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Quote1 Farewell, Peter Parker. Know this, I will carry on in your name. You may be leaving this world, but you are not leaving it to a villain. I swear. I will be Spider-Man. Better yet, with my unparalleled genius-- and my boundless ambition-- I'll be a better Spider-Man than you ever were. From this day forth, I shall become... the Superior Spider-Man! Quote2
Otto Octavius/"Peter Parker" as Superior spider-man[src]

Quick Answers

What event caused Dr. Otto Octavius to become Doctor Octopus? toggle section
Dr. Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus or Doc Ock, was a nuclear scientist. During an experiment, a volatile explosion occurred, causing him to be bombarded with radiation. This accident resulted in his mechanical tentacles, which he initially designed to manipulate radioactive substances from a safe distance, becoming fused to his body. The radiation also gave him the ability to mentally control these tentacles. However, the incident caused irreversible brain damage, transforming the respected scientist into a megalomaniacal superhuman criminal known as Doctor Octopus.
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How did Doctor Octopus become one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies? toggle section
Doctor Octopus, also known as Otto Octavius, became one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies through a series of intense battles and conflicts. Their rivalry began when Spider-Man was sent to photograph a hostage situation at the Atomic Research Center, where he encountered Doctor Octopus for the first time. Despite suffering a humiliating defeat initially, Spider-Man returned to ultimately defeat Doctor Octopus. However, this was not the end of the notorious villain. Over time, Doctor Octopus continued to pose significant threats to Spider-Man and the city, including plans to devastate the planet and wipe out the city with a biological weapon. These consistent threats and conflicts solidified Doctor Octopus as one of Spider-Man's most tenacious and deadly enemies.
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What are the capabilities of Doctor Octopus' mechanical arms? toggle section
Doctor Octopus, also known as Doc Ock, possesses four mentally controlled, electronically powered, telescoping, prehensile titanium-steel tentacles attached to a stainless-steel harness encircling his body. Each tentacle is approximately five inches in diameter and terminates in three single-jointed pincers. These pincers can rotate 360 degrees, providing Doc Ock with a high degree of maneuverability. The tentacles are capable of moving at a speed of ninety feet per second and can strike with the force of a jackhammer. They can also extend to a maximum of 24 feet in length. Additionally, the tentacles can generate high-wind speeds of up to 50 miles per hour when spun like a giant fan. Doc Ock can use his tentacles to scale walls and traverse horizontal distances, effectively allowing him to travel high above the ground as if on stilts.
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How did Otto Octavius' personality change after his accident? toggle section
Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus or Doc Ock, underwent a significant personality change after his accident. The accident, which occurred during a lab experiment, bombarded Otto with radiation and caused irreversible brain damage. This transformed the respected scientist into a megalomaniacal superhuman criminal. The substances from the accident left him capable of mentally controlling his mechanical arms, and he realized that this newfound strength, combined with his intellect, could render him supremely powerful. This led to a shift from his previous life as a scientist to a life of crime as Doctor Octopus.
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What was Otto Octavius researching when his accident occurred? toggle section
Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus or Doc Ock, was working on a variety of scientific projects when his life-altering accident occurred. He was demonstrating a nuclear reaction experiment to government patrons when things went awry. However, the most significant project he was working on was the development of his mechanical arms, designed to handle radioactive elements safely. This research led to the creation of his iconic tentacles, which became fused to his body during the accident. Additionally, he was also involved in a cold fusion project at Oscorp before the accident.
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History

Childhood

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Doctor Octopus: Year One

Born in Schenectady, New York, to a lower-class family, only child Otto Octavius was to be raised by his overbearing mother and his abusive father.

During his youth, Otto would often receive beatings at home, or school. His father would roar at Otto to use violence when dealing with bullies whilst his mother, on the other hand, always put Otto off using violence. Sometimes Otto's father would beat him during rages, earning Otto's hatred. Later, his father was killed in a construction accident during Otto's first year of college, his mother used her husband's early death to manipulate Otto into studying more. Otto's hard work payed off when he graduated at the top of his class and became a researcher at the Atomic research a reclusive in school.

Doctor Octopus

Now an adult, Otto Octavius managed to get a job at the U.S. Atomic Research Center. To help manipulate radioactive substances from a safe distance, Otto constructed a chest harness controlling four mechanical, tentacle-like arms - earning him the nickname Doctor Octopus.

At work, had fallen in love with a fellow researcher, Mary Alice Burke - but when Otto pronounced his intentions to marry her, his mother was against it, saying nobody was good enough for her son, causing him to break off his engagement. When Otto discovered his mother dating behind his back, he blew up in rage at her. During the argument, Mary died of a heart attack, leaving Otto without a mother and with bitter feelings.

Consumed with guilt, Otto couldn't fully focus during work, and volatile liquids exploded - bombarding the scientist with radiation. The substances left him capable of mentally controlling the arms, but the accident also caused irreversible brain damage - transforming the respected scientist into a megalomaniacal superhuman criminal.

Meeting Spider-Man

Waking in a hospital, Otto knew this newfound strength - combined with his awesome intellect - could render him supremely powerful. Holding the medical staff hostage, Otto forced them to gather lab equipment for him to continue his work. But Spider-Man showed up. Doctor Octopus easily defeated Spider-Man. Doc Ock then took control of a leading nuclear research facility and again squared off with the wall-crawler, who this time defeated him with one punch to the jaw[3].

