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Spider-Man

Character » Spider-Man appears in 9435 issues.

Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider as a teenager, granting him spider-like powers. After the death of his Uncle Ben, which he could have prevented, Peter learned that "with great power, comes great responsibility." Swearing to always protect the innocent from harm, Peter Parker became the Amazing Spider-Man!

Shocker & Rhino 101 (Mandatory for n00bs)

#1 Edited by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about two Spider-Man villains: Shocker and Rhino. There's a lot of false information floating around about Shocker's tech, and there's a plethora of opinions about Rhino's combat effectiveness and intellect. So, here are the basics and hopefully this thread will help!

Shocker

-His armor-When Herman built the vibro-gauntlets to project blasts of concentrated vibrations (note: NOT electric), he needed something to protect his own body from the effects. The armor itself isn't what makes him so durable, it's the vibrational shield it provides. This isn't some large bubble like Magneto can produce, it's a thin layer surrounding him. This shield has proven effective enough to protect Herman from Spider-Man's superhuman strikes and even a sniper rifle round. The heavy caliber round deflected off of his back, but it's important to note Herman questioned how much more his armor could take. Therefore, it's possible a few higher caliber rounds can bypass his shield, but this has never been proven. We have never seen how the shield holds up to cutting/stabbing damage, so that is also up for speculation.

-His blasts-As stated above, the belief that he has an electric based attack is false. It was earlier in his history that Shocker was able to control the power behind his blasts. He could make them weak enough to KO a person, or strong enough to destroy a bank vault or "turn a human's bones into jelly." The latter has never actually been done in combat. As expected, he can fire two blasts, one from each hand at a fairly rapid rate. I don't recall him ever overloading or losing the power from firing too frequently. While he's not especially accurate, he has tagged Spider-Man numerous times throughout his history, which is likely a credit to the frequency of his blasts and their speed/size.

-Other-Herman is a gifted engineer with no real large scale objectives. At the end of the day, he's often driven by lower crime goals, such as robbing a bank. While he was briefly taking a turn to the anti-hero side in Spider-Island, that was short-lived and he'll later appear as a regular in Villains for Hire.

Rhino

-Physicals-It's a common misconception that his exposed face is exceptionally weak. While it's true he's obviously less durable than his armor, he's still superhuman without it. It's a weakness, the theory that a peak human could easily defeat him by connecting there once is not true. It's also important to note he has an immunity to gas, as proven when Scoprion tried to use the method on Rhino and he simply taunted the fellow villain. The notion that he'll lose by charging and getting stuck in an environment is unlikely at best. This happened once in his earlier appearance and he broke free from the wall. While charging, it's estimated he can run 100 mph. Aleksei has superhuman stamina, so the belief he'll quickly become exhausted is also false (like he did after taking a few swings at Captain America). At his best, he is indeed capable of giving Spider-Man a good fight, but Spider-Man's vastly superior agility, variety of webbing and more has also allowed him to quickly end encounters with him. He's not sporting 100+ ton level strength like characters such as Colossus/Thing/ect, but he's instead in the 75-80 ton range (last I knew).

-Intellect-It's a common belief that Rhino is a flat-out idiot. Titles like Punisher: War Journal have portrayed him like this, but there are just as many, if not more, proving Rhino is average in that regard. So sure, there are some showings where he's a complete fool that can trip over his own foot, but those are outweighed by the ones showing he has a normal level of intellect.

-Jobber Aura-Unfortunately, Rhino is more-or-less the Killer Croc of the Marvel Universe. Rhino has KC completely outclassed in physicals, but the notion of the similarties is that he's treated as a jobber by many writers. Just like the part regarding his intellect, he varies in showings. Sometimes he'll get credit from Spider-Man and give him a hell of a fight, othertimes virtually anyone can get him to fall overhimself. Simply put, while he's not even close to being one of the most powerful bricks, he's well above street level and it's a total mismatch when he's placed against characters like Nightwing/Bane/etc. Simply put, he'd one-shot them. However, there are obviously expections with characters like Wolverine (who can bypass his durability with adamantium claws) and Cyclops (powerful enough projectiles).

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#2 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

If you feel I missed anything relevant, I'll gladly update the OP.

