HIPPO
Real Name: Mrs. Fluffy Lumpkins
Identity/Class: Hippopotamus mutate
Occupation: Professional criminal
Group Membership:
Menagerie (Ox/Raymond Bloch, Panda-Mania,
Skein/Sybil Dvorak,
Squid/Don Callahan,
Swarm/Fritz von Meyer,
White Rabbit/Lorina Dodson);
formerly Super Villains Anonymous (Boomerang/Fred Myers, Doctor
Bong/Lester Verde, Grizzly/Max Markham, Looter/Norton G. Fester, Mirage/Desmond
Charne,
Porcupine/Roger
Gocking,
others), High Evolutionary's New Men
Affiliations: Chipmunk Hunk (Tomas Lara-Perez), Dementoid (Richard Earle Amtower IV), Doctor Everything (Jonathan N. York), Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Eleven (Jenni Pate), General Wolfram (Claude Cramer), Grizzly (Max Markham), High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham), Jack O'Lantern (impostor), Kangaroo (Brian Hibbs), Koi Boi (Ken Shiga), Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), MACH-VII (Abe Jenkins), Marlowe, Redeemer (Shep Gunderson), Rocket Raccoon, Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green), Tippy-Toe, Venom (Flash Thompson), Nancy Whitehead
Enemies: Avengers (Luke Cage, Ronin/Clint
Barton, Spider-Man/Peter Parker),
Champions (Brawn/Amadeus Cho, Ironheart/Riri Williams, Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Nova/Sam Alexander, Snowguard/Amka Aliyak, Spider-Man/Miles Morales, Viv Vision),
Black Ant (Eric O'Grady LMD), Duplicate Squirrel Girl (Allene Green),
G.I.R.L. (Priya Aggarwal, Ying Liu, Lexi Miranda, Tai Miranda, Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse, Shay Smith),
Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Hulkling (Teddy Altman), Hunter-Bots, Kraven (Sergei Kravinoff), Ms. America (America Chavez),
Scarlet Spider (Kaine), Speed (Thomas Shepherd), Spider-Man/Venom (Mac Gargan), Stinger (Cassie Lang), Taskmaster (Tony Masters), Wiccan (Billy Kaplan), Kerry
Wright, Terry Wright;
formerly Chipmunk Hunk (Tomas
Lara-Perez), Koi Boi (Ken Shiga), Squirrel
Girl (Doreen Green)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York City;
formerly an unidentified zoo
First Appearance: Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#1 (August, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: The Hippo is extremely strong and
durable, has sharp tusk-like teeth, and possesses standard human
intelligence. He has a mechanical prosthetic left leg. Due to his large
size, the Hippo consumes ninety pounds of food a day.
Height: 7'0" (approximate)
Weight: 800 lbs. (approximate)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: None
History: (Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#2 (fb) ) - A hippopotamus named Mrs. Fluffy Lumpkins (despite apparently being male) resided at a zoo for twenty years before the High Evolutionary hyper-evolved it into a humanoid. Unable to find work as a giant humanoid hippo, yet possessed of a human desire for material possessions, he turned to robbing banks as the Hippo until he was attacked and mangled by "Spider-Man" (actually Venom (Mac Gargan)), who bit his left leg off.
(Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Hippo was approached and recruited by criminal psychiatrist Shep Gunderson, alias the masked Redeemer.
(Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#1) - The Hippo, along with fellow Redeemer patients Dementoid, Dr. Everything, Eleven, and General Wolfram, attended a meeting at the Brooklyn Mental Hospital, called by Gunderson, where he talked about his plans to apprehend and "redeem" Spider-Man.
(Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#2) - The Hippo told his life story to the Redeemer's other allies in a group therapy session, then was outfitted with a mechanical left leg and set out with the others to "save" Spider-Man.
(Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#3) - The Hippo and
the others ambushed Gargan in a warehouse after calling in a fake bomb
threat; he proved unreceptive to the Redeemer's "treatment". After Venom
devoured Eleven and savaged
Dementoid, the Hippo rammed into him; Gargan countered with a
brutal headbutt and tossed the Hippo into General Wolfram.
(New Avengers: Luke Cage#1) - The Hippo battled Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Ronin in midtown Manhattan. While they kept him contained, they couldn't fell him...until they called in Luke Cage, who jumped off a building and landed directly on the Hippo, knocking him out.
(Amazing Spider-Man II#642) - Doctor Octopus gathered a number of villains, including the Hippo, at the Kravinoff Mansion and promised to give anything to the individual would could bring him the unborn child of Menace (Lily Hollister).
