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Founding Members
Wizard
Wizard
Alter Ego: Bentley Wittman
Notable Aliases: The Wingless Wizard
First Appearance: Strange Tales #102 (November 1962)
Originally a renowned inventor of great intellect, Bentley Wittman grew jealous of the attention the Fantastic Four, and in particular the Human Torch, received. Turning his stage persona into a supervillain identity, the Wizard vowed to prove himself superior to the Torch. He would later co-found the Frightful Four alongside Paste-Pot Pete, the Sandman, and an amnesiac Medusa (though after she got her memory back, numerous other villains were rotated in the fourth slot).
- Always Someone Better: Reed Richards is predictably this to him. The reason he formed the Frightful Four is to try and upstage Reed and the Fantastic Four.
- Beard of Evil: The guy is almost always shown with a goatee.
- Didn't Think This Through: Some of his supposedly great plans fall through because he overlooked some basic details. One scheme had the Frightful Four capture Spider-Man and then impersonate him as a way to infiltrate the Baxter Building and take the Four out one by one. The plan worked almost perfectly, and the Frightful Four entered the building...and they left Spider-Man both alive and totally unguarded. The web-slinger used the Wizard's own vehicle to free himself, followed the Frightful Four into the Baxter Building and helped Reed take them down. Electro even referred sarcastically to the Wizard's supposed "genius" for strategy.
- Driven by Envy: His overwhelming ambition in life has become to outdo Reed Richard and prove himself a better scientist. Originally though it was to upstage the Human Torch.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Has a lot of nifty gadgets at his disposal.
- Gravity Master: He often billed himself as the Wingless Wizard in his early days.
- Insufferable Genius: His science smarts arguably could rank up there with the Marvel Universe's best scientists, but he's such an arrogant dick that he rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
- Mandatory Motherhood: When his wife refused to get pregnant, he confined her and used artificial insemination to impregnate her, all in the hopes of getting a super-powered offspring.
- Parental Abandonment: When his Mandatory Motherhood scheme above didn't turn out quite the way he thought it would, he left his wife and newborn daughter, only to come back and use them against the Fantastic Four years later, when his daughter Cole was grown up.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: He first picked a fight with Johnny for no better reason than intellectual boredom.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: After his inability to keep a fourth member of the Frightful Four, he came to believe that them being female was the problem — that's also a case of Never My Fault as Medusa had amnesia when she joined and even after she recovered she was The Mole, Thundra was likewise a mole, and plently of line-ups ended in failure, so he's just looking to blame someone other than himself.
- Power Incontinence: One of his defeats sent him flying into the stratosphere with no way to stop. He would have suffocated if not for a timely rescue by the Sandman and Paste-Pot Pete.
- The Psycho Rangers: The Frightful Four are this to the Fantastic Four, with the Wizard being the evil counterpart to Mr. Fantastic. Who the others are matched up against vary due to its ever-changing roster; Sue and Reed noted at one point that the variable nature of the team's membership is one of the main reasons the Wizard has never defeated the FF this way, as the Frightful Four have never properly 'clicked' in the same way as their own team.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Although the Torch was his first enemy, he had no problem extending his grudge to the rest of the Four.
- Sanity Slippage: During and after the Hickman run he developed a quasi-religious zealotry and psychotic obsession with outdoing Reed Richards. It was attributed to a brain tumor but even after its removal he barely recovered.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: Wizard's outfit is almost always purple.
- Smug Snake: One of Marvel's most archetypal examples. He's an arrogant, abrasive schemer whose overconfidence and Lack of Empathy make him his own worst enemy. Sue even calls him out on it in Fantastic Four #549:Susan Richards: You're pathetic. One of the best minds on the planet and you waste it for years, doing magic tricks — then trying to best a man who'd never really harm you, despite your endless provocation. But that's the difference between my husband and me. He doesn't understand revenge. Me? I can't decide which of the many ways I can hurt you I'm going to use!
- Techno Wizard: A techno genius whose name is built on this.
Trapster
Trapster
Alter Ego: Peter Petruski
Notable Aliases: Paste-Pot Pete, Willie
First Appearance: Strange Tales #104 (January 1963) note ; Fantastic Four #38 (May 1965) note
A genius chemist who invented a potent multi-polymer adhesive and immediately decided to use his invention to commit crimes. First assuming the identity of Paste-Pot Pete, he changed it to the more intimidating name of the Trapster.
- Abnormal Ammo: Fast-drying glue that quickly solidifies and can hold almost anything. As the Trapster, he added various other chemical substances to his arsenal.
