Characters / Marvel Comics: Monsters

• Aliens Are Bastards: Many of the monsters of alien origin arrived to Earth with the intention of taking it over.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: They came in all shapes and sizes, some alien while others originated on Earth.
• A Villain Named "Z__rg": Marvel Comics' early, pre-superhero giant monster comics had critters with names like Gruto, Zetora, Gigantus, Gargantus, Goom, Googam, Gorgilla, Groot, the Creature from Krogarr, Dragoom, Gor-Kill, Grottu, Orrgo, Rommbu, Spragg, and on and on. Stan seems to have really liked the letters G and R.
• The Bus Came Back: Many of them hadn't been seen in decades, yet several returned for the Monsters Unleashed event, helping Earth's heroes against the Leviathon tide.
• Comic Book Death: Like so many movie monsters, these guys have a tendency to die at the end of their stories, only to reappear in a new story years later without any real explanation.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Because Superheroes weren't the company's specialty at the time(and continuity wise most of them likely hadn't emerged yet), most of the monsters' defeats came from clever humans or otherwise lesser beings. Orrgo in particular was taken out by a gorilla.
• Isle of Giant Horrors: Many giant monsters live on Monster Isle, a mysterious island (usually said to be near Japan) full of tunnels leading to Subterranea and inhabited by creatures bioengineered by the Deviants. The Mole Man rules the place. Other, unrelated giant monsters from this page are sometimes depicted as living there as well, often with no real explanation for how they got there.
• Kaiju: Many of them debuted around the time the Godzilla and other giant monster movies were all the rage, and they're giant creatures of various origins.
• Large Ham: Like most Silver Age creations, monsters that could talk were pretty loud and bombastic.
• Non-Malicious Monster: Some of them aren't really evil.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Most of the old school monsters who have returned to prominence have done so by becoming associated with a particular modern character. Fin Fang Foom is now an Iron Man enemy, Xemnu is one for the Hulk, and Spragg is one for She-Hulk; and Groot is now a heroic member of the new Guardians of the Galaxy.

Abominable Snowman

Alter Ego: Carl Hanson

Notable Aliases: Big Carl

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #13 (November, 1960)

• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Looks like a huge yeti.
• Was Once a Man: He was once a man named Carl Hanson who became a Yeti by a cursed photograph.

The Blip

Alter Ego: Shzzzllzzzthzz

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #15 (January, 1961)

• Achilles' Heel: The Blip has proven vulnerable to grounding and short-circuiting.
• Energy Being: Blip and others of his race are giant sentient electrical fields.
• Shock and Awe: The Blip could discharge bolts of electricity from his hands.

Chtylok

First Appearance: The Sensational Spider-Man #13

• Feathered Fiend: Looks like a giant chicken or cockatrice.

Count Dracula

Alter Ego: Vlad Dracula

Notable Aliases: Count Dracula, Justin Drake, Dr. Vlad, Vlad III the Impaler, Dagon, Count Orlok, Alucard, Dondora, Frank Drake, Drake

First Appearance: Suspense #7 (March, 1951)

Elektro

Alter Ego: Elektro-1

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #13 (January, 1961)

• Killer Robot: A huge and destructive robot.
• One-Steve Limit: No relationship with the WWII robot nor the Spider-Man villain.
• Robo Family: In Fin Fang Four, he's in a romantic relationship with the Fantastic Four's robot receptionist Roberta, and hopes to marry and settle down with her one day. It's very sweet.

Fin Fang Foom

Alter Ego: Fin Fang Foom

Notable Aliases: He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun (translation), Serpent, Fin Fang Fool

First Appearance: Strange Tales Vol 1 #89 (October, 1961)

An alien dragon who landed on Earth in ancient times but was awakened in the 20th century to conquer Earth.

Frankenstein's Monster

Alter Ego: None

Notable Aliases: Frank, Adam, Creature, Frankie, Monster

First Appearance: Menace #7 (September, 1953)

The infamous monster-creation of Victor Frankenstein. The Monster roams the Marvel Universe and has encountered a number of Marvel heroes and villains over the years.

Giganto

First Appearance: Fantastic Four #1 (November, 1961)

Giganto is one of the Mole Man's pets from Monster Isle. Giganto appears on the cover of the legendary Fantastic Four #1, squeezing the Invisible Girl, who is unable to turn invisible fast enough.

