Rhino (Marvel)
The Rhino is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Aleksei Systevich was a male Russian who immigrated to the United States by the modern age. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #625) During this time, he operated as a hired muscle for criminals where he did work for professional spies. One day, he was recruited for an experiment by a group of scientists that were working for nations that paid them the most money. They reasoned that the subject's low intelligence made him perfect as it meant that he was least likely to betray them. Thus, he was subjected to an experiment that bonded a molecular adhesive skin with treatments that gave him superhuman strength and durability. He was regarded as among the strongest men alive who was to be his creators perfect obedient assassin. However, the experiment had also increased his intelligence and he reasoned that he should not take orders from anyone leading to him destroying the laboratory. As the Rhino, he decided to use his powers to make himself rich where he decided to sell his services to others in performing various acts such as sabotage. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43)
As the Rhino, he was dispatched on his first mission which was to kidnap astronaut John Jameson who was the son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson and sell him to the highest bidder. The Rhino's first mission was to capture Colonel John Jameson, who had recently returned from a mission to space. He was dropped in Mexico, and given a fake passport bearing the name Alex O'Hirn. As he approached the U.S./Mexico boarder, he smashed though the wall and the helpful border guards shot at him uselessly. In New York, Peter Parker happened to see a news broadcast that reported the Rhino had smashed through every roadblock assembled by the police since arriving in America and he seemed to be heading to the Big Apple. Alexi made the rest of the journey as a stowaway on a railcar, smashing through it in the city when it was searched by the police. Rhino kidnapped John Jameson at his hotel room as his father, J. Jonah Jameson, watched helplessly. On his way to New York City, the news came to report on his activities which drew the attention of the costumed hero Spider-Man. Spider-Man caught up to the escaping kidnapper and quickly found the Rhino to be as tough as he had feared. Punching him had no effect, save nearly breaking the webhead's hand. During their battle, the Wall-Crawler came to learn that the Rhino was not able to change directions during his charges and that the villain was rather dumb. He then used his superior agility and skill to avoid the Rhino thus tiring his opponent until he could knock him out and slammed the crook's head into the pavement. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #41) Rhino was taken to a nearby courthouse to be studied by local scientists. They tried to sedate him but all of the needles broke when they tried to puncture his skin. Sytsevich soon awoke and smashed out of the building but was stopped when a man sprayed him with an aerosol tranquilizer. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #42)
The Rhino escaped again during Peter's first date with Mary Jane Watson. Looking for excitement, Mary Jane suggested that they go to the East Side to see him take on Spider-Man. Spidey was badly injured during the fight and was saved by the charging Rhino by a patrolman. Rhino escaped and Frederick Foswell wrote a story for the Bugle saying that Spider-Man was saved by a cop. Later, Spider-Man met with Dr. Curtis Connors and brought him a piece of Rhino's hide that had chipped off during the fight. Connors briefly wondered if the Lizard could beat the Rhino and Spider-Man told him not to even think about it. They eventually created a substance that could melt the hide but had no time to test it, as the Rhino was still looking for John Jameson. Spidey arrived at the hospital that Jameson was being treated at just as the Rhino was trying to take him again. The webhead covered him in webbing, which had been treated with the chemical devised by Doctor Connors. The hide dissolved and Alexi was knocked out. Later, Jonah ranted that he would sue Spider-Man for using his son as bait. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43)
He was later approached by the scientists who originally made him into the Rhino where they offered to restore his former powers. Accepting the deal, his powers were restored where his benefactors then tasked him with defeating the Hulk. The augmented Rhino's first mission was to abduct Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, an authority on biochemical gamma-ray experimentation. The spies planned to coerce Banner into developing an army of gamma-ray treated superhuman assassins. When the Rhino tried to abduct Banner, Banner transformed into the Hulk and overpowered the Rhino. Again, the Rhino was sent to a state facility under heavy sedation and high security. (Incredible Hulk v1 #104) The Rhino's battle with the Hulk came to the attention of the Leader, one of the Hulk's foremost enemies, who decided that further gamma ray treatments would give the Rhino enough power to overcome the Hulk. The Leader freed the