ICEWORM
Real Name: Unrevealed, possibly none
Identity/Class: Mystic creature (Jotunheim)
Occupation: King of the Iceworms; imprisoner of Jack Frost
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Ymir
Enemies: Amaranth (Aaf Capmi Piap), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Jack Frost (Isabrot), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)
Known Relatives: Ymir (ancestor); Midgard Serpent (possible offspring), Hela (possible aunt), Fenris Wolf (possible uncle), Loki (possible grandfather), Angerboda (possible grandmother), Hoarfen (possible cousin), Laufey (possible great-grandfather), Echidna (possible great-grandmother), Vârcolac (possible great-grandfather), Phorcys (possible great-great-grandfather), Ceto (possible great-great-grandmother), Set (possible great-great-great-grandfather)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: The North Pole (or any other really cold place on Earth);
originated in Jotunheim
First Appearance: Captain America I#384 (April, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: The Iceworm's body is comprised of an ice-like substance, granting it a superhuman level of durability. It is immune to even the most extreme cold temperatures, and assaults its opponents by striking them with its mouth. However, the Iceworm possesses no limbs or eyes, and can be easily disoriented in battle.
The Iceworm's mystic cold could remove all heat and even touch gods and their forefathers. It could harness the cold of Jack Frost (and presumably other cold-generating beings) and use it to enhance its powers. It could shoot an ice blast from its gullet.
History:
(Scarlet Witch IV#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Iceworms were born of the primordial cold and served Ymir.
(Captain America I#384 (fb) - BTS) - It had been postulated that it was of Asgardian origin. (see comments)
(Scarlet Witch IV#8 (fb)) - For centuries Isabrot, the son of Buri and an Ice Giant, battled against Ymir and his Iceworms, which had been a threat to gods and humans alike. At some point Ymir struck down Isabrot and cast him to Earth. Isabrot was healed by the cold of the frozen planes and became known as Jack Frost. He continued to battle Ymir's Iceworms on Earth to stop them from spreading.
(Captain America I#384 (fb) - BTS) - Around the end of World War 2, the super-hero Jack Frost journeyed to the North Pole in the hopes of learning his origin, but was assaulted there by an Iceworm. Jack grabbed onto the worm's tail, and it devoured its own tail in order to swallow him. Within the worm's body, Jack used his powers of cold upon the worm's heart, to place it into hibernation for several decades.
(Captain America I#384) - In recent times, Captain America journeyed to the North Pole in the hopes of finding his lost comrade D-Man. Striking at a figure frozen in the ice whom he hoped was D-Man, Captain America instead awoke the Iceworm, who swallowed him. However, the figure, Jack Frost himself, had been awakened by Cap's blows, and rescued them both from the worm's stomach.
Captain America and Jack Frost found the worm attacking local Inuits, and fought it, but unable to cause any appreciable damage, Jack decided to stop the worm the same way he had before, by latching onto its tail. The Iceworm took the bait, swallowed Jack Frost, and again sunk beneath the ice.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
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(Scarlet Witch IV#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Iceworm evolved to harness the cold of their ancient enemy Isabrot (now known as Jack Frost) as he slept inside it. (Scarlet Witch IV#8) - The Iceworm and its kin mystically froze the citizens of Old Crow in the Yukon, Canada. They broke through the ice when Scarlet Witch and Amaranth arrived and dulled their mystical skills with their mystic cold. Scarlet Witch detected Jack Frost inside one Iceworm while another went after Amaranth, who instinctively used her powers and with a single glare turned the king of the Iceworms mad. It attacked its kin before going after Amaranth again, but Scarlet Witch protected Amaranth with a magic force field, blocked the attacking Iceworm's ice blast and then phased through the Iceworm's skin to reach the sleeping Jack Frost inside it. Scarlet Witch awakened Jack Frost and helped him remember his true past as Isabrot. With his memory restored, Jack Frost freed the Scarlet Witch from the mystic ice that slowly encased her. Scarlet Witch then ruptured the Iceworms' body to free Jack Frost and herself. The king of the Iceworms was dead and soon all the people in Old Crow were released from the mystic ice blocks. Without their king the remaining Iceworms were in disarray. Scarlet Witch freed Amaranth from the body of an Iceworm that had devoured her and then blasted the remaining Iceworms to smithereens. |
Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Ron Lim.
Thor postulated that the Iceworm might be the progeny of a Frost Giant and the Midgard Serpent. Along a somewhat similar line is the creature known as the Hoarfen, which apparently was the offspring of Fenris Wolf and a Frost Giant.
At any rate, if it is the offspring of the Midgard Serpent, then some sources would indicate that it would be the grand(son) of Loki and Angerboda--Snood.
Profile by Prime Eternal. Update by Markus Raymond (Scarlet Witch).
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Iceworm should not be confused with:
images:
Captain America I#384, p10, pan2 (main image)
Scarlet Witch IV#8, p5 (Iceworms, including the one trapping Jack Frost; with Scarlet Witch and Amaranth in front of them)
Appearances:
Captain America I#384 (April, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Lim (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Scarlet Witch IV#8 (March, 2025) - Steve Orlando (writer), Lorenzo Tammetta (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
First Posted: 08/25/2002
Last updated: 10/09/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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