Hammerhead (comics) - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Hammerhead's family immigrated from Russia to Italy when he was a child. His father ran a garage in Toirrano, where he insisted a young Hammerhead speak only in Russian, beating him severely with a mallet when he wouldn't. Though not much is known about his life before he became an evil criminal and supervillain, he is known to have a sister.

All the while, Hammerhead dreamed of becoming a gangster. He is eventually recruited into one of the "families" of the criminal organization known as the Maggia, the Marvel Universe version of the Mafia, when a member oversees Hammerhead murdering a childhood bully and his girlfriend in a theatre showing The Godfather Part II. Originally a small-time hit-man, Hammerhead quickly rises through the ranks of the Maggia, while hiding the fact that he's actually Russian so he can be "made". In his final test, Hammerhead is brought to his father's garage (with the Maggia apparently unaware of their relationship), where he proceeds to kill his father, while telling him in Russian that he doesn't truly hate him, and that he made him (Hammerhead) this way.

One day, Hammerhead was found beaten, disfigured, and delirious with pain in an alley in New York City's Bowery by Jonas Harrow, a surgeon who had lost his medical license due to his illegal experiments. Seeing the opportunity both to save this man's life and to redeem his reputation, Harrow operated on the gunman for three days, replacing much of his shattered skull with a strong steel alloy. During the surgery, the unconscious Hammerhead fixated on the only memory he retained: an image of a poster for a movie called "The Al Capone Mob", which was hanging in the alley where he lay beaten and bloodied before Harrow found him. When he recovered, the memory of the poster and its images of 1930s-era gangsters prompted Hammerhead to start a gang of his own in the style of Capone and other mobsters of the 1920s. He even dressed as if he were living in that decade. Later on, Hammerhead's entire skull was replaced with or reinforced with some type of nearly unbreakable metal (possibly vibranium or secondary adamantium).

A gang war broke out between Hammerhead's mob and Doctor Octopus's criminal organization. Hammerhead was forced to flee the country due to Spider-Man's interference. He later had a rematch with Doctor Octopus next to an atomic breeder reactor on a remote Canadian island which caused a chain reaction, blasting Hammerhead "out of phase" with this dimension. Some time later, he appeared as an immaterial ghost-like being to haunt Doctor Octopus. Doctor Octopus then unwittingly restored Hammerhead to a material state. Hammerhead kidnapped Spider-Man's Aunt May, who was then rescued by him as Doctor Octopus caused Hammerhead's helicopter to plummet into the Hudson River.

Hammerhead then proposed that all Maggia "families" unite under his leadership. Wearing a strength-enhancing exoskeleton, he battled the Human Torch, who then fused the exoskeleton's power pack. Hammerhead was nearly assassinated by the Kingpin's Arranger during a gang war. Hammerhead was forced out of a major role in New York City organized crime by the Kingpin.

Hammerhead then allied himself with the Chameleon in the latter's bid to become the new crime lord of New York City. The two served as partners in a splinter group of the Maggia. Hammerhead hired Tombstone as a bodyguard and hit-man. He hired the Hobgoblin to kill Joe Robertson, who posed a threat to Tombstone; the assassination attempt failed. Hammerhead was kidnapped and beaten by Tombstone, who had gained superhuman powers and resented Hammerhead for not sending him to kill Joe Robertson.

Hammerhead later attended a Las Vegas crime conference to divide the resources left by the Kingpin's downfall at the time. Around this time he participates in a multi-sided gang-war focused on the Kingpin's attempt to re-take New York City for his own.

Hammerhead is a major player in underworld activities in the Marvel Universe and is highly sought after for elimination by the Punisher. He is currently one of several gang warlords struggling to control the criminal underworld in the major cities of the Eastern United States. During one of the first meetings of such warlords, Hammerhead was almost killed by the Strucker twins Fenris. This meeting was being manipulated by Baron Von Strucker, the head of HYDRA. When Don Fortunato made a bid for control of the New York underworld, Hammerhead opposed him and was almost killed as a result. When every other crime lord surrendered to Fortunato and his HYDRA allies, Hammerhead went rogue, launching a raid on Fortunato's home and successfully fighting off a HYDRA attack on his own headquarters. He did have assistance from Spider-Man and Morbius, the Living Vampire. For a time, the hero known as S.H.O.C. also assists Hammerhead. Later he was hired as by Norman Osborn to be a part of the Sinister Twelve.

Hammerhead has cheated certain death several times over the years. During a gang war with Doctor Octopus, Hammerhead was consumed by a nuclear detonation, a unique chain of events transforming him into a "living wraith" rather than killing him. In recent years, Hammerhead was slain by CLOC, the computerized majordomo of the Sentry. Shortly thereafter, Hammerhead was almost killed in prison by Bullseye.

During the events of the Civil War, Hammerhead used the vacuum left by the incarceration of the Kingpin to gain a greater foothold in the ranks of organized crime, attempting to organize an army of costumed villains (consisting of the Ani-Men V, Answer I, Aura, Bloodshed, Clown, Cyclone III, Discus, Electro, Great Gambonnos, Kangaroo II, Man Mountain Marko, Mauler, Mindblast, Override, Ringmaster, Stiletto, Spot, Squid, Trapster, and Will O' The Wisp) to enforce his new criminal empire. The Kingpin manipulated various hero factions, most notably S.H.I.E.L.D. and Iron Man into breaking up Hammerhead's first convening of his army. During the conflict, Hammerhead was shot numerous times by Fisk's agent Underworld, who later confronted Hammerhead while he lay in prison. Underworld then shot Hammerhead at point-blank range with adamantium bullets.

The bullets, while not penetrating his skull, did cause severe trauma to his brain, resulting him in needing surgery, but the hospital he was brought to was unable to treat him. In mid-surgery however, men working for Mister Negative came in, killed the hospital staff, and took Hammerhead away. Mister Negative then has his surgeon Doctor Tramma revive Hammerhead and offers to transplant his brain into a new robotic adamantium skeleton, which Hammerhead agrees to.

The operation is a complete success, and Hammerhead is restored to full mobility without any ill effects. He swears loyalty to Mister Negative in exchange for his restored life, and proceeds to shape a gang of lowlife thugs into an effective army for his benefactor. He then proceeds to battle Spider-Man, besting him with no effort for the first time in years. Later, he has a rematch with Spider-Man, with Spider-Man dislocating Hammerhead's hip bone.

Mister Negative sends Hammerhead to help Spider-Man (who Mister Negative corrupted) take down the Hood, who launches an attack on Negative's headquarters. He blackmails H.A.M.M.E.R. director Norman Osborn into forcing Hood to pull out of Chinatown.

Hammerhead later begins to doubt his loyalty to Mister Negative when Silvermane appears to return. Unknown to Hammerhead, it is actually an android controlled by Mysterio to plant such seeds of rebellion. Nevertheless, he flees a shootout with the Maggia when the Silvermane robot calls him a traitor. It is shown that Mister Negative had a computer chip put in Hammerhead's head to deliver an electroshock when necessary, which he promptly uses to punish him and remind him who's in charge.

During the Origin of the Species storyline, Hammerhead and Mister Negative are among the supervillains invited by Doctor Octopus to join his supervillain team promising them that will receive a reward in exchange for securing some specific items for him.