Count Nefaria
Count Nefaria is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents[hide] |
Biography
Origin
Luchino Nefaria was the descendant of a long line of Italian noblemen who had inherited a vast fortune. A man of unusual tastes, he dressed in the fashions of noblemen of much earlier in the century yet Nefaria was also fascinated with technological advances and throughout his life commissioned scientists to create inventions that were far in advance of contemporary science. In time, he came to grow into a powerful criminal figure and senior head within the ranks of the Maggia that was a notorious international crime syndicate which had its origins in southern Europe. As a young man, Nefaria quickly made himself a powerful force in the Maggia through the offering of large sums of money to established Maggiosi, the financing of major criminal operations for the Maggia in return for shares of power, the advanced weaponry his scientists devised for him, and his own immense talent for criminal strategy. (Avengers v1 #13)
At some point, he was noted to have had a daughter named Giulietta Nefaria though he would have her being taken in by a Maggia agent named Byron Frost. The man would handle the financial affairs of the Maggia and was responsible for raising Giulietta who grew up as Whitney Frost. (Iron Man v1 #8)
After the death of Byron Frost, Whitney Frost came to mourn her 'father' only for him to leave behind a video confession revealing her true parentage to her. (Iron Man v1 #8)
Avengers
By this point, Maggia operations came to be disrupted by the Avengers causing Nefaria to punish the head of operations in the U.S. region. He then decided to turn his attention to dealing with the team of superheroes. Count Nefaria came to use his wealth to move his castle stone-by-stone to the U.S. in order to serve as his base in the country. Nefaria even invited the Avengers to attend the grand opening, which the heroes agreed to because Nefaria had announced all the profits would go to charity. In reality, Nefaria had his castle rebuilt with several high-tech inventions of Maggia design. Apart from his Electro-system, he had special rooms prepared with covert time-transcender beams that would freeze whoever they hit in suspended animation while also creating copies under Nefaria's control. The count planned to copy the Avengers and use these 'clones' to discredit the heroes. The Avengers showed up at Nefaria's castle for the opening day ceremonies, accompanied by Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade. Luchino warmly greeted the heroes, ushering them inside and showing them their rooms they could use to freshen up before the official opening would commence. The Brigade was told to stay outside, while the Avengers entered their individual rooms and were quickly taken over and copied thanks to Nefaria's time-transcender. Safe behind his control panel, more than content to pull the strings from afar, he sent his Avengers copies to the Pentagon where they announced they'd be taking control of the U.S. government effective immediately. The Avengers showed up at Nefaria's castle for the opening day ceremonies, accompanied by Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade. Luchino warmly greeted the heroes, ushering them inside and showing them their rooms they could use to freshen up before the official opening would commence. The Brigade was told to stay outside, while the Avengers entered their individual rooms and were quickly taken over and copied thanks to Nefaria's time-transcender. Safe behind his control panel, more than content to pull the strings from afar, he sent his Avengers copies to the Pentagon where they announced they'd be taking control of the U.S. government effective immediately. Thanks to Nefaria's machinations, the Avengers were branded traitors to their country and within hours the media had picked up the news, turning the entire nation against them. At the same time, the Teen Brigade were tired of waiting outside Nefaria's castle and snuck inside, only to be quickly spotted and tossed into one of the castle's padlocked cells. Nefaria shut off the time-transcender and sold the Avengers a fake story about unforeseen circumstances that forced him to postpone the official opening for a day. (Avengers v1 #13)
Slightly annoyed, the Avengers agreed to return tomorrow if their schedule permitted it. However, as soon as they left the castle they inexplicably found themselves under attack by the U.S. army and airforce. The Avengers eventually escaped the military and retreated to their emergency headquarters where they first realized what had turned the country against them. They concluded the current crisis was tied to their visit to Castle Nefaria, as well as the disappearance of the Teen Brigade and decided to return to New Jersey to investigate. Count Nefaria intercepted a makeshift radiosignal sent by the Teen Brigade from their prison. He ordered the youths moved to Dungeon K, which was a small, mechanical cell outfitted with suction cups containing a paralyzing paste. Nefaria trapped the Teen Brigade, causing the cell to slowly close in on itself until the Teen Brigade could not move an inch without touching the cups. He mocked them with the antidote that was only a few feet away, explaining that he had one rule: he would never hurt anyone directly. If Rick or the others got injured, it would be of their own doing because they touched the cups. The Avengers attacked Nefaria's castle, but only Captain America was able to get inside to free the Teen Brigade. He sent them out while he went to look for Nefaria. Nefaria quickly captured Captain America again using the Time-Transcender. He had the Avenger taken to Dungeon G where Cap was chained up. Nefaria mocked the Captain, telling him the authorities would thank him for his assistance for having captured the supposedly treasonous hero. He decided he would have himself given superhuman powers greater than those of virtually any other human being. Nefaria formed the second Lethal Legion, consisting of the Living Laser, the original, criminal Power Man, and the Whirlwind. Nefaria then had professor Klaus Sturdy, former chief assistant to Baron Heinrich Zemo, increase these three criminals’ powers for roughly an hour, and sent them to battle their old enemies, the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #13)
