Dr. Scarabeus (Hulk foe)

DR. SCARABEUS

Real Name: ? Scarabeus

Identity/Class: Human technology user, mainly conventional equipment.

Occupation: Former biologist, later geneticist and mad scientist

Affiliations: Felix; Fangor; his men

Enemies: The First Ones, Gograth, The Hulk

Known Relatives: Tisha (daughter); unnamed wife

Aliases: Baldy, Monster-Maker (the Hulk's names for him)

Base of Operations: An island in "the broad pacific", a few hours by helicopter from the Western United States.

First Appearance: Hulk Comic#15/1 (June 13th 1979)

Powers/Abilities: Doctor Scarabeus is a skilled biologist, with experience in the area of genetics. He can create gene-spliced clones with animal traits. Other than this, he displayed no special abilities or powers, but he was brave / insane enough to try and deal with the Hulk by striking him with a whip.

History: (BTS) - Dr.Scarabeus was a biologist in Cairo. He developed a way to create clones, splitting and melding cells from humans with animals to create "Anti-Men", but many people were horrified by the ethics of his concept, his wife included. Feeling that his detractors were afraid of his genius, Dr.Scarabeus took his daughter and travelled to the Pacific, setting up a base on an island hundreds of miles from anywhere. There he continued his experiments, at first creating monstrosities which he locked away, before finally succeeding in creating two successes, Felix, a cat-man, and Fangor, a wolf-man. Dreaming of returning to the world at the head of an army of Anti-Men who would pound his enemies' cities flat, he decided that now he had perfected the method, he needed to create more powerful Anti-Men. Hearing of the Hulk, he felt that if he could possess the giant creature, then he would be unstoppable. With this in mind, he sent Felix and Fangor to America to hunt down the beast.

(Hulk Comic#15/1) - Dr.Scarabeus greets his returning minions when their helicopter lands. They inform him that their mission was a success, that the plan worked. Arrogantly the Doctor points out that it was his plan, so of course it worked. Now with the Hulk in his power, he reasons that nothing can stop him. Only seconds later the angry giant smashes his way out of the titanium cell he has been imprisoned in.

(Hulk Comic#16/1) - As the Hulk proceeds to demolish the helicopter, Dr.Scarabeus sends Felix to sound the alarm. The he tries to contain the Hulk with a whip, only to have the Hulk respond by ripping a metal strut off the flying machine and swing it at him. Scarabeus dodges just in time, and is granted a brief respite by the arrival of several of his men. They attack the Hulk with electric goads. In return the Hulk throws the entire helicopter in their direction, before using the confusion that creates to rush off into the nearby jungle. Scarabeus tells the incredulous Fangor that they have brought the most powerful creature on Earth to the island, one who will be the key to the scientist completing his work. He tells his wolf-man to detail someone to clear the wreckage away, stating that with no way to escape the island, the Hulk will be caught soon enough.

The mad doctor enters the main building of his scientific complex, where he is greeted by Felix and his daughter Tisha, who came running when she heard the alarms. He tells her it is nothing to worry about, then orders Felix to be ready to leave in five minutes. Then he stalks off to the armoury. He is getting a rifle when Tisha catches up with him, and tries to talk him out of the insane path he is travelling down. He rebuffs her reasoning, telling her she is just like all the others. Armed with netting and rifle, and accompanied by his two Anti-Men, he sets off on the hunt.

(Hulk Comic#17/1) - Pursuing in one-man gyrocopters, the three hunters soon locate the green giant, who starts throwing rocks at them. Trying to get the Hulk to stop doing so, Dr.Scarabeus opens fire with his tranquilliser gun. The Hulk flees, climbing up a cliff face at the jungle's edge. Unable to safely reach him, Scarabeus orders his minions to land, so that they can pick up the pursuit on foot.

A little while later Felix spots a man moving through the jungle, and holding him at gun-point calls his master. Scarabeus demands to know how the man came to be on his island, and their captive states he is Banner, a marine scientist who was shipwrecked a few days earlier. Unsure whether or not Banner is telling the truth, Scarabeus orders Felix to take Banner back to the base while he and Fangor continue the hunt, little realising that Banner is actually the Hulk's alter ego.