Rhino from the state facility, and further increased his strength by gamma ray bombardments via his mental bolts. The Leader then dispatched the Rhino to crash the wedding of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Succeeding in interrupting the wedding, the Rhino engaged in battle with the Hulk. When the Leader accidentally shot him with a gamma radiation blast that was intended for the Hulk, the Rhino turned on the Leader and caused the Leader's escape module to explode. (Incredible Hulk v1 #124) The Rhino was left comatose, but otherwise unharmed, and taken to a state hospital. The Leader used his mental energies to revive him, and re-outfitted him to battle the Hulk once again - this time with the Leader's mind controlling his every move. When the Leader released the Rhino, Aleksei was aboard a space shuttle battling the Hulk. The fight continued until the shuttle crash landed on the High Evolutionary's artificial planet on the opposite side of the Sun called Counter-Earth. (Incredible Hulk v1 #158) While the shuttle automatically repaired its damage, the Leader telemetrically signaled for its return; the Hulk fought his way back on, with the Rhino in tow. When the shuttle crash landed back on Earth, the Rhino was buried in the wreckage for some time until he revived. (Incredible Hulk v1 #159)
After the Registration, he had the option of restarting his life again and decided to take it where he abandoned his criminal past as the Rhino. His first stop after getting off the bus was a diner, where the waitress, Oksana was somewhat mean and nice to him because she knew he was an ex-con as that's all that ever came in there. He paid for his meal and left. He rented a room at Vasili's, and was met by Doctor Tramma, who wanted to re-invent him as an all-new and improved Rhino. When he noticed Oksana in Vasili's restaurant crying, he walked over to her to talk to her and discovered she had been fired for being mean to the customers. Aleksei declined Doctor Tramma's offer and asked Oksana to have dinner with him. They eventually got married and lived in a small apartment in Yonkers. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #617)
With the death of his wife, Aleksei felt there was no point in living in a world without his Oksana. When Octavius was recruiting a new Sinister Six, he confessed to the Rhino that he planned to use his Octavian Lenses to destroy the Earth as his final act before the cancer claimed his body. Aleksei agreed to join on the condition that Otto continued with his plans as he wanted to see the world burn. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #687)
After all of his warrants were removed, Aleksei spent some time trying to look out for Oksana's family and went on to look for his niece when she was kidnapped. (Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1 #2) While on his search, he crossed paths with Spider-Man and the two briefly fought over a misunderstanding due to Spider-Man thinking that Rhino was the one responsible for a robbery that was occurring. Rhino then teamed up with Spider-Man after realizing that all the robbers were kidnapped children. (Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1 #1) Spider-Man carried Rhino through the city while swinging to and old safe house that was used by many old gangs, after Spider-Man realizes that Tombstone was behind the kidnapped children Rhino stepped in and the two beat up the crime boss until they were briefly blinded, letting him get away. (Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1 #2) Rhino and Spider-Man eventually encountered Captain America, who helped them with the missing children's case. The three went to an old S.H.I.E.L.D. facility on the Gowanus Canal where they defeated Snatcher, who was behind controlling the kidnapped kids, and Rhino managed to rescue his niece Tanya. (Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1 #3)
Rhino was later hunted down by Taskmaster and Black Ant, during his attempt at escaping he encountered Spider-Man and the two teamed up to fight the villains. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #14) Unfortunately, when Black Ant shot down a restaurant, Spider-Man abandoned Rhino in order to save someone, which caused Aleksei to be captured by the Taskmaster and Black Ant, blaming Spider-Man as he was taken by the villains. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #15) He was put along with King Cobra, Scorpion, Stegron the Dinosaur Man, Tarantula and Vulture as part of the Savage Six that Arcade displayed at a meeting with a bunch of millionaire would-be hunters. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #16) Aleksei was then imprisoned in Central Park along with others animal-inspired criminals as part of a ploy by Kraven the Hunter. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #17) As the criminals were hunted down by the Hunterbots, Rhino was convinced by Vulture's story about Gibbon heroically sacrificing himself to allow him to find a weak point in robots. Spider-Man, who was also imprisoned in Central Park, tried to convince the prisoners that Toomes was lying but Rhino did not believe him due to his previous betrayal, joining the Vulture's revolt against their captors. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #19) After Kraven shut down the Great Hunt and liberated his prisoners, Rhino decided to remain as part of the Savage Six. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #23)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was known to had gone by the name of Alex O'Hirn. (Incredible Hulk v1 #435)
