Merge:Chameleon

The Chameleon is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of Spider-Man.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he initially appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), and was the first member of Spider-Man's vast rogues' gallery (excluding the burglar who murdered Ben Parker).

The Chameleon is a spy and master of disguise. Throughout his history, he has used a variety of traditional, high-tech and biologically enhanced ways to change his appearance, believably imitating almost anyone.

He was also the ally and servant of fellow Spider-Man adversary Kraven the Hunter.

Character biography
The Chameleon was born a Russian citizen named Dmitri Smerdyakov. In his youth, he was a servant and half-brother to Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff, and eventually became a minor associate to one Gustav Fiers. Although Dmitri and Sergei were friends, Sergei was often abusive to him, leading to a combination of admiration and resentment towards Kravinoff from Smerdyakov. Eventually, Smerdyakov emigrated to the United States, adopting the identity of the Chameleon. During his first known criminal outing, he impersonated Spider-Man, though he was exposed and arrested. Shortly afterward, Kravinoff, now Kraven the Hunter, himself came to America, and the Chameleon set his old associate's sights on Spider-Man. Both men became long-time enemies of Spider-man, part of his primary rogues' gallery.

When Kraven the Hunter committed suicide, the Chameleon became obsessed with making Spider-Man suffer for his failure to prevent Kraven from killing himself. The Chameleon's most ambitious play against Spider-Man happened when he formed an alliance with Harry Osborn, the second Green Goblin. Before Harry's death, he told Chameleon Spider-Man's secret identity (which Chameleon had long suspected), to construct androids of Peter Parker's (Spider-Man) parents (Chameleon later admitted that he went through with the plot to confirm once and for all that Peter was Spider-Man). The plan led to a psychotic breakdown for both Spider-Man and Chameleon. Chameleon's confirmation of Spider-Man's secret identity led him to attacking, rather unsuccessfully, Spider-Man through his family and friends several times, including one incident in which Mary Jane Watson subdued him with a baseball bat.

After tricking Spider-man to the bridge where his first love Gwen Stacy died, on the pretext of having kidnapped his wife, he declared his own loneliness and love for Peter. When Peter laughed out of surprise, he threw himself off the bridge. He reappeared some time later in a mental institution, completely incapacitated, believing himself to be Sergei Kravinoff rather than Dmitri Smerdyakov. However, Spider-Man did not learn of his survival until he appeared, apparently recovered, as part of the Sinister Twelve villain team organized by the Green Goblin. He was successfully apprehended by the authorities, but the extent of his recovery remains unclear.

Powers and abilities
Originally, the Chameleon simply used makeup and elaborate costuming to impersonate his targets. In order to do this, he implemented a device in a belt buckle that emitted a gas that helped him mold his features. This method of disguising was perhaps a forerunner to that of The Question, who was later created by Steve Ditko after his run on The Amazing Spider-Man. Later, he obtained holographic technology that allowed him to change his appearance at the push of a button.

Currently, the Chameleon's powers are innate: his epidermis and skin pigmentation have been surgically and mutagenically altered so that he can take on the appearance of any person at will. He also wears fabric made of memory material that respondes to nerve impulses and can appear to be what ever costume he wishes to be.

When his past friendship with Kraven the Hunter was revealed, it transpired that the Chameleon had also taken the same serums that Kraven had over the years. This would suggest that the two characters were of a similar age (over 70 years old). It would also suggest that the Chameleon's physical strength and endurance could be somewhat augmented, but as the Chameleon's strength is much lower than that of Kraven, his augmentations may not reach a superhuman level.

Aside from his physical advantages, the Chameleon is a brilliant method actor. He also speaks several languages fluently. Although the Chameleon is not a scientific genius, during his increased lifespan he has been exposed to a wide array of sophisticated experimental technology, much of which he can apply effectively in his nefarious schemes.

In Novels
The Chameleon had a vital role in the Sinister Six novel series by Adam-Troy Castro, in which the Gentleman, a long-lived supervillain and member of the Machiavelli Club (a gathering of some of the world's most sinister minds, including several non-Marvel characters) uses the new Sinister Six, of which the Chameleon is a member, as pawns in his schemes.

In the final novel in the series, Secret of the Sinister Six, the villains betray the Gentleman, only for him to slip from their grasp, and it is the Chameleon, to everybody's surprise, who kills the Gentleman, shooting the old man while disguised as a limousine driver and ascertaining his identity, only to be attacked by Dr. Octopus, thinking him to be the real Gentleman. Marvel has officially stated that the Sinister Six novels lay outside of normal continuity; however, these events have more recently been referenced in the Marvel handbooks.

The Chameleon also plays the role of villain in the novel Goblin's Revenge. In this story, the Chameleon not only teams up with the murderous Carnage, but also attempts to drive Spider-Man insane by impersonating Norman Osborn (then thought to be dead and buried), and later trying to expose the web-slinger to a toxic chemical meant to destroy his mind.

In other media
The Chameleon was the featured villain in the "Seven Little Superheroes" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, in which he lured Spider-Man, Iceman, Firestar, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner and Shanna the She-Devil (referred to as "Shanna of the Jungle") to a remote island to pick them off one by one. He was voiced by Hans Conreid.

Chameleon was an international hitman and spy from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He also can't (or doesn't) speak while he is in his true form. Chameleon has a belt, which is capable of capturing an image of a person, so that he can turn into a person to disguise himself. In his first appearance he attempts to kill two diplomats at a U.N. conference, but is foiled by Spider-Man. In The Insidious Six and Battle of the Insidious Six, Chameleon became a member of the Insidious Six. In Framed and The Man Without Fear, he was working for the Kingpin's son, Richard Fisk in framing Peter Parker for getting restricted government information. But Parker's name was cleared and Richard and Chameleon were sentenced to jail. Later, in The Cat, it was revealed that he was jailed in S.H.I.E.L.D. and he was assigned by Kingpin to release Felicia Hardy's father. He successfully did and disguised himself as Felicia's father so no one would know the real Hardesky was abducted. Also, Chameloen got zapped by a changing ray, so that he wouldn't use the belt to turn into any person. Eventually, he was figured out to disguising himself as John Hardesky, Felicia's father, by Nick Fury. Later, in Six Fogotten Warriors part 1-5, he was rescued by the rest of the Insidious Six members (except for Mysterio, as he was killed in The Haunting of Mary Jane, so he was replaced by Vulture) and became a member of the Insidious Six again, but would betray them and join forces with his foster father, the Red Skull (they have no relation in the comics), and his brother, Rhienholdt Kragov, who would later become Electro. In the end, Electro and Red Skull, along with Captain America, were trapped in a time dilation loophole and Chameleon escaped, never to be seen again.

Spider-Man faces the Counter-Earth version of The Chameleon in Spider-Man Unlimited #5.

Trivia
The Chameleon's real name, Dmitri Smerdyakov, is likely a reference to Dmitri and Smerdyakov, two of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. In the novel, Dmitri is a likeable though dissolute soldier who comes to be charged with his father's murder. Pavel Smerdyakov is Dmitri's half-brother, the illegitimate progeny of the elder Karamazov and a peasant woman. In part because he grew up isolated from the rest of the family and under the stigma of bastardhood, Smerdyakov lacks any warmth or sense of morality and would today be deemed a psychopath.

Incidentally, Kraven the Hunter has a son named Alyosha. Alyosha (also called Alexei in the novel) is another of the Karamazov brothers.