Hydro-Man

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Real Name

Morris Bench

Current Alias

Hydro-Man

Aliases

Morrie

Affiliation

Member of the Masters of Evil; formerly Sinister Syndicate; Frightful Four, Sinister Six

Base Of Operations

Mobile

Status

Alignment

Bad

Identity

Public Identity

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Professional Criminal; former crewman of cargo ship

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

6' 2"

Weight

265 lbs (120 kg)

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Brown

Unusual Features

Hydro-Man appears to sweat profusely if he doesn't concentrate on maintaining his corporeal integrity.

Origin

Origin

Morris Bench, a crewman on a cargo ship, was accidentally knocked overboard by Spider-Man while a powerful experimental generator was being lowered into the ocean for testing. Exposed to the energy conversion process of the generator while being bombarded with volcanic gases, Bench's cellular structure was altered. When he was rescued from the depths, his body began exuding great quantities of a watery substance, which Bench first thought was perspiration. Annoyed by the incessant dripping, Bench went to a local pub to stir up trouble. Finding none, he was astonished to learn that he could convert his entire physical form into a watery liquid.

Universe

Earth-616

Place of Birth

Bronx, New York

Created by

Dennis O'Neil, John Romita Jr.

First appearance

Amazing Spider-Man #212
(January, 1981)

HistoryEdit

Soon after discovering his powers, Hydro-Man set out to find those he held responsible for his condition in order to make them pay. He eventually encountered Spider-Man, and on their second altercation, was defeated when Spider-Man managed to splatter the nucleus of his body sufficiently far enough apart that Hydro-Man could not reform himself before evaporating.

A few weeks later, Hydro-Man reintegrated his form in a water tower on a Manhattan rooftop where apparently the majority of his body particles had fallen as rain. Returning to his favorite pub, he was chagrined to find William Baker, alias the Sandman, romancing his sometime-girlfriend Sadie Fricke. The two criminals soon began fighting over her until Spider-Man came along to try to stop them. Turning their attentions to him, the two joined forces against their mutual foe. Spider-Man, however, tricked the two into running into each other, each in his altered particulate state. Collapsing into the harbor, the two soon emerged from the brine as a composite sand-water creature containing both of their substances but neither's full intelligence. Dimly recalling their desire for Sadie Frickett, the mud-being sought her out at her apartment. After getting over her initial shock, Frickett decided to exploit the creature's devotion to her and through a theatrical agent, arranged for a special exhibition of the mud-thing. The creature inevitably went berserk but was stopped when a special gas sprayed from police helicopters dehydrated it and caused it to crumble. The soggy sand was scooped up by the authorities and taken to a police laboratory where researchers tried to restore the men to life by various stimuli, including chemicals and radiation. Believing the task was hopeless, the police dumped the canister containing them. A short time later, Hydro-Man and Sandman managed to integrate themselves into their separate rightful forms. Wanting no more of each other's company after their humiliating ordeal, the two went their separate ways, with Hydro-Man heading out of town.

Sandman was so shaken that he went straight for years (until the Wizard brainwashed him into returning to crime), while Hydro-Man did most of his criminal work in groups from that point on, perhaps seeking safety in numbers. Both alone and as a member of teams like the Sinister Syndicate, the Frightful Four and the Assembly of Evil.

Bench fought a wide array of foes such as Silver Sable, Sandman, the Fantastic Four, Cloak & Dagger, the Avengers, the New Warriors, Thunderstrike, the Thunderbolts, Gambit and Black Panther, but most often clashed with Spider-Man. Hydro-Man was one of many super-criminals employed by corrupt billionaire Justin Hammer for a time, and later served in the Masters of Evil assembled by Hammer's daughter Justine, alias the Crimson Cowl; however, after Justine's arrest and the apparent death of Justin, Hammer Industries phased out its criminal enterprises and Bench, along with fellow employee the Shocker, was laid off. The Shocker and Hydro-Man then teamed up for one last crime, seeking enough money to retire, but Hydro-Man's thirst for revenge against Spider-Man led to their defeat. Trying and failing to go straight, Bench was recruited back into the Wizard's Frightful Four and, more recently, the Sinister Twelve.

Previous the events of the Spider-Island, Morris tried to rob a jewelry and defeted the Young Allies, then Spider-Man arrived and using a special spider-tracer turned Hydro-Man into ice, and left him into custody of the Young Allies until the authorities appeared.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

Transformation - Water: Hydro-Man possesses the ability to bodily transform himself, in whole or in part, into a watery liquid substance of unknown composition. While in this state, his consciousness can control every droplet that comprises his body. Thus he can will himself to turn liquid whenever struck. (Presumably if he were to will just his torso liquid, his still solid head and arms would fall to the ground. It is not known if this would cause injury to his solid parts or not. The Hydro-Man can also propel the liquid particles of his body at great pressure in the same style as water shooting through a fire hose. It is not known how he generates the pressure to create this effect. Also he can harden his fist as if it were ice hard.

Apparently Hydro-Man's liquid particles each possess some form of attraction for one another so that his disintegrated consciousness can draw all of the particles back into cohesion after total dispersal. It is not known if there is a limit to the particles' ability to attract one another. Nor is it known if there is a limit to how long Hydro-Man can remain in a completely aqueous state. Although he can merge with ordinary water, or use if to increase his mass, he does not gain mental control over this liquid as he does his own. Apparently, he has no difficulty reforming his solid physical state, even while fully immersed in water.

Hydro-Man consciousness either resides in each of the billions of droplets that his body becomes, or exists in an intangible perhaps gas-like state. Since Hydro-Man can convert his entire head into water, and his brain is still capable of rational motivated thought, his brain can no longer be organic. It is probably that even in its solid state when it appears to be made of flesh, tissue, and bone; the Hydro-Man's body is no longer truly organic, it is not known if the Hydro-Man needs to eat, sleep, or eliminate waste products anymore.

Recent alterations of his powers by the Wizard have enabled Bench to mentally manipulate water sources outside his own body, and have given him a finer degree of control over his own fluid form.

Strength level

Weaknesses

Hydro-Man can be easly defeated turning him into ice, and keep him at the right temperature.

LinksEdit

• 79 Appearances of Morris Bench (Earth-616)
• 7 Images featuring Morris Bench (Earth-616)
• Quotations by or about Morris Bench (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Morris Bench (Earth-616)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Morris Bench (Earth-616)

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Footnotes