Criminal Career

After serving time, Doc Ock attempted to raise funds by springing gangster Blackie Gaxton from a Philadelphia prison - assisted by Gaxton's lawyer, Bennett Brant. Spider-Man foiled the scheme, but could not save Bennett from being shot in front of his sister, Betty Brant. After escaping from Spider-Man during a scuffle on a getaway boat meant for Gaxton[4], Octopus traveled throughout the country, committing some of the most spectacular crimes in an attempt to bring Spider-man to confront him. When that failed, Octopus returned to New York, where he hoped to find Spider-Man.

After kidnapping Betty Brant, whom Octopus knew Spider-Man had risked his life saving before, he fought Spider-Man on Coney Island, who was suffering from a severe virus attack, and easily defeated and unmasked him as Peter Parker. Falsely realizing that the weak Peter Parker could not be Spider-Man, Octopus left and went on a rampage, releasing zoo animals and finally confronting the "real" Spider-Man, and was defeated when he was trapped in a burning building [5].

After being imprisoned yet again, a team of specialists found a way to remove his harness. Now believed by the prison to be normal again and without power, they placed his tentacles in another part of the facility. It was at this time that Octopus showed that he had mental control over his arms, even when separated from him over short distances. Using this to his advantage, he summoned his tentacles to return to him and escaped from prison.

Sinister Six

He then deduced that to defeat Spider-Man, he could not do it alone. He decided to bring together a team of villains to destroy Spider-Man, and thus assembled the first Sinister Six to combat Spider-Man. He plotted to kidnap Betty Brant again and make her their hostage. However, Betty was visiting with May Parker at the time, who was also captured and taken hostage. Dr. Octopus treated May so kindly, though, that she remained blissfully unaware she had been kidnapped by the charming villain[6].

Master Planner

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Doctor Octopus VS Spider-Man

Following Spider-Man's defeat of the Sinister Six, Octopus assembled another group of costumed underlings and established an undersea base. Calling himself the Master Planner, he embarked on a series of thefts of experimental substances - seeking to further expand his mastery of the atomic sciences. His goal: to develop a radiation ray with which he could rule the world. But his plan was fated to entwine with Spider-Man's: when May fell sick, Peter provided her with a blood transfusion - not realizing the radioactivity in his plasma would kill her.

The only substance capable of saving her was the experimental ISO-36. Peter managed to obtain enough money to fund the operation, but the Master Planner's forces hijacked the shipment for their own deadly research. Spider-Man tracked down the Master Planner to his underwater hideout and confronted his foe, revealed to be Doc Ock. After the base was destroyed, Doctor Octopus escaped once more. Spider-Man recovered the ISO-36 and saved Aunt May's life with the aid of Dr. Curt Connors (the Lizard).

Doctor Octopus' next scheme involved the theft of the Nullifier, a projector that could disable any device. After two failed attempts, Otto finally succeeded on his third. Turning the Nullifier against Spider-Man, he caused the wall-crawler to lose his memory and told him that they were allies. He then enlisted Spider-Man's help to steal the remaining components for the device. Though Spider-Man had not regained his memory, his instinctive spider-sense persuaded him not to trust Doc Ock, and Otto was defeated once more.

First Blood

Now imprisoned, with his arms confiscated, Otto again demonstrated that the range of his psionic control over the tentacles had increased to a far greater distance than previously believed. The arms freed him from captivity; after hijacking a plane and exploding it, Doc Ock, believed to be dead, decided to rampage through the city, bringing attention to himself from Spider-man. In the ensuing battle between the two, Doc Ock accidentally knocked over a chimney, which killed George Stacy (the father of Gwen Stacy, the first true love of Spider-Man), who was preventing a child from being crushed by the chimney.

Marriage

Free again, Doc Ock seized upon the Kingpin's absence to gather his forces and launch an all-out gang war against Hammerhead's thugs. But Spider-Man's involvement quickly resulted in Doc Ock's return to prison. While incarcerated, Doctor Octopus learned May Parker had inherited a small Canadian island containing a commercial nuclear reactor. On his release, he set out to woo and marry May. But Hammerhead interrupted the wedding, and the ensuing chase and brawl led to the destruction of the reactor[7].

Octopus survived the explosion and ended up living as a derelict in the Bowery, being haunted by the ghost of Hammerhead[8][9][10]. He sought out May Parker who took him back in even though he had left her stranded at the altar, leading him to kidnap her when he was attacked by Hammerhead[11]. He constructed a device to destroy the ost, which instead brought Hammerhead back to life[12], who kidnapped Aunt May. Octopus and Spider-Man briefly teamed up to refcue her[13].

Arachnophobia

When Doc Ock went to war with the Owl, Spider-Man and the Black Cat attempted to intervene. Devastated that the confrontation had left the Black Cat near death, a cold-hearted Peter said farewell to his friends before entering what he believed to be his final showdown with Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man's victory was remorseless, and Doc Ock developed a morbid fear of his arachnid foe. Imprisoned in a mental institution, Otto struggled with his overwhelming phobia of Spider-Man. Knowing he could not face his foe directly, Ock's next plan involved the use of biological weapons to kill the entire population of New York. Spider-Man was forced to fake a humiliating defeat lest the city be destroyed, restoring Otto's self-confidence.

Savior of Spider-Man

Still Otto had clearly changed. Learning his once-to-be-fiancée Mary Alice was dying from AIDS, Otto began a desperate search for a cure - stealing research materials to do so. His attempts failed, Mary Alice died, and the villain meekly surrendered to Spider-Man. A world-weary Otto nonetheless escaped from prison. At the time, Spider-Man was dying from a chemical virus. Hoping to one day kill the hero himself, Doc Ock captured and unmasked his foe. Analyzing the virus, Otto offered him a cure. Daring to trust his foe, Peter accepted the mixture and was healed.

