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Quote1 In the name of extreme profit, you're under arrest. Quote2
Death's Head[src]

History

Death's Head was originally created in the dimension of Styrakos. This pocket realm were magic and technology vied for supremacy was ruled by the mage Lupex, who extended his life by transferring his spirit from body to body. Organic bodies would always eventually be burned out by Lupex's powerful energies, so he crafted a robotic body that could contain his spirit forever. However, Lupex was double-crossed by his former disciple, Pyra, who programmed the body with an independent personality. Pyra intended that the robot, imbued with a clinical, business-like attitude to death and killing, would fight back against Lupex's attempt to possess it, and destroy him, but this never happened, as the body was stolen by parties unknown.[5]

Adventures on Earth-616[]

Possessing no memory of its creation, and now going by the name "Death's Head," Lupex and Pyra's robotic creation began a career as a bounty hunter. Enlarged to thirty feet tall under unknown circumstances, his earliest known adventure took place in the early 21st century in the dimension of Earth-616, where he was hired by the rulers of the planet Tinas IV to recover an artifact stolen by Lothi and kill the thief. This brought him into conflict with the Terran government agency S.W.O.R.D, but they were able to arrange a deal with him to save Lothi's life, and later hired him to help them deal with some rampaging Metroliths. Disliking the term "bounty hunter," Death's Head had up to this point instead referred to himself as a "personal recovery specialist," but when S.W.O.R.D. agent Beast proposed "Freelance Peacekeeping Agent" as an alternative, Death's Head decided he preferred that term and took to using it himself.[6]

Death's Head would later travel to the Voldi Tear, where he was hired by Supreme Justicar to take part in a challenge where an armor-less Tony Stark was fighting as part of his trial.[7] However, during the fight, Tony's armor returned to him, allowing Tony to overpower Death's Head and escape the Voldi.[8] Following the destruction of the entire race of the Voldi by the Celestials, Iron Man hired Death's Head to assist him in going after Recorder 451 who was responsible for the extinction of the race. Upon arriving at the current location of 451, Death's Head double crossed Iron Man, since 451 paid first to Death's Head with a much higher offer, and left Iron Man with 451.[9]

Soon after, Death's Head learned that 451 was wanted for manipulating the Rigellians' database, and so decided to to go after the Recorder again. He ambushed him inside the Godkiller Armor, but 451 was able to eventually hack Death's Head's impenetrable system and take control of his body.[10] At 451's command, Death's Head began going after Iron Man, but soon found a way around the Recorder's control: when a hail of repulsor fire from Iron Man destroyed the platform they were standing on, Death's Head grabbed 451 to "shield" him with his body, preventing the Recorder from flying and sending them both plummeting into the depths of the Godkiller. 451 instructed Death's Head to let him go, the bounty hunter plunged to the bottom of the Godkiller Armor.[11]

Though extensively damaged by the fall, Death's Head survived and had his body rebuilt at human size. Soon after, he was hired by Tuck, to help her save Death's Head II - Death's Head's own future self, who had travelled back in time to the present day from the alternate future of Earth-8410. They came across Dr. Evelyn Necker who was dissecting Death's Head II on the behalf of the Psycho-Wraith. Evelyn send the reprogrammed Death's Head II to attack Death's Head, only for Death's Head to reboot his future self, while Necker used her copy of Death's Head II personality to turn the Psycho-Wraith into "Death's Head 3.0". After Death's Head II used a password to self-destruct all of the Wraiths, Necker used a Concussion Cannon to knock out Death's Head and kidnap him, risking the existence of Death's Head II.[12] He, along with other gathered individuals, were then used to form the Mys-Tech's Monotrace Core to replace the original board members and open a portal to Hell.[13] After Dark Angel awakened, she was able to free the rest of the individuals strapped to the core, just in time to face Killpower. When Killpower temporarily regained his senses, all of the heroes opened fire on him, killing him. After that, Dark Angel hacked Killpower's soul and used the energy of the Demons to close the wormhole. In the aftermath, Death's Head joined MI13 and he, alongside his future-self and Tuck, accepted a job they couldn't refuse.[14]

