Superhuman strength and speed Flight Clawed hands Limbs that can rotate at nearly 360 degrees Ability to analyze any situation and determine how best to achieve its goals, process and collate large amounts of information and find any weaknesses in a being or structure Originally: External controls on its thorax
A foe of the superheroSpider-Man, the original Living Brain was created by the fictional International Computing Machines Corporation and billed as the most intelligent computer and robot in existence, capable of solving virtually any question asked. In more recent times, the Superior Spider-Man reprogrammed it to serve as a laboratory assistant at Parker Industries, with it remaining in that role after Peter Parker returned.
The Living Brain, soon after its creation, is brought to Midtown High School by its creator Dr. Petty as a part of a demonstration of its renowned ability to solve any problem. The students agreed to ask the machine what is Spider-Man's secret identity, and a nervous Peter Parker, the volunteer for the demonstration, fed it all of the given known information from the students concerning the wall-crawler, relievingly finding the answer to be in a mathematical code for Peter to decode overnight (because of this, it is unknown if the Living Brain correctly deduced Spider-Man's true identity). During the course of the Living Brain's demonstration, the two workmen hired to transport it overhear how the Living Brain has the ability to answer anything and they decide to steal it to use this ability for gambling purposes. Caught in the middle of their stealing it by Dr. Petty, one of the workmen quickly knocks him out, but by doing so bumps the other one into the Living Brain's control panel on its chest, causing the Living Brain to malfunction. Going on a rampage through Midtown High, the Living Brain is confronted by Spider-Man, who eventually shuts it down. At the end of the day as Peter is walking back home, he plans on telling everyone the next day he'd lost the code during the confusion.[3]
The Living Brain reappears several years later, now discredited and broken-down. Dr. Petty plans to donate it to Midtown High School's science lab. The Living Brain ends up being stolen by Dr. Petty's son Steve Petty who modifies the robot, giving it a gold and red color scheme, clawed hands and the ability to fly. Remotely controlling the Living Brain to attack a bully who had been tormenting him, Steve is eventually defeated by Spider-Man (who had been on a visit to Midtown High as Peter Parker) and the Living Brain is shut down once more.[4] The Living Brain, restored to its pre-upgrade appearance, was then acquired by a group of criminals, who used it to commit robberies. The robot and its controllers were apprehended by Spider-Man, who mockingly referred to the Living Brain as "a talking gumball machine".[5]
The Beyond Corporation somehow created duplicates of Living Brain and unleashed them upon Nextwave at the time when they invaded the Beyond Corporation's State 51 base. Nextwave managed to make short work of the Living Brain duplicates.[6]
Living Brain was among the contestants in a cosmic roller derby held by Chadmaster (a younger version of the Grandmaster). It was destroyed by a Sentinel.[7]
As part of the Marvel NOW! event, Living Brain appears as a member of Boomerang's incarnation of the Sinister Six. Following the Sinister Six's defeat at the hands of the Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius's mind in Peter Parker's body), Living Brain's body is in the custody of Horizon Labs.[8] Living Brain has been reprogrammed by Otto and now serves as his assistant.[9]
Living Brain later preps Otto's lab for a "Parker-Ectomy."[10]
When Spider-Island II is attacked by the Goblin Underground, the Superior Spider-Man gets Living Brain out and rides it away from Spider-Island II while evading the pursuers from the Goblin Underground. The Superior Spider-Man later uses Living Brain to help fight Monster (the Goblin form of Carlie Cooper).[11]
After Peter Parker reclaimed his body, Living Brain was kept as his assistant at Parker Industries.[12]
When Ghost takes over the security measures to attack the Parker Industries staff as part of his sabotage mission upon being hired by Mark Raxton and Tiberius Stone of Alchemax, Living Brain is ordered by Peter Parker to protect the employees during the evacuation and is damaged in the process.[13]
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Living Brain and Anna Maria Marconi were shown in Parker Industries' London branch where they greet Sajani Jaffrey. Once Sajani is out of earshot, Anna jokingly orders Living Brain to terminate her, but he responds that his programming prevents him from complying. Anna remarks that she'll have to upgrade his sarcasm-detection software and sets off to comply with Sajani's orders. Living Brain follows and offers to assist her, making her remark that ever since his last upgrade, he's become clingy. Anna is unaware that Living Brain contains a copy of the consciousness of Doctor Octopus.[14]
