Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Otto Gunther Octavius was the son of Mary Lavinia-Octavius and Torbert Octavius. During school, he was noted for having been a shy and chubby kid who was regularly bullied with them breaking his glasses causing him to have to buy his spectacles in bulk. His father Torbert Octavius was not the warmest of people with him regularly berating his son for not standing him for himself. In contrast, his mother Mary attempted to shelter him and believed that his strength was his intellect. During high school, his faculty adviser appointed him president of the science club though this led to the other students quitting in protest at the appointment. With no social life, Otto concentrated on his studies where he progressed allowing him to go to college on a full science scholarship. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) He came to be accept into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) with his mother being proud of this achievement where quickly came to be valued by the research staff for his intellect. The young Octavius assisted his professors in work on radiation where a demonstration was conducted with a young Peter Parker bumping into him after he was pushed by some bullies. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1) During his first freshman year, his father was killed due to an accident at a construction site. This led to him being cared for by his mother alone who did not want her son to have the life of a manual labourer. She was very proud of Otto when he graduated at the top of his class. Following graduate school, he quickly established himself as a genius in the field of nuclear research. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) His fathers death seemingly did not affect him and instead he was fixated on the nuclear energy research being conducted at the school. This led to him being considered a candidate for the advanced research program with his superior believing him to be invaluable towards a project that was attracting the attention of the Defense Department. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1)
Many of his employers were said to had been incapable of recognising the great genius of Octavius thus forcing him to move from one job to another. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) During this time, a young Carolyn Trainer attended a lecturer by Octavius with the tickets provided by her father who knew she was a long-time fan of the scientist. This came when he first showcased his designs for a mechanical harness where he spoke to Carolyn. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #18) He intended to branch out the use of the arms into the medical field and approached noted surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange but the man scornfully rebuffed him. A year later, Octavius witnessed Strange living on the streets after an injury prevented him from using his hands for surgery where he was delighted at the man's misfortune. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #6)
During this time, Angelina Brancale came to work as Octavius's secretary where she fell in love with him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #427)
At the U.S. Atomic Research Center, he came to meet Mary Alice Anders where the two became infatuated with one another. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3)
Doctor Octopus
At the U.S. Atomic Research Center, he was conducting his experiments using his mechanical arms when the volatile chemicals involved exploded and led to an accident that injured Octavius. This saw him being exposed to radiation and taken to hospital where it was said that his brain had been permanently damaged in the process. In addition, the doctors found that his mechanical harness was bonded to him as a result of the radiation where his extra limbs became an extension of himself. Upon waking, Dr. Otto Octavius was kept at the hospital where he came to believe that people were jealous of his accomplishments and looking to stop him from his work. He took the staff of the hospital hostage where he forced them to gather equipment for him to continue his work. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3)
Ultimately, he was defeated by Spider-Man but had arranged for Stunner to free him when he was being transported to prison. Whilst in the armored van, the vehicle came under attack but instead of Stunner it was the mysterious assassin named Kaine. An angry Octavius attacked Kaine believing he had done something terrible to Stunner but his fury was unable to defeat his opponent. Kaine then proceeded to kill Otto Octavius and branded him with his mark on his face where he left the body for Stunner to find who mourned her love. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #221)
Civil War
He came to be one of many supervillains called by Baron Zemo Helmut Zemo to join the ranks of the Thunderbolts. (Thunderbolts v1 #104)
Ends of the Earth