Glob I

Alter Ego: Joseph "Joe" Timms

Notable Aliases: The Golden Brain

First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 1, #121

• Expy: Of the Heap, a golden age comic character whose origin was someone falling into a swamp and becoming a swamp creature.
• Heel–Face Turn: At least for a time, he was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos, dealing with other supernatural threats.
• One-Steve Limit: Shares a codename with the mutant Robert Herman. That said, this Glob debuted several decades before Robert Herman.
• The Voiceless: Since he longer has a mouth to speak. With the Howling Commandos he was outfitted with an electronic voicebox, which allows him to communicate with the team.
• Was Once a Man: Joseph Timms was a petty criminal who escaped from prison, to be with his dying wife. Joe Timms ran into the Florida everglades, only to sadly drown in the marshes. Decades later after the the Hulk accidentally spilled radioactive waste, Joe Timms was resurrected as a swamp creature now called the Glob.

Godzilla

First Appearance: Godzilla: King of the Monsters #1

You can read about the King of the Monsters's Marvel adventures on its own page. For tropes regarding Godzilla as a character, see his own page.

Googam

Notable Aliases: Son of Goom

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #17 (May, 1961)

• Overlord Jr.: The son of Goom and an alien conqueror too.
• Parent-Child Team: With Goom during Monsters Unleashed.

Goom

Notable Aliases: The Thing from Planet X

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #15 (March, 1961)

• Flight: Has bat-like wings that allow him to fly.
• Four-Fingered Hands: His hands only have four fingers.
• Parent-Child Team: Alongside Googam during Monsters Unleashed.

Gorgilla

Notable Aliases: The Monster of Midnight Mountain; Mr. President

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #12

• Expy: Of King Kong.
• Gentle Giant: He might be huge but he's actually not that aggressive.
• Killer Gorilla: His name is Gorgilla and invoked this image.
• King Kong Copy: He's a huge ape who is not as violent or dangerous as other monsters.
• Maniac Monkeys: Has a long monkey tail too.

Gorgolla

Notable Aliases: The Living Gargoyle

First Appearance: Strange Tales #74 (April 1, 1960)

• Our Gargoyles Rock: He's a gargoyle from outer space.

Groot

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #13 (November, 1960).

Gruto

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #67 (April, 1961)

• First Contact Faux Pas: His diplomatic mission failed. His amnesia didn't help, but we were total jerks to him.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: We attacked him just because he was scary looking, not because of anything he'd done.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He initially doesn't remember who he is or how he came to be on Earth.
• Utopia: His home planet of Pacion Rex is peaceful and happy.

Insect Man

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #24 (December, 1961)

The Insect Man was a member of a civilization of subterranean giant insectoids. He was actually the child of scientists in his community who found the subterranean craft of U.S. Army Sergeant Mason and took him home as a pet.

• Big Creepy-Crawlies: It's a huge humanoid insect.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Big, compound insect eyes that are red.

It the Living Colossus

Notable Aliases: Living Colossus

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #14 (February, 1961)

It, The Living Colossus was a statue which the alien Kigors first animated, often falling under the control of Dr. Aloysius Vault; Robert O'Bryan foiled several of Vault's attempts to steal It.

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Sadly, It got destroyed when Dr. Vault took control of it (er, It) and picked a fight with the Hulk.
• Flight: It possesses the ability to fly. Doing so is purely psionic in nature, and as such, it exerts a severe strain on It's command intelligence.
• Golem: It is a statue animated by mind transferral of alien Kigor.
• Heel–Face Turn: Eventually became good and tried to help others.

Kai-Mak

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics #23 (September, 1941)

A giant, semi-humanoid shark creature worshipped as a god by the Zambiji Tribe, who appeased him with human sacrifices. Fought and slain by Aarkus, the Golden Age Vision, who claimed Kai-Mak was the last survivor of a prehistoric race of such creatures.

• Fish People: A shark guy.
• Giant Animal Worship: A giant shark guy worshipped by a local tribe.
• Golden Age Of Comic Books: As a 40's monster, he pre-dates most of the other critters on this page.
• Human Sacrifice: The Zambijis had to placate him by feeding him people.
• Last of His Kind: Aarkus speculated that Kai-Mak was the last of his species.

