TRICEPHALOUS
Real Name: None
Identity/Class: Sub-Species of Humanity (Deviant); mutate
Occupation: Servant of the Mole Man
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Kro, Mole Man
Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing), Justice League of America, Monster Hunters (Ulysses Bloodstone, Dr. Druid, Makkari, Zawadi), Punisher (Frank Castle), Henry Pym, Squirrel Girl, Wasp
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Monster Island, sea of Japan
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#1 (November, 1961)
Powers/Abilities: Tricephalous is an immense, monstrous Deviant Mutate, possessing three heads and a pair of wings. In addition to possessing superhuman strength and flight, the Tricephalous can breathe fire from each of its three heads.
History:
(Marvel Universe#7) - The Tricephalous was genetically engineered by
Deviant scientists on Monster Island, where it was intended to serve as
part of Warlord Kro's monstrous invasion forces on the surface world.
When Monster Island was invaded by the Monster Hunters, Kro had
Tricephalous lay down cover fire for him, so that he could escape.
Although much of the island was destroyed, Tricephalous survived.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#10 (fb) ) - Harvey Elder encountered Tricephalous, who was surprised Elder instead of fearing the monsters, trusted them. Tricephalous fell in love with Elder, but kept its feelings secret.
(Marvel Universe#7) - Tricephalous became a servant of Harvey Elder, the Mole Man.
(Fantastic Four I#1) - When the super-heroes known as the Fantastic Four arrived upon Monster Island, Tricephalous intercepted them, and attempted to defeat them, but was unprepared for their superhuman powers. The Invisible Girl evaded it by turning invisible, while Mr. Fantastic made a lasso from his arm, caught it by one of its necks, and hurled it into the sea.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#10 (fb) ) - Tricephalous took care of Mole Man after his defeat at the hands of the Fantastic Four.
(Avengers West Coast#54) - Incorrectly believing the Avengers were behind an assault upon his kingdom, the Mole Man sent out several of his monsters, including Tricephalous, to destroy them. Tricephalous assaulted a Quinjet which contained Dr. Henry Pym, the Wasp, and a comatose Scarlet Witch. The giant nails of Tricephalous' foot destroyed the hull of the Quinjet, and it fell to the ground (secretly assisted by Magneto in landing). Dr. Pym then faced Tricephalous alone, and the instant it came within range, he shrunk it down to the size of a sparrow.
(Fantastic Four I#347) - While the Skrull De'Lila attempted to locate an Inorganic Techno Troid, she used control devices to cause several of the Mole Man's monsters, including the Tricephalous, to lose control and set about rampaging.
(Fantastic Four I#349) - With De'Lila's defeat, the Tricephalous returned to the island, followed by the Punisher. The Punisher intended to destroy the entrance to Monster Island once the Tricephalous entered, but upon sighting the Fantastic Four, he decided he wasn't needed.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#7) - The Tricephalous circled the Mole Man's castle upon Monster Island, while its master discussed having Adam Warlock make his home there.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#112/4) - Tricephalous scoured Monster Island for food while Pip the Troll had a picnic.
(Silver Surfer/Warlock: Resurrection#1) - Tricephalous, along with the Van Doom Monster look-alike and another monster, was present when the Silver Surfer visited Adam Warlock.
(Fantastic Four I#400) - Tricephalous was conjured up from the timestream alongside the Mole Man and Giganto by the rogue Watcher Aron to oppose allies of the Fantastic Four who had come to prevent him from creating a pocket universe. Tricephalous battled the Thing, but the Thing grabbed it by one of its necks and threw it into the Super-Skrull, knocking out both of them.
(Fantastic Four III#½) - The Mole Man launched another assault on the surface world, storming Manhattan with an army of his mutates, including Tricephalous. The Fantastic Four put a halt to the invasion by using a Pym Particle Projector to shrink the mutates down to the size of rats. When the mutates came scurrying back to the Mole Man for protection, he realized that they were his family, and he lost all interest in his assault. He returned to Monster Island, where the mutates regained their normal size within a few hours.
(JLA/Avengers#1) - Tricephalous was among the monsters of Monster Island who opposed the Justice League of America during their search for the Ultimate Nullifier.
