MAXIMILLIAN BRANIFF

Real Name: Maximillian Braniff

Identity/Class: Human advanced technology user

Occupation: Terrorist, scientist

Group Membership: Hydra

Affiliations: Formerly Baron (Wolfgang von; at least indirectly) Strucker, Big, Clefton, George Leon, the Whale;
    formerly Alexis Primo, Terror (Shreck),

Enemies: "Kristin Braniff," Terror, Wolverine (James Howlett/Logan)

Known Relatives: None (he initially purported that the dead young woman was his daughter, Kristin Braniff, but the corpse was really just a Hydra agent decoy)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A Hydra sub-station hidden inside a warehouse on the shore of Lake Michigan

First Appearance: Terror Inc. I#9 (March, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Braniff was likely a genius and an expert in the field of nanotechnology to have been put in charge of a Hydra division of that field (although he could have falsified results, etc.).

    He was willing and able to mastermind overly-complicated plots that ultimately led to bringing heat back on himself when he was otherwise unknown to be a figure of interest.

History:
(Terror Inc#10 (fb) - BTS) - Hydra agent Maximillian Braniff was the supervisory officer in a project to develop nanotechnology to use as a weapon.

(Wolverine: Inner Fury (fb) - BTS / Terror Inc#10 (fb) - BTS) - Braniff apparently trusted Hydra agents Big and the Whale to run the project.

    Wolverine's interference undermined the project, leading to the Whale's defection and Big's death.

(Terror Inc#10 (fb) - BTS) - Braniff resolved that the only way he could redeem himself was by discrediting Wolverine.

    Braniff arranged the murder of a young female Hydra agent with triple-bladed weapons that would implicate Wolverine as the killer. Braniff additionally plotted to manipulate the mercenary Terror to "do a number" on Wolverine (ideally killing him) for this seeming murder.

(Terror Inc.#9 (fb) - BTS) - Braniff hired Terror to investigate the alleged murder/assassination of his alleged daughter, Kristin, whose cadaver had been seized by S.H.I.E.L.D. for reasons of "international security." Terror arranged for his business associate Alexis  Primo to meet him for assistance.

Comments: Created by D.G. Chichester, Richard Pace and Temujin.

    The story was a bit hard to follow, but as I've gone through it repeatedly for relevant profiles, I THINK that it was never S.H.I.E.L.D. that held the girl's corpse, but Hydra posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. I don't think it was ever specifically confirmed/clarified...

    Terror noted that he had taken Clefton's tongue and lower jaw to get a vocal match to access Braniff's base. Voice originates from larynx (and air moving through it from the lungs), but certainly involves the tongue, as well as the lips. After getting into Braniff's base, Terror was shown with Clefton's mustache, which he wouldn't have gotten from his tongue or lower jaw, so I think it most likely that Terror took Clefton's maxilla, manidible, lips, tongue and pharynx/larynx. He could have ripped off Clefton's face below his nose, taking all of the above. He had planned to leave Clefton alive, although required to eat his meals through a straw, but as long as he left his trachea open to the surface, Clefton could have survived to the point of surgical reconstruction to survive with a tracheostomy and an esophagostomy tube.

    I'm not sure where Braniff's office was, but I can share this information about Lake Michigan courtesy of ye olde Wikipedia:

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located fully in the United States; the other four are shared between the U.S. and Canada.  It is the world's largest lake, by area, located fully in one country, and is shared, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Ports along its shores include Chicago, Illinois, Gary, Indiana, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Muskegon, Michigan.

Regarding the Wolverine-esque-clawed skeleton in Terror Inc. #9:

    The Wolverine: Official Index of the Marvel Universe confirms the Wolverine skeleton in Wolverine II#52-53 to be next seen in Terror Inc. #9. The timing fits, as the Terror appearance is a year after (real time) the Wolverine II#52-53 appearances. However, a couple things are odd:

1. The skeleton in Wolverine II#52-53 has a fully-fleshed right arm, whereas the skeleton in Wolverine II#52-53 was completely skeletal.
   --I suppose time travel shenanigans could explain how-why this skeleton gained flesh on its right arm?
   Maybe Wolverine's healing factor was kicking in, and his arm was the first bit to (literally) recover? I'm only half kidding.--Loki
2. The location of where Boneyard got it:
   (Terror Inc.#9 (fb) - BTS) - Boneyard, who collected and sold body parts with special abilities, located and dug up -- from an unmarked grave, nearby what was left of a high-tech joint "Great White North-way" -- a skeleton with claws similar to Wolverines and with flesh on its right arm (see comments).
   --As far as I know, the skeleton was last seen in the stealth bomber (above the Siksika burial mound, which should be in southern Alberta, Canada?) used by Albert and Elsie Dee, and then Spiral transported the androids (plus the Hunter in Darkness) back in time to learn the truth about the skeleton…and it wasn’t shown again. I would think that the stealth bomber would have eventually run out of fuel and crashed, but perhaps Spiral did something with it?
   