Kraa

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #18 (June, 1961)

Kraa the Unhuman was a mutated human and a member of the Wabuzi tribe, in Africa. He was mutated by the explosion of an atomic bomb caused by Soviet Soldiers. Kraa was mistaken for the mythical "The Seeker of Vengeance" and attacked the Russians that caused his condition.

• Not Quite Dead: Despite apparently falling to his death saving a teacher from a python, he reappeared several years later and was placed under custody of the Howling Commandos.
• Was Once a Man: He was once a human from the Wabuzi tribe.

Manoo

First Appearance: Amazing Adventures #2 (July, 1961)

• Frog Men: Most noticeable when you can see his legs.
• The Shadow Knows: You can identify a disguised member of Manoo's race by his shadow, which doesn't change.
• Space Cop: The original Manoo was a police officer on his homeworld.
• Terminator Twosome: In the original story, one alien is an evil criminal and Manoo is a space cop chasing him and trying to protect humanity from him. The human who ends up helping Manoo is initially afraid he's picked the wrong one of the two aliens to trust, but Manoo is indeed a good guy.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Implied to be an illusion rather than actual shapeshifting.

Manphibian

First Appearance: Legion of Monsters #1 (September, 1975)

• Fish People: He's an amphibian alien.
• Really 700 Years Old: He's at least 1000 years old.
• Swamp Monster: Of the Gillman variety.

Monster From the Lost Lagoon

First Appearance: Fantastic Four #97 (April, 1970)

• Swamp Monster: Of the Gillman variety.

Monstro

Notable Aliases: The Menace from the Murky Depths

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #8

Monstro was created by unknown origins but was speculated to be a mutation from atomic weaponry. It appeared and attacked a Soviet country coastal town, so they sought aid from an American professor named Mark Faraday who came over and investigated the Monstro. The scientist investigated Monstro but deemed he would shrink back to normal size within 24 hours, which he did.

• Giant Squid: Except is an octopus instead of a squid, but truly gigantic.

Monstrom

Notable Aliases: The Dweller in the Black Swamp

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #11 (September, 1960)

• Cyclops: Only has one eye.
• Kill It with Fire: Monstrom is vulnerable to fire.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eye is colored red.

Orrgo

Notable Aliases: Orrgo the Unconquerable

First Appearance: Strange Tales Vol 1 90 (November, 1961)

• Arbitrary Skepticism: He's an alien conqueror yet doesn't believe in magic while at S.H.IE.L.D.'s Howling Commandos.
• Heel–Face Turn: For a time he served at the Howling Commandos.
• Mission Control: Since his size made him too obvious, he was assigned to coordinate and communicate with the Commandos.
• Monochromatic Eyes: His eyes are completely blank.
• Reality Warper: Orrgo's race seemingly has the power to mentally alter reality.

Red Ronin

Alter Ego: SJ3RX

First Appearance: Godzilla: King of the Monsters #6 (January 1978)

A piloted giant robot that Tony Stark built to fight Godzilla. In principle, Red Ronin would indeed be handy for fighting monsters, but in practice, he tends to get snuck into and controlled by people who aren't supposed to be there.

Rommbu

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish Vol 1 19

• Mind Probe: Rommbu also used his mind probe on anyone to learn the truth about them.
• Monochromatic Eyes: His eyes are completely blank.
• Shrink Ray: One of his weapons was a ray gun that could shrink any individual down to several inches.

Spragg the Living Hill

First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #68 (May, 1961)

A silicon-based alien life form resembling, literally, a living hill. Became a part of She-Hulk's rogues gallery, and you can read about him on her Characters page.

Vandoom's Monster

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #17 (March, 1961)

In a village in Transylvania, Ludwig Vandoom wanted to create a star attraction for his failing wax work museum. Despite the protests of the superstitious townsfolk, Ludwig Vandoom created the fearsome, giant wax figure of a monster and put it on display. During a freak thunderstorm, lightning struck the monstrous wax figure and miraculously bringing it to life. Smashing out of the museum, the monster was attacked by frightened villagers.

• Expy: His backstory is very similar to that of the Frankenstein's Monster.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: How he came to life.

Werewolf By Night

Alter Ego: Jack Russell

First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #2 (February 1972)

Poor cursed Jack Russell is Marvel's take on the werewolf legend. You can read more about him on his own poor cursed page.