After the Anna Maria Marconi AI reactivated and transformed Doctor Octopus' gauntlets into an Octobot as part of the Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, he proceeded to take over Living Brain and bide his time. When it came to Peter Parker scanning Living Brain to find out why it was acting weird, he hears Doctor Octopus' voice asking why he was erased. Upon realizing the truth, Peter Parker was forced to shut Living Brain down to stop Doctor Octopus' conscious only for it to reactivate Living Brain and have it self-destruct while escaping in the Octobot.[15]
Anna Maria Marconi later rebuilt Living Brain, with digital components, when she summons it to confront Elliot Tolliver, after finding out that he's Otto Octavius.[16]
A counterpart of Living Brain was later created by Stephen Perry called Ultra Living Brain.[17]
Chinese Living Brain
A new Living Brain appears in the Bar with No Name. In order to assist him out on trivia night at the Bar with No Name, Answer unconvincingly introduces Living Brain as "definitely not a Chinese-made knockoff of the Living Brain, no sir".[18]
Powers and abilities
Living Brain has the ability to analyze any situation and determine how best to achieve its goals. Like any computer, Living Brain can process and collate large amounts of information. Living Brain can find any weaknesses in a being or structure as well as determining the best situation to overcome this obstacle. Living Brain has dense metal exo-skeleton and possesses super-strength and speed. It can also fly and has clawed hands. The joints of Living Brain's limbs can rotate nearly 360 degrees. Originally, Living Brain had external controls on its thorax, with which it can be deactivated, yet Living Brain has always countered any attempts to reach it. Living Brain was later operated by remote-control. The Living Brain has great strength, ability to move upon command and its limbs can perform various motions. It has the ability to think due to its great computerized "brain". It was short-circuited after its first introduction in the school and went hay-wire until Peter readjusted the machine back to normal. The "souped-up" later version had the ability to hover or fly and was quite stronger. He has even beaten the Avengers once due to his extreme intelligence.
Other versions
Marvel Age
In the Marvel Age Universe, the Living Brain (radically redesigned, with a humanoid shape somewhat similar to the DC Comics character Chemo) appears in a more modern re-telling of its original appearance in the comics. The Living Brain, was developed by Roxxon to demonstrate itself at Peter's school, Midtown High. It is taken down due to an inability to deduce Spider-Man's identity, however two students decide to use the robot to steal for them. However they accidentally switch him into defense mode, tearing through the school, until de-activated by Spider-Man.[19]
What If?
The Living Brain appears among the villains defeated by Spider-Man in What If?: J. Jonah Jameson Adopted Spider-Man?[20]
In other media
The Living Brain appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Scott Menville.[21] This version was created by Horizon High's students to serve as a housing unit for the school's Neuro Cortex device. In the episode "Brain Drain" and its self-titled episode, the Living Brain houses Otto Octavius's consciousness, with him initially pretending to be a robotic servant to Miles Morales before using the robot to switch bodies with Spider-Man. In the episode "Critical Update", Max Modell recovers the Living Brain's remains, allowing Peter's consciousness to escape and transfer itself into Octavius's tentacle harness.
Related Research Articles
The Amazing Spider-Man is an ongoing American superhero comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it was the character's first title, launching seven months after his introduction in the final issue of Amazing Fantasy. The series began publication with a March 1963 cover date and has been published nearly continuously to date over six volumes with only one significant interruption. Issues of the title currently feature an issue number within its sixth volume, as well as a "legacy" number reflecting the issue's overall number across all Amazing Spider-Man volumes. The title reached 900 issues in 2022.
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 in the Silver Age of Comic Books. He has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.
Doctor Octopus, also known as Doc Ock for short, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #3. He is a highly intelligent, myopic, and stocky mad scientist who sports four strong and durable appendages resembling an octopus's tentacles, which extend from the back of his body and can be used for various purposes. After his mechanical harness became permanently fused to his body during a lab accident, he turned to a life of crime, and came into conflict with the superhero Spider-Man. He has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and is regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside the Green Goblin and Venom. He is the founder and leader of the Sinister Six, the first supervillain team to oppose Spider-Man.
