Morbius, the Living Vampire
Morbius the Living Vampire, full name Michael Morbius, is a fictional character in the
Marvel Comics universe, intended as a tragic
anti-hero with vampire-like powers that actually had a biochemical origin. Self-tormented over his nature but wanting to live, he has appeared as both as a villain and an ally in various
Spider-Man titles, in
Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and in his own self-titled comic book.
Morbius first appeared in
Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct, 1971), in which he is attacked by the
Lizard and defeated when Spider-Man and the Lizard join forces. A
flashback in
Amazing Spider-Man #102 reveals that Morbius was actually a
Nobel prize-winning
biochemist, who had attempted to cure himself of a rare blood disease with an experimental treatment involving
vampire bats and
electroshock therapy. However, he instead became afflicted with a far worse condition that mimicked the powers and bloodthirst of legendary
vampirism. Morbius now had to digest blood in order to survive and had a strong aversion to light. He gained the ability to fly, as well as superhuman strength and healing abilities. His appearance became hideous—his canine teeth extended into fangs, his nose flattened to appear more like a bat's, and his skin became chalk-white. He also gained the ability to turn others into similar "living vampires" by biting them. Though he managed at one point to cure himself of his pseudo-vampirism, he eventually reverted back to his altered form.
He gained his own series with
Adventure into Fear #20 in 1975, and was the lead feature of that title for the rest of its thirty-one issue run. He later received his own self-titled comic book series (as well as somewhat of a costume update) in 1992 as part of the "
Rise of the Midnight Sons"
crossover event between Marvel's supernatural/horror themed comics. These later stories add to his repertoire of powers the ability to hypnotize others, and describe his ability to fly as also psionic in nature.
In the first issue,
Ghost Rider and
John Blaze search for Morbius to form The Nine and stop Lilith and the Lilin from taking over the world. When they found Morbius, the vampire believed they would kill him but Ghost Rider and John Blaze successfully captured him. Dr. Langford, who tried to help Morbius's wounds, was actually trying to kill him and was working for Dr. Paine. He made a serum that would prove fatal to Morbius, but unknown to Dr. Langford, Fang, one of Lilith's children was also trying to kill Morbius by adding his own demonic blood to the serum, which would also be fatal to Morbius. When Dr. Langford injected the serum to Morbius, it did not kill him, but instead mutated him. Morbius's friend, Jacob was trying to look inside of him and see what he could do about Morbius's condition. After Martine, Morbius's wife, found out Langford was trying to kill him, Langford shot her and she bled to death. Morbius found this out and was enraged to find his wife dead. He later killed Langford and took the beaker which contained the serum. Ghost Rider and John Blaze later found out Morbius's destruction. Ghost Rider confronted him and would not tolerate Morbius drinking anymore innocent blood. Morbius then vowed he would only drink the blood of the guilty. Ghost Rider accepted the vow, but warned him not to stray from it. Morbius soon become part of The Midnight Sons.
Later, a new faction of Vampires led by Hunger, the next evolution of the supervillain
Crown, tried to destroy Morbius because he had been genetically manipulated to be the perfect weapon. The chest he was to be delivered in was intercepted by the
Kingpin,
Blade, and
Spider-Man, and he attacked all three. Unfortunately, whatever unknown party manipulated him failed; he collpased after one battle, possibly dying. With his last breath he warned Spider-Man to beware of his employer, Stuart Ward, the
Sentry.
Michael Morbius possesses a variety of superhuman powers similar to those possessed by "true",
supernatural vampires in the Marvel Universe. He possesses superhuman strength that varies with his feeding. Under normal circumstances, Morbius is strong enough to lift roughly 1 ton. If he has fed well, Morbius' strength has proven to be roughly equal to that of Spider-Man, who has been described in the
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe as capable of lifting approximately 10 tons.
Morbius possesses an accelerated
healing factor and can recover from mild to moderate injuries at a rate beyond that of ordinary humans. While not nearly as efficient as the healing powers possessed by the
X-Man Wolverine, Morbius has proven able to heal from multiple gunshot wounds in less than an hour. More severe injuries, such as broken bones or severe burns, might take several days to heal, but once was shown to take minutes even though it left him as a near-mindless creature who must feed to replenish the energy that was used to do so. He is unable to
regenerate missing limbs or organs, but Slaughter, another living vampire, has shown that a living vampire can reattach cut off parts of their body and survive a beheading if they have gained enough vitality from blood consumption.