- Atrocious Alias: "Paste Pot Pete" is so bad that it serves as a Once Done, Never Forgotten event. It’s so bad that the first time Spider-Man encountered him, he was too busy laughing at him to fight, resulting in Pete walking away in annoyance and shame. Please note that his name is a reference to a bawdy poem Piss Pot Pete. He's rather asking for it, really.Paste Pot Pete: (storms off as Spider-Man keeps on laughing) That's it, I'm changing my name.
- Bald of Evil: He has taken to shave his head.
- Berserk Button: Calling him by his former name — Paste Pot Pete.
- Butt-Monkey: He is unfortunate enough to have started out with one of the most ridiculous supervillain names ever, and suffered from a case of Once Done, Never Forgotten about it. Spider-Man, in particular, just can't take him seriously because of it.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Why didn't he just market his glue and become a millionaire? Considering he developed the glue while working as a research chemist for another company, it's possible he thought (or this was actually the case) anything he developed was technically owned by them, hence, he decided to try and be a criminal instead. After beating him up once, Black Panther mentioned that he might have a job for the Trapster when he gets out of jail.
- Epic Fail: Most of his super villain career.
- Fate Worse than Death: For a time, combined with Bad Boss: the Wizard "trapped" Petruski in a time loop to infinitely relive his last moments. Trapster later got out of it offscreen.
- Happens to him again when he reappears in The Unbelievable Gwenpool. After readopting his Paste Pot Pete persona to hide from his deeds as the Trapster, he’s dragged into Gutterspace, the endless void between comic panels that only Gwenpool seems able to navigate. Though later, it's revealed that those in Gutterspace eventually find their way back with no memory of what happened.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Paste-Pot Pete had one of the more unfortunate villainous monikers in supervillainy. Even after changing his name to "The Trapster" and becoming more effective in his use of specialized glues and pastes, he still gets ragged on mercilessly about his old name by the likes of Spider-Man and the Human Torch. In fact, in one story where the Trapster was actually rather competent, he still couldn't win. After beating a couple of crooks senseless who had double-crossed him, he left them trussed up in his paste to let everyone know he had done it. Unfortunately, when the police found the two crooks, they mistook the paste for Spider Man's webbing, and assumed that the hero had caught them and left them for them to find. (An honest mistake, actually, since Spidey tended to do that a lot, but the Trapster was really upset.)
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite his reputation of a joke, he has proven himself quite dangerous since he started to use his glue in lethal ways. He has successfully framed Spider-Man for murder once, which forced Spidey to take four temporary secret identities.
- And then there was the time he fought fellow C-list villain Whirlwind. When the Trapster managed to glue his feet to the ground, Whirlwind's trying to spin broke multiple bones, including his spine. Ouch.
- He takes full advantage of this trope in Gwenpool's book where he reverts to his Paste Pot Pete persona since he knows that everyone around him won't take him even remotely seriously and will completely drop their guard. It works.
- And then there was the time Norman Osborn hired him and the Shocker to kill Spider-Man and Paul Stacy. First Pete made the mutually loathing Paul and Spider-Man suffer Chained Heat by gluing them together. Eventually, Pete and the Shocker finally tracked down Spider-Man and Paul and... won. They had Spider-Man and Paul helpless and were ready to kill them, but Norman called off the hit at the last second. Notably, Pete and the Shocker still got paid, so it was a good day all around.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: He eventually got sick of being mocked for his ridiculous alias and changed it to "Trapster", but people around him just won't let him forget how he used to call himself.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: At first, he was exclusively a foe of the Torch and the Thing. It didn't take him long to include Reed and Sue in his grudge, though. He later became a recurring foe of Spider-Man, but fared no better against the wall-crawler, either.
- Sticky Situation: Thanks to his super glue gun and specialized adhesives for particular foes.
- Trap Master: If his name isn’t indicative enough.