Nefaria Protocols
Siege
At some point, he was in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody where he came to be imprisoned at the Raft prison facility. He came to be one of the many supervillain criminals that were freed after Electro helped instigate a prison break. (New Avengers v1 #2)
Sin's Past
Gang War
Overview
Personality and attributes
It was remarked that Nefaria was a good-looking man. (Avengers v1 #13)
Growing up, Nefaria was taught to believe it was his family's birthright to command power and respect, since it had been that way for generations. Over time, Nefaria assumed his place as head of the European Maggia. (Avengers v3 #33)
He claimed to be capable of stopping anyone that challenged him. (Avengers v1 #13)
Count Nefaria was noted to have had a daughter who was named Giulietta Nefaria. However, she was raised by a Maggia agent where she grew up as Whitney Frost where she was unaware of her heritage until adulthood. (Iron Man v1 #8)
Powers and abilities
The world came to know him as Europe's wealthiest nobleman. (Avengers v1 #13)
He was a taciturn criminal mastermind who was easily able to turn the American public and the world over against the Avengers in their first meeting. (Avengers v1 #13)
One device he had made was a machine capable of creating electro-images that were perfect virtual copies of a person that could be projected anywhere. Typically, he used this as a means of communicating with other people by projecting a copy of a person or himself. However, he could equally use these electro-images to frame people and turn others against them. (Avengers v1 #13)
A group of scientists in Norway who he funded had invented a machine, which could be used to psychically manipulate the dreams of a chosen target. So powerful was this manipulation that if the machine's target died in their dream, they would die in real life. (Tales of Suspense v1 #67)
Nefaria was shown to operate from a regal castle that was located half-way around the world. (Avengers v1 #13)
He was noted for being the leader of the Maggia that was a world-wide crime cartel. Count Nefaria was said to be the most powerful crime lord on Earth. (Avengers v1 #13) Nefaria also has access to vast amounts of technology, munitions, and gadgetry developed by his Research and Development department. (Tales of Suspense v1 #67)
Through Maggia science, he came to engineer a team of superpowered animal/human hybrids known as the Ani-Men that came to serve him. (X-Men v1 #94)
Notes
- Count Nefaria was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 #13 (February, 1965)
Alternate Versions
- In House of M: Masters of Evil v1 #3 (2009), an alternate version of Count Nefaria appeared in the House of M reality that was designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. Leader of the Maggia, Luchino Nefaria was slaughtered by Magneto's Sentinels.
- In Avengers of the Wasteland v1 #2 (2020), an alternate version of Count Nefaria appeared in the Wastelands reality that was designated as Earth-807128 in the Multiverse. This version participated in the villain takeover of the world that was enacted by the Red Skull which saw many of the planets superheroes being killed. Set fifty years later, the older Count Neferia was a drunk who was without purpose in a world without superheroes. During this time, he was approached by Doctor Doom where Nefaria begged to be put out of his misery and the master of Latveria complied by murdering him.
In other media
Television
- In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Count Nefaria appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Russell Roberts. Count Luchino Nefaria was the leader of the Maggia criminal organisation where his main weapon of choice was a sports a cane that shot electricity. He came to hire the Killer Shrike and Unicorn to kidnap Tony Stark. They were both defeated with the help of Jim Rhodes and the Iron Man Armor. Nefaria's main enforcer was the Black Knight, who along with Maggia enforcers had a negotiation with the Mandarin. During the negotiation, they caught Pepper Potts snooping around the meeting area. Iron Man arrived and a fight between the Maggia and the The Tong breaks out. When Pepper tries to maneuver through the fight, Count Nefaria orders his men to catch her. Gene Khan, who is the current Mandarin, ends up saving Pepper as Count Nefaria ends up getting word that the police are approaching. Count Nefaria and Black Knight were both eventually arrested alongside his Maggia enforcers. Later, Count Nefaria and his henchmen rob a bank when the Guardsmen, Force, and Shockwave appear. Count Nefaria knocks down Force and Shockwave, but is later defeated by Iron Man. It was later revealed by Pepper Potts to Tony Stark after hacking into the FBI Database that Force and Shockwave worked for the Maggia, but this was before the were outfitted with the Guardsmen armor by Obadiah Stane which meant to Tony that Force and Shockwave had Count Nefaria fake a bank heist.
Films
- In Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, Count Nefaria appeared in the animated film where he was not voiced in the setting. He was shown as being a member of Leviathan.
Video games
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Count Nefaria appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1965)
- X-Men v1:
- Tales of Suspense v1:
- Thunderbolts v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