Death and Resurrection

Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol 1 5 Textless

Doctor Octopus, brainwashed by the police

Doctor Octopus was murdered by the insane Peter Parker clone named Kaine.[14] Octavius's student Carolyn Trainer took over as Doctor Octopus #2, until the original was resurrected by a branch of the mystical ninja cult known as the Hand. Although Octavius had discovered Peter Parker's dual identity shortly prior to his death while curing Parker of a lethal virus created by the Vulture, he lost all knowledge of it upon his resurrection. The reason for this was the memories he gained came from a computer chip provided by his associate Carolyn Trainer with his recorded memories. That recent memory had not been recorded at the time of his death. (It is uncertain whether or not Trainer had some ulterior motive for remodeling Octavius' mind.)

Octavius attempted to create his own personal assassin in the form of a villainous mutated entity he dubbed "Spider-Woman", and was involved in a plot involving using prosthetic limbs as mind-control devices, to create an army of minions. He has also had to deal with another usurper, in the form of an arrogant-yet-brilliant scientist named Carlyle, who created his own version of Octavius' harness and who tried to kill Octavius, whose power he envied. As far as is recorded, none of the two replacement Doc Ocks are currently active, either due to retirement or jail sentences.

Octavius resurfaced in the attempt to kidnap a Palestinian ambassador, in hopes of causing chaos for reasons unknown. His plot was thwarted by Spider-Man and his temporary sidekick the Kiwi Kid. Octavius was then taken into Ryker's Island and was drugged and brainwashed to take down the Green Goblin. He interrupted a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin on the Brooklyn Bridge, and the two villains were struck by lightning and fell into the river below. Octopus was dragged out days later with no memories of the event.

Octavius unsuccessfully tries to form and lead another version of the Sinister Six, because Captain America's Secret Avengers managed to defeat the villainous group, although Ock himself eludes authorities. Dr. Octopus is later seen viewing a telecast of Peter Parker revealing himself to be Spider-Man. Ock then goes rampaging throughout the city, in utter disbelief that not only was he beaten numerous times by a teenager, but of the lost opportunity he had when he unmasked Parker. He is again defeated by Spider-Man, who confronts Dr. Octopus unmasked, after two of Peter's students distract Octavius. He is then sent to Baron Zemo's super-villain detention facility and is one of the ex-super villains trying to hunt down the renegade super heroes. Ock abandons the team when he realizes being a part of the Thunderbolts is pointless. However, he was apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed into custody.

Brand New Day

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The decaying Doctor Octopus right after Brand New Day

Escaping, Doctor Octopus learns that after all his battles, and injuries suffered, his body is failing, giving him only months left to live. He has now modified himself, to be mentally connected to his own army of Octobots, and adding four more arms to his harness. His goal then became to use his abilities to take over the utilities of New York City, and turn it into a paradise under his control, though his mind's subconscious also targeted Spider-Man, and disrupted the wedding plans of his ex, Aunt May. Spider-Man and the Human Torch eventually track down his base, save the captive Jay Jameson (May's fiancee), Carlie Cooper, and Norah Winters, and finally destroy Doctor Octopus' hold over the city. Doctor Octopus is then able to escape (still holding power over his mini-bots) and vows a "terrible revenge".[15]

During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Doctor Octopus assembles a supervillain team consisting of Chameleon, Diablo, Electro, Freak, Hammerhead, Hippo, Lizard, Mister Negative, Morbius, the Living Vampire, Mysterio, Overdrive, Rhino, Sandman, Shocker, Spot, Tombstone, Vermin, and Vulture IV. He tells them to secure specific items and promised they will receive a reward. First, he targets Menace's newborn infant despite Spider-Man's interference as it has pure Goblin Serum in its veins which Doctor Octopus thinks that it would help cure his crippling illness.

After Spider-Man grabs the infant from Doctor Octopus, he sends the villains after Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus talks with Chameleon stating that he had placed an Octo-Tracker on Spider-Man in order to track him down. After Chameleon steals the baby from Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus talks with the Chameleon saying that the baby is the first of a new species. Because the serums inside Norman Osborn and Lily Hollister co-mingled when they reproduced, the baby is beyond Octopus' procurement. He refers to it as "Sui Generis" and plans on using the new species' DNA to repair his body.

File:Dock ock 001.jpg

"I'm a doctor": Doc Ock in Origin of the Species

When Spider-Man caught Chameleon, he mentioned that the baby is still alive and that the Lizard stole it from him before it can be handed over to Doctor Octopus. Doctor Octopus was looking for the Lizard when Spider-Man arrived. Spider-Man told Doctor Octopus that they will get the baby back from the Lizard and then fight over who will get it. Spider-Man even mentioned to Doctor Octopus that the Lizard is now in a different appearance. When Doctor Octopus attacks Spider-Man, the Lizard attacks Spider-Man. Spider-Man threatens to attack the Lizard with the Lizard serum if he does not give him the baby. Lizard agrees and reveals that he got a blood sample from the baby and found out that Norman Osborn is not the father. The Lizard then gives the baby to Spider-Man saying that if Osborn is not the father, then the baby is of no use to him. Doctor Octopus then attacks the Lizard while Spider-Man escapes with the baby.

Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four later fight Doctor Octopus and his macro-octobot army. During that time, he had assembled another version of the Sinister Six consisting of Chameleon (who was posing as Steve Rogers), Electro, Mysterio, Rhino, and Sandman in a plot to slip the macro-octobot army into a military base and detonate them. This was prevented by Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. After his defeat, Doctor Octopus acknowledges Spider-Man's intellect and no longer considers him as the 'foolish child' he had believed him to be.

When Alistair Smythe was having Scorpion, Fly-Girl and some cyborgs attack the launch base where John Jameson is, Doctor Octopus was observing the occurrences with a remote Octobot and uses the machine to assist the astronauts on board as part of his heretofore unknown plans.

