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The Unicorn is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2016) |
The first Unicorn (Milos Masaryk) debuted in Tales of Suspense #56 (Aug. 1964) and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. [1]
| Unicorn | |
|---|---|
 The Unicorn as featured on the cover of Iron Man #154 (Jan. 1982). Art by Bob Layton. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense #56 (Aug. 1964) |
| Created by | Stan Lee (Writer) Don Heck (Artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Milos Masaryk |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Lethal Legion Maggia KGB |
| Partnerships | Count Nefaria Plantman Eel Porcupine Scarecrow Red Ghost Titanium Man Mandarin |
| Notable aliases | Uncanny Unicorn |
| Abilities |
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Milos Masaryk is a Soviet intelligence agent assigned to track down the original Crimson Dynamo, who had defected to the United States. Wearing technology designed by the Dynamo, Masaryk calls himself Unicorn and battles Iron Man, but is defeated. [2] The Unicorn is among the villains affected by Doctor Doom's high-frequency emotion charger, compelling him to attack the Fantastic Four at the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm. [3]
The Unicorn later allies with Count Nefaria and undergoes experimental conditioning to augment his powers. [4] [5] The process leaves Unicorn with "accelerated cellular deterioration", and he is taunted with a cure by the Red Ghost in exchange for assistance against Iron Man. Once it becomes evident that the Red Ghost has lied, the Unicorn aids Iron Man and later escapes. [6]
The Mandarin makes a similar promise to the Unicorn and deploys him against Iron Man on two separate occasions, both ending in Unicorn's defeat. In the first instance, the Mandarin's consciousness becomes trapped in the Unicorn's body before being freed. [7] [8] Using the alias "The Other", the Titanium Man uses the Unicorn against Iron Man, who is finally able to capture him. In a dramatic turn, the very moment of his capture sees Masaryk slip into a life-threatening coma. [9] Iron Man takes Masaryk to the Avengers Mansion, where teammate Yellowjacket wakes Masaryk and cures him of his debilitating disease. The process has the result of driving Masaryk insane, and a disorientated Unicorn inadvertently activates the hidden robot Arsenal. Unicorn is stunned by Arsenal — which Iron Man drives off — and then placed in stasis pending a cure for his mental illness. [10]
Months later, Masaryk is freed when a fire breaks out at Stark Enterprises. [11] He resumes the identity of the Unicorn and finds and attacks Iron Man once again. Still insane, the Unicorn refuses to believe that "The Other" was a lie, and begins to walk back to the Soviet Union via the ocean to find him. A severely weakened Iron Man watches as the Unicorn apparently drowns. [12]
The Unicorn is later revived by the entity the Beyonder to fight with a new version of the Lethal Legion. The Unicorn is given a true third eye on a stalk with energy projection capabilities in lieu of a suit. [13]
During the "Infinity" storyline, Unicorn is among the villains recruited by Spymaster to help him attack the almost-defenseless Stark Tower. [14]
Iron Man and Hellcat later find Unicorn trying to steal the Gutenberg Bible. Korvac witnesses the fight and uses lightning to strike Iron Man, which also destroyed the Bible. [15] Unicorn later appears to help Korvac, Blizzard, and Controller fight Iron Man and Hellcat. [16]
A second unnamed (at the time of his debut) Unicorn with a developed tentacled eye within his power-horn appears as a member of Remont 4 and goes on a rampage in Saint Petersburg until captured by the third Titanium Man. His third eye is removed and he is incarcerated. [17]
During the Civil War storyline, Unicorn is approached by Baron Zemo and forced to either join Zemo's team of Thunderbolts or go to jail. He chooses to join and fights on the team's behalf. [18]
He is next seen in Hulk: Winter Guard along with Iron Maiden, Titanium Man, Volga, and the Snow Leopards as Remont 6. [19]
This versions' real name is revealed to be Yegor Balinov in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe . [20]
A third Unicorn, whose real name is Aaidan Blomfield and wore the same Unicorn costume as his predecessors, only with an actual horn on the helmet, is recruited into the supervillain group Stockpile by Morgan Stark to destroy Iron Man, but they are defeated by the combined efforts of Iron Man and War Machine. Blomfield claimed to be an old foe of Iron Man's, but it is unknown if he really is, or was just riding on the reputation of the original Unicorn. [21]
Roderick Kingsley later sold one of the Unicorn's outfits to an unnamed criminal. Unicorn is seen working for Kingsley's side as Hobgoblin (Kingsley's butler Claude) is attacking the Goblin Nation. [22]
During the AXIS storyline, Unicorn is among the supervillains who ally with Phil Urich and the remnants of the Goblin Nation, claiming that Roderick Kingsley "abandoned" them. [23]
Roderick Kingsley later regains Unicorn's services. [24]
Originally, the Unicorn had no superhuman powers; his helmet was the source of his abilities. However, the Unicorn has undergone mutagenic radiation treatments which gave him superhuman strength and endurance. The Unicorn's soft tissues are dozens of times harder than those of an ordinary human, making him highly resistant to physical injury. The process which endowed the Unicorn with superhuman powers caused accelerated cellular deterioration, which eventually severely affected his sanity and physical health.
He wears headgear equipped with an energy projector that tunes to various frequency and power levels. This allows him to project concussive energy blasts (electron or neutron beams), lasers, and microwave energy. It also allows him to project a force field and to levitate objects magnetically. He also wears a rocket belt equipped with twin, high-efficiency electric micro turbines that allow him to fly; the belt also contains the power supply for his helmet which consists of an array of nuclear-powered thermo-electric cells. The Unicorn also wears body armor of unknown composition. His equipment was designed by Professor Anton Vanko.
The Unicorn is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, having received training in armed and unarmed combat by the KGB. He is highly proficient in the use of firearms. He is highly fluent in both English and Russian, and has received KGB training in intelligence techniques.
An unidentified alternate universe version of the Unicorn appears in Ultimate Nightmare . This version was a convict who participated in an abandoned Russian super-soldier program involving the Vision's biotechnology and went insane due to years of isolation. Additionally, he possesses a horn capable of projecting electricity, the ability to levitate, and enhanced durability. After being found by the Ultimates, the Unicorn is killed by Nick Fury. [25]
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