During a meeting with his doctor, he came to learn that the radiation from the accident that gave him control over his mechanical limbs had resulted in a degenerative condition that was slowly killing him. He was given between a year to 18 months at most to live with Octavius refusing to pass away quietly but leave his mark on the world. Setting himself up in his lair, he constructed a suit that maintained his body whilst he linked his intellect with his Octobot machines that were dispersed into New York City. He had then take over various key locations by remotely linking to any technology as he initiated the Master Planner Program. Octavius used an image of himself before his degeneration to send a message to the city where he revealed that he had taken over the boroughs that had become an extension of himself. He offered this as a gift to the city where he intended to use his intellect to make a city governed by his unparalleled mind. However, he was unable to fully control the entire city that began to attack Spider-Man and engaged in actions such as targeting civilian to draw the Wall-Crawler into saving them. Meanwhile, he began to take hostages such as J. Jonah Jameson, Senior. along with Carlie Cooper and Norah Winters. Doctor Octopus had them placed in metallic containers with tentacles that were sent against Spider-Man. At this point, the city's heroes were looking to stop Doctor Octopus's rampage with Spider-Man managing to confront him where the hero used a device that allowed one with a stronger intellect to break the signal being generated by Octavius. This disrupted his control over the city and even his own mechanical shell leaving him vulnerable. Spider-Man then intended to arrest him but Octavius's Octobots operated on a closed system that prevented their shutdown where they saved their master and took him to safety. Otto then determined that Spider-Man would always hinder his plans and thus if he could not give a great gift to the world then he would do something terrible instead that would be remembered forever in history. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600)
With him dying, he decided that he wanted to end the world with this being his final act and thus orchestrated a careful plan to use orbital lenses to increase the temperature on the surface to the point that millions were to die. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #687) Thus, he brought together the Sinister Six where he promised to help each of them achieve their goals in exchange for their aid. They helped build a container for his ruined body to keep him alive in the coming days so that he could reach his goal. Among their first acts was attacking the Intelligencia in order to acquire their Zero Cannon. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #676)
He came to head the new incarnation of the Sinister Six as they targeted Spider-Man and the Future Foundation. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #659)
Despite his plans, he was defeated with Otto looking to die regardless but was saved by Spider-Man who took Octavius to Horizon Labs where they built a support system to keep the villain alive. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #687)
Superior Spider-Man
As Spider-Man, he responded to a robbery being performed by Boomerang who headed a gang of supervillains who called themselves the Sinister Six. This angered Octavius at having the name being used by such lowly supervillains though during the battle he tired of fighting them and looked to depart. However, for reasons unknown to him, he saved the life of a police officer who was nearly killed by a boomerang. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #1) He was later hailed a hero for recovering stolen Empire State University equipment where he was thanked by Dean Ruth Goldman and Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. Seeking to enjoy Parker's life more, Otto came to be frustrated how the duties of being a hero meant that he was called upon at sudden moments. Looking to rectify that, he began building Spider-Bots to help him in his duties as Spider-Man where he aimed to be operate smarter and more efficiently. Octavius as Peter Parker attempted to cultivate a relationship with Mary Jane Watson but his efforts failed leading to him breaking up with her. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #2) Later on, the activities of the Vulture caused Mayor Jameson to request his aid though Otto had secretly wanted to protect Toomes from being arrested. However, this changed when he found that the Vulture had been using young children as part of his henchmen where he outfitted with Vulture gear. He ultimately chased down the Vulture and badly injured him leading to his arrest by the authorities. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #3) Afterwards, he began deploying Spider-Bots to watch for any crime in the city that would alert him. He began to prioritise tasks whilst as Peter Parker he built a light-weight exo-limb to help Aunt May walk. By this point, Octavius came to learn that Peter Parker had never earned a doctorate and looked to rectify this by enrolling in E.S.U. He later received a call from Mayor Jameson that Massacre had escaped from Ravencroft and killed Ashley Kafka. This led to the Superior Spider-Man responding to the incident and looking to stop the serial killer. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #4) During this time, he as 'Peter Parker' also came to be close to Anna Maria Marconi who was helping his civilian persona get through Lamaze's class at E.S.U. Later on, his patrol app picked up Massacre who was attacking a mall with Spider-Man intervening with Otto finding himself being more heroic as he gave up the tactical advantage to save civilians. He ultimately got the drop on Massacre where he picked up the villains gun and shot him in the head thus ending the threat posed by the serial killer. In addition, his Spider-Bots found out that Massacre was being paid by the head of Mocha Cola with Otto deciding to blackmail them into giving him their money. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #5)
Spider-Man later received a call from Mayor Jameson who had been humiliated publicly by Jester and Screwball. Octavius decided to help him locating the two delinquent villains in an effort to maintain his working relationship with the Mayor's office. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #6)
Superior Octopus
