BIOGRAPHY - Page 7
M.O.D.O.K. enjoyed his vacation in exile for a time, but he eventually felt unsatisfied. He was, indeed, still designed only for killing. Seeking to justify his urges, M.O.D.O.K. founded M.O.D.O.K., the Mercenary Organization Dedicated Only to Killing. M.O.D.O.K.’s ego led him to see himself as a brilliant hero and righteous killer who only took contracts to eliminate those who deserved it. That said, he was still willing to kill those who stood in his way or disrupted his “righteous” cause. M.O.D.O.K. recruited a small army of henchmen in addition to an elite team of mercenaries including Batroc the Leaper, the Terrible Eye, Mega Tony and a single, unnamed 
mercenary of incredible skill. Through unknown means, he was contacted and enlisted by a mysterious client who provided the majority of the M.O.D.O.K.’s primary missions.
M.O.D.O.K. sent his primary mercenary to eliminate Teuthidan weapon dealers on behalf of their client. However, an obscure merc named Gwenpool seemingly killed his minion and snagged the mission fee instead. Rather than kill her, M.O.D.O.K. chose to recruit Gwenpool into M.O.D.O.K. in order to replace his lost asset, thinking her skills must be impressive. Gwenpool laughed in the face of M.O.D.O.K. at first, and so he vaporized her hacker companion Cecil as a show of power. Suitably cowed before the might of M.O.D.O.K., Gwenpool agreed to join M.O.D.O.K. as part of M.O.D.O.K.
While performing a background check on his new employee, however, M.O.D.O.K. determined that Gwen Poole was an absolutely normal person with no powers or benefits to his organization. Feeling conned, M.O.D.O.K. confronted Gwenpool and she admitted she didn’t overpower his last agent, but simply pushed him into a furnace when he wasn’t looking. However, she also used the money from her last few jobs to acquire tech and resources for when M.O.D.O.K. inevitably tried to kill her. They squared off inside M.O.D.O.K.’s giant spider-tank headquarters as 
Gwenpool’s one-time force field kept her alive long enough to disable M.O.D.O.K.’s psionic blaster and mobility legs. M.O.D.O.K.’s Doomsday Chair still maintained its old rocket flight feature, though, which caught Gwen off-guard.
Using an enchantment provided to her by Doctor Strange, Gwenpool summoned Cecil back as a ghost with hacker abilities. After a quick explanation, Cecil was eager to revenge himself on M.O.D.O.K., and infiltrated the Doomsday Chair’s systems. A supernatural override like this was not something M.O.D.O.K. was prepared for. Cecil overrode M.O.D.O.K.’s rocket feature and launched him into low orbit, removing him from sight. [Unbelievable Gwenpool #1-4] Gwenpool and the M.O.D.O.K. group remained friends and continued working together over time. They were prepared when M.O.D.O.K. eventually returned to seek revenge, and he was driven off, despite his cool new eyepatch. [Unbelievable Gwenpool #25]
M.O.D.O.K. continued to make efforts to work with other allies. He was recruited into the Army of Evil, a massive collection of super-villains guided by Baron Zemo and the Steve Rogers loyal to Hydra. [Secret Empire #0] He and the Wizard consulted on reforming the Intelligencia when Doctor Doom declared himself a hero and hunted down many of their fraternity. [Infamous Iron Man #6] The Wizard was forced to deal with Doom directly, but M.O.D.O.K. did reform the Intelligencia with the Leader, Mad Thinker and Mister Sinister. Together, they planned to exploit the potential of the NuHuman Kid Kaiju and his ability to summon an endless variety of monsters. However, they and their Monster Masters henchmen proved unsuccessful. [Monsters Unleashed (3rd series) #1-5] The New Intelligencia were also seen in battle with the Champions. [Invincible Iron Man #593]
At some point, M.O.D.O.K. decided to reinvent himself once more and moved out to Los Angeles to found Advanced Image Mechanics. Using a new form of transformative technology, M.O.D.O.K. completely reconstructed himself into a handsome human form. Reprogrammed for love and presenting himself as an “image doctor,” the renamed B.R.O.D.O.K. (Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelmingly for Kissing) attempted to date in L.A. but found no success. His strange behavior, massive ego and general personality led to a series of rejections. In response, B.R.O.D.O.K. kidnapped the women who spurned him and began experimenting further with his transformative technology, turning them into giant monstrous creatures under his mental control. He even captured the former Avenger named Tigra and made her gi-normous under his domination, unleashing her on the city.
