Arcade (Marvel)
Arcade is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Arcade
An account by him claimed that his father called him worthless and did not deserve his inheritance. The young man came to believe his father and decided to take everything from his father. On his 21st birthday, he came to murder his father which he considered cheating and took over the fortune. (Avengers Arena v1 #7) In killing his father, Arcade discovered that he had a talent and liking for murder. He therefore became an assassin, but was soon bored with killing by ordinary means, and used his great wealth to construct hidden complexes of high-tech death traps designed in the manner of an amusement park. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #148)
Arcade
The battle with Ghost Rider came when Arcade, having taken his show on the road, joins up with Blaze's Quentin Carnival; his Murderworld folded out from the back of a semi. Blaze rampages through the fold-out Murderworld, which he discovers is infested with demonic beings, destroying all the obstacles in his sight and killing what he can. He then leaves Arcade trapped in its depths. Arcade's trailer, now more normal-shaped, is driven out into the desert and abandoned. (Blaze v1 #8)
Avengers Arena
Throwing a party at his estate for his 29th birthday, Arcade learned that he was being made fun of by the super-villain community. In despair, Arcade let himself be attacked by his new assistant Miss Coriander having forgotten that he requested she kill him as a 'birthday gift'. In the hospital, Arcade admitted to Miss Coriander that he was no longer satisfied with merely playing, as he realized that 'winning is everything'. After recovering and giving Miss Coriander his Murder Island to her as severance pay, Arcade fled to his bar, The Hole, in Central Bagalia. As he sat drinking, he was burgled by one of the villains who had made fun of him which was done so by the Constrictor. However, Arcade tricked Constrictor into knocking himself out on one of the bar's hidden traps. From this incident, Arcade gained a renewed interest in his career and rehired Miss Coriander to help him create a new Murderworld in Antarctica. Miss Coriander also provided Arcade a special suit that allowed him to emulate a wide range of superpowers whilst inside Murderworld's confines. (Avengers Arena v1 #7)
Inspired by one of his favorite books, Arcade then kidnapped sixteen teenage superheroes from Avengers Academy. These included Hazmat, Mettle, X-23, Reptil, and Juston Seyfert; the Runaways' Nico Minoru and Chase Stein; Braddock Academy's Kid Briton, Anachronism, Nara, Apex, Bloodstone; and independents Red Raven, Cammi, Death Locket, and Darkhawk who were then trapped in his new Murderworld. Once there, he told them that they were trapped there for a month and would have to kill each other to survive. This, of course, caused the heroes to attack him. However, Arcade used his nanomachine-laced suit to counter their attacks. He then told them to chose the 'weak link' of the group, and that he'd kill that person first. As Hazmat continued attacking him, Arcade chose her for the group until Mettle offered himself in her place. Arcade complied, blowing him to pieces before leaving the area. (Avengers Arena v1 #1)
Arcade continued to survey his Murderworld contestants until he was attacked in his control center by Christopher Powell, Apex, and Death Locket, forcing him to flee, leaving Apex in control. He later convinced Apex to continue his murder game as part of a deal that he would make her seem like a victim and hero in the end by editing the evidence left behind. However, it was later revealed he uploaded the uncut footage to the Internet on Youtube, ruining the contestants' reputations and exposing the events that transpired to the world. (Avengers Arena v1 #18)
Arcade Industries
Having returned to Bagalia, Arcade's services were later employed by Kraven the Hunter who intended to orchestrate a Great Hunt. Enlisting Arcade, they came to use appropriated blueprints of the Planetary Defense Shield as part of this scheme. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #14) Once he was ready, Arcade sealed off Central Park and turned it into a hunting ground where numerous animal-themed criminals previously abducted by the mercenaries Taskmaster and Black Ant were confined. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #17) These criminals were hunted down by an army of Hunterbots of Arcade's creation, which were controlled remotely by a cadre of wealthy would-be hunters assembled and tricked by Kraven. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #18) The Hunterbots' pilots could not take off the VR headset used to control the drones, and any damage made to their units recoiled on their bodies to the point of risking death. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #20)
Afterwards, Arcade came to desire a low-tech version of his Murderworld but one populated by clones who die within it. The only person he felt that could provide him such entertaining clones was Mister Sinister. However, he was unable to capture him as he was a high ranking citizen of the Mutant nation of Krakoa. Thus, he decided to blackmail the resurrected Jason Wyngarde by holding his daughter Regan hostage due to an unpaid debt. He then had Mastermind bring Mister Sinister to him where he was captured with the Hellions dispatched to recover him but they too failed in the mission. Arcade then tortured Essex until he was willing to establish a clone farm for Murder World that was to use realistic hallucinations of Mastermind. (Hellions v1 #10)
Overview
Personality and attributes
However, one of his 'gimmicks' was that he always deliberately leaves each target a small chance of survival. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #124)
Powers and abilities
Among his hench people included:
- Miss Locke :
- Mr. Chambers :
- Miss Coriander :
Notes
- Arcade was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Marvel Team-Up v1 #65 (January, 1978).
Alternate Versions
- In X-Universe v1 #1 (1995), an alternate version of Arcade appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse. He was a Euro-assassin and a member of the Marauders that were a band of human terrorists who betrayed humankind and served Apocalypse in exchange for their lives. Arcade equipped himself with body armor and flying stepping disks. He was in the group with Norman Osborn, Wilson Fisk, and the Owl when they attacked Wakanda. He was killed when Clint Barton and Tony Stark dropped their cargo on him from their blimp
In other media
Television
- In X-Men: Evolution, a character named Webber Torque was based on Arcade who appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Gabe Khouth.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, Arcade appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Game Over" where he was voiced by actor Eric Bauza. This version was an technopathic Asian-American Mutant who used his abilities to lure superheroes to Madland for his own childish amusement, regardless of his actions' possible consequences.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Arcade appeared as a boss antagonist in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Quinton Flynn.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Arcade appeared as a boss antagonist in the setting of the Facebook video game.
- In Spider-Man: Edge of Time, a Marvel 2099 inspired version of Arcade appeared in the Nintendo DS version of the video game where he was voiced by actor Jim Cummings. This version controlled a cyber-arena game called Murder Galaxy which he used to hunt down and destroy heroes in front of a live audience and seeks to challenge the stranded present-day Spider-Man, only to be defeated.
Appearances
- Marvel Team-Up v1: (1978)
- Uncanny X-Men v1:
- Avengers Arena v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Hellions v1: (2021)
External Links
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