Sandman
Sandman
Alter Ego: William Baker
Notable Aliases: Flint Marko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-man Vol. 1, #4
See Spider-Man: Central Rogues Gallery
Medusa
Medusa
Alter Ego: Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon
Notable Aliases: Madame Medusa
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #36 (March 1965)
See The Inhumans
Recruits
Thundra
Thundra
Alter Ego: Thundra
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #129 (December, 1972)
See Fantastic Four Supporting Characters
Constrictor
Constrictor
Alter Ego: Frank Payne
Notable Aliases: Frank Schlichting, Con Man
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #212 (June, 1977)
See Captain America: Rogues Gallery
Deadpool
Deadpool
Alter Ego: Wade Winston Wilson
Notable Aliases: Merc with a Mouth, Regenerating Degenerate, Deady-Pool, Jack, Wade T. Wilson, Mithras, Johnny Silvini, Thom Cruz, Hulkpool, Wildcard, Zenpool, Weapon XI
First Appearance: The New Mutants #98 (February 1991)
See Deadpool
Taskmaster
Taskmaster
Alter Ego: Anthony "Tony" Masters
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: The Avengers" vol. 1 #195 (May, 1980)
See Taskmaster
Brute
Brute
Alter Ego: Reed Richards of Earth-1123
Notable Aliases: Mister Fantastic
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #2 (May 1972)
See Fantastic Four Rogues Gallery
Electro
Electro
Alter Ego: Maxwell Dillon
Notable Aliases: Max Dillon, Master of Electricity, Human Torch, Jolt
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #9
See Spider-Man: Central Rogues Gallery
Llyra
Llyra
Alter Ego: Llyra Morris
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner #32 (December, 1970)
See Sub-Mariner
Hydro-Man
Hydro-Man
Alter Ego: Morris Bench
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #212
See Spider-Man: Central Rogues Gallery
Titania
Titania
Alter Ego: Mary MacPherran
Notable Aliases: "Skeeter", Skirn: Breaker of Men
First Appearance: Secret Wars Vol. 1 #3 (July 1984)
See She-Hulk
Klaw
Klaw
Alter Ego: Ulysses Klaw
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #53
See Black Panther: Enemies
Dragon Man
Dragon Man
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #35 (February 1965)
See Fantastic Four Central Rogues Gallery
Absorbing Man
Absorbing Man
Alter Ego: Carl "Crusher" Creel
Notable Aliases: Rocky Davis, Lightningbolt, Crusher Creel, Greithoth: Breaker of Wills
First Appearance: Daredevil #1 (April, 1964)
See The Mighty Thor: Enemies
Living Laser
Living Laser
Alter Ego: Arthur Parks
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Avengers (Vol 1) #34
See Iron Man: Central Rogues Gallery
Mister Hyde
Mister Hyde
Alter Ego: Calvin Zabo
Notable Aliases: Edward, Jack the Ripper, Edward Hyde
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery #99 (December, 1963)
See The Mighty Thor: Enemies
She-Thing
She-Thing
Alter Ego: Sharon Ventura
Notable Aliases: Ms. Marvel
First Appearance: Thing #27 (September, 1985)
See Marvel Comics: Marvels
Red Ghost
Red Ghost
Alter Ego: Ivan Kragoff
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963)
See Fantastic Four Central Rogues Gallery
Dreadknight
Dreadknight
Alter Ego: Bram Velsing
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Iron Man Vol. 1, #101 (1977)
See Iron Man: Rogues Gallery
Man-Bull
Man-Bull
Alter Ego: William Taurens
Notable Aliases: Minotaur, "Bull" Taurus, Savage
First Appearance: Daredevil (vol. 1) #78
See Daredevil Central Rogues Gallery
Blastaar
Blastaar
Alter Ego: Blastaar
Notable Aliases: Living Bomb-Burst, Blasstaar
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #62 (May 1967)
See Fantastic Four Central Rogues Gallery
Punisher
Punisher Robot
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #49 (April, 1966)
See Galactus's Creations
Cole
Cole
Alter Ego: Cole Wittman
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #514 (August, 2004)
Cole is the daughter of the Wizard and Salamandra. She has the natural ability to control gravitrons around her and absorb mass. She is used by her father to trap the Fantastic Four.
- Blessed with Suck: She hates her power and what it does to her.
- Gravity Master: Due to the unnatural way she was produced, Cole developed gravity based powers due to her father's use in anti-gravity fields.
- Heel–Face Turn: Eventually she turned on her father for all his abuse.
- Purple Is Powerful: She has purple eyes and she can control gravity.
- Rapid Aging: She aged into adulthood surprisingly fast.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks a lot like her mother.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She hasn't returned ever since she turned on her father.
Salamandra
Salamandra
Alter Ego: Salamandra Wittman
Notable Aliases: Dragon's Daughter, Fire Maiden, Sally
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #514 (August, 2004)
A former lover of the Wizard. She joins the Frightful Four for a brief moment but is defeated by the Fantastic Four.
- Dark Action Girl: She has martial arts training allowing her to strike an opponents pressure points, partially paralyzing them.
- The Dog Bites Back: She and her daughter eventually turned on Wizard
- Mandatory Motherhood: Wittman essentially forced her to have a child with superpowers.
