Douglas Birely (Earth-616)

Demonicus
Name	Douglas Birely
Current Alias	Demonicus
Aliases	Doctor Demonicus
Affiliation and Relationships
Group Affiliation	formerly Hood's criminal army; Pacific Overlords
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′11″ (1.8 m)
Weight	170 lbs (77.11 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Grey
Hair	Brown
Unusual Features	Birely's face is scarred to mirror his mask with mottled skin, horn-like forehead features, and skull-like facial disfigurement.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human, Criminal geneticist who creates monsters.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Culver City, California
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Scientist, geneticist, criminal subversive; former ruler of Demonica
Education	Ph.D. in genetics
Base of Operations	New York City, New York Formerly Demonica, Pacific Ocean; secret laboratories in the Aleutian Islands and the South Pacific; a gigantic space satellite orbiting the Moon.
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Doug Moench, Tom Sutton
First	Godzilla #4 (August, 1977)
First	Godzilla #4 (August, 1977)

How gratifying it is to have you -- the greatest living dinosaur -- subjugated in my service!

—Doctor Demonicus[source]

History

Early Life

Dr. Douglas Birely was born in Culver City, California. As a scientist, he was studying the correlation between radioactivity and mutation when he was contaminated by a radioactive spill.

Doctor Demonicus

As Doctor Demonicus, he was a criminal geneticist who created monsters and discovered the Lifestone. As a former ally of Maur-Kon, who gave Demonicus his satellite headquarters, he created numerous immense monsters including Batragon, Ghilaron, Lepirax, and Centipor to create the Monster Menagerie. They were killed by Godzilla. He later created and used the Starchild, Cerberus, and the Hand of Five.

Actual face

Exposure to the Lifestone fragments eventually mutated Birely so that his face became a twisted mirror of his mask. He changed tactics and began mutating humans instead of animals, giving them superpowers as his team of super-villains, the Pacific Overlords. Demonicus and the Overlords battled the Avengers West Coast and won, raising a sub-oceanic landmass to the surface as an island nation, recognized as Demonica by the United Nations for its mineral wealth and trade possibilities.

However, the raised island also contained the temple of the lost demon, Rakasha. Birely was enslaved to the demon's will, and soon the Pacific Overlords fell under its sway as well. In a second encounter with the Avengers West Coast, Demonica was destabilized as Birely attempted to make sacrifices to the demon. He was seemingly killed when Demonica sank into the Pacific.

Doctor Demonicus somehow survived this "death" and was eventually arrested, convicted and incarcerated for his crimes. He was sentenced to "the Raft", a supervillain prison facility. He was among the 43 villains that escaped during the breakout that was engineered by Electro.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

• Genius-Level Intellect: Advanced knowledge of genetics and of the technology of the alien Myndai.

Weaknesses

• Skin Cancer: Suffering from skin cancer currently in remission.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Doctor Demonicus wears a life-support suit that keeps his skin cancer in remission.
• Lifestone

Weapons

A blaster that fires an unknown form of concussive energy

See Also

• 29 appearance(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 8 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 7 minor appearance(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 7 image(s) of Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Douglas Birely (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Douglas Birely (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Doctor Demonicus at the Marvel Appendix