At different times and with different degree of success, Death's Head took contracts to capture Cyclops,[15][16] Novas Samuel Alexander and Richard Rider,[17] Guardians of the Galaxy,[18] Monsteroso,[19] and Darkhawk.[20]

The Transformers and the Doctor[]

At some point, the alien time traveller known as The Doctor transported Death's Head to the world of Earth-120185. Though they hadn't happened yet from Death's Head's point of view, the Doctor had had several encounters with the bounty hunter in the future, and had decided to "improve" Death's Head's attitude by "shaping" some of his adventures.[21] In this new world, Death's Head was once again enlarged to 30 feet in height to better fit in with the giant robots that populated this universe, the Transformers.[22] His contracts there sent him bouncing through time, including the possible future of Earth-88945,[23] and led him to play an instrumental role in the defeat of Unicron by the Autobots.[24] Death's Head escaped the aftermath of this battle by leaping through a time portal, and while hurtling through the timestream, he collided with the Doctor (their first meeting, from Death's Head's perspective). To escape Death's Head's fury, the Doctor shrank him down to human size once more, and bounced him through time yet again, dumping him on Earth-5555 in the year 8162.[25]

Dragon's Claws and Death's Head[]

In this new time, Death's Head quickly got embroiled in local affairs of Greater Britain and was partially destroyed by Dragon's Claws, formerly the best Game team in the world.[26] His remains were found and rebuilt with a new look by Spratt.[27] Together, they moved to the Los Angeles Resettlement where Spratt became his 'partner' and started taking on commissions (which DH never really liked or admitted but begrudgingly tolerated).[28]

Death's Head (Earth-TRN234) from Death's Head Vol 1 1 (Cover)

Iron Man 2020 and Death's Head[]

After being hired by Josiah W. Dogbolter to kill the Doctor and instead saved by him from a bomb, Death's Head was ditched on the Four Freedoms Plaza building on Earth-616[29] and was in turn transported by the Fantastic Four to a near future of Earth-8410,[30] where he battled Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020,[1] and once again settled down and started taking commissions. At some point Pyra found him and transported back to Styrakos, his place of creation. There, after a fearsome battle, he killed Ty Rejutka Lupex.[5]

Time Variance Authority[]

Death's Head also worked as a freelancer for the Time Variance Authority (TVA). For one job he was hired to investigate a time-bubble, encountering the Fantastic Four and Thor.[31]

Death's Head was hired again by the TVA to kill the Future Foundation, as one of its members would have created a device which would have unleashed chaos on the timeline, the intervention of Spider-Man made it possible for the time-space to be safe once more. During this intervention, Spider-Man decapitated Death's Head, so the TVA brought in a new version earlier from his timeline. After it was resolved and the timeline was rewritten, Death's Head was displaced from Earth-616 and arrived in New York in another unknown timeline, possibly Earth-8410. The decapitated Death's Head's actual head appeared to remain in Earth-616, still conscious.[32]

Later, after having left the TVA's employ, he stole a time-bike from them and was hired to steal a vase from She-Hulk.[33]

On Maruthea[]

At some point, Death's Head encountered the Doctor at a birthday party on Maruthea, a planet in the Time Vortex outside of time and space.[34] At the same time, Death's Head's future self and his companion Tuck materialized on Maruthea where they encountered Hob and his archive dedicated to Death's Head's life, created in an attempt to locate his lost master Josiah W. Dogbolter. The earlier Death's Head was attacked by Hob, but was saved by Death's Head II and subsequently incapacitated by the Doctor, who wiped his memory of the encounter and returned him to the party.[35][21]

Marvel Heroes[]

