MASTERS OF EVIL IX

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Last Updated: 
15th May 2018

The High Council of Hydra was reformed under the leadership of Steve Rogers, reality-altered by the Cosmic Cube into a Hydra loyalist since childhood, and best friends with Helmut Zemo. To assist his new (old) friend in the conquest of America, Baron Zemo assembled one of the largest congregations of super-villains in history to oppose America's heroes during the takeover.

Membership: Helmut Zemo, (initial) Firebrand III, Plantman II, Flying Tiger

(Masters of Evil) Man-Killer, Klaw, Tiger Shark, Whiplash IV, Wrecker, Thunderball, Bulldozer, Piledriver, Moonstone, Atlas, Fixer

(Army of Evil) Whirlwind, Mr. Hyde, Grey Gargoyle, Tiger Shark, Absorbing Man, Cyclone, Dragonfly, Gypsy Moth, Armadillo, Squid, Wizard, Nitro, Fera, Yellowjacket III, Kraven, Graviton, Baron Blood, Living Laser, Madame Menace, Blue Streak, Regent, Jack O'Lantern, M.O.D.O.K. Superior, Scorcher, Lady Bullseye, Count Nefaria, Blackout, Eel, U-Foes, Circus of Crime, Serpent Solutions

First appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 (New Masters), Captain America: Steve Rogers #13 (Army of Evil)

Note: Some confusion exists over whether Zemo's entire organization were considered the Masters of Evil or not. They were referred to as the "Army of Evil" in the recap pages of Secret Empire, but as the Masters when they appeared in Thunderbolts (3rd series). So were the Masters of Evil a smaller strike team of the full Army of Evil, or are the terms interchangeable?

Before

  • Despite their success, Zemo's Masters of Evil never resurfaced. Baron Zemo attempted to rebuild Hydra as an organization under his control, but ultimately failed. He and many other super-villains were held prisoner by SHIELD in Pleasant Hill. A sentient Cosmic Cube in the form of a child named Kobik cast the villains into unwitting civilian roles in the town until Baron Zemo and the Fixer managed to orchestrate a rebellion. [Assault on Pleasant Hill crossover]
  • Bucky Barnes assembled most of the original Thunderbolts in the aftermath of Pleasant Hill to help him watch over Kobik and fulfill his duties as The Man On The Wall. [Thunderbolts (3rd series) #1]
  • Another consequence of Pleasant Hill is that Kobik secretly replaced Steve Rogers with a different version of him, one deeply loyal to Hydra since childhood. [Captain America: Steve Rogers #1-2]

Chronology

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1:

After the disaster of Pleasant Hill, Helmut Zemo attempted to rebuild his power base by creating a new Masters of Evil in Bagalia. He had fallen far by this point, however, and only managed to draw a trio of super-villains to his roster: Flying Tiger, Firebrand III, and the new Plantman. Captain America and his allies interrupted the meeting, scattering the new Masters and seemingly causing Zemo's death in a Quinjet crash.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #13:

In fact, Zemo was rescued and secretly imprisoned by Captain America. In the version of reality this Steve Rogers remembered, Helmut Zemo was his oldest friend when they grew up together in a secret Hydra training camp. Over a period of months, Rogers managed to convince Zemo of his sincerity and they became allies. Working with Eric Selvig (who was also a Hydra loyalist now thanks to Kobik), Zemo recruited an army of super-villains to support Rogers in his plot to conquer the nation. In addition to existing forces like Serpent Solutions, the U-Foes, and the Circus of Crime, Zemo and Selvig also tracked the bio-tags of nearly every escapee from Pleasant Hill, making taking down S.H.I.E.L.D. a personal vendetta for many of their recruits. These Masters of Evil were easily more of an Army of Evil.

Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10

Zemo assembled a strike team of Masters of Evil from his new army. He brought together Whiplash, Man-Killer, Klaw, Tiger Shark and the Wrecking Crew to locate his wayward Thunderbolts and Kobik, who they were sheltering. The Masters disabled Bucky Barnes and Atlas, then contained Kobik in security device made by Selvig. After which, Zemo offered Moonstone, Songbird, Fixer, and MACH-X a place in the Masters back by his side. Songbird refused and shattered Kobik's container. Kobik teleported away with Bucky, leaving Songbird and MACH-X on the run as Moonstone and Fixer decided to rejoin the Masters with Zemo.

Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12

Kobik threw a tantrum when Bucky refused to accept Hydra as she had. She returned them to the Antarctic base and began putting out enormous amounts of energy. Several Masters fell in the cosmic storm, and Man-Killer was seemingly killed. Fixer attempted to disrupt Kobik, but his solution did more than shut her down. It scattered her cube fragments across the globe. Zemo accepted Fixer, Moonstone, and Atlas back into the Masters as they planned to recover the Cosmic Cube.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #16

With Kobik scattered, Fixer worked with Zemo to reconsolidate the eight fragments of the lost Cosmic Cube. Unfortunately, Eric Selvig's manufactured loyalty to Hydra was not stronger than his love of the little girl, Kobik. He sabotaged the recovery mission to scattered the fragments again, then killed himself before he could be interrogated. Without Kobik, the Masters of Evil and the forces of Hydra still moved forward with their initial plan for national dominance.

U.S.Avengers #5-6:

As Citizen V of American Intelligence Mechanics for S.H.I.E.L.D., Roberto Dacosta saw Blue Streak and the Wrecking Crew on his monitors as they began the invasion of New York for the Army of Evil.

Secret Empire #0:

The Army of Evil lay siege to New York, drawing many of the country's heroes there. Others were drawn into space to deal with a marauding alien race known as the Chitauri (secretly drawn to Earth by a Chitauri queen embryo Rogers had acquired). The planetary defense screen championed by Maria Hill and Carol Danvers was inactive due to a Hydra bombing, forcing the space-based heroes to stage a front line defense. Finally, the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces traveled to Sokovia, where Hydra staged an open revolt in the interest of launching Soviet-era nuclear warheads. When the cabinet invoked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Act, giving Rogers full control over the government in times of crisis, the trap was complete. The planetary shield was reactivated, locking some of the most powerful heroes off-planet. The Army of Evil was teleported to safety and, with the help of Blackout and the Darkhold, Zemo locked Manhattan and its heroes behind an impenetrable barrier of Darkforce. With little to no resistance left, Hydra assumed control of America.

Secret Empire: Free Comic Book Day 2017:

The remaining heroes of Earth congregated in Washington D.C. to oppose Hydra and the Army of Evil. Zemo joined his Masters in the fight along with the High Council of Hydra and Steve Rogers, revealed as the Hydra Supreme Leader. Many heroes fell to pre-planned sorcerous or scientific failsafe plans, including Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Thor. Steve Rogers claimed Mjolnir in Thor's absence, showing he was still worthy. The surviving heroes were driven underground after this show of force.

Secret Empire #9:

Weeks later, it was revealed what "reward" the Army of Evil received -- stasis sleep, locked away where they could do no harm in Hydra's America, fed comforting dreams to suit their particular desires.

Afterwards

  • Blackout was assassinated by Maria Hill, bringing down the Darkforce dome that contained Manhattan. [Secret Empire #8]
  • The Hydra nation was dismantled when the original Captain America returned through the power of Kobik and defeated his counterpart, Hydra Supreme. [Secret Empire #10]

Membership

Baron Zemo the 13th (Helmut Zemo)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #168
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1,13,16, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, Secret Empire FCBD 2017

Powers: expert military strategist and tactician, exposure to Compound X has increased his lifespan by decades, carries a laser "disintegrator" pistol

 

Flying Tiger

First appearance: Spider-Woman (1st series) #40
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

Powers: armored battlesuit contains an exoskeleton that augments his strength, speed, reflexes, aerial maneuverability, and resistance to physical injury, is equipped with razor edged talons and flight systems

Firebrand III (Richard L. Dennison)

First appearance: Iron Man (3rd series) #4
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

Powers: transformed into a being of super-charged plasma, possessing a massive bulk, increased strength and resistance to physical injury and temperature extremes, and the power to radiate heat energy at atomic intensities, containment harness maintains control of his energy emissions, provides thrust for flight, and can cybernetically reconfigure itself to focus his heat energy through plasma cannons, thermal lances, solid heat spheres, etc.