Shortly afterwards Scarabeus and Fangor return to base too, where the scientist discovers his daughter Tisha with Banner, and finds that she has told the visitor all about his work. Feeling Banner now knows too much, Scarabeus tries to shoot him, but the fleet-footed captive darts off down a corridor and vanishes round a bend. Hot in pursuit, Scarabeus and Fangor are shocked when they round the corner to find the Hulk waiting for them. Fangor turns and flees, leaving his master to face the raging beast alone.

(Hulk Comic#18/1) - Scarabeus calls out for the fleeing Fangor to help him, but then the Hulk snatches the gun out the doctor's hands and breaks it into scrap. Fangor calls out to the doctor that there is no way they can stop the Hulk, but Scarabeus disagrees, and runs the door to Gograth's cell. Seeing this, Tisha shouts to him that he can't do this. Scarabeus strikes her for arguing with him, and then they watch as the Hulk comes stomping round the corner straight into the arms of Dr.Scarabeus' most monstrous creation. Then he and Fangor retreat. leaving the two giants to battle it out. Much to the scientist's surprise a few minutes later the Hulk emerges victorious and smashes his way through a wall and back into the jungle, accompanied by Tisha. Scarabeus orders his minions to fetch the electric goads so they can return Gograth to his prison; after this he will see to the Hulk and his treacherous daughter.

(Hulk Comic#19/1) - Scarabeus oversees the return of Gograth to his cell. Fangor informs him that all the First Ones seem particularly rebellious today, but Scarabeus is unconcerned. He states that once he can use the Hulk's cells to create new supersoldiers he will no longer have time to waste on his manimals. Felix asks him what will happen to them at that point, and is told that they will get their rewards, but they won't be needed any more. Then a guard rushes in to tell the Doctor that the Hulk is back, smashing his way in through the perimeter. Arming himself with another gun, Scarabeus heads his forces in confronting the brute, and tries to hit him with anaesthetic darts again. This time the Hulk is ready though, and blocks the doctor's shots with a downed tree, which he then throws at Scarbeus. The doctor orders his men to move in with the goads, but the Hulk bound past them into the building, with Scarabeus and company giving chase.

(Hulk Comics#20/1) - They enter the building to discover the Hulk has freed all the First Ones and is leading them in destroying the facility. Scarabeus cries for them to stop, but Fangor and Felix recognise the better part of valour, and haul the doctor bodily out the building. With the First One right behind them, the doctor orders his two loyal Anti-Men to use their rifles, but this is the last straw for his harassed minions; they will not fire on their own kind. They abandon Scarabeus, who flees into the jungle. As he tries to cross a river using a fallen tree as a bridge, he encounters his daughter Tisha, who demands to know what is happening. Standing on the log, he struggles to break free of her grasp, screaming at her that she knows he cannot swim, and that she must get out the way as the Hulk is after him. Sure enough, the green goliath enters the clearing just as Scarabeus knocks his daughter clear of him. The Hulk stamps on one end of the tree trunk, catapulting Scarabeus into the air and down into the Hulk's arms. Having heard Scarabeus say he can't swim, the Hulk takes him over to a smaller adjacent island, bereft of any civilisation, and maroons him there.

Comments: Created by Moore and Neary/ Lloyd.

Dr.Scarabeus and his Anti-Men are obviously inspired by the H.G.Wells story "The Island of Dr.Moreau", right down to the scientist setting up base in the Pacific after his ideas meet with resistance elsewhere.

Scarabeus' island is only named on the covers. On Hulk Comic #16 it is melodramatically dubbed The Island of Terror. Reading the story, I can't help but wonder if this ironically refers more to the terror felt by Felix and Fangor, both of whom are called cowards by others in the story, and neither of whom seems too happy with having to pursue an angry Hulk. The next issue the cover refers to it as The Island of Madness.

Dr.Scarabeus' fate is left hanging at the end of the story. Just because he can't swim, doesn't mean some of the First Ones can't. The Hulk doesn't exactly check to see whether or not there is anything on the smaller island, so Scarabeus could conceivably have had transport there in case of emergency. And we don't know what happened to his men or to Felix and Fangor, any of whom might have come to his rescue. The way is wide open for the eventual return of Doctor Scarabeus and his Anti-Men.

by Loki

CLARIFICATIONS: Doctor Scarabeus has no known connection to and should not be confused with