Ends of the Earth

Otto Octavius (Earth-616) from Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 681

As his final master plan, Otto Octavius set in motion a set of events, starting with the announcement to offer the world a chance to stop global warming.[16]

Next Dr. Octopus and his Sinister Six planned the theft of the Zero Cannon, (a powerful weapon which changes Earth's gravity field to send specific objects to space,) from the group of genius supervillains called Intelligencia. Otto and his group succeeded with Intel down and the Cannon stolen.

Later, while disguised as Vice-President of America, Al Gore, Chameleon tried to accelerate the decision of world's leaders about Otto's earlier request, but was uncovered by Spider-Man, who interrupted the scene along with the Avengers. When the Chameleon was freed, he arrived in the Mediterranean for a meeting with the rest of the team. The Avengers followed them and fought the Sinister Six, but they where all defeated by the villains, save for Electro, who was sent to space by Thor.

Using an explosion as a distraction, Silver Sable saved Spider-Man and Black Widow. When they tried to get to one of Octavius manufacturing plants of satellites, they defeated Sandman, but Octavius asked for help to all nations, due his position in the matter, to capture Spider-Man.

While Spider-Man and his allies continue to disarm Doc Ock's bases, defeating Rhino in the process, they are attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. forces before they can capture him and are forced to flee. Octavius asked for help of other super villains to watch over his facilities over the world, but even after Spider-Man tracks down the final one, Octavius finally reveals he was going to destroy the world anyways, rather than save it. He activated his Octavian Lens, burning half of the world, including Silver Sable's country, Symkaria. But this is revealed to be a trick made by Mysterio (only burning a small portion of a city in Symkaria), while Chameleon uses a robot to fight Spider-Man, after they are defeated, Mysterio is convinced by Spider-Man to help him to catch Dr. Octopus in his base in Guatemala, but Octavius used the mind-controlled Avengers as his new Sinister Six.

Spider-Man, Sable and Widow managed to defeat the Avengers, then he and Sable headed to Octavius underwater base. They are faced by Rhino while the base starts to flood, he trapped Sable and left Spider-Man with two choices, to continue to fight him in order to save Sable from drowning (but Octavius would activate the lenses) or let him drown himself and Sable but stop Octopus. After leaving Sable to her death at her request, Spidey faced the Doctor in battle, and managed to destroy Octavius's arms and equipment before taking his foe away to a doctor.

Dying Wish

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Using a brain-swapping Octobot, Otto Octavius transplanted his mind into the body of his nemesis Spider-Man. He retained all of Peter's memories, and thus was able to fool all of Peter's family and friends, from Mary Jane and Aunt May to the Avengers. Peter's mind, meanwhile, was placed into Octavius' dying body.

After realizing Peter, in Doc Ock's body, escaped the Raft, Otto decided to keep every person Peter knew in a safe room in the Stark Tower and waited for Doctor Octopus alone there, by distracting the other Avengers with giant Octobots around the globe, knowing that Peter would seek for help to Tony Stark. Both enemies battled until both fell from the Tower into the ground, fatally wounding Peter (Otto's body). When Peter tried to use the brain-swapping Octobot, Otto revealed him that he was using a Carbonadium helmet, making his brain totally inaccessible for changing brains. Otto declared his final victory against Parker by giving him a lethal punch which caused "Doctor Octopus" to give his last breaths.

Both then discovered that the Octobot managed to connect their minds although it could not swap them, and Peter forced Otto to revive his most suffering experiences and memories as Spider-Man, making him realize the responsibility his power came with. Otto told Peter he not wanted this, but they could not change bodies back. Finally, Otto promised Peter to continue his legacy both as Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Later, he not only realized he could become a better Spider-Man, but also a better man than who he once was as Doctor Octopus, to become a superior Spider-Man to Peter Parker.[17]

Superior Spider-Man

After Peter Parker died" Otto Octavius became the new "Superior" Spider-Man. One of his first actions, after upgrading the spider suit with computerized lenses, was to break into an old base which he had established during his time as Doctor Octopus. The base's defenses were coded to his original DNA, which he no longer possessed due to the body swap, and identified him as an intruder. It was during this battle that he had an epiphany that no matter how brilliant he had believed himself to be, Peter Parker had always defeated him. Spider-Man had always thwarted Doc Ock. Destroying his creations, Otto left the base and fully embraced his new role as Spider-Man.[18]

After defeating the new Sinister Six[19], and the returned Vulture, with numerous of Peter's friends noticing changes in "Peter"'s behavior, Octavius decided to become more efficient and utilized thousands of Spider-Bots to patrol the city thereby getting to crimes that Peter never could in his life.[20] Otto also enrolled at the Empire State University to get his doctorate,[21] and, as Spider-Man, shot and killed the mass-murderer Massacre.[22]

During his time as Spider-Man, Otto performed numerous involuntary acts, like stopping himself from killing Boomerang.[19] When the Avengers decided to examine Spider-Man to find a reason for his change of behavior,[23] they couldn't find anything. Otto attempted to use a neurolotic scanner to determine the source of several spasms his body was experiencing, that Dr. Elias Wirtham, aka Cardiac also needed. After agreeing to help Cardiac in surgery Otto could take the scanner with him. Afraid of his own discovery, Peter Parker almost prevented Otto from completing his surgery on a wounded little girl, which would have major consequences. After obtaining the scanner, Otto spotted a strange anomaly in his brain, and knew what it was: Peter Parker.[24]

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The battle in the brain of Peter Parker