Later, Otto hitched a ride to one of his old bases only to learn it had been appropriated by Hydra in his absence. Furious over this and Peter's mismanagement of Parker Industries, Otto easily defeated the intruders but was approached by Arnim Zola, who offered an alliance in order to take down Parker Industries. Accepting to gain access to Hydra's manpower and resources, Otto constructed new and upgraded tentacles as well as a new suit patterned after his Superior Spider-Man costume, rebranding himself as the Superior Octopus. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #25) Shortly before Hydra launched its conquest of the United States, the Superior Octopus arranged a meeting with Spider-Man where he revealed his new identity to him and tried to convince him to relinquish control of Parker Industries. When Peter Parker refused the deal, the Superior Octopus had Hydra agents blow up the London branch of Parker Industries. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #29) The Superior Octopus then made plans to also destroy the Shanghai branch of Parker Industries. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #30) However, Octavius was ultimately foiled when Peter had those at Shanghai destroy everything in the building, obliterating the Webware technology and ultimately taking down Parker Industries itself. Octavius used an EMP to destroy the Spider-Armor MK IV, only to be confronted with Spider-Man in his original costume. Spider-Man turned the tables on Octavius and short-circuited his tentacles, forcing him to retreat, losing his arms and mask in the process. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #31)
He later returned with him arriving at the residence of Aunt May to protect her from the Symbiote infected Normie Osborn who had been transformed by his grandfather. Octavius was driven by Parker's memories to save May from the craved child but he was wounded when the Red Goblin arrived to reclaim his grandson. Spider-Man arrived at the scene and upon seeing what Otto had done was grateful to him where he stated he intended to give Doctor Octavius a clean slate for his actions. After his recovery, he created the identity of Elliot Tolliver and joined Max Modell's Horizon University as a member of the staff. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
He came to operate as a superhero in San Francisco with him stopping burglaries yet giving an ultimatum to villains whereby he paid them to act as his agents. During this time, he continued to operate at Horizon University as he was determined to keep Maria Marconi safe whilst improving his reputation as a superhero. Around this time, Arnim Zola attempted to bring Octavius back into being an agent of Hydra with Otto refusing and he defeated the trespassers where he informed them that he would not work for them again. (Superior Octopus v1 #1) His laboratory was later attacked by the Web Warriors who broke in to destroy Octavius's cloning banks where they stated that the Inheritors were using it to escape their prison to incarnate in new clone bodies on Earth-616. Doctor Octopus refused to believe them and stated that his security measures had not been circumvented nor could he believe anyone was capable of such a feat. However, it turned out that the Inheritors had hacked the readouts to give false data allowing them to emerge in their clone bodies where they killed several of the Web Warriors as the sought to regain their lost power. (Spider-Geddon v1 #1)
Otto as Spider-Man defeated Stilt-Man on his way to deliver a speech as Elliot Tolliver at Horizon University and afterwards reflected on his past. Later in the evening he met up with Night Shift members Digger and Dansen Macabre to defeat a cult dedicated to Master Pandemonium. The next day he was confronted at Horizon by Anna Maria, who had deduced he was actually Otto Octavius and not really Elliot Tolliver. She was going to turn him over to the police but changed her mind when Terrax the Tamer attacked San Francisco. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #1) The Superior Spider-Man confronted Terrax alongside the Night Shift, but was abandoned by his allies when Digger was bisected. He continued to fight a losing battle while Anna Maria built and delivered an Inductors device that allowed him to drain some of Terrax's Power Cosmic. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #2) Spider-Man reentered the battle infused with cosmic energy, but Terrax was still more skilled in its use. The former Herald was eventually defeated when Otto and Anna work together to reprogram Terrax's Axe to backfire on him. After the battle, Anna agreed to allow Otto to continue his hero career, but only if she were his chaperone. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #3) At the urging of Anna, Otto participated in the disaster relief in San Francisco as the Superior Spider-Man. Throughout the course of the day he began to realize the value of civilians through his different interactions. Afterwards he was invited on a date by Emma Hernandez and agreed. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #4) Otto's date with Emma went well until he revealed his true identity, which caused her to flee from his apartment. He followed her as Spider-Man, and they were confronted by police officers possessed by Master Pandemonium's demons and Emma was possessed as well. Otto contacted Doctor Strange for aid, who initially attacked him before being shown the demonic infestation. By combining their efforts, they were able to track down and confront Master Pandemonium. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #5) The pair of doctors ended up defeating Pandemonium by swapping equipment, but Strange refused to wipe Emma's memory for him afterwards; however, Anna Maria helped him convince Emma to keep his identity a secret because he had saved her. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #6)