Plantman II (Paul)

First appearance: Astonishing Ant-Man #7
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

Powers: plant-based physiology and ability to mentally communicate with plants, accelerate their growth, and direct their activities

Ulysses Klaw

First appearance: Fantastic Four (1st series) #53
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, Secret Empire #0

Powers: mutated by a vibranium sound converter into a being of solidified sound waves, giving him superhuman strength and endurance, sonic-imaging perceptions, the power to reconstitute his body from any amount of damage, shift frequencies into an energy state, and absorb external sound waves and vibrations that his sonic-claw converts into concussive blasts, high-decibel shrieks, tangible energy projections of sonic force, and thrust to propel him through the air

Whirlwind (David Cannon)

First appearance: Tales to Astonish #50
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: mutant with superhuman reflexes and able to rotate himself at phenomenal speeds, allowing him to spin at high velocities to propel himself forward, deflect projectiles, direct jet streams of hurricane force wind, and create small tornados, uses wrist-mounted buzzsaws and shuriken launched from his belt

Tiger Shark (Todd Arliss)

First appearance: Sub-Mariner (1st series) #5
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, Secret Empire #0

Powers: restructured with the genetic patterns of an Atlantean and a tiger shark, giving him superhuman strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, thick resilient flesh with high resistance to physical harm, gills for breathing underwater, strength that increases while in contact with water, aquatically adapted vision, a large dorsel fin and razor tipped fangs and claws

Absorbing Man (Carl “Crusher” Creel)

First appearance: Journey into Mystery #114
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire #0

Powers: enchanted potion gave him the power to transform the entire composition of his body by absorbing the qualities of anything he touches, allowing him to duplicate the exact substance and properties of matter or convert into a being of pure energy by absorbing energy signatures

Grey Gargoyle (Paul Pierre Duval)

First appearance: Journey into Mystery #107
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: chemical solution changed his right hand into a state of flexible granite and enables it to transform his entire body into the same superhumanly strong and durable state, or alter other people and objects into a similar, immobile stone form

Mister Hyde (Calvin Zabo)

First appearance: Journey into Mystery #99
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire #0

Powers: uses a hormonal chemical formula to transform himself into a physical powerhouse with superhuman strength, stamina, durability, recuperative powers, and gigantic proportions

Blackout (Marcus Daniels)

First appearance: Nova (1st series) #19
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16, Secret Empire #0

Powers: infusion with Darkforce radiation made him a living generator of that substance, allowing him to direct Darkforce into concussive blasts or quasi-solid projections that absorb heat and other energies and are unaffected by gravity, enabling him to levitate them in mid-air and fly by riding on floating disks, also capable of opening inter-dimensional apertures into the Darkforce dimension, banishing people or objects into oblivion

Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite)

First appearance: Thor (1st series) #148
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, U.S.Avengers #5, Secret Empire #0, FCBD 2017

Powers: infused with magical power by Karnilla, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm, the ability to project an enchanted aura to repel projectiles, and enchanting his crowbar so that it is indestructible, can teleport himself and others over great distances, and psychically linked to him so that he can sense its presence and influence people who hold it

Thunderball (Eliot Augustus Franklin)

First appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, U.S.Avengers #5, Secret Empire #0, FCBD 2017

Powers: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm and an enchanted wrecking bar that's indestructible and returns to his hand after thrown

Piledriver (Brian Philip Calusky)

First appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, U.S.Avengers #5

Powers: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, resistance to physical harm, and piston-like hands and feet that could create shockwaves upon impact

Bulldozer (Henry Camp)

First appearance: Defenders (1st series) #17
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, U.S.Avengers #5, Secret Empire #0

Powers: absorbed a fourth of the Wrecker's power in a lightning storm, giving him Asgardian strength, stamina, and resistance to physical harm, wears an armor-plated helmet that he uses for head-butting and smashing through barriers

 

Man-Killer (Katrina Luisa van Horn)

First appearance: Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #8
First Masters IX appearance: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10

All Masters IX appearances: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12

Powers: Power Broker process augments his strength, endurance, reflexes, and durability, formerly wore a cybernetic exoskeleton that duplicated her current enhancements and had explosive throwing disks

Cyclone III (Pierre Fresson)

First appearance: Thunderbolts (1st series) #3
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16

Powers: cybernetic skin-suit manipulates the air molecules around it, generating swirling cyclonic winds that can be directed as bursts of hurricane-force gales or to propel him through the sky with great speed and maneuverability

Gypsy Moth (Sybil Dvorak)

First appearance: Spider-Woman (1st series) #10
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16

Powers: "soft touch" psychokinesis enables her to manipulate any matter through the power of her mind, but she has an affinity for controlling soft substances such as fibers, organic tissue, and plant matter, so she uses her powers to levitate and direct any of these materials, weave fiberous matter to design and alter clothing, fly under her own power with the help of silken wings on her back, and assault people directly by causing muscle cramps, skin lesions, and rupturing of blood vessels

Whiplash IV (Anton Vanko II)

First appearance: Iron Man vs. Whiplash #1
First Masters IX appearance: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10

