Doctor Octopus

Doctor Octopus, birth name Dr. Otto Octavius, is an American scientist and villain. He is known for the four long, independent, metal limbs attached to his body that grant him superior strength and maneuverability.

Biography

Origin

By 1963, Otto Octavius was a renowned nuclear scientist, known for his set of four mechanical arms that he would attach to his body to perform otherwise hazardous experiments; these arms gave Octavius the friendly nickname, "Doctor Octopus." One such experiment ended in disaster, welding the arms to Octavius' body and damaging his brain, permanently altering his personality. When Octavius awoke in the hospital following the accident, he was newly vindictive and embraced the "Doctor Octopus" moniker. Taking several hospital workers hostage, Octopus was soon confronted by an overconfident Spider-Man, whom he easily defeated. He then set his sights on a nearby atomic laboratory, handily eliminating any resistance and claiming control of it for himself. He was again challenged by Spider-Man, who this time came prepared with a special chemical that stuck Octopus' arms together. This combined with a newfound mental confidence and focus allowed Spider-Man to just barely defeat the Doctor, confining him with his webs to be retrieved by the authorities.

1964

The Gaxton ransom

Doctor Octopus served several months in prison, and was released early for good behavior in early 1964. He immediately arranged a deal with recently incarcerated Philadelphia criminal Blackie Gaxton, whereby Octavius would spring him from jail in exchange for $100,000. Gaxton had Bennett and Betty Brant—his lawyer and his sister who were entangled in gambling debts—transport Octopus to Philadelphia, supposedly in exchange for forgiving their debts. This plan essentially went as expected, except that Gaxton had no intention of letting the Brants off scot-free. Gaxton and Octopus, along with several of Gaxton's lackeys, took the Brants to a boat at the docks, where Gaxton was to hand over Doc Ock's reward. They were interrupted by Spider-Man, who had tracked Doc Ock to Philadelphia following his release. Spider-Man fought the criminals, prompting Gaxton to pull out his gun; a stray shot hit Bennett, killing him. Spider-Man incapacitated Gaxton and his men, leaving him and Octopus to fight each other. They fought onto a smaller boat that had arrived to pick up Gaxton, but the frightened captain quickly abandoned it. As the police arrived, the boat crashed into the docks, sending Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus into the water. Both separately fled the scene, leaving the police to pick up Gaxton and his men.

Antagonizing Spider-Man

Doctor Octopus continued to cause havoc across the country, attempting to get Spider-Man's attention, little suspecting that his hated foe was a mere teenager without the means to follow him across the country. He soon returned to New York and kidnapped Betty Brant from her job at the Daily Bugle, realizing how well she attracted Spider-Man last time. Doc Ock told editor J. Jonah Jameson to print an extra telling Spider-Man to face him at Coney Island to save Betty. Spider-Man arrived as expected, but was hardly able to put up a fight. Each of his punches hit Doc Ock with profound weakness, and the villain was easily able to overpower him. He ripped off Spider-Man's mask, revealing Peter Parker, an apparently weak and unassuming teenager who worked at the Bugle and was dating Betty Brant. Octopus and everyone else on the scene assumed that Peter had simply dressed up as Spider-Man and did his best to save Betty himself. In fact, Peter was Spider-Man, but had suffered a brief but devastating virus that had utterly sapped his strength. Octopus fled the scene as the police arrived, frustrated that he couldn't fight the real Spider-Man. The next day, in another attempt to get the hero's attention, he released several dangerous animals from the zoo. Spider-Man rounded them up quickly and safely before turning his gaze to the man who was fast becoming his archnemesis. The two fought intensely across the rooftops of New York before falling through a skylight into a sculptor's studio. They knocked over a cleaning fluid, causing a fire that rapidly spread through the building. Octopus found himself trapped under a large sculpture, and Spider-Man tried to save him, but the fire was too thick. He narrowly escaped through a window as the fire department arrived and retrieved Doctor Octopus, handing him over to the police and at last returning him to custody.

The Sinister Six

While in prison, a team of specialists were able to detach Doctor Octopus's metal arms from his body, but he remained nonetheless able to control them mentally when separated from them, within a certain distance. This allowed him to wear and remove the arms as he pleased, and made escaping from prison a simple matter. Determined to defeat Spider-Man once and for all, Octopus rounded up a group of Spider-Man's foes to form the Sinister Six: Mysterio, Electro, the Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, and the Vulture. He devised a plan in which they would kidnap Betty Brant and lure Spider-Man through a series of fights with each member of the Six. The plan failed, as Spider-Man fought his way through each of them, expending only as much energy as he needed to in order to get to his next opponent. All members of the Sinister Six were brought into custody, and several of them openly resented Octopus for the team's failure.

1965

By late 1965, Doctor Octopus had established himself in an underwater base off the coast of Manhattan, with a large gang of purple-clad henchmen to carry out his bidding. Doc Ock sought various radioactive equipment to expand his power. During this time, he adopted the moniker of the Master Planner, apparently for the sake of anonymity. A pair of thefts on atomic facilities in New York by Doctor Octopus's followers were naturally disrupted by Spider-Man. Octavius learned of a shipment of Iso-36, a special serum useful in nuclear applications, and sent his henchmen to steal it. This time they were uninterrupted and successfully brought it back to the base. Doctor Octopus knew that Spider-Man would come for it, and used it as bait to trap him. Spider-Man sought the serum for his own personal purposes, and fell for his foe's ploy. The two fought, and an especially aggressive Spider-Man caused serious damage to Otto's underwater base, causing it to collapse in on him. Doctor Octopus left Spider-Man to his fate and escaped, though the hero was able to get out safely with the serum. Doctor Octopus's base was destroyed and his men taken into custody.

See also

• Doctor Octopus (Earth-1610)