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Maximillian Braniff should be distinguished from:

• other "Maximillian" or "Braniff" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
  

(Terror Inc.#10 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to discredit Wolverine in hopes of redeeming his own reputation, Maximillian Braniff arranged the murder of a young female Hydra agent with triple-bladed weapons that would implicate Wolverine as the killer. Braniff additionally plotted to manipulate the mercenary Terror to "do a number" on Wolverine (ideally killing him) for this seeming murder. (Terror Inc.#9 (fb) - BTS) - Braniff hired Terror to investigate the alleged murder/assassination of his alleged daughter, Kristin, whose cadaver had been seized by S.H.I.E.L.D. for reasons of "international security." Terror arranged for his business associate Alexis  Primo to meet him for assistance. (Terror Inc.#9 - BTS) - After Terror took down S.H.I.E.L.D. forces (or were they actually Hydra agents posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?) carrying the deceased corpse of "Kristin," Miss Primo -- arriving via some ATV with a trailer -- met him with the arm of a skilled lockpicker that gained him entrance into the vault containing the corpse. Alexis then drove Terror to a chopper to airlift them to her yacht where she had arranged for the autopsy to take place.     On her yacht, Alexis delivered Terror the hand, nose and something else (it doesn't look like an eye, although that would be logical) from a medical examiner to perform an autopsy on Kristin. (Terror Inc.#9 (fb) - BTS) - Terror determined that the girl had died as a result of multiple stab wounds inflicted with at least a pair of tri-bladed weapon, which he suspected to be Wolverine's claws. (Terror Inc.#9) - Terror and Miss Primo met with Maximillian Braniff, who was surprised that they had a place right in town (see comments). After Alexis confirmed that Braniff had brought all of the promised money, Terror confirmed that they had brought his (alleged) daughter's corpse in a cart but that it was not a pretty sight. Braniff told Terror that recovering his daughter was only the first half of their contract and that he wanted whoever had killed her to pay in kind. Terror then related the findings of his post-mortem examination and told Braniff he had suspicions (as, he kept to himself, reservations, due to in part to his past associations with Wolverine and to his disbelief that Wolverine would commit such a murder). Regardless, Terror agreed to fulfill the contract. she encouraged Wolverine to fulfill his promise of bringing Kristin's killer to justice despite his reservations. (Terror Inc.#10 (fb) - BTS) - Braniff had the girl's body and the cart in which it was brought to him put into a storage facility. (Terror Inc.#9 - BTS) - Miss Primo subsequently directed Terror to meet with Boneyard, who supplied him with the arm of an otherwise skeletal man possessing claws like Wolverine (see comments), which Terror used to engage Wolverine. Allowing Wolverine to slash his chest with his claws, Terror realized that the spacing between Wolverine's claws did not match those of Kristin's wounds. (Terror Inc.#10 - BTS) - Terror convinced Wolverine to call things even if they worked to together to find who had framed him and why. (Terror Inc.#10) - Accompanied by her seamstress associate, Brunnhilda, Miss Primo investigated Max Braniff's apparent residence, which turned out to be a warehouse that was empty beyond the corpse of "Kristin Braniff," still in the container in which Terror had delivered her to Maximillian. Brunnhilda sarcastically remarked that Braniff must have been a loving father.     Alexis contacted Terror and informed him, "We've got a problem..." (Terror Inc.#10 - BTS) - Terror and Wolverine ultimately confronted Braniff, who committed suicide after revealing his motivations. --Terror Inc. I#9 Note: It would be nice if the "girl" was revealed...but it wasn't. Maybe Braniff actually had a daughter named Kristin and used that name in case Terror (or, more likely, Alexis Primo) looked into his background...or maybe the dead girl's name was actually Kristin, and it's just her last name that remains unrevealed...the world may never know...

A Hydra agent serving under Maximillian Braniff, Clefton was one of those sent to clean up (wipe out all evidence) of the encounter in which Terror obtained the corpse that Braniff had hired him to recover. (Terror Inc.#10) - After Wolverine and Terror intervened and dispatched most of the Hydra gents, Clefton put a gun to the head of one of the police officers, and he warned Wolverine and Terror that they were not putting him on a slab with the rest: "I'll splatter these two first!"      Terror told Clefton there was no need for histrionics and that if he let the officers go, he would have his own life. Having heard that Terror's word was his bond, Clefton agreed and released the officers.

Terror then grabbed Clefton, who screamed that Terror had promised to let him live.      Terror told him, "And so you shall. Albeit, in a convalescent home, eating your meals through a straw."      Terror claimed Clefton's lower jaw and tongue (at least; see comments for the main profile).        Using Clefton's anatomy, Terror requested entry into Braniff's base.      As the vocal pattern matched, Braniff let him in, wondered what had taken him so long and asked if it was finished.      Confronting Braniff, Terror told him, "No. You, however, are a different story." --Terror Inc. I#10

Appearances:
Wolverine: Inner Fury (November, 1992) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (artist), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Terror Inc. I#9-10 (March-April, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Richard Pace (penciler), Temujin (inker), Marcus McLarin (editor)

First posted: 09/21/2024
Last updated: 09/21/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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