Horizon University was attacked by the alternate reality Osborn leading to numerous injuries including Emma with Octavius learning that the villainous Spider-Man was next targeting Hernandez's son James. Despite Otto's efforts, he was unable to defeat Norman who made a deal for James's life namely that Octavius was to kill three random innocent civilians or the boy would be killed by him. After feeling defeated, Otto believed that he lacked the killer instinct of his past that was needed to stop Norman and decided to make a deal with Mephisto. In exchange for his recent experiences, Octavius wanted to be turned back into his old self as Doctor Octopus in order to gain the needed advantage to math Osborn. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #11) Back within his old body, he confronted the alternate reality Norman Osborn where he viciously came to defeat him and left the villain a cripple who he sent back to his own world. With his memories as the Superior Spider-Man disappearing, he declared a return to being Doctor Octopus were he severed ties to the life he had previously created. A funeral was held for Elliot Tolliver with Octavius secretly in attendance as he bid farewell to that life and fully embraced being Doctor Octopus once more. (Superior Spider-Man v2 #12)
Beyond
While in a quest to fill the missing gaps in his memory, Otto was forced into the service of the demon Kindred. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #64) Kindred instructed Otto to reform the Sinister Six, for which he recruited Sandman. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #68) He would then revive Electro and recruit him onto the team. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #69) It was then that he went about recruiting the new Kraven the Hunter. (Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy v1 #1) Forcing the Isotope Genome Accelerator on Dr. Curt Connors, Otto separated the scientist's Lizard side into a separate entity for his team. The final member, chosen by Kindred, was Mysterio. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #70) The Sinister Six retrieved from the premiere of a film he had directed under a false identity. The team briefly clashed with the Savage Six, who had also intercepted the premiere to enact revenge on Mysterio. Spider-Man became involved in the fray, and Octavius knocked him down to deliver him to Kindred, whose torment was the demon's endgame. (Sinister War v1 #1) Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six were then forced to participate in a hunt for Spider-Man, competing against other teams assembled by Kindred, including the Syndicate, Wild Pack, and the Savage Six. (Sinister War v1 #2) At one point during the battle royale, Doctor Octopus had Spider-Man in his grasp but hesitated to kill him long enough for the Savage Six to interfere, giving Spider-Man the chance to escape. (Sinister War v1 #3) Realizing that Kindred wouldn't give him the answers he seeked, Otto used Black Ant's helmet signal to kill the centipedes that Kindred was using to control him and the other villains during the fight, leaving all of them unconscious and saving Spider-Man. The hero thanked him, but Otto claimed that he was just getting revenge on Kindred for not going through with their agreement before leaving. (Sinister War v1 #4)
Afterwards, he was contacted by May Parker who was looking for his help in finding a cure for her nephew Peter Parker who had fallen into a coma after an incident. Agreeing to help her, the pair came across a company called Infinite Solutions where Otto came to discover that this was simply a shell company for the Beyond Corporation. He also came to discover that they had pilfered technology from Parker Industries which was originally invented by Octavius where he sought to reclaim back his stolen ideas and show Beyond that he was superior to them. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #80.BEY) This saw him striking out on his own against one of Beyond Corporation's branches in the city only for their corporate sponsored superhero Spider-Man arriving to oppose him. Doctor Octopus managed to turn the technology of the site against the hero allowing him to escape. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #84) Octavius then struck against Beyond's headquarters where he accessed top-secret files and confronted the company's head Maxine Danger. Spider-Man though once again opposed him with their battle being taken outside the corporate headquarters where Otto revealed the depths of Beyond Corporation's lies and deceptions. Among them included that Beyond had chosen Ben Reilly to be Spider-Man because he was psychologically compromised and thus easy to manipulate with these revelations shocking Spider-Man who allowed Doctor Octopus to escape. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #85)
Later on, Mayor Wilson Fisk began an anti-vigilante campaign where he made it illegal for heroes to operate in the city. This saw armed operatives called the Thunderbolt Units attempting to arrest any costumed heroes with Doctor Octopus allying with Fisk though this was for his own purposes. Doctor Octopus was present as Fisk's forces stormed the Baxter Building and arrested the Fantastic Four with Octavius claiming the site and its advanced technology for himself. (Devil's Reign v1 #1) Per the terms of his agreement with Fisk, he helped the Mayor gain the powers of the Purple Man in order to use these abilities to secure the support of the people. Otto also gained access to Reed Richards multiversal Bridge allowing him to make contact with other versions of himself located across the Multiverse. Otto used the multiversal technology from Reed's lab to summon three versions of himself from other universes, creating an unstoppable group. (Devil's Reign v1 #2) Octavius had tried to campaign against Fisk in his mayoral race by having the Chameleon pose as Tony Stark and win the elections. However, Stark was outvoted when the heroes choose Luke Cage as their candidate. Otto also planned to attack the Mayor with his Superior Four but was interrupted by the heroes doing the exact same thing, which lead to a fight that gained Fisk's attention. (Devil's Reign v1 #3)