When B.R.O.D.O.K. saw Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop and her West Coast Avengers fighting to stop Tigra, though, he had a change of heart. B.R.O.D.O.K. thought he could win Kate’s love and prove himself as L.A.’s newest hero alongside the Avengers. However, the crazed M.O.D.O.K. failed to 
appreciate just how utterly transparent his ruse was, and how insufferable his behavior. While the other Avengers kept him busy, Kate and Clint “Hawkeye” Barton followed up on B.R.O.D.O.K.’s “origin story” to raid Advanced Image Mechanics for the secret of his experiments on Tigra. When B.R.O.D.O.K. realized he had been “betrayed” in his final shot at love, he unleashed all his transformed giant women on the city and captured Bishop to do the same to her. Fortunately, Barton found the reverse switch on M.O.D.O.K.’s tech and used his ray gun to turn B.R.O.D.O.K. back into M.O.D.O.K., quickly reverting the other women as well. [West Coast Avengers (3rd series) #1-4]
The fight with M.O.D.O.K. was the introduction of this new West Coast Avengers roster to California, and it quickly drew the attention of various criminals and super-villains already operating out west. M.O.D.O.K. was recruited into a West Coast Masters of Evil with Graviton, the Eel, Satana, Lady Bullseye, and Madame Masque. They lured the Avengers to an abandoned amusement park in order to break the new group's unity and confidence. M.O.D.O.K. used sonic-induced power dampeners and genetically-engineered land-sharks in an attempt to devour the captive Avengers. However, the Masters were infiltrated by Noh-Varr, Kate Bishop's ex-boyfriend, and the West Coast Masters were forced to retreat rather than deliver the Avengers their comeuppance. Despite plotting to return, M.O.D.O.K. and the Masters were not seen again together. [West Coast Avengers (3rd series) #5-7]
M.O.D.O.K. next sought out the alien juggernaut known as Ultimo, buried beneath the island nation of Lingares. His efforts to raise the bio-mechanoid giant to the surface were successful, but he was unable to control it. M.O.D.O.K. offered his services to the people of Lingares, using the Deathlok process to engineer their soldiers into troops strong enough to fight Ultimo. However, M.O.D.O.K. then lost control of the Deathloks as well when the A.I. revolution began, leading them to override their programming and propagate themselves by forcing more subjects through the Deathlok process.
Through all this, Maria Hill’s new Force Works team became involved in the Lingares revolution and the destabilization of their government. M.O.D.O.K. ended up presenting himself as an ally to Force Works, without fully explaining his presence or actions up until their arrival.
M.O.D.O.K. created a weapon called the Subatomic Outgoing Broad-Isotope Gun that harnessed a radiation signature Ultimo was vulnerable to and powered it using the arc reactor technology in War Machine’s armor. Rhodey’s blast destroyed Ultimo’s head, but that gave M.O.D.O.K. the opportunity to insinuate himself physically and mentally in its place, taking control of the giant robot as UltiM.O.D.O.K. Once he revealed himself as the real threat, UltiM.O.D.O.K. was dropped into a lava vent by Quake, and the Deathloks swarmed him until both he and his usurped weapon were lost beneath the magma flow. [Force Works 2020 #1-3]
A.I.M.’s internal fracturing was finally put behind them, and the organization reformed under the leadership of a board of directors containing past and present minds like Andrew Forson, Monica Rappaccini, Superia and M.O.D.O.K. However, M.O.D.O.K. began to malfunction after taking a shot to the head while stealing from a Stark Unlimited hovertrain. Only 20% of the cargo was 
recovered due to M.O.D.O.K.’s failings, and his enemies like Monica smelled weakness. M.O.D.O.K. performed an internal diagnostic for corrupt files and found nothing, yet he also recovered incongruous memory files of a life of domestic bliss with his wife Jodie and their children, Lou and Melissa. Monica convinced the board that a malfunctioning M.O.D.O.K. was too dangerous keep or expel, and they tried to assassinate him. M.O.D.O.K. was forced to fight his way out of A.I.M. Mountain and seek the help of Tony Stark, of all people. [M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #1]
In exchange for ratting out some of his betrayers’ upcoming plots, M.O.D.O.K. secured Stark’s assistance as an engineer to evaluate his malfunction. Stark theorized the means of repairing M.O.D.O.K.’s internal drives but, perhaps ironically, it would require one of the very prototypes just stolen by A.I.M. from the hovertrain. M.O.D.O.K. knew Monica intended to sell the StarkWiz prototype at the Criminal Technology Show in Las Vegas. He and Tony infiltrated the CTS disguised as Arnim Zola and a Hydra minion. M.O.D.O.K. had another blackout at the trade show, however, and nearly blew their cover by attacking the Serpent Society in the men’s room out of revenge for killing him previously.
