Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus is a male comic supervillain that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Otto Gunther Octavius was the son of Mary Lavinia-Octavius and Torbert Octavius. (Spider-Man - Doctor Octopus: Year One v1 #1)
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. With no social life, Otto concentrated on his studies where he progressed allowing him to go to college on a full science scholarship. 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. 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. 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)
Doctor Octopus
Ends of the Earth
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
Superior Octopus
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)
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)
Overview
Personality and attributes
One of the identities he used was the Master Planner. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
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)
Powers and abilities
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)
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)
Among his creations were the robotic Octobots that resembled mechanical spheres with numerous tentacles to manipulate their environment. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600)
Other devices he constructed included:
- Octavian Lens : (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #682)
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)
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 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.
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 playable character in the mobile video game.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Doctor Octopus appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man 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:
External Link
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