Death's Head was at one point hired by the D'Bari to fight Earth's champion, the Hulk, for the right to colonize Earth-9411. Given that Death's Head has been shown to be able to travel between realities as well as through time (having previously visited both Earth-8410 and Earth-5555 as well as Earth-616), it is unclear if this was that reality's own version of Death's Head or simply the mainstream Death's Head going where the money was.[36]

Vee[]

At an unknown point in time, after being unable to pay a debt to Yondu, Death's Head was blasted through an interdimensional displacement chamber by Yondu's Fearmonger robots, which deposited his deactivated body on Earth-616 in the present day. When some teen began using his body as music boxers in a concert this left him outraged and started wreaking havoc, until he was approached by Hulkling and Wiccan. They were able to defeat him and teleported his knocked out body to their apartment's bathroom. As Teddy was about to sleep, while Billy was looking through realities, Death's Head awoke and tried to kill Teddy, until they discovered a younger version of himself under the couple's bed.[37] After Billy explained to them how he got "Vee" from the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility, and another battle with the couple, they were joined by Kate Bishop, and decided to go to the facility. However, Dr. Evelyn Necker was waiting for them and sent her robots to attack them. After Death's Head and Billy were split from Teddy and Kate, they faced the Fearmongers. After the battle, they were reunited, but Necker reprogrammed Vee, and attacked them. Billy teletransported all of them, but unintentionally left Death's Head behind.[38] After landing at the lunchroom, Teddy took the appearance of one of the Fearmongers and got Death's Head and Vee to the others to safety. They decided to free the Fearmongers and were successful in stopping the self-destruction countdown of the facility. Afterwards, Necker became Death's Head's partner and was able to pay Yondu's debt.[3]

Death and Death's Head II[]

Eventually, back on Earth-8410 in 2020, Death's Head was terminated by the Advanced Idea Mechanics cyborg originally called 'Minion'. Minion was programmed by Dr. Evelyn Necker to assimilate 106 of history's greatest combatants to protect A.I.M. from a predicted unknown future threat, and Death's Head was the 105th one to be assimilated.[39] What no one counted on was that Death's Head's mechanoid nature meant his full consciousness was essentially downloaded into the Minion body causing the cyborg to become confused. When Minion went after Reed Richards as his 106th and final target, Mr. Fantastic scrambled his circuits with a device. Death's Head became the dominant personality and Minion became the new Death's Head. Minion then realized he could download the data he needed from Reed's computers instead of from Reed's mind and thus eliminated the need to kill him. He thanked Reed and went back into space-time.[40]

Charnel[]

The remains of the original Death's Head body would later be claimed by Spratt, and brought to Baron von Strucker V in hopes that von Strucker could repair Death's Head. Strucker had other ideas, and using magic he fused himself with the robotic remains and became the entity known as Charnel.[41]

Attributes

Power Grid[47]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Several Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Warp:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Supersonic:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Abilities

  • Marksmanship: Death's Head is an outstanding marksman, having been able to knock out some of the Fantastic Four's roof defenses, and being able to hit the FF's rogue security system in the air.
  • Master Combatant: Death's Head is a very skillful combatant, being able to hold his own against several known fighters, such as the Hulk.
  • Acrobat[42]
  • Hunting[42]
  • Tracking[42]
  • Tactician: Death's Head was a skilled planner and strategist.[42]
  • Weapons Proficiency: Death's Head was proficient with most weaponry.[42]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

  • Rocket boots
  • Multi-use hand: Death's Head can switch his hand out for several attachments including, a blaster, a mace, a rocket, and a projectile spear simultaneously.[42]

Weapons

  • Various firearms, multiple weapons in the form of switchable hands, a double-bladed battle axe and a mace.[42]

Notes

  • After nearly being killed by Yondu's female robots due to a debt, it seems that Death's Head had developed a fear towards them, since the Fearmongers—robots created by Dr. Evelyn Necker which transform into their opponents' greatest fear—took the appearance of the female robots.[43]

