Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)

Mister E
Name	Unrevealed
Current Alias	Mister E
Aliases	Mr. E, Shadow Man, Shadow Monster, Shadow Dude
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Symbiote Hive
Relatives	Knull (creator, deceased)
Host(s)	Louis Tuttle (former host, deceased); Alistaire Smythe (former host)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Agender (Referred to with male pronouns)
Height	Variable
Weight	Variable
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	No Hair At All
Skin	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Proto-symbiote created by Knull; purportedly originally from the Shadowverse/Shadow Realm.
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Shadow Realm
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Shadowverse
Occupation	Conqueror, scout
Base of Operations	Mobile
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Bill Mantlo, Steve Ditko
First	Marvel Spotlight (Vol. 2) #9 (August, 1980)
First	Marvel Spotlight (Vol. 2) #9 (August, 1980)
Death	Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #5 (March, 2021)
Death	Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #5 (March, 2021)

History

Mister E is the alias of a primordial proto-symbiote created by Knull as one of his early experiments at manipulating living abyss.

Traveling to Earth, Mister E developed ambitions of godhood and took a NASA scientist named Louis Tuttle as its host, infecting the staff at Cape Canaveral with offshoots in order to turn them into shadow slaves. Mister E had its shadow slaves modify a space shuttle to emit negatron particles, intending to transform the sun into a black star -- thus killing all life on Earth save those he planned to convert into an army of shadow slaves he would use to conquer the universe.

However, Mister E was opposed by Steven Coffin, who had become the host of the Uni-Power and transformed into Captain Universe. Wreathing the space shuttle in darkness, Mister E flew it towards the sun. Battling Captain Universe when he boarded the solar shuttle. Mister E was seemingly killed when Captain Universe breeched the shuttle's hull and caused it to fly into the sun, but either survived and returned to Earth or was resurrected.

Several months later, Mister E -- having been given a "second chance" by Knull -- travelled to Ravencroft Institute and bonded to Alistair Smythe, using him to turn the staff into shadow slaves before creating an eclipse by channelling the power of the Shadow Realm back through the timestream. Encountering Spider-Man, Mister E recognized his symbiote as one of its brethren and enthusiastically greeted him, only to be confused when his "brother" attacked him. Incapacitated by the Black Knight, who attempted to interrogate it, Mister E cryptically remarked that while creation moves forward through time, uncreation moves backwards; before seemingly freeing itself and escaping into the shadows. Disguising itself as Merlin, Mister E sent the shadow slave-controlled Ned Leeds to attack J. Jonah Jameson in order to lure Spider-Man away, then lured the Black Knight into a trap. Mister E attempted to trick the Black Knight into willingly surrendering the Ebony Blade to it, but he saw through its trick at the last moment. Taking the Ebony Blade by force, Mister E impaled the Black Knight on his own sword and left -- intending to destroy it so that it couldn't be used against Knull. Travelling to Knowhere, Mister E sought out the troll blacksmith Ulicia and requested her services, but they were attacked by her brother Ulik before she could begin.

Mister E battled Ulik, who had been sent to get the Ebony Blade by Uatu the Watcher. Attacked by Spider-Man, Kang the Conqueror, Rocket Raccoon, and Captain Marvel, Mister E phased through their attacks until Captain Marvel used her powers to nullify its intangibility. Separated from Alistair Smythe, Mister E was sent to the Collector and subsequently imprisoned in his showroom. Mister E pleaded with Knull to restore his full power, to which Knull acquiesced to doing -- enabling Mister E to escape and reclaim the Ebony Blade. Despite boasting that he was now invincible, Captain Marvel reclaimed the Ebony Blade and impaled Mister E with it before channeling her powers through it to destroy the proto-symbiote.

Personality

Cunning, arrogant, and ambitious, Mister E sought to conquer the universe by turning the Earth's populace into shadow-slaves and believed itself unstoppable until its plan was thwarted by Captain Universe. Following having been given a "second chance", Mister E was fanatically loyal to Knull and incredulous that the symbiote bonded to Spider-Man was not only subservient to its host but willing to oppose their master. Mister E was able to convincingly impersonate Spencer Smythe and Merlin, and adapt its plans to account for unexpected developments like the discovery of the Ebony Blade.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Composed of living darkness, Mister E is capable of manifesting tendrils, wings, and claws; can become intangible; and can also merge to surfaces like a shadow. It is capable of producing offshoots to take over other beings and turn them into subservient "shadow slaves".

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Ebony Blade: After tricking the Black Knight, Mister E stole his blade from him, intending to destroy it to so that it couldn't be wielded against his god.

Notes

• Marvel Spotlight (Vol. 2) #9 described Mister E as an entity from the a parallel dimension called the "Shadowverse" -- populated by similar beings such as Shadow Man and Kaa -- which he intended to conquer by creating an army of shadow slaves. However, the solicit for Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #1 describes Mister E as being an early creation of Knull's. According to King in Black Handbook #1, the "Shadowverse/Shadow Realm" that Mister E purportedly originates from probably refers to Knull's living abyss rather than being a separate dimension unto itself.

See Also

• 6 appearance(s) of Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
• 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
• 8 image(s) of Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
• 1 quotation(s) by or about Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Mister E (Symbiote) (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Mister E at the Marvel Appendix