(X-Men II#38) - The Hippo visited an underground casino that catered to a super-villainous clientele, and ended up doing badly at the tables. When Daredevil and Domino crashed the party, Tiger Shark tried to encourage the Hippo to join him in fighting them, but the Hippo had had enough losses for one night and declined.
(Superior Foes of Spider-Man#3) - The Hippo joined the support group Super Villains Anonymous and attended a meeting at church. He listened to Mirage tell his tale of woe, then engaged in a group hug, even offering new reluctant member Boomerang a hug.
(Superior Foes of Spider-Man#11/1) - The Hippo attended another Super Villains Anonymous meeting, and listened to the Grizzly and the Looter tell the group about recent run-ins they'd had with Spider-Man.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#1/1) - The White Rabbit recruited the Hippo into her Menagerie, alongside fellow-animal themed villains Gypsy Moth (even though she insisted on being called Skein) and Panda-Mania, to rob a fortune in Faberge eggs from an auction house; Hippo planned to retire on the proceeds. The robbery went off without a hitch, but as they fled into the streets they were spotted by Spider-Man. The Rabbit ordered Hippo and Panda-Mania to use cars to blockade the street to prevent the police from following them - but they didn't stop Spider-Man. The Hippo chucked a car at the web-slinger, who dodged it and quickly felled the Hippo, leaving him webbed up for the police with his compatriots.
(Amazing Spider-Man Annual III#1/1) - The Hippo and the Menagerie stole a fortune in gems from the Diamond District. As they fled from the scene of the crime, they ran right into Spider-Man. In a hurry to return a missing cellphone (long story), Spider-Man slammed the Hippo's massive head into the pavement and made quick work of the rest of the Menagerie, leaving them webbed to the street.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl I#6) - Unable to maintain his massive need for food and Hippo charged into the Empire State University campus to rob the campus bank, only to find ESU student superheroes Squirrel Girl, Chipmunk Hunk, and Koi Boi already there. He raged against their obvious hippo jokes, then lamented his high cost of living - which necessitated a life of crime. Squirrel Girl empathized, and suggested that with his natural talents, he should look for a job at a demolition company instead. He agreed, as with three superheroes present, robbing that bank would be more trouble than it was worth - but he promised her that if it didn't work out, he would come back and literally steal the bank.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe!#1) - When Duplicate Squirrel Girl defeated and sent most of Earth's superhumans to the Negative Zone, she overlooked the Hippo; he, along with Kraven the Hunter, Venom, and Rocket Raccoon were assembled by Squirrel Girl and her allies to make a final stand against DSG. DSG found the Hippo to be "easily-tossable", but he and the others bought Squirrel Girl enough time to rescue the other superhumans from the Negative Zone and defeat DSG.
(Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider#14) - The Hippo was hired by a crime boss named Marlowe to injure Kerry Wright, backup quarterback for the Vegas Gold Chips. The Hippo attacked Wright and his sister at Las Vegas Stadium, only to encounter the Scarlet Spider. Mistaking the wall-crawler for Spider-Man, the Hippo abandoned the Wrights and went after him. After taking down the Spider, the Hippo chased the Wrights onto the field, but the Spider ambushed him and kicked him into a goalpost, which fell on him, trapping the villain. Threatening to suffocate the pachyderm with his webbing, the Spider got the Hippo to surrender the name of his employer.
(Venom IV#1) - Hippo, Grizzly, and the Kangaroo met Jack O'Lantern (actually an impostor) at a warehouse to buy weapons he claimed to have stolen from Norman Osborn. However, Eddie Brock had been tailing them, and tipped off the police, who arrested all four criminals.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#37) - The Hippo attended Squirrel Girl's funeral, unaware that the Squirrel Girl who had died was a Skrull impostor, and in fact hadn't even died. He was among those who shared his memories of her during the ceremony, and later ate an entire table of buffet food.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#11) - Hired to steal a talking Galactus doll, the hot new toy at Christmas, the Hippo battled Spider-Man in a toy store parking lot. The Hippo grabbed the toy and began to sprint away with it, but Spider-Man webbed up his leg and suspended him from a lamp post.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#17 (fb) - BTS) - Bison was among the animal-themed villains captured by Taskmaster and the Black Ant on behalf of Arcade and Kraven the Hunter, then placed inside Central Park after being in stasis for a time.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#17 - BTS) - Hunter-Bots controlled by Arcade's clients at the Plaza Hotel advanced on the villains in Central Park, including Bison.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#20) - Hippo joined Vulture's group of villains to fight the Hunter-Bots.