Trivia

  • Death's Head's first appeared in Transformers (UK) #113. As Simon Furman explained in the 4th volume of the IDW-published trade-paperback collected edition of the series, "At this point [after seeing Geoff Senior's design for the character] we didn't know we wanted to get him out of the Transformers Universe. It was at least another six months before we decided to get him out of TFUK (Transformers UK) and into his own title." To fulfill this goal, one-page strip High Noon Tex was created by Simon Furman and Bryan Hitch, which appeared in several Marvel UK publications, including Transformers (UK) #167 and Dragon's Claws #3. This strip was published specifically in order to secure Marvel's ownership of the character, who originally debuted in Transformers under Hasbro license.
  • Death's Head's dream monster duplicate appeared on Nightmare's Realm.[44]
  • In S.W.O.R.D. and Iron Man (Vol. 5) Death's Head is shown at 30 feet tall. It is implied this is before he arrived in Earth-88945 not only due to his size but also because he appears to be unfamiliar with the term "Freelance Peacekeeping Agent" until the Beast suggests it. However, in both Incomplete Death's Head #1 and All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3 he is said to be enlarged at that height only when he arrived in Earth-88945. Despite these inconsistencies, it has been confirmed by both Death's Head creator Simon Furman and the writer of S.W.O.R.D. and Iron Man, Kieron Gillen, that this is the original incarnation of Death's Head and not some alternative version. Gillen dismissed the apparent continuity complications, "Death's Head is a dimension skipping time-travelling robot. He's probably a walking paradox several times over."[45] The inconsistency would later be resolved by Revolutionary Death: Death's Head II, which established that Death's Head was downsized to human-scale when his body was repaired after suffering extensive damage in his Iron Man appearance, leaving him in a position that allows him to be upsized once more when he eventually travels to the Transformers' world.
  • In Avenging Spider-Man #17, Otto Octavius as the Superior Spider-Man remarks that Peter Parker had encountered Death's Head before, a meeting that has yet to be seen.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Death's Head #10
  2. Death's Head (Vol. 2) #2
  3. 3.0 3.1 Death's Head (Vol. 2) #4
  4. Death's Head (Vol. 2) #14
  5. 5.0 5.1 Death's Head: The Body in Question #1
  6. S.W.O.R.D. #15
  7. Iron Man (Vol. 5) #67
  8. Iron Man (Vol. 5) #8
  9. Iron Man (Vol. 5) #9
  10. Iron Man (Vol. 5) #13
  11. Iron Man (Vol. 5) #14
  12. Revolutionary War: Death's Head II #1
  13. Revolutionary War: Warheads #1
  14. Revolutionary War: Omega #1
  15. Uncanny X-Men Special #1
  16. Iron Man Special #1
  17. Nova (Vol. 7) #23
  18. Guardians of the Galaxy: Dream On #1
  19. Black Bolt #3
  20. Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #14
  21. 21.0 21.1 Incomplete Death's Head #12
  22. All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  23. Transformers (UK) #113
  24. Transformers (UK) #151
  25. Doctor Who Magazine #135
  26. Dragon's Claws #5
  27. Death's Head #1
  28. Death's Head #3
  29. Death's Head #8
  30. Death's Head #9
  31. Fantastic Four #338
  32. Avenging Spider-Man #17
  33. Sensational She-Hulk #24
  34. Doctor Who Magazine #173
  35. Incomplete Death's Head #11
  36. Marvel Heroes (UK) #33
  37. Death's Head (Vol. 2) #1
  38. Death's Head (Vol. 2) #23
  39. Death's Head II #1
  40. Death's Head II #2
  41. Death's Head II #3
  42. 42.00 42.01 42.02 42.03 42.04 42.05 42.06 42.07 42.08 42.09 42.10 42.11 42.12 42.13 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  43. Death's Head (Vol. 2) #13
  44. Spectacular Spider-Man (UK) #115
  45. Arrant, Chris (September 20, 2013) DEATH'S HEAD Is Cool, Yes? Marvel's UK Import Poised for Push. Retrieved on May 13, 2019.
  46. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  47. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3
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