Merge:Scorpion

Macdonald "Mac" Gargan is a super-villain and Spider-Man enemy called The Scorpion. He first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #20, and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Formely a private investigator, Mac Gargan underwent an experimental process to make him into a powerful living weapon to take down Spider-Man, using elements of a particular animal to enhance his physical abilities, in this case a Scorpion. From this, Gargan was endowned with super-human strength, speed and agility, even in excess of Spider-Man's physical abilities and donning a specially crafted suit with a scorpion-like mechanical tail attached, Gargan took the name, "The Scorpion". Since then he has been a regular Spider-Man foe.

Recently, Gargan accuired the Venom symbiote and has taken the name Venom along with it.

Character biography
A former private investigator named Mac Gargan who was initially hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker is able to get those incredible pictures of Spider-Man, Gargan's efforts set off Peter's spider-sense and the teen was able to easily frustrate the detective. Jameson then decided to hire Gargan as the subject of a barely tested process that would endow him with the useful characteristics of a particular animal. In this case, a scorpion was the base for the purposes of creating a powerful agent capable of defeating Spider-Man. This mutagenic treatment seriously affected Gargan's mind, driving him insane. He promptly turned on his benefactor and when Spider-Man intervened, Jameson found himself in the strange position of praying that his investment was insufficient in defeating the superhero he hated. Since then, the Scorpion has repeatedly attempted to indulge in his deadly vendetta against Spider-Man and Jameson, only to be defeated each time. Jonah does appreciate the irony.

The Scorpion, in his career, has accomplished among other things: a new costume, fought Ms. Marvel, and paid for a new tail that spurted acid. In one instance, Scorpion became more psychotic than usual after his battle with Ms. Marvel, resulting in his being dumped in acid. In the sewers, Scorpion came to believe that his costume couldn't come off, but after a quick encounter, Spider-Man proved to him that his belief of being a monster was in his mind.

Later on through circumstances yet to be revealed, Norman Osborn reveals Spider-Man's true identity to Gargan and gives him orders to kidnap Peter's Aunt May should Osborn ever be captured and imprisoned. When Spider-Man defeats Osborn, he is imprisioned and Gargan carries out Osborn's orders in kidnapping Aunt May. Gargan eventually summons Peter and tells him the only way he can see his aunt again is to break Norman out of jail. Shortly thereafter, the Venom symbiote approaches Gargan and Gargan becomes bonded with the Venom symbiote, and becomes part of the new Sinister Twelve. Even with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve. So far he remains bonded with the symbiote. Though incarcerated, Gargan is unfazed, as with his new powers came the respect of becoming an "A-list" villain.

As of Civil War #4, Venom is a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts, which has been drafted by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers.

Ultimate Scorpion


Scorpion made his debut in Ultimate Spider-Man #97, the first issue of the Ultimate Clone Saga, where he was revealed to be one of many clones of Peter Parker. It appears that his costume was bullet proof. Throughout the issue #97 he uses an acid that erupts from his tail as well as acid shooters on his upperhand, similar to Spider-Man's web shooters. His design is very close to the Original Marvel universe Scorpion, with the exception of sleekness to the design, and a dome like hunch which becomes the dangerous tail, giving the appearance of an actual scorpion's exo-skeleton. The tail was also fused to his spinal cord, which Invisible Woman of the Ultimate Fantastic Four referred to as an "illegal biograft".

He is presently held in the Baxter Building while the Fantastic 4 conduct research into the cloning.

Other versions of The Scorpion

 * In one of the many realities visited by the Exiles, Mac Gargan is one of the many superhumans that form the Heroes for Hire, and is part of the Avengers Package, which also includes the Black Widow and the Black Knight. After being hired to protect Tokyo from Moses Magnum and Namorita, Scorpion is killed by the murderous, teenage counterpart of Magik.

Powers and abilities
Mac Gargan has superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, stamina, and endurance, and also has the ability to cling to walls. In addition to his superhuman physique, he was traditionally armed with a cybernetic, seven-foot mechanical tail, which can whip at incredibly high speeds. The tail has in the past been equipped with projectile weapons (usually an electrical generator, although it has also been equipped with an acidic spray and a plasma energy projector). The Scorpion is substantially stronger and more durable than Spider-Man, though a much less skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

Mac Gargan was once a skilled investigative journalist but, as he is emotionally disturbed as a result of the procedure in which he acquired his powers, he retains little of his former rationality. He is typically easily outsmarted by Spider-Man and is not very good at cooperating with other supervillains or following instructions.