Otto figured out that Peter's consciousness was alive in his brain, and to his shock, Otto could now hear Peter inside his mind and decided to put an end to him once and for all.[24] Using a neurolitic scanner Otto started a mind-wipe, and finally managed to wipe Parker after dealing with him directly, by plunging himself into his brain. It the split-second of surgery, the moment Peter was truly selfish, that could give Otto the power to convince Peter of his own superiority, and finally Peter Parker was gone, or so, Otto thought.[25]

Following the expel of Parker, Octavius helped Mayor Jameon assist the execution of Alistair Smythe,[26] and even though Smythe managed to temporarily take over The Raft,[27] Otto managed to defeat his allies, Vulture, Boomerang and Scorpion and kill the villain, secretly taking the Vulture captive himself. During the conflict, Jameson ordered Spider-Man to execute Smythe when he had escaped, using this evidence to blackmail Jameson, Spider-Man forced the Mayor to allow The Raft become his new headquarters renamed "Spider-Island 2". With new foundations in which to build his own legacy, Octavius formed his own group of minions, the Spiderlings, and created giant Spider-Mechs,[28] and being one of Otto's newest measures the destruction of Shadowland.[29] Unknown to him, a new group of organized crime was being built by the hand of the new villain, the Goblin King.[30]

Superior Venom

After a brief fight with Agent Venom, during which he discovered that Flash Thompson was behind the symbiote,[31] Flash sought Peter's help in giving him a place to stay. Octavius eventually convinced Flash to allow him to perform a procedure that would give him robotic leg implants, though during the procedure he forcefully removed the symbiote from Flash. The symbiote, feeling isolated and scared, broke out of containment and bonded to Octavius, creating a "Superior Venom".[32]

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Superior Venom goes to war with the Avengers

Despite claiming to be able to exert full control over a reluctant Venom symbiote, Otto became even more erratic than usual: he wounded Cardiac and fleed, hoping to find a villain to physically overpower, proving his newfound might. Failing to do so, he started beating up and scaring petty criminals, until Anna Maria called him to find relief about "Peter" and Aunt May arguing about her. This prompted "Peter" to storm Aunt May's home, loudly berating her for her actions, then directing his anger towards MJ, guilty of having taken May's side. As soon as MJ tried to counter his anger, Otto summoned the Venom symbiote and flees, warning his former family to stay away from him.[33]

After almost killing two robbers, Venom was confronted by the Avengers, who with the aid of Flash Thompson clad in an Iron Man armor managed to defeat Octavius. Flash managed to convince the symbiote to return to him, and as Otto tried to cast him out, Peter Parker's consciousness returned to help him purge the symbiote, but later remained under the radar. Back as Spider-Man, Otto lied to the Avengers and Mary Jane that his behaviour in the past months was due to microscopic fragments of the symbiote slowly multiplying within him. When the Avengers talked to Tony Stark about the test they previously conducted on Spider Man and found nothing, Stark decided to check the data further, and discovered that all of it except the one he knew about had been erased by Spider-Man. With this in mind, Captain America proclaimed that they would need to bring Spider-Man in.[34] After being confronted by the Avengers once more because of the missing medial scans, Otto escaped.[35]

Goblin Nation

31 days later, Otto is surveying the city of New York, it having come under siege by the Goblin Underground. He realizes that he had been chasing the wrong goblins all this while, and that it was the Green Goblin that was behind everything that had transpired. Back at his apartment, Otto is troubled over how the Green Goblin managed to hack into his Spider-Bots, when Anna Maria comes in, concerned about him neglecting his health and employees at Parker Industries.

During their conversation when Anna brings up the word "recognize", Otto has a brainwave, and attempts to call Uatu Jackson about his facial recognition software, only to be ignored, forcing him to visit Jackson as Spider-Man, where the two discuss about the hacking. Otto then heads underground to locate the source of the transmission, and runs straight into the Goblin King and his henchmen. To Otto's surprise, the Goblin King sends off his henchmen, and talks with Otto, revealing that he knew of his true identity all along, shocking Otto.

The Goblin King then offers Otto a partnership with the latter as his second. Enraged, Otto refuses and swears to liberate New York from his grip. Laughing, the Goblin King zaps Otto, only to realize that it was only a hologram that Otto projected of himself. The Goblin King then gives the command to destroy Spider-Island. [36]

Otto is confused why the Goblin Army managed to get past his security grid. As the Goblin King mocks him, the Living Brain shields him from a blast. Otto notes with dismay that one of his favourite Spiderlings have been killed. Ordering a strategic retreat, Otto himself flees Spider-Island on the Living Brain, and goes underwater to avoid pursuit.
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Otto escapes his pursuers.

Getting back to Parker Industries, Otto meets Sajani, who berates him for his absence. Just then, Wraith drops in and demands answers about Carlie from Otto, when Menace interrupts and knocks out Wraith, surprising Otto with her true identity. Otto and Sajani flee inside the facility, where Otto tells Sajani to split up. Cornering Monster, Otto's kick destroys her earpiece, preventing the Green Goblin from listening in. Monster pleads with Otto to use his brains to resolve the situation before the Green Goblin's plans are realized. While all this is happening, Otto is unaware that Anna has been kidnapped by Menace. [37]

Otto, in his lab, makes a call to Mary Jane, telling her to stay safe. When Mary Jane mentions that Aunt May is stressing out, Otto tells her to deal with the situation before cutting off the conversation. He resumes his study on Monster, now restrained, in an attempt to cure her of the Goblin Serum without killing her, when suddenly, the Goblin King contacts him, telling him to put on his suit, and promises to show him interesting things. When Otto does so, the Goblin King projects images of the places he blows up one by one, including the house where Otto grew up, to the H.E.A.R.T clinic.

