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| Spider-Man
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| Full Name: | Otto Gunther Octavius |
| First Appearance: | Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 4 #1 |
| Created by: | Dan Slott Giuseppe Camuncoli |
| Home Universe: | Earth-616 |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| Status: | Alive |
| Place of Birth: | San Francisco, California |
| Citizenship: | American |
| Base: | Horizon University, San Francisco, California; formerly Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, California; Parker Industries, Manhattan, New York City, New York |
| Affiliations: | Horizon University; formerly HYDRA, Avengers, Parker Industries, New U Technologies |
| Powers/Abilities: | Spider Powers Genius-Level Intellilect |
| Height: | Unknown |
| Weight: | Unknown |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Eye Color: | Unknown |
| Unique Features: | None |
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"And never call me "Otto" again. I have a title. I earned it. Call me "Doctor"... Doctor Octopus!" |
Otto Octavius (of Earth-616) is a former digital clone that Doctor Octopus created to replace him in the event of his death.
Originally existing inside of the Living Brain, the clone would later download his consciousness into a clone of Peter Parker in order to become the Superior Octopus.
History
Origin
During the war between the Spider-Men and Women of the Multiverse and the Inheritors, the original Otto Octavius (who had managed to cheat death by switching bodies with Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man) discovered that he would meet his demise shortly after returning to his home universe.
While he fully intended to cheat death a second time, he decided to use the future technology he had appropriated from 2099 to create a digital copy of his consciousness, so that in the event that he was unable to change his fate he would at the very least have a way to resurrect himself.
In order to prevent his enemies from stopping the resurrection, Otto stored the digital clone inside his gauntlets and instructed his personal holographic assistant Anna to enter sleep mode and wait one hundred days before coming back online to implement his planned resurrection.
The Return of Doctor Octopus
Following the initial collapse of Parker Industries, just as Otto had instructed, Anna re-awakened after laying dormant for 100 days and subsequently awakened the digital copy of Otto stored in the gauntlets. Wanting to reclaim control of Peter Parker's body, the digital Otto created a copy of the Golden Octobot he had originally used to take control of Peter Parker's body the first time by merging the gauntlets from his Spider-Man suit with a regular Octobot.
Otto as the Living Brain
After downloading himself into the newly contracted Octobot, Otto then proceeded to locate Peter, but after locating Peter, Otto realized that after reclaiming his body once, there was a very good chance that Peter would be able to do it again and since he lacked the technology to create another copy of himself, he couldn't risk it happening again. In order to prevent this, Otto decided to instead upload himself into Peter's robotic assistant the Living Brain and wait for the moment that he could take over Peter's body without any danger of Peter regaining control.
As he bided his time, Otto continued to pose as Peter's lab assistant while also covertly manipulating various internal and external factors to help Parker Industries surpass Stark Industries as the world's most successful tech based company while also making sure not to give any indication that he had taken over the Living Brain's body. This continued for months until Peter decided to give the Living Brain a diagnostics check as he felt that the robot had been acting strangely lately. During the procedure, Otto made the mistake of asking how his progenitor died.
While not understanding why the robot was curious about his former enemy's fate, Peter revealed that during the Goblin Underground's attack on New York City, Otto came to the realization that there was no possible scenario that he could conceive where he defeated the Goblin King without his then girlfriend Anna Maria Marconi dying in the process. In order to ensure his girlfriend's survival, Otto willingly allowed Peter to take back control of his body event though his consciousness would die as a result as he was ok with dying as long as it meant that Anna would be safe.
Enraged at the idea that his progenitor would willingly let himself die in order to save someone else, the digital copy went on a rampage forcing Peter to shut the Living Brain down. However, before Peter had successfully shut him down, Otto successfully re-uploaded himself into his Octobot body and activated the robot's self destruct mechanism in order to prevent Peter from discovering why the robot was malfunctioning.
Feeling that his progenitor's time in Peter body had corrupted his mind somehow, the digital copy decided to abandon the idea of taking control of Peter's body again and decided that the best course of action was to create a new body for himself by creating a clone of his progenitor's original body using an experimental cloning procedure that was being developed by Parker Industries newest competitor, New U Technologies.
Unfortunately, this plan also proved problematic as when he arrived at Potter's Field Cemetery to acquire the genetic material he needed from his corpse, he discovered that someone had already dug up the body along with the bodies of many other deceased super-villains and absconded with them to parts unknown.