Feeling that Mephisto regressed him to his baser self, Otto hoped to create a council of Ocks across the multiverse and control everything. Traveling to Earth-5069, Otto soon realized that he wasn't a fixed variant in the multiverse like Spider-Man or Iron Man. Otto and his variants decided to wage war against any other version of themselves from the Multiverse in order to create a destructive wave across the multiverse in hopes that it would branch and create dozens of new Ock variants. Starting at Earth-2902, where they killed Spider-Ock, with Otto absorbing his entire intellect, making his own mind grow. (Devil's Reign: Superior Four v1 #1) The assassination of Spider-Ock left Otto exhilarated, which worried his other variants who quickly tried to stop him, leading to a fight where the Superior Four were forcibly transported to another earth before being yanked out by Otto von Strange, the Supreme Octopus. His other three variants surrendered themselves to this superior foe whilst Doctor Octopus was imprisoned in the magician's Supreme Sanctorum. (Devil's Reign: Superior Four v1 #2) Otto was freed from his confinement by a mysterious plant creature that seemed to be another one of his variants. The plant bonded with Otto and he claimed that this new variant was created from the blood he dropped into the biological Wasteland of Earth-5069. Otto and his Man-Thing variant rescued the Superior Four and together they defeated Supreme Octavius. The Superior Four returned to Earth-616 hoping to stay and rid New York of all crime, but not before leaving the Man-Thing Otto on Earth-2902 where he acted as a new Spider-Ock. (Devil's Reign: Superior Four v1 #3)
Meanwhile, a failed attempt by the heroes to kill Fisk allowed Otto Octavius to keep the city under surveillance with his 'anti-crime' drones. Happy to leave Fisk in his useless Mayor seat while he made the world better. (Devil's Reign v1 #4) Fisk eventually came to turn on Octavius with Otto's mind being protected by a neural blocker that prevented the Purple Man's powers from controlling him but his variants lacked this feature. Otto then saw how his variants joined the mind-controlled Thunderbolt Units as a super-charged Killgrave was let loose on the streets. (Devil's Reign v1 #5) During the battle against the Purple Man, Otto was knocked out by Iron Man and later arrested. (Devil's Reign v1 #6)
Superior Spider-Man Returns
Octavius was later captured and held hostage by the Living Brain’s avatar, who used his tentacles to capture J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson led the tentacles to Peter, who in turn came to rescue Jameson. Spider-Man came to befriend the arms, who led them to the Brain’s hideout. The Brain then revealed that he had created an amalgamation of the original Sinister Six and set it against Spider-Man. He fled the creature and ended up in the room where the Six were held captive. In desperation where he set them free to help against the Adaptoid. Doctor Octopus came to naturally take the credit for the creature’s defeat but still had to appreciate the engineering behind the Living Brain once it’s physical computer was found. Spider-Man tried to prevent them from destroying it but they were about to do it anyway when Kraven interrupted. He offered Spider-Man the chance to escape if he destroyed the Brain himself. Spider-Man refused which surprised the Brain’s avatar who then trapped the Six in a force field and sent them away. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #6)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was given the name Doctor Octopus by his work colleagues on account of his use of multiple mechanical limbs. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3) One of the identities he used was the Master Planner. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31) Whilst in prison, he was assigned the name tag of Prisoner #4756689. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #1)
During his childhood, he was shown to had been the victim of bullying where he often vowed to make his bullies pay for their actions. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #6)
Octavius was noted for being prickly who wanted his work to be accepted without question. Despite this flaw, it was recognised that he was a genius. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1) Ignorance was said to be the one crime that he could not tolerate. (Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure v1 #1)
He admitted that he was a creature of spite, rage and hate. This was shown when he was dying and he intended for everyone on the planet to perish alongside him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #685) Octavius admitted that he was a monster and thus recognised others like him. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #85)
After first seeing Spider-Man on the news, Otto became inspired in the concept of cybernetics. By this point, he noted that various people had already outfitted their frail bodies to become superpowered people and proposed that machines could improve the body. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #2) Though according to another account his harness was inspired by the works of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. (Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure v1 #1)
