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Quote1 Wake up, Big Boy! Yes, that's better! Remember me? Remember the Russian? Quote2
Russian[src]

History

Early Life[]

Not much is known about the mercenary beyond his country of origin being Russia.[7] As a mercenary he traveled the world take part in conflicts in Afghanistan, Lebanon, East Timor, Chechnya, Iraq, Rwanda, and the Balkans. In the city of Belfast it is claimed he committed cannibalism on a bet. He is wanted by most law enforcement agencies around the world, he is also on the Yakuza hit list.[8]

The Punisher[]

Russian (Earth 616) from Punisher Vol 5 9 0001

"The Russian"

The man known as the Russian was hired by the crime boss Ma Gnucci to eliminate the Frank Castle the Punisher. He located him while Castle was moving out of his latest safe house, still recovering from severe wounds suffered in a previous battle with the Gnucci army. Almost unarmed and weak, Castle was beaten severely by the Russian, who took the chance to enlighten the reader about his views on capitalism and American comic heroes and enjoyed the exercise immensely.[9] During the course of the fight, though, Castle learned that the hired killer had a serious aversion towards hot things and later, when he was thrown through a door into his obese neighbor's (A man aptly named Mr. Bumpo) apartment, he used a very hot pizza to blind the Russian and then crushed him beneath Mr. Bumpo, until he died of asphyxiation. He is later seen with his head cut off.[10]

Giant-Sized Ma'am Thing[]

Several months after his death at the hands of the vigilante, a secret paramilitary organization retrieved his body parts. Using technology stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., they reattached his head onto his body and augmented him with super-hard alloy coating to his skeleton with countless internal organ modifications, rendering him superhumanly strong and resistant to any type of injury. The process also involved hormone injections that made him grow breasts and have a menstrual cycle, which he took in stride, and he even began to wear women's clothing. (Spider-Man, in a team-up with the Punisher, famously referred to this version of the Russian as "Giant-Sized Ma'am Thing", a pun on Giant-Size Man-Thing, an infamous comic.)[11] He enthusiastically agreed to serve the organization's head, General Kreigkopf, only to be allowed to take his revenge on the Punisher. His efforts failed when he was thrown off the Empire State Building by the Punisher but the damage he sustained was eventually repaired, waiting to clash once again with his adversary.[8]

Later, he was given his opportunity when the Punisher, having learned who was behind the Russian's resurrection, traveled to the island known as Grand Nixon to take out Kreigkopf. The deranged general was about to crash a Boeing 747 brimming with commandos into a European Union council to prove, once and for all, that he was not a man to be trifled with. The Russian was on board too, and when the Punisher blasted the plane before it could even take off, he emerged from amidst the flames. Kreigkopf gave him the order to terminate the Punisher, and a terrible fight aboard a second plane (this time carrying a French hydrogen bomb) ensued, where he finally died when Frank Castle tied him to the bomb and threw him off the plane. The bomb exploded, smothering Grand Nixon Island and the Russian out of existence.[12]

Attributes

Powers

Following his resurrection and subsequent reconstruction at the hands of General Kreigkopf's paramilitary organization, The Russian possessed a various superhuman abilities.[7]

  • Bodily Reconstruction: Following his resurrection, the Russian's natural physiology was rebuilt using a combination of extremely durable metal alloys and plastics.[7]
    • Superhuman Strength: Much of the Russian's musculature and ligaments were replaced with extremely durable, but lightweight plastics, increasing his already prodigious strength to higher levels. While the exact limit of his superhuman strength wasn't known, it is known that it didn't exceed 10 tons.[7]
    • Superhuman Stamina: The Russian's dramatically altered and enhanced artificial musculature produced less fatigue toxins during physical activity than a normal human, granting him an unknown degree of superhuman stamina. He could, however, exert himself at peak capacity for at least several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.[7] Implanted lungs from a gorilla as well as a combination of three hearts mean The Russian is capable of greatly enhanced feats of endurance and is extremely slow to tire in combat.[7]
    • Superhuman Durability: The Russian's skin and muscles was replaced with an extremely durable form of plastic, making them highly resistant to conventional injury. His bones were coated with a highly durable, lightweight Titanium alloy and adamantium,[13] rendering them highly resistant to injury as well, even more than his soft tissue.[7]
    • Superhuman Smelling: The Russian's body also gave him superhuman smelling, allowing him to track down targets with ease.[7]

Abilities

  • Hand-to Hand Combat: Despite having no formal training in the art of combat, The Russian is a world class brawler and street fighter. [7]
  • Bilingual: he is fluent in his native Russian and English.[7]

Notes

See Also

Links and References

References

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