Otto swears to kill the Goblin King, but the latter threatens Otto with the life of Anna Mara if he does not comply with his demands of heading to Empire State University, prompting Otto to think about how Peter Parker would have resolved this crisis. He quickly swings his way to the university, where he finds the captive to be Don Lamaze. Otto dismisses this as a joke, when the Goblin King attempts to flee.

Unleashing his mechanical arms, Otto starts to attack, only to find that the Goblin King had hacked into his arms as well, causing them to strike at him instead. As the Goblin King makes his exit, Otto struggles with his arms, telling Lamaze to flee. However, when a stray arm threatens to strike at Otto's neck, Lamaze takes the fatal blow meant for Otto. With his dying breaths, Lamaze states that he helped Spider-Man as he had helped him and Anna when Stunner attacked, and in the process showed him what a true hero really was. Otto cradles Lamaze in his arms as the latter dies.

Swearing to find the Goblin King, Otto's Spider-Sense goes off, and he is confronted by the new Spider-Slayers. Jameson, projecting his voice, declares that he will kill Spider-Man, much to Otto's shock. When Otto is pinned by one of them, he is saved by the arrival of Spider-Man 2099, who deactivated them with a remote. Otto is questioned by him regarding his actions of late, but before anything can happen, the Spider-Slayers are reactivated by the Goblin King, who has hacked into their systems as well, and promptly grab both Spider-Men by the head.[38]

Superior No More and Death

The Goblin King revealed Otto he had taken Anna Maria hostage, and he promptly started looking for her. Spider-Man was deceived by Menace into going to the subway, as she made him believe Maria was there. In the subway he found himself with the decision to save a young child, revealed to be Amy Chen. Otto hesitated, as there was a chance that by saving Amy he would injure himself and fail to get back in the search for Maria. The consciousness of Peter Parker revealed his survival by pushing Otto into saving the child, as there was no time for planning but just doing what was right.
File:Otto Octavius (Earth-616) from Superior Spider Man Vol 1 30.jpg

Otto entrusts the mission of saving Anna to Peter.

Otto realized he had failed as a "superior" Spider-Man and decided Peter should take the control of his body back, as he could save Maria and stop the Goblin. Octavius arrived to what was left of Parker Industries and proceeded to erase his consciousness with the neurolitic scanner and let Peter Parker live fully again, but in doing so, sacrificed himself.[39]

Attributes

Power Grid[59][60][61]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Virtually Indestructible:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (25-75 ton):Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Genius

Powers

Spider Physiology: After swapping bodies with Spider-Man, Otto in Peter's body possesses the proportionate powers of a spider, granted to him from an irradiated Common House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum) which bit Peter Parker that was apparently already mutated from prior exposure to certain frequencies of radiation and received a final, lethal dose during Parker's attendance of the exhibition. The radioactive, complex mutagenic enzymes in the spider's blood that were transferred at the time of the bite triggered numerous body-wide mutagenic changes within Parker, granting him superhuman strength, speed, toughened flesh, and numerous arachnid-like abilities. Like many superhuman powers, the effectiveness of Spider-Man's abilities varies based on the author and the needs of the story. His powers include:

