Doctor Octopus

"The power of the sun...in the palm of my hand."

- Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2.

Doctor Octopus (real name: Otto Octavius) is one of Spider-Man's most dangerous and recurring enemies.

History
Otto Octavius was a nuclear scientist who created four mechanical arms to help in his dangerous experiments. When a freak explosion caused his tentacles to be fused to his spine, Otto went insane and began his own wave of crime. Each time he was stopped by Spider-man, making them deadly foes.

His tentacles were made of adamantium, and had the strength to crush materials stronger than a block of cement. They were telescopic and could stretch over 20 feet. The arms could be used for walking, lifting or throwing heavy objects, or climbing. Octavius could telepathically control the arms, even when they were not connected to him.

After his first few defeats at the hands of Spider-man, Doc Ock contacted several other super-enemies of the web-slinger, (Electro, Sandman, Vulture, Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter) to form the Sinister Six, to trap and destroy Spider-man. Even this plan failed however, and Ock and his cohorts were once again imprisoned.

Octavius continued to be a thorn to Spider-Man, and concocted many schemes that often involved taking over the world and/or forming a different version of the Sinister Six. One of these schemes was his taking on the guise of the Master Planner, a mysterious crime lord.

Doc Ock has mostly battled Spider-Man, but has also had run-ins with other heroes such as Daredevil and Iron Man. Ock once even led a version of the Masters of Evil against the Avengers.



In the recent comics, Otto's body has begun to slowly shut down, due to his being a normal human and dealing with years of beatings from Spidey and other superheroes. He now has a special armored suit that keeps him alive. He also added four more mechanical tentacles to his suit and upgraded them to reach longer and be more powerful all around. However, he now knows that he has not much longer to live, and wishes to end his life in a meaningful, if not diabolical way. After bringing together his final Sinister Six (Electro, Sandman, Rhino, Mysterio, and Chameleon), Ock plans to hold the world at ransom by multiplying the effects of global warming via satellites and offering to reverse it completely, eliminating global warming altogether if the world complies to his demands. This event is known as "Ends of the Earth". He also swiched bodies with Peter Parkers which leads to the final showdown with Paker Paker and became the new spiderman

In the film
Doctor Octopus appears as the main antagonist in the film, Spider-Man 2, where he was portrayed by Alfred Molina. Before he became a four-armed villain, he was a scientist, and his goal was to create successful, stable nuclear fusion, thus making energy available for personal use. To make this experiment successful, he invented the four mechanical arms to assist him in making the measurements accurate and placing the origin of the reaction.

The arms would be set to connect to Octavius's spine by inserting needles through the skin along his back. To maintain full control of the arms, Octavius attached an inhibitor chip to the arms, located behind his neck in order to simply use his extra arms by the power of thought.

Octavius demonstrated his first trial of the experiment in front of a group of New York civilians. For a brief time, he created a successful fusion reaction. When the reaction became unstable, though, it could not be handled, and numerous objects, including wall coverings, were being sucked into the expanding nuclear hog. In the event, he lost his wife, and the inhibitor chip was destroyed.

With the inhibitor chip gone, Dr. Octavius could not maintain control of his mind with formidable power of his mechanical arms. He became convinced to rebuild a larger generator, and ignored his miscalculations which caused the accident.

1967 Spider-Man Cartoon
Doc Ock is one of Spider-Man villains in the 1967 Spider-Man Cartoon.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Doctor Octopus is a recurring antagonist in this series (along with Kingpin, Green Goblin,Venom,and Hobgoblin). He was voiced by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., who gave the character a thick Germanic accent. Dr. Octopus used to be Otto Octavius, who was Peter Parker's science teacher at Science Camp. This relationship of former mentor and pupil made Dr Octopus fond of Peter even after his descent into villainy.

One day, Octavius created a fusion experiment, using four metal tentacles. When the experiment exploded, Octavius' tentacles were permanently stuck on his back. In his first appearance, Dr. Octopus kidnaps Felicia Hardy and J. Jonah Jameson for ransom from Felicia's mother, as Felicia's mom did not have patience to fund Ock's experiments before he was a villain. When Peter calls him, Dr. Octopus decides to have Peter bring the ransom. But Ock reveals he would not release Felicia and Jameson anyway but after he was defeated by Spider-Man, who Peter was secretly, after Ock threw Peter off into another part of the abandoned space lab Ock hid out in, Dr. Octopus was captured, and was taken to jail.

Later, he became a member of The Insidious Six in the first two episodes of Season 2 and the five-part episode, "Six Forgotten Warriors" in Season 5, and one of the Kingpin's enforcers after the first episodes of Season 2, helping him commit crimes. He even came far as unmasking Spider-Man with the Insidious Six but since Spider-Man did not fight as good as he usually does because it was part of Spider-Man's lively evolution, Ock thought he was a fake. He also came to wiping out Spider-Man's memory and making him think the two were partners-in-crime. But thanks to Spider-Man's fangirl, Tiana, and a cabbie named Mousie, he got his memory back and Octavius was sent back to jail.