All Masters IX appearances: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #10,12, Secret Empire #0

Powers: repurposed StarkTech armor gives him exoskeletal strength, reaction time, and resistance to physical injury, repulsor arc generators and mono-filaments combine into electro-lashes that cleave between molecules and produce a destructive charge

Squid (Donny Callahan)

First appearance: Peter Parker, Spider-Man (2nd series) #16
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: transmorph able to assume a squid-like humanoid form with superhuman strength, endurance, and resilience, padded slime-encrusted skin, amphibious capabilities, extendible tentacles with suction tips, and the ability to release clouds of black ink

Armadillo (Antonio Rodriguez)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #308
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire #0, FCBD 2017

Powers: mutated into a humanoid armadillo, possessing superhuman strength, endurance, an armored shell that gives him considerable resistance to physical injury, and razor sharp claws

Vector (Simon Utrecht)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #254
first Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: exposure to cosmic radiation gave him a telekinetic repulsion power, allowing him to apply momentum to objects in order to repel projectiles and oncoming attacks, levitate objects with vectored repulsion fields, direct massive amounts of force against a target, and repulse himself off the ground to fly

Ironclad (Michael Steel)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #254
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16

Powers: exposure to cosmic radiation transformed him into organic metal, giving him superhuman strength and resistance to physical injury, and the power to alter his mass to develop increase overall size, greater strength and density or reduce his weight in order to leap great heights and distances, formerly possessed a rough and craggly metal hide

X-Ray (James Darnell)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #254
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: exposure to cosmic radiation converted him into a being of pure radiation, capable of flight, invisibility, intangibility, surviving indefinitely without sustenance, and projecting radiation as light, heat, disruptive frequencies, explosive discharges or hard radiation force blasts

Vapor (Ann Darnell)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #254
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: exposure to cosmic radiation made her into a being of living gas, unaffected by physical assaults, capable of flying on the breeze, and able to reform herself into any form of gas, including oxygen, cyanide, hydrogen, chlorine, mustard gas, etc.

Wingless Wizard (Bentley Wittman)

First appearance: Strange Tales (1st series) #102
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, U.S.Avengers #6, Secret Empire #0

Powers: self-doning battle armor amplifies his strength and resistance to injury, has wonder gloves that magnify the force of his blows with G-forces, can fire concussion bolts or electricity, generate a protective force bubble around his body, and create typhoon spheres that make objects whirl about uncontrollably, uses anti-gravity discs which allow him to fly, can be slapped onto objects to make them weightless, or can fly under their own control and fire laser beams

Nitro (Robert Hunter)

First appearance: Captain Marvel (1st series) #34
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16, Secret Empire #0

Powers: Kree technology replaced the nuclear binding forces of his molecules with controllable psion particles, allowing him to disengage his molecular bonds and detonate at will, causing all or part of his body to explode with great force, then psionically gravitate back together and reform his body

Fera

First appearance: Power Man and Iron Fist (1st series) #99
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: wolf magically transformed into a humanoid state by the Amulet of Shirrair, possessing heightened strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, hyper-keen senses, and razor sharp fangs and claws

Graviton (Franklin Hall)

First appearance: Avengers (1st series) #158
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire #0

Powers: controls the fundamental force of gravity, enabling him to levitate himself or other objects, render them weightless or repel them from the earth, create localized gravity to move objects on command, pin them with increased weight, or compress them under immense pressure, reinforce his own tissue with gravimetric pressure to become virtually invulnerable, create gravity wells or wormholes for rapid travel through normal or extra-dimensional space, bestow semi-permanent gravity effects on other people, and sense the movement of gravity waves in his environment

Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #15
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: herbal enhancement jungle serum grants him increased longevity and periods of enhanced strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, senses, and tracking skills, uses whips, axes, bolas, weighted nets, trained animals, an electro-paralysis ray in his chest piece, and various potions and mixtures to make people fall asleep, hallucinate, panic, shake uncontrollably, etc.