A particular goal of Octavius was the completion of a formula that would complete his fusion experiments. The goal was to use Tritium in the development of a laboratory grown artificial sun to create limitless energy. Otto believed that such an achievement would be ground breaking to the point of changing the world and would be part of his legacy. Despite his intellect though, he failed in achieving this long-term goal with him struggling to find a solution to the equation. (Superior Spider-Man Returns v1 #1)
As Doctor Octopus, he felt that the world was filled with nobodies who did not matter in the grand scheme of life and that the death of few thousand would benefit the gene pool. This view meant that he had no issue killing innocent bystanders in order to get his way. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) Following the accident, he saw himself as a supreme human being and had power that allowed him to anything to do anything he desired. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3)
He was noted for becoming angered at the mistreatment of young children. This stemmed from how his father used to hit him in his childhood. As such, Otto was shown to be horrified at the thought of hitting a child. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #3)
One of his idols was Leonardo da Vinci who he considered to be his mentor and whose work had forever changed his life. He thought that he was the only person of capable of appreciating his work. (Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure v1 #1)
Otto Octavius was noted for being the son of a manual worker named Torbet Octavius and his wife Mary Octavius. His mother was noted to had married him against the cautions of her own mother who told Mary not to marry a common man. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) According to Otto, his father had only taught him nothing but the hateful ignorance of the lower class. In fact, he believed that his father had tired of him for being different than him. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1)
Meanwhile, to his mother, Otto was all she had in her life and she believed him to be special and that he would change the world. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #2) She had expected more from her son and was proud of his accomplishments. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3)
During his atomic energy research, he came to meet Mary Alice Anders where the two embarked on a romantic relationship with one another and she even accepted his proposal for marriage. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3)
Among the Sinister Six, he felt a sense of kinship with Adrian Toomes. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #3)
Powers and abilities
From a young age, he was note for being a brilliant student who came to have a choice of full college scholarships. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) It was said that he had an almost artistic instinct towards thermo-nuclear dynamics. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1) This led to him becoming one of the most brilliant minds in his field. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #3) In fact, he was said to be the most brilliant atomic researcher in the country until the accident that resulted in his brain being damaged from exposure to radiation. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3) He was noted to had received a doctorate when he was 16 years old. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #4) A particular goal of his was in fusion experiments with the goal of creating a miniature sun as a source of power with Tritium being used as a catalyst in the reaction. Despite his intellect, he failed in perfecting the formula that would achieve his experiment. (Superior Spider-Man Returns v1 #1)
He was responsible for creating a harness around him that allowed him to operate four mechanical tentacles. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3) It was harness was inspired by the works of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. (Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure v1 #1) Originally, these were intended to help him perform his experiments behind protective lead walls in order to avoid effects such as deadly radiation or exposure to volatile chemicals. The result of an explosion resulted in radiation adhering the artificial arms to his body where they came to operate simply through his thoughts. They were said to had become almost like a part of himself and obeyed his every command. Their strength was incalculable where they were able to rip apart walls and stretch out to grab onto certain objects. It was said that these tentacles were capable of remarkable speed that could catch even superhuman foes by surprise. Similarly, they afforded Octavius superhuman strength allowing him to fight the likes of Spider-Man and even tear his webbing. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3)
The tentacles were capable of emitting sonics which he could calibrate for Symbiotes but could be adjusted to fight against other foes. (Superior Octopus v1 #1)
It was noted that his appendages expressed what Octavius considered to be an abhorrent part of his personality that he later found hiding in the ventromedial cortices of his prefrontal lobe. This caused them to be friendly and even aid others that were nice to them even if they were Otto's enemies. As a result, he came to create a new incarnation of his tentacles that drew on his amygdala and thus drew on his pure aggression. The newer model of his tentacles were capable of splitting into multiple smaller components called Ocktoids that could rush and attack his enemies. They were said to possess a foul temper that matched their creator and their numbers plus strength allowed them to easily overwhelm opponents as well as rip targets apart. When commanded, they could return to Doctor Octopus and return to their original form of his tentacles. Thus, they provided him a degree of flexibility in battle where they could be sent to deal with foes or return to their master to allow him to attack more directly. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #28)