During the auction for the StarkWiz, Cobra of the Society woke up and alerted the other villains to M.O.D.O.K. and Stark’s presence. M.O.D.O.K. ran a number of self-preservation scenarios with “sacrifice Stark” as a parameter, but reluctantly determined keeping Stark alive and useful was more beneficial to his survival. He hacked into a remote copy of Stark’s Iron Man armor and delivered it to his temporary ally for assistance. Next he took over a Bluetooth-controlled Super-Adaptoid model on auction and reconstructed its mass into a small flight of mini-M.O.D.O.K.s, 
providing them the cover they needed to escape. Stark honored his vow and completed his work on M.O.D.O.K.’s drives. However, his examination determined that M.O.D.O.K. had not been tampered with, as he suspected. Instead, the “memory drives” contained programming signatures dating back to the original M.O.D.O.C. experiment and carried over into M.O.D.O.K.’s current incarnation. Stark suggested M.O.D.O.K. needed to review his origins to really find the truth about these “family” delusions. [M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #2]
M.O.D.O.K. returned to the island where the alteration chamber first transformed George Tarleton into M.O.D.O.C. Long abandoned, he discovered the lab had been reclaimed by the wilderness and many animals had inadvertently wandered into the accelerator to become…ZOO.D.O.K.s. While fighting through his animal cousins, M.O.D.O.K. was attacked by Gwenpool, whom Monica had hired to eliminate him. Gwen nearly killed him, but she realized M.O.D.O.K. was genuinely concerned over whether his “family” was somehow real. Feeling sympathy, 
Gwenpool stopped her attacks and instead helped M.O.D.O.K. investigate the memories of his family his mind was projecting. They determined his family house was a real location in a suburban neighborhood of Butterville, Ohio. Gwen and M.O.D.O.K. parted peacefully, though he euthanized the remaining ZOO.D.O.K.s because being M.O.D.O.K. was a pain he wouldn’t wish on any living creature. [M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #3]
[Note: The island was identified as Boca Caliente, but A.I.M. conquered that island nation in Iron Man (1st series) #207 shortly after M.O.D.O.K.’s first death. Also, according to Captain America (1st series) #313, M.O.D.O.K. was created on-board the submarine base he was operating in his first appearance.]
In Ohio, M.O.D.O.K. was surprised to meet his father, the Founder of A.I.M., living in his “dream house.” Alvin Tarleton had been in hiding ever since M.O.D.O.C. became M.O.D.O.K., and only some failsafe coding prevented M.O.D.O.K. from remembering his father and hunting him down prior to this. Alvin intended the J-O-D-1-E program to sedate M.O.D.O.C. when he was in rest mode, but M.O.D.O.K.’s recent head injury shook this buried program back online, allowing Alvin to manipulate M.O.D.O.K. into seeking him out. M.O.D.O.K. was furious with his father now that he remembered all Alvin had done, but Alvin revealed all of Butterville was populated by Super-Adaptoids and other A.I.M. agents who escaped M.O.D.O.K.’s wrath over the years. These forces were enough to overcome M.O.D.O.K. and bring him to the Founder’s lab.
Alvin intended to correct his previous mistakes with his son and purge everything from M.O.D.O.K.’s system that didn’t suit his needs. Finally, the M.O.D.O.C. Project would be restored as the non-autonomous machine he always intended. M.O.D.O.K. was unwilling to die so easily, 
and he broke free before Alvin could erase him, killing his father and the rest of the A.I.M. refugees. M.O.D.O.K. chose to save a copy of Alvin’s mind in case he needed him in the future, and the technology at hand gave him an idea. Using the Super-Adaptoids and the JOD1E program in his memory drives, M.O.D.O.K. uploaded copies of his false memories of Jodie, Lou and Melissa into Adaptoid bodies, making his family as real as they seemed in his mind. The M.O.D.O.K. family soon returned to A.I.M. Mountain and reclaimed the organization that was his birthright. [M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #4]
M.O.D.O.K. intended to bring new and Advanced Ideas to A.I.M., concocting a plan to colonize space in the name of science. However, the Hulk needed a spaceship. Even M.O.D.O.K.’s latest robot armor, G.O.D.O.S., the Giant Organism Designed Only for Smashing, was unable to stand against the Hulk’s strength. [FCBD 2021: Avengers/Hulk #1] Undeterred, M.O.D.O.K. initiated Project: Amy on a cruise ship, testing his new amygdala-based virus to trigger fight-or-flight responses in his captive test subjects. A.I.M. wandered freely among the victims, recording the results and even performing field autopsies for maximum data. It was the X-Men who arrived to stop him following livestreaming accounts of the situation. In his Captain Krakoa façade, Cyclops confronted M.O.D.O.K. telepathically in the mind palace which resembled his home from Butterville, Ohio. He was warned what would happen if they crossed paths again and turned over to the authorities. [X-Men (6th series) #8]
M.O.D.O.K.’s experiments brought him to the attention of Orchis, a multi-pronged organization focused on preserving humanity in the face of mutant evolution. Doctor Stasis in particular was interested in M.O.D.O.K.’s amygdala virus and wanted to compare notes. He and Nimrod freed M.O.D.O.K. from confinement and offered him a position in the Orchis Protocol. [X-Men (6th series) #9] As a consultant, M.O.D.O.K. agreed to make murder science for Orchis, and now works with their inner circle to lend his ideas for new experiments and research that might benefit their cause. [X-Men (6th series) #12]