eventually sacrificed his life aiding Thor in an heroic rescue mission, Amora mourned him with a genuine grief that surprised everyone, including the Enchantress herself.

Other smitten pawns such as the original Power Man (Erik Josten) and a new, human Executioner (Brute Benhurst) never served the Enchantress quite so well as Skurge, and were soon abandoned. Pardoned in recent years after helping defend Asgard against Surtur, Amora has had an on-and-off romantic link with her longtime foe Thor, to whom she was drawn even more strongly after he inherited the throne of Asgard. As Thor's ally, advisor and sometime lover, Amora has been a prominent figure in Thor's Asgard. Sadly, Amora was among the many Asgardians apparently slain when Thor's brother Loki led a revolt in fulfillment of the Ragnarok prophecies. Whether she will rise again remains to be seen.

source: marvel.com

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real name: norman osborn

group affiliation: sinister twelve, hellfire club, cabal of scrier

first appearance: amazing spider-man #14 (1964)

abilities: super-human strength (lifting 9 tons under optimal conditions), increased speed, reflexes, endurance, and healing rate due to goblin formula



narrative profile

Ruthless industrialist Norman Osborn was the co-owner of a leading New York firm, Osborn Industries, which specialized in chemical manufacturing via Osborn Chemicals, as well as other areas of research and development, including robotics. His wife Emily died within a year after the birth of their son Harry, leaving Norman embittered. The product of an oppressively stern upbringing by an alcoholic father who lost the family fortune, Norman raised Harry dispassionately, often devoid of fatherly warmth, being chafed by Harry's failure to demonstrate academic excellence or a competitive drive. Despite living in reacquired opulence, Harry felt depressed and neglected by his father. Unbeknownst to Harry, Norman had risen in power by participating in a collusion enabling the creation of powerful opponents to challenge the super-hero community, thereby offering corrupt corporations a means to distract the heroes from probing into their affairs. One failure in this regard involved using Osborn Industries employee Nels Van Adder as a human test subject, transforming him into the disfigured "Protogoblin." Osborn dodged accusations of wrongdoing from his head of security, Arthur Stacy, and his brother Detective George Stacy. He discovered the notes of his business partner, Professor Mendel Stromm, for a strength-enhancing serum. Stromm was jailed after Norman had him arrested for embezzling funds, allowing Osborn to gain full control of the firm. Osborn tested the serum upon himself in his private lab, but the unstable concoction exploded in his face leaving him hospitalized for weeks. He emerged smarter and superhumanly strong, but at the cost of his sanity. (After Harry's death, Spider-Man discovered recordings in which Harry claimed to have been responsible for the serum exploding, bitter at being neglected by his father; however, Harry suffered mentally instability at the time of these recollection; the veracity of this claim is unknown.)

The amnesia proved to be only temporary however and Osborn relapsed into his Goblin persona twice more only to be defeated by Spider-Man each time. After helping rescue Peter Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy and her father, retired police captain George Stacy, from a kidnapping by the Kingpin, Osborn had a brief affair with Gwen which resulted in an unusually rapid pregnancy and secret birth of twins, Gabriel and Sarah. Though Gwen left the twins in the care of Osborn's people in France, Gwen refused to give Norman custody of the twins, fearing that the fate of Norman's son, Harry - mentally deteriorating and turning to illegal hallucinogenic drugs - would befall her own children. Osborn threatened Gwen, but she insisted that she would tell Peter the truth. Gwen believed Peter would marry her and raise the twins, trusting that Parker's love for her would oversee her failings. This prompted the third emergence of Norman's dark side, propelling what would be one of the darkest hours in Spider-Man's career. In a strike against both Gwen and Spider-Man, the Green Goblin kidnapped Gwen and took her to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. In an act of brutality during a melee with Spider-Man, the Goblin threw Gwen from the bridge. Spider-Man attempted to save her but she had already died during the fall. Filled with rage, Spider-Man savagely attacked the Goblin nearly killing him.

He returned to his senses at the last minute however, while the Goblin took the opportunity to attempt one final play by remotely controlling his damaged goblin glider to impale the wall crawler. Spider-Man was able to dodge the glider which instead impaled the Goblin, seemingly killing him. The nightmare was over...or at least that's what Peter thought.

Harry Osborn, Norman's son, had witnessed the apparent death of his father at the hands of Spider-Man and removed the Goblin costume before the authorities could arrive, thus preserving his secret identity. He even bribed the coroner so that further autopsy reports would show no mention of the "goblin" formula in Norman's blood. And for many years, the world believed Norman Osborn to be dead.

source: marvel.com