Other devices he constructed included:
- Octo-Pod :
- Octavian Lens : (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #682)
- Quatritium : an artificially synthesized element more powerful than tritium said to be incredibly powerful yet highly unstable where a piece of it could wipe out a whole city. (Superior Spider-Man v3 #3)
Among his creations were the robotic Octobots that resembled mechanical spheres with numerous tentacles to manipulate their environment. They were able to link to technology and allow Octavius to remotely control other equipment. It was said that they broadcasted on a similar frequency as Spider-Man's Spider-Tracers. They were shown to operate on a closed system that was independent and separate Doctor Octopus's arms and control signal allowing them to function even if something shut down his mechanical limbs. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600) As the Superior Spider-Man, he created a more arachnid-based counterpart that he called his Spider-Bots. These could serve as his digital eyes that he could send on patrol routes and could monitor through an app. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #2)
He came to swap minds with Peter Parker and operated in his body where he wore his Spider-Man Suit. This led to him possessing many of his abilities and gadgets such as Web-Shooters though Otto came to introduce his own additions to the equipment. This included creating Nano-Spider-Tracers that could be injected into the bloodstream. These allowed him to monitor the targets actions and listen to them without them being aware of it. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #1) Among the changes he made were lenses in his mask allowing him to detect phenomena like particular magnetic signatures. These polarising lenses were capable of adjusting to prevent him from being blinded by strong sources of light. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #3)
From his experience with the Inheritors, he managed to recreate their cloning technology allowing him to form new bodies for himself. (Superior Octopus v1 #1) Another aspect of his proto-clone body was that it required little sleep and he was able to engage in activities that would have left his former body exhausted. As the Superior Octopus, he designed goggles that protected him from visual attacks such as hypnosis and the suit itself was composed of Unstable Molecules that made it immune to certain types of attacks. By his wrists were devices similar to Web-Shooters that could shoot out a sticky substance similar to Spider-Man's webs. (Superior Octopus v1 #1)
His original body came to suffer from 86 separate cases of of blunt force trauma ranging from peak humans to Omega-level entities. However, a greater impact on his human body was additional radiation prevented his body from healing itself with this condition being degenerative that was slowly killing him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600)
Notes
- Doctor Octopus was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3 (July, 1963).
Alternate Versions
- In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #2 (2000), an alternate version of Otto Octavius appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Dr. Otto Octavius was a lab assistant to Norman Osborn and secretly a spy for Osborn's business rival, Justin Hammer. He was caught in the OZ lab accident that gave him ferrokinetic powers and grafted his traditional metal arms onto his body. After this incident, he was able to communicate with these mechanical arms via telepathy. He modified his arms to have the power to morph into different shapes, and then sought revenge against Justin Hammer, but Spider-Man intervened. Although Octavius was defeated by Spider-Man, Justin Hammer perished due to a heart attack caused by Doctor Octopus' attack.
- In Spider-Man 1602 v1 #1 (2009), an alternate version of Doctor Octavius appeared in the Marvel 1602 reality designated as Earth-311 in the Multiverse. Baron Victor Octavius was a Italian nobleman living in France who suffered from the bubonic plague. Octavius attempted to cure himself by using the blood of octopi, which worked, but also slowly transforming him into a human/octopus hybrid. Octavius had since tried to revert his transformation by experimenting on humans and 'Witchbreeds' to find a viable cure and even forcing scientist Henri Le Pym to help him by holding his shrunken wife, Janette Le Pym, hostage. In public, Octavius always kept his entire body hidden from prying eyes and always accompanied with plague doctors. After having been using the blood of his fellow colleague Hal McCoy which slowed his transformation had begun to wain, Octavius learned from Norman Osborne about the Spider and captured him in obtaining his blood for his cure. However, once Henri Le Pym completed the serum, Octavius had ultimately progressed to his complete hybrid form which drove him to madly think that he was a superior life form above humankind. As a result, Octavius turned on Pym and his underlings, and fought the Spider. Just as Octavius had the advantage, he was towered over by a giant Henri Le Pym, who had drank the vial that was used to cure Octavius and Janette's size. Octavius begged Le Pym to spare him, but was then crushed to death by Henri's giant foot.
