Classification: Terrestrial Atlantean (Homo mermani) construct

Creator: Unidentified Atlantean scientists

User/Possessors: Manipulated by Warlord Krang

First Appearance: (Mentioned; hand seen) Tales to Astonish I#77/1 (March, 1966);
    (fully seen) Tales to Astonish I#79/1 (May, 1966)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Described as "a gigantic unthinking android," the Behemoth stood approximately 30 feet tall; it possessed vast superhuman strength (Class 100) and durability, as well as the ability to function at the ocean depths.

The virtually mindless Behemoth was temporarily under the control of Warlord Krang, who manipulated it with a puppet.


History:
(Tales to Astonish I#77/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, "after the last holocaust...the tragic era when Atlantis was almost destroyed..." (see comments), the Behemoth was created by the most brilliant brains of Atlantis. It was intended to be a last-ditch weapon in case of the gravest of emergencies, so that such a disaster would never occur again. The Behemoth was placed in stasis and buried beneath the sea-floor, where it slumbered for decades.

(Tales to Astonish I#77/1) - Atlantis was rocked by a series of tremors, which were caused by a scientific probe of the surface people's gigantic drill boring into the ocean floor (see comments). After surveying the damage to his kingdom, the Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie) spoke with Lady Dorma about his concerns that the violent upheavals would cause the Behemoth to awaken.

   Namor swam to the floating nautical laboratory, to put a stop to the drilling operation; but he was unaware that in the most desolate part of his realm, a gigantic hand writhed its way out of an ever-widening fissure, as the Behemoth began to arise...

(Tales to Astonish I#78/1 - BTS) - Shortly after arriving at the floating laboratory, the Sub-Mariner was enslaved by the Puppet Master (Philip Masters), who forced Namor to go to New York City and rob a bank for him.

(Tales to Astonish I#79/1) - The Behemoth, revived by the tremors, reached the outskirts of Atlantis, where it stormed aimlessly and destroyed all in its path. As the thunderous shock-waves of its approach reached the Atlantean royal palace, Dorma went to the surface-world to search for the Sub-Mariner and warn him about the Behemoth -- after she found him, Namor was able to overcome the Puppet Master's influence with the sheer force of his will-power.

   But even as the Sub-Mariner returned to the sea to oppose the Behemoth, the exiled Warlord Krang coerced the Puppet Master into creating a puppet of the creature for him, so that Krang could control the Behemoth himself.

(Tales to Astonish I#80/1) - The initially confident Namor engaged in battle with the Behemoth -- despite its unimaginable strength, the creature was virtually mindless, so the Sub-Mariner believed that gave him an advantage, and he would prove himself to be its master. But Namor was unaware that the Behemoth was now being mentally guided by the evil Krang, who successfully countered all the Sub-Mariner's physical attacks.

   Namor tore out some bars from Atlantis' iron gates and hurled them in the Behemoth's path, entrapping it within an improvised cage; but before the Sub-Mariner could surround it with a second layer, the Behemoth broke free with one forward lunge.

   Next, the Sub-Mariner summoned four gigantic electric eels to attack the Behemoth -- although the sea creatures unleashed enough current to fell a score of whales, it proved to be futile, for the Behemoth was unharmed, and it continued to advance to the heart of Atlantis. However, the eels' attack caused an energy backlash on Krang's puppet, melting the figurine enough so that it no longer resembled the Behemoth -- consequently, Krang was no longer in control of the giant construct.

   Noticing that his colossal foe was once again acting like a witless brute, flailing about without purpose or plan, Namor realized that the time had come to strike, while his skill might yet triumph over the Behemoth's virtually limitless strength. Swimming around and around the gigantic android at great speed, the Sub-Mariner created a powerful vortex that pulled the Behemoth down into the Quagmire of Doom, a thousand year-old bottomless pit of quicksand -- the one enemy against which no amount of strength or power may prevail. And so, the mightiest being ever to tread the ocean floor disappeared from human sight forever!

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.

I'd have to ASSume that the "last holocaust" to which they were referring was Paul Destine's destruction of one of the cities of Atlantis, which was first depicted in a flashback in Sub-Mariner I#1 (May, 1968).
I agree, since both Namor and Dorma knew of the Behemoth, and Krang was familiar enough with it to provide the Puppet Master with an accurate and detailed description of its physical appearance, so the Behemoth was probably created at some point during their earlier lives.