  • Wall-Crawling: Spider-Man's exposure to the mutated spider venom induced a mutagenic, cerebellum-wide alteration of his engrams resulting in the ability to mentally control the flux of inter-molecular attraction between atomic boundary layers. This overcomes the outer electron shell's normal behavior of mutual repulsion with other outer electron shells and permits the tremendous potential for electron attraction to prevail. The mentally controlled sub-atomic particle responsible for this has yet to be identified. This ability to affect the attraction between surfaces is so far limited to Spider-Man's body (especially concentrated in his hands and feet) and another object, with an upper limit of several tons per finger. At one point, Spider-man was able to prevent Anti-Venom from taking his mask off by making it stick to his face.
  • Mark of Kaine: Kaine/Scarlet Spider III, the formerly villainous clone of Spider-Man, has shown the ability to use his wall-crawling abilities in a more offensive manner, burning distinctive scars, known as the Mark of Kaine in the face of his victims. Later Spider-Man himself used a variation of the same ability to escape from The Green Goblin by making his fingertips cling to his face and tearing them away, digging five deep wounds in Norman's face. Despite the obvious offensive potential of such an ability, Peter claims that it is unlikely he will use it again, as it was a move born out of anger and desperation.[40] In later events during the Grim Hunt arc, due to Peter's rage at Sasha Kravinoff over everything she put him and his 'spider family' through, he used his version of the Mark of Kaine on her, ripping the skin off her face in the shape of a hand print, proclaiming "This is from my brother."[41] Limits to this ability seem to be psychosomatic, and the full nature of this ability has yet to be established.
File:Otto Octavius as Spider-Man (Earth-616) 001.jpg
  • Superhuman Strength: Spider-Man possesses superhuman strength enabling him to press lift approximately 10 tons. Spider-Man's physical strength is sufficient enough to enable him to lift and throw objects as heavy as a big rig semi truck with ease. He must also pull his punches and kicks unless fighting someone of similar or greater physical durability. Otherwise, his blows would prove fatal to a normal human being.[42] He has demonstrated that he is strong enough to enable him to knock out people with normal durability with as little as a tap to the head. Also during the Secret Invasion, Spider-Man was shown to be able to knock a Tyrannosaurus Rex into unconsciousness in one punch. Spider-Man's physical strength also extends into his legs, enabling him to be able to jump to a height of several stories in a single bound.[43] Spider-Man demonstrated this when he leaped over thirty feet vertically into the air when he first leaped out of the way of an oncoming car; it should also be noted that when he first discovered his powers as a teenager, they had not developed to that of his prime.
  • Superhuman Speed: Spider-Man is capable of running and moving at speeds that are far beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.[44] Spider-Man has showed to be fast enough to catch up to an accelerating car while on foot, but prefers to travel by webs.[45]
  • Superhuman Stamina: Spider-Man's advanced musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than an ordinary human. This allows him to exert himself physically for much longer periods of time before fatigue begins to impair him. At his peak, Spider-Man can physically exert himself at his peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him. Several accounts depict Spider-Man as able to hold his breath for eight minutes or more.
  • Superhuman Durability: Spider-Man's body is physically tougher and more resistant to some types of injury than the body of a normal human. His body is more resistant to impact forces than anything else. He can withstand great impacts, such as falling from a height of several stories or being struck by an opponent with super strength, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort. Spider-Man's body is durable to the point where tensing his super-strong muscles while being punched in the torso by a trained heavyweight boxer caused the attacker's wrists to break; also, Spider-Man has stated that he must roll with punches thrown by people without similar strength or durability to avoid breaking their wrists.
  • Superhuman Agility: Spider-Man's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are all enhanced to levels that are far beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Spider-Man is extraordinarily limber and his tendons and connective tissues are twice as elastic as the average human being's, despite their enhanced strength. He has far beyond the agility and acrobatic prowess of the most accomplished circus aerialists and acrobats, all combined. He can also perform any complicated sequence of gymnastic stunts such as flips, rolls, and springs. He can easily outmatch any Olympic record at gymnastics apparatus such as flying rings, climbing ropes, horizontal bars, trampolines. With his agility, alone, he can dodge bullets only inches away from hitting him.
  • Superhuman Equilibrium: Spider-Man possesses the ability to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium in any position imaginable. He seems able to adjust his position by instinct, which enables him to balance himself on virtually any object, no matter how small or narrow.
  • Superhuman Reflexes: Spider-Man's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are currently about 40 times greater than those of an ordinary human. In combination with his spider-sense, the speed of his reflexes allows him to dodge almost any attack, or even gunfire,[46] if he is far enough away. Spider-Man has even been shown in some cases, to be able to dodge bullets only inches away from his face.
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: Spider-Man has a limited healing factor. While not on Wolverine's level, it is sufficiently powerful enough to recover from severe injuries from broken bones and large amounts of tissue damage in a matter of days. After getting his powers, he soon found that his eyesight was repaired, discarding his glasses. During a battle with a villain called the Masked Marauder, Spider-Man is rendered completely blind, however after about 2 days his sight was perfect, albeit sensitive for about a day after.
  • Foreign Chemical Resistance: Due to his accelerated metabolism, Spider-Man has a higher tolerance for drugs and diseases than normal humans, and he can recover from the effects of larger doses rapidly. During an encounter with the Swarm, Spider-Man was incapacitated by thousands of bee stings, but recovered in less than 24 hours. His resistance and recovery time to other toxins and diseases varies, but is typically significantly higher than normal. Spider-Man's unique physiology even allowed him to recover from the effects of vampirism.[47] Spider-Man was able to recover completely from acid being spat into his eyes by the new Vulture although the extent of the damage may have been restricted due to his superhuman durability. However, Spider-Man has the normal human tolerance for alcoholic beverages.
  • Spider-Sense: Spider-Man possesses an extrasensory "danger" or "spider" sense which warns him of potential immediate danger by the manifestation of a tingling sensation in the back of his skull, and links with his superhuman kinesthetics, enabling him to evade most any injuries, unless he cognitively overrides his automatic reflexes. The precise nature of this sense is unknown. It appears to be a simultaneous clairvoyant response to a wide variety of phenomena (everything from falling safes to speeding bullets to thrown punches), which has given several hundredths of a second warning, which is sufficient time for his reflexes to allow him to avoid injury. The sense also can create a general response on the order of several minutes: he cannot discern the nature of the threat by the sensation. He can, however, discern the severity of the danger by the strength of his response to it. Spider-Man's spider-sense is directional and can guide him to or away from hidden weapons and enemies.Sudden and extreme threats can cause his spider-sense to react with painful intensity. Spider-Man can also sense and dodge attacks directed randomly or by an artificial intelligence. Using his spider-sense to time his enhanced reflexes, Spider-Man can casually dodge attacks up to and including automatic-weapons fire, provided there is sufficient distance. His spider-sense is sufficiently well-linked to his reflexes to the point that a threat can trigger them even when Spider-Man is asleep or stunned. His spider-sense has helped him preserve his secret identity since it alerts him to observers or cameras when changing into or out of his costume. The spider-sense does react to those who Peter does not consider to be a threat, such as Aunt May. Spider-Man can choose to ignore his spider-sense, and distraction or fatigue diminish its effectiveness. Spider-Man's fighting style incorporates the advantage that his "spider-sense" provides him. His body begins to produce more adrenaline after the sense is triggered, an extension of the 'fight or flight syndrome.' Even when he does not have the use of his eyes Spider-Man can still use his Spider Sense in a similar fashion to Daredevil's Radar Sense to help him see by sensing the direction the danger is coming from by listening on the loudest noise around him. This was first used after Spider-Man was temporarily blinded by a device[48] but was recently used again to help see the Vulture after his acidic breath blinded him.[49] While he temporarily lost it during his battle with the Spider-Slayers, it was restored during the Spider-Island story-line.
    • Radio Frequency Detection: Peter's spider-sense also enables him to track certain radio frequencies, which he has used to his advantage via his Spider-Tracers.
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Abilities

  • Radiation Specialist: Doctor Octopus is one of the world's leading authorities on nuclear radiation and its effect on animal physiology.
  • Engineering: Doctor Octopus is a brilliant engineer and inventor. Due to his own ability and more recently due to having Peter's memories.
  • Leadership: Doctor Octopus is a superb strategist and a charismatic leader.
  • Master Combatant: Back when he was Doctor Octopus, he was a formidable combatant although he had no formal combat training. After swapping bodies with Spider-Man, he was able to defeat the Sinister Six single-handedly. He has also gained the the ability to use Spider-Man's special martial art style, the "Way of the Spider".