Due to his vampire-like condition, Morbius is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to maintain his life and vitality. How much blood he requires and how often he must feed has not been specified in the comics. Those he bites also turn into "living vampires" if he kills them, and in more recent comics these transformed victims also gain the same full powers as Morbius possesses. Although not truly immortal like a true vampire, a living vampire may perhaps have a much longer life-span than a normal human, since blood is like an elixir to them.
Morbius does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural vampires are subject to, such as to
garlic,
holy water, or
silver. He is sensitive to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which prevents any protection from major sun burn, in contrast to "true" vampires that are incinerated by it. Morbius also lacks the shapeshifting and weather control powers of vampires, and the ability to control animals.
However, like "true" vampires, Morbius does possess the ability to hypnotize others and bring them under his control, which can only be resisted by those possessing an extremely strong will. Morbius can also fly through the air as a result of his psionic powers.
"
Ultimate" Morbius first appeared in
Ultimate Spider-Man #95. Unlike the original character from which he was derived, Ultimate Morbius is a "true" vampire, the son of
Dracul, and brother of
Vlad III Dracula himself (who was, in Utimate Marvel, the same as the historic tyrant of our world, rather than a vampire), with all of the powers and abilities associated with the usual interpretation of
Dracula. This Morbius, however, seems to be heroically struggling against his baser instincts, like many other vampires in film and comic books. He meets
Spider-Man in a typical misunderstanding, centering around a cabal of vampires attacking
Ben Urich. He is really trying to stop Urich from becoming a vampire, which he succeeds in doing despite the conflict.
Animated series
Morbius' only screen appearances to date were in several episodes of
Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 1990s. Morbius first appeared in his human form in "The Insidious Six" (Season #2, Ep 14). Then he appeared as a vampire in the episode titled his name, "Morbius". He appeared as a villain in the following four episodes, along in "The Awakening" and "The Vampire Queen" in Season #4. At the end of "The Vampire Queen", Morbius stopped becoming an evil blood sucker and joined forces with vampire hunter Blade and superhuman Black Cat to stop Blade's evil mother, Mirium. Morbius made a cameo at the beginning and end of the second episode of the animated version of Secret Wars, along with Blade, who were not only concerned about stopping Mirium but curious where Black Cat went (she was transported from Earth to the Secret Wars planet to fight alongside with Spider-Man as one of the heroes to help him).
His portrayal in the show is generally scorned by fans of the character, primarily due to fundamental changes enforced upon his depiction by
Fox, who imposed a heavy level of censorship on the series. These changes included:
*Being unable to bite anyone, despite having fangs and clearly being a vampire. Instead he was rendered with suckers on his palms to drain his victims.
*Not being able to mention the word 'blood' in any capacity, instead only using 'plasma'. This resulted in the oft-derided repeated line of "I need more plasma!".
The scorn was also likely increased because many episodes were devoted to this character despite the high amount of changes and being such a minor villain in the comics.
Amazing Spider-Man #101 (first appearance), #102 (origin), #379-380
Marvel Team-Up #3-4
Adventure into Fear #20-31 (February, 1972 – December, 1975)
Vampire Tales #1-11
Vampire Tales Annual #1
Giant-Size Superheroes #1
Marvel Premiere #28
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.1 #6-8, 38
West Coast Avengers #5-6
Ghost Rider Vol.2 #31 (1992)
Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #13, 17-18
Darkhold #15-16
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #10, 11, 14-18, 60-66
Spider-Man #13-14 (1991), #36
Morbius the Living Vampire #1-32 (September, 1992 – April, 1995)
Morbius Revisited #1-5 (August – December, 1993; reprints
Adventure into Fear #27-31)
What If...? Vol.2, #41
Nightstalkers #7-8
Daredevil #324-325
Web of Spider-Man #102-103
Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.1, #202-203
Spider-Man Unlimited Vol.1, #2 (cameo)
Midnight Sons Unlimited #1-7
Venom: The Enemy Within #1-3
Blade: The Vampire Hunter #8
Strange Tales: Dark Corners One-Shot
Blade #2-3 (1998)
Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.1, #14 (2004)
Supernaturals #4 (cameo)
Marvel Selects: The Amazing Spider-Man #2-3 (reprints
Amazing Spider-Man #101, 102)
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Morbius The Living Vampire: Spider-Man's Anti-Villain - Photon Torpedoes
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Brief bio at Insania 1998