Determined to locate his progenitor's body, Otto searched the internet for any clues to the body's whereabouts and discovered that the very company whose cloning procedure he had planed to use in creating his new body was behind the theft. Tracking the body's location to New U Technologies' corporate headquarters, Otto discovered that the corporation had already created a clone of his progenitor's body. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Otto quickly uploaded his consciousness into the clone where he discovered that the cloned body also contained a copy of Peter Parker's consciousness as his had been inside the body when it died. Before the cloned consciousness could gain its barings, Otto quickly destroyed the less experienced copy of his arch-enemy's consciousness, gaining full control of the clone body.
Doctor Octopus returns
Once he had gained full control of his new body, Otto busted his way out of the vat the cloned body had been contained in to find himself being greeted by the Jackal. The Jackal revealed to Otto that he was the power behind New U Technologies and offered Otto a business proposal. Apparently, The Jackal and his company hadn't perfected the cloning process yet and any person who was brought back to life through the procedure would need to consistently take medication to prevent the cloned body from breaking down. Knowing of how brilliant the late Otto Octavius was, the Jackal had the original's body cloned in the hopes that he might be able to help him find a cure to the clone degeneration not knowing that a digital copy already existed. Seeing the digital copy's acquisition of the cloned body as fortuitous outcome, the Jackal asked Otto if he would help him to find a solution to his problem offering to give him full access to New U Technologies resources to help him combat the problem. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to pursue his vendetta against Spider-Man until the clone degeneration problem was solved, Otto decided to accept the Jackal's offer on the condition that the Jackal also supply him with a new set of tentacles which the Jackal happily obliged.
Dead No More
When Peter Parker infiltrated New U Technologies' Headquarters as Spider-Man to uncover the truth behind its cloning procedure, Otto ambushed him. Confused as to how Otto had returned in his original body and why he suddenly hated him again, Peter questioned why Otto was helping the Jackal. Otto then revealed to his enemy that he was actually a duplicate of the original's consciousness that he had created when he found out that he would lose control of Spider-Man's body to Peter Parker while also revealing that he was the reason for the Living Brain's strange behavior.
Following this revelation, Peter tried to immobilize the new Doctor Octopus using his Web-Shooters, but this proved ineffective due to the clone having insulated his new tentacles against the new types of web fluid that he helped Peter develop during his time posing as the Living Brain. He defeated Peter with relative ease, but was stopped from dealing the finishing blow by the arrival of the Jackal who forced him to let Peter live.
Later, in order to help his former girlfriend Silk discover what New U's ultimate goal was, Spectro infiltrated the company, but was captured by Otto who then proceeded to conduct various experiments on him which culminated in his ghost being implanted into a newly created clone of Spectro's body.
Using the resources he had gained from his business arrangement with the Jackal, Otto began working on a secret project he termed the "Proto Clone". The goal of the project was to create the perfect body for himself by splicing his own genetic material with that of Spider-Man's with the intent of imprinting his conscience onto it once he solved the clone degeneration issue.
Once the Jackal discovered Otto had been neglecting his other duties to focus on his own personal projects, he ordered Otto to put a stop to his current projects, so that he could help him relocate their operations to a new facility now that Spider-Man and Spider-Woman had infiltrated the current one. Otto refused on the grounds that his work was too important to abandon at that time, instead suggesting that the Jackal just kill and resurrect them instead.
Following Scarlet Spider's capture, Otto convinced his fellow colleague the Lizard to cease his attempts to find a cure to the clone degeneration problem and instead try to help him figure out how Scarlet Spider was able to overcome his own clone degeneration problem, so that they might apply what they learn to further Otto's attempts to make his "Proto-Clone" resistant to the clone degeneration.
While examining his test subject, he discovered Scarlet Spider's interdimensional transporter, but was interrupted by the arrival of Anna Maria Marconi before he could examine it closer. Happy to see his girlfriend again, Otto tried to reconcile with her, but was rebuffed by Anna who was extremely upset and disgusted at all the horrible things he had done stating that this new Otto was nothing like the man who sacrificed himself to save her. This made him question how she could love the original Otto and not him since he is a clone of the original. He then came to believe that she would love him again if could finish his "Proto-Clone" and download his consciousness into it, so that he would look more like the Otto that she knew and loved.
While Otto was keeping watch over Anna, they discovered that there was an invisible shield around New U Technologies' headquarters that was helping to slow down the clones' degeneration by blocking out certain frequencies that affected their cellular make-up. Otto and Anna Maria then theorized that if someone could isolate the signals the shield blocked out and adjusted the shield accordingly they could either stop or accelerate the degenerative process in the clones who are currently within the shield's radius.