Originally, he claimed to had been a nobody who operated as a hired hood and muscle man where he did dirty jobs. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43)
People tended to think he was stupid though some claimed that his lack of intelligence would prevent him from betraying his employers. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43)
He later came to be involved with a former waitress named Oksana with the two entering into a relationship where he initially said that he would not fall in love with her. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #617) However, he changed as a person because of her and felt that she had turned him from a beast into a man. It was said that when she was killed then Aleksei himself also died that day and he once more embraced his Rhino persona. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #625) Through Oksana, he had a blonde haired niece named Tanya but her family did not let him see her due to Aleksei’s criminal background. (Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1 #3)
Powers and abilities
Originally, he was an ordinary human though was noted for his strength and size. He was then subjected to an experimental treatment where over the course of a month he experienced various injections and treatments. It was then their greatest invention was added which was a form of molecular adhesive that became a second skin for him. This served as a protective that covered him and gave him the strength akin to a rhino along with far greater durability. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43) Thus, the suit was bonded to his skin giving him incredible superhuman strength and durability allowing him to easily breakthrough walls as well as be impervious to bullets. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #41) One effect of the experiment was that it also increased his intelligence. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43) After his protective hide was destroyed, a new one was created that was far stronger than the original which did not break down when exposed to acids. The skin was constructed of threads that provided increased strength to the wearer. To compliment this, the Rhino himself was exposed to gamma ray bombardment so that he could match the added strength of the skin. (Incredible Hulk v1 #104) Some of the treatments that turned him into the Rhino were irreversible which meant even when removed of his skin and abilities he still retained a high degree of strength as well as durability. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #617)
He used street fighting techniques that allowed him to make full use of those attributes. His skill in battle was proficient enough to fight against the Hulk for days on end. (Incredible Hulk v1 #158)
Notes
- The Rhino was created by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr. where he made his first appearance in the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #41 (October, 1966).
Alternate Versions
- In Amazing Spider-Man Family v1 #3 (2008), an alternate version of the Rhino appeared in the Marvel Comics 2 reality designated as Earth-982 in the Multiverse.
- In Edge of Spider-Verse v1 #2 (2014), an alternate version of the Rhino appeared in the Spider-Gwen reality designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse. Aleksei Sytsevich was a Russian superhuman mercenary hired by Matt Murdock at the behest of the Kingpin to kill George Stacy; however, he was stopped by Spider-Woman. He was later brutally interrogated by Officer Castle as to who ordered the hit on Stacy, Aleksei eventually named the Kingpin.
- In Spider-Punk: Arms Race v1 #2 (2024), an alternate version of the Rhino appeared in the Spider-Punk reality designated as Earth-138 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, the Rhino appeared in the setting of the 1967 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Ed McNamara.
- In Spider-Man, Aleksei Sytsevich appeared in the setting of 2018 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Matthew Mercer. This version was younger where he was a student at Horizon High.
Films
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Aleksei Sytsevic appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Paul Giamatti.
Video games
- In The Incredible Hulk, the Rhino appeared as a stage level boss in the 1994 video game.
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Rhino appeared as a mini-boss in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Peter Lurie.
- In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, the Rhino appeared as a boss and playable character in the setting of the video game where he was voiced again by actor John DiMaggio.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1966)
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
External Links
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