Kindred (Earth-616)

Kindred
Name	Unrevealed
Current Alias	Kindred
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Mysterio (Quentin Beck), Kingpin (Mayor Wilson Fisk), Sin-Eater (servants)
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: No Eyes At All
Hair	No Hair At All
Unusual Features	Covered in bandages; Two giant centipedes clinging to his person
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Demon; former Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Hell
Base of Operations	Unidentified cemetery on Earth; Hell
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley
First	Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #1 (July, 2018) (Illusion) Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #5 (September, 2018) (Full appearance)
First	Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #1 (July, 2018) (Illusion) Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #5 (September, 2018) (Full appearance)

 You see, your dreams and mine intersect. There's something you want and there's something somebody else wants that I'm going to deny them. 

—Kindred

History

Formerly a human sent to Hell, the entity known as Kindred became a demon and rapidly climbed through the ranks. Possessing an intimate familiarity with Peter Parker to the point of affectionately referring to him as "Pete", and Norman Osborn who terrified Kindred when he was human– both as Norman and the Green Goblin– and inspired his demonic form, the demon began torturing Mysterio, an enemy of Spider-Man's who had previously committed suicide, relentlessly until Beck agreed to serve him. The demon resurrected Beck to serve as his agent, though Beck eventually forgot about his bargain. The demon was aware of Ero's interest in testing Peter Parker and attempted to use Mysterio to persuade the Spider-Totem to ally with him, though it refused.

File:Kindred (Earth-616) from Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 24 001.png

The Kindred appearing before Mysterio's psychiatrist

During Kraven the Hunter's attempt to persuade Spider-Man to kill him, Spider-Man glimpsed visions of Mary Jane Watson on the floor, seemingly dead while he stood by helplessly. While Spider-Man fought Kraven, the demon watched over Mary Jane in his absence and commented on her treating one of his centipedes with kindness.

The demon also resumed tormenting Quentin Beck, manifesting during a prison therapy session that was subsequently cut short. Apologizing for his cruel treatment of Beck, the demon reminded him of their bargain before offering to let him say the demon's true name. Before Mysterio could do so, the demon sensed Peter Parker dream-scrying these events and killed Beck to avoid Spider-Man prematurely learning his identity. Addressing Peter directly, the demon asked Peter to call him "Kindred" and that he intended to torment Peter for something that he'd done.

Kindred was seen soon after murdering Mysterio, encountering Mysterio's psychiatrist, who turned out to be Dr. Ludwig Rinehart. Mysterio revealed to Kindred that he brainwashed his psychiatrist and made him pretend and dress up like him. Kindred then yelled at Beck for telling his psychiatrist his name during his brain washing. He explained that Mysterio keeps running from his purpose and then handed Mysterio a script. He was seen once again talking to Peter stating, "When we do finally stand face to face, I want it to be the right way." He was later shown in an elevated lair at a cemetery, staring at a wall with framed photos of all the spider-related superheroes, each in costume: Peter, Otto Octavius (Superior Spider-Man), Miles Morales, Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Cindy Moon (Silk), Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider), Gwen Stacy (Ghost-Spider), and two unidentifiable portrait fragments that may have Kaine Parker (Scarlet Spider). He remarked that he wanted to meet "through friends" and that he would see him soon.

No sooner had Kindred left Mysterio alone than he came across the cell of Peter's greatest enemy, Norman Osborn, believing himself to be the serial killer Cletus Kasady. The demon, knowing Osborn could not hear him, reminisced on how he was being tempted to kill the madman here and now, but he was content to let Osborn rot as a mental wreck of what he once was. Despite wanting to kill Osborn revenge– blaming him for his transformation into a demon– Kindred instead inserted a centipede into his brain to prevent him from killing Spider-Man, saying he would have his revenge when Osborn was himself again. As Kindred left, Osborn's Cletus Kasady persona called out to him to deliver a message from Norman Osborn's dormant psyche– mocking Kindred for assuming that he regretted anything and saying that he had figured out who Kindred was and was proud to see the human-turned-demon reduced to a vengeful monster as a result of his actions. After Osborn was bonded to the "Carnage" symbiote and transformed into Carnage, Kindred stopped him from killing Spider-Man using the implanted centipede, allowing Spider-Man to get a second wind and defeat him.

Still bothered by Norman Osborn having claimed to know his true identity, Kindred started his next plot against Spider-Man that involved him reviving Sin-Eater.

Personality

Kindred is amicable but ruthless, torturing Quentin Beck into near-insanity and brutally killing him after giving him permission to say his true name, though he lamented having to do so in order to keep his identity secret. Kindred is fixated on obtaining revenge on Peter Parker for unspecified reasons, though he is also strangely affectionate towards him– referring to him as "Pete" and watching over Mary Jane while Peter was fighting Kraven the Hunter. He also has a vendetta against Norman Osborn, who made Peter's life a living Hell, and who he claims is responsible for his transformation into a demon.

Attributes

Powers

Demon Physiology: Formerly a human, Kindred has become a demon primarily associated with centipedes, which he can spawn at will along with other pestilence.

Resurrection: Kindred can resurrect people, as he did with Mysterio and Sin-Eater.

Insectipathy: Kindred can remotely control bugs and pests, such as when he sent a centipede to enter the head of Norman Osborn while at Ravencroft. In other instances, centipedes are used as 'bugs' (fly-on-the-wall monitor or surveillance tool).

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Kindred summons pestilence, such as centipedes, rats, worms, roaches and other small critters to demolish people, structures, and foundations. These can spawn from anywhere, including from the inside of a person's body. He also uses the two large centipedes that cling to him like tentacle extensions of his body, such as for opening doors, caressing surfaces, or for bludgeoning heads.

Notes

• Kindred's Earthly base of operations may be in one of three cemeteries in New York City: Long Island Cemetery, 1st Calvary Forest Hills Cemetery, or Woodlawn Cemetery. The exact location or its relevance to his identity has not yet been specified.

Trivia

• When Spider-Man traced a Tri-Sentinel squadron to an old hideout of the Life Foundation and found a dying Mendel Stromm, Kindred had Mendel's last utterances be "Guess my name--" before having the Tri-Sentinels iterate the same message as they crashed into the building, destroying themselves along with it. Having rewired the squadron to obey his orders, Spidey was greatly confused by this disturbing course of events since he never gave them a strike order.

Links and References

• Kindred on Wikipedia.org