Shortly after making this discovery, the Jackal interrupted them and Otto explained that they had managed to isolate the frequency that caused the clone degeneration. The Jackal was pleased with this discovery, but made the mistake of making fun of Anna's height which enraged Otto who attacked the Jackal. During their scuffle, Otto knocked off the Jackal's mask revealing him to be a clone of Peter Parker. Furious of having ben deceived into working for a clone of his arch-enemy, Otto activated a signal that caused all the clones within the facility to immediately start to degenerate.
Unfortunately, this plan backfired on Otto as the Jackal decided to amplify Otto's signal to such a degree that the signal became a virus that affected regular Humans as well as clones and broadcasted this amplified signal over the entire world feeling that if he was going to lose then he would take everyone with him.
Otto inside the "Proto-Clone"
Wanting to protect Anna Maria, Otto offered to work with Spider-Man in stopping the Jackal by holding off the Jackal long enough for Spider-Man and Anna to find a signal that can counter the signal transmitting the virus. Spider-Man readily agreed to Otto's proposal which caused Otto to question why his enemy would trust him so easily. Spider-Man responded to Otto's question by stating that after spending time inside's Otto's head he now knew that there was some good in him. Knowing that the counter signal would save the Jackal of his own clone degeneration, Otto made sure to smash the Jackal's Webware during the fight to ensure his foe would die no matter the outcome.
Realizing that the "Proto Clone" was immune to the degeneration, the Jackal attempted to transfer his mind into it only to be electrocuted - a precaution that Otto had put in place in the event that someone other then him tried to transfer their mind into the clone. Once the Jackal was unconscious, Otto transferred his consciousness into the Proto Clone, leaving his cloned body to decay into dust.
Secret Empire
"Hail HYDRA!"
Following his battle with the Jackal, Otto hitched a ride to one of his old bases only to learn that during his absence it had been appropriated by the terrorist organization known as HYDRA. Furious at this discovery, Otto attacked and easily defeated the intruders. Impressed by how quickly and skillfully Otto defeated his men, Arnim Zola offered Otto a place in HYDRA which Otto refused at first until Zola explained that being a member of HYDRA came with certain benefits including the ability to use the organization's resources, technology and personnel for his own purposes when he is not helping HYDRA with achieving its larger agenda. Reconsidering Zola's proposal after hearing this, Otto decides to accept Zola's offer since he felt that Peter had mismanaged Parker Industries in Otto's absence and that he would need the resources of a group like HYDRA in order to take back his company.
As the first step in his plan to take back control of Parker Industries, Otto decided to create for himself a new suit that could maximize the full potential of his new body with the help of HYDRA's scientific division. Upon the completion of this suit, Otto stated that the Doctor Octopus of the past is no more and that he was now the "Superior Octopus".
The next step in his plan was to have numerous HYDRA agents infiltrate the staff of Parker Industries' London branch in order to covertly breach the first of the company's four major safeguards against hacking into their secure servers.
When HYDRA began their conquest of America, Peter, who was in London for an important interview, rushed to his company's London HQ in order stock up on supplies he would need to aid his fellow Avengers in the battle with HYDRA. Peter was quickly ambushed by the HYDRA agents working for Otto upon entering the building and would have been overwhelmed if not for Otto calling them off, so that he could have a private conversation with him.
Once the two of them were alone, Otto revealed his intention of taking back the company he created from Peter by force, but due to his and Peter's newfound kinship, he offered to call an end to hostilities between them if Peter agreed to peacefully hand over the company to him. As Otto expected, Peter outright refused to give Otto control of the company and instead tried to reach out to the good in Otto that he knew existed deep down inside of him by asking him to return to America with him and help the Avengers fight HYDRA.
Otto refused Peter's offer and tried again to convince Peter to relinquish ownership by stating that it was he who created Parker Industries in the first place and that the only reason the company has become a success under Peter's leadership is because during Otto's time inside the Living Brain he secretly manipulated the stock market to help push events in Parker Industries favor.
Peter tried to defend his tenure as Parker Industries CEO by pointing out how his discoveries and inventions, such as the company's most successful product the Webware, were a major part of the company's success, but Otto countered his claims by pointing out that most of Parker Industries products, either intentionally or unintentionally, were based off things he invented during his time as Spider-Man and that the Webware was actually an inferior copy of the communicators he and Peter used during the war with the Inheritors much to Peter's shock.