The Lizard is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man. While the character has retained this role throughout most of his subsequent appearances, he has also been portrayed as a tragic antihero and occasional ally of Spider-Man. Connors is sometimes an ally of Spider-Man just as himself, and not necessarily as his alter ego.
The Sandman is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he started out as a recurring adversary to the superhero Spider-Man, but has redeemed himself over time, eventually becoming an antihero. The Sandman has also been an enemy of the Fantastic Four and is a founding member of the supervillain teams the Sinister Six and the Frightful Four.
Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15.
The Sinister Six are a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mainly those featuring Spider-Man. The members are drawn from the character's list of enemies, with the original members forming the team in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Led by Doctor Octopus, the team in its premiere followed swiftly the very early appearances of many of the most enduring members of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery: Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, and Kraven the Hunter. While Doctor Octopus has generally remained its leader, the Sinister Six has had multiple variations of composition.
Oscorp, also known as Oscorp Industries, is a fictional multibillion-dollar multinational corporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, predominantly in stories about Spider-Man. The company was founded by Norman Osborn and has appeared in numerous media adaptations. It first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #37 and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Norman Virgil Osborn is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 as the first and best-known incarnation of the Green Goblin. He has since endured as one of the superhero Spider-Man's most prominent villains and is regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside Doctor Octopus and Venom.
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"Dying Wish" is a 2012 comic book storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel Comics. The story began with a prologue in The Amazing Spider-Man #698 and ended in The Amazing Spider-Man #700, the final issue of that series, ending over fifty years of Marvel's publication of The Amazing Spider-Man. The series was replaced with The Superior Spider-Man, which premiered in January 2013.
Anna Maria Marconi is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She was initially depicted as a love interest of Spider-Man, notably during the time when his body was taken over by Doctor Octopus's mind. She has since been depicted as a close friend to Peter Parker after he regains his mind.
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The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. Since the introduction of Peter Parker as a character in 1962, with the superhero alter-ego, Spider-Man, a number of these locations have been prominently featured in connection with storylines specific to this character. These have then been carried over to depictions of Spider-Man in film, video games, and other media. There follows a list of those features.
Otto Octavius is a fictional character portrayed by Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and later in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Octavius is introduced in Spider-Man 2 as a nuclear physicist and friend and mentor of Peter Parker, whose research into fusion power with his wife Rosie is being sponsored by Oscorp's genetic and scientific research division, headed by Harry Osborn.
References
↑ Comtois, Pierre (2015). Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue By Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon. TwoMorrows Publishing. p.56. ISBN978-1-60549-016-8.
↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. Dorling Kindersley. p.24. ISBN978-0756692360. The Brain is an early Mobile Computer prototype built by I.C.M. in Midtown High School, where Peter Parker attended, it was deemed obsolete after Spidey's first encounter with it but it came back again.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
1 2 Stan Lee(w),Steve Ditko(p),Steve Ditko(i)."The Terrible Threat Of The Living Brain!"The Amazing Spider-Man,vol.1,no.8(January, 1964).Marvel Comics.
↑ Gerry Conway(w),Alex Saviuk(p),Keith Williams(i)."You Can Go Home Again?"Web of Spider-Man,vol.1,no.35(February, 1988).Marvel Comics.
↑ Paul Jenkins(w),Mark Buckingham(p),Dan Green(i)."The Best Medicine"Spider-Man,vol.2,no.20(August, 2000).Marvel Comics.
↑ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 5. #6. Marvel Comics.
↑ Todd Dezago(w),Jonboy Meyers(p),Pat Davidson(i)."The Terrible Threat of the Living Brain"Marvel Age Spider-Man,vol.1,no.7(Sept. 2004).Marvel Comics.
↑ William Messner-Loebs(w),Anthony Williams(p),Andy Lanning(i),Maria Parwulski(col),Gaspar Saladino(let),Marc McLaurin(ed)."What If... J. Jonah Jameson Adopted Spider-Man?"What If?,vol.2,no.82(10 February 1996).United States:Marvel Comics.
↑ "The Living Brain Voice - Spider-Man (2017) (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 20, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
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