Ock eventually became aware that Anastasia Hardy's husband, John Hardesky, was a cat burglar known as the Cat and used this information to blackmail Mrs. Hardy into giving him his money. But he was abducted by the Kingpin and was forced to work for him and his plans were not to reveal to the world that Mrs. Hardy's husband was a crook but merely use John Hardesky because he was jailed for knowing the super-soldier formula that created Captain America during World War II.

After Hardesky was kidnapped, Ock was sent to kidnap Felicia to blackmail Hardesky that if he did not reveal the super-soldier formula, she will die. Hardesky revealed the formula and it was tested on Felicia, turning her into the Black Cat. His final appearance in the show was in the three-part "Secret Wars", in which he ruled an alien planet city renamed "Octavia".

Unfortunately, it was stolen by Dr. Doom and renamed it New Latveria, forcing Ock to work for the Red Skull. When Doom absorbed the Beyonder's powers, Doom transported Alistair Smythe, the Red Skull and Ock back to Earth with them getting amnesia from the events. In the series finale of this show, despite Ock not appearing in it, Spider-Man was sent by Madame Web and the Beyonder to stop the evil Spider-Carnage from destroying all reality, and helping Spider-Man were other Spider-Men from different realities. One of them had metallic tentacles like Ock and that Spider-Man explained it was a "souvenir from my last fight with Doc Ock". It is unknown if that Spider-Man killed or had Ock killed in his reality, even by accident, and stole his robotic arms, but it seems likely.

Spectacular Spider-Man
In The Spectacular Spider-man TV series, Otto Octavius worked as a scientist under Norman Osborn, and indirectly under The Big Man by creating the supervillains Sandman and Rhino to fight Spider-man. Later, after an experiment sabotaged by the Green Goblin, Octavius's mechanical arms and harness fused to his body, and the once timid doctor was turned into the vicious, monomaniacal, and slightly insane supervillain known as Doctor Octopus. He immediately went after Osborn, who had mistreated him, and Spider-man, whom he believed to have caused the accident.

After his first defeat to Spidey, Ock went to prison, but with the help of Electro, he escaped, along with several other former supervillains, including Sandman, Rhino, Vulture, and Shocker. Together they formed the Sinister Six, and, with Ock as their leader, battled Spider-man, brutalizing him in their first battle, but losing to his new black suit in the second.

Doc Ock and Electro were sent to Ravencroft, a mental therapy institution, and while there, were approached by Kraven the Hunter who offered to break them out in order to form another Sinister Six under the mysterious Master Planner. Electro went willingly, but Otto, who was seemingly repentant of his evil ways, refused to go. After the new Six was defeated yet again, Octavius's tentacles broke into Ravencroft and pulled him away, screaming.

It was later revealed the Otto himself was the Master Planner, and had pretended to be reformed so as to be undercover. He and his cronies, Electro, Vulture, and the Tinkerer, captured Gwen Stacy as motivation to her father George Stacy, Chief of the New York City Police. Ock forced him to grant him access to every computer in New York, then the USA, and then the world, in an effort of global domination of a more subtle kind. But thanks to Spider-man's interference and Electro's short temper, his underwater lair was destroyed and his plan foiled. He did, however, escape, to return again with another scheme.

This time Doc Ock vied against Tombstone and Silvermane for control of New York's underworld, and he had Rhino, Vulture, and Kraven to help him. In a final brawl between the three crime lords and Spider-man, Ock was taken out by the wall-crawler and sent back to Ravencroft.

This version of Doc Ock was a very sophisticated villain, politely asking Aunt May and Anna Watson to step aside before he and the Six attacked Spider-man.

Ultimate Spider-Man
Doc Ock is a villain in the TV Show; Ultimate Spider-Man. He's Norman Osborn's scientist that is attempting to duplicate Spider-Man's powers to create super-soldiers to take over New York.

Due to an unfortunate accident at OsCorp, he was horribly injured. Norman Osborn saved his life by puting him in an OsTech iron lung suit with four mechanical tentacles. However, unable to admit that he made a mistake, Norman forced Otto to go into hiding, but continue working for Oscorp.

Later, Otto hired the Frightful Four for a year to attack and collect data about Spider-Man.

After Trapster planted a tracking device on Spider-Man, the other members were able to locate him at Midtown high school, and engaged him to provide more information to Octavius. Otto contacted Norman, to ask him if he should order the Frightful Four to destroy the school to cover the witness problem, who instantly became distressed about his son, Harry, who was there.

Following that, Otto ordered the Frightful Four to capture Spider-Man. When they failed, Norman warned Otto that failure will not be tolerated again.