Seeing that Peter was adamant about not relinquishing his role as CEO willingly to him, Otto puts his contingency plan into action revealing that he invaded the Parker Industries New York branch prior to coming to London and planted a device in the building that would make it look like that Parker Industries (and to a greater extent Peter) was responsible for the Darkforce dome that HYRDA created around New York City trapping its people. Otto hoped that the prospect of being blamed for the chaos in New York would force Peter to meet his demands but it only served to enrage Peter with a fight quickly ensuing. Before either of them could land a decisive blow, Tony Stark broadcast an emergency call to all Avengers to come to Washington D.C. immediately forcing Peter to retreat. Once Otto had destroyed the London branch's safeguards and taken what he wanted from the building, Otto blew up the building to cover his tracks.
Following the Avengers defeated at Washington D.C., Otto traveled to San Francisco in order to destroy the next safeguard located at Horizon University. He was initially met with hostility by the city's local heroes and the university's staff, but convinced them to stand down by citing that any attempts to stop him could threaten the fragile peace between America's Mutant population and HYDRA. As his grunts looted the building and destroyed the company's third safeguard, Otto wondered why Peter didn't appear to try and stop him.
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Superior Octopus
Otto got his answer when he tried to single handedly capture Parker Industries Shanghai branch. Peter had chosen to let Otto take the San Francisco branch, so that he could focus on fortifying the Shanghai branch against Otto and HYDRA. While it surprised Peter that Otto came alone, he chose to take advantage of the situation and turn loose all of Parker Industries' tech against Otto, but he quickly turned the tables on Peter by revealing that before he left the Living Brain he installed a sub-routine inside of most of Parker Industries tech that would allow him to seize control of them whenever he chose. As Peter was being attacked from all sides by his own technology, Otto began to gloat about how he would soon by able to take all the company's resources and intellectual property for himself once he destroys the last safeguard.
As Peter listened to Otto gloat, he began to realize that when he attacked the New York, San Francisco and London branches he had an army of HYDRA soldiers by his side, but he was trying to take the most heavily fortified branch all by himself. Otto tried to claim that he wanted the pleasure of destroying Peter all to himself, but Peter knew that the real reason Otto came alone is that he is planning to betray HYDRA once he gains control of the company. With Peter now having realized his true agenda, Otto quickly rushes to the buildings server room to complete his mission while also trying to brush off Peter's claims as he leaves. This proved to be a mistake as it gave Peter and his employees time to regain control of their tech and enact Peter's final plan to thwart Otto. Otto began to access the company's inner most secrets when the servers suddenly began to shut down. His confusion as to why the servers suddenly started crashing was soon dispelled as Peter revealed over the intercom that he had ordered his employees to destroy ever scrap of technology, research and information owned by the company to make sure that neither Otto nor HYDRA could ever get their hands on it.
Enraged that Peter had destroyed the info structure of the very company he built just to spite him, Otto unveiled his newest weapon, a modified version of the electromagnetic pulse weapon that Norman Osborn used on Peter in Symkaria, and attempted to destroy Peter's armor in the hopes that it would leave him at his mercy. While it successfully destroyed Peter's armor, it didn't stop Peter as he had anticipated Otto might try something like that and hid his original costume underneath the armor, so he wouldn't be defenseless after the armor's destruction. While Otto was caught off guard by Peter's countermeasure, Peter revealed that he had figured out a way to use the same program Otto used to take control of his company's tech to make Otto's tentacles start attacking him. Coming to the realization that he had lost, Otto quickly fled and abandoned his malfunctioning tentacles and mask in order to blend into the crowd of bystanders watching their struggle knowing that Peter wouldn't be able to find him without his mask on as Peter did not yet know what his new body looked like yet.
The HYDRA Avengers
When Otto returned to HYDRA's headquarters, Zola congratulated him on successfully destroying Parker Industries as it was one of the few organizations left after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. that could oppose their rule. Furthermore, Zola informed Otto that the HYDRA Supreme wanted him to know that he now personally considers Otto to be one of his greatest soldiers due to his success.
While Otto verbally told Zola that the HYDRA Supreme's personal compliments were a great honor, internally, he resented the very idea that he was someone else's minion and that he would have his revenge on Peter for denying him the chance to be the king of his own global empire.
In the months following HYDRA's successful takeover of America, Otto was recruited into a newly formed Avengers team that HYDRA created to serve as the "heroes" of their new regime. During his time with the Avengers, Otto assisted in the defeat of the monster Krigorrath and traveled to the Mutant republic of New Tian to assist in stoping a group of Mutant rebels from freeing their leader Sunfire.