In Tales to Astonish I#79/1, Krang thought to himself that he was partly responsible for the Behemoth awakening, yet I could find no direct connection for him to this event in earlier issues -- maybe Krang secretly influenced that scientific probe to drill in the area where the Behemoth was buried?
And that drill probe was part of an operation supervised by Dr. Henry Pym (then known as Giant-Man) to gain a clue to the origin of life on Earth; Pym's fiancee Janet Van Dyne (aka the Wasp) was also present in the floating lab -- these stories in Tales to Astonish I#77/1 - 78/1 would tie into the later events seen in Avengers I#26, which resulted in the Wasp being captured by Attuma.
--Ron Fredricks

As seen in Avengers/Invaders#10 (June, 2009), the Behemoth was destroyed in 1943 by the Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) when he used a Cosmic Cube to alter history, creating a new timeline (Earth-93198); the Invaders and Avengers restored the original timeline, presumably reviving this Behemoth. Other monster corpses seen floating in the ocean were the Atlantean Giganto, Monster Island's Giganto and Titano.
--Markus Raymond

The Behemoth looks similar to the monster Doctor Drearr summoned.
--Gammatotem


Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Behemoth has no known connections to:

The Quagmire of Doom has no known connections to:

Unidentified Atlantean scientists

At some point in the past, "after the last holocaust...the tragic era when Atlantis was almost destroyed..." (see comments), the most brilliant minds in Atlantis created the Behemoth in their laboratory, to guarantee that such a disaster would never again befall them.

With all the scientific genius at their command, they made the Behemoth to be stronger than any other living being, even far stronger than the Sub-Mariner himself. But their creation was so powerful, they were unsure of its loyalty and if it would even allow them to control it -- it might even turn against Atlantis!

Regardless, the inert Behemoth was transported to the most desolate region of the Atlantean realm and buried in the sea-floor, where it would slumber until it was awakened by such a disaster. The scientists could only pray that the Behemoth did not become an even greater threat than any potential disaster.

--Tales to Astonish I#77/1 (fb)

Behemoth puppet

When the recently-awakened Behemoth began its sub-sea rampage, the exiled Atlantean warlord Krang wanted to use the mindless android's incomprehensible strength to strike at the Sub-Mariner. To achieve this end, Krang went to the Puppet Master and coerced him into using his radioactive clay to create a puppet of the Behemoth for him; Krang provided a detailed description of the Behemoth, then subsequently used the puppet to mentally control the gigantic android against Namor.

Initially, Krang was successful at guiding the brainless brute, and he was able to counter all the Sub-Mariner's physical attacks. But Namor eventually summoned four gigantic electric eels to attack the Behemoth -- although the colossal  creature was unharmed, an energy backlash from the eels' attack melted the puppet so that it no longer resembled the gigantic android; consequently, Krang was no longer able to control the Behemoth, and he could only watch as the Sub-Mariner was able to to conquer it.

But Krang was determined to wrest victory from the ashes of defeat; shortly afterwards, he used the now-useless puppet to trick Lady Dorma (who was unaware of Namor's victory) by threatening to bring the Behemoth back to Atlantis unless she agreed to marry him.

When Dorma realized she had no other choice, she gave her word and consented to the marriage, so Krang discarded the powerless figurine on the sea-floor.

--Tales to Astonish I#80/1

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#79/1, p8, pan4 (Main Image - Behemoth attacks outskirts of Atlantis; unidentified Atlanteans (foreground))
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p1, pan1 (Headshot - Behemoth)
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p8, pan1 (Behemoth, after puppet has melted and Krang is no longer in control of it; Sub-Mariner (foreground))
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p9, pan2 (Behemoth sinks into Quagmire of Doom)
Tales to Astonish I#79/1, p11, pan6 (Warlord Krang claims to be partly responsible for awakening the Behemoth)
Tales to Astonish I#77/1, p5, pan4 (in Sub-Mariner's memory flashback, unidentified Atlantean scientists work in laboratory to create Behemoth (background, under sheet))
Tales to Astonish I#77/1, p6, pan1 (in Sub-Mariner's memory flashback, unidentified Atlantean scientists discuss Behemoth (background, under sheet) possibly turning against them)
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p4, pan1 (Behemoth puppet held by Warlord Krang; Puppet Master (background))
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p7, pan1 (Behemoth puppet receives power feedback from electric eels attacking real Behemoth; Warlord Krang)
Tales to Astonish I#80/1, p12, pan6 (discarded Behemoth puppet laying on sea-floor; Krang's battle-cruiser, with Krang and Lady Dorma inside (background))

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#77 (March, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Sam Rosen (letters)
Tales to Astonish I#79 (May, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), Bill Everett (inks), Artie Simek (letters)
Tales to Astonish I#80 (June, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Gene Colan (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Sam Rosen (letters)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First Posted: 07/05/2004
Last Updated: 05/07/2022

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