Xemnu

Alter Ego: Xemnu

Notable Aliases: Living Hulk, Xemnu the Titan, Richmond Wagner, Amos Moses

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery Vol 1 #62 (November, 1960)

Xemnu is an alien who has attempted to conquer the Earth several times. He has the ability to mind control others to do his tasks. These days, he generally gets in fights with the Hulk, and you can read more about him on the Hulk's characters page.

• One-Steve Limit: When he debuted, he was called "the Living Hulk." Years later, it seemed appropriate for the writers to get him into a fight with the modern Hulk. It turned out to be a good fight, and so Xemnu has returned to get in fights with ol' greenskin repeatedly.

Yetrigar

First Appearance: Godzilla: King of the Monsters #10 (May, 1978)

A frozen, prehistoric protohuman who got thawed out and mutated by atomic radiation and grew to be very, very large. He first fought Godzilla (he lost, because well, he was fighting Godzilla), but has returned to stomp around and fight other heroes occasionally since then.

Zetora The Martian

Notable Aliases: The Martian who stole my body, John Warren(stolen identity)

First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery #57 (March, 1960)

• "Freaky Friday" Flip: One of the oldest examples in Marvel. He has the psychic ability to exchange minds with other lifeforms, which he used to leave some poor sap trapped in his Martian body.
• Death by Irony: In his second outing, he decided his own super strong form was enough to take over Earth. Then he dies from bacterial infection, something he could've avoided if he stayed in an earthly body.
• Deus ex Machina: Twice. He definitely would've gotten away if it hadn't been for John Warren's loyal dog. Then he's killed by Earth germs after coming dead close to toppling every Earth government.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: John Warren's dog somehow was so loyal he recognized that his master's mind was in an alien body.
• Heel–Face Turn: For reasons not quite clear, he's among the monsters summoned by Kid Kaiju to help defeat the Leviathons. Although this might be because he realizes trying to take over Earth is pointless, since there's many,many more people and creatures who can stand up to him now.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Zetora certainly isn't one of the more cunning beasts, but he's definitely among the strongest. Earth's armies are helpless to stop him as he lays a warpath in his bid to conquer the planet.

Zombie

Alter Ego: Simon William Garth

Notable Aliases: Dead-Dude, Mister Dead-Guy, Mister Mummy, Mister Stinky, Si

First Appearance: Tales of the Zombie #1 (July, 1973)

• And I Must Scream: Whoever had the Amulets of Damballah could control without him being able to do anything about it.
• Healing Factor: He can sustain physical damage as any other person, but he can magically regenerate from these injuries if given enough time.
• The Needless: Being dead, Zombie has no need to eat, sleep or breath.
• The Undead: As indicated by his name, he's a zombie reanimated using voodoo magic, meaning he doesn't infect others if he were to bite them.
• Voodoo Zombie: Simon Garth was cursed by a voodoo cult to shamble under the control of whoever came across the Amulet of Damballah.
• Weak to Magic: Zombies are vulnerable to the voodoo which gives them animation.

Zzutak

First Appearance: Strange Tales Vol 1 88 (September, 1961)

• Dumb Muscle: Zzutak had no mind of his own, responding only to the commands of the Aztec medicine man.

Fin Fang Four

First Appearance: Fin Fang Four #1

• Monster Mash: The Fin Fang Four is made up of classic Marvel monsters who represent cornerstones of giant monster movies. Fin Fang Foom (giant reptile/dragon), Googam (alien conqueror), Gorgilla (giant ape), and Elektro (giant robot).

