(Formerly) :
13-715: The Miracle Man ( Joshua Ayers ) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as one of the first enemies of the Fantastic Four . He was originally depicted as a stage magician with megalomaniacal desires, capable of convincing others through hypnosis that he has amazing powers. In subsequent appearances, he appears to obtain actual, significant superpowers that allow him to mentally control and rearrange matter, but this turns out to be yet another illusion. The Miracle Man becomes one of
26-706: A daunting challenge to a superhero. In instances where the supervillain does not have superhuman, mystical, or alien powers, the supervillain may possess a genius intellect or a skill set that allows them to draft complex schemes or commit crimes in a way normal humans cannot. Other traits may include megalomania and possession of considerable resources to further their aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real-world dictators , gangsters , mad scientists , trophy hunters , corrupt businesspeople , serial killers , and terrorists , often having an aspiration of world domination . The Joker , Lex Luthor , Doctor Doom , Magneto , Brainiac , Deathstroke ,
39-654: A flashback that differs significantly from the original story in Fantastic Four #3.. After creating his own advanced city, the Miracle Man battles the Fantastic Four before being taken away by the Silent Ones' ghosts to be "cured". In subsequent appearances, the Miracle Man escapes the Silent Ones' imprisonment and attempts to become an ally to the Defenders before returning to evil and being killed by
52-560: A jewel heist through the aid of a giant prop monster he animates. The police call upon the Fantastic Four to stop him, but the Miracle Man bests them in a series of encounters and hypnotizes the Invisible Girl into obeying him. However, after the Human Torch blinds him with a flare of fire, he is captured easily and his mysterious powers are explained as deriving from nothing more than hypnotism. The Miracle Man next appears as
65-557: The Inspector Gadget animated series, Dr. Evil and Mr. Bigglesworth from the Austin Powers film series , or Dr. Blowhole from the animated TV series The Penguins of Madagascar . The overarching villain of Star Wars , Emperor Palpatine , leads the tyrannical Galactic Empire , and was inspired by real-world tyrannical leaders. megalomania Megalomania is an obsession with power and wealth, and
78-582: The Green Goblin , Loki , the Reverse-Flash , Black Manta , Ultron , Thanos , and Darkseid are some notable male comic book supervillains that have been adapted in film and television. Some notable female supervillains are Catwoman , Harley Quinn , Poison Ivy , Mystique , Hela , Viper , and the Cheetah . Just like superheroes, supervillains are sometimes members of groups, such as
91-827: The Injustice League , the Sinister Six , the Legion of Doom , the Brotherhood of Mutants , the Suicide Squad , and the Masters of Evil . In the documentary A Study in Sherlock , writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss said they regarded Professor James Moriarty as a supervillain because he possesses genius-level intelligence and powers of observation and deduction, setting him above ordinary people to
104-586: The Scourge of the Underworld . The Hood later resurrects him using Dormammu 's powers to help eliminate the Punisher . The Miracle Man is a master hypnotist, able to mesmerize others with his glance and then, induce wild hallucinations onto anyone he wishes. He can cast a variety of illusions to make those under his influence would see, hear, touch, and even taste or smell their effects. Later, he developed
117-450: The Miracle Man taunts them during his display of ostensibly superior powers, which includes such feats as levitation, transforming himself into mist, and enlarging himself to giant form. He goads the enraged Thing into an on-stage contest of strength, which he wins as well. Mister Fantastic voices the fear that the team would be unable to defeat him if he were turning to a life of crime. The Miracle Man declares war on humanity and commits
130-465: The ability to rearrange various forms of matter by thought. These powers were lost, thanks to the Defenders. Supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character . It is sometimes found in comic books and may possess superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero . Supervillains are often used as foils to present
143-495: The many minor Marvel Comics supervillains to be killed by the Scourge of the Underworld , but is resurrected much later by the demon Dormammu (as a parasite of Hood ). The Miracle Man first appeared in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby . Miracle Man is an arrogant stage magician who harbors megalomaniacal desires. The Fantastic Four attend his stage show, and
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#1732783405663156-834: The point where only he can pose a credible threat to Sherlock Holmes . Fu Manchu is an archetypal evil criminal genius and mad scientist created by English author Sax Rohmer in 1913. The Fu Manchu moustache became integral to stereotypical cinematic and television depictions of Chinese villains. Between 1965 and 1969 Christopher Lee played Fu Manchu five times in film, and in 1973 the character first appeared in Marvel Comics . The James Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (whose scenes often show him sitting on an armchair stroking his cat, his face unseen) has influenced supervillain tropes in popular cinema, including parodies like Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Cat from
169-485: The villain in a two-issue story arc in Fantastic Four #138-139 (Sept.-Oct. 1973). The Fantastic Four encounter him on a remote Indian reservation, while investigating an attack on villages of the tribesmen of Wyatt Wingfoot . They mock him until he demonstrates that he previously met a group of Native Americans known as the Silent Ones and gained matter-manipulating powers before killing them. The Human Torch recounts their first encounter with him to new teammate Medusa , in
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