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Superior Spider-Man Vol 1 5 Bagley Variant Textless

Spider-Man's Webs

  • Web-Shooters: Parker's brilliance at physical science allowed him to create web-shooters for use when he became Spider-Man [50]. The twin devices worn on his wrists are able to shoot thin strands of a special "web fluid" at high pressure.
    • Web Fluid: A shear-thinning liquid, virtually solid until a shearing force is applied to it, rendering it fluid, whose exact formula remains unknown, but is rumored to be related to nylon. The web line’s tensile strength is estimated to be 120 pounds per square millimeter of cross section.
    • Talons: Octavius had added retractable sharp talons on his hands and feet, which he uses in combat against his enemies. The talons can also be used to inject nano-spiders-tracers with GPS and listening device.
  • Utility Belt: Spider-Man keeps a utility belt holding web cartridges and his signature Spider-Signal.
  • Superior Spider-Man Suit: An updated version of the original Spider-Man costume that features sharp talons on the hands and feet, as well as enhanced lenses in the mask with HUD and tracking abilities.The talon gloves feature retractable talons on his finger-tips and toe tips which can be used for clawing and climbing. After making new ones, Otto can activate the talons faster.

Weapons

Transportation

  • Spider-Man's main form of transportation is "web swinging" with the aid of his spider-webs. Spider-Man was able to keep pace with Captain Marvel at his best speed, surprising the Kree warrior, although Spidey mentioned it was mostly due to his practice with web swinging over his career.[51]
  • Spider-Glider: Spider-Man's own version of the Goblin Glider that is used for faster travel across the city, but he still prefers to web swing across the city.

Notes

  • At one point, while he was still Doc Ock, he almost married Aunt May.
  • Otto's phone number is 800-555-7739 and he advertises it as 1-800-555-SPDY.[56]
  • At one point, a boy named Oliver Osnick ran away from home, having stolen his father's Octopus-like equipment. He intended to become Doctor Octopus' sidekick, which was to be very much ill-fated. After a brief skirmish with Spider-Man, Osnick was returned home, sans tentacles.
  • He hates mutants, calling them "genetic freaks" in Avenging Spider-Man #16.
  • Otto also hates clones, calling them "abominations" in Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2) #20.
  • After hearing a recording of himself in his prime, Otto stated that he sounded like an underwater walrus. (It is notable to state that he was in Spider-Man's body at the time of him listening to the recording)[18]
  • Otto hates dealing with children.[57]
  • He doesn't believe people can change[22][26]

Trivia

  • He was once killed by Kaine but then resurrected by The Hand
  • The DC Comics super-villain Gorgon of The Extremists is based on Doctor Octopus.
  • Played by Alfred Molina in the live-action theatrical production of Spider-Man 2.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3
  2. Untold Tales of Spider-Man (novel) , "Arms and the Man"
  3. Amazing Spider-Man #3
  4. Amazing Spider-Man #11
  5. Amazing Spider-Man #12
  6. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
  7. Amazing Spider-Man #131
  8. Amazing Spider-Man #152
  9. Amazing Spider-Man #154
  10. Amazing Spider-Man #156
  11. Amazing Spider-Man #157
  12. Amazing Spider-Man #158
  13. Amazing Spider-Man #159
  14. The Spectacular Spider-Man #221
  15. Amazing Spider-Man #600
  16. Amazing Spider-Man #682
  17. Amazing Spider-Man #700
  18. 18.0 18.1 Avenging Spider-Man #15.1
  19. 19.0 19.1 Superior Spider-Man #1
  20. Superior Spider-Man #3
  21. Superior Spider-Man #4
  22. 22.0 22.1 Superior Spider-Man #5
  23. Superior Spider-Man #7
  24. 24.0 24.1 Superior Spider-Man #8
  25. Superior Spider-Man #9
  26. 26.0 26.1 Superior Spider-Man #11
  27. Superior Spider-Man #12
  28. Superior Spider-Man #13
  29. Superior Spider-Man #14
  30. Superior Spider-Man #16
  31. Superior Spider-Man #22
  32. Superior Spider-Man #23
  33. Superior Spider-Man #24
  34. Superior Spider-Man #25
  35. Superior Spider-Man #26
  36. Superior Spider-Man #27
  37. Superior Spider-Man #28
  38. Superior Spider-Man #29
  39. Superior Spider-Man #30
  40. Amazing Spider-Man #598
  41. Amazing Spider-Man #637
  42. Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1
  43. Amazing Spider-Man Annual
  44. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 5) #Spider-Man: Back in Black
  45. Amazing Spider-Man #267
  46. Spider-Man #28
  47. Blade: The Vampire Hunter (Vol. 6) #1
  48. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27
  49. Amazing Spider-Man #593594
  50. Smartest Superheroes
  51. Marvel Team-Up #16
  52. Daredevil #165
  53. Marvel Fanfare #22
  54. Spider-Man #19
  55. Spider-Man #23
  56. Superior Spider-Man #15
  57. Avenging Spider-Man #17
  58. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3
  59. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3
  60. Avengers NOW! Vol 1 1
  61. Spider-Geddon Handbook Vol 1 1

Template:Amazing Spider-Man

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