- Scaled Up: She can transform into a giant dragon-like creature.
- Third-Person Person: Likes to talk like this. It annoys Hydro-Man.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She hasn't returned ever since she turned on her ex-husband.
Lyra
Lyra
Alter Ego: Lyra
Notable Aliases: Lyra Walters
First Appearance: Hulk: Raging Thunder Vol. 1 #1 (August 2008)
See She-Hulk
Beetle
Beetle
Alter Ego: Abner Ronald Jenkins
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Strange Tales #123
See Spider-Man: Central Rogues Gallery
Karl Malus
Karl Malus
Alter Ego: Dr. Karlin Mallus
Notable Aliases: Superior Carnage
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #67 (March, 1978)
See Marvel Comics: Carnage
Wrecker
Wrecker
Alter Ego: Dirk Garthwaite
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Thor #148 (January, 1968)
See Wrecking Crew
Thunderball
Thunderball
Alter Ego: Dr. Eliot Augustus Franklin
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Defenders #17 (November, 1974)
See Wrecking Crew
Bulldozer
Bulldozer
Alter Ego: Marci Camp
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four Vol 5 #3 (June, 2014)
Daughter of the original Bulldozer of the Wrecking Crew.
See Wrecking Crew
Gazelle
Gazelle
Alter Ego: Gazelle
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #185 (August, 1977)
Gazelle was born in New Salem, Colorado and was a member of Salem's Seven.
- Back for the Dead: She was brought back to be one of the few animal-themed villains killed during Hunted.
Reptilla
Reptilla
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #186 (September, 1977)
Reptilla was born in New Salem, Colorado and was a member of Salem's Seven.- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Began as antagonists before she and her siblings reformed, only to be recruited into the Frightful Four under orders from Norman Osborn. Currently she and her siblings are back to their roles as protectors of New Salem.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her Breast Plate doesn't cover much, having a neckline that goes down to her navel.
- Snake People: Not only below her waist she has a snake tail, her arms are also snakes.
Vertigo
Vertigo
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #185 (August, 1977)
Vertigo is a member of the Salem's Seven, daughter to Nicholas Scratch and granddaughter of Agatha Harkness.- One-Steve Limit: Shares name with the Savage Land Mutate who has served both Magneto and Mr. Sinister.
New Frightful Four
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy
Alter Ego: K'Kantu
Notable Aliases: The Mummy, Captain Ace Bandages, Ba'ka Mumiya
First Appearance: Supernatural Thrillers #5 (August, 1973)
N'Kantu is a mummified African tribesman with heightened strength and dexterity. He is also considered immortal due to his "life" of over 3,000 years.- Scary Black Man: Well, not noticeable now that he's a mummy, but he was an African tribesman and stands at 7'6"/229cm tall, and the scary part is pretty obvious.
Marcus the Centaur
Marcus the Centaur
Alter Ego: Marcus
Notable Aliases: The Centaur Werewolf Symbiote Warrior
First Appearance: Deadpool: The Gauntlet Infinite Comic #8 (April, 2014)
Marcus is a Centaur warrior who was bitten by a werewolf and then bound to an alien symbiote, culminating in him gaining their myriad of abilities. He became enlisted in the service of Dracula as his "Secret Weapon" and has been described as "a perfect soldier with no weaknesses" - although he is diabetic.- Artificial Limb: His front legs are cybernetic.
- Cyborg: His front legs were replaced with cybernetics.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He's a centaur that was bitten by a werewolf who was bonded to a Symbiote, and whose front legs were replaced by cybernetics.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: He was once a regular centaur, until he was bitten by werewolf, bonded to a symbiote and given cybernetics.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Specifically, he is a were-centaur, which he became through a bite.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Despite being built to be a being with no weaknesses, he has one: he's diabetic.
Xzax
Xzax
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases: The Brood Mercenary
First Appearance: Deadpool: The Gauntlet Infinite Comic #8 (April, 2014)
Xzax is a Brood mercenary hired by Dracula and tasked, along with the rest of the New Frightful Four, with hunting Deadpool and Shiklah. Frankenstein's Monster
Frankenstein's Monster
Alter Ego: None
Notable Aliases: Frank, Adam, Creature, Frankie, Monster
First Appearance: Menace #7 (September, 1953)
The infamous monster-creation of Victor Frankenstein. The Monster roams the Marvel Universe and has encountered a number of Marvel heroes and villains over the years.
- Frankenstein's Monster: He's the original and the best known.