- In Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without a Face v1 #1 (2009), an alternate version of Otto Octavius appeared in the Marvel Noir reality designated as Earth-90214 in the Multiverse. Dr. Otto Octavius was born in South Africa, crippled and confined to a wheelchair. While growing up in South Africa, Octavius was disdainful towards his African native servants for having more free will than him. He determined that the solution to solving his problems lay in 'a marriage of neurological and behavioral science', and Octavius became a world-renowned biologist while embracing racist ideology. During this time, he covertly aligned himself with the "Friends of New Germany' and gained prominence within the group by experimenting on what he considered as lesser African minorities. These experiments led to the creation of mindless slaves at Ellis Island. Unusually, Octavius reasoned against outright racial genocide, calling it 'wasteful'. His secret experiments caught suspicion from the FBI due to his connections with the Crime Master and from the Spider-Man, after his friend Joseph Robertson was found lobotomized. Inevitably, Octavius' experiments were destroyed by his benefactors after federal authorities and Spider-Man discovered his experiments at Ellis Island. That said Octavius relished in killing the Crime Master as per orders from the Friends of New Germany chairman Josef Ansell because the Crime Master proved himself to be a liability. Octavius was then caught by Spider-Man and arrested by federal authorities led by Jean De Wolfe. A month later, Octavius was acquitted of his wrongdoings by the federal government, as he had previously worked on several important government projects. More worried was the risk of information about his experiments leaking to the public in court, the government made a deal was made in which Octavius was deported to Nazi Germany. Once landing in Berlin and meeting with Heinrich Himmler, Octavius was actually greeted with open disdain from Himmler for his disability as he considered people with physical disabilities to be an insult to the Nazi ideology of a physically fit Aryan race. Despite the doctor's resourcefulness, Himmler still disregarded him as defective, keeping Octavius from producing anything useful. He was then left on his own.
- In Spider-Women Alpha v1 #1 (2016), an alternate version of Otto Octavius appeared in the Spider-Gwen reality designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse. He was shown as being a scientist who worked for the organization S.I.L.K. where he utilised a pet octopus instead of mechanical limbs. It was noted that he had adopted a son who he named Orlando Octavius. He was ultimately killed in a battle against Ghost-Spider leading to all his assets being inherited by his son.
- In Marvel's Voices: Spider-Verse v1 #1 (2023), an alternate version of Otto Octavius appeared in the Spider-Punk reality designated as Earth-138 in the Multiverse. Dok Ock was member of the Sinister Six-Piece, a music band that doubled as a criminal enterprise. They participated at the Battle of the Bands hosted at the Daily Bugle, the heart of punk rock. During their act, they used the hypnotizing music to mind-control everyone into giving them all their money. Out of all audience, only RiotHeart was unaffected, being protected by her armor. She also put a device on Spider-Punk that freed him from the mind control as well. Enraged by the commercialization of music, Spider-Punk attacked the Sinister Six-Piece and was soon joined by the rest of his Spider-Band. After webbing the Sinister Six-Piece, the Band then went on-stage to rock. He was later shown to had joined Hammer Weapons Inc. though he simply used Justin Hammer's resources to accomplish his own goals in secret that put him at odds with the Spider-Band.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man v3 #5 (2024), an alternate version of Doctor Octopus appeared in the new Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-6160 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1960s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Vernon Chapman.
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1980s animated television series in the episode "Bubble, Bubble, Oil and Trouble" where he was voiced by actor Stanley Jones.
- In The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1982 animated television series in the episode "Tomb of the Unknown Hulk" where he was voiced by actor Michael Bell.
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Doctor Octopus appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series in the episode "Spidey Meets the Girl of Tomorrow" where he was once more voiced by actor Michael Bell.
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. with a thick German accent.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Peter MacNicol.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Tom Kenny.
- In Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus appeared in the 2017 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Scott Menville.
Films
- In Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus appeared as an antagonist in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Alfred Molina. Dr. Otto Octavius who was a prominent scientist that at university met his future wife Rosalie Octavius when she was studying English literature and had studied alongside Dr. Curt Connors. He was dedicated in the goal of developing a sustained fusion experiment and received funding from Oscorp for the project.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Octopus appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was once again portrayed by actor Alfred Molina.
Video games
- In Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss antagonist and the final boss in the video game tie-in where he was voiced by actor Alfred Molina
- In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Doctor Octopus appeared as a playable character and boss antagonist in the video game where he was voiced by actor Joe Alaskey.
- In Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss antagonist in the video game where he was voiced by actor Dave B. Mitchell.
- In Marvel Heroes, Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss villain antagonist in the MMORPG where he was voiced by actor Tom Kenny.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss and playable character in the mobile video game.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Doctor Octopus appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss level character where he was voiced again by actor William Salyers.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1963)
- Spectacular Spider-Man v1:
- Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure v1:
- Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1:
- Superior Spider-Man v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man:
- Superior Octopus v1:
- Spider-Geddon v1:
- Superior Spider-Man v2:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Devil's Reign v1: (2021)
- Amazing Spider-Man v6:
- Superior Spider-Man Returns v1: (2023)
- Superior Spider-Man v3:
External Link
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