Count Nefaria | |
---|---|
Count Nefaria battles the Avengers on the cover of Avengers #166 (Jan. 1978). Art by George Perez. |
|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Avengers #13 (Feb. 1965) |
Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Luchino Nefaria |
Team affiliations | Maggia Legion of the Unliving Death Squad Lethal Legion Ani-Men |
Notable aliases | The Dream Master |
Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, durability, healing and longevity Optic blasts Flight |
Count Nefaria is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Avengers #13 (February, 1965) and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.
Contents |
Fictional character biography
Luchino Nefaria is a wealthy Italian aristocrat, who while a traditionalist also desires greater wealth and power, driving him to join the criminal organization the Maggia. The recently formed superhero team the Avengers, however, thwart many of his plans and force a direct conflict, which Nefaria loses.[1] In retaliation, Nefaria then unsuccessfully attempts to destroy Iron Man [2] and then suffers yet another defeat when stopped by the mutant X-Men.[3] Nefaria reappears several years later and attempts to take control of the United States base NORAD, but is stopped by the X-Men once again. Nefaria attempts to escape in a plane which is attacked by the X-Man Thunderbird. The plane then explodes, killing Thunderbird and injuring Nefaria.[4]
Now virtually destitute and discredited, Nefaria hires the supervillains the Living Laser, Power Man, and Whirlwind to form the second Lethal Legion. The group rob several banks, and unwittingly finance an experiment Nefaria has created in a bid to become superhuman. Employing the former scientific adviser to Baron Heinrich Zemo, Nefaria devises a means of temporarily amplifying the abilities of the Lethal Legion, and then sends them into combat against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and once defeated their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria, who possesses them magnified a hundredfold. After a long and protracted battle, Nefaria is finally defeated.[5]
Nefaria is then kept in isolation and under observation by the Avengers, and it is discovered that the process to empower him makes Nefaria immortal but vulnerable as his body reconfigures itself. Whitney Frost, also known as Madame Masque and the daughter of Nefaria, attempts to find a cure for what she believes to be his deteriorating condition. She hires the Ani-Men to attack Avengers Mansion and free her father. While battling Iron Man, Nefaria's life-support system is severed and his weakened form is crushed by a stored Jupiter Landing Vehicle.[6] Nefaria briefly reappears some time later as a corpse reanimated by the villain the Grim Reaper. The Reaper directs Nefaria to attack the Avengers, but loses control soon afterwards and Nefaria dies once again.[7]
Nefaria eventually reappears, but in an ionic humanoid form, and constantly requires ionic energy to sustain his existence. He battles Iron Man [8] and later Captain America and Ka-Zar in the Savage Land as he attempts to find sources of energy.[9] Nefaria then plans to detonate an ionic bomb, which will transform millions of people into an ionic state which he can then feed off. Nefaria gains control of the ionic heroes Wonder Man and Atlas who he intends to use to kill the Avengers, but he is stopped by the combined efforts of the Avengers, fellow superhero team the Thunderbolts and Madame Masque.[10] He is next seen as an inmate of The Raft, a prison for supervillains, and escapes when Electro stages a mass breakout.[11]
Following the Siege storyline, Madame Masque seeked out her father to help the Hood after Loki took back the Norn Stones. The New Avengers capture John King, and use him to track the Hood and Madame Masque, and after a battle with Nefaria they capture the villains and bring all four of them to Maria Hill to place them under arrest.[12]
Powers and abilities
Nefaria was a normal human until subjected to a process perfected by one of the original Baron Zemo's scientists, Dr. Kenneth Sturdy, which granted him the combined powers of the villains the Living Laser (energy projection), Power Man (strength), and Whirlwind (speed), amplified a hundredfold. Because of this, Nefaria is one of the physically strongest known humans in the Marvel Universe. He has toppled a 40-story building with little effort, withstood a blow from Wonder Man without flinching, fought and defeated Iron Man (when Iron Man's armor was charged at full power), as well as surviving an attack from The Vision when he was at his maximum weight and density (90 tons) and as he fell from a height of one mile on top of Nefaria. He has withstood multiple attacks by numerous Avengers at once and had laughed it off. He has also withstood an enraged Thor attacking him with his hammer, even stopping it with his bare hand.
The character then aged until his body evolved, and eventually shifted to an ionic form, able to create ionic constructs and manipulate other ionic beings. As such, Nefaria is now effectively immortal. He also has the power of flight when before he could only leap great distances. Nefaria is also virtually indestructible and nigh invulnerable and can withstand numerous attacks on his person while barely noticing.
In other media
Television
- Count Nefaria appears in the Iron Man segment of The Marvel Super Heroes
- Count Nefaria appears in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Pepper, Interrupted" voiced by Russell Roberts.
Miscellaneous
- A version of Count Nefaria is a frequent "guest" on the X-Men-centric podcast Uncanny X-Cast. This version of Count Nefaria is a vampire and speaks with a stereotypical vampire accent, similar to Sesame Street's Count. One of the two hosts has a negative opinion of Count Nefaria, and usually tries to convince the other host to make the Count "leave."
References
- ^ Avengers #13 (Feb. 1965)
- ^ Tales of Suspense #67 (July 1965)
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #22 - 23 (July - Aug. 1966)
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #94 - #95 (Aug. - Oct 1975)
- ^ Avengers #164 - 166 (Nov. 1977 - Jan. 1978)
- ^ Iron Man #115 - 116 (Oct. - Nov. 1978)
- ^ Avengers #353 - 354 (Early-Late Sept. 1992)
- ^ Iron Man Annual 99
- ^ Captain America #29 - 31 (vol. 3, June 2000)
- ^ Avengers #32 - 34 (vol. 2, Sept. - Nov. 2000) and Thunderbolts #42 - 43 (Sept. - Oct 2000)
- ^ New Avengers #1 (Jan. 2005)
- ^ New Avengers Finale one-shot
External links
|