Leyla (Earth-616)

Vitriol
Name	Leyla (last name unrevealed)
Current Alias	Vitriol
Aliases	Ishtar
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Commissioned by her government to develop chemical weapons, Leyla was shocked to find they were being used on her fellow citizens.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Iraq
Personal Information
Citizenship	Iraqi
Occupation	Engineer
Base of Operations	Iraq
Creators and Appearances
Creators	John Jackson Miller, Philip Tan
First	Iron Man (Vol. 3) #79 (April, 2004)
First	Iron Man (Vol. 3) #79 (April, 2004)

History

Leyla was a Kurdish woman, who nevertheless used her talent for chemistry to work for the oppressive Iraqi regime. Despairing after her family and husband were killed anyway, she attempted to end her life by submerging herself in a river polluted with highly corrosive chemicals. The presence of an unknown organism allowed her to survive. In her new form, Leyla likened herself to the goddess Ishtar, using her talents for revenge; to this end, she gathered a band of followers around her and started a terror campaign. A group of insurgents used "Vitriol" as it was called - actually a weaponized bacterial strain which reproduced at an incredible rate, consuming iron and producing acid - against rival groups and the United States military in Iraq. Iron Man was dispatched to investigate her, but found that Vitriol could dissolve his armor.

Analysis of Vitriol's composition revealed that she was covered with an acid-resistant micro-organism which protects her from her own biological weapons. When she planned to douse Baghdad with her deadly bacterium, destroying the city completely, Tony Stark had her bombed with a giant amount of magnesium hydroxide ("Milk of magnesia"), which neutralizes acid. She was not heard from again.

Attributes

Powers

Vitriol's body is resistant to chemical affection, particularly acid. The scales which cover her body are alive and, when separated from her, grow into a similar coating onto any surface she desires, giving it similar protection. She controls weaponized bacterial strains which can corrode even Iron Man's armor in seconds.

Abilities

Leyla is a genius-level biochemist and geneticist.

Weaknesses

Magnesium hydroxide - and theoretically any alkaline compound - can neutralize Vitriol's effects. Her destructive bacteria cannot penetrate force fields, or, presumably, any non-metallic material.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Leyla used the equipment afforded to her by the insurgents she led - vehicles, weapons, fuel, chemicals.

Trivia

The bacterial strain Vitriol uses to deadly effect, Leptospirillum ferooxidans is real and indeed eats iron and secretes acid, but at a much, much slower rate than in this story.

See Also

• 4 appearance(s) of Leyla (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Leyla (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Leyla (Earth-616)