Howling Commandos II

• Dumb Muscle: The mysterious Zombie, alias John Doe. Big, strong, and with extremely stunted intelligence. This might actually be a Stealth Pun: Zombie could use some brains.
• Monster Adventurers: Starring the likes of Warwolf, N'Kantu the Living Mummy, Frankenstein (a clone of the original Frankenstein's monster), Gorilla-Man, and a zombie named John Doe.
• Monster Mash: The original Nick Fury's Howling Commandos featured a werewolf, a half-vampire and half-werewolf, a mummy, a clone of the Frankenstein monster, a gorilla with a human brain, and a zombie. Brother Voodoo and Satanna also join in on the fun. These are just the main, active members; the Howlers are indicated to employ just about every monster in the Marvel universe, including Lilith, daughter of Dracula, and both Abominable Snowmen (the cursed prospector and the representative of an entire yeti species, of course). A Werewolf by Night letter column featured a fan post in which the author made a joke about a Nick Fury/Jack Russell team-up called "Sgt. Furry and His Growling Commandos". Funny how that joke later became reality, in some sense of the word: Nick Fury actually never appeared in Nick Fury's Howling Commandos; it was more a Mythology Gag name and a pun on the monstrous nature of the team.
  • The Secret Wars (2015) event features the title Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos, which is made up of Shiklah, Werewolf by Night, N'Kantu the Living Mummy, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein's Monster, Man-Thing, and Marcus the minotaur with a symbiote trying to overthrow Dracula.
  • One of the titles of All-New, All-Different Marvel is Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. and features Warwolf, Vampire by Night, Hit Monkey, Teen Abomination, zombie Jasper Sitwell, Manphibian, robot Dum Dum Dugan, Orrgo, and Man-Thing.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: They are a Monster Mash special forces team that has at one point or another included practically every monster in Marvel's publishing history; The team the miniseries revolves around includes Warwolf, N'Kantu the Living Mummy, a clone of the original Frankenstein's Monster (this is remarked on as making absolutely zero sense), the half-vampire half-werewolf debutante Vampire By Night, the mysterious and slow-witted zombie John Doe, swamp monster the Glob, Gorilla Man, and Brother Voodoo. Marvel's resident gillman, Manphibian was absent. This is rectified in the Franken-Castle arc of The Punisher, where a Frankenstein's Monster Punisher teams up with N'Kantu, Manphibian, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, and Morbius.
• Supernatural Team: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos, a Monster Mash of various creatures that fight the supernatural. One incarnation works under Special Threat Assessment for Known Extranormalities (S.T.A.K.E.), which deals with supernatural occurrences (unrelated to Wizardry Alchemy Necromancy Department, a.k.a. W.A.N.D., which deals with other magic).
• Verbal Tic: Several Marvel monsters, including the Glob (who needs a special respirating device to speak and breathes with a deep "-SSSK-" a few times a sentence) and the Zombie, whose limited intelligence keeps him from completing a thought without stumbling through it with several uses of "Um..."

Shogun Warriors

First Appearance: Shogun Warriors #1

• Killed Offscreen: Once the licence ended the three robots were smashed beyond repair (while not in use) by a villain in a The Fantastic Four story,
• Merchandise-Driven: Based on a line of toys, in turn based on the anime robots Raydeen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace, though the characters' storyline bears no resemblance to their original animes.

Blade

First Appearance: The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July, 1973)

Doctor Demonicus

Alter Ego: Douglas Birely

First Appearance: Godzilla: King of the Monsters #4 (November, 1960)

A Mad Scientist who specializes in creating giant monsters to help him take over the world. He's had great success with the making-giant-monsters part; not so much with the taking-over-the-world part, but so it goes. Although he's tussled with mainstream heroes like the Avengers from time to time, he's best known for getting into fights with Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors (see above).

The Mole Man

Alter Ego: Harvey Rupert Elder

First Appearance: Fantastic Four #1 (November, 1977)

The Monster Hunters

First Appearance: Marvel Universe #4 (September, 1998)

A team that operated in the days before the Fantastic Four's debut and worked to protect civilization from the then-rampant giant monster attacks. The members included Ulysses Bloodstone, Doctor Druid, Makkari of The Eternals, and Zawadi of the Wakandas, with Gorgilla (see above) basically as Team Pet.

• Action Girl: Zawadi is a warrior woman from Wakanda, who has sampled the heart-shaped herb of the Black Panther.
• Creature-Hunter Organization: Their whole raison d'etre.
• Hunter of Monsters: A team of them! It's in the name! And what they do! Well, except for relatively nice monsters like Gorgilla.
• I Have Many Names: Makkari has kept so many aliases over the years that it gets confusing. The Golden Age Marvel hero who went by the names Mercury and Hurricane? That was him. He's also gone by Mac Curry and Jake Curtiss. After this, he became a member of the First Line as Major Mercury. And, of course, as an Eternal, in ancient times he got mistaken for the god Mercury.
• Meta Origin: Their introductory story tried to provide one for many of Marvel's old guard giant monsters by declaring them to be genetic creations of the Deviants.