Scorpion (comics)
Scorpion is the name that two separate fiction characters have used in stories published by Marvel Comics.
History
Mac Gargan
Macdonald "Mac" Gargan was a former private investigator hired by J. Jonah Jameson to, at first, discover the connection between Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and later as a means to destroy Spider-Man. In this capacity, Gargan was used as a test subject for a process that would endow him with the useful characteristics of a scorpion.
Over the years, Gargan was one of the foes Spider-Man regularly fought from his rogues gallery. Although he had he would square off against other heroes, he would always return to his fixation on Spider-man and Jameson.
Recently, Gargan has given up the Scorpion costume and is now the host for the Venom symbiote.
Carmilla Black
Camilla was created by Fred Van Lente and Leonard Kirk as part of Marvel's attempt to draw in new, younger readers.
After the vicious murder of her adoptive parents, she discovered her biological mother works for Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM). Recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., she is now trying to find her real mother while attempting to infiltrate AIM.
Other versions of The Scorpion
Exiles
- In one of the many realities visited by the Exiles, Mac Gargan is one of the many superhumans that form the Heroes for Hire, and is part of the Avengers Package, which also includes the Black Widow and the Black Knight. After being hired to protect Tokyo from Moses Magnum and Namorita, Scorpion is killed by the murderous, teenage counterpart of Magik.
Ultimate Scorpion
Scorpion made his debut in Ultimate Spider-Man #97, the first issue of the Ultimate Clone Saga, where he was revealed to be one of many clones of Peter Parker. It appears that his costume was bullet proof. Throughout the issue #97 he uses an acid that erupts from his tail as well as acid shooters on his upperhand, similar to Spider-Man's web shooters. His design is very close to the Original Marvel universe Scorpion, with the exception of sleekness to the design, and a dome like hunch which becomes the dangerous tail, giving the appearance of an actual scorpion's exo-skeleton. The tail was also fused to his spinal cord, which Invisible Woman of the Ultimate Fantastic Four referred to as an "illegal biograft".
When Scorpion was awake enough to answer questions, Reed and Sue asked where he came from and how he came to be. His only response was asking where he was now. He asked if he was back in the "zoo".
He is presently held in the Baxter Building while the Fantastic 4 conduct research into the cloning.
Scorpion in other media
Television
Scorpion appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series played by Martin Landau and then Richard Moll when Landau won an award and was no longer available to star in the series. In his debut episode, Mac Gargan works for J. Jonah Jameson as an investigator, but is nervous, plump and balding. In an attempt to discover Spider-Man's real identity, Jameson hires a scientist to use Dr. Connors' Neogenic Recombinator to turn Gargan into a superhero called the Scorpion. This incarnation is similar to the original comics version of the Scorpion, with superhuman strength and agility resulting from his genetic enhancement, using the Neogenic Recombinator, with scorpion DNA -referred to by the scientist who carries out the experiment as "a natural predator of the spider"- and an externally-mounted cybernetic weapon-tail. He encounters Spider-Man on a roof top, and after a short battle is able to defeat the wall crawler. However, when he is about to unmask Spider-Man, his body is overcome with pain, and he begins to mutate further, developing yellow eyes, green skin, and talons on his fingers. At that point, madness at the horror of what he has become descend upon him. The Scorpion then attempts to gain access to a nuclear reactor, insanely believing it will restore him to normal ("Radiation made me this way, and I'm going to use it to turn me back!"). Spider-Man stops him, sending him to jail.
In "The Insidious Six", Scorpion becomes a member of the Insidious Six, created by the Kingpin, to kill Spider-Man, so Kingpin can settle off his debt with his enemy, Silvermane, but Spider-Man survived in the end. In "The Final Nightmare", he makes a plan to find a cure for his mutation by kidnapping Dr. Stillwell, the scientist who is responsible for turning him into a freak. Unfortunately, Stillwell destroys the Neogenic Recombinator in order to prevent any other beings like the Scorpion from existing again. Later, he meets Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, who is as smart as Stillwell, and when Toomes' lab was blowing up, Scorpion saved him. In "Partners", where Moll replaced Landau, he makes another attempt to cure himself, but fails when Spider-Man stops him (this attempt was a plot created by Spider-Man because he needed Scorpion to give to Alistair Smythe to save the Black Cat). In "The Wedding", Scorpion makes a bank robbery and Spider-Man is defeated. Then, he takes the wedding rings, so that he and his girlfriend Sara can get married. And finally, the Scorpion appears in the Six Forgotten Warriors five-parter as his last appearance as a member of the Insidious Six.
Video games
- The Scorpion is the third boss of the Game Boy game The Amazing Spider-Man.
- Scorpion appears in the Game Boy Color video game "Spider-Man 2: Enter The Sinister Six" as a member of the Sinister Six, though in the comics, he never officially joined.
- He appeared twice in Spider-Man: The Video Game.
- He also appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Here, he was making another attempt to get revenge on J. Jonah Jameson for turning him into the mutant freak he is (as usual). But Spider-Man arrives on time to save Jameson and defeats Scorpion in battle, thus foiling another one of the Scorpion's miserable plans. He was last seen in the game, playing cards with Rhino and Mysterio (whom have been placed in jail with Doc Ock for framing Spider-Man and almost releasing a symbiote invasion to the world). Scorpion was surprised and disappointed that all of them (Doc Ock, Mysterio and Rhino) were all working together and Spider-Man is still alive, while Mysterio tries to make it look like it was Doc Ock's fault ("It's not my fault! Doc Ock's plan was horrible! Everyone knows you can't control the symbiotes.") (he actually didn't know that until Spider-Man told him that after he defeated him in battle).
- In all his video-game appearances, his costume tends to the green and blue armor briefly seen during the controversial Spider-Man: Chapter One/Reboot era instead of his classic green costume.
- In the multiple platform game, Spider-Man: The Movie (based on the film), Scorpion makes a strange appearance in two of the levels. In the game his attitude is totally been revamped. He is depicted as a confused, misunderstanding, and paranoid person(Or, as Spider-Man says it, "Stranger than a soup sandwich") who probably was experimented on by a rival company of OSCORP, but that doesn't keep him from fighting Spider-Man when he wants "to be alone." After the battle, the Scorpion disappears, never to be seen again (there are rumours that Scorpion will appear in the Spider-Man 3 game). He was voiced by Mike McColl.
- The Scorpion appears as a villain in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. There, he works for Dr. Doom's Masters of Evil and attacks S.H.I.E.L.D.. However, he is rather quickly disposed by Spider-Man, Thor, Wolverine and Captain America. Scorpion is the first villain players face in the game. He later appears guarding the defeated Tyr along with Lizard