Otto was last seen helping to defend HYDRA's forces at the Capitol Building during the Underground's final assault against HYDRA's rule. Otto's current whereabouts are unknown after the HYDRA Supreme's defeat at the hands of Captain America and the collapse of HYDRA's regime.
Marvel Legacy/Fresh Start
Later as Red Goblin (Norman Osborn who has powered himself up with the Carnage symbiote) attacks Spider-Man and all his friends and family, Octavius and J. Jonah Jameson help defend Aunt May, as Otto still retains some of Peter's memories and sense of responsibility. This concludes with Peter forgiving Otto and giving him a "clean slate". In the aftermath of Norman's defeat, Octavius reveals his new identity as Dr. Elliot Tolliver, a person who has just started working at Horizon Labs.
Powers & Abilities
Powers
Current
- Spider- Physiology: Now that Otto inhabits a hybrid clone of his original body and Spider-Man's, Otto possess all the powers that Spider-Man currently possesses, including...
- Wall Crawling:
- Mark of Kaine:
- Superhuman Strength:
- Superhuman Speed:
- Superhuman Stamina:
- Superhuman Durability:
- Superhuman Agility:
- Superhuman Equilibrium:
- Superhuman Reflexes:
- Regenerative Healing Factor:
- Contaminant Immunity:
- Spider-Sense:
- Radio Frequency Detection:
- Wall Crawling:
Former
During his time inside of the Living Brain's body, Otto possessed various powers unique to the robot, including...
- Superhuman Strength: As the Living Brain, Otto was able to analyze the strength of Spider-Man's webbing, deciding how much pressure to apply, and then plowed right through it.
- Superhuman Durability: While stored within the Living Brain, Otto possessed durability far surpassing a normal human. His durability was so great that he was able to withstand multiple energy attacks from the Parker Industries S.W.A.T.-Bots with relative ease.
- Self-Repairing System: While in control of the Living Brain's body, Otto had nanites stored within himself that could quickly repair any damaged body part.
Abilities
Due to the fact that he is a clone of the original's consciousness, Otto possesses all the knowledge and skills that his progenitor had, including...
- Genius-Level Intelligence: Otto is a mutlti-discipline scientist with expertise in various fields of science.
- Radiation Specialist: Otto is one of the world's leading authorities on nuclear radiation and its effect on animal physiology.
- Engineering: Otto was already a brilliant engineer and inventor, but his knowledge in these fields has been further enhanced due to the fact that he now possesses Peter's own knowledge on the subject as a result of his new body containing parts of Peter's DNA in it.
Weaknesses
Current
Due to the fact that he now possesses spider-based powers, Otto now possesses the same weaknesses that Spider-Man has along with all the weaknesses he already possessed, including...
- Spider-Sense Disruption: Otto's Spider Sense can lose its effectiveness if it is blocked or temporarily weakened by specialized equipment or certain drugs. It also would not trigger if it detects something that is not registered as a threat like the Spider-Man clones or the Venom Symbiote. When deprived of his spider-sense, Spider-Man becomes vulnerable to surveillance and attack, and web-slinging requires most of his concentration.
- Ethyl Chloride: For reasons unknown, all individuals with spider-based are susceptible to the pesticide ethyl chloride. This chemical is frequently used as a weapon by the Spider-Slayers.
- Arrogance: On many occasions, Otto's pride has been a major factor in many of his defeats. Otto considers himself to be the smartest person on the planet and that he could never be wrong due to his massive intellect. This confidence in his own intelligence frequently causes him to ignore factors that could derail his plans leaving him unprepared for when these factors come into play.
Former
- Pill Dependence: In order to prevent his original cloned body from breaking down due the cellular breakdown caused by a flaw in the Jackal's cloning process, Otto has to ingest daily a pill provided by him. Currently, this weaknesses no longer applies after he managed to mind his mind and consciousness into the Proto-Clone that was immune to degeneration
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Superior Octopus Suit: After joining HYDRA, Otto constructed a new suit that could better utilize the powers of his new body. The suit was created through a combination of technology from his tentacle harness and his Superior Spider-Man costume, so the suit has all the capabilities of both.
- Tentacles: Since Otto's old tentacle harness was incorporated into his Superior Octopus suit, the tentacles serve as Otto's primary form of attack and defense.
- Web-Shooters: The suit is also equipped with wrist mounted Web-Shooters similar to the ones Otto used as during his time as Spider-Man which he uses to augment his Spider based powers.
See Also
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