Doctor Skarab, ally of the Living Mummy, @Supernatural Thrillers#5
Skarabrous the Stalker, ally of Magik, @Magik II#3
Scar of the Ultraverse, @Strange#9
Scar the Stalker, @Black Cat#2
Scarbo, a.k.a. Minister Blood, @Captain America I#123
Skar of the Starblasters, @Quasar#55
Skar, cyborg assassin, @Amazing Adventures II#25
Ska'r, a demon, @Alpha Flight I#110
Skarla, a Draconian, @Century: Distant Suns
Skarlet, leader of the Sirens, @Amazing Adventures II#19
Doctor Moreau, who also created animal/human hybrids, @H.G.Wells Island of Dr.Moreau
any other Doctors
anyone else called Scar or Skar something
Monster-Maker, Baron von Schtupf, @Marvel Team-Up#36
Monster-Maker, the Unnameable, @Defenders I#72

Felix has no known connection to, and should not be confused with

Cougar, a Tigra foe he resembles, @Marvel Two-in-One#19
Tabur, another cat man, @ Marvel Premiere#42
Cheetah, another cat man, @ Captain Marvel I#48
any of the other feline humanoids who inhabit the Marvel universe

Fangor has no known connection to, and should not be confused with

Fangor, a sculpture animated by Rasputin, @Iron Man I #56
Fang, archfiend of the Orient, @Captain America Comics#6/2
Fang of the Imperial Guard, @X-Men I#107
Fang, replacement for the above, @Starjammers#4
Fang, one of the Lilin, @Morbius#1
Fang, hired to kill Cerise, @Excalibur I#69
General Fang, a communist, @Incredible Hulk I#5/2
Fangs, servants of Viper, @Captain America I#419
Fangs of Xka'ahk, Hyborian era mystic items, @Savage Sword of Conan#65
Fangu, an extra-dimensional scientist, @Marvel Comics Presents#90
any other doglike or wolf-like characters, including the various werewolves running around the Marvel universe

Tisha has no known connection to, and should not be confused with

Tisha of the Ultraverse, @Mantra I#21
Trish Tilby, a reporter who dated the Beast, @X-Factor I#7

Gograth has no known connections to, and should not be confused with

Gog, foe of the Hulk, Incredible Hulk II#257
Gog, alien pawn of Kraven and the Plunderer, @Amazing Spider-Man I#103
Gog, agent of Mojo, @Longshot I#1
Gog of the Super-Soldiers, @Super-Soldiers#2
Gog, an agent of Necromon, @Hulk Comic#53/2
Gogo Tomago, one of the Big Hero 6, @Sunfire and the Big Hero Six#1

The First Ones have no known connection to, and should not be confused with

Firstborn of the Brood, @X-Men vs Brood: Day of Wrath#1
First Line, heroes active between WWII and the modern era, @Marvel: The Lost Generation#12
First Strike, agents of Operation: Zero Tolerance, @Cable II#40
First-Strikers, cyborg who encountered the Black Cat, @Black Cat#2
First Zone, an area of the Homeworld in the Microverse, @Micronauts I#1

Felix

A feline humanoid created by Dr.Scarabeus. Felix was given the task of sneaking up on the slumbering Hulk and attaching the helicopter line to the behemoth, so that he could be taken back to Scarabeus' island. Together with Fangor, he then secured the Hulk on board the chopper after they had tranquillised their target. He was present when the Hulk broke loose upon arrival at the island, told Tisha of the doctor's plans for the Hulk, and accompanied Scarabeus and Fangor on the subsequent jungle hunt. Fangor's keen eyes were the first to spot the fleeing goliath in the underbrush, and he later captured Banner, the Hulk's human alter-ego. He was ordered to take Banner back to base and lock him up, but Tisha over-ruled this and took the captive of his hands. Later he witnessed Tisha and the Hulk escaping the base, and Fangor and the men restraining Gograth. It was Felix who asked Doctor Scarabeus what would happen to him and Fangor once the doctor got his new super-soldiers. When the Hulk returned to the compound, Felix was among those who tried to stop him. Once the Hulk released the First Ones, Felix saw the end was imminent and helped Fangor drag Scarabeus clear of the monsters in the building, but no amount of loyalty would make him fire on his fellow Anti-Men. Felix was last seen downing his gun and fleeing alongside Fangor.

At a guess, Felix was probably so named in memory of the famous cartoon cat.

- Hulk Comic#15/1 (16/1, 17/1, 18/1, 19/1, 20/1

Fangor

Fangor, a.k.a. Fanger, was a vulpine (wolf-like) humanoid created by Dr.Scarabeus. He accompanied Felix on their mission to secure the Hulk for their master. After the sleeping Hulk was attached to their helicopter by a strong line and lifted aloft, the green giant awoke, and Fangor shot him with trank darts. The Hulk still managed to climb the rest of the way up the cable into the chopper before passing out, so Fangor and Felix secured him inside a titanium cell on board the vessel.