(Franken-Castle#21) - Tricephalous was on Monster Island when the Punisher came to the island to heal.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#8) - Tricephalous, Skreeal and Giganto joined Mole Man in confronting Squirrel Girl about sending Kraven the Hunter to their doorstep.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#9) - Tricephalous protected Mole Man from Squirrel Girl. The monsters and Squirrel Girl then listened to Mole Man's explanation for his attack on Squirrel Girl. She felt sorry for sending Kraven to Subterranea and Mole Man agreed to not attack the surface anymore. The deal fell through when Squirrel Girl did not accept Mole Man's proposal of marriage.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#10) - Tricephalous, Giganto and a group of Moloids were with Mole Man when Nancy Whitehead tried to talk some sense into him about courtin Squirrel Girl, but he tried to kidnap her and only escaped with the help of Tippy-Toe and other squirrels.
When Squirrel Girl came down to Mole Man's throne Tricephalous protected him once again because the monster didn't want to see Squirrel Girl hurt the man it loved again. Tricephalous admitted its true feelings to a surprised Mole Man. Tricephalous fought Squirrel Girl for the affection of Mole Man, who fell more in love with the monster the closer it got to defeating Squirrel Girl. Ultimately Squirrel Girl allowed Tricephalous to defeat her. Mole Man called off his date with Squirrel Girl and instead made out with Tricephalous.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The word "tricephalous" means "having three heads." Appropriate, huh?
Tricephalous didn't receive a name until Avengers West Coast#54.
Conspiracy#1 hinted that CONTROL was responsible for bringing Tricephalous to Monster Island. We now know the Deviants were behind its creation, but hey, Warlord Kro later got a job with the Pentagon, right? Hmm...
The creature seen in Marvel Comics Presents I#112 might not be Tricephalous-- it looks like the artist may have been making an homage to the Godzilla villain Ghidrah-- but it's got wings, three heads, and lives on Monster Island, so what the hey?
Tricephalous' appearance in Fantastic Four I#400 could be from an earlier or later point in its chronology, since Aron brought all of the adversaries he conjured up from different points in time.
A holographic illusion of Tricephalous was created by Bert Gilmore in Amazing Spider-Man I#438 to distract Spider-Man and Daredevil.
Tricephalous was miscolored red in Silver Surfer/Warlock: Resurrection#1.
--Per Degaton
Actually
Tricephalous changed color numerous times. Orange, green, gray, red,
purple...color doesn't seem to matter much to the three-headed monster.
--Markus Raymond
Big thanks to MD Carter for letting me borrow this image from his Monsters of Jack Kirby website.
Profile by Prime Eternal. Squirrel Girl update by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tricephalous should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Avengers West Coast#54, p15, pan3 (main)
(green)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#1 (November, 1961) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), George Klein (inks)
Avengers West Coast#54 (January, 1990) - John Byrne (writer/pencils), Paul Ryan (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Fantastic Four I#347 (December, 1990) - Walter Simonson (writer),
Arthur Adams (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Fantastic Four I#349 (February, 1991) - Walter Simonson (writer),
Arthur Adams & Gracine Tanaka (pencils), Art Thibert & Al
Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Warlock and the Infinity Watch#7 (August, 1992) - Jim Starlin (writer),
Tom Raney (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#112 (1992) - Jim Starlin (writer), Rita Fagani (pencils), Ken Branch (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Silver Surfer/Warlock: Resurrection#1 (March, 1993) - Jim Starlin (writer/artist), Craig Anderson (editor)
Fantastic Four III#½ (1998) - Ralph Macchio (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Jonathan Sibal (inks)
Marvel Universe#7 (December, 1998) - Roger Stern (writer), Jason Armstrong (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
JLA/Avengers#1 (September, 2003) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Perez (artist), Tom Brevoort & Dan Raspler (editors)
Franken-Castle#21 (November, 2010) - Rick Remender (writer), Dan Brereton (artist), Sebastian Girner (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel II#8 (July, 2016) - Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel II#9 (August, 2016) - Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (pencils), Tom Fowler (inks), Wil Moss (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel II#10 (September, 2016) - Ryan North (writer),
Erica Henderson (pencils), Tom Fowler (inks), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 02/25/2003
Last updated: 04/08/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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