Later, Otto sent one of his creations, the Octobot, to get a bio sample from Spider-Man. He used said sample to create the Venom Symbiote (an isolation of all the deadliest aspects of Spider-Man's DNA), which he intended to use as way to infuse the soldiers with Spider-Man powers. However, he needed a few months to perfect it. Osborn, being impatient, wanted it fast, and Otto winds up telling him he will have something for him in the night. However, the Symbiote escapes. Otto's best guess was that the Symbiote wanted to return to where it come from-Spider-Man.

After the apparent destruction of the Symbiote, Norman told him that it was a success and he want a new one that Spider-Man and his team can't destroy. Otto responded by telling him that he will make it his life's work.

Otto hired Taskmaster to infiltrate the school to discover who is Spider-Man, and capture him. When Taskmaster fails to do so, he tricks Octavius into believing that the school is a dead end for capturing Spider-Man so he can have his revenge. Otto precedes to destroy his own lab out of rage.

When Harry uses the small, surviving, piece of the symbiote to become the new Spider-Man, Otto instantly reconizes his work, noting that it is more focused and controlled. At Norman's demand, he sends the Dragon Man robot to test the new Spider-Man.

While watching the apparent defeat of Venom, Otto learns the truth about Harry being Venom. When Osborn suddenly walks in, he panicks slightly, turning the screen back to his research. Norman informs Otto that he wants Venom, whatever it takes. Noticing an odd expression from his worker, Norman questions if Octavius has anything to say, which the latter denies.

After Venom returns, Otto is seen talking with Osborn about getting Venom back. Norman hangs up on him when Harry enters the room. After Venom's second defeat, Osborn asks Otto if he knew about Harry being Venom. Otto, once again, denies it, asking "how could anyone know more about your son than you?". Believing him, Norman gives him a blood sample from Harry, and the scene ends with Otto saying he will give all his effort into seeing "what [he] can do with it"

The next time he is seen, he has already sent Whirlwind after Spider-Man, who, unfortunately, fails.

Norman calls Octavius up while the latter is attempting to take notes from the fight. The former then precedes to berate him, as Spider-Man still has yet to be captured, and threatens to cut off the funding for his project.

Unable to come up with anything else, Otto says he has a fail-safe plan-he'd go out and capture the web-slinger himself. Norman laughs at the idea, due to Octavius being a disabled shut-in, and gives him until sundown to catch Spider-Man.

A bit later, he yanks Spider-Man, who is enjoying some "me time", off of a roller-coaster, much to the webhead's surprise. Octavius then introduces himself as "Doctor".

In the ensuing fight, Spidey dubs him "Doctor Octopus"(much to his annoyance), and he makes references to Norman, but leaves his boss unnamed (much to Spidey's annoyance). During the brawl, they wind up in a hall of mirrors, in which he finally knocks Spider-man unconsious.

Once arriving back at the lab, Otto calls Norman, showing his success. Their talk ends when Octavius hangs up on Osborn, deciding he's going to call the shots on what to do with Spider-Man, and when to do it.

Inevitably, Spider-Man wakes up to having a blade whirring in his face.

Using the blade, Spidey frees himself, and their rematch begins.

In it, it's revealed Otto has been wearing an ear piece that allows Norman to continue talking to him, despite having gotten hung up on earlier, resulting in the former demanding that the latter "get out of my head! Stop tormenting me!". Spider-Man responds by telling Octavius to tell "him" to show himself.

Spider-Man, dodging Ock's attacks, attempts to contact Fury, as opposed to actually defeating Otto first. He resorts to webbing the latter's "lung part" of his suit, causing him to collapse and gasp for air.

This doesn't stop the doctor completely, though, as he resumes his attack on Spider-Man after Nick Fury has been contacted, and Norman has started the destruction of the place. When the place floods, Otto is unable to get himself to safety, and simply drifts further underwater. Spidey winds up saving him, but nearly drowns as a result. Back at Shield, it's revealed that the lab was too damaged for anything to be learned, and there was no trace of Otto when they arrived. However, they do have part of one of his tentacles, which Spider-Man had apparently holding onto "like [his] life depended on it".

Later on, Doctor Octopus(now using the name) sends an octo bot to hack Tony Stark's information. After the bot returns, Ock finishes his newest creation-an iron octopus suit. He precedes to attack Norman Osborn, and successfuly sends Iron Man away for the entire fight. Instead, he easily smacks Spider-man and Nick Fury around, then takes off, taking Norman and Harry with him.

Spider-man shows up in HIS iron spider suit while the doctor is trying to get Norman to beg him for mercy. Their rematch breaks out, during which Doc Ock attempts to tell Spidey that Norman behind the attacks as much as he was, but the web-slinger(rather stupidly) ignores him. He gets defeated by Spider-man punching him through a few buildings, but his suit kept him from dying. Norman retrieves him some time later, and puts him into a healing tank.

This Otto is currently devoid of his tentacles, and was revealed to have been friends with Curt Connors in the past.