Madame Menace (Sunset Bain)

First appearance: Machine Man (1st series) #17
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: criminal industrialist with access to technology from her company and other contractors

Baron Blood (John Falsworth)

First appearance: Invaders (1st series) #7
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13,16, Secret Empire FCBD 2017

Powers: vampire possessing superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes, immortality and the power to withstand all forms of physical harm except for the traditional weaknesses of his kind, a hypnotic gaze, self-levitation, and fangs able to drain the blood of his victims

Yellowjacket III (Darren Cross)

First appearance: Marvel Premiere #47
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire FCBD 2017

Powers: Pym Particle-enriched physiology gives him enhanced strength, durability, a healing factor, and emotionally-triggered ability to change size, Yellowjacket armor powered by his Pym Particles further increases his strength and resilience, enables flight and employs exo-limbs able to strike with tremendous force and project bio-electric stings

Living Laser (Arthur Parks)

First appearance: Avengers (1st series) #34
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: bionic repulsor tech and laser diode implants transform him into living energy, enabling him to project lasers as blinding light, heat, concussive pulses, cutting beams, or a disintegration effect, alter his constructed appearance, create solid-light holograms and protective shields, pass through solid matter, render himself invisible, and fly at light speed

Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (1st series) #3
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: occular implants give him a hypnotic stare, placing people in a highly-suggestible state where they are susceptible to influence over their perceptions, memories, actions, and personalities, as well as open to long-term post-hypnotic suggestions, employs a swirling disc on his hat and reflective paint on his attire to lull and distract his victims

Princess Python (Zelda Dubois)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #22
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: psychic link allows her to empathically communicate with and command the actions of a near-sentient python, able to grow to giant size and consume the thoughts and memories of its victims

Strongman (Bruno Olafson)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (1st series) #3
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: Olympic-level physical strength, endurance, and resilience to physical harm

Clown II (Franklin)

First appearance: Spider-Man: Swing Shift
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: uses novelty paraphernalia including plasma throwing knives, acid-spraying flowers, trick umbrellas that are bullet-proof and conceal machine guns, etc.

Fire-Eater (Tomas Ramirez)

First appearance: Marvel Two-in-One #76
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: high tolerance for the effects of heat and burning, carries fire-sticks which he uses to swallow and then exhale fire

Great Gambonnos (Ernesto & Luigi Gambonno)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #16
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: skilled circus acrobats, high-wire artists, and tumblers

Teena the Fat-Lady (Mary Stenson)

First appearance: Incredible Hulk (1st series) #3
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: employs obesity for tactical advantage

Viper (Jordan Dixon)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #157
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: master chemist and poisoner using a variety of venoms tipped in his telescopic blowgun, throwing darts, or hand-mounted fangs

Boomslang (Marc Reimer)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #341
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: carries serpent-shaped boomerangs called "serpent-rangs"

Fer-de-Lance (Teresa Vasquez)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #337
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: enhanced strength, endurance, reflexes, and durability, metal "fang" spikes attached to her gloves

Bushmaster (Quincy McIver)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #310
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: quadraplegic outfitted with bionic superhumanly strong arms and a snake-like tail in place of legs, wears metal spikes on the backs of his hands

Cobra II (Piet Voorhees)

First appearance: White Tiger #1
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: enhanced agility and resilience, superhuman sense of smell, acidic spit, hyper-flexible and coordinated bone and muscular structure can slither through muscular contraction, squeeze through tight places, harmlessly bend with impact, and coil around opponents in a near-unbreakable "cobra grip", silicon-graphite coated costume increases his slipperiness

Rattler (Gustav Krueger)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #310
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: augmented strength and resilience, bionic tail can be used as a bludgeon or shake an ultrasonic rattle to shatter solid objects, deflect projectiles, or disrupt the inner ear to cause vertigo and a loss of equilibrium

Anaconda (Blanche Sitzinski)

First appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #64
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: superhuman strength, endurance, and resilience, gills for breathing underwater, able to morph her limbs into snake-like appendages by merging her digits into flipper form and elongating her arms or legs into flexible and constricting coils

Sidewinder III (Gregory Bryan)

First appearance: Captain America (4th series) #31
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: Nth Projector chip implant allows him to teleport through extra-dimensional space guided by his cybernetic cloak, mask equipped with "side effect" rays

Death Adder II (Theodore Scott)

First appearance: Nova (4th series) #19
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: bionic augmentation gives him increased strength, speed, agility, reflexes, amphibious capabilities, an artificial tail for striking opponents or underwater propulsion, retractable finger talons coated with a lethal toxin

Puff Adder (Gordon Fraley)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #337
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13, Secret Empire FCBD 2017

Powers: enhanced strength, stamina, and resistance to impact, expand his body into a bloated state that gives him greater size, and strength, spews an acidic compound from his mouth as a liquid stream or a gaseous breath

Coachwhip (Beatrix Keener)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #342
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: wears gloves that are equipped with serrated metal whips attached to the back of each hand, capable of producing an electrical charge on contact