Arriving back at Dr.Scarabeus island, Fangor reported to his master that everything had gone exactly to plan, just before the Hulk broke loose. While Felix went for help, Fangor watched as the Hulk demolished the helicopter. Once the Hulk had escaped into the jungle, Fangor was told to details men to clear the wreckage, before accompanying his master and Felix on a jungle hunt. He and Scarabeus stayed out hunting for a while after the capture of Bruce Banner, and returned to base to discover that Tisha had revealed all Scarabeus plans to their visitor. When Scarabeus tried to kill Banner because of this, Fangor joined the pursuit, but tried to flee when Banner transformed into the Hulk. He was present and disapproving when Scarabeus released Gograth to deal with the Hulk, and subsequently was one of those forced to try and contain the brutish first one again. When the Hulk returned to the compound, Fangor was among those who tried to stop him. Once the Hulk released the First Ones, Fangor saw the end was imminent and helped Felix drag Scarabeus clear of the monsters in the building, but no amount of loyalty would make him fire on his fellow Anti-Men. Fangor was last seen downing his gun and fleeing alongside Felix.

- Hulk Comic#15/1 (16/1, 17/1, 18/1, 19/1, 20/1

Tisha

The daughter of Dr.Scarabeus, she had been taken from her mother and her home in Cairo by him, and presumably spent several years living with him on his Pacific island. He didn't inform her of his plans to capture the Hulk, and so was caught by surprise during the green goliath's initial temper tantrum. When he failed to tell her what was happening, she got the information out of Felix. She then went after her father to try and persuade him to give up his insane plans, but he rebuffed her. When Felix returned from the hunt holding Bruce Banner at gunpoint, she browbeat the Anti-Man into placing the new arrival in her custody, and sent him to get food for their guest. She told Banner about her father's work and showed him the First Ones, but when her father returned he took exception to this, and tried to kill Banner. When her father went to release Gograth, she argued against this and he hit her for doing so. She was present for the fight between the Hulk and Gograth, and both monsters fought over her - fortunately for Tisha the Hulk won, and he then carried her to safety in the jungle as repayment for being the only person to help Banner. The Hulk then left her behind while he went to destroy his foe. When her father fled the rampaging First Ones, he encountered Tisha in the jungle, but again struck his own daughter in his rage and panic. After the Hulk dealt with the doctor and transformed back into Banner, she found him and led him to the spare helicopter hidden on the other side of the island in case of emergency. She and Banner left the island together.

- Hulk Comic#16/1, (17/1, 18/1, 20/1

Dr.Scarabeus' Men

A small group of men, numbers unknown, who worked for Doctor Scarabeus, either as lab assistants, or handling other chores, including controlling the First Ones. They tried to contain the Hulk with electric goads when he arrived, much as they normally did with their animalistic captives, but he was too tough for that to work. Later they herded Gograth back into his cage after Scarabeus released the creature to deal with the Hulk. When the Hulk smashed his way in through the perimeter of the base, they again tried to stop him, to no avail. Once the Hulk released all the First Ones they all presumably fled or were killed.

- Hulk Comic#16/1 (19/1, 20/1

Gograth

Gograth was one of the most dangerous of the First Ones, Scarabeus' early failures. It possessed a strength close to that of the Hulk, and an urgent desire to slaughter anything within reach. Scarabeus let it loose to fight the Hulk, but it turned on Tisha too. The Hulk eventually emerged victorious, and escaped with the girl. Gograth was driven back into his cell by Scarabeus' men, but was subsequently freed along with his fellow First Ones by a returning Hulk. He was last seen rampaging through the complex.

The cover of Hulk Comic#18 depicts him as having orange fur.

- Hulk Comic#18/1 (19/1, 20/1

The First Ones

The early, failed results of Dr.Scarabeus' experiments, he kept them captive in cells beneath his complex. None of them displayed any intelligence. The Hulk released them from their cells, and they proceeded to destroy everything in their path.

- first mentioned Hulk Comic#17/1, seen (Gograth only) Hulk Comic#18/1, seen as a group Hulk Comic#19/1 (20/1

Appearances:
Hulk Comic#16-20

Last updated: 05/11/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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