With the Venom symbiote, Gargan retains his superhuman abilities (which are probably increased because of the symbiote) and has the ability to shoot webbing like Spider-Man can, and can presumably disguise himself as other people or blend in with his background as Brock could. He is undetectable to Spider-Man's "spider-sense".

Television
Scorpion appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series played by Martin Landau and then Richard Moll when Landau won an award and was no longer available to star in the series. In his debut episode, Mac Gargan works for J. Jonah Jameson as an investigator, but is nervous, plump and balding. In an attempt to discover Spider-Man's real identity, Jameson hires a scientist to use Dr. Connors' Neogenic Recombinator to turn Gargan into a superhero called the Scorpion. This incarnation is similar to the original comics version of the Scorpion, with superhuman strength and agility resulting from his genetic enhancement with scorpion DNA -referred to by the scientist who carries out the experiment as "a natural predator of the spider"- and an externally-mounted cybernetic weapon-tail. He encounters Spider-Man on a roof top, but when he is about to unmask Spider-Man, he notices his monstrous appearance in the reflection of a puddle (in this initial debate, the Scorpion is depicted with yellow eyes, slight talons on his fingers and a greenish tint to his skin). At that point, madness at the horror of what he has become descend upon him. At OsCorp, the Scorpion plans to blow up the city, until Spider-Man stops him, sending him to jail.

In "The Insidious Six", Scorpion becomes a member of the Insidious Six, created by the Kingpin, to kill Spider-Man, so Kingpin can settle off his debt with his enemy, Silvermane, but Spider-Man survived in the end. In "The Final Nightmare", he makes a plan to find a cure for his mutation by kidnapping the scientist who is responsible for turning him into a freak. Unfortunately, the scientist disappears so he meets Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, who is as smart as the doctor, and when Toomes' lab was blowing up, Scorpion saved him. In "Partners", where Moll replaced Landau, he makes another attempt to cure himself, but fails when Spider-Man stops him (this attempt was a plot created by Spider-Man because he needed Scorpion to give to Alistair Smythe to save the Black Cat). In "The Wedding", Scorpion makes a bank robbery and Spider-Man is defeated. Then, he takes the wedding rings, so that he and his girlfriend Sara can get married. And finally, the Scorpion appears in the Six Forgotten Warriors five-parter as his last appearance as a member of the Insidious Six.

Video games

 * The Scorpion is the third boss of the Game Boy game The Amazing Spider-Man.


 * Scorpion appears in the Game Boy Color video game "Spider-Man 2: Enter The Sinister Six" as a member of the Sinister Six, though in the comics, he never officially joined.


 * He appeared twice in Spider-Man: The Video Game.


 * He also appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Here, he was making another attempt to get revenge on J. Jonah Jameson for turning him into the mutant freak he is (as usual). But Spider-Man arrives on time to save Jameson and defeats Scorpion in battle, thus foiling another one of the Scorpion's miserable plans. He was last seen in the game, playing cards with Rhino and Mysterio (whom have been placed in jail with Doc Ock for framing Spider-Man and almost releasing a symbiote invasion to the world). Scorpion was surprised and disappointed that all of them (Doc Ock, Mysterio and Rhino) were all working together and Spider-Man is still alive, while Mysterio tries to make it look like it was Doc Ock's fault ("It's not my fault! Doc Ock's plan was horrible!  Everyone knows you can't control the symbiotes.") (he actually didn't know that until Spider-Man told him that after he defeated him in battle).


 * In all his video-game appearances, his costume tends to the green and blue armor briefly seen during the controversial Spider-Man: Chapter One/Reboot era instead of his classic green costume.


 * In the multiple platform game, Spider-Man: The Movie (based on the film), Scorpion makes a strange apperance in two of the levels. In the game his attitude is totally been revamped. He is depicted as a confused, misunderstanding, and paranoid person who probably was experimented on by a rival company of OSCORP, but that doesn't keep him from fighting Spider-Man when he wants "to be alone." After the battle, the Scorpion disappears, never to be seen again (there are rumours that Scorpion will appear in the Spider-Man 3 game). He was voiced by Mike McColl.


 * The Scorpion will appear as a villain in the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.