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#3 Edited by _slim_ (12549 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

You pretty much covered all the major misconceptions about the 2 characters. 
 
Nice job K4tz.

#4 Posted by ReVamp (22561 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n: Please. Make this a series. I'd love you to death for it.

#5 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@_slim_: Thank you.

@ReVamp: LOL. I only possess so much knowledge! But yeah, I'll gladly make more if I'm qualified for the character.

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#6 Posted by ReVamp (22561 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n: Even if you don't have the knowledge, you can still write it, everyone'll believe you regardless :P

#7 Posted by entropy_aegis (12319 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

Now hopefully people won't use scans of him vs Captain America.

#8 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@entropy_aegis: Doubtful.

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#9 Posted by entropy_aegis (12319 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n said:

@entropy_aegis: Doubtful.

sigh.

#10 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@entropy_aegis: If you're going to have Cap v Rhino in a book, the least you can have him do is win via shield damage to the face, LOL

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#11 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

Bumping just in case others are interested.

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#12 Posted by Death Certificate (5439 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n: I heard that rhino beat fought against doc Samson and won. Is it true?

#13 Edited by Jonny_Anonymous (15789 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio
@k4tzm4n: I'm so glad you pointed this out. Yes people its Shocker as in shock wave not Shocker as in electric shock.
#14 Posted by GrandSymbiote94 (10414 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio
@k4tzm4n said:

T

Rhino

-Intellect-It's a common belief that Rhino is a flat-out idiot. Titles like Punisher: War Journal have portrayed him like this, but there are just as many, if not more, proving Rhino is average in that regard. So sure, there are some showings where he's a complete fool that can trip over his own foot, but those are outweighed by the ones showing he has a normal level of intellect.


This is the main thing that I wanted to clear up.
#15 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

You're welcome. @Death Certificate, I haven't read all of Rhino's classic appearances in the older Hulk series. So, it's possible, but I can't give a certain y/n.

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#16 Posted by Gambit1024 (9878 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

This thread rules. Please make more, dude :)

#17 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

Thank you.

Would you guys rather see one for Kraven or Crossbones?

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#18 Posted by termiteone4ever (6434 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

well said

#19 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

Thanks.

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#20 Posted by Morpheus_ (29871 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio
@k4tzm4n said:

Thank you.

Would you guys rather see one for Kraven or Crossbones?

Crossbones. I think Kraven already enjoys sufficient respect, whereas Crossbones' fights with Buck have taken away some of his glamour for newer readers.
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#21 Posted by _slim_ (12549 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio
@k4tzm4n

Would you guys rather see one for Kraven or Crossbones?


Either one of them would be great.
#22 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

Fair enough. Crossbones it shall be.

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#23 Edited by DoomDoomDoom (2959 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@ReVamp said:

@k4tzm4n: Please. Make this a series. I'd love you to death for it.

Crossbones!

#24 Posted by ReVamp (22561 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n: I don't know if you're still making these, but one with Morlun would be fantastical.

#25 Posted by k4tzm4n (30937 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@ReVamp: Morph is the man for Morlun. My knowledge on him is basic.

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#26 Posted by ReVamp (22561 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n: Ah. Okay :)

Looks at Morph evilly.

#27 Posted by The Stegman (13066 posts) - 1 year, 6 months ago - Show Bio

As a person new to shocker and Rhino, i feel offended by the term N00b were people too y'know!!

#28 Posted by Degalon (705 posts) - 1 year, 5 months ago - Show Bio

@k4tzm4n:

One thing I feel needs mentioning about Shocker, is his personality. A big part of his character is that he's not some megalomaniacal supervillain with delusions of grandeur. He's just a career criminal, he knows this, and he focuses on his. At the end of the day, his top priority is the money. That's all he's in it for. And despite his defeats by heroes, he's been shows as being VERY good at what he does. He's probably one of the more "professional" villains Spider-Man has.

I wish I could find a scan of what the Hood says about him during Shocker's confrontation with force. I don't remember exactly what he said, I just remember that I liked it.

Sorry, I love that fact because I have a deep respect for characters who have deep-rooted professionalism. (Hence my love for Bane, Taskmaster, Shocker, etc).

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