(Amazing Spider-Man V#22) - Hippo and the other villains kept fighting the Hunter-Bots.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#7) - Mockingbird tricked the Menagerie (Hippo, Ox, Panda-Mania, Skein, Squid, Swarm and White Rabbit) to try robbing the guests at Nadia Van Dyne's birthday party. They were in for a surprise and were easily defeated by the numerous heroes attending.
(Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#49) - Hippo joined Squirrel Girl's battle against a group of villains led by Iron Ring (Melissa Morbeck) and helped her gain the upper hand.
(Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula#1) - After Ravencroft was reconstructed Hippo was one of the super-villains sent to Ravencroft in chains.
(Ravencroft#1) - Hippo was walking around in Ravencroft.
(Ravencroft#4) - Hippo escaped Ravencroft during a mass breakout after they were all released from their cells by Bud Adams and the Unwanted.
Comments: Created by Brian Reed, Chris Bachalo, and Tim Townsend.
Hippos look goofy, but they are extremely aggressive and territorial - they've been known to attack and kill humans. They also mark their territory by spinning their tails while defecating, creating a whirlwind of poop; thankfully, the Hippo has not exhibited this ability.
The Hippo is mistakenly depicted with a prosthetic arm in Sinister Spider-Man#3. His prosthetic leg hasn't been depcited in any of his subsequent appearances, but he's wearing pants in all of them - maybe he got a smaller model? Or maybe he has some kind of healing factor.
The Hippo's real name was revealed in the Redeemer's profile in Spider-Man Saga 2010.
After a somewhat inauspicious debut, the Hippo just keeps turning up. He's like a latter-day Squid.
He was probably one of the many unidentifiable villains seen at the end of Amazing Spider-Man V#16 (April, 2019) trapped in energy cages on a mountainside in South Africa, but we don't know for sure.
Profile by Minor Irritant.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Hippo has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
New Avengers: Luke Cage #1, p1, pan1 (main image)
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #2,
p14, pan1 (pre-evolved)
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #2,
p19, pan4 (with prosthetic leg)
Other Appearances:
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#1 (August, 2008) - Brian Reed (writer), Chris Bachalo (pencils), Tim Townsend (inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man#2-3 (September-October, 2008) - Brian Reed (writer), Chris Bachalo (pencils), Rob DiSalvo (pencils/inks), Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza & John Sibal (inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
New Avengers: Luke Cage#1 (June, 2010) - John Arcudi (writer), Eric Canete (art), Tom Brennan (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#642 (November, 2010) - Mark Waid (writer), Paul Azaceta (art), Stephen Wacker (editor)
X-Men II#38 (January, 2013) - Seth Peck (writer), Paul Azaceta (art), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)
Superior Foes of Spider-Man#3 (November, 2013) - Nick Spencer (writer), Steve Lieber (art), Tom Brennan (editor)
Superior Foes of Spider-Man#11 (May, 2014) - Tom Peyer (writer), Will Sliney (art), Tom Brennan (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man III#1/1 (June, 2014) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual III#1/1 (February, 2015) - Sean Ryan (writer), Brandon Peterson (art), Nick Lowe (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl I#6 (August, 2015) - Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (art), Wil Moss (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe!#1 (2016) - Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (art), Wil Moss (editor)
Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider#14 (April, 2018) - Peter David (writer), David Williams & Ray-Anthony Height (art), Scott Hanna (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Venom IV#1 (July, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Ryan Stegman (pencils), JP Mayer (inks), Devin Lewis (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#37 (December, 2018) - Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (art), Wil Moss (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#11 (February, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley (pencils), Cliff Rathburn (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#17 (May, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#20 (June, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man V#22 (July, 2019) - Nick Spencer (writer), Humberto Ramos (artist), Victor Olazaba (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (July, 2019) - Jeremy Whitley (writer), Alti Firmansyah (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl II#49 (December, 2019) - Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (artist),
Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula#1 (March, 2020) - Frank Tieri (writer), Angel Unzueta & Stefano Landini (artists), Devin Lewis (editor)
Ravencroft#1 (March, 2020) - Frank Tieri (writer), Angel Unzueta (artist), Danny Khazem (editor)
Ravencroft#4 (November, 2020) - Frank Tieri (writer), Angel Unzueta (artist), Danny Khazem (editor)
First Posted: 09/24/2013
Last updated: 03/08/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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