Rock Python (M'Gula)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #341
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: indestructible body makes him virtually impervious to physical impact or injury, carries "serpent eggs" that release a series of constricting metal fillments on impact

Cottonmouth II (Burchell Clemens)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #310
First Masters IX appearance: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

All Masters IX appearances: Captain America: Steve Rogers #13

Powers: bionically augmented and triple-jointed jaw structure can expand up to three times its normal opening, using his metal fangs and hydraulic bite to snap through steel

Moonstone II (Karla Sofen)

First appearance: Captain America (1st series) #192
First Masters IX appearance: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12

All Masters IX appearances: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12, Captain America: Steve Rogers #16, Secret Empire FCBD 2017

Powers: merged with Kree lifestone that gives her superhuman strength, endurance, reflexes, and invulnerability, flight, allow her to survive in the vacuum of space, morph the cosmetic appearance of her costume, and the ability to manipulate gravity fields to send her molecules into an intangible state, and redirect photon packets to produce blinding flashes of light and fire concussive laser blasts

Fixer (Paul Norbert Ebersol)

First appearance: Strange Tales (1st series) #141
First Masters IX appearance: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12

All Masters IX appearances: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12, Captain America: Steve Rogers #16

Powers: battle vest carrying explosives, jamming signal beacons, ultrasonic emitters, missiles, cerebral scanners, mind control pods, anti-gravity disks, and an assortment of electronic devices

Atlas (Erik Stephen Josten)

First appearance: Avengers (1st series) #21
First Masters IX appearance: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12

All Masters IX appearances: Thunderbolts (3rd series) #12, Captain America: Steve Rogers #16, Secret Empire #0, FCBD 2017

Powers: ionic bombardment treatment transformed him into a being of pure ionic energy, combined with Pym Particle saturation to give him superhuman strength, limitless endurance, invulnerability, and lets him draw on extra-dimensional mass to increase his size and strength even further

Blue Streak II (Jonathan Swift)

First appearance: Heroes for Hire (2nd series) #3
First Masters IX appearance: U.S.Avengers #5

All Masters IX appearances: U.S.Avengers #5

Powers: wears high-velocity skating suit equipped with highly resistant padding, high-speed breathing apparatus, stiletto blades, blue laser wrist projectors, tack pouches, and rocket-propelled skates giving him remarkable speed, maneuverability, and leaping ability, with retro-rockets for sudden boosts or stops

M.O.D.O.K. Superior (George Tarleton, clone)

First appearance: Hulk (2nd series) #29
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: cloned construct of the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, possessing superhuman intelligence for both analysis and creativity, telekinetic force blasts, telepathic powers to read thoughts, control minds, or psychically blast opponents, uses mechanical aids to support his weight or channel his mental energies

Regent (Augustus Roman)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (4th series) #1
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: bio-tech implants and armor provide him with superhuman strength, durability, flight, force blasts, containment fields, and the ability to duplicate exotic powers and weapon systems by trapping the original in stasis vaults and beaming the abilities to his suit

Jack O'Lantern IV

First appearance: Venom (2nd series) #1
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: chemical stimulation increases his strength, endurance, reaction time, and tolerance for pain, padded costume with gas-filtering flaming helmet that spews incendiary fluid, uses rocket-propelled flying broomstick, scythes, acidic hard candies, flamethrowers, ghost grabbers, and robotic devil dolls that fly autonomously, can spit fire, explode, or hypnotically impose his identity on others, letting Jack act through surrogates

Lady Bullseye (Maki Matsumoto)

First appearance: Daredevil (2nd series) #111
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: peak human strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes, skilled martial artist and weapons master

Count Nefaria (Luchino Nefaria)

First appearance: Avengers (1st series) #13
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: ionically-empowered with immeasurable strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, invulnerability, flight, ionically-charged laser and concussive blasts from his eyes, and the power to feed off of other ionic beings, strengthening himself while weakening them to the point of death, or exerting control over them through a mental link

Scorcher (Steven Jamal Hudak)

First appearance: Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #0

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #0

Powers: battle suit equips him with enhanced strength, resistance to damage and temperature, flame-cannons that release concentrated streams of blistering fire, and boot rockets for flight

Eel II (Edward Lavell)

First appearance: Power Man and Iron Fist (1st series) #92
First Masters IX appearance: Secret Empire #9

All Masters IX appearances: Secret Empire #9

Powers: costume covered with a slippery grease and fitted with a micro-generator, which projects an electrical field around his body and directs energy as lightning-like bolts